Union Jack & Punk Rock Manis

Union Jack Mani: OPI Swimsuit Nailed It + striper nail art

Union jack mani

Hi guys! Long time, no post, huh?!

Sorry 'bout that! I've been SUPER busy and have lots of news!!! =0)

Most exciting news first,

I have an iPad!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you believe it!?!?!? I still have trouble remembering that it's real. I swear I never thought I'd have one! =0) I've had a flip phone for the last, let's see... 5 years? MORE!?!? So, yeah. Technology doesn't find me very easily much to my dismay...!

So when I was gifted an ipad recently, I was absolutely BLOWN AWAY with how cool it is. Seriously loving it and catching up on tons of lost time- downloading apps, taking pics, etc. Living the mobile life! Lol

Next coolest thing is that MASH sent me a new plate set to review. I've not ever received any products for review until then (or...well...now?), so it's s pretty big deal to me. I have been playing with it for sometime now so I have lots of pictures to share with you guys! Which is the reason I wanted to wait to do the post- I like regular blogger reviews that show an example mani, but I thought it would be AWESOME to wait on the review until I could show a TON of example manis. So that was my strategy... =0)

Next next, I should be receiving a set from CHEEKY very soon to review for you guys, also. Yes, I am super freaking out excited!!!!! Lol. I know we all (well,many of us, anyway!) have been waiting for what feels like FOREVER for CHEEKY to release their "Summer Set." Well, they are doing a short pre-sale right now, and will release the set "for real" very soon! YAYYY!!!

Now, the pic you saw at the beginning of this post was a mani I did a few weeks ago. The base isOPI Swimsuit Nailed It, and I painted the UK flag with polish stripers. I kinda suck (I think, anyway) at painting nail art by hand. However, the union jack is a pretty forgiving patter to do. I kinda just winged it and I thought it turned out pretty cute!

=0)

Sally Hansen Crackle Distressed Denim Swatches

Here she is- One of the new Sally Hansen crackles.  The blue one to be exact.  Called Distressed Denim.  Let's see how she does...

Sally Hansen Crackle Distressed Denim

Swatched over an orange and lime green polish

not great over the orange, lime green= yum!

Distressed Denim over Lickety-Split Lime and some orange. ;)

OK.  Here are my thoughts.  Not in love with the blue crackle.  My whole reason for wanting a blue was to put it over orange polishes.  I think the sheerness of this polish made for kind of a yucky combination over the orange.  =0(  Still looking for a great blue crackle.

Over the green and probably other blues, however, it's ok.  Still sheer like I said, so if you overlap layers it will show, but it's a crackle- so the sheer factor is not that noticeable over the crackle effect.

I've heard some people complaining about the Sally Hansen crackles NOT CRACKLING.  This has NOT been my experience.  I have tried quite a few of them, and all of them crackle just fine given a few tips:

• SHAKE THE BOTTLE!!!  ( yes I know, you're not supposed to shake polish.  But in this case, just DO IT! 

•  Wait until your base polish is DRY!!!

The only time my SH Crackles did not crackle was when the base polish was not totally dry, or I did not shake the bottle first.  So there ya have it.   What is your favorite SH Crackle polish?  ;)

Thoughts on OPI Black Shatter

Katy Perry + OPI = Nail Polish Heaven

Yeah. I am a child of the 80s.  Yeah. I wore hot pink spandex leggings with big baggy t-shirts on top. 

Guilty as charged.

So, of course, when OPI released their version of a crackle nail polish I rushed out to ULTA the day it was released to get my greedy little hands on it.  With coupons, of course. ;0)

Hear me when I say- it does not disappoint!

It's called Black Shatter, and it's been released (as if you guys didn't know already) as part of the Katy Perry collection for OPI.  The company also partnered up with Serena Williams to bring us a set with both "Simply Smashing" (an almost tennis ball green) along with Black Shatter together.


I LURVE black shatter.  I think the way it crackles is PERFECT.  Really. You've seen pix of other crackle polishes, the way you can't really see the polish color underneath.  This one is different. 

Honestly, it all depends on the way you apply it, so if you aren't getting the results  you want, try it again with more or less polish on the brush.  I find, however, that with one moderate coat I get the effect I'm looking for. 

Exhibit A:

This combination was created using two polishes from Sinful.  The hot pink (wisely chosen by my BF, actually) is Sinful "Fasion Neon."  That's how it's spelled on the bottle, anyway.  *snort*

The pink glitter polish is Sinful's "I Miss Yuo."  *rolls eyes*  Seriously.  I'm couldn't make this stuff up, folks.  Both of these polishes are misspelled on their labels.  Unless there's some joke I'm just not getting... ;0)  It's a discontinued color, but you might have it hiding out in your stash somewhere, or you may be able to swap for it on MUA.  For $1.99, honestly, it's a very pretty and fun polish.  I personally, will probably only wear it under BS.  Same with the hot pink (Fashion Neon).  I'm just not a pink person, but the pink and black combo looks so chic next to all the grey clothes I wear all the time.  It's a welcome pop of color and really lifts me up whenever I look at my hands!

Anyway, I think this combo is AWESOME!  The pink glitter (I Miss [You]) is very similar to one of the other OPI's from the Katy Perry collection called "Teenage Dream."  Except I didn't have to spend $8.50 on it.  In fact, I got this gorgeous polish for free just by asking the most generous people on freecycle Portland if they had any polish they didn't want!  Thank you portland nail polish lovers!  You've gifted me with some wonderful old stuff that I couldn't get anywhere else! 

And just for fun, here's a little skittles look I did when I was first playing around with it:

Thumb: Milani Hi-Tech;  L-R: OPI Blue Moon Lagoon, Zoya Trixie, China Glaze He's Going In Circles, and DV8.

These are all holographic (except for Zoya trixie on my middle finger).  I thought I'd like the way a holo polish looked peeking out from the black.  Honestly, though, it was barely noticeable.  The BF even said he thought it would look best over a neon polish.  Hence the hot pink!  haha! 

Cause, you know. Real men like pink. Right?  =0)

The one and only thing I'll say about BS that could be a negative is that it dries SOOOOOO fast that it makes it a little bit hard to work with.  It can get clumpy on the brush before you're even done painting one hand.  I have a feeling I'll need to clean off the neck almost every time I use it for fear of getting little dried clumpies in the bottle.  It is, however, worth all the trouble in my opinion!


Wadda you guys think?  Loving it?  Hating it?  Waiting on the China glaze crackles to make up your mind? 

Cause, you know. Real men like pink. Right?  =0)