A blog about a girl, her nail polish, and some delicious noms.
Posts tagged blue
Scofflaw Nail Varnish Koi Pondering Swatches and Review
3* (The product(s) in this post were purchased by me.)
Hey Everyone!!
Lookit, two posts in… Well, less than a month! I’m working on posting more often. But I’ve been doing this weird thing called ‘leaving my house” on my days off from work. Puts a damper on my usual Netflix Marathon-n-Swatch… A-thons. 
And there’s also this whole “I’m working almost 50 hours of overtime in April why did I do this to myself” mess that I got myself into. Soooooo, yeah. It’ll be a blessing no matter how many posts I manage to crank out this month. O___o
I did add a nifty little feature to my blog where you can check out my forever active updates on Instagram. You can see it to your right —————————————————————>>
Anyway, I have a new indie brand to share with you all today. Presenting one of my new pretties I picked up from Scofflaw Nail Varnish! She is a pal of the one and only NerdLacquer (who recommended her to us lacquer-heads on her Google+ page), and so far I am not disappointed with the two nail polishes I grabbed from her debut collection!
Koi Pondering
Behold, Koi Pondering!! I fell in love with this beauty instantly from the swatches that Scofflaw shared on her Facebook fan page before her premier release. As per my usual addict fashion, I set an alarm and used my Ninja Skills to snag this and one other polish from Scofflaw the day of her initial release. 
Koi Pondering is a gorgeous blue jelly with orange, yellow, white hex glitters in various sizes and micro-shimmer. Application was super easy and it was opaque after 3 thin coats.
Macroooooo time!! The shimmer in this one is really beautiful. And I love the fact that I didn’t have to go hunting for the glitter to get it to apply evenly on my nails.
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Final Thoughts:
Koi Pondering by Scofflaw Nail Varnish has left me quite impressed! I hadn’t purchased nail polish in a long time, like months, until I discovered this brand. The combination of color and glitter in unique to my collection and I enjoy the professional level of her indie brand with the bottle and gorgeous label/font right from the start! Her prices are reasonable for an indie brand so if you’re looking for something new I would recommend giving Scofflaw a try! I already have my eyes on a few others of hers that I need to snag in the next restock.
Purchase Info:
Koi Pondering and other Scofflaw Nail Varnishes can be purchased at either scofflawvarnish.com or Llarowe. Prices and shipping vary depending on the site so check their shop policies individually. And for you folks not in the US, Llarowe does offer international shipping. ^_^
To keep up to date with upcoming collections, news and restock dates you can check out Scofflaw Nail Varnish on Facebook.
* (The product(s) in this post were purchased by me.)
The Return Of NerdLacquer!! Swatches of The Eye, TDBSLWCHSHITD, and All of Time and Space!
7
Morning Lovelies!
I honestly didn’t think I would ever be able to say this, but… NERDLACQUER IS BACK Y’ALL!! I’m so SO thrilled to have Amanda of NerdLacquer back in the indie space. I certainly missed her gorgeous nerdling nail polishes. My first indie nail polishes I ever bought were NerdLacquers back when she had first created her teeny Etsy shop before the indie polish boom. She’d suddenly disappeared one day due to personal life circumstances (which you can read about [HERE] if you have a Google+ account), and I faithfully and patiently hoped for and awaited her return. I’m so so so happy that once again I have to chance to get ALL THE THINGS from her portion of the indie nail polish world.
No joke, I set an alarm to be ready for when she opened her shop for the first time again in almost a year. She had new pretties based on LOTR and I NEEDED THEM. But as I was adding things to my cart it looked as if the two polishes I had eyed up had sold out from under me. Kick dirt, there’s always next time right? So I ended up snagging All of Time and Space, one of her polishes that I’d been lusting after for about a year, and I was content. Fast forward to a week or so later and not only does that one show up, but the two LOTR collection polishes I’d been after were in my package too! I thought at first, WOW, she must have used magic psychic powers and known that I’d wanted those and included them for me. HOW COOL!
But see-what-had-happened-was… That I had already bought them via paypal, but forgotten about it in my panicked nail polish shopping frenzy. Derp. Well, I’m happy that in my blackout I managed to snag ‘em so let’s get to showing them!
The Eye
The Eye is a cayenne red-orange jelly packed with black, orange, gold, red, and holographic glitter. It’s based on (you guessed it…) The Eye of Sauron from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. This is definitely my favorite of her newbies and the one I was after the most. The application was great and I only needed 2 coats for opacity!
