Saturday, December 31, 2011

New Year's Blingstastic Mani

Gabbz here


Just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy New Year!!

This year has been an amazing one, especially since it's the year Kourt and I started out bloggy blog :) Thank you all for your support and we're excited for what 2012 has in store for us :)

For this look, I decided to recreate a look from youtuber simplelittlepleasures, you can check out her channel here. She has amazing tutorials and the look I did was called New Year's Bling Silver & Black sponging tutorial which you can watch video here.


So on to the look......



So pretty...can't stop staring at them lol


Materials: a piece of a new kitchen sponge, a wedged cosmetic sponge,
China Glaze Fairy Dust,
OPI Serving Up Sparkle, and Wet n wild Black Creme


One coat Fairy Dust


Serving up Sparkle sponged with cosmetic wedge


Black Creme Sponged with the kitchen sponge


The final look: 1 thick coat of Seche Vite



So there you have it,my New Year's mani. Hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year :)

Monday, December 26, 2011

Snowflake Mani

Hey Gabbz here

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and hope you got everything in your wish list :)
And if you don't celebrate Christmas, I hope you had a Happy Holiday.
I just wanted to show quickly the nails I have been wearing for the most part this month.
I know it's a little late but I wanted to share this simple and easy look. There's also a bonus pic of my mom's nails too.

Now all looks are they same, just different color combinations. For all, I used 1 coat of Seche Plus Fortified Strengthener as a base, 2 coats of main color and topped them off at the end with a thick coat of Seche Vite. The stamper and scraper are from Konad. The stones I bought in a kit from a dollar store and the snowflake is from Bundle Monster's first kit: image plate 14.

Base color is Hard Candy in Sky then I Stamped the snowflakes using Ulta brand polish in Blue Streak and the glitter is China Glaze in Fairy Dust.


This one is my favorite. It's more me, especially since it's a pink mani. I used Sally Hansen Xtreme wear in Twisted pink for all nails but ring finger. For the ring finger(accent nail) I used OPI in Go Go Pink. The Snowflakes were stamped with Sally Hansen Xtreme wear in White on and on accent nail I used Twisted Pink and the glitter is Orchid in Bedazzled!.

And of course my mom wanted the same look. For her look I used Milani One coat glitter in Red sparkle. Used Sally Hansen in White on for snowflakes and used Orchid in I met him in prism just on snowflakes so they sparkled too.

Tell us below what manicure you had this holiday season?

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Feather Mani

Hello all Gabbz here....

I know it's been too long since my last post and for that I am sorry. I've just been too lazy and not really inspired but I tried something new and I just had to share it wall you all.

Kourtney was the one that actually told me that she wanted to buy feathers for a manicure she wanted to try. So she went to Hobby Lobby(craft store) and purchased a pack a feathers for herself and because she's an awesome friend, she bought one for me too :)

She did the mani and it came out great but hers only lasted a day, if that. Let's just say she was not very happy lol. The feathers were pealing right off that same night when we went to the store. Let's just say she was not very happy with that lol.

We were headed to the midnight premiere of Breaking Dawn and I had to figure out what to do with my nails, then it hit me. Now, if you're a fan of Twilight like Kourt and I, then you've read the books and by now have seen the movie. Then you know that there is a very important scene that involves feathers. So of course I had to use the feathers to create a look for the premiere.

I had an idea of how to achieve this look but I logged on to youtube.com and searched for feather manicures and found one. You can click here and skip to 2:46 of the video to watch the tutorial. It's really easy to do but kinda messy. FYI....don't do this with a (ceiling) fan on, feather bits everywhere lol.

Enough chatter, on with the pics....



Here's the package Kourt got, sorry I tore off the label
but you can find these at any craft store.

Sorry forgot to take a pic of my base color that day so I'm using an
existing picture.

I used 2 coats of China Glaze Pink Voltage

Here it is again. I love this color...It's soooo bright

Then with the pink feathers over Shocking Pink


Just for fun, I decided to use the green feathers yesterday. I should of used a lighter color as a base but I was wearing the color below already and wanted to spice it up lol

For the look below I used 2 coats of Zoya Freja. I got this color in one of Zoya's promos. If you don't already have a Zoya account,what are you waiting for, do that NOW!! lol They always run great buy 1 get 1 free or buy 2 get 1 free, etc...etc and the polishes are great.

