NOTD: Essie DJ Play That Song + Cult Nails Seduction

Work this week has been crazy and I haven't had the energy/time to edit photos once I get home. AT THE SAME TIME, I hate not posting so ~~

You can click the smaller pix to view them full-sized :) Someday I'll figure out how to add a nice media gallery in Blogger but for now, this will do. I wasn't able to watermark these images taken on my phone because the 'edit' feature wasn't working on my instant uploads for some reason but I do want to post them. They're good pictures and since they are phone pix, I don't care terribly about watermarks!

This manicure is still on my nails today - I put it on 2 days ago and it's going strong with only the most minimal of tipwear!! The polishes used in this manicure were:

- Nail Pattern Boldness Glitter-A-Peel Basecoat

- Essie DJ Play That Song - 2 coats [Warm red-leaning purple jelly]
- Cult Nails, Seduction - 1 coat [LE Flakie polish in a blue leaning purple base]

- Revlon Quickdry Topcoat

- 

Essie, DJ Play That Song - 

• This shade is the 'title shade' from Essie's DJ Play That Song Summer 2013 Neons collection. It is a JELLY FINISH. Now from what I was led to believe, a jelly-finish nail varnish is meant to give you that squishy, semi-sheer (Translucent) high gloss finish that cameras just love.I don't understand why people criticize this formula for being too sheer. DUH, THAT'S KIND OF THE POINT.
• 2 coats on its own were good enough for me because I was going to add glitter on top. 3 coats would be ideal if I was wearing it alone. Perhaps 2 coats over white?
• The formula is on the thinner side so take care not to overload your brush and flood your cuticles. Apply carefully and patiently. 2-3 thin coats should do it depending on how much you want to build it up. 3 coats felt best for the ideal translucency and color. 

Note: It will never be as opaque as a creme finish on its own. Don't be stupid and expect a jelly formula to perform like an opaque creme and you'll be fine :)

Cult Nails, Seduction

• Seduction is a sheer purple (blurple) base packed with tons of multicolored flakies in varying sizesThey flash different colors prettily in the light but are predominantly in a purple or orange state. There are some great flashes of green or a more pink shade in there too.
• In the sunlight, my nails photographed as IF they were matte, but no matte finish was used. It shows off the flakies beautifully and clearly though, so enjoy the detailed view!
• There was no issue with this formula. Just the right density and viscosity - 1 coat brushed on, not even dabbed, was enough for the above effect. 
• You could wear it alone (2-4 coats depending on intensity of base color you desire and thickness of coat) but it is another JELLY FINISH formula, so quit your complainin' if you can't get it opaque on its own. It looks great layered over blues, purples, dark vampy colors, and black :)

Enjoiiii :) Cult Nails is available at shop.cultnails.com and each polish retails for $12. 

NOTD: Essie Orange, It's Obvious + Cult Nails Captivated

This is a manicure from "The Vault" aka my Google+ Instant Upload Photos that otherwise never see the light of day. I wore it last summer and with summer right around the corner, I figured it was an appropriate combination to share!

Essie, Orange It's Obvious - This is a beautiful and vibrantly opaque orange shade from Essie's Navigate Her Spring 2012 Collection. It is a brignt punchy tangerine orange creme opaque in 2 easy coats. If I was careful, I could do 1 thicker coat too, but 2 made sure there no bald spots on my nail. Make sure you've got 2 layers of basecoat on underneath this because it stains like a mf'er otherwise! I learned my lesson on that the hard way. When worn by itself, it dries to an extremely high-gloss finish, but I like to put on topcoat just to protect it from tipwear and chipping.

Cult Nails, Captivated - I usually adore Captivated coupled with Cult Nails, Scandalous - it's like the two were made for each other. Whether I actually mix the polishes together and apply them as one, layer them, or even create a jelly sandwich, Cult Nails Captivated + Scandalous are soulmates. I was craving something more bold (Scandalous is a jelly finish so it gives everything a more soft and dainty appearance), so I layered just one coat of Captivated over Orange, It's Obvious for the above look. 