I love that Amanda included THE EYE on the top of my bottle. Anyone else get one on theirs?
TDBSLWCHSHITD
TDB… OMG the name on this one!! O__O TDBSLWCHSHITD stands for “THE DWARF BREATHES SO LOUD WE COULD HAVE SHOT HIM IN THE DARK” according to Amanda’s description on her shop page. Once I read that it made me lol heartily. I wasn’t sure how I would like this one but after seeing it in person I’m sold.
I’m just gonna drop the rest of her description here because it’s made of win:
“Soft gold-flecked spring green of Lothlorien. A sunny green shimmer plus loads of white, golden, and leaf-green glitter on your fingertips will make you feel like you’re in Galadriel’s own garden…with a snotty elf making snide remarks about your lack of intrusion skills.”
I used 2 coats here. It was a little lumpy without top coat so keep that in mind if you prefer a smooth finish. The glitter likes to hide inside the base at times, so thin coats work best. ^_^
All of Time and Space
And lastly, one of the classic NerdLacquer nail polishes that I had been lusting after since the beginning — All of Time and Space! This nail polish is beautiful! The Doctor Who themed AoTaS is an ethereal semi-sheer crystalline minty turquoise with silver shimmer, plus silver and fuchsia glitter. I used 3 coats here, but perhaps could have used a 4th to make sure my tips were fully covered. I cannot wait to layer this with my baby blue and pale greens! Or maybe purple to match with my purple version of one of my favorite hoodies from Threadless!
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That’s all I’ve got for you today! I hope you all enjoyed my mini NerdLacquer spam! I actually have 2 or 3 more that I’ve yet to share with you on the blog. I must get around to correcting that, eh?
And for those that want to stay updated on NerdLacquer releases, looks like the only sure-fire way to get updates directly from Amanda herself is to follow her on NerdLacquer’s Google+ Page. You can also randomly stalk her e-shop, nerdlacquer.com for updates like I do. 
I am almost positive that she is restocking TODAY at 3pm CST!!
I do know that both Harlow & Co. and Ninja Polish plan to begin stocking NerdLacquer nail polishes again soon, so it might be in your best interest to (politely!!) e-stalk these gals too.
Review: Alanna Renee Nail Polishes!
5
Morning Lovelies!
I hope you’re all having a great Monday, or as great as a Monday can be anyway. Today I’ve got some very special nail polishes to share with you all. I’m excited to have the opportunity to review several nail polishes from the Australian indie polish creator, Alanna Renee! These special little treasures came to me all the way from Australia through the joint effort of Alanna herself and my wonderful IG pal, Natalia. Thanks so much ladies!! I especially loved the little Aussie koala stuffed animal and the nummy Caramello Koala candies stowed away in my care packages.
I was given the option to pick out whichever Alanna Renee nail polishes that I wanted to try, and Alanna ended up throwing in a fourth one for me to play with as well. Enough of my rambling, let’s move on to the swatches! I’m using my new light box for the first time so hang in there with me while I adjust, haha!
Tranquil
First up is Tranquil, a gorgeous turquoise filled with lavender hex glitter, small light blue and purple hex glitter, large turquoise square glitter and small indigo flakes. This one is sooo pretty, but the lavender hex glitter was a little difficult to get out and turquoise square glitter flat out refused to leave the sides of the bottle. I inverted it, but I think I need to take a toothpick and jab the sides of my bottle to loosen their grip on the glass. I think I managed to get a single piece of square glitter on one nail, haha!
You see all that beautiful lavender and turquoise hex and square glitter in the bottle? Yeah, it’s still in there. I’ll wear this one again soon and try some other techniques to get that glitter to play nice. If I have better results I’ll update this post!
Even with the stubborn glitter, Tranquil is really beautiful. I’m a sucker for this color of nail polish and the glitter that did come out of the bottle really accented the base color nicely. It was like creating a jelly sandwich without having to layer two different nail polishes. This is 2 coats with a little bit of dabbing for a 3rd coat after fishing out some hex glitter.
Ablaze
Oh hell yes, you already know that Ablaze is my shizznuckle. Ablaze is a complex mix of yellow, orange and red shreds and yellow, orange, red and black hex glitter in a fiery orange jelly base. YESSS GAWWWWWD I am in love!! I used 3 coats here. There’s an epic crapton of things going on in this polish, so you definitely need a top coat to get everything nice and smooth. And as will all nail polish with shard glitter, making sure those pieces lie flat before adding top coat is a must for a smooth finish.
