piCture pOlish o'hara

Hey guys!

Are you as stoked as I am that it's almost the weekend?? I have an anatomy test today, a written exam tomorrow, then I finally get to relax! At least for a couple days until my final exam next Friday. It's been a busy week of studying, but I'm happy to say that my nails have not gone neglected. =D

Today I want to show you another beautiful holo from piCture pOlish. All of my experiences with this brand thus far have been nothing short of amazing, and today's polish, o'hara, is no exception. 

O'hara is a bright, cherry red crelly with the scattered irregular-shaped holo particles that piCture pOlish does so well. I'm usually not a fan of red polishes - I think they sometimes look strangely formal or something. But I'm absolutely loving o'hara! This one is definitely a sexy and stand-out shade of red. It's a classic cherry hue with the slightest bit of pink undertones to it that soften it up a bit. The holo is also really cool and makes this polish different from your typical red. 

O'hara applied like a dream! It was almost opaque in one coat, but I did two to cover up the nail line. No top coat was needed, since this dried nice and glossy on its own! Sadly, I failed to capture the holo like it is in real life. So just take my word for it when I say that there's some awesome holo going on here.

Shade.

Sun.

Sun. You can kind of see the holo in this one.

Anyone else try o'hara? And since I'm slowly building up a collection piCture pOlish, I'd love to hear your suggestions about your favorites!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you have a beautiful day. =) Hang in there, the weekend is almost here! Yayyy!

Cadillacquer Remember Me

Hi guys!

I'm so excited for today's post because it features a new-to-me (and new to the world I believe) brand that I'm absolutely in love with! The brand is called Cadillacquer and all of their polishes are 3-free, cruelty free, and hand-made in Switzerland. The swatches I've seen online of Cadillacquer polishes all look really unique and gorgeous. The polish that I'm showing you today, Remember Me, is no exception.

Remember Me was just recently released as part of Cadillacquer's Do You See What I See? collection. I knew I had to have it the second I saw pictures of it, and I couldn't be happier with it! The base is a soft, delicate mint jelly with tiny silver glitter, small fuscia hex glitter, and large round fuscia glitter. I really love the contrast between the fuscia and the mint, and the silver gives an added sparkle that really shows through in the sun.

The formula was equally as amazing. It built up to opacity in just two coats and applied really well on the nail. And as an added bonus, there was no fishing necessary! I added a thick layer of top coat to smooth it all out, and the result was stunning. 

Sun.

Shade.

Shade.

Basically, I'm in love. But I knew I would be as soon as I saw swatches of Remember Me. It combines all my favorite things - mint, pink, round glitter, awesomeness. I purchased this along with I Wish I Was the Moon (which I'll review later) for $14.00 each from Harlow & Co. Not too shabby for such great polishes all the way from Switzerland!

So what do you guys think? Do you love this as much as I do? Have you tried any Cadillacquer polishes? 

I hope you all have an amazing day, and thanks for stopping by!

May Challenge - Recreate Your Favorite

Hi guys!

I hope everyone had a really nice long weekend! Mine was great. Full of friends and sunshine, and, of course, studying. But school is over in two weeks, and I finally get to be free for summer. I can't wait!

I can't believe how quickly May has just flown by... it seems like just yesterday that I was looking for inspiration for my fashion-inspired look. For my final manicure, I decided to recreate Lisa's awesome leopard print mani over at The Polish Playground. Click on the Read More link below to see the full post and pictures!

Sunshine Award

Hi everyone!

Happy Memorial Day! I hope that you have a beautiful day today with friends and family, and that everyone gets the opportunity to relax and take the day off. I'll be studying all day, but it's gorgeous outside so maybe I'll go take my books outside by the pool. Doesn't sound too shabby to me. =)

Amy at Ooh La La Nails nominated me for the Sunshine Award! I truly love Amy's blog - she does a lot of really cool nail art that's completely original. It's always so nice and refreshing to see designs that I've never seen before, and I draw inspiration from her creativity on the regular. Like this amazing watercolor design... I love the colors and the method she used... and the animal print pattern on top just seals the deal! So thank you, Amy, for the nomination for the Sunshine Award. But more importantly, thank you for always sharing your passion with us and for inspiring me in my nail art endeavors. =)

Here are the rules of the Sunshine Award:
- Thank the person who nominated you (that's a given!)
- Post the award logo on your blog
- Share 7 facts about yourself
- Nominate 5 or more other blogs that inspire you

7 Facts About Myself

1.  I have known I want to be a doctor since I was about 10 years old, and I know I am
     lucky for finding my passion at such an early age.

