Vinyl Remix - Test Drive

So I was scouting around Wal-Mart's polish section (imagine that!), and I snagged my 2 NYC "Grand Central Station" clear top coats that another blogger (sorry, can't remember who) said is better than Seche Vite!  Anywhoo, I was looking through the Maybeline section and saw a bunch of these Pure Ice sets (go figure):

I had never heard of these before, and I was intrigued!  All of the shrink-wrapped sets were black and white, but with different colored labels on the black.  So, what is "Art In Motion"?  Doesn't say, but the word "MAGIC" is all over, an I'm a sucker for magic, especially if it's in a bottle of polish!

Here's what the back says.  Hmmm, still not exactly sure what it does.  But the design on the little record (which is also a nail file), is a hint!

So, I rushed home, removed my Zoya mani (which came off very easily and cleanly...add me to the "I love Zoya" band-wagon), And put on the white base coat:

This is two coats.  Went on just fine.  I let this dry, then busted out the black polish.  The "tips" under the label say to brush "a wave, half moon, heart, diagonal stripe, or straight" lines.  So, I did.

 And it WAS magic!!  Look, it made pink, and black crackle over that!  Very fun fun fun!  And it crackled pretty well! 

I guess Pure Ice wants you to buy other colors, and then fill in the white areas with those for a complete design.  So, my final verdict is that it was really fun to watch the design appear, but I would rather just use my own pretty polishes under my own black crackle.  Each set is like $7.00, and it was thoroughly entertaining! 

Will you be trying these out?

A Zoya / Plasma 2-fer

So Plasma Plays in 21 Ways says that for my next mani's, I must "12. Pick a Green" and "13. Add a Layer of Polish Over That Green You Think Doesn't Go with It".  So I looked in my stash for green:

Sorry the pic is crooked!  Anyway, the point is that I had a bunch to choose from, right?  But I really wanted to try one of my new Zoya's, so I went with "Shawn":

How pretty is that?  This is 2 coats with no top coat.  It was super-shiny, and I love this military green color.  I had to get used to the consistency...it's kind of thin, but not really (it doesn't pool at the cuticles), but the more I brushed it on, then I would get bald spots, like the polish was already drying, but it wasn't dragging or clumping.  So I just stuck to 2 thin coats & it's marvelous.

So, what will NOT go with this?  I figured everything would, but then I saw Zoya "Opal", an aqua-ish flakie top coat.  And even though they are both "green", I think they totally do not work together.

So, after 1 coat of Opal over my lovely "Shawn" nails, here's what I got:

Well, not the best, and not the worst either.  I would love to see "Opal" on a dark teal, or light aqua!  It's not great on "Shawn".  But I got to try my Zoyas, and I love them!  Mission accomplished!

So, check off #12 and #13!

My Very First Zoyas!!

I've heard so much about Zoya, and how wonderful it is, that I had to check it out.  When I first visited their page, I was not disappointed!  After drooling over the TONS of colors, I then realized that each polish was $8, which is out of my price range for non-Indi polishes.  But I saw that they had periodic specials, so I put colors in my cart, but didn't buy...yet. 

Then, Zoya had their Earth Day promotion, where you get 50% off polishes, and you send back non-earth friendly non-Zoya polishes for them to dispose of properly.  Like I said, they have TONS of gorgeous and unique colors, but I managed to whittle it down to these (for now):

 no flash

with flash

Yes, those are Summer collection ones in the front...I'm weak in the face of all of those bloggers posting about them!  And, YES, they are as gorgeous as they all say they are!  Some of these polishes have super-pretty shimmer in them, but I think the cremes are just as lovely!  I can't wait to try them...I see a water marble in the future! 

After seeing the color spoon of the Summer collection in person, I'm convinced I must get them ALL!  I'm also wanting to try the 2 oz of their polish remover I got too...So, I'll definitely be watching for the next Zoya special offer. 

I believe my next mani is supposed to be green.  Hmmmm....

Plasma Plays in 21 Ways: "11. Pick a Color You've Never Worn"

This way to play was an easy one...or so I thought!  I have sooo many gorgeous polishes that I haven't even tried yet, I was really excited about this one.  And then I had to decide!  Ugh!  So, I figured I wanted to try some of my lovely Indies, but I couldn't pick just one... 

This is Pretty & Polished's "Black Swan" and Darling Diva Polish's "Divalicious" tipped with Lacquistry's "And Miles to Go Before I Sleep". 

In the sun!!!

OMG, right!?!  I love holographic polishes!  This is two coats of each, and they went on so smoothly!  And I haven't met a Lacquistry polish I didn't absolutely drool over!  I really think this looks like light reflecting off snow, which is exactly how she described it.  LOVE!!

Plasma Plays in 21 Ways: "10. Ombre"

As I mentioned in the post about #7 in Plasma Plays in 21 Ways, I'm still not clear on the difference between a "gradient" and an "ombre".  So, I'm going with "gradient" is with different shades of the same color, and "ombre" is different colors. 

As I also mentioned previously, I'm not so crazy about the whole sponging process to get the polishes to fade into one another.  It results in TONS of layers that don't dry.  WELL, in doing my research (aka drooling over gorgeous nail art pics on the net), I found two things that made me feel better about this whole process:

1. I saw the Eastern Night Cocktail's pic
2. I figured out that the sponge should be WET

That last bit of news was a total "DUH" moment.  My sponge kept soaking up my polish, rather than patting onto my nail like everyone else's, and I couldn't figure it out.  Thank God for YouTube!  :-)

So, that mani is like, totally gorgeous, right?  And I am loving the matte finish more than I should.  So, here's my version:

The first and last are without flash.  I really like the gradient effect under the matte finish!  This mani looks waaaay better in person.  I used China Glaze "Seduce Me" and Sinful Colors "Let's Talk" topped with NYC Matte Top Coat.  After I added the normal top coat dots, I regretted them, and I should have left them off...I need more dotting practice!  Live & learn!

Speaking of learning, this time after I polished my nails with the red, I polished a layer of purple on the top part of my nail and let it dry.  Then I sponged (with a WET sponge) purple a little further into the red.  Then I took a little polish on my polish brush and "pounced" on the obvious line between the polished-on purple, and the sponged-on purple to even things out.  This technique worked MUCH better for me, and made the whole process bearable.

YAY for matte ombres!!

Plasma Plays in 21 Ways: "9. Ruffian!"

My friends recently sucked me in to Pinterest.  So I was looking at the Zoya pics, and found this gorgeous Ruffian by the Girlie Tomboy.  I really don't like the Ruffian look, much like the half-moon mani, but I really liked this one.  So, here's my version:

I used NYC In a NY Minute "MoMa" and "Pier 17" and Pure Ice "Silver Mercedes".  This was actually my second attempt, as the first was total fail.  I say it's cute, but not worth the effort. 

Do you like Ruffians?

MY FIRST GIVE-AWAY!!!

Ever since I've started seeing pics of Revlon's "Whimsical", I've been searching the shelves of every store I visit to see if it's there.  This has been going on for months, and I had all but given up hope.  But then, yesterday on lunch break, it occurred to me to visit the nearby K-Mart.  And my search was OVER! 

And not only did I find one, but there were TWO!!  So, I scooped them both up, thinking I could share with my fellow polish-addicts, who have helped me grow my addiction beyond anything I could have ever imagined.

So, to win this brand-new bottle of the elusive "Whimsical", just CLICK HERE to "Like" my FaceBook page, and then COMMENT on my FB pic that looks just like the one above.  I'll be picking the winner from those FB commenters on April 27, 2012.

GOOD LUCK!!!