I want this on my toes. I don’t even care how atrocious the future glitter removal will be for it, haha! I will use the foil method on my toes if I have to. It’s just that serious. O_O
Milky Way
Milky Way was snuck into my care package by Alanna for me to try out. It’s a pretty glitter topcoat made up of orange-to-green and blue-to-purple colour shifting glitter of different shapes and sizes in a clear base. While it’s not anything particularly new to the glitter topper world, Milky Way is very pretty and application was superb. All I needed was 1 coat over my black base for a nice effect. The formula is very easy to work with versus most glitter toppers that have thick and sometimes goopy suspension bases. I see myself coming back to this one a lot to jazz up my vampy nail polishes.
Reptar
And finally, my favorite in my humble collection of Alanna Renee nail polishes…. Reptar!! I was already in love with the look of this nail polish from photos. And then I saw the name!! I mean, who else wasn’t obsessed with the Rugrats as a kid? Or babysat someone who was obsessed with the Rugrats for the more distinguished crowd. If you’re not familiar, Reptar is pretty much the most badass dinosaur (behind the HBICs in Jurassic Park anyway). I mean hello, Reptar On Ice anyone?
Alanna Renee’s Reptar captures the essence of the original source flawlessly. It has orange and lavender hex glitter and smaller black, white and neon green hex glitter in a light green base. I LOVE this one. I ended up keeping Reptar on my nails after my swatching session and I’ve made a point to show it to everyone. It even got the coveted Boyfriend Seal Of Approval™!
I used 2 coats for full coverage. Reptar dries gritty and it has a monster appetite for topcoat. I used 2 coats of Gelous AND China Glaze Fast Forward topcoat. And today (2 days later) it’s back to being a little gritty to the touch. But in the days of Liquid Sandzzzz/etc. this is quite acceptable, and I actually like the texture.
And one more group bottle shot for you all because I was messing around with my new pop-up light box. It even comes with 4 backdrops! Fancy, eh?
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Final Thoughts:
I am absolutely smitten with the four Alanna Renee nail polishes that I currently own. I think all of them are great, but my favorites are definitely Ablaze and Reptar. If you’re looking for a great glitter topper, Milky Way is the one for you. And Tranquil would be flawless if not for the temperamental square and hex glitter, though I still love it even though it’s the ‘problem child’ of the group. :p
There are currently 10 nail polishes in Alanna Renee’s collection. And now that I’ve tried these four I definitely want to try the other ones!
Alanna Renee nail polishes are Big 3 (Toluene, Formaldehyde and DBP) free, and the full list of ingredients can be found [HERE] via her website.
Purchase Info:
Alanna Renee nail polish is currently only available for purchase in Australia at alannarenee.com, they retail for $7.99 AUD per 12ml bottle. Unfortunately due to the strict international shipping regulations with nail polish (classified as dangerous goods), international shipping is not offered at this time. 
BUT!!!! Alanna is working with Shoppe Eclecticco in Singapore and Color 4 Nails in the U.S. to stock Alanna Renee polishes, and they both offer international shipping (pricing not confirmed yet)! So keep an eye out for news from Alanna Renee on when those two stockist will start supplying her collections. ^_^
To keep updated on Alanna Renee collections, news, etc… You can follow her on her blog, Facebook and Twitter.
* The product(s) in this post were sent to me for unbiased review consideration.
For more information, check out my Disclosure Policy.
Review: Pretty And Polished Save The Dauphine Collection!
4
Morning Everyone!
So I’ve been sitting on these swatches of the Pretty and Polished Save The Dauphine collection for entirely too long. I actually swatched these back at the end of January and edited my photos, but I just couldn’t find the motivation to actually type up my post about them. -_-
But better late than never I suppose! Unfortunately it looks like the collection was moved to a limited edition status while I was sitting on my thumbs, and only two of the four polishes from the collection are still readily available. But perhaps they’ll pop up some time in the future on another site’s blog sale! ^_^
I was actually INCREDIBLY pumped about this collection when Chels Marie first announced it. My mother literally named me after the late queen of France (Marie is my first name, Antoinette is my middle name) so I pretty much had to own this collection when it was released. HAD. TO. And once I had the polishes in my possession, they did not disappoint. Let’s get to the swatches (that I’m sure you’ve already seen before haha).
Hameau
Hameau is a really pretty eggshell/off-white jelly-creme hybrid filled with iridescent shimmer and small blurple and green multi-sized hex glitter. This one was an instant favorite for me. It’s a little on the sheer side, but I only needed 3 coats to reach opacity. It was incredibly easy to apply.
