Spring Créme á la Mode Box

Happy Spring everyone! It's finally here, sunshine and warmer temps time for some bright and happy nails and I've got just the box to satiate your bright fun desires!

*Press Samples*

This is the Spring Créme á la Mode box featuring four creme polishes from four super fabulous indie brands – Indigo Bananas, Literary Lacquers, Octopus Party Nail Lacquer and Digital Nails. All the names have a fun water related names and they are great!

The box will be available for preorder at the Créme á la Mode shop starting Sunday March 27 until Sunday April 3 and retails for $26 plus shipping. What a steal!!!!

Now let's get to the swatches shall we?!





I'll start off with this beautiful pastel blue leaning periwinkle creme, this is Digital Nails Water You Wading For? This beauty went on great in two coats, formula was a dream. Just a note, this photographed a bit darker blue than it actually is so I did color correct, which I don't do ever, so I just wanted to let you know if my skin looks a little off that is why. :)





Next this gorgeously bright mint green is Octopus Party Nail Lacquer The Algae-atic Sea. This also went on in two easy coats, was a smidge thinner than Digital Nails, but not difficult to work with at all! I wore this the day before St. Patty's so it was part of my green for the holiday! :)





The neutral in this box is the lovely Indigo Bananas Smoke on the Otter and this is a gorgeous light grey creme. This polish went on well in two coats, was a bit more watery than the last two, but still reached opacity with no issues at all. This polish plays great as a base for nail art, but is also lovely on its own.





And last but certainly not least we have Literary Lacquers Salmon Chanted Evening. This, my friends, is my spirit color. I am a sucker for pinky corals and this is bright and totally fits the bill. When I think of happy, I think of this color! This also went on quite easy in two coats!

These colors not only are great for spring, but I think they all pair nicely together as wells so I thought I'd use them all in a nail art look to show you some ideas of how to tie them all together.



I started this look out on all the nails using Smoke on the Otter as the base. On the pinky and thumb I used the dry brush method to create random brush strokes of all the colors – turned out rather 80s I think. Then on the ring an pointer fingers I sponged on a gradient of Salmon Chanted Evening, Water You Wading For and Algae-atic Sea over Smoke on the Otter – they made such a pretty gradient! Then to showcase how they stamp, I used one of my new Bundle Monster Festival plates and stamped using Algae-atic Sea, Water You Wading For and Salmon Chanted Evening – I think that nail ended up looking a bit like an Easter Egg.



Algae-atic Sea didn't show up to too well over the grey, but I bet it would stamp well over either a darker color or even white. They all stamped really well actually! And I think they all tie together perfectly and you could create any number of looks. I actually hear they water marble well too, but you know me, I cannot for the life of me do that well at all!

So yes, you all need this box. At $26 plus shipping it is a steal for these great spring colors. Once again the box is available for preorder starting Sunday March 27 until Sunday April 3 at the Créme á la Mode shop.

Créme á la Mode Box – shop – Facebook – Instagram – Facebook Fan Group

Fair Maiden Polish Garden Party Nail Art

Today I have another press sample to share with you. The lovely ladies at Fair Maiden Polish were kind enough to send me two samples from their upcoming Garden Party collection and boy did I have a ball playing with the polishes!



The polishes I am playing with today are Blue Moon Wisteria and Maiden's Blush and they are just two out of the lovely 9-polish Garden Party collection. For a review of the complete collection, make sure to check out The Mercurial Magpie's awesome rundown of the polishes!





First up we have Blue Moon Wisteria, which is a super difficult polish to capture in a photograph. As you can tell, both these shots look a bit different. I color edited the top one as best I could (but believe me I am no pro). Basically this is a lovely blue leaning lavender creme, which photographs way more blue than it is in real life. It is pretty close to the top photo, but even more light purple leaning, and as you can tell in that photo, it has this vibrant violet pink flash that sets the polish apart from your average blurple.

The formula on this polish was a little watery, but not too difficult to work with, just need to be a little careful with application, don't over load the brush and you're fine. Two coats for this opacity.





Next up we have Maiden's Blush, which is a light purple leaning mauve holo with these amazing pink flakies that really make the polish special and set it apart from your average holo polish. Fair Maiden Polish is so talented at always making something special about each polish that makes it unique in each collection.

This polish was opaque in two coats and was a breeze to apply. The consistency was thicker than Blue Moon Wisteria, but just the right thickness that made application easy like buttah!

Now on to the nail art!





As you can immediately tell, I did not color edit these photos, so Blue Moon Wisteria is looking a bit more blue than it actually is. But the lovely violet flash in Blue Moon Wisteria compliments the purple tones in Maiden's Blush perfectly. They paired quite well together!