2.  I started flying airplanes before I could legally drive a car.

3.  I *love* math. In high school I was the president of the Math Honors Society, probably 
     the nerdiest club position on campus next to like... Bridge Club president? haha. But 
     I planned some awesome Pi Days (on 3/14) with copious amounts of pie!

4.  I love to bake. Pies are my specialty. Especially apple. Mmm...

5.  Top 3 favorite movies: Sin City, Shawshank Redemption, Gladiator. And Grandma's Boy 
     is a close 4th.

6.  I've been a vegetarian since I was 12 because I don't like the texture of meat. But I will 
     eat crispy charred bacon any day.

7.  I studied abroad in Paris for 4 months and traveled to Italy, Budapest, Amsterdam, and 
     many other places with one of my best friends Claire, who actually moved to France 
     and now lives there! I was somewhat fluent in French when I left Paris, but now? Not
     so much.

My Sunshine Award Nominations

Jezzica at Little Miss Nail Polish.  I love reading Jezzica's posts - they're always so upbeat and positive, which makes me happy. She swatches some seriously gorgeous and unique polishes and takes awesome photos of them, as well as does really neat nail art!

Melissa at Lacquer Reverie.  Not only do I love Melissa's swatches, honest reviews, and awesome combos, but I also love that she has her own voice and isn't afraid to speak her mind. 

The Bubbly Brunette.  I think she was one of my first friends in this crazy nail blogosphere, and we both started our blogs around the same time. Her reviews are short and sweet, which I, as a rambler, appreciate! 

Charis at Charismatically Polished. First of all, love the blog name. Second of all, love her beautiful nails and beautiful swatches and art.

Jewelyz and Nails. I found her blog very early on when I started blogging, and it honestly seems like she has endless amounts of creativity. I also really like that although we don't speak the same language, we can still appreciate each other and bond over our obsession with polish.

So that's it for today! I truly appreciate all the blog love and support, and I hope you all know that I support you in your obsession as well! I love this polish blogging community, and I'm so happy to be a part of it.

Thanks again, Amy, for the nomination! You're the best!  I hope you all have an amazing day, and thanks for stopping by!

May Challenge - Inspired by the Beach

Hi guys!

Happy Friday! This week literally went by so slowly, I can't believe it's finally the weekend. I'm excited that we get three days off because of Memorial Day, but I'll probably be studying during a lot of that time. But that's okay! Because it'll probably be really nice out, and as long as I'm studying outside, I'm happy. 

Today I have my third look for the Hobby Polish Bloggers May Challenge! If you missed my first two designs, you can check them out here and here. This week's challenge was inspired by the beach. Click on the link below to read about my inspiration and see more pictures of my nautical mani!

Jessica Lime Cooler

Hi guys!

I hope everyone's week is going well so far! Mine is going by pretty slowly... on Monday I felt like it was Wednesday for some reason! But that's okay, because I guess it's almost the weekend now. Just two days away =D

The polish I want to show you today is called Lime Cooler, and it was released last year as part of Jessica's Gelato Mio Collection for summer 2012. So of course it makes sense that Lime Cooler is absolutely perfect for summer! Click on the link below to see swatches and a review!

Best Blog Award Nomination!

Hi guys!

I'm so excited to share with you that the lovely Melissa at Lacquer Reverie nominated me for the Best Blog Award! So thank you, Melissa! I truly enjoy reading your posts and seeing your beautiful pictures every day!

