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-Two, Plus Zoya Natty Comparison

In my Sinful Shine - Bottoms Up Part-1 post, I said I was going to experiment with this new Sinful Colors formula and see how long it would last. I made it four whole days, and then had to change it out for a Raging Rock Stars design for a rock-and-roll show I am attending tonight. Here's what my left and right hands looked like at the end of four days of wear.

I applied the same base and top coat on both hands, the left with one coat of this color, and the right with two. Right away I noticed a difference in that the hand with one coat looked much nicer. It could be a fluke, I dunno....but I had some tip shrink right away on the right hand, and it wore unevenly. When I wear this color again, I'm going with the one coater. It held up amazingly over the course of 4 days, I'm really liking this new formula so far.

When I bought this color, I was thinking that it looked very similar to Zoya Natty, which I already owned. I bought it anyway, because I love this color, dupe or not! When I looked at them side by side, I realized that Natty is a deeper, darker shade of stormy blue. Bottoms Up is a bit brighter. Below is a comparison.

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

Sparkling Garbage Bubbles

I've been wearing Sparkling Garbage For Audrey for a few days, and today I decided to add some bubble stamps on top.

I used Konad special white stamping polish and stamping plate Mash-43 to create the bubbles, and sealed the design with one coat of Diamond Dry top coat.

Below is a collage of all three steps that create this manicure. China Glaze For Audrey on the left, For Audrey + Orly Sparkling Garbage in the middle, and For Audrey + Sparkling Garbage + Bubble stamps on the right.

Products Used for the Bubbles:

Konad Special White Stamping Polish

Mash Stamping Plate Mash-43

One coat Diamond Dry Top Coat Brilliance

Sparkling Garbage For Audrey

I'm a big fan of blue-green and holographic polishes. So when I walked past an Orly display the other day and spotted Sparkling Garbage, a lovely teal holo glitter, there was no question that it would be the newest addition to my collection.

Since Sparkling Garbage isn't quite opaque on its own, I chose to begin this manicure with two coats of China Glaze For Audrey.

Over that, I layered two coats of Orly Sparkling Garbage, and finished with a coat of Seche Vite top coat.

Polishes like these are infuriating to photograph, they never reveal their true beauty in pictures. Sparkling Garbage is densely packed with very fine holographic glitter that sparkles and shines in any light, and is especially breathtaking in direct sunlight. I tried and tried to capture the amazing holographic nature of this polish, just trust me that it is 100x more stunning in person! Below I have added a shot taken indoors with flash that shows a bit of what I'm attempting to describe. 

Products Used:

One coat Beauty Secrets Moisturizing Base Coat

Two coats China Glaze For Audrey

Two coats Orly Sparkling Garbage

One coat Seche Vite Top Coat

LC's Black Tie

I've been loving the new Hard Candy Crystal Confetti Collection, so today I have another one to show you. This manicure begins with a base coat, two beautiful coats of Zoya LC, and one layer of Zoya Armor top coat. (Be sure to scroll past the before/after at the bottom of this post, for some bonus 'fail' footage.)

I followed that with one, very easy to apply, coat of Hard Candy Black Tie Optional. I just love all the different sizes and shapes of black and white glitter in this polish.

I then added one coat of Gelous gel top coat to smooth out the glitter, and finished with one more coat of Zoya Armor.

Products Used:

One coat Zoya Anchor Base Coat

Two coats Zoya LC

One coat Zoya Armor Top Coat

One coat Hard Candy Black Tie Optional

One coat Gelous Advanced Gel Top Coat

One coat Zoya Armor Top Coat

Bonus 'Fail' Footage

My good friend Soguesswhat11 posted a lovely manicure the other day that had a soft pink base, a metallic green wavy design all over, and red flower stamp accents. This was my attempt to recreate her design with my own twist, see her video tutorial here.

I chose two coats of Zoya Erika as my pink base color, Sinful Colors Moss Have and stamping plate Mash-50 for the vines, and Zoya LC and stamping plate Mash-28 for the flowers. 

In the end, I just didn't think it was as successful as I had hoped it would be. I love the base color, but perhaps should have chosen a darker or more vibrant green for the vines (Moss Have is the only metallic-ish green I own), and maybe a different flower stamp. It's OK, but it isn't a total win in my book. I'll have to give it another try someday!

Guest Post at Olive + Hazel's Blog!

Today, I have done a guest post for Jessica from Olive + Hazel, click here to check it out! I've created a cheery and bright stamping design, and all the details are there, including the before and after pic, and a bunch of great stamping tips. Don't forget to browse Jessica's blog and follow her while you are there, she has tons of great beauty reviews, subscription unboxings, nail looks, beauty deals, and more!