Essence Snow White mani

The movie Snow White and the Huntsman inspired Essence's newest collection- the Snow White collection.
The collection itself consists of seven polish colors— one for each of the seven dwarfs— and three "special effect toppers." I was immediately drawn to the display in the store, but I wasn't thrilled with the seven colors. I did, however, really like two of the three toppers.

I started with TWO layers of a base coat, in this case, I used Seche Base. I recommend two layers of base coat any time you want to apply serious glitter or sparkle to your nail, simply because it protects your nail bed.

Then I used The Color Workshop Nala nail color in Bronze as a base color. I needed two coats of this color to get the pretty mocha-ish color I was looking for.

One coat:

 Two coats:

Then I used Essence Special Effect Topper: The Evil Witch to paint 8 of my nails. It took two to three coats of the color on each nail to get the desired effect of the glitter.
I loved how the glitter pieces were large and rounded- you don't often see a glitter polish like that.

Then I painted one nail on each hand with Essence Special Effect Topper: The Huntsman.
What I love about this polish? The glitter flecks were all different shapes and sizes. Plus, it had real glitter in it. It shined and sparkled and looked fabulous.
Look closer...

For both the purple and gold glitter polish, the clear polish was wonderful. It was not goopy or sticky or anything - it glided on nicely and held the glitter in well.

I wore this mani - coincidentally actually- to go see the Snow White movie with some friends. It was good! :)

Base coat: Seche Base
Base color: The Color Workshop Nala nail color in Bronze
Purple glitter: Essence Snow White Collection Special Effect Topper: The Evil Witch
Gold glitter: Essence Snow White Collection Special Effect Topper: The Huntsman
Top coat: Seche Vite

Halo manicure

I've seen this called a Halo Manicure, a Framed Manicure and an Outline Manicure. Since I think "halo mani" sounds nicest, that's what I'm going with.

I was pretty hesitant about this design when it first started popping up all over Pinterest and Glamour and nail blogs. It's definitely different, and very interesting. It's all over the red carpet and runways, so it's fashionable. But the black seeping in from the skin looks almost a little bit morbid... I actually surprised myself when I decided to try it out myself.

The verdict: I love it. Like, seriously, it's one my favorite designs ever. Chic, simple, classy.

I paired the popular halo design with a black french tip.

I started with a base coat of my favorite base, Revlon Multi-Care 965. Then I did two coats of a polish I've had for some time but have never used before.

It's the prettiest, nudest nude I've ever worn. It has a really pretty pearlescent shine to it. Two coats of this polish is perfect! I could definitely see this beautiful color being worn on it's own if you do three coats of it. It's so shiny it doesn't even need a top coat, IMO.

Then, I painted black French tips. Since I painted free-hand tips, it's easiest to paint straight across the tip of the nail and let the paint get on your skin. That's an easy post-mani clean up.

Then, using a straight-tipped nail art brush, I carefully painted the edges of my nail closest to the cuticles.
Easy peasy!

Finally, a top coat of Seche Vite and ta-da! it's done!

When I asked my husband what he thought of my finished mani, he called it "businessy." I like it so much more on my own hands than I did in the photos on Pinterest. Photos really don't do justice to this gorgeous design. I feel like the design paired with the high contrast of nude and black together is very high-fashion and chic.

Base coat: Revlon Multi-Care 965
Nude: The Color Workshop Nala nail color in Nude
Black: Sinful Colors Black on Black
Top coat: Seche Vite