Gnarly Gnails: July 2013

Gnarly Number Ones for July

Wednesday, July 31, 2013
By Missy
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Hey folks!
July was a slowish month for me, alot of non-blog stuff going on and subsequently getting in the way of blogging! Boo! But let's check out what I was loving, on and off the blog!

Favorite Tried Polish - I used a lot of awesome ones this month for sure. I think the one that packed the most punch for me was LA Girls 3D Effects in Sparkle Ruby - the one I used for my Back in Time Manicure here:

Favorite Untried Polish - this question is always hard every month. I have accumulated a bunch as usual and in all honesty, I don't even know what I have right now! Wait I do...and the one I am most excited to get on my fingers is OPI Alcatraz...Rocks from the new San Francisco Collection (which I will be reviewing soon!!)

Favorite Indie - I did seem to wear a smaller amount of Indie this month, but I can honestly say that Emo Party by Chirality was ABSOLUTELY the best one I donned in July!

Favorite Untried Indie - I still have barely made a dent in my box of Untried Indie polishes. I really need to get on that, and I'm going to try extra hard to do that this coming month. Right now I am really itching to get 7 Minutes in Heaven on:

Photo Source

Biggest Milestone - It may have just happened so it's fresh in my mind - but being a part of the piCture pOlish blog fest this year was a HUGE deal to me. Not just for the month but basically for my blogging experience in general. So humbled to be a part of such a huge movement in the nail community with so many other amazing nail artists!

Most Viewed Post - the Gothic Princess mani I did for Digital Dozen tape week was by far my most viewed post! Yay! It was one of my favorites and I'm glad you guys liked it as much as I did!

Favorite Manicure - My Neon Grip Tape Mani was my absolute favorite mani in July. No question. I'm still huge into neons, and sorry, but chances are I will be wearing neons into winter! I don't even care!

Favorite Product - I briefly mentioned this the other day on Facebook - but I finally tried Coconut Oil and how I lived without it I couldn't even grasp...

Favorite New Technique or Tip - Another new thing I tried was using some warm-melted wax from my tart burner to smooth over my cuticles (mostly if there was a healing hangnail) - it worked wonders on helping it heal up faster!

Favorite Collection - the MC Chris for the Win collection by Chirality. Amazing.

Favorite New Thing In General - I got a new camera!!! Yeah!! It was pretty cheap but it works awesome!

Photo Source

Favorite TV - Well...for about 4 days we were obsessed with Orange Is the New Black. But the only bad thing about Netflix shows is they end fast! We burned through that season so fast! It was an awesome show though! Now in current love we are with Drunk History:

Favorite Video Game - thanks to BEE, I have a newfound addiction to Mini Golf!

What were your favorite things this month!?

Brand: Tribal

Born Pretty Store Textured Polishes Review

Tuesday, July 30, 2013
By Missy
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Brand: Picture Polish

piCture pOlish Blog Fest 2013

Monday, July 29, 2013
By Missy
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It's time for piCture pOlish Blog Fest!!!

I am so excited to be taking part in this fantastic nail community event as it is my first time!
Blog Fest has been going on for a few years now and features a TON of fab nail and beauty bloggers showing off fantastic piCture pOlish shades!
This year has a nail art theme - so let's check it out!

All three of these piCture pOlish shades were sent to me from the company for the purpose of using them in Blog Fest - we were also able to use black and/or white in our designs, which I took full advantage of!

I was sent Hot Lips, Sea Jewel and Peacock.

I'm sure it is purely coincidental, but I was pretty impressed with how the colors I was given totally matched my blog colors!

Sea Jewel is a gorgeous full coverage teal and silver glitterbomb that covers fully in 2 coats and dries very smooth.

Hot Lips is a neon pink that also covers full in 2-3 coats with no white undies necessary!

Peacock is a purple and teal jelly glitter that reaches full coverage in about 3 coats.

All of these had consistently perfect application (trust me on this as I used them MANY times while trying to perfect my nail art entry!)

Each entry this year must include a tutorial on how the nail art was achieved. For this tutorial I am going to break up the manicure pictures with insertions of each individual nails' tutorial - starting from pinky finger to index finger.

