Essie's Encrusted Treasures Mini Review

Welcome back!

Today, I wanted to share my opinions with you on just two of the Essie Encrusted Treasures polishes. I know that now, they are slowly becoming less readily available, and much harder to find, as well as picked over. I got my hands on two of these, though, just a couple of weeks ago, or else this would have gone up much earlier.

These are the two colors I got: Lots of Lux (left) and Belugaria (right).

I saw Lots of Lux, and decided to get it. Now, these ARE meant to be textured polishes. It was a whole line of textures, kind of like the Sally Hansen Sugar Coat polishes.

When I put on Lots of Lux, I fell in love. It went on so smoothly, and looked gorgeous! I thought the color was great, and it had some sparkle in it, so it wasn't so flat looking. There was so much dimension to this color. After the first coat, I was worried that trying to put on the second coat would be tricky, and would ruin what I had. Fortunately, all it did was add to it. It went on well, AGAIN, and made it look even prettier than before.

The texture never "wore off" the way I was worried it would. It was smooth to the touch, but still, of course, a little bumpy.

Then, I bought Belugaria. And I must say...this one was a waste of $8.00. It was horrible. The polish was thick, and goopy while trying to put it on. It was also super patchy. There were areas that had a ton of the beads in one spot, and then others that were just a very thin coating of black. I hated it as soon as I put on the first coat, but decided to try a second coat, hoping maybe that would even it out...it did not. It stayed patchy, being thick in some spots, and barely there in others.

This picture of Belugaria is not good, because I didn't even try to clean it up. I just took it off after about two hours.

Basically, I would say that the collection probably had goods and bads. Again, I did only purchase these two, but if you happen to see others out, I would give them a try!!

Thanks for reading <3

*All opinions are my own and truthful. I purchased these two polishes with my own money.

Birthday Nail Ideas

Hey guys! I just love doing nail art, and I love birthdays, too! Last year, my birthday nails was sort of the kick off to my "picture nail art" and just simple nail art obsession. I found how fun it was, and I loved coming up with different designs!

I did all of the basic birthday icons that you can think of; cake, party hat, present, cupcake, and balloons. These were by far much better than last year, which just goes to show...practice makes perfect!!

Hope you guys enjoy!!

Thanks for reading <3

2013 Nail Favorites!

Now that 2013 has ended, most people are being to look forward instead of reflect back. I need to finish this though, before I can look forward to the year! :)

Several of these polishes and products were talked about in my Summer Favorites, so I'll link that here.

1. Sally Hansen's Magnetic in Ionic Indigo--I had never tried a magnetic polish before, but then I bought this. This is a much cheaper alternative the Essie version, although I know they make different designs. This polish takes hardly anytime to dry, and the design looks amazing, with hardly any effort.

2. Sally Hansen's Sugar Coat in Razzleberry--To this day, I still haven't tried another textured polish. This one is definitely good, though, especially for the price! OPI Liquid Sand is around $9, while I believe I got this polish for somewhere around the $5 mark.

3. Milani's Jewel FX in Gold--I used this polish so many times since I got it back in September. It has enough glitter in it, that if you dot it on, you won't even need a color beneath it. They make this polish in several colors, and I really need to go buy a couple more.

4. Essie's Penny Talk--This is a GORGEOUS color. The finish is unlike any other color that I've seen. It's shiny, yet almost matte. The formula is so opaque, I almost only needed one coat on it. There are several shades of this line, and I need to purchase them all!

5. Sinful Colors polishes--Until around March, I had never tried a polish of this brand. They have so many choices, though. And the best part? They are only $1.99 each! These are great quality, too. Most of them are very opaque, and go on so smoothly. I picked up a nearly a whole line of this brand for less than $10 total! That is something you can't say about most nail polish brands.

6. Wet 'n Wild's Wild Shine polishes--These polishes are amazing quality on their own. But when you put that on top of the price, these are unbeatable! For $0.99 EACH, you could easily find the money to buy a couple of these. They only have a limited number of color choices, but the ones out there are beautiful colors.

7. E.l.f.'s polishes--The first polish I received from them was free as part of a coupon code, but I was glad it was included in the package so I could give it a try. I was shocked at how opaque the color was, and how smooth the formula was as well. These are usually $2 for each large polish, but I purchased a set of 12 polishes for $10 at Halloween, and they had the same deal for Christmas, which puts that at a wonderful value as well.

8. OPI Matte Top Coat--I talked about this in my Summer Favorites post, also. Overall, I just love how smooth it goes on, quickly it dries and the finished look. It can transform any "boring" nail art into something different.

9. OPI Natural Nail Base Coat--I never really used base coat until just a few months ago. I began using this base coat to prevent color staining on my nails. This base coat really helps! It seems to prevent really bad staining, at least on the majority of the nail. The main place that I notice there being staining is on the edges, which is where I am probably the worst about getting the base coat on.

10. Dotting Tools--Again, an item I talked about in my Summer Favorites, so I won't go on. But these tools made nail art so much simpler. They are great for not only dots, but for writing things, and drawing lines, because they glide over the nail so smoothly. They do not drag the polish, or create stroke marks and lines.

That's it! 2013 was a great year, but I can't wait for 2014! My goal is to blog more, so I hope everyone will read my posts, and share anything worth sharing with friends. :)

Thanks for reading <3