Friday, February 28, 2014

6:00 AM

Nail Pattern Boldness- Glitter A-Peel


     Happy Friday everyone. Today I'd like to share with you my experience with Nail Pattern Boldness Glitter A-Peel.  This is a product that I have been wanting to try for a very long time. Finally, at the beginning of this month, I ordered a bottle. I don't regret it one bit!

     For those of you who have followed my facebook page for any length of time may have noticed that I don't tend to wear polishes with a lot of glitter in them. To be completely honest I love the look of these polishes but not enough to deal with the removal process. Until recently that is. I started to notice a few months back that I wasn't getting as excited about the brand name polishes anymore. It seemed like I couldn't find anything new to add to my collection. I started looking at more indie polishes, picked up a few here and there. I'd wear them and dread the removal. I knew it was time to get my hands on a good peel off base coat.

    I used a gorgeous glitter bomb polish from Lacquistry called Moonlit Marina as my test polish. You can find photos and my thoughts about it in this post.

Lacquistry-Moonlit-Marina
macro shot of Moonlit Marina

     I used a thin coat of Glitter A-Peel 2 coats of Moonlit Marina and 2 layers of topcoat for my manicure. Finally, after 3 days of perfect wear, I was ready for a manicure change. I used a rubber cuticle pusher to gently lift off my polish around my cuticles and here's what happened.

Glitter-A-Peel-results

     I even had the polish on one nail just pop off on its own while I was removing my manicure. Unfortunately not every nail came off this easily but it was still a  lot easier than the foil method.



     Please excuse what looks like dry ragged cuticles. It's actually some remnants of the manicure that was a little stubborn. I wanted to take a during photo to show you my truest results. One swipe with remover at the end cleaned that up nicely. I have a feeling if I'd used a slightly thicker layer as my base all 10 nails would have removed as a single piece. And I'm going to test that theory out in the next few days.

     Overall I am very happy with the result that I got and wish I would have picked up a bottle sooner. I can't wait to wear all the new pretty polishes that I've purchased and then neglected because I didn't want to bother with the removal. Be on the lookout for those polishes to make an appearance on my blog soon.

     I'd love to hear about your experiences with peel-off base coats or any tips you'd like to share. As always thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!

Thursday, February 27, 2014

8:44 AM

Cult Nails - Faded


     Hey there everyone. I know this post is a day late but please forgive me. I woke up yesterday with the worlds worst migraine and couldn't bear to be upright let alone look at a computer screen. Today's post is going to be a quick one on Cult Nails Faded.

     Faded was originally offered in the Dance All Night Collection for summer 2013. It's the perfect neutral grey color with its cool slightly blue toned hue.

Cult-Nails-Faded-Lustrous-Lacquer

     The application was smooth. My first coat was pretty thin so I had some slight streaks but everything evened out nicely, reaching full opacity with 2 coats.

Cult-Nails-Faded-Lustrous-Lacquer

     Faded dries to a semi-gloss finish and is an amazing base for nail art, although I quite like it on its own. Cult Nail polishes retail for $12 and can be purchased here.

     I hope you enjoyed this quick and simple post. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!


Monday, February 24, 2014

6:00 AM

What's in a finish? - Metallic


     Hello there everyone and Happy Monday. Today I want to talk about Metallic finish nail polish. Some characteristics of metallic nail polish are that they make your nails look like metal and have a smooth almost mirror like finish. The most popular colors are copper, gold, and silver but over the last few years, we have seen companies branching out into other colors. For example, Essie's Mirror Metallic collection contained a blue. You can find my review of the entire Mirror Metallics collection here.

Essie-Blue-Rhapsody-Mirror-Metallics-Lustrous-Lacquer
Essie Blue Rhapsody
     Foil finishes are often confused for a metallic finish because they have a similar appearance. However, foils contain micro glitters to give them a metallic feel but true metallic finishes contain no glitter.

Fingerpaints-She's-a-Beaut-Lustrous-Lacquer
Finger Paints She's a Beaut
     Unfortunately, some downsides to the metallic finish are that they leave brushstrokes and tend to show every imperfection on your nails. One way to help prevent this is to use a good ridge filling base coat and either a thick layer of top coat or two thin layers.

