orly - spark - swatch, review, nail art, and yellow comparison

Good morning! Yay for morning posts.
Today I'm going to post a swatch I've had sitting in my swatch folder for a while, so I'm just going to get it off my computer and into the blog world!
This is Orly's Spark, and I did some quick stamping art over it, and I did comparisons to other yellows.

I got this during Sally's Buy 2 Get 1 Free sale, and dare I say it, I like this yellow.

Spark at first seems like a slightly light yellow creme, but then in my pictures I noticed shimmer!
I couldn't see this in person. Maybe if I looked for it I could, but I had taken it off before I looked at the pictures.

I believe this would be another dupe for Chanel Mimosa, but I don't own it so I'm not totally sure.

It's pretty much exactly the color of bananas. So it is just a bit lighter than "normal yellow" I guess.

And there were apples on my table so I took a picture with an apple as well. :P
Here is Spark with all the other yellows I own. (This is a lot of yellow for a person who doesn't care for yellow.)

Joe Fresh - Butter, China Glaze - Lemon Fizz, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Mellow Yellow, Orly - Spark, Color Club - Almost Famous.

None are identical, but the first 4 aren't different enough for a non-yellow-liker to own. My favorites are Spark and Lemon Fizz.
I haven't worn Almost Famous, and I'm not sure how I would feel about such a vibrant yellow.

The day I swatched Spark was also the day I swatched Electric Pineapple and Chartreuse Chase.

That picture kinda gives you a good idea of the green tones in the 2 yellow-green polishes.

And then I did some stamping!

I stamped with Insta-Dri Raspberry Race. I really liked this color combo, but I only wore this for a day. I couldn't handle yellow any longer. Haha.
One day I will get used to wearing yellow and orange, but that day has not come yet.

Last night I swatched like 6 polishes after midnight just because I was bored and didn't have to get up for work today, so who needs sleep! That is why I posted at like 2:30am. Haha.

I am really trying to get through my stash so my stash/swatch list can be complete. It's going to take forever but I am enjoying the process!

Have a lovely day. I'm off to maybe do a bit more swatching before I see Bridesmaids tonight :)

wet n wild - shameless - swatch and review

Hey guys! Late night post for my follower/friend Laurie.
Laurie followed my blog and then found me on facebook from the Bundle Monster competition, and we've been having cute little facebook chats. :) Hi Laurie!
So anyway, we were discussing Wet N Wild Shameless, which we both saw on Imperfectly Painted recently.
Anyway, I remember upon seeing that post thinking that it looked similar to an old Wet N Wild I had, but that was called Impudique. (Despite the fact that I speak French quite well, it did not dawn on me that this means shameless in French.)

So we talked about it, and I thought it was light gray with pink shimmer, and we discussed dupes because Laurie wants it, but it is really old! (We're talking old. I am 99% sure I have had this since I was 7. For real.)

And I said to myself, "with all this talk about oldie Wet N Wild, I need to swatch mine!" So I run to my stash to get my 3 old ones and then I see it.

I own it. And didn't know it.
"Impudique" is written on the back above the ingredients, so after seeing that I didn't bother to look for an English name. Haha.
But this is exciting! Because I looooved the swatches I saw.

Shameless is more blue than I've seen from other photos. At least mine is. You never know how many times these old polishes were reformulated. The above photo is the most color-accurate.
As you can see if you look closely, the bottle I have and the bottle Stephanie has are a bit different - which I think proves that this color has changed a little.
Laurie also found a version of this in the Wild Shine line on a website - who knows what that one looks like!

This version is a really light dusty blue with really pretty pink shimmer. It is sort of a gray-blue.

The shimmer is pretty strong! But stronger in the bottle:

This was three coats, no issues. (But I didn't clean up so well because it was almost 2am when I put this on.)

This polish is a good example of how polish only lasting a year is a myth - like I said, I'm pretty sure this is about 13 years old. If not 13, at least 8 or 9. And I didn't have to add thinner or anything!
There was dried up polish on the lip of the bottle that I cleaned off, but that is likely due to the fact that I haven't used it since I was 12 or younger, and was not a pro back then.

I love this polish! What a surprise, finding something in your stash you never knew you had. (Even if it is a bit different than you expected.)

another reader request! stiletto stamp

Hi guys, I'm home from the internet-free-zone a.k.a. work, and I'm ready to post! Haha.

