I was delighted to be asked by BlogHer to share this Almay-sponsored video series, “Different Occasions. Different Looks. Always Pretty.” In this video, find out how you can get Kate’s sassy girls night out look!
I’m a 5-minute makeup girl, and this cat eye look is something that can easily be incorporated into my night out makeup routine. I love wearing volumizing mascara too, it’s the one thing that I never leave the house without!
It’s time to de-stash! My polish shelf is full and I need to make room for some new ones!
All of the items listed were purchased and used by me. Most were only swatched or used once, some have never been opened. I do not sell items that I receive as press samples.
Happy shopping!!
~Andrea
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Nail Pattern Boldness – Oodiful: $10
Candeo Colors – Jellybean: $6
Smitten Polish – Candy Kisses: $6
Smitten Polish – Glass Elevator: $10
Each swatched once.
Pretty Serious – Hot Summer Nights (never used): $6
Pretty Serious – Claris (used once): $6
Pretty Serious – Emma Louise (used once Limited Edition – #208): $10
Pretty Serious – Seasonal Sunset (never used): $6
Dollish Polish – I’m the Boogieman: $10
Emily de Molly – Muted Madness: $13
Emily de Molly – It’s Complicated: $13
Each swatched once.
KBShimmer: Don’t Teal Anyone | Oh Splat! | Toucan Touch This
Each swatched once.
Cult Nails: Seduction | Bitten | I Got Distracted | Coveted
Cult Nails: Disciplined | Alter Ego | Doppelganger
Square Hue: Wartime Romance | Happy Creme | Mother’s Pearl | Midnight Flurries | Flower Power
Unused or swatched once.
Square Hue: Artic Frost | Blond Ale | Amber Lager | Patty’s Pint | Dear John
Unused or swatched once.
Sonnetarium: Banana Pudding | Strawberry Smoothie | Cucumber Salad
Never used! Unopened. Mini size bottles.
Julep: Viola | Ivy | Joan | Cindy | Marion | Sienna | Vivien
Most are unused – some may have been used once.
Julep: Freedom Topcoat | Blakely | Joanna | Georgia | Gloria | Lauren | Mystery Color w no Name!
Unused or used once.
Zoya: Pinta (dark purple) | Neeka (light purple) | Rehka (red) - $4 Each
Dare to Wear: Yellow Twist | Pillow Talk – $3 Each
Unused or worn once.
Orly Go Deeper | Milani Hot Pink | Milani Teal
Each used 1-2 times.
I purchased these Indigo Illumination gels a few months ago and only wore one of them, though I did swatch them all on swatch sticks. You can see my swatch of #5 Saturn here. These gel polishes have amazing effects and they were shipped from overseas. Unfortunately they are NOT the soak-off variety, though they can be soaked off if you apply them over a good soak-off base color.
Colors: #1 Venus, #2 Jupiter, #4 Neptune, #5 Saturn and #8Mars
Visit the manufacturer website for more info.
Ink Passion Paradise | Ink Lime Sorbet | Ink Secret Desire | Ink Rock In Red | Ink Infamous
Each swatched once. See swatches here.
IBD Just Gel Polish Indian Sari & Smokey Plum
Both swatched once.
I took a little hiatus from making videos, but I finally have a new one for you! I documented the new techniques that I recently learned using CND Additives. In this this video you’ll learn how to create a gradient, how I did my recent zebra stripe and polka dot nail art, and a new watercolor effect that I just picked up. It turned out a bit long, but I wanted to combine all of the additive techniques in one video rather than stopping and starting to create separate ones. Let me know if you have any questions!
These are the products used in this video:
The Magneto collection from Gelish came out in 2012. In my quest to swatch all of the Gelish colors available, this collection couldn’t be left out! I never jumped on the magnetic polish bandwagon, but after finally trying them, they are pretty cool. These colors are applied just like any other gel polish, except you hold a magnet over your nail after applying the second coat of color (before curing). The effect that shows depends on the type of magnet used. I purchased a set of three Gelish magnets on Ebay (pic below). I like the wavy line effect the most, then the straight lines… the starburst doesn’t do much for me.
