First Frankens: The Adele Collection

Happy Sunday everyone!

I've recently been experimenting with frankening. Although, is it still considered frankening when using polish bases (with no color) and adding pigments and glitter? Either way, I'm going to refer to it as frankening to make it easier for everyone. Anyway, I've been trying a few different combinations, but yesterday I finally came up with three concoctions that I absolutely love. This collection (if you can call it that) has been in my mind for a while and I'm glad I finally was able to make it happen.

I've called the trio of nail polishes that I've created The Adele Collection. For some reason the colors reminded me of the titles of Adele songs. The three colors are titled Rumor Has It, Rolling in the Deep, and Set Fire to the Rain. Each color was handmade with clear bases and different pigments, 100% made by me and not using existing nail polishes. I hope you enjoy them! (Very pic heavy post!)

First up is Rumor Has It. I've noticed that unique greens were some of the most loved polish colors of 2011. I can't even count how many times I saw butter LONDON Wallis and Chanel Peridot on everyone's Top Nail Polishes of 2011 lists. Rumor Has It is inspired by these colors, although of course not a dupe. It's a green with a hint of gold shimmer (I suppose).

I mixed all three of my frankens in empty Manglaze bottles that I got for Christmas. They're perfect for frankening because of the wide mouth, plus the labels are just so cool.

It turns out that Rumor Has It is difficult to photograph. The above picture was taken with the bottle in a light box, which turns out more golden. In person, the color in the bottle is more green, not gold. 

Above is Rumor Has It in natural light, which is a lot more accurate to what it looks like in person. I wouldn't call it a duo-chrome, but it definitely likes to shift a little. 

Next is Rolling in the Deep. It's a purple shimmer creme that leans a little silver (I still don't know how exactly to refer to them, they're not quite creme, but not 100% shimmer). To me, Rolling in the Deep goes with the aesthetic of Adele's 21 album cover. This was the color that helped to set off the rest of the trio. 

Here is Rolling in the Deep photographed in a light box and the pictures below were taken with natural light, which is the most accurate.

Last in the trio and personally my favorite color (although I love them all), is Set Fire to the Rain. It's a mix of three different micas that just went together so naturally. Set Fire to the Rain shifts the most out of the three colors. It's a coral with golden shimmer. 

Again, the above is the lightbox photos and below is natural light.

The natural light shows the golden shimmer. Gorgeous if I do say so myself! I also compared Set Fire to the Rain to Wet n Wild's Waves of Enchantment from their Mermaid Cove collection. On the nail wheel at least, Waves of Enchantment didn't cover as well in 3 coats and Waves is more pink with larger shimmer particles, so it is still not an exact dupe. (I wasn't going for a dupe of Waves, but when I swatched Set Fire, I couldn't help but swatch Waves too.) 

I wasn't able to do swatches on my nails yet. Today I was preparing for the upcoming week, which was hard on my hands and I don't think my poor nails could have handled it today. So I did swatches on a nail wheel instead. Each swatch is 3 coats, with no top coat. 

I hope you enjoy these frankens as much as I enjoyed creating them and seeing the outcome. Please share your feedback in the comments section. I would love to hear what you think! 

I hope to have more frankens for your viewing pleasure in the future! 

a-england Sale!

Apparently I picked the worst time of year to decide not to buy nail polish and I'm pretty close to breaking this resolution. I'm still tempted to pick up the 2 free Zoya's, because after thinking about it, it is a good deal. In addition to this, Adina at a-england is having a 30% off sale for her 1 year anniversary. I want an a-england polish so bad. I adore the brand, because it's such a clever concept and the swatches I've seen are amazing. Plus, there's the upcoming The Legend collection, which looks even more amazing from the previews I've seen.

Click here for the a-england sale.

You can see a preview of a-england's The Legend collection here on ommorphia beauty bar.

Tomorrow I'll hopefully have pictures of the beautiful frankens I made this weekend! Happy shopping!

Knowledge is Power: Know What's on Your Nails

I've been using nail polish since I was about 12 years old and most of the years since have also included biting my nails. It's a bad habit that I'm sure many nail bloggers share and many have stopped over the years because of nail polish. However, over those years I never stopped to consider what was in my nail polish. I just assumed that if I could put it on my nails, it would be safe.

