China Glaze Poinsettia, China Glaze Ring In the Red, and Konad M65

I wanted to do a candy cane theme for my first Christmas mani. My first idea didn't work out, but I still succeeded! My first idea was to have a red glitter base and water marble with white and clear. The reason I wanted to marble with white and clear was so the red and white wouldn't mix together and look pink, but unfortunately the clear polishes I tried using didn't work for me. I think I should've just tried marbling using white and red. Oh well. I still wanted a candy cane look so I used China Glaze Poinsettia and China Glaze Ring In the Red for a base and then stamped using Konad M65 in Konad White. Still looks candy cane like right...right? Lol.

OPI Nicki Minaj Collection Swatches

Hey everyone! I'm officially on my winter break and I'm so excited to get back to blogging. I took my final yesterday and it just so happens yesterday was also the day nail polish heaven got this collection! Lucky me since this collection is actually due out in early January. I'm going to have to go back to nail polish heaven soon because they will be receiving China Glaze magnetic polishes any day now (also due out in early January)! Hope these swatches will be of help to those who are interested in getting this collection.

L to R: Did It On 'Em, Fly, Pink Friday, Metallic 4 Life, Save Me, Super Bass Shatter

Did It On 'Em. Lime green creme. 3 coats no topcoat. Formula got a little thick on my 2nd and 3rd coats, but not a problem.

This reminds me of Reptar from the Rugrats for some reason =P 

Fly. Turquoise creme. 2 coats no topcoat. This one stained a bit, but it was minimal.

Pink Friday. Bubblegum Pink. 2 coats no topcoat. 

Metallic 4 Life. Black jelly base with silver hex, round, and micro glitter. 3 coats no topcoat. So much depth, love this one!

Not sure about this combo because both polishes are dark and it's hard to distinguish between the two, but I  still like it.

Save Me. Clear base with holo bar glitter and silver micro glitter. 3 coats no topcoat. Don't think I'll be wearing this one alone, but it's gorgeous and I love the added effect from the holo bar glitter.

No flash. Love this combo because all the glitter underneath really shines through!

Flash

I have to say I truly love this collection. I'm big on bright colors, cremes, holos, glitters, and shatter and this collection has it all. I was really pleased with the Super Bass Shatter because I own a purple crackle polish from Sally Hansen and it was super sheer, but this one from OPI is opaque. I added topcoat to all the swatches with shatter and it really brought out the shimmer inside the shatter. My favorite to wear alone has to be Metallic 4 Life because it is so unique and my favorite combination was Save Me with the Super Bass Shatter. Well that's it for OPI's Nicki Minaj Collection. I'll be doing some holiday manis in the next few posts so stay tuned!

Gold Leopard Gradient

This is another one of my few manis that is actually inspired by a clothing article I own. My shirt had a lot of different shades of brown with a leopard print so I decided to use several shades of gold for my nails. I used China Glaze Passion, OPI Bling Dynasty, and OPI DS Glow for the gradient. I stamped using BM 221 in Konad Black. Lastly, I used a dotting tool to add China Glaze Cleopatra inside the leopard spots. I wonder if I used enough gold =]

OPI Your Royal Shine-ness and OPI Black Onyx Half Moonicure

This mani is from about a month ago, but I wasn't loving how it turned out and the pics are pretty dark because of the ugly weather, but I've finally decided to post it lol. I know it's not my best, but at least I tried something new! I used binder paper hole reinforcements. The only ones at the store were the plastic ones and I do NOT recommend using them because they really don't want to conform to your nail shape. Anyways here it is! Sorry for the tip wear, I decided to take the pics 5 days after wearing it =P Oh yea, I used a matte topcoat on these right before I took it off and it looked much nicer, but I unfortunately didn't take pics of it.