Captivated itself is also a jelly polish with a coral base, and can be built up to nearly-full opacity on its own. It will lean a lot more coral/red when worn alone as compared to the manicure above. The formula is chock full of gold and coral glitter, and the jelly finish gives it a little bit of a pinkish translucency around the edges when worn without undies. 2 coats give you a squishy semi-opaque look and three will cover you right up. 

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I am defiinitely planning on wearing Captivated a lot more with the weather getting better though! I'm so bored of wearing OPI Tickle My France-y to work, even though I do love it. It's work-appropriate but OH SO BORING to people used to neon glittery nails by now lol.


UPDATE/DUPE ALERT - Icing, Tiger's Blood ($4.50) - Check out ThePolishAholic's post here for pictures and things!

NOTD: Cult Nails Disciplined ft Floral Frankens

Hi guys! As I mentioned before, I'm having a spot of technical difficulties. While you guys wait with me to get Photoshop installed and running again, I am trying to use some older pictures taken on my phone and get content up with them. They aren't bad pictures actually because the HTC Vivid's camera is suprrisingly good, but they won't be watermarked and they're certainly not as good as my digital camera pictures.

Today's NOTD has a frankenpolish that I mixed myself! It is a holographic grey nail polish mixed with a rainbow of glitters. There is slight linear holographic effect, but it is mostly a scattered holo. The glitter is not overbearing and you only get a few pieces here and there when you apply the 2-3 coats (Depending on thickness) you need to reach opacity. I used this only on the ring finger of each hand.

I used 2 coats of my franken polish on my accent nail (Aka ring finger) and 2 coats of Cult Nails, Disciplined on the rest of them. The accent nails also use the following polishes for the design:

• China Glaze Lemon Fixx
• Essie In The Cab-ana
• Essie First Timer
• I DON'T REMEMBER THE PINK I USED!
• Small and Medium dotting tools to make the flowers/dots

A Week of Pinks

It isn't technically October 7, but I'll be taking a break from wearing Pink on my nails this weekend as I go to take my LSAT exam! It's Saturday morning and my tradition is to wear OPI Tickle My France-y whenever I'm hoping for a spot of luck. 2 successful interviews and many, many finals later, it hasn't failed on me yet! I know it's a mental thing, but I feel confident with that color. It's professional, sleek, and gorgeous! Although I'll be the first to admit it looks nicer when nails are longer, this Saturday is about no-nonsense, no-fuss nail color that'll keep me motivated to ace the test!

So here's what I wore this week -

My cuticles are crusty as hell. Eeeek. Am going to remedy that tonight!
This was just 3 coats of Essie, Madamoiselle. 

Then I posted my NOTD Owl manicure and decided to practice half-moons.
I only wore this for like...a few hours. Way too mismatched, but I'm getting
better at using reinforcement labels and making clean lines.

This is 2 easypeasy coats of OPI, I'm Indi-A Mood For Love
VERY VERY similar to Cult Nails, Bad D.N. (I have that one too, will review
the two of them and compare later!)

And then I got REALLY bored in Creative Writing class and doodled all over
with an ink pen. Same color, just bad lighting. Yay yellow skin.

And then I got ink ALL OVER MYSELF and changed my manicure. Again.

Never worn this much pink in a row IN MY LIFE.
Milani Digital (Pink scattered holographic), 2 Coats :)

The small freehanded tips are Cult Nails, Bad Devious Nature (Bad D.N.)
Hey, I have a limited collection of pinks. Not my favorite color.

Swear, my thumbnail looks all cut at a weird angle but it's straight IRL. Bad shot but the glitter is shiny!
This was 1 coat of All That Glitters, Frantic Romantic over the top of 1 coat of Cult Nails, Bad D.N.
I didn't get any of the good stuff out of Frantic Romantic, there are hearts in there, but the glitter sinks like anything.

Blurred to show you a little bit of the holographic-ness!

ON A COMPLETELY RANDOM AND UNRELATED NOTE, we've had a lot of rain and fog in my town this week! I took this picture when I got off the bus a few nights ago on my walk back to the house from the bus stop :)

I like how wet and foggy and awesome everything looks. My poor camera couldn't handle all the moisture in the air.

