Flower and Dots Manicure

Two of my best friends, Thamires and Carolyn, visited last weekend. It was a whirlwind weekend of catching up, craft fair fun, and a birthday BBQ, but we had a bit of down time in the evenings. I commented on Thamires' cool flower pedicure, which she had just gotten done at a salon. Lucky for me and Carolyn, Thamires had been observant and offered to do her own version of a flower manicure for us. Carolyn opted for a flower on each finger, while I chose an accent nail and simpler dots on the rest.

Flower and Dots Manicure
Supplies
- Base & top coat (I use Seche Vite).
- Color 1: Main accent nail color (thumb): I chose Essie "Beach Bum Blue" (light blue)
- Color 2: Main polish color for other four nails: I chose Essie "Mod Square" (pink)
- Color 3: Polish color for design on accent nail: I chose Essie "Aruba Blue" (dark blue)
- Toothpick (the kind with one round side and one pointy side will work best)
- A non-porous surface for use while working with the wet polish. My friend just used her fingernail (on her non-dominant hand) but obviously that won't work if you are doing the manicure on your own nails.
- Tissue or makeup remover pad.

Instructions
1. Apply a base coat to each nail. Let it dry.
2. Apply your two main nail colors (Colors 1 & 2). Add multiple coats if necessary. Let them dry.
3. Brush a little bit of Color 1 onto your non-porous surface.
4. Dip the rounded end of the toothpick into Color 1. Then press it onto your accent nail. This should form a circle, which will become one of the petals. Repeat this step to make a flower shape with five petals/circles.
5. Using the pointy end of the toothpick, press gently into the center of one of the circles/petals. Move in a straight line toward the center of the flower to form a tiny line. Repeat for each petal.
6. Dip the pointy end of the toothpick into Color 1 again and use it to lightly make a smaller dot near the flower. Repeat (but not too close) to form a pattern of dots along the nail.
7. Use the tissue/makeup-remover pad to wipe Color 1 off the toothpick.
8. Use the pointy end and Color 2 to form the dots on the other nails. Wipe off the toothpick.
9. Make sure your accent nail is dry. Use round end of the toothpick with Color 3 to form the center of the flower. Use the pointy end to add another dot next to/above each small dot on the accent nail.
10. Make sure everything is dry. Apply your top coat.

Tips
- Work carefully but quickly on the design. You may need to replenish your dipping surface a few times if the polish starts drying. Be careful as the polish can get stringy and hard to work with when it starts drying.
- When you wipe off the toothpick colors with the tissue/remover pad, it doesn't have to be spotless, just clean or dry enough that it won't mix with the other colors.

Thanks for the awesome nails and tutorial, Thamires!

Sugarpill Heart Breaker Palette: Review, Swatches, and Look

Today I have a review, swatches, and 'look' to share with you from the much anticipated Sugarpill Heart Breaker palette! If you have not heard of Sugarpill, it is a cosmetics company started by Amy Doan (aka Shrinkle) on Valentine's Day in 2010. Sugarpill is all about bold, bright colors. The current cosmetics lines include pressed eyeshadows, loose eyeshadows, and false eyelashes. In the 2+ years since its beginning, Sugarpill has quickly risen in popularity, with nearly 250,000 facebook followers as of today. Sugarpill is my favorite makeup brand due to the vibrant colors and high quality of its eyeshadows, so I am very excited to be reviewing the newest palette!

The Heart Breaker palette was released on May 18. I purchased it immediately and could not wait to try it out! I created a 'look' using all four colors in the palette. Read on for my review of the colors, 'eyelid swatches', and my Heart Breaker look. Enjoy!

Admission: I ordered more than just the Heart Breaker palette. =) The false lashes are for an upcoming photoshoot for my online jewelry shop website launch... more on that later. Here's a little view of my haul and the gorgeous palette packaging.

 

The palette itself comes with four huge eyeshadow pans - 4g of each color. For reference, a MAC eyeshadow pan comes with 1.5g of product, so these are hefty sized pans.

Front of the palette + flattened packaging box.