A nice thing about these polishes is that they also make a regular nail polish version of each shade, so you can match your toes to your nails if you don’t like using gel polish on your toes. I really like most of the colors in this collection. They are very easy to apply and use, and they also look nice even without the magnetic effects.
This was my first time using a LeChat polish and I am very impressed. It had great coverage with just two coats. I love the different color variations, and like that you don’t have to apply it over a base color like Orly Shadeshifter. You can see some of the other LeChat color options here
Also, if you follow me on Facebook, you might have seen that I sculpted my first nail using Gelish clear builder gel and a nail form. My thumbnail cracked so I repaired and lengthened it. This video on YouTube provides great instructions on how to do this. Below is a picture of the nail that I sculpted. Unfortunately I have already since chipped the corner of the nail. I had a feeling that I applied the gel too thin and I guess I was right. I’m going to keep working at this until I master it though and I’ll share my findings with you. I also applied the builder gel on my other nails as an overlay to give them added strength and protection from all of the polish changing that I do. This gel does NOT soak off – it’s a hard gel that has to be filed off. It actually files down and shapes very easily with a 180 grit file.
I’m a web designer by day, so I also have to comment that their website is very well crafted. It’s clean and easy on the eyes, functions very well and is super easy to navigate.
These boxes include quality name brands, and the price reflects that. The boxes are $40 each, or $36 a month when you sign up for a subscription. Their site says you should receive 4-6 full size premium products in each of the beauty boxes. Below are some pictures of what was included in my box. The products and colors are all very suitable for me, and I’m very satisfied with the amount of products included. The price point on this box may not be ideal for everyone – this would probably classify as a splurge item.
What’s in the box:
$91 Retail Value!
Head over to Wantable to check out their different offerings! They even have a limited edition Halloween box right now.
I wanted to show you what I’ve been wearing on my nails this weekend… Gelish After Dark with Water Field over top. It’s so sparkly and pretty! This was my first time trying either of these polishes. After Dark is a gorgeous dark blue. This is a color that’s been around for a while and the formula is really fantastic and so easy to apply. Blue is my favorite color and normally I lean toward teals, but I think I have a new favorite dark blue.
The photos below show one coat of Water Field over After Dark. Water Field is a topper filled with silver and holographic glitters. I was really surprised at the amount of glitter that one coat provided, it’s much more dense than some of the other toppers I’ve tried. I can’t wait to try this over some other colors!
This is two coats of After Dark.
And here’s another angle. The colors above are shown from left to right.
It’s really up to your preference as to which white to use for French manicures. Some people prefer a bright white, and some prefer a more natural white. I have always used Sheek White for French manis.
If I haven’t already mentioned on here, I bought a new XL squishy stamper head and this one works perfectly!! It’s not too sticky and picks up images with no problems. I bought it here, in case you’re wondering. If you’re having trouble picking up images with your XL stamper like I was, I recommend this.
I think this photo shows the most detail. I really love this design!
I also tried it with my Gelish Matte TIO too. I like the matte effect, but I think I liked it better shiny. What do you think? BTW, this is a lot of coats of polish because I applied 2 coats of the matte TIO over top of the regular top coat. At least my nails feel super strong! 
And this is just a different pose. My lightbox washed out t he colors a little in this one, but it’s the best I could get.
Candy Shop is a fun blue and green glitter topper. I felt that I had to fish a little for the larger glitters, but the little ones were easy to pick up on the brush. It applied with ease, and I think the new Trends are great for adding some pizzazz to any manicure.
I find the information fascinating, and I thought you might find it interesting as well. The stats are obviously influenced by what I write about so it’s not a true reflection of what’s trending in the industry, just what’s trending on Chickettes. If you find the information interesting, I’ll prepare quarterly trend reports. The information below is based on orders placed during 3rd Quarter, 2013 (June-Sept).