     I hope you've enjoyed this post. If you'd like to read earlier posts in this series just click on the "what's in a finish" tag below. Happy Polishing!

Friday, February 21, 2014

6:00 AM

Lacquistry- Moonlit Marina


     Happy Friday everyone! Today I'm excited to bring you my most recent indie purchase; Moonlit Marina from Lacquistry. Moonlit Marina is described  in the shop as
A quiet moonlit night with the moon reflecting on the softly lapping water of a still marina, stars dapple the sky and twinkle down on the dark water. Moonlit Marina is interspersed with color-shifting iridescence amongst dark green and dark blue.
     Isn't that a fantastic description! As someone who loves spending time outdoors camping and watching the stars twinkle over the lake this polish called to me.

Lacquistry-Moonlit-Marina-Lustrous-Lacquer-Indie-Polish

     I used 2 slightly think coats of Moonlit Marina with 2 layers of Out the Door for a smooth even finish. With a little manipulation, I was able to get almost complete coverage and no fishing for glitters was required.

Lacquistry-Moonlit-Marina-Lustrous-Lacquer-Indie-Polish

     I wish I had been able to really capture the sparkle this polish has better. My fingertips really do twinkle like stars in the night sky as move them across the keyboard. And why wouldn't they? Just look at all the different sized glitters this polish has.

Lacquistry-Moonlit-Marina-Lustrous-Lacquer-Indie-Polish

     Before the rain and snow started I was able to snap a few pictures outside. While there wasn't any sunshine to help me out, I feel like natural light should be taken advantage of whenever possible. With the way this winter has gone those chances have been very few and extremely far between.

     If you'd like to pick up your own bottle of Moonlit Marina you can pick one up here but be quick because as I'm writing this post there is only 1 bottle available. And to keep up with all the news from Lacuistry Nail polish check out the facebook page.

     Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!


Wednesday, February 19, 2014

11:05 AM

My love/hate relationship with Nail Foils



     Good morning my fellow lacquer friends. Happy Hump Day! Today's blog post is about my recent experience with nail foils. Oh, how I looked at picture after picture of manicures done with them, Longing to have them on my fingertips. Finally, after a few months, I bit the bullet and purchased a set of them from Dollar Nail Art. My order arrived and I was all excited about them. And then they sat there daunting me, teasing me, daring me to use them. You know the term "you are your own worst critic"? Well, I am my own biggest naysayer and trying something new, especially when I share my attempts with the world scares me a little. It's something that I'm working on so I watched a YouTube video for some tips and jumped right in. I always feel more prepared and indestructible after watching a few videos on how to do something. Anyone else ever feel that way?

    So after learning that patience is a virtue once again I finally got my first foil applied successfully. It's not perfect but I loved it!

Nail-Foils-Lustrous-Lacquer
    
     At first, I was only going to do an accent nail for my manicure but how could I resist a full manicure of this gorgeousness! So with limited time before work I set out to do just that. The end result is a little bit shady as there is a slight learning curve to nail foils but I was determined!

Nail-Foils-Lustrous-Lacquer

     So this is where the love/hate relationship comes in. I love how this looks. ( Have I said that enough in this post?) But I had a few bald spots on my nails that I couldn't fix. Plus you cant top coat them. When I  tried to top coat them they got ruined. The foil almost crumpled up on my nails. Here's the kicker. Once you have your foils applied don't move, don't apply lotion, stick your hands in your pockets, wash your hands, or just generally touch anything. If you do this is what you'll end up with.

    
     Nail foils are extremely fragile and delicate. This was just 2 hrs into my shift at work. I felt so embarrassed to have my nails looking like this. I put gloves on just to hide them and that removed them even faster. By the end of my 8 hr shift, there was nothing left of the foils at all.

     If anyone has any tips about how to make these last longer I'm all ears. Part of me wonders if a non quick drying top coat would work better but I haven't had time to test this theory yet. I hate to think that I have all these foils that I cant really use. I'd love to hear your thoughts on nail foils or any tips you'd like to share. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing! Also dont forget to check out my 3K giveaway.