October - Breast Cancer Awareness Month

HELLO ERRYBODY!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and I've recently been...subjected to the grim realities of the disease. A family member of mine finally (and we hope, ultimately) won the battle against her breast cancer, and my best friend's mother has finished two intensive rounds of chemotherapy and is finally in remission.

It's a cause that hits too close to home. I cannot do much about it except pray for those who are affected and urge everybody to exercise due caution in taking care of their bodies and getting routinely checked out.

This month, I will be posting a lot of PINK manicures to symbolically lend my hope to a greater cause. I'll also break up the manicures with little its of news and insight into how other bloggers and nail polish brands are contributing and donating in whatever way they can, big or small, to promoting breast cancer awareness :)

Polish for a cause. It's something I can really respect and stand by, as you all know by my purchase of Dani-Mite (There are still 6 bottles of it left!)

Below images are from the Essie website :)

Essie is sponsoring (Or maybe just repromoting, I'm trying to get the details on that) a 31 Days of Pink nail challenge, where you post a manicure or nail art each and every day. That nail art (You guessed it) has to be pink, but I don' think it's necessary to use all Essie polishes. BeautyBlitz is probably doing that because Essie must have sponsored her a set of all of their pink polishes to pick and choose from?

Well I've got some pinks, and I've got a desire to actually start and finish a challenge for once, so let's see how this goes!

EPIC Blog Sale - Thinning out the stash

Hi girls! Read my previous post to see what has prompted this polish purge!

~~~ WELCOME TO THE BLOG SALE 

If you follow me via GFC, you are entitled to Buy One, Get One Free! Please contact me at blishful@gmail.com if you want to buy something! You can also leave a comment with the polishes you want! I can invoice you the amount OR you can send it to me at my paypal account, prysmatiq@yahoo.com. 

Again, arrange a sale at blishful@gmail.com or in the comments below
Pay for your polishes at prysmatiq@yahoo.com please!

Shipping is $2.50 to start, + $0.50 for every polish thereafter unless you buy enough for me to bill you flat-rate! ($5.95 for a small box that holds 6-7 polishes, and I think $10 for the medium that holds a shit ton more). FREE SHIPPING IF YOU SPEND $50+

There is a limit of 3 free polishes! You still has to pay shipping though, because I am saving for Vegas, after all.

A. THE INDIES

Aha, probably the section you girls want to see the most, so it is also the section that comes first.

365 Days of Color - Now In Technicolor - $10 (1 mani)
a-England - Ascalon - $12 (Swatched)
Alta Costura Vernis - Twisted - $10 (Swatched, just didn't like it as much as I hoped)
HITS - Hestia - $8 (Swatched)
Dandy Nails - Inside The Fire - $10 (Swatched, I just don't like the bar glitter)
Dollish Polish - Spank You Very Much - $10 (1 mani, glitter looks like it sinks a bit, but shaking it fixes that)
Dollish Polish - Super Bass - $10 (1 mani)
Pretty & Polished - Candy Coated - $10 (Used in 1 mani)

Cult Nails - Would prefer to swap for Cult Nails colors I don't already have! Also, as always, Nerd Lacquer or Nail-venturous polishes w/ the exception of Floam. I don't own a single Nerd yet!!

$16 each. $8 each if you are a GFC Follower -

• Seduction - $16
• I Got Distracted - $16
• Living Water - $16
• Iconic - $16 (Old Formula) - PENDING

B. OTHER COOL STUFF. OPI, ESSIE & THE LIKE

Essie - $6 each (Or 2 for $6 if you follow me via GFC, remember that!)

A Crewed Interest (See fill line once pix are up)
Beach Bum Blu (See fill line once pix are up)
Chinchilly (See fill line once pix are up)
Imported Bubbly (See fill line once pix are up)
Mamba (See fill line once pix are up)
All Tied Up
Blue Rhapsody
It's Genius
Lapiz of Luxury (BN)
Stroke of Brilliance (BN)
Turquoise & Caicos
Oui Madame
Over The Edge

OPI - $9 each, or 2 for $9 if you are a GFC Follower. All are full-sized bottles

Turquoise Shatter
Alpine Snow, Matte
Pink Me, I'm Good!

Stranger Tides
Skull & Glossbones
Steady As She Rose
Mermaid's Tears
Planks A Lot

Dress to Empress - PENDING
Not Like the Movies
Uh Oh Roll Down the Window
Fresh Frog of Bel Air
Extra-va-vaganza
Ruble For Your Thoughts
Peru-b-Ruby
Lighten Up, You're Two Pence
Just Tea-Sing
It's Totally Fort-Worth It
Royal Flush Blush - PENDING
Java Mauve-a
Suzi Skis In the Pyrenees - PENDING
Lincoln Park After Dark
Under The Apple Tree - PENDING
Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous

MATTESE-ELITE - $5 each (2 for $5 if you are a GFC Follower)

Twiggie
Cosmic Blue
Certainly Fabulous
Lilac Me All Over
The Boss
Attitude
Purple Irony
Consigliere

C. LOWER-END DRUGSTORE FINDS

GOSH - $7 each, lot for $30

Dusty Rose

Gold

Gasoline

Matte Effect Top Coat

Ocean

Maybelline Color Show - $4 each, whole lot for $10 (blah blah lot for $5 if gfc follower blah blah you get it)

Fierce N Tangy

Styled Out

Twilight Rays

Sally Hansen XTreme Wear - $12 for whole lot, $2.00 each

Wet Cement

Blue Icing

Mint Sorbet

Royal Gala

Mystic Lilac

Celeb City

Golden Child (85% full)

Sinful Colors - $.0.75 each or whole lot for $4 - PENDING

Unicorn

Let's Meet

Glass Pink

Shauna

Savage

Bali Mist

Spoiled - $1 for both

Papa-paparazzi

I Got a Confection to Make

Revlon - $5 each (2 for $5 if gfc follower. sounding like a broken record)

Not So Blueberry

Royal

Whimsical

Radiant

Violet

Mistletoe

D. OTHER RANDOM BRANDS

Julep - Rachel, Meryl, Sasha - $10 each

Icing Magnetix - Green - $8, BN

Icing - Evergreen - $4, Swatched

Color Club - Factory Gire (Typo? Fire?) - $5

Jordana - Lilac Hearts - $3

