Sea Glass by Starrily

A short time ago, Ipsy sampled some Starrily glitter polish in their monthly bag. Since Ipsy offers discount codes for the brands they feature in their bags, I  decided to use my discount to pick up some Starrily mini glitter polishes. 

This manicure began with two coats of Sinful Colors At Sea.

Over that, I added one coat of Starrily Sea Glass.

Sea Glass is different sizes of shredded blue glitter in a clear base.

Lastly, I sealed the manicure with two coats of Gelous gel top coat, and a coat of Seche Vite top coat. Later, I added an extra coat or two of top coat to the nails that had a few bits of glitter sticking up. For the most part, the glitter shreds were not very difficult to work with or make smooth.

Products Used

Sephora X Nail Cleanser

1 coat Nailtek Foundation 1

1 coat Sephora X Base Coat

2 coats Sinful Colors At Sea

1 coat Starrily Sea Glass

2 coats Gelous Advanced Gel Top Coat

1-2 coats Seche Vite Top Coat

Formula X For Sephora - The Twenty-Two

Formula X For Sephora - The Twenty Two

The Twenty Two is a set of Sephora X brand mini polishes in a variety of colors and finishes that retails for $55.00. The website (here) describes it as "A stunning, 22-piece collection of mini nail lacquers in an array of classic creams, bright neons, cool chromes, and splatter-effect top coats. 

This is the ultimate collection for nail connoisseurs. Creams provide ultralong wear and incredible saturated color in just one swipe. Neons are mega bright and dry down to a matte finish. Chromes glide on creamy and dry to a smooth, reflective finish. Xplosive top coats create the ultimate splatter effect with a matte confetti glitter that can be worn alone or over any nail color. "

At 0.16 oz, these adorable mini polishes are a little smaller than 1/2 of a full sized bottle (0.4 oz), which runs from $10.50 to $12.50 in a Sephora store and on their website. The site says that the set is worth $103, but I got $99.60 when I calculated the volume of each polish in the set against its full sized counterpart.  

And now, the colors! Everything below is two coats of the polish alone, except where otherwise indicated.

Rocket Fuel - Metallic Graphite Green

 Vroom - Metallic Rose Gold

Racy - Metallic lavender

Need For Speed - Metallic Silver

Omni -Beach ball blue

Infatuated - Powder Blue

Unmistakable - Pastel Jade

Brazen - Petal Pink

Zap - Electric limoncello (3 coats)

Radioactive - Electric Jungle Green (3 coats)

Indelible - Rich violet

Haphazard - Electric Purple

Extraordinary - Iceberg Grey

Thrilling - Cloud gray

White Matter - Paper White

Dark Matter - Patent leather black

Flashy - Bright red

Eureka - Hot pink

Wham - White Confetti (2 coats over 1 coat Dark matter)

Bionic - Lime and black confetti (2 coats over 2 coats White Matter)

Turbulent - Turquoise and black confetti (2 coats over 2 coats White Matter)

Meteoric - Black, white, and rainbow glitter (2 coats over 2 coats White Matter)

I am extremely pleased with this purchase! There's enough variety in colors to keep me entertained for a while, it includes staples like a great white and black, and the glitter top coats are interesting over just about any color. Though I would have preferred more variance in glitter colors. Three out of four are predominantly black, with not a lot of difference between them. After going to a Sephora and seeing all the beautiful glitters they make for this line, I would have really liked to see some of those in this set. Maybe they will do more sets like this with other colors in the future, I sure hope so! Sets like these are an awesome way to try lots of polishes without the $10 - $12 price tag per bottle, and I rarely ever pay that much for one polish, but I'll always be first in line for mini value sets! 

30 Mani Marathon - Manicure 1: Red Nails

Today is the first day of the 30 Manicure marathon, and it kicks off with Red Nails!

To represent Red Nails, I have used two coats of China Glaze Ruby Pumps. I'm sad that the incredible 3D sparkling glitter does not pick up in photos, it truly is a fantastic red polish!

