Incoco purple glitter gradient polish strips!

More polish strips! Yay! This is my first time trying out Incoco because I won these strips free in a giveaway from Seventeen magazine! Haha. I think they're called "Perfect Prom Purple" but I'm not really sure so I just refer to them as purple glitter gradient strips lol. It's funny though because I wore purple to prom this year so when I saw the name of these I was like "perfect prom...hmm." So I compared them to my dress still hanging in my closet and they truly are the perfect purple to match my dress...what a coincidence. Anyways.

Application on these was like all other polish strips I've used: pick your strip, peel off the clear layer, peel off the backing, smooth onto your nail, file off the excess. I found these to be the complete opposite of the Sephora by OPI Trend Tips I tried a couple weeks ago in my last post--the excess was really difficult to file off and my tips ended up really rough because of that. I'm guessing that's because these are glitter strips, which I've never tried before. I've only ever used shimmer polish strips, I'm pretty sure.

That was one downside...the rough edges cause A LOT of tipwear, like HUGE tipwear by the next day. There was no way I could keep wearing them without touching up my tips, so luckily I found that OPI Grape Set Match was a PERFECT match on the tips of these. Sigh of relief! I ended up doing a touchup every day that I wore these (5 days total...I can't handle keeping the same manicure on for much longer than that!) and it really needed it every single day.

Besides that issue, I think these are extremely gorgeous, especially on longer nails. I wanted to use these while my nails were long (I've since cut them down completely :( ) and I'm serious, it looked stunning in person. I got a lot of people asking if I did these myself...ha, I wish! The one thing about the design is that I can't decide if I love it or not that it's not a very gradual gradient..it goes from super light, pretty much clear at the bottom, to dark purple right in the middle, with not too much in between. On the one hand, I wish there was more mid-toned purple in the middle, to make it look like more of a true "fade" look. But on the other hand, I looove that they basically look like glitter-fied purple French tips. I never wear French manicures, but when they're done right, I think they can be one of the prettiest things in the universe. These strips? Totally gorgeous. Love them.

It was nice to get to try out a new brand...I did really like these, but if I use Incoco strips again, I'd probably go for more of the shimmer finish ones. But, I can put up with the hassle of glitter strips if they're as beautiful as these ones!

Sincerely, Cat

Sephora by OPI Trend Tips in Feathers

Polish strips have been my jam lately! One of my friends gave me a box of the Sally Hansen ones for my birthday and I really, really liked them, so when I found these ones at Sephora, I had to try them out. How cute is the design?!

These pictures were taken one week after I put the strips on. I think they held up really well, considering how long my nails are and how harsh I am on my nails, lol. Aside from a little tipwear, I had no chips or any damage after a week. The only sort of wear I noticed was along my cuticles. On the nails where I didn't press the strips on quite as well, the strips started to lift a teensy bit, but none of them started peeling or anything like that.

Application on these was like other polish strips I've tried. Start with bare nails, find the strip that fits, detach it, peel off the clear part, and peel off the backing. Then of course smooth them onto your nail and file off the excess. I find application on strips is easy but fairly time consuming. I love not having to wait for them to dry, though. I also liked that it seemed especially easy to file off the excess on these...on some thicker strips I've tried, it seems like it's more difficult to file off the ends, and they end up all ragged and catching on stuff...not these. I was disappointed though that the tiniest strip was too skinny for my pinky, but the next size up was too wide. I ended up using the smallest one, and since there was a huge gap between the strip and my skin, I cut off a little of another strip and put it on the gap. It blended in perfectly and surprisingly it worked out pretty well.

Another thing I don't like is that there's 16 strips in here, enough to get 2 manicures out of if you work carefully, but they're all packaged together, so you have to use them all at once or they'll dry out. I only used 10 or 11 strips (if I tried, and if my nails were shorter, you'd only need 5 for a full manicure) so I was left with 5 or 6 strips, and they were all the bigger sizes. Perfect for toenails, but I'd already done a pedicure. I ended up putting them back in the foil wrapper and taping it shut so maybe (I'm hoping!) they won't completely dry out and I can use them for a pedicure soon. If they do dry out, oh well. I still got a week's manicure out of it.

I don't feel like the price on these is too bad. They were $12, but I imagine if I had the patience to keep a manicure on for more than a week that these would last AT LEAST 2 weeks. Sadly, I can't even imagine keeping a manicure for more than a week...I get way too antsy. I need change, lol! Seriously, I start getting anxious to change my nails if I don't do them at least every other day, if not every day. Sad but true.

I think it's funny though...I've had a lot of people lately ask if my nails are fake, but they think I did this manicure myself, when it's the other way around. My nails are real, but my mani's fake, lol! I wish I could do these nails myself. Ha.

Sincerely, Cat

Deborah Lippmann Flash Dance

Oh. My. Gahhh. How gorgeous is this?! Just...look at it. I could stare at this manicure for days, seriously.

2 coats of Deborah Lippmann Flash Dance, 1 coat of Seche Vite, and 1 coat of OPI Top Coat. Good coverage on this...two coats was great. The problem with it (as with many glitters) is that it's a total topcoat eater. It was extremely rough and bumpy after 1 thick coat, so every day I wore this I added another coat of the OPI Top Coat over it. Which helped, but it was still bumpy as heck, lol.

Seriously, it's stunning. It's kind of a purple-y, magenta jelly base, with tiny pink and purple glitter and larger hot pink glitter. I feel like I could just gush about this all day.

