Bling It Up - Ulta3 Jelly, Lacquistry Amazeballz Holo

It's the end of another year! I am totally predictable and always look to the fantastically sparkly Amazeballz by Lacquistry whenever the silly season comes around...

[Bling on!]

Is there any better way to extend your Christmas mani into the new years??? Sparkly discoball polkadot holo flake glitter is totally the way to go!

[2 coats: Ulta3 Jelly]

Once again, here is my lovely base, Ulta3 Jelly, a nice glossy green creme, perfect in two coats!

[Bottle to nail: Lacquistry Amazeballz Holo; Base: Ulta3 Jelly (2 coats)]

Bringing out the big guns, I used a dotting tool to pat on Lacquistry Amazeballz Holo in a polkadot pattern all over my existing base.

[Base: Ulta3 Jelly (2 coats); Dotting: Lacquistry Amazeballz Holo]

Remember a generous layer of topcoat to smooth out any bumps, and you're set!

[Base: Ulta3 Jelly (2 coats); Dotting: Lacquistry Amazeballz Holo]

My photos are taken under diffuse lighting because the sparkle was too bright under direct lighting - it definitely fulfilled all my bling requirements!

Definitely the best way to end another year! Bring on the next!! <3

Rainbow Bridge - Ulta3 Fruit Tingle, Ulta3 Tahiti, Ulta3 Atomic OJ, Ulta3 Citrus, Ulta3 Jelly

I don't have my NYE mani on yet so I'm going to have an interim rainbow mani posted instead!

[Rainbow Bridge]

I love how neon they are which I feel my camera didn't capture perfectly, particularly the oranges. The colours really looked like they were applied from highlighters.

[Left to Right: Ulta3 Fruit Tingle, Ulta3 Tahiti, Ulta3 Atomic OJ, Ulta3 Citrus] 

So, from left to right, Ulta3 Fruit Tingle, Ulta3 Tahiti, Ulta3 Atomic OJ, and Ulta3 Citrus. They are all creme neon polishes. Fruit Tingle and Citrus are the closest to accurate in the photos. Tahiti and Atomic OJ are just so much brighter in person than they are in the photos. Tahiti particularly is an almost bright vermilion-pink shade.

[Left to Right: Ulta3 Fruit Tingle, Ulta3 Tahiti, Ulta3 Atomic OJ, Ulta3 Citrus, Ulta3 Jelly] 

Okay, the truth is I broke the nail on my thumb so I was initially ashamed to include it, but I do feel the green adds such a fun contrast yet continuation to the other nails so here we go. The green is Ulta3's Jelly, which is a neon green. So yes, it's an Ulta3 lovefest today and I got a lot of love from everyone else who saw this mani in person too!

Christmas Green - Ulta3 Jelly

I wore this shade to my work Xmas lunch this year, along with a dress that matched exactly! Slap on a Santa hat and I was definitely a festive elf this year...

[Bottle to nail: Ulta3 Jelly (2 coats)]

This is Ulta3 Jelly, which despite the name is a creme polish. It's slightly neon in the bottle but mellows out on the nail to a perfect neutral green. 

[2 coats: Ulta3 Jelly]

The name Jelly is great though, because it's such a nice squishy smooth creme. I used two coats here, then topcoat. Great coverage and fairly quick to dry.

[2 coats: Ulta3 Jelly]

I wasn't sure if it would be too bright at first, but I really loved the final look! So if you spot Ulta3 Jelly and give it a pass for being a bit toooo much, maybe give it a go, because it really is a great shade!

Have a great Christmas, y'all!

Bells on bobtails ring... - Ulta3 Jelly, Sally Hansen Right Said Red, Born Pretty 3D stickers

It's a little bit early but I figure everyone is already in a festive mood, so have some early themed nail polishes! Seasons greetings and happy celebrations to everyone! <3

[Ho ho ho...]

The green nail polish is Ulta3's Jelly, a very bright green creme polish. The red base on the accent nail is Sally Hansen's Right Said Red, a red creme polish. I used these 3D nail stickers which I reviewed here to add some elegance to the Christmas colours. Looked fancy, in my humble opinion!

[Green base: Ulta3 Jelly
Red base: Sally Hansen Right Said Red
Born Pretty's 3D nail stickers]

I inverted the base colours on my other hand and used slightly different stickers.

