Zoya Transitional 2016 Collection with Whispers

The Whispers collection from Zoya, available now and here, is a nice option for those ready to give up their winter shades for spring, but aren't quite ready to go full blown pastel. This transitional collection features 6 soft, muted shades, with color that gets you in the mood for more sun and flowers!

I liked the idea of spring bloom, so here's a cute little floral look on one of the Whispers shades, Lake.

Whispering Petals

I also used Ireland for the stems and leaves, and mixed a non-Whispers Zoya color, Arizona, with white to get the petals of the flowers. I also used it for the detail colors on the flowers.

Now let's transition into the swatches. ;)

Whispers Swatches

All the Whispers colors are solid cremes. There's no pearlescense, shimmer, or metallics, just simple flat cremes. 

Zoya - Cala

Cala (2 coats) is a nude creme with yellow undertones. Some polishes in Whispers are difficult to work with, but Cala applies really well and has perfect coverage.

Zoya - Lake

Lake (2 coats) is a dusty, pale blue creme. Like Cala, it applies easily and lays smoothly on the nail. 

Zoya - Eastyn

Eastyn (2 coats) is a dark grayish-lavender creme. This is the first polish I swatched from the collection that had a thick formula. It still evens out nicely with top coat, but applying it isn't the smoothest.

LONDONTOWN - lakur Fall/Winter 2015 Collection with Beautiful Blossoms

Not all of us are eager and excited about new colors like some of the blues and purples coming to light. I am not one of those people. HOWEVER...if you are, then tonight's post might just be perfect for you...or your mom. I've got the newest lakur collection for Fall/Winter 2015, which is a quaint 4-piece collection of very neutral shades.

Ever since getting my new laptop decal (you can see it here), I've been wanting to do a nice simple little floral design. These coordinated shades of red and pink were perfect for the task.

Click to Enlarge

I know there are a lot of floral tutorials out there that look similar to this, but I didn't really follow a tutorial. I just followed the pattern of the decal I mentioned, and really liked the way it turned out! I used 3 of the 4 shades from this collection, as well as another lakur shade called Emerald Tower.

Here's a little info about lakur as a brand. It's a 5-free line, it's vegan, it's cruelty-free, plus some other pros. Mainly, it touts itself as a nourishing, natural ingredient line that will fix your nails while giving you some solid coverage in color. I can't speak for the long-term effects of the polish (I swatch too much to ever properly test that for you all), but I can say the coverage is quite nice. The formula is a little thick, which didn't cause application problems yet, but could be an issue when the bottle starts to run low later on. So weigh your options with this brand - healing properties but potentially difficult application. Keep that in mind while you browse the swatches.

lakur - Lady Luck

Lady Luck (2 coats) is a blood red creme. I swatched this color while watching a scary movie, so maybe that's why I'm associating it with blood. What do you think?

lakur - Mauve Over

Mauve Over (2 coats) really washes me out, which is a bummer because it's a pretty color. I guess muted rosy mauves aren't good on me.

lakur - Murray Me

Murray Me (2 coats) is my favorite from the collection. It's a nude creme with tones of greyish-pink. It's the base of my nail art, as well as the highlight of the flowers. I'm not sure what the "Murray" is referring to. Probably Bill Murray...because...you know...he's a white guy?

lakur - The Full Monty

If Mauve Over washes me out, then The Full Monty (2 coats) really gets lost. I have these yellow undertones in my skin, which The Full Monty has as well. Don't get me wrong, the flesh creme is stunning...but can you tell on my skin?

lakur and the other LONDONTOWN products can all be purchased here. Enjoy!

The products in this post were given for review purposes. The reviews are based entirely on my experience with the products and were in no way influenced by anyone.

Winstonia Series 1 Stamping Plate Review

Recently on Nailed It, you may have noticed a revival in stamping. That continues tonight with a review of one of the plates in Winstonia Store's Series 1 stamping plates.

I used the large floral pattern, as well as it's smaller counterpart for my design tonight, as well as a 3D fimo flower for my thumb!

I had no problem with these stamps. They transferred easily and all the lines and details translated perfectly.

Below is a shot of the plate I used, which includes several other floral ideas:

The series also comes with 3 other plates:

Image courtesy of Winstonia Store

Image courtesy of Winstonia Store

Image courtesy of Winstonia Store

This series of plates comes at a really low price. All four are available here for $4.95! SO CHEAP!

Which plate is your favorite? Which design is your favorite?

These products were sent to me by Winstonia. The reviews are based entirely on my experience with the products and were in no way influenced by anyone.

ROCOCO Mod's & Muses Collection Swatches & Review

No new news on the flood situation from my perspective. Which is good news!

More good news is that I have nail art and swatches to show you.

ROCOCO nail lacquer released a line of four 60's-inspired shades in their new collection, Mods & Muses.

