I recently found Nails Inc Fouberts Place on clearance at Sephora, and was really excited to use it, but I just found myself not in the mood to wear anything too dark or drab no matter how pretty the color. So I decided to make it part of a design. I paired it with a much lighter polish in the same color family and a gold to add a little bling. Fouberts Place is a gorgeous olivey taupe and it's very pigmented, almost a one coater by the way.

Products used:

• OPI Skull & Glossbones
• Nails Inc Fouberts Place
• Orly Luxe
• Seche Vite Topcoat

I did a little nail art inspired by the fletching on arrows. The little things at the back end of the arrow that stabilizes and improves the aerodynamics of the arrow in flight. I've been really into tribal sorts of things recently, and arrows are sort of an extension of that fascination for me right now. I added an ikat nail and also a Swarovski element to one of the "arrow shaft" nails for some interest.

Products used:

• Essie Go Overboard, Greenport
• OPI Skull & Glossbones
• Orly Luxe
• Seche Retain as base coat
• Seche Vite topcoat

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I've been somewhat obsessed with doing the angular/triangle half moons I did a couple weeks ago, and have been looking for another excuse to do them. Last night I did my nails with China Glaze Heli-yum and then on the thumb and ring finger did the little stained glass type design using Heli-Yum, Orly Snowcone, Color Club Twiggie, Puccilious, and Explosive, and a black Stripe Rite polish. I thought it looked pretty decent but all my other fingers seemed so naked, so I took it a step further (perhaps a step too far?). I added a coat of Orly Snowcone over Heli-yum to create the triangle moons then added some silver pyramid studs to top it off. I can't be trusted to judge whether something is too much, or just obnoxious, so I love it.

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I recently picked up Stone Cold from Orly's new Mineral FX collection and I wanted to use it in some nail art, so I decided to use it in conjunction with Orly Snowcone to do some drips. The soft creme juxtaposed against the rich jeweltone blue glitter was beautiful in person. Stone Cold is an interesting animal; it's not glitter and it's not shimmer, but it's super glittery looking. It almost looks as if it has a texture you could feel, but you can't. And it doesn't come off in particles on your cotton pad, they seem to disintegrate for the most part when you remove it. It's crazy, to be honest. I really like it. It's one of the most vibrant and gorgeous blues I've ever seen. it sort of reminds me a bit of Finger Paint's Surf's Up, which can be found in this post. I highly recommend pickup up Stone Cold if you're a blue nail polish person.  Anyway, drips are a pretty easy way to do nail art, because you don't need special polishes or tools. If you are using a polish with a somewhat narrow brush, you just use what comes in the bottle.

Last night I picked up Orly Fresh at Sally and did some nail art with it. I don't know how but I didn't realize this polish existed. WTH? Anyway, it's a bright spring grass green. It's not neon, but it's bright and beautiful. I don't think I have anything like it at all, but I do recall having OPI Greenwich Green which I believe is similar though I apparently didn't like that one enough to keep it. I think perhaps it was sort of sheer? I don't remember, but Fresh is a creamy jelly with great coverage in two coats. For this manicure I kept it super simple. I used those little circle notebook paper hole reinforcement stickers cut in half to mask 1/3 of my nails, painted them Orly Fresh, then using Konad Special Polish in black and Konad plate m51 I stamped on this swirly pattern. After it dried, I removed the stickers and put on a coat of Seche Vite. This manicure isn't really a  half-moon, and it's not exactly a french either. It's a French moon, if you will. I like the look of those obnoxiously prominent white tips you see on acrylics sometimes, and I like the half-moon thing, so I thought this was a pretty cool compromise. I like the look of the naked bottom 1/3 with really busy tips.

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Sparitual A World of Compassion - $10 at apothica.com

From Sparitual's new-ish Imagine collection, this is a really unique sort of indescribable shade. It's not quite periwinkle, it's not quite lavender. There's some purple, blue and some sort of beige in the base that makes it sort of earthy and casual while still managing to make a sound. On beigey skin tones this is going to be amazing. I'm a big fan of the periwinkle, friends, and so this sucker is a big fave for me. It applies pretty standard for the handful of Sparituals I've tried in my day. The creme formula are usually slightly streaky on the first coat but are luxuriously even and creamy on the second, and this is on par. The color itself makes this a must-buy for me, and so if you enjoy the shade, I recommend it. I did a couple comparisons with well-known periwinkles and a lavender for what they're worth after the jump, but even though these are the closest shades I think I might have, none come close. If you have an idea for a polish that might be similar, let me know and I'll check the stash and see if I can do a comparison.