[Green base: Ulta3 Jelly
Red base: Sally Hansen Right Said Red
Born Pretty's 3D nail stickers]

While I think it looks nice as well, I'll have to admit that the wider stickers (like the arrow-like ones directly above) peeled really, really quickly. They just didn't want to stay on my rather curved nail.

Enjoy your end of year festivities! <3

Paisley Paradise - Emily de Molly Memory Maker, Hit the Bottle A Glint of Gold, Born Pretty BP-L024

As expected, I couldn't leave well enough alone..

[Berry sparkly]

What better to add some glitz than to use holographic stamping polish!

[Bottle to nail: Emily de Molly Memory Maker (2 coats)]

My base from last week - Emily de Molly Memory Maker, a berry red jelly with blue-purple shimmer and gold-copper flakes. I decided the end result was a bit too vampy so decided to add a bit more sparkle.

[Base: Emily de Molly Memory Maker (2 coats);
Stamping: Hit the Bottle A Glint of Gold, Born Pretty BP-L024]

Using the paisley pattern from Born Pretty stamping plate BP-L024, I stamped over EdM Memory Maker with Hit the Bottle A Glint of Gold. This gold holo stamping polish is so easy to work with, and as you can see here, works a treat over a dark base.

[Base: Emily de Molly Memory Maker (2 coats);
Stamping: Hit the Bottle A Glint of Gold, Born Pretty BP-L024]

All in all, I'm quite happy with this jazzed up mani!

Party Pink - Ulta3 Fruit Tingle

I don't know if it's the change in seasons and how we're warming up here, but I'm really into bright neon colours right now!

[Party Pink]

This is Ulta3's Fruit Tingle, a neon pink creme nail polish.

[Ulta3 Fruit Tingle]

What you see in the bottle is what you get and I love what I got! It's bright and super eye-catching. There isn't much I can say about this other than it looks good and I like it.

Berry Beauty - Emily de Molly Memory Maker

Today I have quite an interesting shade to show off...

[Bottle to nail: Emily de Molly Memory Maker (2 coats)]

This is Emily de Molly Memory Maker - which is a berry red almost jelly base with lots of blue-purple shimmer and gold-copper flakes throughout.

[2 coats: Emily de Molly Memory Maker]

 Formula was good, as expected - I used 2 coats here to get a nice deep colour.

[2 coats: Emily de Molly Memory Maker]

As you can see, it looks pretty different depending on the lighting. The blue-purple shimmer cools down the tone while the coppery flakes give it a bit of "glow". The overall effect is a fairly vampy red with not too obvious sparkle.

[2 coats: Emily de Molly Memory Maker]

I've taken the two photos above in direct (top) and diffuse (bottom) lighting to show off the flakey effect and closer detail of the flakes in the polish. Quite an interesting shade, as I mentioned, but I think it's a bit subtle for me! But I do like my sparkle....

Perfect Potion - Emily de Molly Water Balance

Alright, I just can't get enough of blue-green polishes and this one is an amazing addition to my collection.

[Bottle to nail: Emily de Molly Water Balance (2 coats)]

This is Emily de Molly Water Balance, a gorgeous blue-green shimmer with tons of gold-green flecks. Seriously, it's so packed full that it looks almost like a foil polish in these photos!

[2 coats: Emily de Molly Water Balance]

Formula was absolutely fantastic as I've come to expect from Emily de Molly polishes. I think I used two coats here but it could possibly do with one coat.

[2 coats: Emily de Molly Water Balance]

Just look at the shine on this polish!

[2 coats: Emily de Molly Water Balance]

Although it looks like a duochrome, I don't think it actually is one. Just the combination of the base shade and the golden shimmer gives it great depth and the illusion of having colour-shift. Such a great polish!

Summer Days - Sally Hansen Rhythm & Blue

[Summer Days]

This is Sally Hansen's Rhythm & Blue from their Miracle Gel line. It's a sky blue creme nail polish.

[Sally Hansen Rhythm & Blue]

I probably like this nail polish for not quite the right reasons. So, first, the Miracle Gel line is meant to produce a gel-like nail polish, which means longer-lasting but without the fuss of gel nail polishes. No lamps to cure it and no soaking to remove.

However, I didn't exactly follow the steps I'm supposed to take. I had already heard of the big downside of this nail polish, which is that it takes a rather long time to dry. I don't have patience for long drying nail polishes so I whacked on a coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat. That worked in drying it right quick, but it might have messed up the formula. That might be why I didn't find that it lasted longer than any other regular nail polish.

