China Glaze Electropops Nail Art Revisited

I have to be honest. When I posted my nail art designs using the new China Glaze Electropops polishes, I wasn't really happy with this design. The lines were wobbly, the dots were horribly misshapen, and for some reason the design just didn't really do it for me.

Being the type of person that I am, I kept thinking about this nail, wondering what I could do to make it pop more. Then once I got out my nail art goodies I saw these flat-back pearls and realized this was exactly what I needed to perk the design up!

So, I'm sharing this nail again, only updated. What do you think- do the pearls make it better, or is this a design better left in the "oh well, better luck next time" pile?

China Glaze Electropop polishes were  provided by the manufacturer for consideration.

See my disclosure statement for more information.

My Halloween 2011 Nails

Sometimes I think it's weird to make graphics like this.
Then I think about the rest of my life and think this
is about as normal as I get. :D

A VIDEO!! OMG, I cannot even begin to explain how far I've come in video editing-land, and how far I have yet to go. Still, I'm so happy to have this finished and ready to move on! I'm hoping to keep moving forward with this, because I do like being able to have video with my posts. Let's be honest, I'm a total ham and I love being able to talk to you!

This process, though? So confusing. Who knew it'd be so hard to do a voiceover for video? (Ok, I know... I've done it, so I know, but still!) I ended up having to script half of it, play the soundless video while I recorded my audio into my video camera, then move that video to the computer, download the latest version of Audacity so I could strip the sound from the video, then cut it up into chunks I could then place in the video timeline. Oh, and I had to download FFsomething or other libraries too, and install them.

Sound confusing? Yea, that's because it was! But it's DONE, and now I sort of understand what I'm doing, so I'm going to start editing the next video tomorrow! Maybe it won't take me three years to get finished... :D

So, on to the pretty stuff... the nails! Oddly enough, I wasn't interested in doing anything too flashy or anything, partly because I was running out of time and partly because I was really wanting to try the gorgeous polishes Melissa from the Daily Nail surprised me with. She'd noticed I've been down and not posting as much lately, so once day I checked the mail to find the cutest package all bundled up in orange paper waiting for me!

I'd be lying if I said I kept my cool. I alternated between squealing in joy and wiping tears away because it was such a touching gift. She filled it with all sorts of goodies, and I've kept them all in their box for now, to decide what to do with them. But Halloween was the perfect time to try two of them... Sally Hanson Salon Black Orchid and NYX Pink Avenue.

Black Orchid is a fairly basic polish, a deep charcoal grey shimmer that is lovely on its own. It's not totally black because the shimmer plays with the light a bit, but I like this. I also like that it's a cool-toned charcoal without any warmth to it. It's a typical Sally Hansen Salon polish- good coverage, good wear.

Pink Avenue was the star of this show, though. NYX definitely made a winner with this one, a mix of glitters in a clear base. It's a combination of lime green and orange flake glitters paired with microglitter in the same colors. I think some of the glitter changed colors in the light, depending on the angle, but it was hard to tell.

Regardless, this was a stunning polish, and I couldn't resist adding three coats of it, just to build the sparkle to insane levels. What can I say, subtlety is not one of my strengths!

The end result was almost impossible to photograph! Even the video didn't quite capture the way the light played with the glitter. It was hypnotic, and I was in absolute love! My niece loved it too, and wanted me to do her nails... shame I didn't have it with me, or I would have!

Since it's 5:30am and I haven't been to sleep yet, I'll let the rest of the photos speak for themselves. Click' em for larger pics. They're worth it!

So... thoughts? Too glittery? Not enough? Let me know what you think in the comments.

Polishes were provided by Melissa at The Daily Nail because she's AWESOME!

See my disclosure statement for more information.

OMG! I found Sally Hansen Nail Prisms for $0.50!

Do you ever have one of those days that just feels providential? This was definitely one of those days! My husband and I were going to go for a walk, and I decided to go to the Dollar Tree just to see what was there.

I went wandering through the crafty section while my husband went to toys. Then I decided to check out the cosmetics section, and I am so glad I did!! There, hanging amidst the LA Colors topcoat and the nail files were these neon orange Sally Hansen polishes packaged two for a dollar. And in these packages just happened to be three colors of the hard to find Sally Hansen Nail Prisms, including one of the prettiest purple holos I've seen!

That's right- I picked up this amazing purple holo (that absolutely REFUSED to play nicely with my camera. Stupid night shots!) for a grand total of fifty cents. Umm... really? I'm absolutely in shock.

I embarrassed myself when I found them. I was casually browsing until I read "Nail Prisms," at which point I actually squealed loud enough for my husband to hear me all the way on the other side and end of the store. He came running, worried that I'd hurt myself, only to find me giggling like a lunatic and pulling polish from the racks. I know... what can I say, I'm a freak?

Now, they weren't packaged consistently. There was one Nail Prisms polish and one Sally Hansen Salon (the old square bottles), but the colors were rather random. I dug around to make sure I didn't get any duplicates, and I'm pretty happy with what I ended up with. 

I've been plotting holiday nail art and have gotten a perfect Christmas green, but I didn't have a good Christmas red, so I'm REALLY happy with Reddy to Mingle- it's such a gorgeous red with just a tiny hint of shimmer.

You can see the color breakdown on the left here, and that photo does get bigger if you click it. Again, stupid night photos, the colors are as true as i can get them. Purple Diamond is as amazing a purple holo as I've ever seen. Golden Cinnabar is a strange color, sometimes looking rosy, sometimes golden, sometimes greenish. I'm not sure, but I think I might like it. Diamond is a straight silver holo, from what I can tell... it's absolutely gorgeous. Mist You was the big surprise out of the bunch- it's very similar to the CND special effects polishes- very sheer with a super lavender kick. Rose to the Occasion is an almost-creme pink that's fairly opaque. Reddy to Mingle is a crazy-beautiful red jelly that has a bit of almost-hidden shimmer (from what I could tell).

Clearly I need to take better photos, but you can see a hint of the shimmer in this shot. In RL it is an intense lavender, absolutely breathtaking. I think I'm in LOVE!!

So you may want to go hit up your local Dollar Trees. You never know just what goodies you'll find! There were also a lot of really pretty false nail kits, some nail gem kits, nail glue packs 2 for a dollar... so much fun stuff! I also picked up a quick dry top coat to try, simply because I need to see if I can spend less than $10 a bottle for top coat. :D

Happy Friday! ♥