Freja is a really pretty dark gray, hmm a gunmetal color I should say. If you look closely, you can see it has like super fine teal and silver shimmer in it. I tried to capture that in the pictures, but I failed :(

2 Coats of Zoya Freja w/1 coat Seche Vite

Closer look of Freja w/flash

Then with the green feathers overtop

I will say though, I didn't use Seche Vite to adhere the feathers to the nail, I used Sally Hansen Hard as Nails UV Top Coat. After the SH dried, I used like 3 thick coats of Seche Vite. You don't have to use the same top coats I used nor the same amount. I just did 3 because the feathers made my nails feel gritty and I didn't like that. Another thing is that Kourt didn't use Seche Vite to finish the look and hers peeled right off and my pink feather mani lasted a whole week, no chipping nor peeling.

So I hope you liked this look. Let me know what you think in comments below :)

Monday, November 7, 2011

Hello Kitty Mani

Hey everyone! Kourt here...Sorry it's been a minute since I posted last. I went back to work for the first time in 6 months and I'm trying to adjust haha...So for Halloween I was Hello Kitty and of course had to do a Hello Kitty themed mani to go with my costume...This will be a quick post...

I had a bottle of Confetti's White Wedding which is just a creamy white and super affordable! It didn't apply as well as I wanted it to but I ended up putting a coat of Orchid's Bedazzled (pretty pink micro glitter) on top and it hid the imperfections. Sidenote - Orchid's polish is awesome and it's another very affordable brand. If I could I would putthis pinky glitter on top of every mani I did.

I had some Hello Kitty stickers that I got for free from BornPrettyStore when they were running a free promo so I used the bows to put in the corner of the nails.

Not much to the mani, it was simple and quick but I wore it a week because I loved it so much!

Alrighty I started off with China Glaze Base Coat, Confetti White Wedding, Orchid Bedazzled and follwed buy CHI top coat. And of course the Hello Kitty nail stickers :)




Just for fun I'll add pics of my costume :) My mom made the bow headband for me.


Rawr!!!!!!!


I had to add this because this is my 1 year old niece and she and I almost had the same skirt and I'm 27 hahaha She is too cute for words and brightens my day :)


So did any of ya'll do a Halloween Mani??? If so comment below because I'd love to see them!!!!

Kourt OUT!!!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Halloween Nails - Oogly Googly Eyes

Hello, Gabbz here...

Today I have a really simple and cute nail look that can be used for Halloween. Several people on Youtube have created looks using what I call "googly eyes". The kind that move and can be found at a craft store. I immediately thought of the cartoons that show the character walking through the woods and all you see are these creepy eyes popping in and out in the dark lol.

Just an FYI.....I did a search online just to see if anyone had done this look before just so I could give credit where credit is due but didn't see anything. I did however see a couple people do this look but drew on the eyes and they came out really cute too. So if you don't have these googly eyes you can definitely free hand the eyes. You can maybe draw red eyes to make it look more evil. There are so many ways you can make this your own.

For this look I used Wet 'n Wild black polish, the googly eyes, and my top coat. Pretty simple and very easy to do, I promise!


Here I used 1 coat of Wet 'n Wild Black Creme under 1 coat
of Seche Plus Fortified strengthener

The Googly eyes I bought at Michaels...
If I'm not mistaken they also had a 4mm package of eyes but I decided on these because it was a bigger pack. I wish I would've gotten the 4mm instead, because they're smaller but these still looked fine.


To get the eyes to stick to the nail, I put a dot of top coat where I wanted the eyes to go and I stuck them on. You can press them down a little so that the eyes stick better to the nail.

I topped it off with a thick coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top coat over the entire nail. Yes, even over the eyes. I made sure that the top coat really coated around the eyes to seal it really well.


So what do you think? Pretty easy huh? I kept wiggling my fingers at people and saying "I see you" I know pretty cheesy lol. Hope you try this easy look out.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Rawr!!! My Frankenstein inspired manicure!

