Friday, November 29, 2013

Glitzy Glazes Halloween Collection

Hi everyone, happy Friday!  I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving.  Obviously I've had a weird posting schedule this week and that was because I've been in Marco Island, Florida.  I don't like to say when I'm on vacation (paranoid much?) but I'll be heading back home today.  This was the first time my family went away on vacation for a holiday and it was really awesome.  Thanksgiving was never really my holiday and now that I have food allergies, it really isn't :)  Let me tell you though, Christmas is my holiday.  I plan on decorating this weekend!  Anyways, we spent the week down here, right on the beach and it's been fantastic.  Eight years ago I lived in Florida and I was sad to move away.  

Today I have a belated Halloween collection, which I actually won in a giveaway.  I tried to pair everything with non-Halloween polishes to make them appropriate for Fall.  You can read more about each polish below.  

Crypt Doors Creak-

First up, was visually my favorite polish just by looking at the bottles.  However, this one had the harder formula to work with.  This polish is a combination of matte grey, white, and black glitters in various shapes in an iridescent sheer purple base.  My problem with this polish was that my glitters stuck to the bottom and sides and I got so much base when trying to dig out the glitters.  I tried shaking, turning the bottle upside down, tilting the bottle but they continued to sink.  I used two coats over Essie Playa del Platinum, which is a light grey cream.



Dying to Meet You-

Next up is one of my favorites of the four!  Dying to Meet You is a very unique polish and is a medium cool blue shimmer with small glitters.  I'm pretty sure this would be easy to build up on its own but I chose to layer one coat over OPI Incognito in Sausalito.  




Cadaverous Pallor-

Next up is by far one of the most unique polishes I've ever seen.  Cadaverous Pallor is a nude jelly polish with plum colored hexes and gold bar glitter.  The formula was slightly thick, but nothing problematic.  I liked this polish because it reminded me of funfetti cupcakes, just with subtle colors.




Grim Grinning Ghosts-

Last up, my favorite, Grim Grinning Ghosts.  I wasn't sure about this one in the bottle, but on the nail I loved it.  This polish is a delicate combination of pastel lime green and white glitter in a clear base.  I used one coat of OPI Keeping Suzi at Bay.  I think this polish could be very versatile and used over just about any color :)  The formula was perfect.




Overall I was really happy with my Glitzy Glazes prize winnings.  Let me know which one is your favorite in comments!

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Battle Ombre: Light Blues Vs. Dark Blues (+ future giveaway)

Hi everyone, hope your week is going well :)  Today I have the last day of Battle Ombre, light blue vs. dark blue.  Based on your votes so far, the giveaway polishes will be green if one of these blues doesn't beat it out.  Since this is the last round of voting, I plan to announce the color winner and start the giveaway this weekend :)  Don't forget to vote for your favorite in the upper right hand corner of the page, otherwise, green will win ;)

I have so many blues in my collection that it seemed fitting to do a light sky blue versus a darker cobalt blue.  For the light blues I used Zoya Blu, Essie In the Cab-ana, Zoya Rocky, China Glaze Sunday Funday, and Essie Avenue Maintain.



For the darker blues, I used Essie Butler Please, OPI Eurso Euro, OPI Keeping Suzi at Bay, OPI I Saw...You Saw...We Saw Warsaw, and OPI Incognito in Sausalito.



Don't forget to vote for your favorite in the upper right corner.  Let me know what you think!

Monday, November 25, 2013

China Glaze Your Present Required

Hi everyone, welcome to Monday.  Today I have a really fun glitter polish to share with you.  This polish looks like an indie to me, but it's actually made by China Glaze.  China Glaze Your Present Required ended up being the only polish I picked up from the holiday collection.  

I wanted to do a little something different so I chose to do an accent nail with this swatch.  For the actual swatch nails I ended up doing one coat of China Glaze Your Present Required over Essie Licorice, a plain black.  For my accent nail, I started with OPI Lucky Lucky Lavender, did a freehand stripe with OPI Keeping Suzi at Bay, and did an accent dot with Butter London The Full Monty, a light gold.  


I really loved the glitter combination in this polish.  The mix is light purple, copper, white, blue, and silver glitter in a clear base.  There are also large white hex glitters, which you can see on my pinky nail.  There was something really pretty about this color combination.  I already plan on wearing it for my birthday in January :)  The formula was great, not too thick or thin, and no digging for glitters.




