Zoya Ivanka

So the past week has been filled with Bettina posts. I don't know why but whenever I sit down to do my nails, my hands always reach for those first. I just love them so much, haha. Anyway, this week I plan to let my Bettina's take a break, and use some of my other brands. Today I decided to feature Ivanka! A color I have been dying to try!

 Ivanka is a medium green leaning towards lime with some blue undertones, packed with green glass flecks. The formula on this was nice. It was a little sheer but definitely build-able. It would have been ok with 2 coats but just to add more depth I added a third. Try time was average. So pretty... it looks like some kind of mermaid tail.

Anyway, thanks so much for reading and just FYI, I have a poll up asking if you would like to see a Halloween nail art series, so be sure to vote! Thanks:)

New Poll!

Hi everyone(: I was wondering if you would be interesting in seeing a Halloween nail art series. Be sure to get your vote in before 10/3/11. You can find the poll box to the right of this post or below my tab bar on the right.

Thanks so much for voting!

Bettina #197

Behold! My attempt at the ruffian manicure! 

Haha, I have no idea what happened to my ring finger... it.... got destroyed. Anyway, I was really excited to try this idea. I painted two coats of the grey on first and then with my nail art brush I drew a little semi circle, and then filled the circle in with Bettina Aqua. Now, most of you know that I have no free hand nail artistic ability so even the stupid circle turned out bad. Then I went back and tried to fix it with the grey... let's just say I have a lot of layers of polish on my nails right now, lol.

Besides that (and my ugly ring finger) I think think this turned out ok for my first try... I guess next time I should skip the tiny drawing of a little circle and just use the regular brush :P

Bettina #197 is surprisingly hard to describe. At first it looks like a regular grey, but it's actually a very blue/periwinkle toned grey so in some lighting, it looks kind of like a grey-ed out version of Zoya Caitlin. Very pretty. #197 is so opaque! I literally only needed one coat! Except one coat, in pictures, usually show every single nail imperfection I have so I did two. Formula was awesome. Dry time was average. 

Despite my awful semi circles and my ring finger, I think this turned out rather cute. What about you??

• Base Color: Bettina #197
• Blue: Bettina Aqua
• Stamp Color: Konad Black Pearl
• Plate: BM201

(**Products sent for review**)

Review: Pro-FX 3 in 1 Basecoat, TopCoat, and Nail Strengthener

Hi everyone!! I decided to review my Pro-FX Basecoat, Topcoat, and Nail Strengthener because I know you liked my review of their fast dry topcoat (HERE), so I just thought that I might as well review my other Pro-FX product as well(:

Note From Me: Other than this base coat, my other go-to base coat is the one by Beauty Secrets. But, I am running out of that one and it's kind of gloopy, and sadly, their is no Sally's where I live :(

Bottle/Price: For the price you pay, the bottle is huge. I paid only $4.95 +tax for a 2.5 FL. OZ/ 75 ML bottle. In the second picture you can see how it compares to my Beauty Secret's Base Coat.

Bubbling: To me, the only major downside to this base coat is the bubbling, like it's fast dry top coat, this bubbles easily. To me, that's very annoying but let it sit for a while, the bubbles go away. Also like the fast dry top coat, be careful when applying, cause even if you dip the brush back into the product too fast can result in bubbles.

Brush/Wand: Since I already reviewed the brush/wand on the top coat, I am just going to keep it short and sweet. Ok, both the brush and the wand are giant which isn't necessarily bad. The long wand allows you to get every last bit of product and the big brush fans out perfectly. Even though you would think the large-ness would give you a hard time, it doesn't... which I love! :)

Formula/Smell/Dry Time: Formula is pretty thin.... quite nice. As for the smell... nothing major. Dry time is pretty fast.

Gripping: I think this base coat has a pretty good job of gripping the polish and making sure it stays on. That makes me happy(: Paired with the fast dry top coat, your nails will be invincible!