Hey everyone! Kourt here :) Hope everyone is having a great weekend! I sure am :) The Halloween festivities have already commenced in my world! What about you? What are your plans and costumes for Halloween? I'd love to know! I just love seeing different costumes! This year I am planning to be Hello Kitty!

Anyways I was at Walmart the other day picking some stuff up for my mom and I saw the Halloween Sally Hansen Salon Effects and I was super excited because I've been wanting them for a while now. As luck would have it they had the one I wanted the most AND I had a coupon for it! Score! Whenever I use these I just like to pair them with something else to give it a little bit more pizazz and to make it my own. I ended up getting Hot Wired which is a bright green w/ black design. When I see it I think Frankenstein so I sponged on some Zoya's Raven (a nice black) to the tips of the nail to make it look like Frankenstein's flat top hair.

Now I've used several of the Salon Effects and I've liked some and I've disliked some. This one went on super well and it has held up really well 3 days later! I just like to stare at my nails and it's hard not to because it's super bright haha!!! Now to sponge on the black I just used a simple sponge that you can find in your kitchen. I cut it since you don't need a whole sponge for your nail (at least I hope not haha.) After you cut it all you need to do is paint a portion of it with your polish and then simply sponge it on your nail. It's a really simple technique that even the nail challenged people (me) can do. Once you see the finished product it will look like it took you hours to do the manicure OR it will look like you shelled out a lot of moola to get it done professionally! Either way you will have people impressed!

So enough chitty chat, let's switch over to the pics!!!

Here's everything that you will need. The Salon Effects (obviously), Zoya's Raven, CHI top coat, sponge, nail scissors and an orange stick (which comes w/ the Salon Effects). Now I just started using nail scissors to trim the strips in half so you can use one strip for 2 nails and to trim off any excess on the sides. It's a good money saver because you can use the box of strips more than once.



So here you have the finished product. I love it personally! But I'm just biased :p


So does it look Frankenstein-ish to you? Is this a technique you are planning to try or already have tried??? Comment below to let us know (Hey I rhymed!...on that corny note, I'm out!)

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Breast Cancer Awareness Manicure

Hello Lovelies

Today I have two manis to show you for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The first one will be the one I did on my Mom's nails and of course the other will be the one I did on myself.

First let me tell you that I desperately needed a new bottle of Seche Vite Top Coat so my mom and I ventured out to the nearest Sally's to get one. She immediately went towards the Breast Cancer section and saw this set.

This set I believe was $8.99 which was a great deal. The Seche Vite Top coat alone retails for $6.99 or $7.99 w/out using the beauty club card. So for a couple dollars more not only did I get the Dry Fast Top coat, I also got a China Glaze polish in Go Go Pink and a really pretty guardian angel key chain.

China Glaze Go Go Pink is a pretty creme finish, milky pink polish. For my look I used 1 coat of Go Go Pink and it was streaky so, 2 coats would of made it more opaque and not streaky.

For the month of October, my Mom's job has Pink Friday's for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. They are all encouraged to wear pink to show support and because she didn't have a pink shirt to wear she asked me to do her nails for the occasion.


For Mom's look I used Seche Plus fortified strengthener as a base coat,
Go Go Pink, Zoya Aareej, Orchid lacquer in Bedazzled!
and Seche Vite Top Coat
I also used a 18/0 Loew-Cornell 7650 Spotter Brush that I got
at Michael's to draw with


Here is the mani I did on her nails...
2 coats of Go Go Pink and Aareej for the french tip.
Used the Spotter brush to draw the Pink Ribbon
on accent nail also with Aarej. Then I topped it all off
with a coat of Bedazzled! and Seche Vite


At my job, we have Pink Wednesday's but I apparently didn't read the memo and missed it last week but I still wanted to show my support. So I decided to do a water marble mani. You can click here to see my previous post on a water marble mani.


For my look I used Seche Plus, China Glaze Go Go Pink & Limbo Bimbo,
Orchid Bedazzled! Seche Vite Top Coat and
The Spotter Brush


Here's 1 coat of Go Go Pink Under Seche Plus


For the water marble I used Go Go Pink
and Limbo Bimbo

(yes the index finger above and below look
different because I dinged it really bad :( and had to redo it)


Then I topped it off with 1 coat
of Bedazzled!