Let Them Eat Cake
Let Them Eat Cake, seriously you all do not know how many times I’ve heard this joke throughout my life. IT’S ALWAYS HILARIOUS. Truth is, the queen most likely never even uttered the phrase. But alas, it’s etched in history forever. That being said, THIS version of Let Them Eat Cake is not a lie (yaseewhatididthere..?) and it’s actually quite gorgeous.
This polish is a pale pink crelly (jelly/creme hybrid) filled with yellow, red, pink, lilac and white glitter in multiple shapes and sizes. LOVE. Again I needed 3 coats, this one was a little tricky to apply compared to Hameau but with patience (and a little bit of Gelous before adding top coat) I got everything to smooth out.
Louis Louis
Louis Louis is fricken fabulous! I was not expecting to love this one as much as I did but oh my damn this color is fabulous! Louis Louis is a tarnished gold filled with tiny blue hex glitter and red round glitter. I’ve never seen anything quite like it! I used just one coat of Louis Louis over black to make the colors really pop.
The Diamond Necklace Affair
Last but not least, we have The Diamond Necklace Affair. Marie Antoinette just could not catch a break. This polish is a reference to the incident that placed blame on her regarding a crime against the Crown Jewelers. This polish is a glitter topper, so it has a clear base and it is filled with opalescent and light blue glitter in multiple shapes and sizes throughout. You can layer this over virtually anything and yield a variety of results. Shown here, I have 1 coat of The Diamond Necklace Affair over A England Galahad. I love this combination! But I bet this would look gorgeous over a darker nail polish as well. 
This one was a little tricky to apply since it’s so thick due to the suspension base. The dabbing method worked best for me, but I had to be careful that I didn’t accidentally pick up glitter again with the brush as I was dabbing. No Gelous was needed before adding top coat for a smooth finish.
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Final Thoughts:
Even with The Diamond Necklace Affair and Let Them Eat Cake requiring a little bit of patience to apply, I have nothing bad to say about this four polish collection. I absolutely love every single one of them, with Let Them Eat Cake, Hameau and Louis Louis being my favorites. But seeing as I share a name with their inspiration, I might be a smidge partial.
If you can get your hands on the entire Pretty and Polished Save The Dauphine collection I highly suggest you pounce on them when you spot them out in the wild.
Purchase Info:
Pretty and Polished nail polishes can be purchased from their online store, www.shopprettyandpolished.com. Each polish retails at $5.00 for the mini and $9 for the full sized bottle. You can also still find Pretty and Polished on her Etsy Shop. Though it does look like the remaining Save The Dauphine Collection nail polishes have been slightly discounted.
For updates and previews of new collections, follow Pretty and Polished on Facebook and Twitter!
* The product(s) in this post were sent to me for unbiased review consideration.
For more information, check out my Disclosure Policy.
Review: My Pretty And Polished Mathematical!! Collection Picks!
7
Oh My Glob Everyone!
I was so friggin pumped when I realized that Pretty and Polished was making the Mathematical!! collection based off the show Adventure Time! As you may well know by now, my boyfriend and I are completely obsessed with the show. We even dressed up at Princess Bubblegum and Finn for Halloween! I set my alarm for the minute these got released and snagged 5 minis from the 8 polish collection. I’ll more than likely go back for the full sized bottles at some point because this collection is totally shmowzow!
If you’re not familiar with Adventure Time, I’ll try to briefly describe it to you. It’s an American tv show on Cartoon Network that follows a 14-year-old boy named Finn the Human and his yellow dog named Jake (who has magical powers) through the post-apocalyptic world called Land of Ooo. Some other outstanding characters in the show are: Princess Bubblegum, the ruler of Candy Kingdom; The Ice King, kinda evil but mostly just wants to marry all the PRINCESSES!!; Lumpy Space Princess, who is pretty much a lumpy valley girl; Marceline, the coolest sorta evil-but-not-really hipster vampire; Lady Rainicorn, Jake’s girlfriend (he’s the only one that understand what she’s saying…) who is half rainbow and half unicorn; and Beemo/BMO, the most adorable handheld gaming system ever. There are TONS of other characters and lots of back-story. So if you enjoy reading check out the wiki and wikia pages! ^_^
Enough of my rambling, let’s get to the swatches!
I’m Not A Banana!
