Music Monday: Sara Bareilles, St. Lucia, Theophilus London and more!

Hey guys! Hope you all had wonderful weekends. Back with another week's music picks.

1. Come Back Down- Greg Laswell ft. Sara Bareilles
Sarab is one of my absolute favorites, and I actually had the pleasure of meeting her last year. She is amazing and so sweet! I also saw Greg Laswell a few years ago and he was amazing. So obviously this song is a homerun in my book. I heard it was the Itunes free single of the week- be sure to get it!

That's Sara in the middle, I'm on the right! 

2. Closer Than This- St. Lucia
I have been loving the entire self-titled album from St.Lucia, I find myself listening to it at work all the time. This track is my fave.



3. Love is Real (Fred Falke Remix)- Theophilus London
Great jam from Theophilus, and this remix takes it to the next level. Great for getting ready!




4. Language- Porter Robinson
This is just a great electro track. Never gets old!



Hope these help perk up your Mondays!

Carolyn xo

Simple Pink Bows with OPI Cuckoo for this Color and KleanColor Metallic Pink

Hey everyone! Sorry for not posting yesterday, time got away from me! I have a cute and really simple mani for you on this lovely Friday. I started with two coats of OPI Cuckoo for this Color. I really am cuckoo for that color- such a gorgeous deep teal. I used a thin nail art brush to draw small bows with KleanColor Metallic Pink. I've found that the KleanColor polishes are extremely high in pigment and you really only need one coat with any of those colors.

Enjoy and have a fun weekend!
Carolyn xo

My Take On: A England Ascalon

Hey guys! Today I have my swatch of A England Ascalon. I'm almost to the end of swatching my gorgous Legends Collection polishes. Sad! This one is just as beautiful as it's collection-mates. Ascalon is a dark grey/chrome holo. Application is perfection and I only needed about two coats on this one.

Hope you enjoy!
Carolyn xo

My Take On: China Glaze Optical Illusion from the Prismatic Collection

Hi everyone! Today I have a gorgeous swatch from the China Glaze Prismatic Collection. When I was finally able to see this collection in person it was stunning. The only negative was that I couldn't decide which to get! I finally decided on Optical Illusion, a teal based polish with multicolored microglitter. I've seen this polish over silver and over another teal polish, but I tried it on its own. I used about 4 coats on each nail. This applied like most glitter polishes, a little chunky, but with a nice top coat it looked lovely. And yes, I've started watermarking my photos. Something I probably should have been doing for a while now, but with the addition of Pinterest it seems like a must if you want to get credit for your photos! Hope it doesn't bother anyone, I'll be playing around with exactly how I want it over the next few posts.

Onto the photos!

Have you tried out any of this collection yet?
Carolyn xo

Finally- My Stash, Organized!

Hey everyone! So up until about two weeks ago my polish was stored all over the place in my room, hidden behind picture frames, in random drawers and just a mess! I finally found a perfect solution for my room. I don't have a TON of polish, but definitely more than the normal person haha. And I really wanted to find a way to keep it organized, but have it on display! I wanted to show it all off. With the help of some cheap shelves from Target and handywork from my boyfriend, I successfully have an organized, great looking display for my polish!

(Click to enlarge!)

Each shelf has about three rows on it, and the polishes are organized by color, and then brand. All of my 'tools,'  top coats,  etc. are in a shelf in my bathroom. They just aren't pretty to display!

Carolyn xo

Trend: Yellow + Grey with Chanel Mimosa and American Apparel Factory Grey

Happy Friday!

Today I have a fun color trend on my nails- Yellow and Grey! This trend has been popping up everywhere, from weddings to home decor and I just had to try it! I used about 3 coats of Chanel Mimosa, a yellow with a bit of shimmer for my yellow base. Then using a dotting tool and a nail art brush I made the small grey hearts with American Apparel Factory Grey.

Check out the trend! 

(Taken with Instagram)

Hope you enjoy and have a fun weekend!
Carolyn xo

Geometric Mani with OPI Ski Teal we Drop, Pamplona Purple and Jade is the New Black

Hi everyone! Almost the weekend :)

Today I have a fun mani with three of my favorite OPI shades- Ski Teal we Drop, Pamplona Purple and Jade is the New Black. I love how these colors look together, so I tried something out with all three! I alternated nails, and then with a thin nail art brush painted the other shades on top. I didn't even use tape on this (I'm giving myself a pat on the back for that!)

Enjoy!
Carolyn xo

My Take On: A England Princess Tears

Hey everyone! Today I have my swatch of another gorgeous holo from the A England Legends Collection. Princess Tears is a silver/rose holo that applies like a dream! I used two coats in these photos. It is so hard to say which of this collection is my favorite but this one is up there!

Up close!

In sunlight, taken with iPhone :/

Enjoy!
Carolyn xo

Neon Glitter Tribal Nails with OPI Fly and OPI Bring on the Bling

Hi everyone! Today I've got a fun mani, combining a lot of popular trends! I started off with one coat of Maybelline Coralicious for an orange base. I then used OPI Bring on the Bling from the Burlesque Glitters Collection. That one is by far my favorite from that collection. I then used OPI Fly from the Nicki Minaj Collection to create neon tribal designs with a nail art brush.

Hope you enjoy!
Carolyn xo

Music Monday: Carly Rae Jepsen, Alabama Shakes, Meiko and more!

Hi everyone! Hope you're all having good Mondays. I have a bunch of really fun songs today- hope you enjoy!


1. Call Me Maybe x For You- Carly Rae Jepsen and Madeon Mashup
This is such a guilty pleasure song, but this mashup makes it infinitely more tolerable!