What do you think of this polish?  Did you pick this one up?

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Pocket Money Polishes: Glitter Babies Fever

 *Press Sample
Hi everyone!  I hope your weekend is going well :)  Today I have a new-to-me indie brand called Pocket Money Polishes which produces polishes called Glitter Babies.  Cute right?  Today I have one of the original Glitter Babies to share with you and it is perfect for the upcoming holiday season.


This polish is called Fever and it is a glitter topper that is a mix of small red glitter, square silver holographic glitter, and large red circle glitter in a clear base.  For my base I used Zoya Seraphina which is a shimmery silver polish.  The formula on this polish was perfect.  The base was a great consistency, not too thick or thin, and the best part was not having to fish for glitter.  I used one regular coat plus topcoat for all the photos.  I loved this combination and thought it was perfect for the holidays and winter. 






Look at this macro....I loved how many circle glitters were in the bottle.  This made it super easy to get even the big glitters out.


Overall I was really impressed with my first encounter with Pocket Money Polishes and their super cute Glitter Babies.  Let me know what you think of this polish in comments :)  You can find Glitter Babies here and on their Facebook here.   As a special bonus, my readers can receive 10% off your first order with the code "PMPUSA10".  All you have to do is place the code in the comment box!

*This polish was sent to me for review in exchange for my honest review and opinion.

Friday, November 22, 2013

Battle Ombre: Pink Vs. Purple

Hi everyone, happy Friday!  It's been an exceptionally hard week for me, hence no post yesterday.  My work situation isn't the greatest but it isn't by my doing.  Long story short, I was trying to get a project that should take three months to do done in four and a half days.  Yes, you read that right, four and a half days.  Needless to say it took me getting very upset in my bosses office yesterday morning for them to realize they way overloaded me.  Plus I'm still sick haha!

Anyways....who cares it's Friday!  Today I have another round of Battle Ombre.  This one is the second to last post and then I will be having a giveaway.  I actually had two blues lined up, but apparently forgot to put the photos into blogger....so you get pink vs. purple.  Don't forget to vote for your favorite-I changed it up and have the poll on the sidebar right next to this so you don't have to scroll all the way through if you don't want to!

First up is the pink.  I used Essie Fiji, OPI Sparrow Me the Drama, OPI Suzi's Hungary Again, OPI Strawberry Margarita, and OPI I'm Indi-a Mood for Love.



Now for the purple.  For this one I used Essie Go Ginza, OPI Lucky Lucky Lavender, Essie Splash of Grenadine, OPI Done Out in Deco, and OPI Funky Dunkey.  I was super happy to happen upon Funkey Dunkey in TJMaxx of all places.  I promptly added it to my cart without hesitation :)



So which one is your favorite?  You can vote in the upper right hand corner of my blog on the sidebar.  I'm trying something a little different this time :)

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

What does the fox say? Mani

Hi everyone, happy Hump Day.  Today I have another quick post because of my hectic work schedule.  I worked so hard yesterday that when I got home, all I could do was sit there and blankly stare at Netflix haha!  What are your favorite Netflix shows?  I feel like I've watched them all!  

Today I have a nail design that I did at the height of the time I was sick last week.  If you haven't heard of What does the fox say?, google it and watch the music video.  It's ridiculous!  I have this quirk (maybe problem) where I sing all the time in my house....regular songs, replacing the words in songs (usually with things about cats), and also singing and dancing ridiculously at the same time.  Parts of the fox song have make it into the songs I sing at home.  My poor hubby haha!


For these nails, I started with a base of OPI Lost on Lombard.  I've been using that polish a ton recently, there's just something about it that I really like.  I used my Winstonia nail art brushes and China Glaze Desert Sun, Zoya Jacqueline, and Essie Licorice for create the foxes.  I finished off with an accent nail in China Glaze Electrify.  


I really liked this design!  What do you think?  Do you love or hate the fox song?  

