Hunger Games Nails....revisited

I did some nails based on the Hunger Games when I went to the midnight premiere, and I don't have any actually good photos, but this is what they looked like:

Now if you've ever read the books or seen the movie (both highly recommended), then you'll be able to get the reference that it was based off of Katniss, or the "Girl On Fire."  As much as I absolutely loved these nails, they kind of looked a bit messy, and that bothered me when I wore them. So today we did a themed event for our new members of the marching band and I redid my "Girl On Fire" nails, so I would like to share those with you today. 

So I got a ridiculous number of compliments about these and I sincerely love them.  I can't wait to try and mix the two versions of this idea into one when I have more time. 

I first started with China Glaze Stone Cold (from the Hunger Games collection, how appropriate!), which is a glittery charcoal matte that's pretty close to opaque in one coat (I should have probably done two, but I was in a hurry).  Then I added the gold foil from Orly called Glitz and Glamour by putting a glob of it on the tip of the nail, then cleaning off the brush and dragging the excess down to make a gradient effect.  Then with my dotting tool, I made random lines to make indents of polish.  Then, when I patted on a touch of China Glaze Riveting (also from the collection), the indents were still there, giving the impression of flames.  Finally, I finished with some Wet N Wild I Red A Good Book and used the same gradient effect.  I ended up putting some China Glaze Fairy over the top because I love me some glitter!

So yeah, happy Re-Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor!

Song of the Day: All American Nightmare by Hinder (we are playing this in our first marching show this year!)

Back to school!

I am now officially back to school.  I've spent the last 5 days moving in/going to band camp so needless to say I am EXHAUSTED.  15 hour days on campus are hard to deal with!  Right before I moved in I did these nails to represent my endless school spirit, because my college is the best one out there, no exceptions.  I bleed black and gold, and I love my Buffaloes! GO BUFFS!

Black is OPI Black Onyx

Gold is Orly Glitz and Glamour.

Fun fact: The gold perfectly matches the back of the marching band uniform

My beautiful campus.  It feels good to be home!

Glad to be back to my favorite place.  Home is where the Buffaloes roam!

Song of the Day: Just A Feeling by Maroon 5

Nubar Purple Rain Glitter

So this polish is really really special to me as of now.  Why, you ask? Because it's my 300th nail polish!!! Woohoo! *Showers of confetti and glitter*

I know that I'm still in the infant stage of my collection, but this was a huge milestone for me! So I'm very excited about it.  On to the swatches!

Bottle shot

Read on for more after the break!

bareMinerals The Vision Duo

Alright so this is my first makeup review, and since we just got a Sephora in the JC Penney that I work at, this might become a recurring thing (thank goodness I'm going back to school, I've already spent WAY too much money there!)  This is the bareMinerals Ready Eyeshadow Duo in The Vision.  It retails at $20 but you can get it on ebay for less (which of course I didn't pay attention to when it's staring me in the face at the store!).  The two colors that it comes with are Illusion (a very light teal with a slight white luster, but mostly matte) and Mirage (an incredible brown base with a teal/blue shimmery flash.  Very much of a duochrome shadow that is absolutely BEAUTIFUL).  My good friend that works in the Sephora did my eyes first then I did it on my own, and you can just barely see the difference. 

This duo has two really odd shades that work absolutely beautifully together, I am head over heels in love with how it looks.  For both the looks, we have Illusion on the lid and Mirage along the crease and outer corner.  I didn't use any other colors to show the duo as is.  The packed shadow applies really smoothly and has a great, silky texture.  It actually feels more like a cream when it is being applied than the powder that it is, and I actually am not even wearing it over primer, yet it has stayed on like a champ, and hasn't creased at all.  The shadows are extremely pigmented (as expected for bareMinerals) and like I said before, I absolutely love them.

Add caption

Read on after the break for some close ups!

Orly Royal Velvet

Orly Royal Velvet has a purple base with a strong blue shimmer.  It has a strong duochrome effect in person, but that didn't show up as intensely in the pictures.  All the swatches are after 2 days of wear (woo-hoo for great wear!) and they are one coat of Royal Velvet over 2 coats of OPI Black Onyx. It takes about 3 coats for full opacity on it's own and it doesn't have the nice jelly/shimmer finish that I love about these (over black).  They look like I just dipped my fingers in some kind of melted stuff.  It's very fun. There's some more pictures after the break, duochromes tend to make photo-heavy posts.

In direct sunlight

In the shade

That's a pretty duochrome in artificial light!