2. Hold On- Alabama Shakes
This song from their new album is just so happy, I love it!




3. Both of Us- B.o.B. ft. Taylor Swift
This county/rap collaboration is surprisingly good. Please disregard this ridiculous Hunger Games video, this was the best version of the song I could find as it was leaked and a lot of the videos were taken down.



4. Leave the Lights on (Morgan Page Remix)- Meiko
I love Meiko, and have known her music for a few years. I even met her once! But anyways, this dance-y remix of her new song is too good not to post. I love the original, but this one just makes me want to get up and dance!



Carolyn xo

Versatile Blogger Award!

Hey everyone! I'm honored to be awarded with the Versatile Blogger Award from two lovely ladies- Parisa from The Nail Movement and Niki from For Lacquer of a Better Term! And of course I couldn't do it without my readers! Thanks to everyone for checking in here, whether it's a few times a week or a few times a month- I appreciate you all!

The Versatile Rules:

Nominate 5 fellow bloggers.

Let them know that you have nominated them.

Thank the blogger who nominated you.

Add the versatile blogger image to your blog post

11 Question Tag Rules:

Each person must post 11 things about themselves on their blog

You have to choose 5 people to tag and link them on the post.

Go to their page and tell them you have linked him or her.

No tag backs.

No stuff in the tagging section about "You are tagged if you're reading this" You actually have to tag 5 people.

So here are my 11 things!
1. My favorite color is purple! Yellow is a close second
2. I could watch friends until there is no tomorrow
3. I love summer and the sun, but my skin would disagree with that!
4. Cats > Dogs (maybe with the exception of Corgi's!)
5. I pretty much love anything that a 14 year old girl would like (including but not limited to; Justin Bieber, Twilight, Harry Potter etc.)
6. I'm an only child!
7. I work in social media, hence a bit of nerdiness every once in a while!
8. Never had braces! Fun fact ha
9. Slightly obsessed with Pinterest
10. I am actually really bad at painting my nails, and my fingers are always so messy- but I kinda enjoy cleaning them up :)
11. Last one- OCD!

And now- the five bloggers I award...

1. The Subtle Shimmer
2. Embellished Nail
3. Lacquer Care Factor
4. The Lacquer Diaries
5. Funky Frenchies

Hope you all enjoy checking out these lovely blogs!

Carolyn xo

My Take On: China Glaze Luxe and Lush

Hi there! Today I have my last polish from the Hunger Games 'Colours of the Capitol' collection to swatch for you. I saved this one for last because I was so excited about it! Luxe and Lush is a flakie. The first thing I noticed is that this polish does not have as much of an obvious red or blue tint to it like some flakies do. I applied it over Essie Red Nouveau. I ended up using about 3 coats of Luxe and Lush on each nail, but in the future I might only use one because it looks so good that way! The flakes in this flakie are much bigger than in previous flakies I have tried. Have any of you tried it, and what did you think?

Enjoy!

Carolyn xo

My Take On: China Glaze Stone Cold from the Hunger Games Collection

Hi everyone and Happy Hump Day :)

Today I have a swatch from the Hunger Games collection from China Glaze "Colours from the Capitol." I tried out Stone Cold, a dark grey matte polish with silver microglitter. I love matte polishes especially when they have glitter in them! This one is no exception. Applied very easily and I ended up using three coats only because of my own messups and chips before I could get photos. I highly recommend this one and out of the HG colors I have it's one of my favorites!

Carolyn xo

Neon Chevron Nails

Hey everyone! Today I have another neon fun mani for you! I was inspired by a similar mani I saw on tumblr, and wanted to try it out! I started this mani by placing tape on my nails where I wanted the chevron stripe to appear. I then painted Zoya Audrina on the bottom portion of my nail and Maybelline Express Fast Dry in Coralicious. I waited a bit then carefully peeled off the tape, leaving a nail colored chevron design! I finished it off with top coat and voila!

Enjoy!
Carolyn xo

Music Monday: Marina and the Diamonds, Miike Snow and more!

Happy Monday all! Hope you had a nice weekend. Today I've got some pretty chill tracks to get you through the work day!

1. Primadonna- Marina and the Diamonds
This one always gets stuck in my head! Such a good balance of sweet vocals but still has some spunk to it.




2. Youth- Foxes (Adventure Club Dubstep Remix)
Could listen to this track on repeat all day.



3. Paddling Out- Miike Snow
The first single from Miike Snow's newest Album 'Happy to You.' Weird video though. ha.



4. Young Blood- Birdy
This one isn't new, but Birdy's album from last fall has both original tracks, and awesome covers like this one from The Naked and Famous. Birdy herself is famous from her cover of Skinny Love by Bon Iver. and she's only 15!!



Enjoy and have a great week!
Carolyn xo

Easter Nails!

Hi everyone and Happy Friday! Today I have some fun Easter themed nail art! I based these off of typical Easter Egg decorations.  I used the following colors:

Essie Lapis of Luxury
Essie Splash of Grenadine
Chanel Mimosa
OPI Do You Lilac It?
American Apparel Office

I used a variety of techniques such as using a sponge tool on my thumb, a dotting tool on my pinky and a thin nail art on my pointer, middle and ring finger.

Happy Easter to those who celebrate and Happy Passover this weekend as well.
Enjoy!
Carolyn xo

My Take On: China Glaze Harvest Moon from the Colors from the Capitol Collection

Hi everyone!

I was lucky enough to win three shades from China Glaze's Hunger Games collection, titled 'Colors from the Capitol.' I chose three unique shades that I didn't have anything like already. I tried out Harvest Moon first, a red-orange foil. This applied wonderfully, and I only needed two coats.

I love this color, I think it's very unique. Has anyone seen any dupes for this?

Enjoy!
Carolyn xo