Tip Top NailChic Color Block & Swatches

I'm really excited today to be showing you a few Tip Top polishes from South Africa. It didn't take long to fall in love with this new to me brand. The brush is slightly widened for perfect application. The formula  is very smooth and the polishes are toxin free and enriched with vitamin E. I thought the three colors that I got were meant to be together so I played a bit with color blocking. I hope you like it. Full swatches are included below...

I started out with a base of Black Forest and using striping tape blocked off random sections of the nail. Some of the blocked off section were filled in with Using Pot-O-Berries and Beach Babe. Then I removed the tape and reapplied fresh tape to get clean lines. I need more practice with striping tape manicures, but I really like how this turned out, especially the color combo...

Pot-O-Berries
A bright raspberry cream jelly. The formula is very easy to work with and the widened brush makes application quick. Two coats provide almost complete coverage. The jelly like quality makes this polish very shiny and squishy looking...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Tip Top Color Name/Number: Pot-O-Berries Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Camphor Enhanced with Vitamin E

Beach Babe
A bright aqua blue jelly cream. The color is perfect and the jelly finish makes it nice and shiny. The formula is comparable to Pot-O-Berries. Very easy to work with and no problems with application. Swatches are two coats with no top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Tip Top Color Name/Number: Beach Babe Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Camphor Enhanced with Vitamin E

Black Forest
A nice black cream with a bit of jelly. Two coats for full coverage and no top coat was used for swatches. The jelly again makes this look very shiny and squishy on it's own. A great black just in time for Halloween or for nail art any time of the year...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Tip Top Color Name/Number: Black Forest Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Camphor Enhanced with Vitamin E

For more information visit Tip Top Nails South Africa on Facebook!

I'd love to know what you think of these :)

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

** Polishes marked with an asterisk (*) were provided to me for review by the manufacturer or their PR. **

** For more information please see the disclosure policy **

e.l.f. Summer Ready Collection

There is still officially 10 days of summer left and I'm determined to swatch and show you at least some of my untried summer collections. I have accumulated more of them that I wish to admit and not swatching them year after year is just a shame. To start out is the e.l.f. Summer Ready collection which is from summer of last year. It contains five lovey jellies...

e.l.f. Blue Mist
A pretty aqua blue jelly. The formula is very sheer and the first few coats are pretty streaky. It took four coats (more than I normally prefer) to get it to the opaqueness seen below. The nail line is still visible. Lovely color, but not something I would wear on it's own. It would, however, be perfect for glitter sandwiches! I cannot wait to try it for just such a purpose...

Swatch Details
	Brand: e.l.f. Collection: Summer Ready, Summer 2011 Color Name/Number: Blue Mist Number of coats: 4 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

e.l.f. Lilac
A soft lilac jelly. Again this is very sheer and something I would save for glitter jelly sandwiches rather than wearing it alone. Nail line is still visible after three coats as seen here. The formula is better and less streaky than Blue Mist. Such a lovely color...

Swatch Details
	Brand: e.l.f. Collection: Summer Ready, Summer 2011 Color Name/Number: Lilac Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

e.l.f. Mango Madness
A coral orange sheer jelly. This took three coats to get it semi-opaque with the nail line still visible. This is a fun color that I have already used in some nail art. I'm sure it will make an appearance again in layering experiments. Formula is pretty nice, not streaky...

Swatch Details
	Brand: e.l.f. Collection: Summer Ready, Summer 2011 Color Name/Number: Mango Madness Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

e.l.f. Fuchsia
A dusky raspberry jelly. The color is slightly richer and deeper than what appears in the photos. It is sheer as the rest of the collection. Three coats is shown below. No problems with the formula, applies smoothly...

Swatch Details
	Brand: e.l.f. Collection: Summer Ready, Summer 2011 Color Name/Number: Fuchsia Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

e.l.f. Purple Pleaser
A plum purple jelly. This is a bit more opaque than the rest of the collection I think simply because it is darker. Three coats for the coverage seen below. Nail line still visible in real life. I do love a nice purple polish so I cannot wait to try this one in layered combos as well...

Swatch Details
	Brand: e.l.f. Collection: Summer Ready, Summer 2011 Color Name/Number: Purple Pleaser Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Overall I'm torn on this collection. The colors are very soft and pretty. They will be perfect for glitter sandwich combos and I cannot wait to try them as such. The downside of the collection is that these jellies have an impossibly long dry time. Even with a quick dry top coat, they were dentable after hours of wear. I tried a few of them solo for a day and each time the manicure was ruined by the time I came home from work. Another issue, although easily fixable, was the hairy brushes. Most of them had uneven bristles that needed to be trimmed prior to use...

Do you have colors you are torn on... Love the color, but hate the formula/brush??

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Happy Year of the Dragon!

My bf's mom made this adorable little dragon that she gave us to welcome the Year of the Dragon. It is the cutest little thing and I instantly wanted to match a manicure it. Sadly, my computer decided to be stubborn and I couldn't get this posted yesterday for the 1st day of the year. My bf spent the day reinstalling the whole system and all the programs, but now I'm back to show you this cute little guy...

For the manicure I used Sinful Colors Unicorn which was just a touch darker than the little guy, but the closet color I have. Then, I and added a little ruffle design to the side of the nail using Sparitual Delight, to match the dragon's ruffle "spine". It is such a sweet color combination. Makes me think of spring :)

Just a few shots of Sinful Colors Unicorn on it's own. I've swatched it before, but let's just say I shudder when I look at those photos... so I a fresh set of swatches was in order. Unicorn is a pastel yellow cream. It is one of the only yellows that I can really wear. It took three coats to even out the color and get full coverage. The only problem with this polish is that it stains the nails yellow, but I learned that lesson last time so I had a nice base coat underneath and it seemed to help. This is three coats with a top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Sinful Colors Collection: Main Line Color Name/Number: Unicorn, 953 Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

And for a bonus photo, here is the little one with his matching polishes....

Thanks for looking and Happy Year of the Dragon!
Anutka :)