P.S. Sorry for the dry hands, I just picked up some dorky moisturizing gloves that I've been wearing at night with a ton of lotion.  I have no idea how to keep my hands moisturized during the winter :)

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Daphine Polish-Bahplumbug, The Hessian, and Rosina Violet

*Press Sample
Hi everyone, welcome to Tuesday.  Today I have a really awesome review of three polishes sent to me by Daphine Polish.  I'll just get it out of my system now.....these polishes were fantastic!  I can't wait to show you :)  

First up is a polish from the upcoming Holiday Collection which will be released on Thanksgiving day.  Bahplumblug (love the name) is a purple linear holo.  The purple is so pretty and has a dusty quality to it.  This is seriously one of the prettiest holos I've ever seen.  The formula was perfect, below is two easy coats without topcoat.




Below is a shot with flash to show off the holo.


Next up...The Hessian from the Halloween collection.

“It is said by some to be the ghost of a Hessian trooper, whose head has been carried away by a cannon-ball, in some nameless battle during the Revolutionary War, and who is ever and anon seen by the country folk hurrying along in the gloom of night, as if on the wings of the wind.”

Oh man, this polish...so squishy.  The Hessian is a black holographic jelly polish with red sparkle.  This polish is like staring into the night sky, it's got some much depth and so much shimmer to it.  This polish was on the sheer side, because it's a jelly, and was easily built up to opacity.  I used three thin coats without topcoat below.




Flash to show off the holo.


Last, my hands down favorite, Rosina Violet.  This polish also comes from the Holiday collection, released on Thanksgiving.  Rosina Violet is a pink glitter topper with metallic glitter, holographic glitter, and pink shimmer.  Let's not forget....circle glitter :)  This polish has some serious transforming powers.  I layered one easy coat, without glitter fishing, on top of a plain dark blue cream, OPI Incognito in Sausalito.  It transformed my plain polish into an amazingly complex polish with shimmer and sparkle.  Below is one coat without topcoat.




And....I'm in love!  This is my first experience with Daphine Polish and it was an amazing one.  All of these polishes were unique, stunning, and nothing like I've ever seen.  Obviously my favorite is Rosina Violet, but all three are absolutely beautiful with fantastic formulas.

Daphine Polish is available on etsy here.  The Halloween collection is on sale now and the Holiday collection will be released Thanksgiving day.  Let me know what you think in the comments :)

*These polishes were sent for review in exchange for my honest opinion.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Mint Movember Mani

Hi everyone, welcome to Monday.  This is going to be a pretty quick post for me today.  I'm all thrown off because I had to stop by the doctor's this morning, therefore being late to work.  I also have a ton of work to do this week since my body decided to quit last week.  I'm feeling a little better, although today I will be waiting on some tests done by the doctor.  The good news is that I am finally able, after a week, to keep some sort of food down.  Yay, it's the little things right :)

I couldn't resist jumping in on "Movember" so I decided to do a minty version of it.  It made sense in my head in my sick-induced stupor at least!  I started with a base of Essie First Timer and then used Shimmer Polish Jasmine for the glitter accents.  I drew the mustaches with Essie Licorice and then finished with some dots in OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls.


What do you think of my minty Movember mani?  Have a great day everyone.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Cats in the Clouds Mani

*Press Sample
Hi everyone.  I hope your weekend is going well.  I can't believe how fast the holidays are coming up.  Does anyone else feel this way?  All I can think is....I'm not ready haha!  I feel almost like I'm skipping Thanksgiving and going right to Christmas.  I know it's too early but I really want to put my Christmas tree up and put the Christmas lights on the house.  Every year I try to make it to the weekend after Thanksgiving before I decorate.  Only once have I decorated before Thanksgiving.  

Anyways....holiday rant over.  Today I have some fun water decals from my go to nail art retailer, Born Pretty Store.  Born Pretty Store always has the nail art accessories I look forward to during the holidays.  I picked out these kitty water decals because I thought they were oh so cute :)


For the nails with cats, I started with a base of Essie Playa del Platinum, a light warm grey.  To apply my cat decals, I cut out the cats I wanted to use, peeled off the plastic coating, and dipped them in water for 10 seconds.  Once you removed them from the water, they slide right on to the nail and you have a little bit of time to position them.  I finished off with some clouds and a layer of topcoat.  For the cloud nails, I started with a base of Essie Licorice and then did the clouds with OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls.





These decals are item no. 8732 and can be found here.  They retail for $2.86 per sheet.  Don't forget you can also use my coupon code below to receive an additional 10% off your order.

Born Pretty Store link
 *Products in this post were received in exchange for my honest opinion.