Revlon: Dots! (guest post)

I have a cute guest post from my cousin today, all the way from Germany :) She's recently into nails and I hope I've fueled that habit :) Thanks Stacey!

Hi All!
I'm a newbie so I hope you like this post. Chipping is a major issue for me. I have a difficult time keeping polish on my nails because the tips of my nails tend to crack and flake off. Which is an issue for many people, especially women have when they have low-iron absorption (I currently am anemic, but am taking supplements to correct the issue). Anyhow, I used Revlon's nail enamel, colors; "Posh" (571) and "Minted" (85) along with a top coat of "Extra Life No Chip Top Coat." I am very pleased with this manni in that it lasted without chipping from Saturday to Wednesday, that is 5 days of wear in my book. I'm still wearing my manni proudly as the chipping is relatively small in the corners and only on 2 fingers on each hand. I have already purchased more Revlon colors because this really worked out well for me. Normally when I do my own manni it lasts 1 day tops without chipping, given I'm a Mommy to my 2.5year old daughter and have to bathe her and clean up constantly around my house which is hell on the cute mani. Best of luck out there in your Mani adventures - pun intended! Best, Stacey =)

Guest Post: Make Up Zombie's Mani!

Today we have Wendi changing it up from make up to nails... she's great at both! Thank you Mrs. Double Threat :) Show her love and visit her blog, she's such a sweetheart :)


Hey everyone! Some of you may know me from my blog Makeup Zombie! If not, HEY, I'm Wendi! I'm 32 years old and have a fierce love for all things makeup AND zombies. Totally random combination, but it's what makes my world go round. (Aside from my family and 3 kidlets!)  I am totally honored today to do yet another guest spot for the Manicured Monkey! And in her honor, I decided to do a very fun and very "Spring" mani!




The Goods:
Milani base coat
Revlon "Dreamer" base color
Spoiled "Jewelry Heist" as bling
China Glaze Fast Forward top coat

I hope you all enjoyed this eye catching mani! I can't stop staring at my nails!

Wendi
Makeup Zombie

Julep: Amy and Revlon: Whimsical

I have a duo for you today. Julep Amy and Revlon Whimsical.  Amy is a smokey blue creme and was opaque in two coats with no application problems. It dried a bit semi matte like neons, the picture is without a top coat. I did a coat of Revlon Whimsical over it and I think these two are made for one another. Whimsical is of course the dupe for Deborah Lippmann's Glitter in The Air that I did bottle and swatch shots for Shannon over at Kracked Kat if you want a comparison (but spoiler alert: they're the same). The only real difference is that the base in Whimsical is a tad darker than Glitter in The Air, which I prefer because it layers better and doesn't look cloudy. Not bad for the price either, that is if you can find it. 

Guest Post: The Nail Network's Chelsea!

Hello, Manicured Monkey fans! My name is Chelsea, I run a little blog called The Nail Network and this is my first ever guest post! I'm so excited and flattered that Kristen asked me to do a post for you guys! :) I hope you like what I have to share with you!   
I've been feeling pretty adventurous lately as far as nail art goes, so I thought I'd give this awesome snakeskin design a shot. It was so much easier than I expected it to be and it turned out so awesome! The first step is, obviously, to apply your base coat; I used OPI Nail Envy Sensitive & Peeling because I'm trying to grow these babies out! ;) My base color for the snakeskin is two coats of China Glaze Pelican Gray. After that dried completely, I randomly painted some blobs of Revlon Stormy and OPI Skull and Glossbones and mixed them around a little bit; you can do this with the polish brush, a nail art brush, a toothpick, or whatever you happen to have laying around. When I was satisfied with how that looked, I stamped the snakeskin image from my Bundle Monster plates with OPI Lincoln Park After Dark and topped it with my favorite quick-dry top coat, Seche Vite. And this is what I had created: 


This mani was seriously so easy to do and I got complimented on it so many times. It really felt like I was wearing some of those really detailed nail polish strips. I think my favorite thing about this design is that you don't have to be really precise with it; the "blobbing" can be totally messy and random and it will still turn out awesome! I hope some of you decide to try this! Thanks for having me and I hope you enjoyed my post! :) 


Thanks Chelsea!! Giveaway update: Less than a week left to enter and I'm bringing back Hawaiian swag for a giveaway if the blog ends up at 1000 followers by Friday!! Make it happen monkeys!

Chanel Graphite v. Revlon Carbonite v. Sally Hansen Midnight Sky

Here's a comparison between Chanel Graphite and my picture of Revlon Carbonite. I was able to get a picture from Michele  (right) and Carly from Lacquered Lover who are Chanel fans :-)
In all three polishes you can see the shine factor is really close, Graphite is more of a silver tone (and upon close up you can see little green specks in  it, Carbonite I feel has more of gold under tones and Midnight Sky is obviously more charcoal. I think if you want/like the Chanel Graphite but don't want to pay the price tag that it comes with and are OK with a similar color/less expensive brand, I'd go Revlon. If you like the finish but wish Graphite was darker, I'd choose Midnight Sky. There you go, your comparisons :) Thanks again to Michele and Carly!

