Ashley is PolishAddicted: August 2012

Friday, August 31, 2012

31 Day Challenge Day One - RED with Zoya Kimmy

Today I am beginning my very first nail/blogging challenge ever - and it's a doozy! I am excited for the challenge but hope I can keep up - we all know my nail art skills aren't the best! LOL

Several bloggers are joining in this - some are doing a 30 Day Challenge instead and some are adding in the extra challenge of also using an untried polish each day. I am so excited to see what everyone comes up with!

For day one I decided to pull a gorgeous Zoya from my stash - Zoya Kimmy. Kimmy is an orange-based red with golden shimmer. Absolutely stunning - 2 coats for opacity.

Zoya Kimmy

Isn't Kimmy gorgeous?!

If you'd like to join the 30/31 Day Challenge, go here to grab the codes to embed in your posts for the next 30 days and add your post using the link below!

Check out these lovely ladies entries for the 30 Day Challenge!

1. Dimpal

2. Kat

3. Polished Criminails

4. Sheila at Pointless Cafe

5. Casual Spark

6. Nail A College Drop Out

7. Ashley is PolishAddicted

8. melmyissta

9. Alexis

10. Hand-y Feats and Other Treats

11. Claire at nuthin' but a nail thing

12. Susan at The Subtle Shimmer

13. The Nail Polish and the Blog

14. Nicole at Young Wild and Polished

15. Jo

16. Ariadne Elise

17. Christina at Starlett Approved

18. Polish. Glitter. Rock & Roll!

19. Glowstars.net

20. Demi (Voir-la-Beaute)

21. Taylor @Nailed to the T

22. Rebecca

23. Galdina @ nailuscious

24. Hooked on Polish

25. Jenn (PolishCrazed)

26. Gnarly Gnails

27. Life and Nail Art

28. datyorkLOVES

29. Lacquology

30. Let's Go to the Mall - Essie Forever Young

31. Polish Groupie

32. She Who Does Nails

33. Agia @ ArtigoBeauty

34. Purple-Polish

35. Discover Polish Create

36. Debbie Crumpet

37. Things I Love at the Moment

38. Victoria - manicurator

39. Bellezza Bee

40. Samantha Dobbs

41. Nail Polish Anonymous

42. Let Me See Ur Peacock

43. Paper Thin Nails

44. Stella from My Wet Nails

45. Cosmetic Proof

46. Marnie (nubbins4nails)

47. MegsManicures

48. Nail Alchemy

49. mimi manciures

50. Imagination In Colour

51. Tes Did It Nails

52. Lissa's Polish Addiction

53. Two Lacquered Girls

54. Volatile Varnish

55. Pamper with Polish

56. Bénédicte @ I'm Anaa!

57. superficially Colorful

58. Lydia's Nails

59. Polished Mom

60. polish cart

61. Sugar Coated Nails

62. Nail Polishism

63. Mrs Yun Yun Does Nails

(Cannot add links: Registration/trial expired)

Doctor Who Celebration Collaboration Mani Day!

Hello again everyone! September 1st is the premiere of the new season of Doctor Who in the UK and to celebrate several of my blogging friends/Whovians and myself decided to do Doctor Who manis!

I had several ideas for manis - a TARDIS (of course), a Dalek, the logo, etc. but I am not talented enough in my art skills to pull that off and have them look decent. But I love the background scene that plays during the opening theme song, I had thoughts before deciding to do a Doctor Who mani that that would make an awesome mani. So that's just what I did, and I think it turned out pretty darn well! If you don't know what I am referring to, here is a screenshot:

Doctor Who Opening Theme Song Image

For this mani I used a new-to-me technique, the "Saran Wrap/plastic wrap technique." The only problem was when I sat down to do it I realized I was out of plastic wrap! LOL So, I improvised and used a plastic baggie.I tried many different layering combos before I found one that I actually liked. I ended up using Pure Ice French Kiss as my base, followed by a layer of black that I used the baggie on and then a layer of Zoya Suri that I also used the baggie on. The two most important tips I can give you with this technique are 1) make sure your base coat is COMPLETELY dry before adding another layer and using the plastic and 2) do not "over dab" - this takes off too much polish.

Doctor Who mani

I hope you enjoyed this post!

Don't forget to check out all of my fellow bloggers manis below! There will be new additions through Monday!

In honor of the new season of Dr. Who, we're showing off our Dr. Who inspired manis!

1. Sarah at Samarium's Swatches	2. Jo @ Glitter, Glam, Sparkle, Shine	3. Sheila at Pointless Cafe
4. Ashley is PolishAddicted	5. Tess @ Polish Smoothie	6. Bénédicte I'm Anaa!
7. Danielle at Princess Polish	8. Kim	9. Rhonni @ Polish-Ninja
10. Lauriestrode	11. The Silverinator	12. Kas at Varnished Valkyrie

(Cannot add links: Registration/trial expired)

Grey and Neon Pink Polka Dots! (And Announcements!)