First up is I’m Not A Banana! This one is based on Jake the Dog. The yellow jelly is a perfect match for his fur color, and I love the black and white hex glitter! This one was pretty sheer but I was able to build it to an opacity I liked after 4 coats. I didn’t have any issue with getting the hex glitter out of the bottle and it dried relatively quickly for as much as I used. I’ll have to search through my yellows to see if I have something similar to layer it with next time. Maybe Cult Nails Feel Me Up?
King Of C-C-Cool
King of C-C-Cool is based on the Ice King and it’s so awesome! I have nothing like this polish in my collection at all. It’s a blue squishy creme/jelly base filled with blue micro-shimmer, tiny red square glitter, blue and yellow hex glitter, and white diamond glitter! I absolutely LOVE this one. I used 3 coats here and had no issues getting a good amount of each type of glitter on my nails. No dabbing necessary even though there’s so much going on!
Lumps
My Lumps represents the ever awesome Lumpy Space Princess, and is a sheer purple jelly filled with yellow and purple glitter shards and blurple micro-shimmer. This was the only one I chose to layer out of the group. It looked too sheer to build up on its own but in hindsight I believe you can get this one to opacity after 4 coats. Shown here is 3 coats over A England Guinevere. You can’t even really see my base polish at all anymore (except for maybe my pinky which I think I accidentally only did 2 coats of My Lumps ).
This is another unique one for me in my collection. I loved the yellow flash in the purple! The glitter was fairly easy to place, just make sure you wait between coats so you don’t drag it. And a good top coat will keep the surface smooth.
Peebles
Peebles is named after Princess Bubblegum (who is often referred to as PB or Peebles in the show). This one is a squishy bubblegum pink jelly with fuchsia micro-shimmer and pink and yellow hex glitter. I looooooove this one, but I may be partial because PB is my favorite character in the show. I used 3 coats here.
The Young Hero
And lastly, we have The Young Hero! This one is named after Finn the Human and it’s another favorite for me in the collection. The Young Hero is a squishy white creme/jelly hybrid filled with blue and yellow small glitters, small blue hex glitter, light blue square glitter and light green hex glitter. LOVE!
I’ve been wearing this one for a few days now. The cashier as PetSmart stopped me dead in the middle of my transaction to gush about my nails when I had this on! She thought I’d put the glitter in there myself.
You all get TWO macro shots of The Young Hero because you’re that special to me, haha. That and you can see the green hex glitter in the first macro.
Application for The Young Hero was a little tricky. It was hard to get it to level out to even coat on some nails but I managed to get it all under control at 4 thin coats. If you wait between coats or layer it over a white base (I didn’t do either of those things, haha) you might have an easier time of it. But it was totally worth the effort because this final result is effing gorgeous!
And here’s a few bonus shots of the mini bottles with the new Pretty and Polished labels. I love that each bottle has little colored polish drops that reflect the colors inside each individual polish! Very cute!
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Final Thoughts:
Even if I weren’t partial to Adventure Time I would still give my picks from this collection an A+++++! Every single polish from the collection is entirely unique to my stash and they all have something great to offer. Not to mention, they’re just so dang fun! I think each one accurately represents the whimsical (and slightly off the wall) nature of the television show, and each polish is a perfect representation of the characters that inspired them. Dare I say that if I made a top 10 indie collection list for 2012, the Mathematical!! collection would be on that list for sure!
Do you need these? Get the math outta here with that question, heck yeah you need them!
Purchase Info:
The entire Pretty and Polished Mathematical!! collection can be purchased from their online store, www.shopprettyandpolished.com. Each polish retails at $5.00 for the mini and $9 for the full sized bottle. You can also still find Pretty and Polished on her Etsy Shop.
For updates and previews of new collections, follow Pretty and Polished on Facebook and Twitter!
Review: Pretty And Polished Pretty As A Peacock!
4Allo Everyone!
Welcome to Day 3 of my mini Pretty and Polished spam! Today I have Pretty As A Peacock to share with you all! This one is a beauty, so let’s get to the swatches!
Pretty and Polished – Pretty As A Peacock
Pretty As A Peacock has a dark emerald green base that’s filled with multi-sized blue, teal, purple, and green glitter. There’s a lot going on and it’s alllll good. Chels Marie was inspired by the plumage of male peacocks, and I think she nailed this one perfectly!
I layered 2 coats of Pretty As A Peacock over Paint Box Polish Northern Lights, but honestly I think Pretty As A Peacock is opaque enough to be built up on its own. I’ll have to try it next time I decide to wear it.
Here’s a macro shot for ya! This polish is busy in all the right ways!
