OPI - Barefoot in Barcelona

I was in the mood to tone things down a bit and wear a nude. I decided to wear OPI Barefoot in Barcelona which was one of my untrieds that I had purchased, I believe sometime in October. I admit, one of the main reasons that I wanted this color was for its namesake alone. Barcelona is home to my all time favorite club football team (Barcelona of course ;) haha) and it's also on my list of places I want to visit eventually. It's a great nude too! It has pinkish undertones, which makes it visually interesting. I was curious to see how this color would work with my skin tone because when looking at swatches, I didn't see anyone wearing this shade with a tan complexion. I think this polish works well with my skin tone, so I'm pleased about that. Depending on the lighting it gives me mannequin hands and direct lighting brings out the pink in this polish. For a nude, this one definitely isn't boring!

Application could have been better however. I found this to be a little on the thick side to the point where I had to apply this polish using thicker layers to get a smoother application and to prevent it from looking goopy. I used two thicker coats to get it fully opaque.  It was still manageable though and one generous coat of Seche Vite smoothed everything out.

I've grown to really like this polish and I can't wait to wear it again with some stamping or with a pretty gold glass flecked layering polish. The possibilities are endless. >:) I also really like this length  for my nails; not too short and not too long to the point where I would consider it a hazard lol.

That's all for today and thanks for stopping by and reading! <3
-Alana

Korean Nail Products, Bundle Monster Plates, and Zoya Color Boxes

Hey guys! Today I thought that I'd share with you all some Christmas gifts that I received yesterday that are nail related, and I'm super excited about all of them. :)

This past November my sister went to South Korea to visit a friend and while she was there I asked her if she could check out what type of Korean nail products and nail polishes were there. I got some of those products and nail polishes as a apart of my Christmas gift from her. Lets take a look:

This Grapefruit Nail Polish Remover smells amazing; exactly like a grapefruit! The first ingredient is acetone, but I can barely smell the acetone at all. Even my Dad, who is more sensitive to the smell of polish remover and nail polish, said it smells like a fruit beverage. I haven't used this yet, but when I do I have a feeling that I'm going to start craving some grapefruit lol. 

This is a cuticle remover. It doesn't smell strongly of pineapple and smells as if it has alcohol or something in it, but I honestly can't say what it is in because I can't read the ingredients list on the back as it is written Korean haha. It doesn't have a bad smell at all though. I haven't tried this out yet either but will be doing so tonight. :)

This is the only product that I got from my sister that I have tried so far and I really, really like it! You squeeze the tube and the product comes out of the brush applicator and apply it to your nails and cuticles. I looked this product up online on the Skin Food website. There is a version of the site that is available in English and this product is supposed to help moisturize nails and cuticles and prevent cracking and peeling of the nails. What I like about this product is that it isn't greasy at all, making it great to use during the day. However, even though it isn't greasy, it's still a great moisturizer. It makes my cuticles look so good and its extremely lightweight and leaves the skin feeling silky and smooth. It also smells great; very clean and light smelling. :)

These are the polishes I received. The bottles are on the small side, but I don't care about that. I like the colors my sister chose; I don't own any of these colors in my stash. The one on the left is a pinkish nude creme. I'm curious to see how it compares to OPI Barefoot in Barcelona. Perhaps I'll do a comparison one day. ;). The one in the middle is a dusty blue that borders on periwinkle creme. The frost bottle makes it look lighter than it is. I can't wait to wear this one, something about it is edgy. The last one on the right is a light mint green creme. It  really reminds me of Essie Mint Candy Apple, but since I don't own that one (it's still on my wishlist) I can't do a comparison. 

This is the second set of Bundle Monster plates that I got from my parents as a stocking stuffer. I'm so excited to have these because I've been lemming them since they came out! I'm glad I got these as a gift because it saves a college student 20 something bucks! haha 

 And lastly, this is my gift to myself haha. Technically I got these for free. I'm sure that most of you were aware of the flash promos that Zoya was having on their Facebook Page and Twitter page. I was able to get the flash promo deal were if I got any two of the color boxes I'd get two free with free expedited shipping. The first two that I got were gifts for my mom and sister and decided to keep the two free ones for myself as an end of a very hard semester gift. ;) (I'm allowed to do that right? lol) I chose the Rich Reds and Perfect Greens color boxes. In the Rich Reds box, from left to right, I have Isla, Sasha, and Sarah (which was already on my wishlist. In the Perfect Greens box, from left to right,  I have Envy (which was also already on my wishlist), Edyta, and Yara. All of these polishes are gorgeous and I can't wait to try them all out! :)

Whew, that was a lot of writing haha. Did any of you receive anything nail related for Christmas?

That's all for now and thanks for stopping by and reading!<3

-Alana

Simple Christmas French Manicure

Hello readers! :)

Wow, it's Christmas Eve already! Where has this year gone!? I'm really looking forward to tonight. On Christmas Eve my Aunt, who literally lives 5 minutes walking distance from me, has her annual Christmas Eve party. I'm excited to see my friends and family and eat delicious food. :) Then when I get home, it's off to bed.

And of course I had to have nails for the occasion. This will also be my Christmas manicure as well. I decided on a french manicure, which is something I wear rarely. I chose a french because of how simple and clean they look and it's easy to add some flair to them. So under the white tips I added a gold line and then stamped a holly design on my ring and thumb fingers and then dotted the holly berries using a glass flecked red using a dotting tool.

