My #8 Favorite Polish for Summer 2016...

Sunshine State of Mind!

This tangerine orange creme polish is the perfect shade of orange (at least for my skin tone). It seems to have just a touch of pink in it and it's so bright and fun for summer! It is new from the Essie Summer collection that came out this year. The formula is great and it's opaque in two coats. It is slightly runny and tends to run down the handle of the brush, so just be aware of that. Love this orange so much! Swatch below is two coats, no top coat.

Here are some comparisons I have from my collection. As you can see it does have a more tangerine feel than just an orange, and just a slight touch of pink, which I think makes it stand out from the straight up orange polishes.

I really wanted to try out this streaky look with a chevron pattern and wasn't sure how it would turn out. I was even not sure about it after I did the first nail, but once you put the top coat on, it just smooths everything out and it looks SO cool close up! I love this pattern so much and think it would look great with different color combinations, I can't wait to try more. It just takes a little patience and a very fine brush.

Here are the supplies I used to create this design (with links):

ORLY Bonder

Essie Sunshine State of Mind

Essie Blanc

Essie Shades On

Essie Going Guru

Essie In The Cabana

Winstonia Brushes

Winstonia Berry Wine Brush 

HK Girl Top Coat

Click on the link below for the full length tutorial. *If you recreate this design use #gopolishednails in Instagram or tag me so I can see it!

Nail Tutorial: Streaky Zig Zag Design

-Go Polished

My #7 Favorite Polish for Summer 2016...

Rich Girls & Po Boys!

This polish is described as a China blue creme, and it's a perfect description. It's so beautiful on the nails! It is new from the OPI New Orleans collection released this spring/summer. The formula is perfect, as all of the polishes are in that entire collection. You need this one too! The swatch below is two coats, no top coat.

I don't have a ton of blues in my collection, but here it is next to Can't Find My Czechbook which is lighter and more warm toned. I thought this would be very close to Pacific Blue, but as you can see PB has some purple tones to it and RG&PB doesn't.d

Everytime I use black and white for my accent nail I just fall in love. I love the contrast! This tropical flower is just so summery and easier than you might think!

Here are the products I used to create this look (with links):

CND Stickey Base Coat

OPI Rich Girls & Po Boys

OPI Alpine Snow

Americana Acrylic Paint (Black)

Winstonia Berry Wine Brush

HK Girl Top Coat

Click on the link below for the full length tutorial. You can go polished too!

Nail Tutorial: Black and White Floral

-Go Polished

My #6 Favorite Polish for Summer 2016...

Suzi Nails New Orleans!

This polish is new from the OPI New Orleans collection that was released this spring and summer. It's a creamy Barbie pink polish. There are several pink polishes like this out there, but this one is a favorite out of the few Barbie pinks I have in my collection. The formula is quite great and it's opaque in two easy coats! Swatch below is two coats and a top coat. A perfect summer color for sure!

Here it is compared to Kiss Me I'm Brazillian, which is slightly more warm toned (kind of hard to tell that in this picture though), and has a slightly darker tone. Look At My Bow is even more cool toned and maybe has a pinch of purple. I love the balance of warm and cool tones that SNNO has.

I have been obsessed with pineapples lately! I have a pineapple shirt that has these cute black and white pineapples on it and I knew I had to make a mani to match. I love how this design looks with pink, but this pattern would be cute with any accent color!

Here are the supplies I used to create this look (with links):

CND Stickey Base Coat

OPI Suzi Nails New Orleans

OPI Alpine Snow

Americana Black Acrylic Craft Paint

Winstonia Berry Wine Brush

HK Girl Top Coat

Cllick on the link below to see the full tutorial! You can go polished too, just follow my tips on the tutorial. 

Nail Tutorial: Pink and Pineapples

-Go Polished

My #5 Favorite Polish for Summer 2016...

Viva Antigua!!

You really can't have summer without a bright turquoise - at least I can't. This polish takes that a step further with just the right amount of gorgeous shimmer . I LOVE this color so much! Viva Antigua is new from Essie's Summer 2016 collection. The formula is fantastic and it is opaque in two easy coats. Swatch below if two coats, no top coat. Not much else to say about it- you need this in your life people!

Here are my comparisons, although there is NOTHING out there like this polish. At least nothing I have seen. I just wanted you guys to see how similar in color it is to these polishes. Of coarse these polishes are cremes with no shimmer ;).

I was craving another dotticure manicure :). So, I created one. I think the white base makes it so perfect for summer! What do you think?!

Here are the supplies I used to create this design (with links):

CND Stickey Base Coat

Essie Viva Antigua!

Essie Blanc

Essie Loot The Booty

Dotting Tools

HK Girl Top Coat

Click on the link below for the full length tutorial for lots of helpful tips! Subscribe to my YouTube channel and make sure to give my video a thumbs up.

Nail Tutorial: Summery Dotticure

-Go Polished

My #4 Favorite Polish for Summer 2016...