Now as I've learned more and more about the nail polish industry, I've found that that isn't necessarily true. Chemicals such as toluene, formaldehyde, and dibutyl phthalate (DBP), which are also known as the Big 3, have been ingredients in the products I put on my nails.

Many cosmetic companies are making a very strong effort to not include these ingredients in their products. There are 3 Free, 4 Free and even 5 Free nail polishes out there. Some companies even go as far to make vegan and water based nail polishes.

There are also brands who are cruelty free, meaning they do not test on animals. At times I still can't believe that there is animal testing in the 21st Century, but it does happen. I love animals and would never think of testing anything harmful on my two cats, Dynamo and Ripley. Why should animals suffer for our vanity? It's yet another topic to consider when purchasing cosmetics. Who knew buying a bottle of nail polish could have so many implications?

To me, knowledge is power and I believe everyone should be aware of things like this. Check out these websites for more information about companies that are 3 free and more about the Big 3 toxins.

Inspirationail - A great resource for 3 free, cruelty free, vegan and water based nail polish companies.
Persephone Magazine - A good article about 3 free and a better explanation of why these chemicals could be potentially harmful.
Lacquerized - A good blog post about being cruelty free. The post is from over a year ago, so some of those brands may have stopped their animal testing.

Disclaimer: I am in no way an expert on this topic, I'm just learning all of this myself. I'm also still trying to decide if I should ditch all my non-safe polish and solely support 3 Free, vegan and cruelty free brands. I will say one thing, now I understand why some brands are more expensive than others and I won't shy away from paying that little bit more for a 3 Free product. In the future when picking up a nail polish, I'm definitely going to check out the label.

Are you tired of hearing about 3 free nail polish or is this news to you? Have you switched to brands that are only 3 Free, 4 Free, 5 Free, cruelty free or vegan? Or do you still buy some brands that are not? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this topic!

Zoya: Get 2 Free Promotion

Just a quick update. Zoya is having a promotion through their blog and Facebook. You get 2 Free bottles of nail polish (excluding the new True and Fleck Collections), all you have to do is pay for shipping and enter the promotional code.

If you spend an additional $25 on Zoya products, you can also get free shipping. Read more about it and get the code here.

I almost broke my New Year's resolution due to this promotion, until I realized shipping is $6.95. While it's a great Zoya promotion and I'm dying to get my hands on Zoya Kelly, I couldn't justify the purchase to myself. It's only 3 days into the New Year! Plus, for me it feels as though I would only be getting one polish for free.

Is anyone else going to use the promotion? What are your favorite Zoya colors? 

Untried #1 of 2012: A Palate Cleanser

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a happy and safe New Year's Eve! Now we're into 2012 and I'm enjoying it so far; a 3 day weekend will do that. Hopefully 2012 will bring a lot of exciting things! I know there have already been a lot of announcements so far in the world of nail polish about new lines and collections. Lots of cool stuff ahead!

I started on my New Year's resolution of using all my untrieds today. Removing the Sally Hansen Winter Funderland design was a bit more difficult than I thought it would be. The black polish just did not want to come off and the glitter didn't help either. I feel as though I've worn so much glitter / hard to remove polish lately. My poor fingernails are weak from all that pure acetone! So I've been wanting to do a mani with a nice, simple creme polish that won't demolish my nails. (Ha, see what I did there?)

So for my first manicure of the year, I chose to go with a classic: China Glaze For Audrey. It's one color that I had been looking forward to getting my hands on and I was so happy to get it for Christmas. It is definitely a "me" color, I love blues and purples. And who doesn't like a Tiffany-inspired blue?

The application was great, For Audrey covered perfectly in two coats. I used a Seche base coat and the Seche Vite top dry coat. (This nail blogger is growing up, a base and top coat?!) I absolutely love this color even if it's not the newest one on the block. I also think it will be a great base for trying out my new nail stamping kit and a perfect color for my birthday week!

Both pictures were taken inside. The top one was with flash, I believe the bottom was no flash. I was too lazy to get my lightbox set up since our Christmas tree is in the way. But see, so pretty! I'm slowly, but surely becoming a big fan of China Glaze. 

Have you tried For Audrey? Let me know!