Rock your nails this summer with the newest shades from ROCOCO. Inspired by the iconic styles of the 60's, ROCOCO's "Mods & Muses" collection draws on bright and bold shades reviving the statement hues of this groovy decade for a flower power collection.

60's style huh? Well more flower power to them! Here's the nail art to go with it!

Besides the base, which is OPI My Vampire is Buff, the colors are all from this collection, the first of which is Flower Child.

Flower Child is a lovely pale yellow creme. It's somewhat difficult to work with. I'm coming to terms with the fact that most, if not all yellows, are like that. Ugh. This yellow took 3 patient coats.

Bombshell is a dark but bright magenta. It's a quality I can't really describe, in that it's bright on the nail, but it's not exactly a bright color. I used 2 easy coats for this.

Flashback is another creme (they all are) that counts as coral, but is much more orange than the pink. This requires 2-3 coats, 3 if you're impatient like me.

The last color is called Kitsch, and it's a mint creme. It's the exact color of mint ice cream, which makes me almost as happy as mint ice cream does. Just like Flashback, it's a 2-3 coat polish that requires patience.

Overall, these polishes are great! The collection is cohesive and the cremes make me giddy.

You can buy these polishes at spacenk.com for $16.50 each. Pricey, yes. They're also available at select Bloomingdales. You can spot them in these precious boxes:

Photo credit: Vampy Varnish

These products were sent to me by ROCOCO. The reviews are based entirely on my experience with the products and were in no way influenced by anyone.

Winstonia August Grab Bag

New month, new grab bag!

Winstonia's August Grab Bag, available here, contains the following:

• Nail Art Ceramic Flower Charms 
• Nail Art Faux Stone Charms 
• Nail Foil Wraps, in a random design. Mine was zebra peacock...the strangest animal to ever walk the face of the planet.
• 2 bottles of nail glue 
• Eyeliner Stickers

Before I get into the details of the contents, here's my design using the ceramic flower charms!

Here's the breakdown of the nail art. My thumb, middle finger, and pinky finger are a base of Strumming My Nails (Sation) with Fairy Dust (China Glaze) on top. My ring finger is the ever-gorgeous Storm (Zoya), and the base of my index finger is Black Onyx (OPI). I painted the flower on my middle finger using Alpine Snow (OPI) and outlined it with Black Onyx.

Now let's talk details of a few of the pieces.

The ceramic nail charms aren't hard, as the word ceramic sounds (to me). They're pliable and feel a bit like Play-Doh. Each has a rhinestone in its center. The one I placed is the largest, and they get smaller from there.

The faux stones are a bit of a disappointment to me, but only because they're not flexible, and my nails are too small for them to lay flatly. Too bad. I have pretty tiny nail plates though.

I haven't tried the nail foil stickers yet, but they seem nice. And the glue is always helpful.

But okay...eyeliner stickers?! I've never heard of this before, but this clearly doesn't gain its popularity in the U.S., as indicated by the all-Japanese labeling. There's literally no English on the package, so fending for myself, I tried applying the sticker to my clean, oil-free and makeup-free eyelids. I didn't have much luck. It stuck...sort of. But it looked like a sticker on my eyeliner. Not a good look for me, so I'll spare you the pictures.

Shipment of these bags began August 12, and you can get them for just $10 with free shipping and no subscription required. Follow this link to purchase your August Grab Bag.

These products were sent to me by Winstonia. The reviews are based entirely on my experience with the products and were in no way influenced by anyone.

Floral Nail Tutorial for Online Fashion Week

OFW continues for just one more day, and as a special exclusive for the event, I've created a floral tutorial!

Check it out over at Online Fashion Week! Be sure to check all the other posts for beauty and fashion there before the day ends, so you can be sure you're on trend and stylish all through summer.

Color Society - Color Club Royals

Click the icon to visit the Color Society page.

Color Club is fast becoming a great polish brand for nail art. Repeatedly, I find myself grabbing their bottles for full, rich color in many of my detailed nail art ideas. One of my favorites is their fabulous yellow, Almost Famous. After tonight, I have two more to add to my list.

Here's some nail art to prove it!

The color shown is Bright Night, splattered with little white daisies done with a nail striper from Color Madric. Isn't it so rich?!

For its swatch, I used two coats of Bright Night. It's one of the best blues I own to date, walking the line between being dark, yet bright. It's not for those afraid of bold colors, that's for damn sure!

Its partner in this review is Abyss. It's more blue than a previous teal from Color Society's set of Color Clubs using Wild Cactus, shown here. Again, very rich, and needs only two coats for ultra opacity.

If you're looking for great nail art polishes that'll get you fabulous results without lots of retracing, I recommend diving into some of the Color Club creme polishes, like these two rich beauties.

Thank you again to Color Society for sending out wonderful polishes for bloggers to review. And remember, if you're interested in applying to be part of the Color Society, fill out the application here!

