Hot Pink and Black French Tips

Hey everyone :) I wanted to show you the manicure I've been wearing for the past few days. I usually don't do French tips with my natural nail color showing but I have the perfect topcoat for it!

I used those French manicure nail strip guide things and painted two coats of Zoya's Gilda since it's a little bit sheer. Then, I did one coat of CND's Sapphire Sparkle which is a really nice blue/pink shimmer topcoat. The striping part seems difficult to some but it's actually very easy. I used Kiss Nail Art in black and dragged it across the edge of the pink. If I didn't reach the other side of my nail, I just started from the other side and connected the two lines.

I hope you like this look! It was very easy and didn't take much time at all. I also got a lot of nice compliments on it =P

Direct Sunlight

Indoors

Indoors w/ Flash

Valentine's Day Lip Color Swatches (pic heavy!)

Hello readers :) Valentine's Day is coming up and I thought it would be fun to show off some fun lip colors to wear! I especially love reds and pinks for Valentine's Day but lately I've going crazy for purple so I will be showing you some purple-based lipsticks as well!

My lips are incredibly swollen and sore after swatching and taking all of these photos back to back so I especially hope you enjoy this post and can appreciate the pain I went through for it =P

The colors I'm going to show you are:
-Elf Jumbo Gloss Stick in Flirty & Girly
-L'Oreal H.I.P Shine Struck Liquid Lip Color in Arresting
-L'Oreal Colour Riche Caresse Stick in Violet Chiffon
-L'Oreal Infallible Le Gloss 8 Hour Lipgloss in Pink Topaz
-Maybelline Color Sensational Lip Gloss in Plum Luster
-M.A.C in Sequin
-Milani Lip Flash in In A Flash
-Nyx Round Lipstick in Gardenia
-Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in Red Velvet
-Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in Lollipop
-Morgana Cryptoria in Fire Brick
-Morgana Cryptoria in Fire Brick with Victoria's Secret Dazzleshine Lip Gloss in Hot Pink

I'll post a photo of each and give a brief description about the color and application.

Elf Jumbo Gloss Stick in Flirty & Girly- I was surprised at how much I actually liked this product. It has a very glossy and creamy texture to it and is a nice light-frosty hot pinky salmony color to it. It's a really nice color that will work for most skin tones while not being crazy in your face.

L'Oreal H.I.P Shine Struck Liquid Lip Color in Arresting- I'm not quite sure what happened to this photo! There are some odd streaks in it so please disregard! I didn't notice it until later. I think this product is actually discontinued now that I think about it. The H.I.P line had these very vivid lip glosses at one point and I haven't seen them in a while. This is one of the more purply/magenta colors and has blue undertones to it! It's very pretty in person!

L'Oreal Colour Riche Caresse Stick in Violet Chiffon- This is one of my new favorite lipsticks! It's very creamy, rich, and moisturizing and doesn't dry out my lips at all. This color is really nice because it gives you a subtle pop of purple but it's not overwhelming where someone would be distracted in a negative way. I would best describe this as a gently muted down hot pink with a lavender punch to it.

L'Oreal Infallible Le Gloss 8 Hour Lipgloss in Pink Topaz- This is one of my favorite lipglosses I own. It's very longlasting and delivers a very rich color. I love that it's a bright pink with a subtle purple shimmer. It's lovely for daytime and night in my opinion!

Maybelline Color Sensational Lip Gloss in Plum Luster- I believe this is one of the newer lipglosses that Maybelline came out with. It delivers a really nice color and the gloss itself is smooth and creamy. It smells nice too! I love this color for daytime and nighttime. It's kinda like a salmony raspberry hot pink color (if that makes any sense) and has a nice shimmer to it.

M.A.C in Sequin-  I love this color soooo much! No, it's not your typical Valentine's Day color but this is one of those colors where you can where both day and night and do a more dramatic eye. This lipstick has enough pink in it that isn't too in your face and allows you to do a more funky Valentine's Day inspired eye with bright pinks and reds. I love it because it's more of a vampy frosted color and would flatter many complexions. I will probably do a full face Valentine's Day look with this color sometime this week and post it.

Milani Lip Flash in In A Flash- Love love love. All I have to say about this one. This is probably one of my favorite purply pink lipglosses. It's a gloss stick that has a really nice texture to it and has a really vivid color. It's a bright, borderline neon pink with this amazing blue/purple glitter. It's a very fun one to wear and would look nice with a simpler eye.

Nyx Round Lipstick in Gardenia- This is one of those lipstick that I actually forgot I had! I went through my stash when I was looking for colors and I came across this one! It's a very nice poppy red with a very subtle frosty sheen to it. This is another one that many people could pull off.

Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in Red Velvet- The Revlon Lip Butter line is one of my favorites. The texture is so amazingly balmy and creamy and they have a nice range of colors to choose from. This is a more sheer red and would work best for those who don't prefer to wear a crazy bold red lip.

Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in Lollipop- Ohhh yes please.... This is probably my go-to hot pink lipstick. I keep this one in my purse in case of emergencies =P Like I said about Red Velvet, it's very balmy and creamy. This one is definitely brighter and more opaque though. It's really nice hot pink with a subtle blue shimmer. So beautiful!

Morgana Cryptoria in Fire Brick- This is definitely my favorite red lipstick ever. This is the kind of red that makes me not want to buy another red lol. It had this thick, pigmented, almost matte, metallic finish to it and sticks to your lips like you wouldn't believe. I like more vampy red like this one so it works perfectly for me. I reviewed this in the past so you can check out my post by clicking here.

Fire Brick with Victoria's Secret Dazzleshine Lip Gloss in Hot Pink- I decided to get a little creative and top off Fire Brick with this amazing hot pink glittery gloss I got from Victoria's Secret. I unfortunately wasn't able to take a good photo of the gloss but I will link you over to Miss Natty's post where I found out about this gloss so you can take a better look at it. For me, I think this color combination takes the cake! I would only wear this for someone very special though =P

WHEW!! That was a crazy long post! I really hope you enjoyed it. This week, I plan on putting together at least a couple full face looks for Valentine's Day and I will use these lip colors as well. Did any of the colors catch your eye? Do you already own any of these and are there any you are drooling over by any chance? =P

I'd also love to hear if anyone has anything really fun planned for Valentine's Day. I unfortunately don't have "that special someone" to spend it with but I plan on doing something fun with my friends! Enjoy your week, and happy early Valentine's Day!

Nails by Kayla Shevonne Giveaway! Layla Hologram Effect Collection!

Hello readers! I came across an awesome giveaway and wanted to inform you all about it :)

Kayla Shevonne is giving away the entire first set of the Layla Hologram Effect collection to her readers! Click here to enter! Also check out her awesome new peacock-inspired blog layout!

Credit: http://www.kaylashevonne.com/