 

So here are the rules: 

1.  Answer the questions asked by the blog who followed you

2.  Nominate up to 20 other bloggers with less than 200 followers

3.  Create 11 questions for your nominees to answer

Of course Melissa, being the awesomely outspoken quirky lady that she is, asked some really interesting and thought-provoking questions! Here goes:

1. Are you a people person or a loner?
       Hmm.. I'd say I'm somewhere in between, leaning more toward the "people 
       person" side. I love seeing friends and being in a social atmosphere, but I 
       also really appreciate the occasional "Kelsey Day" where I enjoy time on my 
       own, but I don't consider that being a "loner," just enjoy and appreciate 
       solitude once in a while. 

2. If you were a weather event, what would you be?
       This is a really tough one. Haha thanks, Melissa. As boring as this sounds, I 
       would be a nice warm sunny day with a breeze so everyone could take 
       advantage of the outdoors. 

3. Glitter, creme, metallic, frost, foil, or duochrome?
       Can I answer holo for this?  I literally can't get enough of holo polishes. But 
       if I had to stick to the choices given, I'd say creme... there's just something 
       so nice about a clean simple creme polish in a great great color. 

4. What has been your favorite vacation?
       I studied abroad in Paris for four months, and during that time I traveled all 
       over France, Italy, Hungary, the Netherlands (Amsterdam!). I think my favorite 
       place I've ever traveled to is Budapest. It's such a beautiful place, the 
       people there are so laid back and down to earth, and they know how to 
       party! And of course it was all made incredible by the fact that I was with my 
       BFF Claire <3  

5. Do you match your nails to your clothing?
       Haha no. But sometimes I will admire how nice a polish looks with the shirt 
       dress or whatever outfit I just so happen to put on. 

6. What do you consider to be your best physical feature?
       My nails! I've always had really strong nails, and my nail beds are huge, so 
       there's so much space for polishing and nail art. 

7. Why did you start your blog? 
       I've always loved nail polish and I've been polishing my nails for years. But I
       started to get obsessed a little over a year ago and stalked so many nail 
       blogs. Then finally after posting a bunch of pictures of my nails on facebook, 
       I realized a blog would be a great way to share cool polishes I love with  
       other polish lovers (and to stop spamming all of my non-polish-loving FB
       friends with all my nail stuff). Also, having a blog sorta-kinda justifies all the
       polish I buy. I'm sure some of you can relate :p

8. What do you consider to be your best attribute?
       I would have to say my honesty, my loyalty to and immense amount of love for my  
       family and friends, and my ability to be logical and pragmatic.

9. When reading other blogs, do you read the content, look at the photos, or both?
        Both! I love reading what other bloggers have to say about a polish. There's 
        so much more to a polish than just what it looks like. 

10. What is your happiest memory?
         This is such a hard question. I have so many! All involve friends and/or 
         nature haha, but I can't pick just one. 

11. Had you rather be intelligent, funny, beautiful, or wealthy? 
          Intelligent, hands down. But I definitely wouldn't mind if I was wittier.


Now for my nominees! 

Polished Elegance 
The Bubbly Brunette 
Fairly Charming 
Brandy's Nailtastic Blog 
My Adventures in Nail Art

And here are my questions for you ladies:

1.   What is your favorite nail polish of all time?
2.   What do your friends/boyfriend/husband/family think about your nail polish 
      addiction?
3.   Craziest thing you've ever done (that you're willing to share of course.. haha).
4.   What is your favorite food or dessert?
5.   If you could go back in history and have dinner with one person, who would it be and  
      why?
6.   Cats or dogs?
7.   What is your favorite color in general? What is your favorite color when it comes to 
      polish?
8.   Favorite polish brand?
9.   What is the last movie or book that made you cry?
10. Favorite outdoor activity?
11. What is your favorite place you have ever traveled to and why?

So that's it for today's post! I can't wait to read everyone's answers to my questions. =)
As always, thanks so much for stopping by! Have a great day =)

  
 



 

Enchanted Polish Hot Chocolate

Hi guys!

Did everyone have a good weekend? I definitely did! I went to a concert where a lot of different awesome bands played on Saturday with two of my best friends. The weather and the vibe were perfect, so it was a really great, much-needed outing. 

