Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Indigo Bananas A Thousand Dreams

Today I have a swatch post for you from Indigo Bananas! A Thousand Dreams is a gorgeous multichrome holo polish that has different looks in different lights.

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In the sunlight is looks like a pink holo polish, with some flashes of orange.

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In indirect light the multichrome comes out to play! This pink and orange shimmer reminds me so much of a sunset.

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If you will please forgive me for the visible bumps in application, I once again was a genius and applied this while sitting in the sunshine, therefore it bubbled upon application.

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Speaking of sunsets, I took this last shot while driving as the sun was setting. The thing I love about multichrome holos is when you bend your fingers at just the right angle, it has a whole other look. I truly loved this color, because every look reminded me of a sunset.

Application: This polish went on great in two thin coats. Once again, the bubbling was my own fault and has nothing to do with the quality of the polish! I used one layer of HK Girl top coat on top of the manicure.

Where to purchase: You can purchase Indigo Bananas polishes from their website, I bought this mini bottle (8ml) for $7.25. I really like their shop because you can purchase mini polishes or large polishes, which is a great way to sample a new-to-you indie polish maker.

Monday, July 28, 2014

Smitten Polish Glacial Springs

Happy Monday everyone! Today I'm sharing with you this wonderful jelly holographic polish from Smitten Polish – Glacial Springs.

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Glacial Springs is a teal holographic glitter suspended in a turquoise jelly base! This polish has depth as the holo pieces build in the jelly base!

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And the sparkle is so unique, almost like a micro glitter, I haven't seen anything else quite like it. And because I have to nail art all the things I added some unique zebra stamps courtesy of the Bundle Monster BM221 plate!

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Application: This polish was a little on the thick side, but not hard to work with at all. Because it is a jelly base, opacity level may take up to three coats, but you would be fine with two. And boy, is does this polish have lasting power. I believe I wore this manicure for several days but I've had this sparkly polish on my toes for more than a month now. It is gorgeous and sparkly and unique and you need this!

Where to buy: Smitten Polish just restocked her store this weekend and it is full of amazing polishes. I bought five new bottles myself, but as far as quality goes, I have yet to be disappointed by Smitten Polish! Every polish is unique and applies/wears like a dream. I'm seriously crushing hard on Smitten Polish. Anyway, this retails for $9 on the Smitten Polish website.

P.S. My MoYou Stamping Plate Giveaway ends soon, get your entry in now!

Friday, July 25, 2014

Smitten Polish The First Lobster

This may be the most beautiful polish I have ever tried on. And it took me awhile to actually use it too, but once I did, man this is seriously the best polish ever!

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Meet Smitten Polish's The First Lobster, this gorgeous holo polish is the most vibrant, bright and pigmented holo I have ever tried on. Just check out this polish indoors, below, there is no white cast at all – it is just this vibrant red-orange-coral amazing color.

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Seriously, I've been searching for the perfect coral polish my entire life and I think I have finally found it. This is the most beautiful orange leaning red. I was originally thrown because when I saw the bottle it just looked like an orange holo, but I put it on and BAM!

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I'm considering wearing this on my vacation coming up, because this is a color I could never bore of. Seriously, the best polish ever!

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And boy do I have some good news for you. This polish, which was part of Smitten Polish's, Love Actually Collection and the creator of Smitten Polish has decided to bring this one back in her restock TOMORROW! That's right, in addition to her awesome summer collection, she will be bringing back The First Lobster, so now is your chance to get this awesomeness.

Application: This went on beautifully in two smooth coats, was not too thick or thin and wore beautifully! Seriously, I've been taken with Smitten polishes and I promise you will too!

Where to purchase: I purchased this from the Smitten Polish website for $11 and you can too! The Smitten Polish restock is scheduled Saturday July 26 at 2 p.m. Central time!

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Quarterfoil nail art to match my wallet

I have this lovely wallet that I've been inspired by for ages, and I finally had a free Saturday to sit down and really challenge myself with some quarterfoil nail art.

To begin I started with two coats of Color by Llarowe Nice Melons!

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Nice melons is a bright peach holo, that is very bright in the shade or indoors, see below.

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My wallet isn't technically quarterfoil, but I thought that design would be the best imitation I could do, since I didn't really have a stamp that would do the trick.

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To create the quarterfoil I made clover shapes with a dotting tool using OPI Eurso Euro, three lines down the length of my nail.

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Then I used a smaller dotting tool to dot again with Nice Melons over the Eurso Euro dots to create the quarterfoil.

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To make the look just a little more intricate and more sophisticated, I added little lines with a small paint brush at the points of the quaterfoil.

Overall this was a very time consuming look, and I did like matching my wallet but did find this a very difficult to accomplish. I guess it's worth it to try it at least once, but I don't know how many times I'll be doing it again.

What do you think? Have you ever tried quarterfoil nails? Have any tricks to make the application easier?

