Category Archives: Alli

United States of Glitter Giveaway

Posted on June 19, 2013 by | Leave a comment

NCLA United States of Glitter giveawayIt’s giveaway time!!

The 4th of July holiday is quickly approaching and it’s one of my favorite holidays in terms of my nails. I’ve done a ton of patriotic nail art in the past so when I saw NCLA was releasing a special edition polish called United States of Glitter I was super excited.

NCLA is a brand I’ve quickly become a fan of. They come up with unique polishes and nail wraps but their products are not easily accessible for many people.

So between the super cool new glitter polish (with an awesome name!) and the fact many of y’all can’t go into a local store and find NCLA I figured this was the perfect opportunity to do a giveaway.

For all the info on how to enter, the rules, etc of this giveaway check below the jump!

Alli

 

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My (30th) Birthday Manicure!

Posted on June 18, 2013 by | 4 Comments

Birthday Manicure 2013I asked y’all to help me decide on a manicure for my birthday. There were so many awesome suggestions that my manicure ended up being this crazy fusion of several recommendations. But hey, if you can’t have a crazy manicure on your birthday, when can you have one?

All the polishes I used were PISTOL polish nail polishes. I figured since I was celebrating my birthday in South End (which is where the PISTOL offices are located) it was only appropriate.

For additional swatches and a list of polishes I used check below the jump.

Thanks again for all the suggestions! Make sure to leave a comment and let me know what you think about my birthday mani :)

Alli

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Tag! Colors of the Rainbow

Posted on June 16, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Rainbow TagRecently I’ve noticed a ton of people on YouTube doing The Rainbow Tag. The idea is basically to pick your favorite products that fall into all the colors of the rainbow (plus a couple additional colors like multi-color).

While this started out as a beauty tag I couldn’t help but think that would be an AWESOME thing to do with nail polish. So that’s what I’m doing.

Plus it’s Sunday. And it was my birthday weekend. I’m feeling a bit lazy and like doing something different.

So below the jump you will find my favorite polishes in all the colors of  the rainbow.

Make sure to leave your favorite in a comment or if you blog and do a blog post link it in a comment so I can check it out!

Alli

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It’s my birthday! Help me decide on a manicure…

Posted on June 14, 2013 by | 15 Comments

Birthday Outfit and MakeupToday is my birthday! Which gives me a perfect excuse to take a break from regular blogging.

I’m not a huge birthday person but this year I’m turning 30 and am super excited about the whole thing. My twenties have been great but I’m over being in my twenties at this point.

Tonight I’m going out with some friends to celebrate. I’ve already decided on a dress, makeup and shoes but as always I’m having a tough time deciding on what to do with my nails.

I’m planning on wearing a purple dress with black and white heels (though I might end up wearing just black or nude heels…).  For makeup I’m going with a metallic neutral eye using my new favorite eye shadow palette and a long wearing bright fuchsia lip (L’Oreal Infallible in Forever Fuchsia).

As far as my nails I’m just kind of stuck. I was thinking of perhaps doing a manicure with Essie No Place Like Chrome but that’s a bit boring. If I swap out the shoes I can do a fun leopard print or even some NCLA nail wraps (the white design…of course). Or maybe do combination and throw in some glitter? I just don’t know! But then again, I am a Gemini. We’re indecisive.

Please leave me a comment with birthday manicure suggestions! Clearly I need some guidance. I’ll make sure to do a post next week on what I end up wearing :)

Alli

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DIY: Matte Top Coat

Posted on June 5, 2013 by | 17 Comments

DIY Matte TopcoatI really wish I had known about this little trick YEARS ago. By now I’ve collected several matte top coats. They’re all about the same (and were all on the expensive side). NYC is the only brand I know of that sells an inexpensive matte top coat (less than $2). So if you’re looking for a matte top coat and aren’t really the DIY type definitely check out the NYC matte top coat.

Doing a DIY matte top coat is something I ended up trying because I had a regular top coat that I hated. The NYC Extra Shiny Top Coat just didn’t work for me and I had no use for it. Then I remembered a good while ago I had read somewhere (wish I had saved the article…) that adding cornstarch to nail polish will make the polish matte. This was back when OPI was releasing all their matte and suede polishes. It seemed like a great idea but I never had any nail polish I wanted to make permanently matte.