Today I want to show you a gorgeous brown holo from Enchanted Polish called Hot Chocolate. This is another holo beauty that I can't seem to get enough of! Click on the link below to read the full post.

Zoya Aurora - Swatch and Review

Hey everyone!

Happy Friday! Sorry I was kind of MIA this week... I caught up with some awesome friends that I haven't seen in a while, so that was really nice! 

I'm also trying out the original OPI Nail Envy to hopefully restore my nails to good health, since I've been having some problems with pealing. I was inspired by Essie's post over at iHeartPrettyPolish in which she talked about what she does for nail care and she uses Nail Envy, so I thought I might as well give it a shot! Nailtiques Formula 2 Plus has been my go-to nail protein, and I've had great experiences with it. However, the bottle gets really thick and gloopy about half way down, so I thought I'd try something new. I'll let you know if it works once I give it enough time! I'm going to try to use it for a week without putting any polish on my nails (eeek!), but hopefully it'll be worth it!

But okay, enough rambling. Today I have a lot of pictures of the amazing holographic wonder that is Zoya Aurora! I know, I know, I'm a little late with the whole Aurora obsession. And I'm sure all of you have already seen tons of pictures of this already. But Aurora is so beautiful, I don't think there can ever be too many pictures of it! Click on the link below to see the full post!

Essie Neon Summer 2013 Collection

Hey guys!

I hope everyone had a really great weekend! I spent a lot of time outside with one of my very best friends Jessica. She's amazing and I'm so glad I got to see her! She moved away for school, but she's back visiting, so I jumped on the opportunity to reserve all of her time haha. We met all the way back in 6th grade, and we've been best friends ever since! I also got to spend a lot of time with my momma, which is always so nice. I hope everyone else was able to get in a lot of family and friend time too. =)

Today I have two polishes from the Essie Neon Collection that they released this month for summer 2013, and they're both pink! Which is such a surprise for me because even though pink is my favorite color in general, I usually don't like it much on my nails. But after seeing swatches of Boom Boom Room and Bottle Service, I knew I had to have them! Something about their brightness is unique to me and really drew me in. Click on the link below for swatches of these two babies and a review!

To All the Mommas Out There

Hey everyone!

I just wanted to do a quick post today to say Happy Mother's Day to all the amazing mommas out there! My mom is one of the most important people in my life, and she's also one of the most incredible people I've ever met. I'm so luck to have the relationship that I do with her, and I love how we only seem to be growing closer and closer as time goes on. 

I know that it will be a while until I'm a mom myself (like at least another 7 years... at least), but I hope when that time does come that I will be able to have even a fraction of the impact that my mother has had and continues to have on me.

I truly appreciate all of you dedicated moms out there, and I hope from the bottom of my heart that you have a beautiful day today with your families. You all deserve the best. Thanks for doing what you do, mommas. =)
 

 

China Glaze Keep Calm, Paint On... with Polka Dots!

Good morning everyone! Happy weekend!

I usually don't post on the weekends, but for some reason I really wanted to today! The polish I have to show you is called Keep Calm, Paint On by China Glaze, and was released as part of their Spring 2013 Avant Garden collection. I only picked up a few shades from this collection, and I'm very happy with all of them! Eventually I'll be posting all of them on here, but for now, let's just start off with this lovely shimmering mint! Click on the link below to see more photos, a review, and some polka dots!

May Challenge - Inspired by Nature

Hey guys!

I'm so excited to share today's post with you because it's something I'm really proud of! I've always considered myself artistically challenged... I will forever be stuck at the stage of drawing stick figures. And if I try to draw a dog, it might look like a deer or a donkey, you never know. So when I first started doing nail art not too long ago, I thought I could only create interesting looks using dotting tools and striping tape. I thought there was no way I could freehand designs like I've seen many girls do.

That's where the Hobby Polish Bloggers May Challenge comes in. I'm so glad that I'm taking part in this challenge, partly because it's really pushed me to try things that I never thought I could do.