Monday, July 21, 2014

KBShimmer Belle of the Mall

Happy Monday everyone! I think I can only say that because I am typing this up not on a Monday. What is with Mondays? They really can be the worst sometimes huh?

Anyway today I have a sparkle bomb of brightness to share with you. I first fell in love with KBShimmer after seeing their outrageous jelly sparkle polishes that truly pack a punch. Belle of the Mall is from KBshimmer's their Spring Collection and it's a beautiful pink leaning coral jelly glitter bomb!

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Not only did this polish sparkle in the sun, it was almost neon in the shade! Such a beautiful bright pink color!

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This polish consists of holo hex pieces of various shapes suspended in a pink leaning coral glitter that glows in and out of the sunlight!

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Now, I seriously love glitters, but I seriously hate removing glitters. So I naturally I got a base coat that makes removal easier – here I used Nail Pattern Boldness Glitter A Peel. I have a love hate relationship with this base coat – I love how easy it makes my glitter to remove, but I hate that my manicure lasts less than 24 hours before it starts the easy removal process. I just want to wear a glitter for a longer amount of time (than 24 hours) and have an easy time removing it. But unfortunately that is just too much to ask.

And so I painted my nails the evening before and by 2 p.m. the next afternoon, this happened:

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Application: KBShimmer makes THE best glitter bombs that require no fishing for the various sizes of glitter and went on easy in three coats!

Where to purchase: You can purchase Belle of the Mall from KBShimmer's website for $8.75. Seriously these are some of the most affordable and best quality indie polishes on the market, if you haven't already browse their site – they have something for everyone including cremes, holos, multichromes and yes glitter bombs!

P.S. My MoYou London Stamping Plate Giveaway is still going on, check out this post to enter the Rafflecopter and good luck! 

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Beach shore nail art

Today I am showing you one such a fun nail art I did when people so many people all around the internet started to do their ocean themed manicures I became inspired!

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I started with a base of KBShimmer's In Bare Form – my ultimate most favorite nude polish, which I reviewed here.

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I wanted to keep the holo going and I had the perfect polish for my waves crashing upon the shore. From Colors by Llarowe Summer Collection a beautiful blue called Surf my Wave, appropriate right? To make the waves appear as they did, I used a small portion of a kitchen sponge! It worked perfectly for creating the waves, as they have holes and it provided the perfect texture!

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I topped the whole thing off a few sparkles from Deborah Lippmann's Va Va Voom and a crab stamp to indicate it is a shore!

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How did you like it? Are you doing some beach themed nails for the summer? I love ocean themes on nails, I just love water all around! In fact right now I have blue holo skittles on my nails with wave-esque stamps – 'tis the season I suppose!

P.S. My MoYou London Stamping Plate Giveaway is still going on, check out this post to enter the Rafflecopter and good luck!

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

MoYou London Stamping Plate Giveaway

So you guys, today marks my sixth straight month of consistently blogging! Yay! And yesterday, I received a shipping error courtesy of MoYou London, my absolute favorite nail stamping plate company! Basically, when I ordered nail plates from them recently, my original order from them went through instead of the new plates I actually ordered – two emails later the problem was fixed and I had the right plates on their way to me, but I was shipped my original plates so I thought I would do a giveaway to share the love.

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Let me start off by saying these are by far the absolute best plates to stamp with ever. They are etched so deep there is never a problem trying to pick up the image when stamping with these plates. They are practically fool proof.

Anyway, the giveaway gives you an option to win one of three different MoYou London stamping plates! First off I will show you the plates and at least one stamping manicure I did with each plate.

First off my favorite the Sailor 04 Plate.

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These are smaller images, which are perfect for my size nail, but might be a little small for others. Just keep that in mind if you win and I ask you what plate you would like to win.

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And one more from this plate because I love it SO much!

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The next plate is the Pro Plate 06 with XL images, I found these images to be a bit large for my nails, but would be perfect for someone with longer or wider nails than mine.

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And here is a lovely floral manicure I did using this plate. 

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And finally, here is the Scholar 02 Plate. I found the images on this one to be a bit large for my nails as well too, but I'm a writer so I just had to have this one.

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And a quick morning stamping job I did using this plate, please forgive the early morning bad photography on this one.

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Before I get to the Rafflecopter I want to say just how wonderful MoYou London plates are. Seriously, if you haven't stamped with a MoYou Plate yet, once you will you will be totally hooked to the prospect of it I promise! MoYou London is based in the UK, but currently they have free shipping to the U.S. so what are you waiting for? Get your butt over there and order some plates!

The prizes one more time and then the Rafflecopter entry info! NOTE: This giveaway is for U.S. residents only (sorry to my international buddies, this is my first giveaway and I don't have the $$ for international shipping).

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monday, July 14, 2014

Colors by Llarowe Feelings Whoa Whoa Whoa and girly unicorn nail art

When I first put on Colors by Llarowe Feelings, Whoa Whoa Whoa I had one thought – this is just about the most girly looking polish ever! It was purple and rainbows and happiness all around.