Then I started thinking about it and thought perhaps the same concept would work to make a top coat. As it turns out it does work.

Below the jump there are instructions and a list of everything you need to do this! I’d love to know if you’re going to give this a try!

Alli

 

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Nail Art: Temporary Tattoo Nail Art (+ why Auburn’s Toomers Oaks aren’t “just trees”)

Posted on April 20, 2013 by | 5 Comments

Auburn Nail ArtToday is A-Day in Auburn; the football team’s annual spring football scrimmage.  This is always a big day in Auburn but this year it’s just a little bit bigger. Today, after the game, the final rolling of Toomers Corner will take place.

As always, a themed manicure was in order! When I was in Auburn the end of last year I picked up some temporary nail tattoos. The only thing that makes them nail tattoos is the fact that they are tiny! Otherwise they function just like a normal temporary tattoo.

Using them is simple. Once the nail polish is completely dry (and I mean completely…) you just cut the tattoo as small as possible, remove the top sheet, place it on the nail then take a wet washcloth and hold over the temporary tattoo for about 20 seconds. Then just peel away the backing and apply a top coat. Super simple!

At first I did tiger strips on the rest of my nails and ended up kind of hating it. There was just way too much going on with that manicure. Instead, I applied a navy polish (Orly Star of Bombay) to the other nails. I really loved the result.

Below the jump there are swatches of both version of this manicure plus a fairly long spiel on Auburn, the Toomers Oaks and why they mean so much to me.

War Eagle!

Alli

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The Daily Varnish + Pickie

Posted on April 15, 2013 by | 2 Comments

PickieWhen Pickie asked me to be part of their Spring Into Style event I wasn’t sure what Pickie was. I started doing a little Googling and found it’s a really cool personalized online (there is also an iPad app) shopping magazine that features picks from bloggers, stores, magazines and websites in all kinds of shopping categories.  Basically, it’s a great tool for a shopoholic like myself!

Participating in the Spring Into Style event entailed me picking my top 6 polishes for the spring season and write a little blurb about each polish. I was honored to be included and had so much fun picking out the polishes I featured!

Please make sure to check out my feature here. I’d love to know what you think about my picks!

I, again, want to thank everyone who reads this blog and supports The Daily Varnish. I love talking about nail polish everyday and it wouldn’t be possible without y’all!

Alli

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Giveaway! NCLA Nail Wraps NCLA X Glamour Bibhu Mohapatra

Posted on March 22, 2013 by | 1 Comment

Giveaway! NCLA Nail Wraps NCLA X Glamour Bibhu MohapatraDespite it technically being spring the weather is quite gloomy here in Charlotte today. Seemed like a great time to do a little giveaway.

If you follow TDV on Facebook or Twitter then you know lately I’ve been pretty obsessed with NCLA Nail Wraps. A full review will be going up on Monday (to see what they look like on click here) but to make a long story short I am completely in love. I loved the Bibhu Mohapatra design so much I ordered another set to give away!

We try to make giveaways as simple as possible. For all the rules and how to enter check below the jump!

Alli

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Spring 2013: Must Have Polishes

Posted on March 21, 2013 by | 9 Comments

Spring 2013 Must Have PolishesSpring is finally here! Or so the calendar says. Here in Charlotte after teasing us with nice spring weather over the St. Patrick’s Day weekend it’s gone back to being a bit too cold to put the boots and sweaters away just yet. Regardless, I’ve moved away from winter appropriate polishes into spring colors.

Below the jump are my 5 must have polish colors for this spring. I’d love to know what your top 5 picks for spring are so make sure to leave them in a comment!

Alli

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DIY Nail Polish Rack Update!

Posted on February 18, 2013 by | 2 Comments

Nail Polish RackA little over a year ago I did a post on how to build a DIY nail polish rack using foam board and hot glue. Since it’s been awhile I get alot of questions as to how well the rack has held up.

I’m happy to report that over a year later my nail polish rack is still as good as new. For the vast majority of the year the rack has been fully stocked with nail polish and I’ve had no issues with the shelves moving or drooping. I have the rack attached to the wall with 5 nails and this has kept the rack steady. It hasn’t moved an inch!

I was definitely skeptical that this rack would hold up, but I’ve been converted to a believer. Hard to believe foam board and hot glue can be so sturdy!

Alli

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