Beauty Nail Art: Matte

Showing posts with label Matte. Show all posts

Latest Franken

This is 2 coats of a franken I made with Claire's Mood Peaceful/Confident & Sally Hansen Black Out. I was hoping it would keep it's color-changing ability, but no luck. I still think it's gorgeous though. It dried semi-matte, like the Claire's, as you can see in the first picture. In the picture below, I added a glossy top coat to my middle & pinky fingers.

Here it is in the shade with alternating glossy and matte finishes again. It ended up being so shiny that I can see myself holding the camera in my nail!

I certainly don't have anything comparable in my collection, but I'm sure some of you ladies do. Does this look like a dupe for anything you own?

Thanks for reading!
April

Current Giveaways

American Apparel Polish Giveaway! Ends 12/3.

Read Full...

Talk Like A Pirate Day Nails

Today is Talk Like A Pirate Day! I love Pirates!

I used one coat of Pure Ice French Kiss (an amazing polish that I'll review soon!) with one coat of Barry M Silver Sea. One coat of Sinful Secret Admirer (another amazing polish!) topped with China Glaze Matte Magic for the Jolly Roger pirate flag. I used my beloved smARTNails sticker stencil & China Glaze Millennium for the skull and crossbones.

Thanks for reading!
April Read Full...

ManGlaze Hot Mess

This is 3 coats of ManGlaze Hot Mess with no top coat. Super cool matte silver! It's supposed to be a topcoat but I think it looks pretty amazing all by itself!

I won all of the ManGlaze polishes from Sara of Daily Polish. Thanks again Sara!

And thank you for reading!
April Read Full...

ManGlaze Fuggen Ugly

This is 2 coats of the amazing ManGlaze Fuggen Ugly. I got so many compliments when I wore this one! From guys and girls. Gorgeous gunmetal perfection! This is shown without a topcoat to keep the matte finish. I love it!

I won all of the ManGlaze polishes from Sara of Daily Polish. Thanks again Sara!

And thank you for reading!
April Read Full...

Sinful Mint Apple, Nail Stickers & ManGlaze!

This is three coats of Sinful Mint Apple, a lovely dark mint with silver microshimmer. Another winner from Sinful!

I decided to try some nail art stickers for the first time and I really like the end result.

The next day I decided to try my new ManGlaze polishes that I won from Sara of Daily Polish. So fun! I used Matte-Astrophe on my ring and pinkie and Hot Mess on the other two fingers.

Thanks for reading!
April Read Full...

World Cup 2010 "Group of Death" Nail Art

I used my new ManGlaze Matte is Murder for last week's Group of Death games in this year's World Cup. Here's a definition of the term from Wikipedia.

A group of death in a multi-stage tournament is a preliminary group which is unusually competitive, because the number of strong competitors in the group is greater than the number of qualifying places available for the next phase of the tournament. Thus, in the preliminary round, one or more strong competitors in the "group of death" will necessarily be eliminated, who would otherwise have been expected to progress further in the tournament.

Brazil & Portugal made it out this time but Ivory Coast had to go home.

I won all of the ManGlaze polishes recently from Sara of Daily Polish. Thanks again! I used my amazing smARTnails sticker stencils and ManGlaze Hot Mess & Fuggen Ugly for the skulls.

Here's a shot of ManGlaze Matte is Murder before the skulls. It was easy to work with and required three coats.

Thanks for reading!
April Read Full...

Isadora Galaxy

I love Isadora Galaxy! This is three, easy to apply, coats. Gorgeous, rich, purple foil metallic! I won this beauty from the lovely R3 Daily. Here's one of my favorites of her recent posts.

China Glaze Matte Magic makes this look like one of OPI's suede polishes. I used the matte top coat on my pinky and ring finger. Please ignore any orange that you see! I was helping my friend's Zack & Melinda paint their new house before their wedding.

Thanks for reading!
April Read Full...

Mad Max Interceptor & Special Pursuit Nails!

I watched Mad Max for the first time last weekend and as soon as I saw the Yellow Interceptor Car, I knew I'd be doing a version of that sweet paint job on my nails!

Below is the Special Pursuit. I used Sinful Secret Admirer with China Glaze Matte Magic to mimic the awesome Special Pursuit. Matte black nails look evil. I love it!

I used China Glaze Solar Power, OPI Red & OPI Blue My Mind for the Interceptor. My beloved Migi Nail Art Pen for the white stripe.

I have a thing for 70's muscle cars. It's bad. My heart goes all a flutter every time I see one.

Please enter my giveaways if you haven't already. Queen's Metal Jewelry Giveaway ends tonight! You can enter here. Clean Rest giveaway ends 3/23. Enter here.

Thanks for reading!
April Read Full...