Click the icon to visit the Color Society page.

These products were sent to me by Color Society. The reviews are based entirely on my experience with the products and were in no way influenced by anyone.

Fake Tattoos Nail Tattoos Review

Before recently, I thought stamping and stickers were the next easiest way to get the artistic, perfect look without the steady hand some nail saints have. Then I was introduced to Fake Tattoos.

This European company specializes in temporary tattoos, whether they be on your body, or more excitingly, your nails! I've got a review today that's bound to excite you, and it's brought to you by Fake Tattoos!

Just like the temporary tattoos with unicorns and kittens we all wore as kids, these apply just as easily. They come on a sheet with paper backing and a plastic sheet on the other side. To apply this on your nails, you need to cut out the tattoo you want, peel off its plastic, and then apply the decal side to your nail. Then, with a damp paper towel, dab against the paper backing for about 15 seconds (they recommend 30). The backing will peel right away, and you'll be left with a beautiful design on your nails, just like these!

The colors used for this mani include My Vampire is Buff (OPI), Blueberry Blast (Misa), Lovely Lychee (Misa), Ripe Raspberry (Misa), Lime Love (Misa), Vintage Boutique (Avon), and Posh (Revlon).

The middle finger bird (how appropriate) and the ring finger hearts (damn I'm good!) are all Fake Tattoos. Aren't they great!? Perfect, clean lines, with tiny details nearly impossible to achieve with a little brush or nail art pen. The floral design was inspired by the feminine florals of The Daily Polish.

The ease of putting these on was surprising. I thought I'd mess up at least one or two nails, but what you see above is my first attempt. They do have a slight visible (though not tactile) texture to them, as you can see in the black heart on my ring finger. I've layered on a thick coat of Seche Vite, and it still appears, but I honestly don't mind. It doesn't detract from the look in the slightest.

Though I've only used three tattoos here, there are plenty for you to choose from! You can see their whole catalog here, but I received six sheets. Here's what's on them:

Which is your favorite? How would you rock these?

You can try these yourself by ordering your own set here. Fake Tattoos offers shipping worldwide, so grab your favorite sets and try them out yourself.

These products were sent to me by Fake Tattoos. The reviews are based entirely on my experience with the products and were in no way influenced by anyone.

AA Floral

I'm sure you've seen the floral designs by mrcandiipants recreated all over the place. Jumping on that band wagon, and equally as motivated by her love for American Apparel polishes, here's some American (Apparel) Floral nails!

This was an impossibly easy look to create. Simple tools and even shaky hand skills are all you need for the look. (I obviously did roughly outline the flowers with a striping brush and black polish, but even that can be messy.) I love the way you can just dab the leaves petals onto the nail without the perfection of some other designs.

Also check out that color combo! Peach and neon? This combo of nude/neon is really trendy right now, though it's going into pastels as it's technically spring. My neon is Neon Green and my peach is Summer Peach, both from American Apparel.

I'd like to accumulate all the American Apparel colors throughout my lifetime. Is that possible without going broke? Maybe I'll start a Polish Piggy Bank, and save up some money every day until I have enough for them aaaaallllllllll!

Color Secrets Professional Review and Swatches

I've got two simple swatches and a rad nail art design for you today.

JB Cosmetics has introduced a new line of lacquer and appliques called Color Secrets Pro. Today I'll be showing you two of the colors from their lacquer line, but you can see all the other colors and the appliques at their website here.

The two colors sent to me were The Palm Beach Story and The Endless Summer. I wanted to incorporate both colors into the nail art design, but with the green and red, I had to large patterns that would inevitably lean towards Christmas. I decided to do a simple and feminine floral rose design to use both colors.

I used Jacqueline (Zoya) as a base, and then just mixed The Endless Summer with a white (Purity from Zoya) to get the mixed pink for the roses. The petals were done with The Palm Beach Story (which is the darker green) and Sea Breeze (Avon).

Now let's talk about the colors on their own.

The first color is called The Palm Beach Story. I liked this dark mossy teal, leaning slightly more on the green than blue side. I used three thin coats for my swatch, but you can use two if you'd prefer. It works well for nail art as well as you can see from the fun rose design inspired by the two colors.

My skin looks a little strange because I was trying to color-correct to get the polish to be an accurate color.

The Endless Summer is a rich coral red. When it dries, it appears somewhat matte. Again, I used three coats, but two are very realistic. This color really pops on your nails!

Color Secrets Pro colors retail for a great price, at just $2.99 per bottle. They're all Big 3-Free (DBP, toulene and formaldehyde free).

If you're interested in their appliques, which all appear to be 3D with rhinestones and glitter, those go for $5.99 each.

I'm not sure if these are sold in stores anywhere, but you can order directly from their website.

These products were sent to me by JB Cosmetics. The reviews are based entirely on my experience with the products and were in no way influenced by anyone.