Capitol Colours: Fast Track

The much anticipated Capitol Colours collection from China Glaze (aka the Hunger Games collection) has finally arrived! My order from SallyBeauty.com arrived on Wednesday and I had to try at least one as soon as possible. It was a tough decision because I wanted to wear them all at once!

Unfortunately, I couldn't do that because our Board of Trustees was in town. I needed something subtle, but not boring, so I went with Fast Track. It's a gorgeous beige with golden shimmer. This polish is packed with shimmer. At first the color seemed a little underwhelming, but after wearing it for two days, I am in love with this color.

I used Orly Bonder for the base coat and two coats of Fast Track. Depending on your preference for opacity, Fast Track could possibly use three coats. I topped it off with Seche Vite, as usual. China Glaze did not disappoint on the formula with this one and I can't wait to try the other Capitol Colours that I picked up. 

The Capitol Colours collection is available now. I got my haul from Sally Beauty, but some other websites have them as well. It goes without saying that I'll have to choose one to wear when I actually go to the see The Hunger Games.

Once again, have you picked up any of the Capitol Colours? If not, what are you waiting for?! 

Layering: I Need a Refresh-Mint and KelBel Cosmetics Flora

Today I have a store bought and home made nail polish combo!

I recently purchased Wet n Wild I Need a Refresh-Mint because I had been seeing it everywhere and for $1.99, I felt I HAD to own it. Of course right after I bought it, G from Nouveau Cheap (one of my favorite blogs) made this post comparing Refresh-Mint to China Glaze For Audrey. Apparently, they're dead-on dupes. Despite this, I'm still happy to own both. This is one of my favorite nail polish colors and the more versions of it I own, the better.

Please pardon the smudge on my middle finger. I really need to realize the difference between quick dry and instant dry. Just because I use Seche Vite, does not mean it is immediately dry to the touch after 5 seconds. Luckily I knew I'd be layering over this, so the smudge was no big deal. Overall, I like I Need a Refresh-Mint a lot. The color is beautiful and classic. I didn't have too much of the problem with the new, wider brush. The formula is better on For Audrey, but the formula on Refresh-mint was nice as well.

Next, I layered Flora over Refresh-mint. Flora is actually a color shifting top coat that I made and is now available in my Etsy shop! My shop is called KelBel Cosmetics and you can visit the shop here. All of the polish in the shop is made by me using clear 3 free lacquer base mixed with micas, pigments and glitters. I'll be adding more to the shop and making frequent updates in the next few months.

Flora shifts from pink to gold and has some shades in between depending on what you layer it over. The effect is a lot more subtle over a light color, but I love the combination it makes with Refresh-mint.

These pictures don't really do this combination justice. I love this in person (and not just because I made the top coat). I used two coats of Refresh-mint and two coats of Flora and topped it all off with Seche Vite of course. 

I hope you enjoy this combination. Let me know what you think in the comments!

Hometown Haul!

I was back in my hometown of Astoria, Queens this weekend for a surprise party for my Aunt. Since I live about 2 hours away from home, I usually just stay for the weekend when there's a special event going on. That resulted in me also making plans with my best friend to see The Vow (because we love sappy chick flicks) and then go in search of shamrock earrings. While I did not find shamrock earrings (sad), I did manage to find every store within three blocks that sold nail polish.

Anyway, that brings me to the reason for my post. I came across some great polish that I normally don't have access to, so I went a little crazy. Here's my hometown haul! (I also broke my no buy, but it's back on again.)

I ended up getting these beauties from three different stores. A random beauty supply, Claire's, and Ricky's. 

I found the L.A. Colors in the beauty supply store. I like the colors and they are super cheap (.99 cents), so I had to pick them up. On the left is Pink Sizzle, a lovely pinkish red / gold duo-chrome. The one on the right is Rainbow Glitter, which actually just looks mostly like red, blue and silver glitter. I think it will be great for around the 4th of July.

Next was Claire's where I managed to find two of their Magnetix collection. These were the only two colors left and they were buy one get one 50% off. They actually don't have names, which is unfortunate. It was funny buying these because I remember going into this particular Claire's all the time when I was in grammar school for all the latest trendy jewelry. I guess things haven't changed all that much.

I went to Ricky's last, which was a mistake, because they had everything I could ever want. Well, not really, but almost. They had the OPI Holland Collection, a whole display of Color Club Magnetic Force lacquers, one OPI DS, and a lot of Butter London polish. There was also other displays that I didn't even look at. I was in heaven to say the least, but after a whole day of shopping I had to choose wisely. 

I picked up Electro-Midnight from the Magnetic Force by Color Club collection. I think out of any magnetic nail polish, I have to own a blue. And of course, I picked up Butter London Knackered (my first BL), which is absolutely gorgeous in the bottle. Ricky's also had a promotion: when you buy any Butter London polish you get a nail file and bottle of Powder Room for free. I love the shape of the Butter London nail file and who doesn't need more remover?

And because I am in love with Knackered in all it's duo-chrome sparkly goodness, here are some gratuitous bottle shots.  

No flash

With flash

Look at that sparkle!

I can't wait to wear all of these!

Have you had any good hauls lately? Do you own any of these colors? Let me know in the comments!

Fail'd It, My First Stamping Attempt

For Christmas my hubby got me Bundle Monster plates along with the Konad accessories that I needed for stamping. This weekend I finally got around to trying it out.

For my base color I used Cult Nails Time Traveler. I had ordered it during the Cult Nails anniversary promo that offered free shipping. It came in the mail last week and it was so gorgeous in the bottle that I just couldn't wait to use it. Time Traveler is a dark royal, almost navy blue creme polish. The formula was great and I ended up using only one coat for the base. ONE COAT! It's an amazing color and I was kind of sad that I was going to stamp over it.

Cult Nails Time Traveler. Isn't it so pretty? 

I wanted to use a full nail pattern, but it didn't work out too well so I ended up trying two smaller designs from BM 223. On my left hand I stamped the bell from the plate using Mary Kay Gold Leaf. On my right hand I tried a another design with Maybelline Express Finish in Brassy that looked like a tattoo design. I don't have pictures of my right hand because despite my attempts, I just could not get a good photo.

I guess for a first stamping attempt it isn't too bad. But I've seen so many flawless examples of stamping that it's hard to think this was good. I'll just have to keep practicing and working on it. Next time I'll try some of those Sally Hansen Color Quick pens that I picked up from Big Lots for stamping instead. Until next time!

What was your experience with your first attempt at stamping? Do you have any stamping tips or advice? Which are your favorite plates: Bundle Monster, Konad or Red Angel? Let me know in the comments section!