 

The gorgeous artwork on the box (girl + kitty) is by Miss Kika, my favorite artist! You can read more about the new Sugarpill palette packaging at this post on her website.

Palette Colors

Upper left: Acidberry

Upper right: Velocity

Bottom left: 2AM

Bottom right: Mochi

Personally, when reading eyeshadow reviews, I always come across posts with 'swatches' of the colors, usually shown on the arm. I have to say that while I appreciate the intention, arm swatches do not help me much in determining whether or not I want to buy a product. Often times, it is just too difficult to picture what the product will actually look on my eyes. As such, I decided to do 'eyelid swatches' instead, where I use one color on my entire eyelids so you can see what the product will really look. It is substantially more time consuming, but I hope it will be helpful.

For all photos, the only other products used on my eyelids were MAC primer, The Body Shop Carbon Black Eye Definer, and Maybelline Great Lash mascara in 'Blackest Black'. All eyeshadows were applied with a brush from The Body Shop.

ACIDBERRY

Color: Acidberry is a matte, wasabi green color. I expected to like this color least but ended up really liking the shade, mostly because it is quite different from most other greens I have encountered.

Texture: The texture of Acidberry is a bit chalkier than I would have liked. However, the color applied fairly easily. Applying it to the lid was a quick process and I did not have too much difficulty blending it with other colors.

VELOCITY

Color: Velocity is a matte, bright but deep, ocean blue shade. It is an intense shade. It looks a little more electric blue in the photos above - it is a little darker in person, as shown in the 'look' photo below.

Texture: This color applied smoothly but was a little difficult to handle when I tried to layer it for a more solid effect. Using just one sweep looked thin and uneven so it definitely needed to be layered to look decent. Once applied, it layered nicely.

2AM

Color: 2AM is a matte, pinkish purple color. It was my least favorite color of the palette, but mostly due to how it handles.

Texture: This color was similar to Velocity - smooth application but difficult to handle when I tried to layer it. Like velocity, using just one sweep of 2AM looked thin and uneven so it definitely needed to be layered to look decent. I found this color most difficult to spread evenly and blend, even on top of other colors.

MOCHI

Color: Mochi is a matte, green-blue / light turquoise shade. It is my favorite color in the palette by far! I was most excited to try this color and it did not disappoint. I have a lot of blues, but this is different from everything else I own. The color is vibrant once applied.

Texture: This color was very easy to apply and blended well with other colors.

THE HEART BREAKER LOOK

I created this look over Acidberry, which I eyelid swatched last.

     

Upper eyelid, inner to outer: Mochi, Velocity, 2AM, Acidberry

Lower eyelid: Acidberry

Eyeliner: The Body Shop Carbon Black Eye Definer

Mascara: Maybelline Great Lash in Blackest Black

Overall Review

This was a fairly intense look in person, but on camera it appears more subtle. Trust me, the colors are strong! Also, if you are curious, the dress I am wearing is by Jessica Louise, my favorite clothing designer.

Most of the colors in this palette were more difficult to apply than the colors from the first two Sugarpill palettes. However, once applied, all of the colors were vibrant and appear highly pigmented, as I would expect from any Sugarpill color. I was a little disappointed by 2AM, but more than pleased by Mochi. I did not have any problems with the colors lasting, when worn over primer. I like the design of the palette - the only difficulty is keeping the shades from mixing and keeping the area around the eyeshadows clear of powder. Overall, I would not rate the palette as high as the first two Sugarpill palettes (Sweet Heart and Burning Heart), but if given the option for a do-over, I would purchase this palette again.

Where to Buy Heart Breaker
If you want to purchase the Heart Breaker palette for yourself, you can find it here for $34. The individual shades are also available for $12 each on the Sugarpill site. Personally, I think Sugarpill eyeshadows are a great deal for a few reasons - the pans are huge so the colors will last for a long time and the colors are unbeatable.

I hope you enjoyed the review, swatches, and look! Leave a comment letting me know if you would like to see more beauty reviews.

Thanks for joining me on day 3 of launch month!