Nails To Match My New Bag

Yet another reason why I enter giveaways! I won this LRG bag from Highsobiety. I've always loved military inspired fashions and this gorgeous bag is no exception.

Ashley & I still haven't acquired a perfect army green polish which makes us sad in our hearts. I used Ashley's OPI You Don't Know Jacques for the base color. Santee Midtown Haze, Color Club Feel the Beat and Maybelline Khaki Fringe for the stripes. Then I used China Glaze Matte Magic over everything. I LOVE the end result.
I love winning gorgeous things! Enter all three of my current giveaways for your chance to get that little rush of adrenaline and endorphins when you're the winner! There are links to each giveaway on the right side of the blog. Good luck!

Just for the record, no one paid me to do this post. I won the prize fair and square and was so happy with it that I decided to share it with you.

Thanks for reading!
April Read Full...

Maybelline Mattes: Blue, Rose, Grey, & Stone

I've had lots of fun & frustration with all of my Dollar Store Maybellines. Khaki Fringe made it into my top 5 favorites, Matte Sapphire is lovely but others have just been a pain to work with. Here are 4 of the Maybelline Matte series. The first two are big losers but I LOVE the last two.

UGH! These are NOT self leveling. They were so gloopy that the polish just made little brushstroke mountains. Those are not my nail ridges but just evidence of how thick this stuff was. I didn't like the color of either of these enough to bother with trying to make them work for me. Steph's Closet has lots of great pictures of some other Maybelline Mattes with topcoat if you're interested.

Now onto Matte Rose & Matte Blue which I think are gorgeous. I had been meaning to pick up a bottle of thinner for some time now. These two colors finally sent me to Sally's and the results were worth it. I added 2 or 3 drops to each of these before I applied them and it helped a lot!

I'm not usually interested in reds of any kind for my nails. Matte Rose made the jump into my regular rotation though. This is a gorgeous color but not really rose in my opinion. I think of rose as a dark, dusty pink & this is more of a dusty burgundy. 3 coats. I used a topcoat on my ring & pinkie.

Matte Blue is fairly unique in my opinion. Dusty, sky blue with shimmer. I love it. This is 3 coats.

Overall, at $1 a bottle these are totally worth it! All 4 of them work great with Konad which means that even the Grey and Stone are worth there $1 price tag.

I am putting together a giveaway soon and Maybelline Matte Rose & Matte Blue will be two of the 10 polishes I'll be offering as a prize! There will also be something from MAC & a Kevin Aucoin lipstick.

Thanks for reading!
April Read Full...

Zoya Blair & A Giveaway Roundup

Zoya Blair is one of the only reds that I own. My boyfriend Will picked it out for me and I think he did an excellent job. Gorgeous, blackened wine color shimmer. I have three Zoyas so far and I truly love them all. Great formulas and lovely colors. This is three, easily applied coats. NailTek Foundation II on my ring & pinkie for a matte effect.

Giveaway Roundup

Win a case of Ritter Sport Chocolate Minis (that's 84 minis!!!!) from Mission Mommy. Ends 1/24.
Win a Zero Water Pitcher from Silver Savings. Ends 1/24.
Win the apron of your choice from Flirty aprons & Sweeps4Bloggers. Ends 1/27.
Win a WaterPik Easy Select Shower Head from 3Kids&Us. Ends 1/28.
Win a BARBAR Eco-8000 Professional Eco Friendly Blow Dryer from Art of Random Willy-Nillyness. Ends 1/29.
Win Nail'd & Polish'd's all-time favorite nail goodies. Ends 1/29.
Win the EarthLust Stainless Steel Water Bottle of your choice (gorgeous options!) from My Wee View. Ends 1/29.

Thanks for Read Full...

Sinful Secret Admirer & A Giveaway Roundup

I have had great luck with the Sinful polishes I have tried so far. Secret Admirer costs $2 & I can get away with just one coat if I'm careful. I really love any nail polish that can look good with one coat. Sometimes I'm in a hurry! Black creme nail polish is not something I'm interested in wearing. (or any of those polishes that look black unless you are in the sun, for that matter!) But the superfine silver shimmer in Secret Admirer makes this black polish a winner for me. This Sinful polish is great for Konad and nail art because it is so pigmented. It worked great for the tuxedo on my Dracula nails.
I used Nail Tek Foundation II on my ring and pinkie fingers for a matte effect.

Giveaway Roundup

Win a PUR Water pitcher from Saving Cents with Sense. Ends 1/21.
Win a gorgeous lingerie set from Diary of a Vintage Girl. Ends 1/21.
Win a $300 Target gift card from Health Bistro. Ends 1/22.
Win a Hairfree Ceramic Brush Set from Sweeps4Bloggers. Ends 1/23.
Win a Yak Pak Nobu Handbag from Sweeps4Bloggers. Ends 1/23.
Win a set of Wilton's Ultragold Bakeware from Outnumbered 3 to 1. Ends 1/23.