That said, Rhythm & Blue applied smoothly, and I love the sky blue colour. It also seems extra glossy after applying Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat compared to more regular nail polishes.

Dark Rose - Sally Hansen New Flame, Born Pretty BPL-024, Hit the Bottle As Black As Night

I am pleased as punch with this mani - it's not groundbreaking in any way at all, but there's a reason some combinations are just classic!

[Bloom Beautiful]

In this case, red, black and roses! Mmm hmmm~! This could be anything from a Valentine's mani to a Halloween one, potentially even Christmas??

[Bottle to nail: Sally Hansen New Flame (2 coats)]

It was also very interesting because I had such a bright base shade, Sally Hansen New Flame, which is a glossy warm tomato red.

[Base: Sally Hansen New Flame (2 coats); Plate: Born Pretty BPL-024;
Stamping: Hit the Bottle As Black As Night]

However, just adding the black stamping over the top with the roses from Born Pretty stamping plate BPL-024 and Hit the Bottle As Black As Night, toned the warmth right down.

[Base: Sally Hansen New Flame (2 coats); Plate: Born Pretty BPL-024;
Stamping: Hit the Bottle As Black As Night]

I think if I had used a classic neutral red, the colour contrast wouldn't have looked as striking as this combination looks. Such a happy discovery, and something I'll keep in mind for the future, especially with stamps that use both positive and negative stamping in the one!

Starry Night - Emily de Molly Downward Spiral

Look at what we got here!

[Emily de Molly Downward Spiral]

This is Emily de Molly's Downward Spiral. It is meant to be "a navy blue holo with pink/green/gold shifting shimmer and iridescent flakes." I will first say that I do like it because there's a kind of pretty deep blue depth to it that really makes it look like a night sky filled with stars when you look at the holo.

However, the only parts that really came through were the navy blue holo and iridescent flakes. In person and in photos, it doesn't look very much like the photos on the website, and I couldn't see any of the pink/green/gold shifting shimmer, which was a little disappointing.

[Emily de Molly Downward Spiral]

Downward Spiral is still a pretty nail polish, but not what I was expecting unfortunately.

Blazing Hot - Sally Hansen New Flame

This shade is super hot! Another awesome gift from Jme~

[Bottle to nail: Sally Hansen New Flame (2 coats)]

This polish from the Sally Hansen Salon Manicure range certainly lives up to it's name - New Flame. It's a bright glossy tomato red jelly creme that REALLY stands out!

[2 coats: Sally Hansen New Flame]

I always love having shades like these in my collection, as well as wearing them. They are so good for no fuss manis. Like this one, I needed something quick and fuss-free to look nice and polished so this one ticked all the boxes. 

[2 coats: Sally Hansen New Flame]

This is two coats of glossy goodness, then an extra layer of topcoat for maximum shine.

[2 coats: Sally Hansen New Flame]

My nails are a bit longer than usual, and this formula is slightly on the jelly side, so in certain lights, there is visible nail line with two coats as I have here. But it's not particularly noticeable, and even so, I feel it has quite a nice translucent finish because of it!

Very happy with this one, it is definitely B-RRR-IGHT though! A great shade for summer~

Wonky Whirlpool - Born Pretty BP-RR03 Dream Fairy, Bundle Monster BM-206, Hit the Bottle Chromeo

Just a really short one today because I'm not that pleased with it!

[Base: Born Pretty BP-RR03 Dream Fairy (2 coats);
Plate: Bundle Monster BM-206; Stamping: Hit the Bottle Chromeo]

Can you see why already??? I hid too much of the gorgeous base shade, argh~!

[Bottle to nail: Born Pretty BP-RR03 Dream Fairy (2 coats)]

This is said gorgeous base shade - Born Pretty BP-RR03 Dream Fairy, a blurple linear holographic polish. How could I block out so much of that rainbow goodness?

[Base: Born Pretty BP-RR03 Dream Fairy (2 coats);
Plate: Bundle Monster BM-206; Stamping: Hit the Bottle Chromeo]

Haha, so basically this is a design from Bundle Monster plate BM-206, stamped with Hit the Bottle Chromeo. There's nothing actually wrong with it, just that I'm seeing less of that purple than I wanted. Ah well, lesson learnt for next time!