I'm currently listening to the new My Chemical Romance CD which is awesome. And I am so pumped to see them with blink this summer.
I love blink and I love everyone they tour with.
When I saw them 2 summers ago, they toured with Taking Back Sunday and Weezer, so it was basically my three faves at once. And now they're touring with MCR, one of my other faves.
:)
The only way it could get better is if Fall Out Boy got back together and went on the tour too, hahaha. (They were on the tour last time but I was forced to choose between a date with TBS or FOB.)
I'm so excitedddddd.

On to the mani. 
In the comment section of my giveaway form, Sara from Sara ♥'s Pretty Little Things asked if I could do mani with the stilettos image from the new Bundle Monster plates, so here you go Sara!

I started with one coat of Orly's Blushing Bud. This is one of the best polishes I own, formula-wise. One coat!
It looks a bit streaky in the photo but it isn't in person. It is just the perfect medium pink creme.

Then I added a gradient, and the stamp!

The gradient was done with Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure - Trouble Maker and Nicole by OPI - I'm a Belieber. I stamped with Sally Hansen Insta Dri - Silver Sweep.

I had issues with this image. I could not get it to pick up with black polish as I planned on doing. I would have liked this a lot better if it was black! Black pumps would have been so much cuter.
The silver didn't work perfect either, but it was good enough.

I think the issue I had might have something to do with the texture of the etched part of the plate. When the image is large, the bottom of it can be textured, and I think that makes the polish stick inside the plate instead of letting it get picked up with ease. I think this is the downside of BM vs Konad.
I know some people have used this plate with no issues, so it isn't a problem with all plates, but I think their overall quality control isn't as good as Konad.
That being said, they have seriously awesome customer service, so if you have any issues they will fix them. This isn't an image I am in love with so it isn't a big deal for me.

I hope you liked this, Sara!

If you guys have any requests - nail art, comparisons, swatches - don't hesitate to ask! You can leave them in comments or email me!

Have you entered my giveaway?
Have a lovely evening!

nevermind the whining!

Hey guys, thanks for your nice words about my concert woes in the last post I made.
I overlooked something - they're in Buffalo on the 11th.
We were planning on spending a day in Buffalo.
So Renee and I will be going.
I'm seeing Britney Spears and Nicki Minaj for her, and she is seeing blink and MCR for me.

Happiest girl in the whole wide world!
It all works out in the end, I guess.

Here is a polish picture just to make this semi-nail related and because I don't like posts with no pictures at all:

If you've ever complained about China Glaze Tronica polishes not being holo - take it back.
This is Gamer Glam under a desk lamp I use for painting my nails.
I couldn't believe it when I saw it! It didn't do this in the sun. Weird!

braided/fishtail nail tutorial!

Hey guys, the internet connection I use at work is still missing :(
I doubt it's coming back.
So every Monday and Tuesday I won't be able to read blogs all day to keep me company. Boo hoo.

As you may have read in a previous post, I am trying my best to do everything you guys request in the comments of my giveaway. So here is something that was requested!

Petra left me a lovely message and asked if I could do a tutorial on the middle finger of these crazy skittle nails, and a bunch of you asked for more tutorials in general.
So, here you go!

It looks like a braid! But it's just stripes!
I really like this look. I might do a full set of nails with these colors. Haha.
(This is Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Presto Pink, Brisk Blue, and Lickety-split Lime.)

The second stripe is the crucial one. See in the third frame how the blue stripe meets the green stripe in the very middle of the nail? If you don't have that V-shape in the middle of the nail, your entire braid will be off-center. (However, that can look cute too.)

After the first 2 stripes, you just keep adding stripes alongside the previous ones, and it all comes together.
It looks funny at first, and it can be confusing, but just keep going!
You can make the stripes as thin or as thick as you like.

You could use tape to make it extra neat, but it would take a long time because there are so many stripes that would need to dry before adding the next one.

This design works best when you use really opaque colors, so that you don't have to do multiple coats of each stripe.
(In my original design with this, I had to do 2 coats of everything and it was a pain.)

Good luck Petra, and to whoever else wants to try this out!
If you do try, post a link here! I'd love to see it.



(The end of this entry once contained a bunch of whining about how I was going to miss a blink concert by 2 days, but if you've seen my next post, you'll know that it doesn't matter anymore! Sometime I'll write more about my sickness that I discussed here and post it in my About Me, or something.)
:)