It's not too late to join in on the 30 Mani Marathon, check here for all the details!

Funky Pippa - Are You Drunk?

Today I wanted to do a look using an unconventional color combination. Something fun and funky and out of the box. This is what I came up with!

This manicure began with Zoya Anchor base coat. Next I added two lovely coats of Zoya Pippa, and then a layer of Zoya Armor top coat. I then let the polish dry and cure overnight.

The next day, I dabbed some China Glaze Scattered & Tattered onto a piece of cosmetic wedge sponge, and dabbed that to the tips of my nails, creating glitter tips.

I finished the look with two coats of Gelous gel top coat, and one layer of Seche Vite.

Products Used:

One coat Zoya Anchor Base Coat

Two coats Zoya Pippa

One coat Zoya Armor Top Coat

China Glaze Scattered & Tattered Glitter 

Two coats Gelous Advanced Gel Top Coat

One coat Seche Vite Top Coat

Color Club - Holiday Splendor

Today I am wearing Color Club Holiday Splendor.

Products Used:

One coat Beauty Secrets Moisturizing Base Coat

One coat Color Club Holiday Splendor

One coat Gelous Advanced Gel Top Coat

One coat Seche Vite Top Coat

Mai Tai Flowers

Today's manicure began with two coats of Nailtini Mai Tai and a coat of Seche Vite top coat.

To that, I added some stamped flowers using stamping plate M26 and Konad special white stamping polish.

Next, I used a dotting tool to dab some top coat in the center of each of the large flowers, and placed an orange rhinestone in that space.

I finished by sealing the design with a coat of Seche Vite.

Products Used:

One coat Beauty Secrets Moisturizing Base Coat

Two coats Nailtini Mai Tai

One coat Seche Vite Top Coat

Stamping Plate M26 + Konad Special White Stamping Polish + Small Orange Rhinestones

One coat Seche Vite Top Coat

Malia Tastes Like Snozberries!

Today's manicure began with base coat, two coats of Zoya Malia, and one coat of Zoya Armor top coat.

To that, I added two coats of Jindie Nails Taste Like Snozberries.

Over the glitter, I added one layer of Gelous gel top coat, and a layer of Seche Vite top coat to smooth everything out and seal the manicure.

Products Used:

One coat Beauty Secrets Moisturizing Top Coat

Two coats Zoya Malia

One coat Zoya Armor Top Coat

Two coats Jindie Nails Taste Like Snozberries

One coat Gelous Advanced Gel Top Coat

One coat Seche Vite Top Coat

My Nail Care Routine

I've gotten some questions regarding my nail care routine, and what I do to keep my nails healthy. The answer is, not much...I don't do anything special to my cuticles or have an intricate mix of potions to make my nails grow out strong. My routine is very basic, I have outlined it below and added a few pics for reference.

The first step in a fresh manicure is to remove the previous polish. For this, I just use the cheapest remover from whatever store I am at when I remember that I'm out of remover...I use the nourishing formula. The cotton pads I use for removal are Face Secrets Disposable Facial Cloths. These lint free pads can be found at Sally Beauty, and are around $5.99 for 50. I can typically use one pad to remove two manicures, using half of the pad per manicure. For more difficult polish removal I will end up using one pad. I always wash my hands after polish removal, I personally don't like the smell of polish remover.

The next step is to MOISTURIZE! It doesn't matter what you use for this step, as long as you use something to moisturize your nails and cuticles. Above are a few things that I rotate depending on my mood or how my nails feel that day. Pictured are JR Watkins Aloe & Green Tea Hand & Cuticle Salve, LUSH Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter, and Julep Essential Cuticle Oil. Whatever you use, rub the product into your nails, all the skin around your nails, and even into the skin up to your first knuckle. I do this every time I start a new manicure, which is about twice a week.

Step three, shape and clean. After moisturizing, shape your nails however you prefer. Mine are square at the tips, so I use the darker file above to create the squared tip. I put my finger on the desk, use the file to create a T shape with my finger, and use a side to side motion with the file to keep the tips even and straight. The metal file with the rounded tip is great for cleaning under the nails. I purchased the metal file at Walmart, and the darker file at Sally Beauty.