I can't wait to wear this again! I've been wearing a lot of glitter lately. I'm in looove with glitter, besides removal, but even that's not really that bad, because I've been using one of those little scrubby tub things lately. It's so convenient!

And I love the length of my nails right now, too! I've been growing them out just for fun to see how long they'd get before they broke, and they look awesome. I have to cut them soon and I'm gonna be so sad, lol! But they do get pretty annoying at this length. So, I guess I won't mind going back to super short nails soon.

Anyways, just wanted to show this extremely pretty polish off!

Sincerely, Cat

China Glaze For Audrey w/ Sephora by OPI Lagoon-a Beach

Here's one of my favorite combos that I've worn a couple times lately: China Glaze For Audrey and Sephora by OPI Lagoon-a Beach. Two coats of FA, one coat of LB, I believe.
I'm so glad I stumbled upon this layering because it looks super gorgeous! Lagoon-a Beach (which unfortunately isn't available anymore...and my bottle is running pretty low...eek!) is way too sheer to wear on its own. I did wear it alone once, and it took four coats just to look somewhat decent. So I was trying to find a color to wear under it...I thought maybe OPI What's With the Cattitude, but then I saw For Audrey and it just worked out perfectly. FA is bright enough to really make the shimmer of LB shine, but it's not so overpowering that the shimmer isn't noticeable...I don't really know how to explain it, but it looks really really nice, lol. Very summery and beachy...reminds me of the ocean!!

Sincerely, Cat

Tiny China Glaze/OPI haul!

Just a few polishes I picked up yesterday from Sally's and Trade Secret. Left to right: ChG Splish Splash, OPI Natural Nail Base Coat, ChG Beach Cruise-r, OPI Gone Gonzo, ChG Exotic Encounters, ChG Flip Flop Fantasy, ChG Hang-Ten Toes, and ChG Sun Worshipper.
The base coat, Flip Flop Fantasy, and Sun Worshipper are all backups of my current bottles...I started using the OPI base coat a few months back and I really, really like it. It's a lot better than the base I was using before. And FFF and SW are 2 of my favorite neons and they're running low, so obviously it was a good idea to get backups.
My Sally's didn't have much for the On Safari collection or the Summer Neons, but I did find a few...the only Safari that caught my eye was Exotic Encounters, which is a really nice dusty green. And the other 3 neons were super cute so I had to get those ones...there was really only a few blues and pinks left mostly, but I do like the ones I found.
And of course I got my base coat at Trade Secret, but I've been really into glitter lately so I decided I might as well pick up Gone Gonzo too.
So yeah...not too exciting but I was still glad I could pick these ones up! I can't wait to use all my new neons...I love neons so much lol!

Sincerely, Cat

Deborah Lippmann Private Dancer

I gave in and bought another Lippmann Mirrored Chrome (or whatever they're called) polish! This is the one I was originally eyeing anyways so I don't feel too bad...my Nordstrom got some more bottles of this shortly after I bought Sugar Daddy. 

I had issues capturing this one as well. The duochrome shows up so well in real life but terribly in pictures! This is a pretty metallic purple, with lots of pink tones as I can see, and with some great flashes of green and gold. It's not quite as duochromey as Sugar Daddy (the flashes in that one are CRAZY), but I still like this lots.

Application, not bad. A little bit of drag near cuticles, but then that's usually my fault. Used 3 coats here, was gonna go with 2 but 3 darkened it up perfectly. I wouldn't wear less than 3 coats. Perfect opacity. Very pretty! I like this, maybe not as much as Sugar Daddy, but I'm still impressed.

Anyways, I guess that's about it for now!

Sincerely, Cat

MAC Near Beth Experience w/ OPI Servin' Up Sparkle

My mani today! 2 coats of MAC Near Beth Experience with 1 coat of OPI Servin' Up Sparkle, and 1 coat of Seche Vite.

NBE is only my 2nd MAC polish...I was really impressed with my first, Ocean Dip. I like NBE, but yeah, it could've been better...formula and brush wise. The 1st coat was super streaky, and the 2nd evened it out, but there was still a lot of dragging near the cuticle. I do actually like the brush though, even with all the dragging...I like the shape and length of the bristles. I love the shade of yellow...pastel yellow is my jam, haha. It looks really close to China Glaze Lemon Fizz, I haven't compared them yet but off the top of my head they look really similar. That one was a little easier to work with. Lol. Maybe similar to OPI Banana Bandana, too? Hmm. Maybe not. Formula on that one's not very good anyways, ha.

So yeah, application wasn't the greatest, but it wasn't that bad. And obviously 3 coats would've been ideal, but I was in a bit of a hurry and 2 looked fine. Plus I did some layering so that helped, lol. SUS is great as always...it's definitely my favorite glitter to layer with. Works with any color and it's GORGEOUS, plus application is good...you don't need to work to place the glitter or anything.

So yeah...liking this combo! I really do like NBE, I'll for sure use it again sometime. And SUS, of course...one of my ultimate favorites. And my nail shape right now...I'm not quite sure. I think I like it. I kinda miss my square tips, but they were IMPOSSIBLE. ALL of my nails were breaking and they were so so weak. It was terrible. And then I went to rounded tips and they stopped cracking...they're still not very strong but at least I'm not breaking multiple nails every day. Ugh. I just don't know. But anyways.

Sincerely, Cat