Scenic Route!!

 This light, bright summery lavender has me longing for beach days! It's such a beautiful and unique color. Scenic Route is new from the ORLY Pacific Coast Highway collection for summer 2016. It's a great collection, and you need to check it out if you haven't. It can be opaque in one coat, but I did two for the swatch below. So pretty!!

Here are the comparisons to some of my other favorite ORLY polishes. They really just know how to do bright/neon shades. As you can see it's much lighter and brighter than other lavender shades they have released. Yay!

I ended up doing this summer tweed design, it's pretty, it's easy and it's simple. My favorite kind of nail design. You can do this with a very fine art brush, a small dotting tool, or a toothpick. I prefer a small brush.

Here are the supplies I used to create this look (with links):

OPI Nail Envy

ORLY Scenic Route

Essie Blanc

China Glaze Whip It Good

Deborah Lippmann She Drives Me Crazy

Winstonia Berry Wine brush

HK Girl Top Coat

Click on the link below for the tutorial, and don't forget to subscribe to my channel :). *If you recreate this design, use #gopolishednails in Instagram so I can see it!

Nail Tutorial: Summer Tweed Design

-Go Polished

My #3 Favorite Polish for Summer 2016...

Vintage!

Vintage is a new release from ORLY's Melrose spring collection for 2016. This is the only polish I have from this collection, and when I saw the swatch I knew that I needed to snag it. It's a bright and happy green toned turquoise. The formula leans a little crelly. The swatch below is three thinner coats, which I think is better than two thicker coats (which can tend to peal off the nail more easily). How pretty is that color?!

When I swatched Vintage I thought it would be very close to Essie's First Timer (one of my favorite summer greens), but Vintage is more cool toned. When compared to Too Yacht Too Handle by China Glaze it looks almost identical in the bottle, but when swatched TYTH really brings out the green in Vintage because it is more cool toned. 

Here's a closer comparison of TYTH and Vintage. Now you can see the difference right? The formulas are quite different as well. Since TYTH is more of a neon, the formula is more chalky and it's opaque in two easy coats. Vintage, while bright definitely isn't a neon, has more of a crelly formula which can take up to three coats to be opaque. LOVE both!

 I had a hard time thinking of a name for this design. After some suggestions from my awesome Instafriends, I decided on Cleopatra Design. A little cheezy, but I thought it was appropriate :). I don't know how else to explain it, except elegant and beautiful. It's a design that's fun to dress up with rings and bracelets.

Here are the supplies I used to create this look (with links):

CND Stickey Base Coat

ORLY Vintage

Essie Good As Gold

Loreal The Statement Piece

Essie Blanc

Winstonia Berry Wine Brush

Dotting Tools

HK Girl Top Coat

Click on the link below to see the full length tutorial. *If you recreate this look use #gopolishednails in Instagram so I can see it!

Nail Tutorial: Cleopatra Design (Turquoise and Gold)

-Go Polished

My #2 Favorite Polish for Summer 2016...

Hot Flash!!

 Hot Flash is a bright red- (it does show up quite a bit brighter in the photos). I wouldn't consider it  a true neon, but it's very, very bright. Hot Flash is new from the Lite Brites Collection which was released this summer from China Glaze. I think this is my favorite summer red to date! Definitely one of my top China Glaze polishes. It has a crelly formula and it applies flawlessly. Swatch below is two coats, no top coat. 

I wanted to let you guys see how Hot Flash compared to other China Glaze polishes. As you can see Red-y To Rave (another favorite of mine) is a true neon and while it is red, it looks orange compared to Hot Flash. Rose Among Thorns has the same brightness and tone, but definitely leans more pink. 

I knew Hot Flash would be pretty much the same as Cajun Shrimp (my old all time favorite summer red), but it's not. We will take a closer look at both of those in a second. It is also very, very close to Red Lights Ahead...Where?, but RLAW leans more orange and Hot Flash leans more pink. Looking from a distance they all look the same, but Hot Flash is brighter than both. Although indoors, you really can't see a difference.

 Taking a picture in lower light lets you see just how much brighter Hot Flash is than my other favorite reds. So, this makes Hot Flash more of a favorite for me than Cajun Shrimp (which is saying a lot)! I never thought a polish would push that one aside. I might have to buy me a back-up of Hot Flash :). 

With the 4th just around the corner I wanted to use this fun read in a holiday inspired design. I love nail designs that are simple. I love this simple glittery star on this bright shimmery blue polish. 

Here are the supplies I used to create this look (with links):

CND Stickey Base Coat

China Glaze Hot Flash

Essie No Place Like Chrome

Essie Set in Stones

Essie Loot The Booty

Wistonoia Brush Set

Wistonia Berry Whine

HK Girl Top Coat

Click on the link below for the tutorial :).

Nail Tutorial: Fourth of July Design (2016)

Wishing everyone a fun and safe weekend!

- Go Polished