After I moisturize and shape my nails, I wash my hands again to clean away any dust from filing, and any residual oil or product that may still be on the nails. I use this cute little monkey nail brush that my bestie gave me to scrub my nails clean. 

Pick your products! Base coat, polish color, top coat. Today I have used one layer of Beauty Secrets Moisturizing Base Coat, two coats of Sinful Shine Royal Flush, and one coat of Seche Vite Top Coat.

And there you have it! All of my nail care/new manicure steps from beginning to finish :)

Zoya Maya

Today I am wearing a lovely pink/coral jelly, Zoya Maya. I started with Zoya's Anchor base coat, added three layers of Maya, and finished with Zoya's Armor top coat.

Products Used:

One coat Zoya Anchor Base Coat

Three coats Zoya Maya

One coat Zoya Armor Top Coat

Cookies & Cream

This manicure begins with two coats of Zoya Carey

Then, I spaced out and put a layer of Seche Vite on top....forgetting that Seche makes Zoya shrink back from the tips and sides, doh! Normally, when doing a glitter mani, I'll lay the glitter right on the color with no top coat in between. However, I did the the color last night and the glitter today...so I needed to have a top coat for overnight, and just grabbed Seche cause it's my fave! Shrinkage was minimal this time, thankfully.

Anyway...today I added the glitter, two coats of Hard Candy Sugar Rush.

I then added one layer of Gelous top coat to smooth out the glitter, and ended with a coat of Seche Vite.

This manicure reminded me of Hershey's Cookies & Cream Chocolate Bars!

Products Used:

One coat Beauty Secrets Moisturizing Base Coat

Two coats Zoya Carey

One coat Seche Vite Top Coat (Oops, Zoya doesn't mix with Seche!)

Two coats Hard Candy Sugar Rush

One coat Gelous Advanced Gel Top Coat

One coat Seche Vite (OK to use over Zoya after it dries for 24 hours, and over glitter that is over Zoya that is dry.)

Sinful Shine - All The Rage

All The Rage is the second color I have tried from the new Sinful Shine line of Gel Tech polishes. 

This is two coats of All The Rage, pictured with no topcoat. It really is very shiny on its own, just like they claim! 

I really like this color on me, and it's a great base for the design I did on top, Raging Rock Stars.

Sinful Shine - Bottoms Up Part-1

A few days ago, a good friend of mine showed me an Instagram pic of what seemed to be several *new* Sinful Colors polishes, with shiny chrome-like caps, and a new name on the bottle. Being an avid collector of Sinful Colors, I was immediately intrigued! So yesterday while I was out, I stopped in at one of my fave Walgreen's to see if they had these mysterious new colors, and they had a whole new display with more new colors than I had expected! I limited myself to 5, for now, and this is the first one that I have tried so far.

Sinful Shine w/ Gel Tech - Bottoms Up

The new display claims that these new *gel type* formulas are 'more glossy than a patent leather shoe'. Years ago, I used to get gel manicures regularly, but this is the first *gel type* polish I have used from a bottle, that doesn't require a UV light to cure. So I decided to do an experiment to see how long and how well these polishes will last. 

On my Left hand, I have a base coat, one coat of Bottoms Up, and Seche Vite top coat. On my right hand, I have a base coat, two coats of Bottoms Up, and Seche Vite top coat. There two things I find interesting about this side-by-side comparison of both hands. One, is it just me or does the Left side just look *better* with just one coat? Two, the right side has a teeny bit of shrinkage, mostly obvious on my ring finger. I plan to wear these until there's noticeable chipping, I just hope that doesn't take *too* long haha.

Products Used:

One coat Beauty Secrets Moisturizing Base Coat

Left hand - One coat Sinful Shine Bottoms Up

Right hand - Two coats Sinful Shine Bottoms Up

One coat Seche Vite Top Coat