Then I decided I wanted to have the Pink Ribbon on an accent nail
so I took off the water marble on the ring finger
and used 2 coats of Go Go Pink instead



Using the spotter brush I drew on the Ribbon with Limbo Bimbo


And Lastly topped accent nail with Bedazzled! and
1 coat of Seche Vite over all nails.


So what do you think? I know this was a long and picture heavy post, but it's to show support for a great cause. I think I might do 1 or 2 more Breast Cancer Awareness looks especially since my mom's already asking me what I'm going to do for her nails this week lol.

I just want to dedicate this look and any future Breast Cancer Awarness looks I do this month to my Tia Rosy and my Mom's co-worker and friend Mona who are both Breast Cancer survivors <3 And of course to all the women (and some men) who have lost the battle to breast cancer, who are still fighting strong and to all that have survived.

Kourt wanted to add a dedication to E!'s Guiliana Rancik who found out this week she is in stage 1 of breast cancer. Not only has she had to battle miscarraiges and trouble conceiving a child w/ her husband, now she has to battle The Big C. Our thoughts and prayers are with you! Also just a dedication to my Grandmother who lost her battle w/ breast cancer in 1995. I love you always Grandma Georgia!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Tuff Scent - Laughter

Hey everyone! Sorry it's been a week since we've posted...We are going to be posting more and hopefully with some new products and ideas! So onto what I have for you today!

Gabby and I received 3 bottles of Tuff Scent nail polish last week and from hearing about the brand, we were very excited to test it out! The first up is Laughter. It is a beautiful maroon with a hint of shimmer. It is also blackberry scented! Now something weird happened. On the nail wheel I tested this on released the scent. But when I painted it on my nails it didn't smell like anything but normal polish :/ I tested out one of the other polish's (their Wisteria scented clear top coat) we received on one of my nails and the scent was great, so maybe the bottle I used was a dud.

That's the only thing I wasn't happy with. Now I've been wearing this polish almost 5 days and it still hasn't chipped! So their brand name fits :) The scent is said to last 24-72 hours and they say that the scent should still come through even if you use a base AND top coat. Just keep in mind the polish has to be dry for the fragrance to be released. The application was flawless although the handle takes a little getting used to because it's so small. But then again I love the look of the handle so I'm not complaining lol! I'm all for a unique bottle!

So enough chatter, let's get onto the pictures shall we?

I used China Glaze Base Coat to start off with and finished with CHI Top Coat (I need to find more of this!!!!)



Notice the hint of shimmer?? This reminds me of high school because our school colors were Maroon and White :)





The handle is actually a flower shape and it's prett heavy but pretty!


I took this last night after having it on for almost 5 days and as you can see there are no chips :)


Overall I give this PARTICULAR bottle a B+ just because the scent didn't come through. I would definately buy more of this polish because I love a polish that doesn't chip after only having it on for a few hours. I really want their metallic collection! I threatened to paint my dad's nails while he was sleeping that way when he scratched his nose he would get a good whiff lol

You can purchase Tuff Scent polish at http://tuffscent.com/ for $14

**This product was sent to me for my 100% honest review**

Monday, October 3, 2011

Barielle - Falling Star

Hey everyone! Kourt here...It's been a while since I've made a post. I'm still dealing with my medical issue :/

So today I have for you Barielle's Falling Star. I got this from HauteLook for $4 (it normally retails for $8.) I love the great deals you can get from HauteLook because if you're on a budget like me every savings counts.

Falling Star looked like it would be a great color and have a pretty glitter effect, but when I applied it I didn't like it at all. First of all it was super thick and gloopy and didn't apply well. Also the glitter barely showed. I was excited because I've never seen a blue with a copper colored glitter inside. Major fail! I only painted one hand because I didn't like it at all. I may put some nail polish thinner in it to thin it out a little but I doubt that would help the glitter show up :/

So onto the pictures...

I started off with China Glaze's base coat and finished it off ith CHI's top coat.


You can see on my thumb how gloopy it went on the nail.


See you can barely see the copper glitter. You can see it in the bottle but on the nail not so much.



So what do you think? Have you used an Barielle products and if so was the formula the same as this one?