L'oreal Masked Affair vs. Indies

When I set out to write this post, I think I was going for a whole, look at how much better indies are than this mainstream polish everyone is going ga-ga over. Somewhat of a negative place to start off with.

After actually editing the photos though, Masked Affair actually does stand out in my collection.



I mean just look at it in all it's glory. That is some really gorgeous holo! I think the thing that bothered me most about it was it dulled significantly with top coat. Now I've tried this with several kinds of top coat, so I know this isn't a top coat specific problem. Take a look:



It was the dulling of the holo and the patchy-balding application process which required three coats to be perfect.

So I went to my ever growing wall of indie polishes to see how Masked Affair, with top coat, did against some other indie holos I have that look pretty similar to the color family.



For the polish I chose for this comparison post I have a-england Her Rose Adagio (thumb), a-england Princess Tears (middle), Liquid Sky Lacquer Sugared Berries (ring) and LynBDesigns Make Your Life Spectacular (pinkie).

Here are the colors side by side without direct lighting.



I have to say, Masked Affair stacked up pretty well against these indie polishes. A disclaimer: I don't typically buy polishes in this color range because I'm not a huge pinky-purplish fan, so I am sure there are better examples of why indies that stand up better against Masked Affair, I just don't own them.

I guess the morale of the story here is don't be too down on the polish without comparing it side by side with the other polishes that are similar that you own. In the end, I was actually surprised at how much I liked Masked Affair. Also though, I like a lot of my indies better for how special and unique each one is. Just look at that pink flash in Make Your Life Spectacular, and check out the beautiful creme-y holo in Sugared Berries!

I think I'll keep all of these polishes, but I don't think Masked Affair is a must-have. I know there are so many ladies out there clamoring for it, but stop, take a look at what you have. You might find a special gem in your collection that is similar, but special in a different way!

Fishtail Braid Nails

Today, as a part of Crumpet's 52 Week Pick and Mix Challenge, I attempted a new to me nail art technique: The Fishtail Braid nails.

I google'd a few tutorials and watched them first, just so I got the hang of it, but basically this is braiding strokes of three different colors.



To begin I used two thin coats of LynBDesigns Seize the Day, Boys, a lovely teal holo polish with gold flashes. The application on this was perfect, very impressed with the quality of this polish. It is a bit jelly like on the first coat, but evens out by the second coat.



After that I went to work on the Fishtail Braid technique. It was a little difficult at first, but once you get the hang of it, it isn't so bad.



To complete the look I added a dotticure to tie in the three colors on the other nails. I was originally going to do a skittle look, but I accidentally went nuts with the dots so I didn't get there unfortunately.



The coral/red polish is Zoya Rocha and the silver is Essie No Place Like Chrome.



Overall I liked this look, and trying a new technique, but I found it a bit time consuming trying to make sure the layers were dry between strokes. I think this technique probably works best with one coaters, which Seize the Day, Boys was not. The polish does build up on the Fishtail Braid nail, so you have to be extra careful not to dent it.

What do you think? Have you tried this nail art technique before? Do you have tips to share?

And don't forget to check out the other ladies taking part in this challenge today!

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LynBDesigns Reader Appreciation Giveaway

You guys, I'm super sorry I've once again gone a week without a new post! I guess I'll begin this post with an explanation of why.

Each year around mid-November my life gets a little hectic. My mom, who owns her own business crafting personalized goods, comes to town and I work her Northern California circuit of Harvest Festival Craft Shows. I do this in addition to working my normal day job as a journalist. So for the month of November, I am pretty much working EVERY DAY.

My life at the moment, is a bit intense.

But at the same time I love this time of year because I get to spend so much time with my parents, who I don't see as much as I'd like to, and I get to see a lot of hand crafted goods in the meantime.

And a bonus, since my mom's business mainly involves Christmas ornaments, we dress up as elves to sell the stuff, and while it's a little embarrassing, I thought I'd share with you some shots from the last show.



That is me and my mom at the booth before the day started. Last weekend was her best show ever, we are talking Black Friday proportion success here. She's been at this biz for 21 years.

And to show you just how cute/humiliating the outfit is, her is a closeup of me with that hat (that was originally intended for dogs).



Anyway, if you are a bit more curious as to what she makes, here is a cute nail ornament that I thought my readers would get a kick out of. And this is some holiday nail art I did to display it last year!

And now on to my reader appreciation portion of this post. Since I might be a bit sporadic for the next few weeks (after my mom leaves post Thanksgiving weekend, I'll be busy volunteering at the Kiwanis Tree Lot, which I'm sure is a post for another day), I thought I would host a little mini giveaway to make up for it!

I recently tried LynBDesigns nail polish for the first time after seeing The Mercurial Magpie review her Robin Williams inspired collection. So I snatched up three polishes, and I've decided to giveaway one of the polishes.

So to begin, I'll share a manicure I did with Make Your Life Spectacular, a gorgeous light purple with pink flashes holo.



I started with three thin coats of Make Your Life Spectacular. The formula was great, thin and easy to work with.



I have nothing like this in my collection of polishes, and was pleasantly surprised I liked it so much. It is a bit girly for my taste, but so girly that it makes me really love it. I think this polish is girly and proud of it. I tried for a bit to get a unicorn stamp on top of the design I used here, but I just couldn't get it to work. But I still think this polish would be great with a unicorn motif.



The stamp I used here was Lily Anna 09 stamping plate for the image and used Essie No More Film to stamp with. I really loved the Make Your Life Spectacular polish because of its bright pink flashes and holo glam that really came out to play in the sun, above.

Now on to the giveaway. Because I have been a polish purchasing machine lately, and I still have two untrieds from my LynBDesigns order, I thought I'd spread the love and giveaway one of the two. So I will be gifting Phenomenal Cosmic Powers. And Kirby, The Mercurial Magpie, was kind enough to share her swatch of it with me so you can see the beauty of what I'm giving away!

Isn't it gorgeous!?! This giveaway is for US residents only 18 and up. I'll run the giveaway through Dec. 1, when my mom's Northern California shows are over! Thank you readers for sticking with me while my posting is sporadic and not on its usual Mon-Wed-Fri schedule. I truly love you all to pieces!

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