Red Gradient and Gold Stamping

Hi Dolls:) So today I have a festive Fall mani for you, even though Fall is almost over:(  For this mani I used a base of Zoya Janel and did an added gradient of Courtney. I then stamped on a feather design using Essie Good as Gold and Ejiubas Plate EJB-01.

Lately I have become a bit wary of full nail stamping on all nails, mostly because I generally think less is more. Also it seems that nail trends are changing as I am seeing less and less full-on Nail Art mani's. But at the same time I think that trends are a waste and you should do whatever you want on your nails!!!!  

❤ Melissa

Seas and Greetings

Hey Dolls!!! Hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving Holiday!!! So today I have the unconventional Holiday Collection from China Glaze:) Seas and Greetings, is a tropical take on traditional holiday classics that will make you want to jet away to a white sand beach with crystal blue waters.

*press sample*

First up is the namesake of this collection, Seas and Greetings. This beauty is a medium purple with an intense pink shimmer. The formula was a little thin but builds up easily:) 

Eat, Pink, Be Merry is a gorgeous pale pink with a bright pink shimmer:) Again formula is a little thin, here are 3 coats.

Joy to the Waves is a serene light blue shimmer, that has a slight metallic quality. 

Let's Shell-ebrate, is a explosion of purple and gold glitter in an variety of sizes in a clear base.  This does cover really nicely, here are 3 coats:) 

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Starfish, is a pale green micro glitter bomb in a clear base:) Again excellent coverage, so full of glitter it almost appears to be a metallic:) 

Good Tide-ings, is a cool blue lavender creme! This one has great pigmentation and great coverage:) Here is 2 coats!

Sand in my Mistletoes, is a pale peach creme. I love this color but, it does something very funny to my skin tone :/

Warm Wishes, is a brilliant watermelon pink with a slight silver shimmer.

Tis the Sea-Sun, is a orange leaning coral creme:) That is brighter in person! Here are 2 coats.

Snow Way, is a beautiful iridescent whiten with a heavy pink shimmer:) If you liked Pearl Jammin' from the Rebel Collection, you will love this!

Partridge in a Palm Tree, is an aqua green with a slight shimmer that has a matte finish:) The formula is a little thick and dries super quick, beautiful but a little hard to work with:(

The More the Berrier, is a metallic magenta with a hot pink shimmer!

I love this entire collection! I like the fresh tropical take on the traditional:) I was very happy with the formulas for most of the colors, but I feel like the shimmers could have been more pigmented, and the matte was very finicky! This collection is available at Sally's Beauty Supply now!!! My faves are Eat, Pink, Be Merry, Snow Way and Tis the Sea-Sun:) 

❤ Melissa

*Press Sample: Some of the products in this post were sent to me for review. I was not paid for my review of this product and all opinions are my own*

Zoya Enchanted Swatches and Review

Hi Dolls:) Today I have the New Enchanted Collection from Zoya to share with you!!! This Collection has 2 color shifting metallics and 4 new pixie dust texture polishes.

*press sample*

First up is Olivera, She is a majestic indigo based color flip metallic that flashes deep green and purple:) Now depending on the light and angle this beauty flips from a dark indigo to a deep green both with a purple flash!

 Saint is a rich shimmery cornflower/periwinkle blue that has an intense magenta flash. He doesn't shift colors like Olivera does, but his flash is fantastic even though it doesn't translate in the pics.

 Next is Alice:) She is an intense perwinkle pixie, with fabulous magenta, blue and silver sparkles!!! 

 Lorna is deep berry magenta pixie:) She shows her mysterious side with pink and plum colored sparkles:)

This is  Elphie! She is a deep emerald green pixie with light and dark green sparkles!

 Waverly, in all of his handsomeness,  is a rich sapphire blue with cobalt and navy sparkles! 

Like all pixie dust polishes these have a texture similar to a heavy grit nail file with a perfect matte finish. The depth of these can really be seen with a top coat added and then they take on an almost gem like sparkle! All swatches are 2 coats:)  The formula on all of these was exactly what I expect from Zoya, Perfect! Drying time for the pixies was right on point with past pixies (approx 10 min to full matte, 30 to complete set) My faves are Olivera, Elphie and Waverly the richness of these colors is perfect for the Holiday season!!! All are available on www.zoya.com for $10:)

♥ Melissa

*Press Sample: Some of the products in this post were sent to me for review. I was not paid for my review of this product and all opinions are my own*

Happy Halloween!!!!

Hey Dolls:) So I have 3 Halloween mani's to share this Halloween night!!! These are the mani's I have been rocking this past week:)  Hope you like them a much as I liked rocking them!!!!

A Halloween Silhouette

Background is Chirality Soska:) The Moon is a combo of Zoya in Cam, Thandie, and Pippa, details are basic black and white cremes!

Witches Feet

Zoya Tilda and China Glaze Mix and Mingle are the bases for this mani:) add in some black and a tiny bit of neon orange for the details:) 

Pumpkin Tips 

I used a straight black creme base and added the pumpkins with Zoya Cam and China Glaze None of your Risky Business, with the stems in Zoya Tilda:) 

All of these are freehand art and took a good little while to complete:) but I challenged myself this week and had a lot of fun with it!!! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! 

♥ Melissa

Water Jelly Mani:)

Hey Dolls!!! So it has been 2 whole weeks since my last post and unless you have been hiding under a rock, I'm sure you have heard about the devastating flooding Hurricane Matthew brought to Eastern NC:( We were very lucky here at my house and didn't get any damage but I know several people who lost everything... The waters didn't get quite as high as they did with Floyd back in 99 but it did bring up a little bit of PTSD for me (my family lost everything that year in the floods). So I wanted to do a water mani because water is beautiful and life giving. But it is duplicitous in its destructive nature.

For the base I used China Glaze Let's Jam the perfect lilac with a rich blue shimmer. I smashed on China Glaze Ride the Waves and Zoya Paloma with some saran wrap. I cleaned up my edges and added a coat of SV to finish this off!!

Both polishes I used to smash are jelly finished as to give the feel of water:) To me its like the river at sunset with the purple, blue and pink light reflecting back at you!!!  Next week is a prep for Halloween and Oh boy do I have some fun manis to show you!!!

♥ Melissa

Sharpie Nails with Double Stamping!!!

TGIF Dolls!!!! Wow what a week it has been:) and here comes the weekend with the threat of Hurricane Matthew!!! But as of the latest forecast it looks like the effects will be minimal here in eastern NC:) So the mani I have for you today is a "sharpie mani" with some double stamping:) I used a basic white creme as the base. I them diluted some sharpie squiggles with rubbing alcohol and painted a random design. I then did a black stamping using konad black and BM-313, then a silver stamp of the same pattern just slightly off from the black:) Finished it all off with a coat of SV!

The only thing I will do different next time is amp up the intensity of the colors in the base but otherwise I LOVE it!!! It looks like magical fish scales!!!! Hope you have a great week end!!!

♥ Melissa