Thanks for reading!
April Read Full...

Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Gunmetal & A Giveaway Roundup

This is two coats of Sally Hansen Hards As Nails in Gunmetal. No application issues, but I only feel so-so about the color. I use this one for Konad, but that's all. I used Nail Tek Foundation II as a matte topcoat on my ring and pinkie in the first picture. I was hoping it would be more appealing to me matte but it still didn't do much for me.

Giveaway Roundup

Win 250 business cards from UPrinting & The Penny-Pinching Mama. Ends 1/17.
Win a Karma Organic Nail Care & Polish Set from Sweeps4Bloggers. Ends /17.
Win a case of Ritter Sport Minis from Sweeps4Bloggers. Ends 1/17.
Win a Giant Market Bag from Gorilla Sacks & Sweeps4Bloggers. Ends 1/18.
Win a sampler pack of OOBA from TicTacDough. Ends 1/18.

Thanks for reading!
April Read Full...

N.Y.C. Downtown & A Giveaway Roundup

I have already gone through my first bottle of this polish and purchased a back-up. I know you're all thinking, "But April, it's so boring!". I actually agree with you. I've only worn this on my hands once to get pictures.
N.Y.C. Downtown lives on my toes! I haven't changed the color in ages. This polish costs .94 cents at Target, is opaque in one coat & just seems to be a classic color that I don't have to think about. I know my toes will look good and it will go with everything. Nice berry creme in one coat for a buck is a no-brainer in my world!
Do you ladies change your pedicure polish as frequently as you do your nails? Do you stick with a few neutral colors most of the time or do you go wild and crazy?

I used Nail Tek Foundation II on my ring & pinkie for a matte effect.

Giveaway Roundup

Win a $50 gift certificate to Leanna Lin Jewelry from Dandy Giveaway. Hurry! Ends tonight!
Win a Fountain Jet Soda Starter Kit from Soda Stream & Dandy Giveaway. Hurry! Ends tonight!
Win a Bird in Flight Necklace from Down & Out Chic. Ends 1/12.
Win a Dremel Multi-Max from 3 boys and a dog. Ends 1/12.
Win a $40 gift certifcate to Joy of Soap From Sweeps4Bloggers. Ends 1/16.

Thanks for reading!
April Read Full...

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Blue Streak & Jumpin Jade

Here are a couple of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri pictures that I've been meaning to post for ages. I personally LOVE everything about the Insta-Dri line. I have very wide nails, so the extra wide brush is perfect for me. I know a lot of you ladies can't stand the brush though. I also love the formula on the two I have tried so far. One coat for both of these colors. One coat and a super fast dry time is impossible to beat in my world. I recently took the RBL Spongebob Collection off of my want list because I just can't stand the thought of doing 5 coats!

I really want more of this particular Sally Hansen line. Lickety-Split Lime was at the top of my lemming list over the summer, but I never found it here in Tulsa. What do you ladies think of this line? Are there any colors you love in spite of the brush?

First up is Blue Streak. For some reason, I never end up liking turquoise on my nails. It's one of my favorite colors, so I really have no explanation for this quirk of mine. The color is lovely and I think it might work well for Konad. (The bubbles were from some random base coat I was trying.)

Next we have Jumpin Jade. I LOVE this one! Not the most unique color in the polish world any more, but super gorgeous just the same. I tried Nail Tech Foundation II as a matte topcoat on my ring finger but wasn't happy with the result. It totally erased the shimmer and made my nail look like green rubber.

Thanks for reading!
April Read Full...

Finger Paints Yellow Bikini

So far this is the only yellow in my collection. I tried China Glaze Solar Power which is beautiful but not with my skintone. Yellow Bikini works well though. This is 3 coats. It was a little thick and goopy but I hear that is how most yellows behave. The ring and pinky have Nail Tek Foundation II for a matte effect. Doesn't look so great with this polish. I was wearing this and I put on a red skirt and a blue shirt. I kept looking in the mirror trying to figure out what was so strange, when I finally realized that I looked like Wonder Woman going in for a day at the office. I changed clothes.
Thanks for reading.
April

Read Full...

Maybelline Matte Sapphire

WOW! This was a great find at my local Dollar Tree. I had a hard time capturing the beauty and strangeness of this one. All photos are without topcoat on my pointer and middle finger and with topcoat on ring and pinkie. It looks great matte or glossy. This polish is navy blue matte with superfine silver specks. I don't even want to call them glitter because they don't sparkle at all. It really looks like when you look at the night sky in the woods and you see some stars, then you keep looking and you suddenly realize there are TONS more that are just tiny that you can't see in the city. This polish never looks black even indoors. I love it!
-April