~~~ RULES FOR POSSIBLY SWAPPING

I will consider swaps on a very limited basis because ideally, I want to reduce my collection.

1. The Cult Nails polishes - it would be ideal if I could swap these for other Cult Nails colors I don't have yet. The colors in the blog sale are doubles.
2. If you could let go of a Nerd Lacquer, please contact me about arranging a swap? I can't afford them outright but can pay you their weight in other nail polishes!! Because I know concerns have come up, I don't own a single NL and if I could obtain one of my wishlist colors, it would stay with me forever!
3. I have wanted Nail-Venturous Flying Blue Jay for ages. Ever since I saw its first swatch. So if you have that, again, I cannot afford it outright but please please please contact me to arrange a swap!

I'll update tomorrow when I get some sun to swatch the pictures, but for now, let the text suffice!

Lazy Days of Summer Challenge - Flag Day

This is an older manicure so I won't post much about it...it was done for Canada Day/Flag Day but because I'm posting these challenges in order, I'm just reposting. I probably could have done another patriotic manicure but honestly, I haven't had the time for nail art lately D: Pre-cleanup picture too...but I promise I'll put in more effort for my next picture/manicure!

Here is what I used!
Model's Own White (Accent nails, white maple leaf, white french tip)
Essie Jag-U-Are (Red accent nail, red maple leaf, red french tip)
OPI Samoan Sand (1 coat of my go-to sheer nude on my pointer and pinky finger)

Happy Canada Day!!

Happy Canada Day, my lovelies!

This was a very simple and quick freehanded manicure! The picture is pre-cleanup, so I'm sorry for the messy white polish application.

Model's Own White (Accent nails, white maple leaf, white french tip)
Essie Jag-U-Are (Red accent nail, red maple leaf red french tip)
OPI Samoan Sand (1 coat of my go-to sheer nude on my pointer and pinky finger)

I think it's cute and conveys the point :)

And of course, to all of my Canadian followers of the past, future, and present - I wish you a very happy Canada Day!

Independence and freedom for all ;)