I added the green (which is Zoya Tracie) because I thought it contrasted well with both polishes and added that something extra! I used nail vinyls to create the funky french look and then used a dotting tool to add Tracie to the mix! Then because this polish is from the Garden Party collection and I just had to add something floral, so I used the dotting tool again to make a pinkie and thumb flower!

Now I bet you're wondering, "how can I get my hands on these polishes?!" These polishes will be available at the Fair Maiden Polish website at 10 a.m. CTS March 21. Their polishes usually sell out quickly, so if you want to snag a few, make sure to send yourself a reminder, I know I will! But if you miss this stock of the collection, the makers have said these polishes will return to their site, so have no fear!

So have you tried Fair Maiden Polish before?! Which are your favorite from their upcoming collection? I know I want to snag Gilded Garden, Sweet Honeysuckle, Green Goddess and Mint Succulent!

Easter Egg nail art featuring Colors by Llarowe Leather and Lace

Spring is here, Easter is Sunday and pastels have been calling me name!

Here is the cast of polishes used! A beautiful pastel rainbow!



From left: Colors by Llarowe Leather and Lace, OPI Kiss Me on the Chic, Zoya Stella, Zoya Neely, Essie Bikini So Teeny, OPI You're Such a Budapest and OPI Alpine Snow.

The results:



Bling-tastic holo Easter egg-esque nails! Love this combination! I've been wanting to test out Llarowe on several different colors, so this was the perfect manicure to do so.



The holo is less noticeable indoors in indirect light, above. But in the sun, it is amazing!



Application: OPI Kiss Me on the Chic was a terrible formula, took four coats for this opacity. It's an older polish of mine. I think I bought it to wear at a wedding. The other polishes were all good in two-three coats. Colors by Llarowe Leather and Lace is still a polish with a thicker consistency, which makes getting a thin coat a little difficult, but the holo payoff is amazing. I liked Leather and Lace over all the colors, but probably Zoya Stella the least. Overall, the addition of the dots adds a great egg-like element, topping the whole look off!

What are you sporting on your nails for Easter weekend? I feel like these nails not only scream Easter, the the are the perfect for spring!

Happy First Day of Spring Nails!

Happy Spring everyone! Also Happy International Day of Happiness! I've had a strange morning, but the sun, the warmth, my nails,  happy people and friendly storefronts have brought me out of my funk!



These are my Happy Spring nails I worked on last night and the light periwinkle blue with the combo of the bright neon peach shade, a combo made in heaven!



To begin I started with two coats of Essie Bikini So Teeny! And since I saw someone on Instagram or one of the various Facebook nail groups I frequent posted this with a layer or Colors by Llarowe Leather and Lace (her holo top coat). The result was stunning!



Then, since I recently purchased some beautiful neons in preparation of warmer days ahead, I decided to put my China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy to good use and decided to stamp with it over this soft periwinkle manicure. I used Bundle Monster BM204 for the stamping image. It isn't real clear, but I thought it looked somewhat plant-like or floral, and since that reminds me of spring, I went with it.



The color pops and is a bright wow in your face, especially in the shade, as shown above. I absolutely love this manicure and I want to wear it for multiple days, which is really saying something!

Application: Ok I'll get this out first since it's been said all over the web before, Essie's Bikini So Teeny's formula is the pits. It is watery mess that wants to flood the cuticles. Bleh. But the color payoff is so amazing, I can't help but continue to use it. If you've found a dupe out there with a better formula, by all means use it! I'll continue to use my Bikini So Teeny because it's all I have. I'll deal with it's terribleness, because I just love that it is the perfect periwinkle blue!

As for Colors by Llarowe Leather and Lace, it was a surprisingly thick polish. Trying to get one thin coat proved a challenge, but I think the end result was amazing and I have no complaints. I still need to swatch this polish over an array of colors. I think a lot of gray might show up in the darker color swatches, but the holo presentation is amazing. More on that at a later post!

China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy is a bright neon coral and I absolutely love it. Yesterday was my first time using it and I can't wait to throw it on my toes, it is such a great color. And it stamps, which is incredible! Worked well for stamping!

Where to purchase: I purchased Colors by Llarowe Leather and Lace on the Llarowe website for $12. It is currently out of stock, but she restocks her collection pretty regularly. Sign up for her restock announcements via email. Or don't, and save yourself the temptation! Bundle Monster plates are available on their website and retail for about $2 a plate. I think I'll conclude saying where to get China Glaze and Essie (and OPIs for the future), since they are available all over the web and at various beauty supply shops.

What nail polish colors shout spring to you? Have you found a dupe for Essie's Bikini so Teeny with a better formula?