Most Popular Polish Colors:
These are the top gel polish colors that were purchased during the quarter, listed in order from most popular. My focus has been primarily on the Gelish brand since I started this blog, so these are all Gelish with the exception of the one IBD color and Orly Shadeshifter. In time you will likely see a wider variety of brands as I branch out and try others. It looks like the bright, bold summer colors were pretty popular. I’d expect the next quarter to show darker colors for fall and winter.
Nail Lamps:
I’ve written a couple of articles about nail lamps, a review of the Gelish 18G lamp and a comparison of UV & LED lamps. These are the most popular lamps that were purchased. The USpicy lamp is one that I didn’t write about, but it seems rather popular so I assume my readers have done their homework for so many of them to decide on that one.
Other Popular Items:
These are a few other popular items that showed up on the report. The items on this list tell me that I may have inspired more than a few people to start doing their own gel manicures! Yes! The Gelish Base/Top and Basix Kit were purchased way more frequently than anything else.
These two colors are both only available in MINI sizes. I applied three coats of each color and they both had good formulas and applied with ease. The first color is Never Too Grey, a slate grey with a very subtle shimmer. I believe this is very similar, if not a dupe for the European Just For You collection color called Fashionably Slate.
This is Dear Johnny Green. It reminds me of a dark Army green and has a creamy finish. I believe this color is very similar or a dupe for the European Just For You collection color called Commander in Chic. I didn’t think I would like this color, but I’ve been wearing it today and it’s really growing on me.
Be sure to check out my other Gelish swatches here! 
Strut Your Stuff is a really rich, dark brown… so dark, it almost looks black. The formula of this polish was a little creamier and I liked how it applied better. This color was released with the House of Gelish collection, but was not included in my original swatches of that collection since most of the promotional material for that collection only showed 6 colors, not including Strut Your Stuff or Taupe Model.
Be sure to check out my other Gelish swatches here, and compare these two browns with the others.
These pictures show three coats of Grand Jewels over my natural nails. Grand Jewels has small silver and gold glitter specs and some holographic hexes. You can see that the glitter in this polish is more sparse and I did have to do a little fishing for the larger hex glitters. The difference between these two toppers is subtle, but if you’re a collector like me, you might want to own both. If you’re only looking to have one good glitter topper, I would recommend Water Field (then again, I always prefer silver over gold).
Gelish Mauvy-Mauve is brighter and more pink than the manufacturer swatches that I’ve seen online. I really love this shade and wore it for several days. I was afraid that it would be a fader since many of the pink/mauve shades seem to change with exposure to the sunlight, but I didn’t notice any fading. This color is also only available in the MINI size and seems to be similar or a dupe for the color Simply Mauv-elous Dahling from the European Just For You collection.
Be sure to check out the rest of my Gelish swatches here!
This is A Little Cream Please, a medium brown with a creamy finish. I’m personally not a fan of this color. The color looks muddy to me and it’s very sheer leaving a visible nail line even after applying three coats. This color is also only available in the MINI size and I believe is very similar to or a dupe for After Party Espresso from the European Just For You Collection.
I picked up a few more Gelish Trends this week and two of them were used in this mani, Am I Making You Gelish and Too Tough to Be Sweet. Am I Making You Gelish is a dense silver & holo glitter mix. I applied two coats of this over a silvery base using Showstopping. Too Tough to Be Sweet is a cranberry-ish colored glitter mix in a sheer cranberry base. I applied two coats of this over Rendezvous.
These are some swatches that I prepped to see what the two Trends look like over black and white. After making these swatches I decided to pair them both with base colors that are similar to the color of the glitter instead. The first is Am I Making You Gelish.
And this is Too Tough to Be Sweet.
What do you think of the Trends that you’ve seen so far? You can see the others that I’ve swatched here. The Trends line can be purchased at your local Sally Beauty Supply. I haven’t seen them available for sale online yet.
I can’t wait to share my swatches of this collection with you! Stay tuned!