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Final Thoughts:
So I have a bit of an obsession with birds. I have a small owl tattoo on my ankle, a HUGE phoenix spanning from my ribs to my knee, and I’m currently working on the sketching of my owl half sleeve with my tattoo artist! And peacocks are on my list of avian loves, so I’m sure I’ll find a spot to get one of them tattooed on me too. This polish is truly amazing and it definitely captures the spirit of the bird in the nail polish. I had no application issues whatsoever with Pretty As A Peacock, so that also constitutes as a win in my books!
Purchase Info:
Pretty and Polished Pretty As A Peacock can be purchased from their online store, www.shopprettyandpolished.com. It retails at $5.00 for the mini and $9 for the full sized bottle. You can also still find Pretty and Polished on her Etsy Shop.
For updates and previews of new collections, follow Pretty and Polished on Facebook and Twitter!
* The product(s) in this post were sent to me for unbiased review consideration.
For more information, check out my Disclosure Policy.
Review: Enchanted Polish Ballerina Sprinkles!
55 months ago
Morning Everyone!
I’m back with Enchanted Polish Ballerina Sprinkles to share with you all today! This polish is just… WOW. So gorgeous! I believe that Ballerina Sprinkles is one of Chelsea’s older polishes that has been revived with her brand new bottle shape and label, and I’m so excited that it’s mine! My precioussssssssss…
Off topic, but I am SO pumped for The Hobbit coming out on the 14th!!
Enchanted Polish Ballerina Sprinkles
Ballerina Sprinkles is a delicate powder blue light holographic, with a golden/pink shimmer. Think Sinful Colors Cinderella. But prettier. And a far better formula. And on steroids. ♥ I just…. I DIE! The holo really comes out to play in direct sunlight, or in my case with camera flash because it was probably 4am when I was playing with this nail polish.
Application was easy-peasy, this is 3 thin coats but I probably could have stopped at 2.
And here’s a macro shot. Have a drool bib ready. Oh, maybe I should have warned you before the macro. TOO LATE.
I wanted to show you just how AMAZING this polish looked with camera flash/midnight sun (teehee) because OMG. Look at that complexity!!
And finally some bottle shots to show off the pretty shimmer and the new labels! Did I mention I’m a sucker for rectangle bottles! Rectangle shaped bottles and my IKEA Helmer are OTP.
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Final Thoughts:
If you haven’t guessed yet, I absolutely ADORE this nail polish! I’m a sucker for these baby blues and add in the shimmer and holo and I’m in flippin’ heaven y’all! The formula on every single Enchanted Polish that I own is perfection, and that’s truly a feat for holos because even mass-produced brands can’t get that ish right half the time! If you don’t own Ballerina Sprinkles, keep an eye out for the next restock date. You NEED this one in your collection. And I NEED this one on my toes for my next pedi!
Purchase Info:
Enchanted Polish Ballerina Sprinkles will be available for purchase from the following E-Tailers: Llarowe, Pshiiit Boutique, Harlow & Co., and Mei Mei Signatures. Prices per bottle range depending on the E-Tailier, so please check out their individual policies at each website.
It’s not currently in stock at the time of this post, but you can follow Enchanted Polish on their Facebook or Twitter fan pages to stay updated on restock/release dates and upcoming collections!
* The product(s) in this post were sent to me for unbiased review consideration.
For more information, check out my Disclosure Policy.
31 Day Challenge: Day 22 – Inspired By A Song (Gangnam Style Nails)!
216 months ago
Hey Everyone!
OOooooh man. This is hands down my favorite day of the 31 Day Challenge 2012 so far! Today’s theme for Day 22 is ‘Inspired By A Song’, and this was another day where I knew exactly what I wanted to do from the beginning of the challenge. There’s a million pictures so let’s just get straight to it!
31 Day Challenge 2012 Day 22 – Inspired By A Song (Gangnam Style Nails)!
Oppa Gangnam Nails!
Hahahaaa! I am so so SO happy with how these turned out! I was first introduced to this song by the K-Pop artist Psy by my boyfriend back in the beginning of August. I laughed so friggin hard that I was in tears. This song is infections, and the accompanying music video is absolutely hilarious! I joked around for a while about doing Gangnam nails, so once I decided to do this challenge with Sam and Cris my day 22 nails were a no brainer.
If you somehow have been living under a rock and haven’t heard the song or seen the music video for Gangnam Style, I’ve included it at the bottom of this post.
The scene in the music video where Psy and the dancers are covered in white debris always cracks me up. So I’m happy that I was able to recreate that with mah nails. Excuse the awkward hang pose but it’s hard to get my thumb and pointer finger to cooperate.
