Shimmer Jasmine: Swatches and Review

Shimmer Polish: Jasmine

 *Sent for Review

Hi everyone and happy Tuesday.  I have really exciting polish to share with you today.  I've been a big fan of Shimmer Polish for a while now and I always see beautiful swatches on other blogs.  The latest batch of swatches really put me over the edge and I placed an order on etsy for my very first Shimmer polish.  I chose Erica and the maker of Shimmer polish was very generous and sent me Jasmine for review as well.  

I will start off by saying Shimmer polish blew me away.  I received my order extremely quickly and it came from across the country.  My questions on etsy were answered very promptly and I received excellent customer service.  

Today I have Shimmer Jasmine, a beautiful mix of teal glitter with gold, orange, red, blue, silver, and holographic glitter accents.  To put it simply, it was stunning.  What I liked most about it was the size of the glitter.  Most of the glitter are small and dainty and I really liked that.  I think it made this polish very versatile which is why I used it in three different looks.  Onto the swatches!

First up is an opaque version.  I used three coats and no topcoat for the photos below.  The polish wasn't thick and the glitter was easy to spread and build up.  Shown are photos in direct sunlight and then in my lightbox.

Second is my favorite look, a funky french mani.  I started off with two coats of Essie Mint Candy Apple with an accent nail of OPI The World is Not Enough.  I used blue painter's tape to create a diagonal edge on each nail and finished with two coats of Shimmer Jasmine on the tips.

My last look is a glitter gradient that I created with OPI San-tan Tonio.  I used one coat first on 3/4 of the nail and then finished off with a second coat on the tips, leaving my ring finger as an opaque accent nail.   Photos were in sunlight with no topcoat.

Here's a pretty macro to finish off:

  

Shimmer polishes retail for $12 and can be found on etsy here.  This is by far one of my new favorites in my entire collection.  I love the color and I think it will be so versatile.

*This polish was provided in exchange for my honest opinion.

Hard Candy: Part 3

Hard Candy Swatch Spam: Part 3

Hi everyone and happy Monday!  Today I have part three of four parts of Hard Candy polish reviews.  I won these polishes a few months ago from a giveaway by Vampy Varnish and I've just got to swatching them recently.  The beauty and quality of these polishes really surprised me.  I'll provide brief descriptions and let the polishes speak for themselves.

First up is Hard Candy Pinch of Spice.  This polish is a sheer shimmery orange that leans toward the yellow spectrum.  This polish was on the sheer side and it took three coats to cover up the visible nail line.  Photos below have no topcoat.  This polish really makes me reconsider orange polish, it was stunning.

Second is Hard Candy Lil Lilac.  This was was SO pretty...I even wrote that in my swatching notes :)  For those of you that have seen Zoya Tinsely, a rose gold shimmer, this is a close cousin to it.  This polish is a lilac-y gold shimmer but it is much cooler toned than Zoya Tinsley.  It also is a lavender purple color instead of being pink.  The color was perfect!  Photos below are two coats with no topcoat.  The first coat went on sheer but was opaque with a second coat.

Hard Candy Crush on Caribbean is up next and it is a teal shimmer.  I wore this polish in my Superman ruffian yesterday and I really love it.  I'm a big fan of blue polishes and this polish had great color and formula.  Below is two coats, without topcoat.  This one did stain my nails and skin slightly.  I found that if I use facewash to wash my hands, it will remove the blue stains on the skin...weird, I know!

Last up is Hard Candy Little Hottie which is a bright fuchsia shimmer.  I actually stopped swatching so I could wear this one!  This polish really glows and has really good depth.  There were no issues with the formula and I used two coats with topcoat below.

Overall I was really impressed with these polishes.  I don't have anything like them in my collection and I thought the quality and unique colors were really great.

Superman Ruffian

Superman Nails: Ruffian

Hi everyone!  I hope everyone is having a good weekend so far.  Last night the hubby and I went out with our friends to see Man of Steel in IMAX.  I won't spoil anything :)  I did think the movie was awesome.  Superhero movies are always hit or miss for me and I always judge a movie on if I would buy it when it comes out on dvd.  This is a definite buy for me.  

Today I have a Superman ruffian inspired by the movie.  I used Hard Candy Crush on Caribbean as my shimmery blue base and then I created the "cape" with Essie Snap Happy.  I was really happy with it.

Hard Candy Swatch Spam: Part 2

Hard Candy Swatches: Part 2

Hi everyone and happy Saturday!  I had such a fun time with friends last night.  We ate Chinese food and played the old school Nintendo 64.  By the end of the night, my throat was sore from screaming during the races haha.  Today I have part two of four Hard Candy posts.  These polishes were won in a giveaway held by Vampy Varnish.  Let's get started...