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Feelings Whoa Whoa Whoa is a royal purple holographic polish that packs a punch! The holo in this is linear and strong. There is just something about purple that completes a holo. I really liked this polish! In indoor lighting, when the holo is weaker, the polish appears as a holo shimmer.

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Because this polish was so girly looking, I thought it would be a great idea to add a unicorn! Because as a friend on Instagram told me "Unicorns got with everything!"

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The unicorn is from Winstonia Plate 117 and the stars are from Winstonia Plate 107. I thought they make a great cosmic girly look perfect for this beautiful purple holo polish.

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Application: This polish went on in two vibrant coats. The polish was a little thicker due to it being a holo, but not something that was impossible to work with.

Where to purchase: Feelings Whoa Whoa Whoa is a polish I got for ordering on Leah Anne's (the maker of Llarowe) birthday. It was completely unexpected and I totally loved it because it wasn't a polish I would normally pick up for myself but it ended up looking amazing! You can't purchase this polish because it was a special polish, but you can purchase other Colors by Llarowe holos for about $12 at Llarowe.com.

Friday, July 11, 2014

The Perfect White Holo - Dance Legend Blanco

Awhile ago I became obsessed with finding the perfect white holo polish. While browsing the Makeup Alley Nail Boards, I saw some posts about how beautiful and awesome Dance Legend's Blanco was. Immediately I knew this was what I was searching for.

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Dance Legend Blanco is from their Holodays line, a newer release, and I also have another beauty from this collection to show you later.

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This really is even more vibrantly holo in real life, I'm sorry I didn't capture it better in these photos. Outside the holo is so intense. But because sometimes I need to nail art all the things! I ruined this a bit by stamping with Winstonia plate W111 over the polish. I thought, "rainbows over my holo polish! That's clever right?"

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It was cute, but unfortunately it dulled the holo a bit, in my opinion.

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I really did love this polish, but wish I hadn't have stamped over it. Oh well, you live you learn!

Application: This polish went on smoothly with two thin coats. I remembered thinking it might go on a little textured, because of the bigger holo pieces in this collection, but I as pleasantly surprised at how smooth the application was. It looks more textured than a regular holo, but the application is smooth. Topped with with HK Girl Top Coat.

Where to Purchase: Dance Legend polishes can be purchased through their website. I purchased this polish on Llarowe. They retail for $13. Purchasing from the Russia site will take a long while to reach the US from what I've heard. This polish is currently in stock on Llarowe so what are you waiting for?!? Time to try out the most perfect white holo!

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

KBShimmer In Bare Form dotticure

First off, I'm going to start this post by gushing about KBShimmer's In Bare Form. You guys, I think I've found my perfect most beautiful nude polish. I forever have looked for a nude polish that would work with my neutral skin tone.

Now not only have I found it, it applies and wears like a dream and it is HOLO! This is such a perfect polish and I am so happy to have found it.

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Seriously, after you've checked out my nail art click on over to the KBShimmer website and pick up this gem, it's only $8.75 - a steal!

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So I did this nail art on a day when I got an awesome nail mail package. I seriously had so many amazing holo polishes in front of me, I didn't know where to start. So when in doubt, use all the polish for nail art!

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So the dots, from bottom to top are Dance Legend Blanco, Colors by Llarowe Soccer Mom, Colors by Llarowe Chillin' in Paradise, Colors by Llarowe In Another Dimension, Colors by Llarowe Surf My Wave and ILNP Summer Stargazing.

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So what do you think of this manicure? I really liked it and In Bare Form made the most gorgeous backdrop for this ombre type dotticure!

Thursday, July 3, 2014

ILNP Summer Stargazing and Fourth of July nail art

Coming to you all a day earlier than I usually post, because of the holiday! First off I'll lead with the nail art, since it's just in time for the Fourth of July. I was inspired by the name of my polish ILNP's Summer Stargazing, thought I would do some stars and stripes in honor of the holiday.

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The stars looked great over Summer Stargazing, the stripes were an experiment. I used Zoya Sarah, and I rather liked the subtle look of the stripes. This wasn't a typical in your face flag manicure or a Red White and Blue manicure even. I thought this was unique!

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This was my manicure from last year. Typical flag mani. I still liked it though! But look at my cuticles and application!!! I think I've much improved my nail polishing skills for sure!

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Now on to the polish review. ILNP Summer Stargazing was a stunner. Bright blue with beautiful holo finish!

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Application: This went on perfectly in two thin coats. Similar in consistency to it's sister polish Rehab, which I reviewed yesterday! I topped it with a coat of HK Girl Top Coat, which is also a perfect topper for nail art because it doesn't smear it!

Where to purchase: You can purchase ILNP Summer Stargazing for $10 on the ILNP website!