Nail Polishes Used:
OPI Jade Is The New Black
OPI Don’t Pretzel My Buttons
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Lightening
Milani White On The Spot
CrowsToes Bunny Slope
SinfulColors Time Out (nail art polish)
Color Club Insta-This
Wet n Wild Megalast Undercover
L.A. Colors Art Deco White
L’Oreal Ocean Breeze
(And white acrylic paint for the fine lines on my pinky.)
Below are le macro shots of each nail. ^_^
I honestly don’t know which nail is my favorite. I love them all! Which one do you all like the best?
And here’s one last photo of my nails and a collage of the inspiration images I used from the music video on YouTube. ^_^
Finally, the music video that inspired my nails. Prepare for LOLs.
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That’s it for day 22! I really don’t want to take these off. Sunday’s nails might be late you guys, haha!
Don’t forget to check out what Sam and Cris did for their day 21 nails!
* Some of the product(s) in this post were sent to me for unbiased review consideration.
For more information, check out my Disclosure Policy.
Takko Lacquer Winter Collection 2012 – With A Surprise!
5
Afternoon Ladies!
I have two blog posts for you today because I really wanted you all to have a chance to take a gander at these beauties before Sheryl re-opened her shop on Friday! I am pleased to introduce you to the Takko Lacquer Winter Collection! I’m on a glorious cocktail of cold meds so I’ll keep this intro short and sweet, so let’s get right into the swatches!
We’re All Mad Here
OMG Y’all. We’re All Mad Here is flippin GORGEOUS!! Plus its name is a nod to Alice in Wonderland, what’s not to love here?! We’re All Mad Here is a stunning deep blue jelly with green flakies and orange shimmer. I mean… WOW. Pictures really don’t do this one justice, you NEED to see it in person. We’re All Mad Here is a slightly deeper blue than what my camera was able to pick up, and the shimmer is noticeable in even low light! Take the shimmer you see in my photos and intensify it (closer to what it looks like inside the bottle), and that’s what you get in person.
This is 3 coats. You see a teeny bit of VNL in these shots but it’s not that noticeable in person. You could get away with 2 coats if you didn’t mind a little VNL. Application was a breeze, this polish spread like butter over my nails and built up nicely.
A few more shots of We’re All Mad Here with a macro so you can take in that glorious orange shimmah! ♥
Va Va Voom
Va Va Voom is a metallic deep wine red with strong scattered/mild linear holo finish. I DIE! The color and holo effect deepen depending on your lighting but the holographic finish is visible in almost all lighting. Shown above is Va Va Voom in direct light from my light box. This is 2 thin coats! Va Va Voom had a perfect formula. Not too thin but not so thick that I had trouble applying it. The dry time was very quick!
And here it is with indirect lightbox er… lighting.
And this is Va Va Voom with camera flash. If any nail polish deserves its name, this is it! Look how intense the red is now! I cannot wait until I get a chance to see Va Va Voom in direct sunlight, I think I might never take it off.
Introducing Takko Mani-Bombs!
And here’s the surprise I mentioned in my post title, introducing Takko Lacquer Mini-Bombs! These little beauties were created by Sheryl as a thank you for all the love and support the nail polish world has shown her since she opened her Etsy shop doors earlier this year. If you’re familiar with bath fizzies/bath bombs, this is a similar idea. But these mani-bombs are all about caring for your beautiful hands. You drop it in a container filled with warm water large enough to fit your hands, and it fizzes up almost immediately. Then the magic begins.
The mani-bombs release Vitamin E and Aloe Vera to nourish your skin, cuticles and nails. It then leaves behind a Shea Butter and sugar scrub combo that you use to scrub, exfoliate and moisturize your skin, help with peeling nails and dry cuticles. I used one of the mani-bombs before I swatched We’re All Mad Here and Va Va Voom. They have a very light powdery scent, it’s almost undetectable. I couldn’t smell it but I also have a cold. My boyfriend said it smelled nice though, so it shouldn’t overpower your lotions or perfumes. ^_^ My hands felt absolutely amaaazing afterward. The sugar scrub was very gentle, and once I rinsed off the leftover scrub the shea butter was easy to massage into the skin on my hands (and elbows, hah!) and my cuticles. It absorbed into my skin after a few minutes and didn’t leave any greasy residue. I’m sold!
And you want to hear the best news about the mani-bombs?
They’re FREE!
As a thank you for all of her customers, Sheryl will be including one mani-bomb as a free gift with each purchase for the rest of 2012! This will start on Friday, November 16th.
