glitter

A Sparkling Sendoff

~ Taylor Justine ~ 1 Comment

The sun is setting on 2014, and 2015 will be here in the blink of an eye. I’m not 100% sure where the past year went, but it’s gone already! The day is here to kick our nail art game into high glitter gear and pull out all the stops to ring in the New Year!

And you know what? I did just that!

New Year's Eve Nails

I didn’t want just any standard black and gold NYE mani (especially because my next cover-inspired design will be black and gold!), so I went with the equally sparkly and festive white and champagne look! If we’re being honest here, I can’t stop staring at my hands, that’s how happy I am with the way it turned out.

New Year's Eve Nails

The look was completed with Essie Blanc and Julep Nell and Soleil, two polishes from my December Maven box! As always, when striping, always use a quick dry top coat in between the base and accent colors.

New Year's Eve Nails

I would say this is a manicure that looks fancier and harder than it really was to create, which are my favorite kinds. I mainly used striping tape to create all of the color blocks and lines and a dotting tool for the polka dot nail. As for the individual glitter pieces, I went through the painstaking process of individually placing each glitter on the nail with the help of my dotting tool, which wasn’t hard so much as it was tedious. BUT SO WORTH IT!

What are your nails wearing for NYE? Happy 2015 and Happy Reading!

Zoya Beauties {Haul + Swatches}

~ Taylor Justine ~ 2 Comments

Buying and trying a new brand of nail polish is a bit like Christmas morning for me. You open this package and aren’t exactly sure what you’re going to get, but you hope it’s going to be good! Well, Santa was good to me today!

Zoya Noir + Taylor + Odette
Zoya Noir + Taylor + Odette

I grabbed these three gorgeous colors during Zoya‘s 3 for 15 sale a couple weekends ago. I was really overwhelmed with all of the polish shades they have, so choosing only 3 definitely took a lot of self-control. Obviously I had to get the polish named after me, Taylor, a creamy fair nude from the Naturel Collection. It’s completely opaque in 1-2 coats, and its rosy undertones look really nice with my skin tone!

Zoya Taylor Nail Polish Swatch

 

Zoya’s Pixie Dust polishes are unique to their brand, which is what brought me to choosing Noir. I was incredibly impressed with this glitter polish (until it was time to take off!). Noir is a deep, vampy opaque glitter plum, and while photographs don’t truly do the polish justice, its absolutely gorgeous.

Zoya Noir Nail Polish Swatch

 

But like any glitter nail polish, it’s a pain to take off. I had to soak my nails in acetone, which I hate doing because it dries out my cuticles and nails. I’ll have to reserve this beauty for special occasions, when I plan to leave it on for a longer period of time!

Zoya Noir Nail Polish Swatch

The third polish I chose was Odette, another member of the Naturel Collection. This sultry orchid maroon cream is vibrant and natural in one, and I’m completely obsessed. It’s flirty and feminine without being over the top, perfect for a classic manicure.

Zoya Odette Nail Polish Swatch

 

After this purchase, I’m in love with Zoya polishes, especially these three. Their application is flawless and fully opaque. It’s nice to have polishes that are a bit thinner sometimes, because the polish spreads across the nail so much easier.

Zoya Odette Nail Polish Swatch

 

Do you have a favorite Zoya polish? I’m always looking for new colors to buy, so let me know! Happy reading!

 

It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

~ Taylor Justine ~ 2 Comments

USC Trojans Gameday Inspired Nail PolishMy favorite season is BACK! No, it’s not the end of summer, with its last stolen visits to the beach, or fall, with its cooler days and chunky knit sweaters.

IT’S FOOTBALL SEASON!

My mom and uncle graduated from the University of Southern California, so I grew up a HUGE USC Trojan fan. Games every Saturday, jerseys of the current quarterback, FIGHTING ON, all of it. When it came time to choose a college, USC was a no-brainer for me. I am so blessed to call this wonderful university my Alma Mater, and my love for it and its football team only grows every year.

USC Trojans Gameday Inspired Nail Polish

USC Trojans Gameday Inspired Nail Polish
My Graduation Stole!

When you’re a USC Trojan, you know the importance of gameday. Tailgates, road trips, kicking the flagpole as you cross Exposition Blvd on your way to the Coliseum! It’s the tradition. Everything is tradition when it comes to USC, and that’s part of the reason I love it! Well, one of my own little traditions has become creating new gameday nail art for the games each year.

USC Trojans Gameday Inspired Nail Polish

It started back in my sorority days (Go Gamma Phi!), when I would sit around with my roomies and sisters the night before a game and paint all of our nails. Here we are today, and my tradition of cardinal and gold nails continue. This week, I went with a simple, yet very effective display of the USC Trojans’ colors.

USC Trojans Gameday Inspired Nail Polish

I’m IN LOVE with Julep’s Tazeen, which is a full-coverage gold glitter. It looks like you have a nail made of glitter, yet it doesn’t have the horrible texture some glitter polishes have once dry. The red is Julep’s Myrtle, which is a nice scarlet.

USC Trojans Gameday Inspired Nail Polish

The stripes were a bit tricky. I don’t think I’ve ever used the tape technique with glitter nail polish, and I didn’t account for bits of glitter pulling off with the tape, making the lines wavy! I had to touch them up a bit after, but overall, the tape did its job!

USC Trojans Gameday Inspired Nail Polish

Do you have a favorite football team? I’d love to hear about your gameday ideas! Happy Reading!