Finally better pictures ...

Being the budding genius that I am, I never thought about using the camera on my phone to take pictures of my nails.  Turns out the pictures are much clearer.  Of course, right?  So now, I present to you, in dazzling high-definition (well, at least in comparison to the crap pictures I was taking before) my nails.

Please excuse the boo-boo on my ring finger.

I've done this combination before: one coat of Wet 'n Wild Nocturnal, one coat of Sally Hansen Laser, and one coat of Sally Hansen Spectrum.  Nocturnal is a dark, dark blue that's practically black.  Laser is a duochromy blue-pink glass fleck.  Spectrum has the same effect as Laser, except it goes from turquoise to pink.  And of course, there is a generous coat of Seche Vite over the entire thing.  

This is like ... my go-to combination when I don't have the creativity to think of something else.  

Oh, I bought some new China Glaze Crackle Glazes, so I'll be posting a picture of my nails with that ... in a few days.  Haha.

White Crackle.

Today I got two China Glaze Crackle Polishes: Lightning Bolt and Cracked Concrete.  Lightning Bolt is a white crackle, and Cracked Concrete is a dark gray.  I haven't tried the Cracked Concrete yet, but this is Lightning Bolt.

Lightning Bolt on my pointer, over two coats of SH Calypso Blue

Yeah, I'm wearing Calypso Blue again.  I really like how vibrant the blue is without being a neon.  I do love neons, though, haha.  The Lightning Bolt crackled very nicely over the blue.  It also dried in no time flat.  In my opinion, it was much better than my OPI Black Shatter.  My bottle of Shatter is pretty old, though, so it's possible that they have improved on the formula since then (or I may have a defective bottle, who knows?).  

In any case, I'm pretty impressed with this Crackle Glaze so far, especially considering it costs $4.99 at Sally's if you have a Beauty Club card.  

And on a side note, did you notice how clean my cuticles are?  :D  Absolutely no cleanup, I was just being OCD during application.  I'm happy with how much cleaner it looks.  :)

A to Z~

A. Age: Eighteen.
B. Bed size: Twin?
C. Chore you hate: Sorting clothes for laundry.
D. Day: Saturday.
E. Essential start to your day: I really love when people do not talk to me right after I wake up.  Haha.
F. Favourite colour: Purple.
G. Gold or Silver: Silverrr.
H. Height: 5'5" - 5'6".
I. Instruments: Clarinet and alto saxophone, although I haven't touched a saxophone in a year or two.
J. Job title: Student?  Haha.
K. Kids: Nope.
L. Live: Hawaiiiiiii.
M. Mum’s name: Sibyl.
N. Nicknames: Turtle.
O. Overnight hospital stays: None, except for maybe when I was born.
P. Pet peeve: Lots of stuff.
Q. Quote from a movie: Elizabeth Swann: There will come a time when you have a chance to do the right thing.  Jack Sparrow: I love those moments.  I like to wave at them as they pass by.
R. Right or left handed: Left-hand dominant, but I'm ambidextrous.
S. Siblings: One, older sister.
T. Time you wake up: Haha, if I had my way I'd be getting up at around twelve in the afternoon daily.
U. Underwear: Light green.
V. Vegetables you dislike: Everything except for carrots.  I tolerate lettuce but only because it is a pain to take out of food.
W. What makes you run late: Other people.
X. X-Rays you’ve had: Nothing, I think.
Y. Yummy food you make: Buttered toast.  With cheese, if possible.
Z. Zoo: Haven't gone in years.

Duuuuuuupe.

Okay, so the first time I saw Sephora by OPI's Mermaid to Order, I really really really liked it.  I mean, a duochrome-y greenish blue?  Instant want.  The only thing holding me back was the $9.50 price tag.  Well, my want has been satisfied, and it's not because I bought Mermaid to Order.  Noooo sir, I found an exact dupe.

Revlon's Ocean Breeze.  Yeah, you do need to deal with the almost sickening Lysol-like scent of the polish for a day, but I think it's worth having an exact dupe of a polish that's almost double the price.  Believe it or not, one fingernail up there has Mermaid to Order, while all the others have Ocean Breeze.  I actually walked into Sephora, used their testing bottle of Mermaid to Order, then walked back out.  Haha.  I just hope the new scented Revlons are part of their permanent collection ...

Regret alleviated. :D

Okay, so today I was wandering around the mall with my mom and my sister, and my sister and I walked into a hair salon while we waited for my mom, who was using the bathroom.  Lo and behold, they have an OPI rack with OPI Ink.  :)  I bought one and, just for the heck of it, compared it to my bottle of Russian Navy .  And yep, they still look like the same color.  I don't understand why one comes out blue and the other comes out purple ... but it's okay, because now I have both of them.

Oh, and I also went into Sephora for the sole purpose of comparing their Mermaid to Order to my Revlon Ocean Breeze, which I am wearing right now.  They are exactly the same color.  Even my sister, who is really good at telling colors apart, couldn't tell which fingernail had the Mermaid to Order on it.  The only difference is that the Revlon makes my hands smell like I just cleaned a bathroom and got Lysol all over myself.  No matter.  It's cheaper.

That's all, folks.

Regreeeeet. D:

Today I went to a beauty supply / nail salon store that was nestled in this tiiiiny shopping center.  I wasn't expecting anything amazing, but they had an awesome assortment of Color Club, OPI, and China Glaze polishes.  I'm not so sure about how easy it is to find them on the mainland, but this is the first store in Hawaii that I know carries individual Color Clubs.  The only thing I didn't like about the store was the ridiculously strong (almost unbearable) chemical smell coming from the nail salon area of the store.  Phew, that was really bad.

Anyway, I was pretty happy with what I got, with the exception of one thing ... I didn't get OPI Ink.  :(  I was comparing OPI polishes, as I was only planning to get one, and - texture aside - OPI Ink and Russian Navy looked very similar in the bottle to me.  I ended up getting Russian Navy, but after looking at swatches, I think I should have gotten Ink.  D:  Oh well, I have a bunch of time to revisit the store and get it another time ...

I ended up getting OPI Russian Navy and a bottle of Seche Vite (for only five dollars, considering it's eight dollars at Sally's).  My mom got Color Club Covered in Diamonds.  It's really pretty.  :D

University of Washington.

So if you read my previous posts, you would know that I just graduated high school.  This fall I'll be going to the University of Washington in Seattle.  I'm really happy I got in because it was my first choice school.  :)  In celebration and out of sheer boredom, I decided to do my nails in the UW colors, which are purple and gold.
This is New York Color Prince Street, which is a deep royal purple color with an shimmery finish.  The gold is Icing Excuse Me, which is a shimmery silver gold.

And this a picture of the UW logo on a blanket:

Despite being a cheap brand, NYC Prince Street went on smoothly and it only took me two coats to get the opacity I wanted.  It'd be possible to get by with one thick coat, but I always do two out of habit.  The Excuse Me went on nicely as well, but left strange swirly brushstrokes when I used it for the tips.  The brushstrokes weren't as noticeable when I used it as the main color.  It also took two coats, but those two coats were necessary and I don't think you could pull this color off with one thick coat.  It is a gold, however, so that's completely reasonable.

Hope you all are having a great week.  :)