And one last miscellaneous photo for you all. It looks like there was a slight label change! On the right (Kiss The Sky), you can see the old slightly rounded frosted label and on the left (We’re All Mad Here) you have the new clear rectangular labels. Nothing drastic, just something I noticed! ^_^
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Final Thoughts:
Sheryl never ceases to amaze me with everything that she has to offer. She seriously produces some of the best indie nail polishes out there in my opinion, and she is such a sweetheart! So if you hadn’t guessed yet, I absolutely adore both of Sheryl’s new babies. We’re All Mad Here combines several of my nail polish loves: blue, green, orange, flakies, and jelly! The list of red polishes that I love is pretty small, but Va Va Voom has a place on that list now because it is EVERYTHING. Perfect formula, a gorgeous rust hue and holographic finish. Be still my heart. I really can’t pick a favorite so you basically need both of these suckers.
And the mani-bombs are perfect and just in time for the winter months that always take a toll on my nails and skin. I hope you all enjoy them as much as I do! Sheryl will be including instructions on how to use them in each package since they’re a little different from a typical bath bomb.
Purchase Info:
Takko Lacquer nail polishes can be purchased at the Takko Lacquer Etsy Shop! They retail at $15.00 per .5 fl oz bottle of polish. She DOES offer international shipping! Check out her shop policy page for more details on that.
Another great thing is that she restocks often, usually about once a week. So if you missed one sale you have another chance to snag your favorites the following week! She’s opening up her shop again this weekend on Friday, November 16th at around 1pm so mark your calendars!
To keep up to date with restocking news and other updates you can follow the Takko Lacquer Blog, the Etsy Shop or her new Twitter account!
* The product(s) in this post were sent to me for unbiased review consideration.
For more information, check out my Disclosure Policy.
31 Day Challenge 2012: Day 20 – Water Marble Nails!!
86 months ago
Hey Everyone!
I’m back with the most dreaded day of the 31 Day Challenge 2012, Water Marble Day!! Water Marbling is a world of fun and delight for some nail art enthusiasts, and the bane of human existence for others. I think I fall somewhere in between the two extremes haha! I for the life of me cannot consistently produce the same design for each nail so my water marbles always turn out a bit more abstract, and I’m totally fine with that!
I wanted to produce something fall themed since Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and I think I was successful. ^_^
31 Day Challenge 2012 Day 20 – Water Marble Nails!
This is the first time I used mostly dark colors for a water marble. I was worried that it would turn out muddy, but I actually like how dark and subtle some of the nails turned out! I’m still working on where exactly to place my damn fingers in the water to get the best pattern, but this is only my 3rd water marble ever and there’s certainly a learning curve to contend with here.
I started off with Takko Lacquer’s The Electric Apple: NYC as my base. Then I haphazardly used the following polishes in my marbling.
Polished Used:
OPI Live And Let Die
OPI Casino Royale
Essie Miss Fancy Pants
Takko Lacquer Kiss The Sky
Color Club Insta-This
I love the subtle shimmer spread out in each nail from Kiss The Sky and Live And Let Die. I actually re-dipped my ring finger because I wasn’t happy with the original design. Can you tell? ^_^
And of course out of ten fingers, my thumb (the one I did last) would come out with the best marble pattern. But honestly I think my pinky finger is my favorite. The swirling reminds me of a purple, grey, and green version of the clouds from The Scream by Edvard Munch.
I’d also like to mention that of all the days for me to run out of scotch tape to protect my skin from nail polish armageddon, water marble day is probably the worst. I had enough tape left on my roll as I started this process to cover exactly two of my fingers! 
I vaguely remembered reading somewhere on the internet that a person had used Aquaphor to serve as a barrier between their skin and the nail polish while doing a water marble. Since I had nothing to lose, I tried it out and it worked! I slathered the Aquaphor on my fingers up to my knuckles on each finger, making sure I carefully covered the skin around my cuticles without getting any on my nail beds. And then when it was time to clean the polish off, all I had to do was wipe it away with a Q-Tip! I didn’t even have issues with nail polish pooling in my cuticles like I usually do when I water marble. I’m never using tape for a water marble again!
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That’s it for today! What do you think about water marbling? Love it or hate it? Love seeing others do it but think it’s too hard to try for yourself? Which nail from my water marble is your favorite?
Don’t forget to check out Sam and Cris today for their water marble nail looks!
* Some of the product(s) in this post were sent to me for unbiased review consideration.
For more information, check out my Disclosure Policy.