I have to say, I'm rather proud of this mani; I free-handed the french tips and the gold stripes underneath. I rarely ever free-hand anything and so therefore I don't have much practice, but this came out well seeing as how I don't have much experience with free-handing. I just wish I had made the gold lines under the white french tips thinner.

I really, really like this mani. It's simple, yet festive. Oh, and that bottle of polish that I'm holding, that's Zoya Sarah. It's a stunning red and I can't wait to wear it as a full manicure.

Polishes used: 
French Pink Base Color: Essie Mademoiselle 
White French Tips: N.Y.C 134A
Gold Stripe: China Glaze Passion
Holly: Zoya Veruschka
Holly Berries: Zoya Sarah
Top Coat: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Top Coat. 


That's all for today and thanks for stopping by and reading. I hope you all have a very merry Christmas! <3
-Alana

Jade is the New Black Gets Iced

Hi all! :)

For this week's mani I decided to try out something new. I love the look of gradient nails that were done using the sponging technique, so I decided to give it a go. I wanted this mani to have a Christmas feel so I painted my nails with two coats of OPI Jade is the New Black. I then used a white, sheer shimmer polish and sponged it on my nails until I was satisfied with what it looked like. I then topped everything off with a coat of Seche Vite. (Speaking of Seche Vite, I had absolutely NO shrinkage with Seche Vite with this mani. Success!) I got a little picture happy with this mani. It was rather photogenic. :)

A couple of the photos have been blurred on purpose so that you can see how pretty that white shimmer is. :)

This is the polish I sponged on my nails. The brand is Carlo di Roma, but I've never seen it before. My mother picked it up from a Dollar Tree a few years ago, but I've never seen a Dollar Tree carry this brand since then. The bottle says "Made in Spain." Has anyone seen this brand before? Regardless, look how pretty it is! :)

This is what I used as my sponge. I asked my mother if she had any eyeshadow applicators and she gave me an entire bag of these. This applicator allowed for me to have great control over where I wanted to apply the polish.

For my first time sponging, I have to say that over all I'm pretty pleased with how it came out. :)

That's all for today, thanks for stopping by and reading! <3
-Alana

Ask Cosmetics Inc. Gigantic Festive Giveaway

Hello once again! :) (omg, I'm posting twice in the same day O_o haha)

I just wanted to share with you guys a fantastic giveaway from Ask Cosmetics Inc. 3 lucky winners will win the entire line of Ask Cosmetic Products, a $250.00 CAD value! The contest is running until December 22, 2011.

Check out all of those products! Especially the polishes; great classic colors that should be in every polish collection. If you would like to see a detailed description of all of these products go here: Lisa's Nail Care Blog.  

For information about the contest visit their Facebook page and then click on the "Events" page found on the left hand side under the profile picture to read the full entry rules and contest guidelines. 

That's all for now, and for those of you who decide to enter the giveaway, good luck! :)

-Alana

Liebster Award :)

Hello readers! :)

I'm back home from school for winter break. It feels so good to be done with this semester and come home and be a bum all day because I don't have any studying to do! :) I have been a bum all day actually and I can't remember the last time I have felt this relaxed. Aaaah, home sweet home. <3

Okay now on to the actual post haha. I've been nominated for the Liebster Award by Kay at Nuts about Nails.  Thank you so much Kay for thinking of me and passing this award on to me! <3

"Liebster" is a German word which means dearest or beloved, but it can also mean favourite. The idea of the Liebster award is that it is given to bloggers who have less than 200 followers, all in the spirit of fostering new connections and to bring attention to these brilliant blogs! 


The rules are : 

• Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you
• Reveal the five blogs you have chosen and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog
• Copy and paste the award onto your blog
• Request that people you have sent the award to forward it on to their favorite blogger

I nominate:

1. Both Hand Polished
2. dameliac
3. Glamo Nails 
4. Happily Polished
5. love polish  

Once again, thanks Kay for nominating me! :)

I hope to have a mani posted for you guys by tomorrow or Monday! 

-Alana

Candy Cane Inspired Nails

Hello! :)

This week is officially my last week at school for a month! I only have 2 more finals to take and then helloooo Winter Break! :) I'm excited to get back home and sleep in my own bed, eat home cooked meals, not have to study, read for leisure, go shopping, go ice skating... the list could go on lol.

For my last week here at school I decided to do nails that are reminiscent of candy canes. I used e.l.f Cranberry as my base color, which is a blue toned red with red glitter and then I stamped diagonal stripes on top using Color Club Antiquated. This mani is very sparkly and looks very Christmasy. It also reminds me of wrapping paper haha. Cranberry is a top coat eater, so later on today I'm going to have to add another layer of top coat to smooth everything out.

That's all for today and thanks for stopping by and reading! For those of you who still have finals and papers to write, good luck on all you exams and assignments! :)
-Alana

Zoya - Veruschka (Glossy)

I've got to jump right into this post, because I think that Zoya Veruschka with a top coat has got to be one of the pretties polishes I've ever worn. It's now one of my favorites :). When I first applied this last night I was debating whether or not I should keep it matte, but I couldn't help myself. And now I'm glad I couldn't help myself. I think it's infinitely prettier glossy.

Veruschka is one of those polishes that "glows from within."Application was great. I applied two coats and used Sally Hanses Insta-Dri as my top-coat. I can't believe I waited so long to buy this. It stayed on my wish-list for ages. I also felt this was the perfect polish to wear to start of the month of December. This green reminds me of Christmas trees :).

Green lovers, this is a must have! :) Actually, I think this is a must have period for polish lovers haha. :)

That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by and reading! <3

-Alana