First up is Hard Candy Bity Blue.  I will admit that I was skeptical because I thought it couldn't compare to Crush on Carribean but I really was wrong.  This polish has a shimmery quality and really pretty depth.  Below was two coats with topcoat.

Next up is Hard Candy Masquerade, which consists of tiny black bits with a rosy colored glitter.  I ended up really liking this one, it's unlike any polish I've seen.  I believe this is one is one coat with topcoat over Essie Playa Del Platinum.

Third is Hard Candy Hip Hip Hooray.  This polish is a glitterbomb filled with cobalt blue and pale pink glitter with tiny purple glitters.  Swatches are one coat over a color I can't remember :(  It is either Orly Fancy Fuchsia or OPI Lucky Lucky Lavender.

Last up is Hard Candy Tinsel Town.  I really wanted to like this one, but I just couldn't.  It is a mix of multi-colored pastel-ish bar glitter with tiny purple-grey shiny glitter.  This is one coat over Maybelline Color Show Coral Crush.  I though the polish was a little bit difficult to work with, it tended to stick in one place and leave bald spots and the bar glitter was hanging off the ends of my nails which was scratchy. 

My favorite of the bunch is definitely Bity Blue.  I loved that one!  Do you own any of these?

I'm on Instagram!

I'm on Instagram!

Hi folks...a rare lunchtime post for me today, just as my Netflix stopped working!  I wanted to do a quick post letting everyone know that I am on Instagram here:

@paintthosepiggies

I've found that I really like instagram.  It's like a picture scrapbook of my life.  Just for fun, I wanted to include some personal pics that I've posted on instagram.  If you leave your instagram name in the comments I will follow you back :)

First up is Immie, our newest little addition.  It may seem like I have 800 cats, but really there are three.  I couldn't put up a picture of one and then not the others.  That would just be mean.  She is a 4-year old tabby.  My husband jokes that this is her "mug shot".  It's actually a picture of her I took the day we adopted her in her little room at the Humane Society.

Next up is Lucy, the 3-year old baby of the family.  She's a black and white cat and super sweet.  She meows when you ask her a question and she loves having her face pet.  So much so that she will then drool all over out of happiness...like a fountain...or a waterfall.  She also likes to sit really close to my face, see above picture.
 

Last up is not the greatest picture of Millie, a 5-year old tortie.  She's the feistiest cat out of the bunch.  I just love this picture because it looks like she's a blogger :)

I love my house and where we live so I usually take nature pictures of my backyard and town.  Here's a peach tree loaded with peaches in our backyard.  We actually have seven fruit trees-three apple, two peach, and two pear.
 

Maybelline Color Show Coral Crush

Well this is a nail blog...so I had to.  This is my nail of the day, but to be honest, I'm just excited my nails are long enough that I can have them square again.  I'm lame...I know :)
 

Last up is one of my favorite pictures of my hubby and I.  This was taken last year in Memphis, TN when we took a trip to visit my aunt.

My First Guest Post

Guest Post at Dizzy Little Digits

Happy Friday everyone!  I'm excited that the weekend is so close.  My weekend involves some outside yard work, Chinese food, board games, and the new Superman movie.  I think it should be fun...well, minus the yard work :)  

Today I have a really exciting post...my very first guest post!  Denise from Dizzy Little Digits asked me to guest post for her while she is in Ireland.  I've actually been to Ireland and I jumped at the chance.  You can see the post here:

http://www.dizzylittledigits.com/guest-post-erin-from-paint-those-piggies/

Show Denise some love and check out my Ireland watercolor mani!

Ikat Nails and a Born Pretty Store Review

Ikat Nails with Born Pretty Store Brush Set

 *Press Sample

Hi everyone and happy Thursday.  Today I have a review of an amazing set of nail art brushes that I received for review from Born Pretty Store.  I love the products from Born Pretty Store because they are high quality and perfect for all levels of people who love to do nail art.  Today I have a set of 15 nail art brushes that come in all sorts of shapes and sizes.  In the set, comes three drawing tools, seven painting tools, two liners, one dotting tool, and two fan brushes.  These exact brushes are item 439 and can be found here.

Today was exciting because it was my first try at Ikat nails.  I used one angled brush from this set to create the entire look!  This really shows the diversity of this set of brushes.  I can't wait to see what else I can come up with with the rest of the brushes.

So what do you think of my Ikat nails?  I really liked them and the brushes made them super easy!  I started with a base coat of OPI Can You Tapas This? and then used Zoya Jacqueline (cream), Maybelline Coral Crush, and Essie Licorice. 

These brushes retail for $5.96 which is a terrific value for the amount and quality of brushes that you get.  Again, you can find the direct link here.  I would highly recommend these brushes, they are perfect for all nail enthusiasts.   Daisy from Born Pretty Store has also provided my readers with a 10% off coupon code.

Follow the link here!

*These brushes were received for review in exchange for my honest opinion.