Swapping Spaces

Hey folks!

So... I've started my own YouTube channel (it's Mani on a Budget over there, too, in case you're interested). Since I'll be covering the manis I do over there, I think to reduce redundancy I'm going to change things up a bit here on my blog.

What I'll be posting here will be my hauls, a few tips and tricks, recommendations and reviews of products, and a bit of general mayhem. 


To start off that trend, I'd like to discuss the lovely polishes I picked up in Zoya's "try4free" promotion. In this promotion you could get four polishes for free if you paid the promotional shipping, which was $15. That puts each polish at only $3.75!

 Of course I went and lost the photo I had of all four... but if you follow me on Instagram (@jennravenwing) you've already seen them. This one here is the entire reason I hopped on the promo bandwagon. This is "Remy". I just heaved a dreamy sigh, because... well, because she's dreamy! "Peacock Blue" comes to mind first and foremost when trying to describe her. She's a deep blue base with teal and gold shimmer. "Remy" has the typical Zoya formula--excellent to work with. She did stain my nails quite a bit, but the color is so very worth it!

I also picked up "Oceane", because I'm a nut for the blues. Especially the cobalt/aqua blues. "Oceane" is a bright aqua blue with lots of blue shimmer. I haven't worn her yet, but I'm betting she may stain, too. 

The third color I snagged was "Zuza", a gorgeous turquoise. She also has gold and silver shimmer running through her. I was really surprised at how opaque she was, being a bit of a lighter color. She's the only turquoise in my collection, and I'm excited to try her out.

Polish number four was... not a blue! Whoa....  It's "Cinnamon". Zoya's website describes "Cinnamon" as a "classic bronze liquid metal", but to me, it's much more brown than bronze. I'd say it really does look like its namesake, yet in a metallic form. Definitely something new to my collection!

I'm seriously considering water marbling with "Oceane", "Zuza", and "Cinnamon". Or maybe just "Oceane" and "Cinnamon". 

At any rate, $3.75 for a polish that's normally $10 is a pretty damn good deal, and I'm glad I took advantage of the promotion. From what I understand, Zoya usually has an "Earth Day" promotion as well, where they offer 50% off their polishes. I, unfortunately, won't be able to take advantage of that one, but if you're interested be sure to follow them on Instagram @zoyanailpolish to stay in the loop!

Woeful Watermarbling

Greetings folks!

Today we'll be talking about this here watermarble mani:



Actually, I'm going to interrupt myself for a minute to make a plea. Can someone please come hold my hand while I attempt cleanup??? I've watched I-don't-know-how-many videos on cleaning up your cuticles, but I just can't seem to do it right. I either don't get enough off, or I get too much off and have this huge gap that makes it look like my nails have grown out for two weeks. BLARGH! Admittedly, it has gotten a little easier since I switched from my angled paintbrush to the e.l.f. concealer brush all the nail gurus talk about. But I still need quite a bit of practice. If anyone has any tips or tricks, please feel free to let me know!

Now, you might be wondering, "Why is this watermarble so woeful?" 


The watermarble itself isn't bad. I do like how the pattern turned out, and the colors (Color Club "Grand Dame" and Nabi "Metallic Champagne") work well together. But allow me to accentuate the issue here:

Yeah... now I remember why I don't buy light pinks. They do my skin tone no favors whatsoever. 

One of the things I like about watermarbles, though, is that they last forever. This one could have lasted me a couple of weeks... if I hadn't gotten tired of it after only a few days. I think I'll stick to my hot pinks and fuchsias.

Striped and Sassy and Halloween Horrors

Good evening folks. 

Just as a head's up, I might be a little discombobulated today. Little Devin had his six-month checkup and vaccinations today, plus Mommy nearly cut off the tip of his finger trying to trim his nails... so he hasn't been in the best of moods. If I leave any important info out, just let me know in the comments and I'll try to fix it.

Anyhoo! I have a bit of catching up to do, so I'm going to plunk two manis in one post.

First up we have this simple look that I created with striping tape:

For my base coat I used Bridge the Ridge ($5.49 at Sally Beauty Supply). I then applied two coats of China Glaze "Frostbite" ($3.25 at Sally Beauty Supply, B1G1). I love this color so much that I actually wore it alone for a day. 

I then applied some striping tape that I purchased at Sally's. I got 10 rolls of varying colors for $8.99, putting each roll at ninety cents. 

This was only my second time playing with striping tape, so I didn't go too crazy. I chose a simple geometric pattern, and then painted China Glaze "Icicle" ($3.25) over the top. I removed the tape while the polish was still wet to keep the lines nice and clean. 

Materials used: Bridge the Ridge base coat, China Glaze
"Frostbite"and "Icicle", Seche Vite, striping tape

For my top coat I used Seche Vite ($7.99). And... you guys.... I've been watching a lot of Phoebe's videos lately and she mentions Head2ToeBeauty quite a bit, so I decided to check it out. I found such a steal on Seche Vite! I'll talk about that a bit more in an upcoming birthday haul post. 







Next up we have my Halloween mani. I'll be honest... this was awful. I logged it as a NailFail.

Since I had only slapped this on Sunday evening, I knew I wouldn't be wearing it long so I applied Sally Hansen "BIG peel off base coat" ($5.49 at Walmart). 

I then laid down one coat of Nabi "Neon Orange" ($1.20 on ebay). Again, I'll go over the Nabi polish brand in the upcoming haul post. 

I then used a makeup sponge to dab on three thin layers of the "Neon Orange" and Wet 'n' Wild "Black Creme" (97 cents at Walmart) to create a horrifyingly sloppy gradient.

Materials used: Sally Hansen "BIG
peel off base coat", Wet n Wild "Black
Creme", Nabi "Neon Orange", Seche Vite,
skull decals

The stickers I used came from a huge lot of decals that I got years ago for $4. And when I say huge, I mean I won't be able to use all of them even if I applied some every week for the next ten years. If I recall correctly, I got them from China on ebay.

I topped the monstrosity off with Seche Vite, 


Next up? I have no idea! I still have the half-peeled Halloween horror on my hands...

Glittery Golden Goodness

Good afternoon ladies and gents!

Today I'll be raving about this here polish:

This is Pure Ice "Studette". I bought it for $1.97 at Walmart.  It's a clear base with tons of gold glitter, some silver glitter, and some red glitter. And it is dense. "Studette" is so blingy, my camera had a hell of a time capturing it, as you will see. 

Below are my swatches. The nail on the left is two coats of "Studette" on its own. On the right is one coat of "Studette" over black polish. 



I'm guessing you could probably get this opaque in three coats, it's that dense. Or, you could sponge it on using a makeup sponge as I did for the manicure I'll be featuring in the next post. 

The still photos don't really do "Studette" justice, though. I tried to get video of this golden goddess's blingery, but it was just too much for my poor camera and it decided to focus on the boards of my deck instead. Hopefully you can still get an idea of how awesome this polish is.

So, do I think this glitter polish was worth the $1.97? Abso-freaking-lutely. Go get ya some!