Anti-Staining: For me personally, the only reason why I use a base coat is so that my nail polish doesn't stain my natural nail. It also helps my natural nail from getting yucky and flimsy... but more on that in a minute. Anyway, I think this base coat does a good job from keeping your nails stain free. My nails will always be a tad bit yellow tinged, but for the most part, good job! Blues usually stain on me and I have been wearing a ton of blues lately and I am super stoked because no staining!! Yay!

Nail Strengthening: I have the flimsiest (is that a word?) nails on the planet and it feels like nothing can make them stronger. I wasn't really expecting anything but I must say that even though my nails still aren't very strong, they seem to be a little bit harder to break which is a miracle! Now, I am not saying my nails are super strong now (which they aren't) but I am just saying they seem.... a bit stronger... just a bit... a pinch? IDK. But what I really wanted to mention was that my nails have been growing incredibly fast and I think it's because of this stuff. It seems like whenever I sit down to do my nails I am always filing or trimming which I think is great because my nails grow so slow!

Top Coat: I actually just bought this for the base coat (they didn't have just a regular one, they had a cuticle oil, nail strengthener, this, and fast dry top coat) so I actually haven't tried it as a top coat at all... so ya... I am going to have to skip this for now. But if I try it in the future, I'll be sure to edit it in(:

Overall: Overall I really love this base coat and I will continue to buy it. To me, the only major downside is the bubbles but that can be fixed. I love the brush, dry time, and the anti-staining. It grips your polish so that it stays on and I just genuinely love the product!! So far I am really liking this brand (despite bubbling) and I kind of want to try their cuticle oil... but that's besides the point, lol.


If you have any questions feel free to ask(:

Bettina Aqua

So I have had this post sitting in my drafts folder for a while now because I wasn't sure when to post it. But since I have been kind of tired and lazy lately to do my nails, I thought now was the perfect time(: I wasn't originally going to post any of these photos just because they were so far off color wise, but as I was looking through them again these two were actually pretty accurate.

Aqua.... so clean.... so pretty, so becoming my new favorite(: Aqua is basically an aqua blue (no derrr, lol) with some green undertones. It's a tad more green IRL than in the photos. The formula on this was great. Super pigmented, applied smoothly, and dried fast and shiny. This is two thin coats.


What are your thoughts on Aqua??

(**Product sent for review**)

Gradient/Sponge mani take 2! :)

Since I loved my last gradient mani so much, I had to try it again... this time with stamping! :)

Despite my off centered stamping, I think this turned out great. I think the colors work nice together, and I love the image.

Haha, and yes, I used Bettina again.... I don't know... there is just something about their polishes.... whenever I get ready to paint my nails, I always gravitate towards them first.... lol.

Anyway, thanks for reading and be sure to let me know what you think! :)

• Base Color: Bettina Ocean
• Green/Sponge Color: Bettina Trees
• Stamp Color: Konad Black Pearl
• Plate: BM221

(**Bettina products sent for review**)

Bettina Indigo

Hi everyone!! So today I tried my very first gradient/sponge manicure:)

Ok, seriously, I am so in love with Indigo. The color is gorgeous. Indigo is a royal/navy-ish blue with some indigo undertones. The formula on this was dreamy and super opaque. I could have gotten away with one coat but out of habit, I did two. Dry time was lightning fast and it dried shiny! I seriously have no complaints... Unless it stains which I am hoping it won't.

Afterwards, I cut a little piece off of a cosmetic sponge and I sponged a little bit of Bettina #28 to the tips. I think it turned out great!! It looks so cool IRL. I love love LOVE it:) Definitely going to do sponge mani's more often! Just for fun I painted 1 coat of Finger Paints Sparkle Top Coat over my left hand thumb... I think it looks cool... kind of "outer space" looking :D

Have you tried sponging yet?? :)

• Base Color: Bettina Indigo
• Purple/Sponge Color: Bettina #28

(**Products sent for review**)