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you have a fabulous long weekend planned! I have a couple of "announcements" to post before I go into my polka dot mani. :)

First, I have decided that I will be participating in the 31 Day Challenge, along with several of my blogging friends (and their friends! Haha). This will start tomorrow, September 1st. Sarah at Chalkboard Nails has made up several different images you can use for the challenge on your blog, if you like.

Also, in celebration of the new season of Doctor Who beginning tomorrow (I am a recent Doctor Who convert, I love it!) several of us will be posting Doctor Who themed manis throughout the weekend. I will have mine up tonight!

********************

Okay, that's all for the announcements - on to the polka dots! I used Orly Decoded, Sinful Colors 24/7 and Milani White on the Spot - all pics were taken in the shade.

Polka Dot mani

That's all for this post! I'll see you again soon!

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Nails Inc. Hampstead Gardens - Swatches and Review

This evening I am showing you a color that is absolutely perfect for Fall - I really wish we had Fall here in Arizona. *sigh* Anyway, no matter what the season, I really love this color.

Hampstead Gardens is a lovely yellow-leaning caramel. But not so yellow that is is yellow, if that makes any sense at all. The formula on this one is like all of my other Nails Inc. cremes - pure perfection. I really love this brand, it is in my top 3.

All photos show 2 coats of polish with no topcoat.

Nails Inc. Hampstead Gardens

What do you think of this color? Would you wear it? Are you ready for Fall colors?

You can purchase select Nails Inc. polishes from sephora.com in the US and nailsinc.com in the UK.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Purple and Green Flakie Explosion!

Happy Wednesday everyone! I have a gorgeous combo for you tonight! This just so happens to be one of those combos that you can't capture the beauty of in photos. Well, I can't - I'm sure there are people out there who can.

I used Urban Outfitters Bandeau - a gorgeous blurple (blue/purple) - as my base. I put this color on before bed, with a top coat, and woke up with tip wear. Ugh. Needless to say I was disappointed - all I did was sleep. I was going to remove it the next morning when I say Zoya Opal sitting there and thought it would look great over Bandeau. Wowsers, I was right.

Again, this looks so much better in person. Please excuse the tip wear in the photos. I used 1 - 2 coats of Opal and had no issues with application. I did apply a top coat but even without one the flakies were nearly smooth. I love Zoya - they are such a consistently amazing brand.

Zoya Opal over Urban Outfitters Bandeau - in the shade

Zoya Opal over Urban Outfitters Bandeau - in the sun

Zoya Opal over Urban Outfitters Bandeau - in the shade

I absolutely love this combo! What do you think of it? Are you a fan of flakies?

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Zoya Paloma and Milani Hot Pink Jelly Sandwich!

Hello lovelies! My head is pounding so this is going to be a quickie!

I have recently fallen head-over-heels in love with both jelly sandwiches (although I still don't like jellies on their own) and the lovely berryish color that is Zoya Paloma. You may start seeing a lot more jelly sandwiches on my blog.

I used three coats of Paloma followed by one or two "dabbing" coats of Milani Hot Pink, one more coat of Paloma - and topped it all off with one coat of Poshe. Yummy, squishy goodness.

Zoya Paloma and Milani Hot Pink Jelly Sandwich

I hope you enjoyed this post! What do you think of jelly sandwiches? Would you like to see more of them in the future?

Monday, August 27, 2012

Girly Bits Cosmic Ocean Over China Glaze Wagon Trail and Black!

Hello everyone! I have a long post with entirely too many pics tonight (if that is even possible LOL).

Girly Bits Cosmic Ocean is a gorgeous green/blue/teal multichrome topper. This looks so amazing over so many different colors. I started out swatching it over black and did an accent nail with China Glaze Wagon Trail to see how it would look. Well, I ended up loving it so much that I used it for my whole mani! LOL So I have photos of it over Wagon Trail and then photos at the end of it over black with Wagon Trail as the accent nail.

The formula was perfect, no issues whatsoever. I used two coats of Cosmic Ocean for all of the photos. Please excuse my dry skin - between cleaning and swatching it has taken a beating.

Girly Bits Cosmic Ocean over China Glaze Wagon Trail

Girly Bits Cosmic Ocean over black with China Glaze Wagon Trail accent

How about that? Isn't it amazeballs?!

Girly Bits is available on Big Cartel and also available at llarowe.com and Harlow & Co. for $10 to $13 retail for full .5 oz bottles.Don't forget to follow Pam at Girly Bits on Facebook and on her blog for updates on Smurf Dance and all of her other polishes.

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