Pinky Finger Tutorial:

Ring Finger Tutorial:

Middle Finger Tutorial:

Index Finger Tutorial:

Now on to the nitty gritty of Blog Fest for this year.

This is a CONTEST - with 3 winners being chosen.
All nail art creations will go into the running to be chosen to create a collaboration shade with piCture pOlish, with a launch in 2014.
Of the 3 awards that will be voted and chosen as follows via the piCture pOlish Pinterest Blog Fest 2013 Board:
1 - As voted on by piCture pOlish friends and fans
1 - As voted on by all participants of Blog Fest 2013
1 - As voted on by Jules & Megs of piCture pOlish

Obviously, these are coveted awards and I would LOVE to win a chance to do a collaboration shade - once the voting goes live I will update this post with a link to vote for me if you want to!

Please make sure and visit/follow piCture pOlish on the following social networks:
piCture pOlish Facebook Page
piCture pOlish Pinterest
piCture pOlish Instagram
piCture pOlish Twitter
piCture pOlish YouTube

And also make sure and check out the piCture pOlish Network and their awesome Everyday Deals!

An InLinkz Link-up

**items in this post were sent to me for free by the company or their PR firm in exchange for my personal use in their blog fest/nail art contest**

Brand: Nicole by OPI

Tink - Nicole by OPI Swatches and Review

Sunday, July 28, 2013
By Missy
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I have a fun little blast of color for you today.

I recently received the Nicole by OPI Tink Collection (minus 2 shades) to show you guys!
Most bloggers didn't get the shades Pixie Glitter and How Fairy Nice of You due to some backorder issues so unfortunately I don't have those to show you. If I find them locally though I will be sure and swatch them and edit this post later!

In the meantime, let's enjoy what we do have, because it's fun!

Nicole by OPI - Tink Collection

From left to right we have:

Tink's In The Pink

Fairy Fairy Quite Contrary

Half Charming, Half Alarming

Sweet On Pete

All of these polishes applied like a dream. 2 coats a piece, super shiny finish. No top coat was used on the skittle swatches. All are cream finish.

Here we have our skittle swatch. Sweet On Pete, Half Charming Half Alarming, Fairy Fairy Quite Contrary and Tink's In The Pink - 2 coats each with no top coat.

My favorite part of this collection is how well each shade goes with one another. And of course, the amazing application.

Now let's check out some simple art I did with these:

A little tape can go a long way to a fun manicure!

These nail art swatches DO have top coat, but as you can see, it barely makes a difference!

So whatcha think?

You can pick these up right now at your local Walgreens!

Nicole by OPI formulas are long-lasting, fast-drying, and salon-quality. This limited edition collection is now available for $7.99 each at select Walgreens locations nationwide.

For more information, visit nicolebyopi.com. Follow Nicole by OPI on Twitter @NicoleByOPI and become a Facebook fan!

About Nicole by OPI:

Nicole by OPI offers a salon-quality range of bold, fashion-forward nail lacquers. The brand’s heritage is based in OPI’s well-established foundation of excellence in both color and technology, providing premium products to a broad range of consumers looking for trendsetting nail lacquers.

**items in this post were sent to me for free by the company or their PR firm in exchange for my honest review**

Brand: Chirality

MCChris For the Win! A Chirality Nail Polish Review

Saturday, July 27, 2013
By Missy
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Oooooh guys!!!!
I have a fun for you today!!
Once again the truly amazing company that is Chirality Nail Polish has blown me away with ANOTHER extraordinary polish collection.
Not only is the polish awesome, but if you are like me and you fall for the smaller things in life, you might just love this for the inspiration alone!
Do you love Robot Chicken, Star Wars, Aqua Teen or just weirdness in general? I mean, you come here, so you must! Well...this collection is based on songs by MC Chris, and if you watch any of those shows, you have surely heard his stuff before! Let's peep these polishes and see what inspired them, shall we?

ALSO to note in this post - I has a new camera!
These are the first posted shots using it, and actually the first nail shots I took with it. It was a learning curve and afterwards I thought to myself, I probably should have tested this thing out before doing a bunch of swatches and hoping for the best!
But I can safely say that after pulling them up on my laptop I was blown away with the detail I got.
So yay! I have posts that will trickle though in the next month or so that were done with my old camera but I just thought I'd let you know these are new camera shots, and what do you think? See a difference or not really?