I know, I know... flowers for a nature-inspired challenge are pretty cliche and not the most innovative. But freehand roses are something that I've admired, so once I saw this awesome tutorial by The Nailasaurus, I knew I had to give it a try. And the results turned out better than I could have imagined! So thanks, Nailasaurus, for inspiring me to push my (imagined) boundaries and allowing me to create something I didn't think was possible for me!

Click on the link below to see the full post and lots of pictures!

piCture pOlish Cosmos - the most beautiful polish I've ever seen

Hi guys!

Today I want to show you my favorite blue polish! There are many blue polishes that are close to my heart, but once I got Cosmos in the mail and tried it on for the first time, it was true love. <3

After looking at swatches of this polish for a long time, I finally caved. I had to have it. The medium/dark blue color, the flecks of holo throughout. And somehow, it was even better in person. It exceeded any expectations I had - it's simply gorgeous. 

Click on the link below for a more detailed review and pictures!

Cirque Cypress

Hello!

Today I want to show you a gorgeous polish from Cirque. This is the second polish I've tried from Cirque, and based on swatches I've seen and my personal experiences, it's an amazing brand! The first polish I tried was an incredible holographic glitter topper that you can see here. This next one, Cypress, is equally as amazing and equally as unique. Click on the "read more" link below to see more pictures and a review!

Zoya Summer PixieDust Ombre

Hey guys!

Did you have a good weekend? I definitely did! Since it was a three-day weekend, on Friday I kept thinking it was Saturday and on Saturday I kept thinking it was Sunday... and each time it was such a pleasant surprise to know I had an extra day! Today we're starting the last unit of the first year of med school - Musculoskeletal. I can't believe I'm almost going to be a second year med student. Time is just flying by!

Today I want to show you 4 of the 6 polishes from Zoya's Summer PixieDust collection. I'm sure most if not all of you have seen so many pictures from this collection, but if you haven't, this post will be even more exciting! I used four of the shades (Miranda, Solange, Beatrix, Destiny) to create an ombre manicure.. and I LOVE how they all look together! Click on the link below to read a review of the PixieDust and to see (many many) pictures!

May Challenge - Inspired by Fashion

Hi guys!

Happy Friday! Anyone have any fun plans for the weekend?? I hope everyone gets a chance to relax and enjoy the beautiful weather! Well... if you're in California anyway haha. I took my test yesterday and everything went really well! So happy =D So today I think I'm going to go hiking and then to the beach! Yayyy.

Anyways, this month I'm participating in my first challenge, and I'm so excited about it! It was created by the Hobby Polish Bloggers, a fantastic group of very sweet and supportive ladies who all share an obsession with polish (of course!). This challenge is perfect for me because there are only four prompts throughout the whole month! Meaning I can do just one look a week, which is much more practical for me than, say, every day. 

The first theme is "Inspired by Fashion." Click the "Read more" link to see the look I created and my inspiration!

Galaxy Nails!

Hey guys!

I'm so happy that I finally get to take my last neuro exam today... I absolutely can't wait to have a nice long weekend! And the weather has been amazing, so as usual, there will be a lot of outdoor activities in my near future.

Today I'm really excited to show you my current nails. I've always loved the look of galaxy nails, partly because I think the universe is so amazingly fascinating and mysterious, and also because they just look really neat! I did this manicure on Tuesday after my first test as a nice way to relax and debrief, and I really really love how they turned out.

Click the "Read more" link below to see more pictures and to learn a little bit about how I achieved this look!

Essie First Timer Swatches and Comparisons

Hey guys!

Happy Hump Day! I had my first exam of the week yesterday, and even though I thought it was pretty tough, I did better than I thought! But I'm still going to study all day today so I can do well on tomorrow's exam. Then it's a three-day weekend, and I'll have absolutely nothing to worry about. Days like those are rare in medical school, and I'm really looking forward to it!

Today I have a gorgeous new polish to show you that I picked up this past weekend... and it might just be one of my favorite greens that I own! It's called First Timer, and it was released this spring as part of Essie's 4-piece Resort Collection for 2013. When I first saw the promo photos for this collection, I thought First Timer was going to be terribly close to some shades we've seen before, so of course I had to compare them side by side.

Click on the link below to see pictures and comparisons!