Revlon: Carbonite

I searched around everywhere for this polish! It's Revlon's Carbonite which is considered a close dupe to Chanel's Graphite.  I don't own Graphite so I can't compare it, but you can look up swatches online :-)  Carbonite is an amazing polish, it's a one coater as well!



It is a gray/silver/foil full of awesomeness.  The reflection on this polish is great, it almost looks like you have on textured tin foil but gray.  It looks textured but really it's smooth. I love the dimension this polish has.







It reminds me of granite or some kind of pattern/texture you'd see inside a rock.  I don't own anything like this which makes me super happy :-)



So if you don't want to drop the cash on a Chanel polish, here's a good alternative :) ... if you can find it that is!

Girly Camouflage Mani

Recently I had to come up with a manicure for a party that was Army themed.  I wanted to do a camouflage mani because I had never attempted one before.  I picked out the colors first:

Base is Essie Da Bush
Stamps are: Revlon Espresso and China Glaze Trendsetter

Da Bush is a murky pale olive creme. I used two coats for opacity.  This color is pretty on its own but I needed to jazz it up for an Army theme because a plain color was too simple.




I grabbed my Mash plate and Revlon Espresso (a dark chocolate brown) and China Glaze Trendsetter from the new Metro Collection (A shimmery merky yellow with green undertones). To make the cami mani a bit more girly, I added a fimo flower on my ring fingers. The flower is white/yellow/orange with a merky green center- it was a perfect fit!

I got a request to do a YouTube of this mani/stamping style so I'll be posting that soon.  Really liked the way this turned out and the best part is I didn't have to free hand anything :-)

My Blog Sale still has some items left!

Revlon: Espresso and La Rosa White Crackle

 Revlon's Espresso is so pretty! Forget Spring colors, I wear darks year round :)  I got this polish from Carolina at Colores de Carol in a giveaway.  I must say this is the second Revlon Top Speed polish I've tried and they're quite awesome.  They dry super fast and are highly pigmented.

Espresso is a rich brown and it has shimmer to it! I took a close up shot for you to enlarge and appreciate the shimmer. I applied two coats.


In an effort to try out the new La Rosa crackles that I got, I ruined this mani. I have to say, I am NOT a fan of white crackle.  It looks like there is just white out or house paint on your nails. 




Also, the white did not crack as well as the other colors I have from them.  Thought I'd share the fail picture with you guys but seriously, just admire Espresso because it is very pretty :D

Revlon: Ocean and nail art

I kind of failed at taking pictures without the nail art, so sorry for that! This polish is yum though! I recently won ColoresdeCarol's giveaway and Revlon's Ocean was in it.  It's honestly been so long since I've tried any Revlon nail polish so this was a super great surprise.

Meet Ocean: a teal shimmer/metallic that goes on incredibly smooth, this was two coats, and dries even quicker! I used special white polish with a bundle monster plate because the little whispies off the stars reminded me of crested waves.  I then rocked out the mani with star rhinestones.  I topped it off with a generous coat of SV.

I wore this mani for probably 4 days and I must say that I did not have any chips, just normal tip wear, and there were no rhinestone fatalities.  You may see this mani soon on a fellow blogger's site as I submitted to be a guest blogger (will keep you posted).  This mani was fun.

For those who have never used rhinestones or wonder how they stay on, I used Sally Hansen's top coat as a little dot in the middle of the stamp then placed the star on top of it.  Since I sealed it all with a generous coat of SV, the stones and polish went nowhere :)


Don't forget to enter TMM give away! (I have a special treat coming to this soon)!! I just added another goodie as well :D

Revlon: Guava and stamping

♥ Happy Easter ♥
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Happy Easter Everyone! Hope the bunny was good to you  :)



This is Revlon's Guava and she's beautiful! This is another polish I won from Colores De Carol's giveaway. Guava has such a great formula- it's creamy and opaque, you can't see any brush strokes when it dries. It's a cross between an orange, pink, peach and coral.  Horrible description huh!

I seriously do not own anything like this color so it's great to have it! I like the Revlon brush and handle too by the way.  It doesn't dry super glossy or anything but it does dry quick, which is a huge bonus! With a quick dry top coat like SV, you can easily be out the door sooner than other polishes.

I then stamped over it using China Glaze Harmony (purple), konad special black and white polishes then dabbed a little glitter from NYC (another polish in the giveaway!).  It's a bit hard to see the glitter but it's there :DI liked the layering in this mani, only thing I may do differently is start with the black stamp so that the darker color is on the bottom and the lighter ones can stand out over it.  Layering stamps for the win!

PS- don't forget my giveaway!