Chirality Nail Polish - MC Chris For The Win Collection

Check these babies out!

Fun, right?

All of the swatches below are 2 coats each polish, standard application with slight dabbing method and one coat of Out the Door top coat.

First up - Distant Lands:

Ok - now this song is awesome because of this line right here:

I'd protect your feet from glass like my name was Lloyd.

AWWWWWWWW - you know, that's a tip of the hat to Say Anything, which is probably one of my absolute favoritest movies in the worldy world.

Distant Lands is a kind of sage green crelly base with lots of awesome glitter bits and holo sparklies. Predominant colors in this are the green base and lots of purple glitters, followed up by holo and black glitters!

No problems on this formula - though to note as always with these types of polish, bigger glitters usually need a little extra digging through the bottle to get to, this was minimal (to note, they all had minimal fishing).

As I said, this is 2 coats of Distant Lands plus top coat. Smooth polish and easy application - exactly what I would expect from Chirality!

Have I mentioned I love circle glitter?!

Who doesn't!!!???

Next up we have Emo Party:

Emo Party OMG! A grey HOLO!!! Wait - a GREY HOLO WITH RED AND BLACK GLITTER!!!!!

This is what they mean when they say "I can die happy now"

Friggin A man....this polish is just perfect. Applied perfect, glitter came out perfect, glitters showed through the base perfect and 2 coats covered perfect!

I know this is a "holo" but to me it shined almost as more of a grey with gold shimmer base. I didn't quite get the same rainbow sparkle I would with a holo, but to be honest, this goldish shimmer works better for me and for this polish! Maybe its a gold holo?

IDIE!!! How do you not love and need this ASAP?!

Ok - everybody calm down and let's move ahead to Fett's Vette:

This is most undoubtedly the most popular MC Chris song - based on the character Boba Fett from Star Wars. Also my favorite song of his - because I love BOBA!!!

You've heard it if you've seen Robot Chicken or Zack & Miri Make a Porno. Or who knows what else. But it's awesome and I'm a geek.

Fett's Vette is a sky blue holo crelly with grey, silver and blue glitters. You will even find some large blue circles in there if you look hard. They kind of get hidden by the polish base in the bottle because of their similar coloring, but on the nail you can't miss em! They're holo blue!

Something about this polish, these big blue circles, reminds me of the moons of Tattooine! Star Wars trivia for the win!

Told you those circles were holo! I love that even though this polish is a bona-fide glitterbomb, its tame enough in its monochromity to pass as semi-work-appropriate.

Again - great application and smooth finish!

Time for Nrrrd Grrrl:

Nerd girl, I don't deserve you
I don't get the references you refer to
I love your Lipsmackers and your lack of perfume
I hope to get you home by curfew

Oh Nrrrd Grrrl - let's make babies. This pinkish red crelly base polish is LOADED with black and white (or pink?) glitters. Mainly circles, with a smidge of smaller hex glitters as well. It's like art without trying.

I'm not kidding about art either...when I put this on my boyfriend told me he liked it better than half the nail art I do. Thanks dude.

This is again just 2 coats plus top coat. It covers beautifully and the glitter combination in this is just so awesome. It's the easiest thing you can do to your nails and come out looking like a genius.

Forget splatter nails - this is where its at ya'll!

Last but not least - Potato Cakes!

See we both work at Arby's but in separate sections
And she doesn't know I like her, that she gives me erections

Potato Cakes! If you know me at all...i love potatoes. I'll eat them in every way imaginable and I could eat an entire meal of just potatoes. I'll dip a fry in mashed potatoes. I don't even care. Sweet potatoes? Why not! This polish reminds me of Sweet Potato Casserole my grandma used to make at Thanksgiving, with the marshmallows on top.

Even though it's named after Potato Cakes from Arbys (LOL) - it totally reminds me of fall. A gorgeous burnt orange crelly base with gold, white and green glitters. Large white hex glitters and some mylar shards too!