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Hard Candy Beetle - $5 at Walmart

Last week when I picked up Hard Candy's new version of Sky, I also found this baby. You've probably already seen it, but in this photo-heavy post I'll show it to you in a few different lights and in comparison to Orly Space Cadet. You'll probably be surprised to find that I consider the Hard Candy one to be superior! It's true though. While the Orly is a good deal as far as it's relative size and price, the flecks of metallic multi-chrome shimmer are much more finely-milled and profuse in the Hard Candy one making it a better choice if you'd rather not layer or use eleventy billion coats.

The base is the same on both; some weird anemic teal jelly... Then you've got these metallic, light responsive particles floating around in both. The main difference is, as I said, the size and volume of these particles. On Space Cadet they're larger and there's less of them, so in the Hard Candy version you've got a more smooth and solid color and application. The bottle on the Orly is bigger and costs about double, but you'll use a lot more of the Orly unless you're layering. All in all, it's probably a flush deal, but my pick overall is the Hard Candy. Shock!

Marching on, let's take a look at a few photos...

Orly It's Not Rocket Science - about $8 at Sally Beauty and Ulta

It's Not Rocket Science is the third and final Cosmic FX from my Transdesign order a couple weeks ago. I have previously reviewed Space Cadet and Galaxy Girl, so check those out! This polish is another crazy foil finish duochrome like the other two. The flash of electric turquoise is very faint, though, and only visible in some lights, but it's there. The main draw for this polish for me was the color. True, these types of yellowy green never look good on my skin, but I was willing to overlook that because it's just so pretty. It's got a mucky green jelly base with light golden olive foil and that illusive turquoise flash. You can also see a more golden aspect to this polish in some lights. It's super shiny and metallic and it's just gorgeous, in this girl's opinion. I think it's similar to SpaRitual Optical Illusion, but I haven't got that one. Yet! ;P I think it's also similar to one of the new China Glaze Halloween polishes, but I won't be able to tell you that till Monday, apparently; my order won't be here till then. Overall this is such a cool color and it's available now and in many of your local stores, so it's a great alternative to other similar polishes, of which there are admittedly few. The Orly Cosmic FX collection is a real WIN for me so far, though I don't know if I'll be purchasing the other three. Only time, and other bloggers swatches, will tell!

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I am a WAH-nnabe

You guys know I'm a huge fan of nail art. Duh, right? I love wild and crazy nail art, I just don't have the chops to do it myself. All the freehand awesomeness I see round the blogosphere boggles my mind and I just bow down in worship to you ladies who can do it. I'm practicing more, and trying to get the hang of it. I even purchased a big set of nail art brushes to try to hone my skills. Hopefully I'll be able to show you some of those efforts soon, but for now I'm still using Konad to assist me with my nail art. I've used Konad and freehand together before, here in this palm tree mani. I find it a lot easier to get good results right now when I use Konad stamps as a sort of template. In the palm tree one, I used Konad for the clouds, then the tree itself, and then painted over it to make it look like complete freehand, and here I've done the same with the cupcakes, and more obviously so with the zebra stripes.

This manicure was inspired by one of my favorite sources of inspiration for nail art; a London-based nail art boutique that specializes in crazy and fun nails, and I am obsessed with their designs! This post of a manicure with "everything" is what inspired this particular manicure. I love WAH Nails use of off-the-wall designs, and the way they randomly seem to mix and match them. Four fingers with cupcakes and one with a carrot and a pea with faces; how amazing is that?! They are nail deities in my handbook.

Want to see more pictures and the breakdown for this manicure? Keep Reading!

Orly Galaxy Girl - ranging from $5 to $10 at transdesign.com, Ulta, Sally Beauty

Galaxy Girl is the second of the Cosmic FX polishes that I've tried. I'm actually pretty into this one. The duochrome isn't as strong on it as Space Cadet, but I like the colors involved a lot more. It's a warmish plum with turquoise flecks that flash a bright violet in some lights. When I first applied it, it reminded me a lot of MAC Blue Brown pigment, but when you get the second and third coats on it gets a little more neutral, and the violet flash cools it down a bit as well, making it really wearable. The texture on this is the same as Space Cadet, a sheer jelly base with loads of sparkly foil. It has a smooth finish, but looks as though there's texture if you catch my meaning. Overall I really liked this polish a lot, though it's not as strong in the duochrome department as I suspected it may be. In a lot of lights it looks like a dull vampy color, then in indirect light you can pick up a bit of the violet sheen. In bright light it's just really sparkly, though it doesn't get as close to metallic as Space Cadet. I likes it.

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