*UPDATE*

     A few months ago I found a top coat that actually works with nail foils. You can find my post and review here

Monday, February 17, 2014

6:00 AM

Lustrous Lacquer's 3K Giveaway! {closed}

     Hi there everyone. Sorry about being absent last week. But I have a good reason. I was busy getting things together for my best giveaway yet! As most of you know I recently hit 3000 likes on facebook and I wanted to do something big to celebrate. I won't bore you with a long rambling post because after all, its all about the polish! I do want to get in a quick THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to click that little like button to help me reach this milestone.

     Now onto the prizes. Unfortunately, this giveaway is open to the U.S only because of shipping issues. I will try to include everyone else in the next giveaway.

     Prize Pack 1 is the Glitz and Glam Anniversary Collection from Krafty Gurl Designs.

Polishes L-R The Cat's Meow, The Ritz and Hotsy Totsy

     Prize Pack 2 is a trio of polishes from Shirley Ann Nail Lacquer

Polishes are L-R Shotgun Wedding, Wedded Bliss and Expert Marksmen

Prize Pack 3 is from Sharla Sells Avon


     Prize Pack 4: 3 mystery Polishes from LynBDesigns. I will update the post with a pic once the polishes are in my possession.

*UPDATE*
After reading all the comments below I have decided to leave this prize a mystery. So many people are excited about the unknown.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good Luck!

*GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED*

Monday, February 10, 2014

6:00 AM

What's in a finish? - Holographic


      For today's what's in a finish post we have one of my favorite finishes; the holographic. Now as many of you know there are two types of holographic finishes, the linear and scattered. But I've found over the last few months that a lot of people are confused as to what the differences between them are.

   Let's start with what makes a polish holographic. Holographic polishes contain very fine rainbow colored glitters, which change color with the reflection of light. (Also known as spectra flair) This finish is very obvious in sunlight, but many times can be visible indoors.

     Linear holo's change color with the reflection of light giving off a rainbow effect. Some polishes have a stronger rainbow effect than others depending on the number of glitters in the polish.

LynBDesings-Nightmare-Revisited-Linear-Holo
LynBDesigns Nightmare Revisited

GlitterDaze-Jetsetter-Lifestyle
GlitterDaze Jetsetter Lifestyle
     A scattered holo still contains the rainbow glitters but has no rainbow effect. 

Orly-Miss-Conduct
Orly Miss Conduct

       Now here's a quick photo comparing a linear holo to a scattered. This is 2 coats of Orly Miss Conduct compared to 2 coats of China Glaze Infra Red on a  nail wheel. While I like both, the linear holo is my favorite.


     Is the holographic finish a favorite of yours? Do you prefer the linear or scattered look? Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!

Friday, February 7, 2014

6:00 AM

Finger Paints - Kaleidoscope Collection


    Back at the beginning of the year, I was lucky enough to win the new Kaleidoscope Collection from Finger Paints. From the moment they arrived at my door, I wanted to get them up on the blog. But I didn't want to do a few here and a few there. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, this post was pushed back a month later than I wanted it to be. Finally, I am able to share these new specialty toppers with you. I apologize right now about this being a very picture heavy post. So let's get to it, shall we? All photos are shown without top coat and are 2 coats unless noted.

Finger-Paints-Kaleidoscope-Collection-Flakie-Top-Coat

     This collection consists of 6 polishes; 5 flakie top coats and a black polish to use as a base. Let's start out by taking a look at Black Expressionism.

Finger-Paints-Black-Expressionism
    
     I was really impressed with Black Expressionism. It is a true one coat black polish that dries to a high shine. The application was effortless. Shown here is 1 coat without top coat.


Finger-Paints-Psychedelic-Hue-Flakie-Top-Coat-Kaleidoscope-Collection

     Psychedelic Hue contains green and blue flakes with flashes of yellow and hints of purple.

Finger-Paints-Psychedelic-Hue

     Here I layered 1 coat of Psychedelic Hue over 1 coat of Black Expressionism.


Finger-Paints-Psychedelic-Hue-Flakie-Macro

     I was able to get pretty decent coverage with only 1 coat but would recommend using 2 for full coverage.


Finger-Paints-Vivid-Reflection-Kaleidoscope-Collection

     Vivid Reflection had purple and magenta flakes with hints of orange, blue and, green.

Finger-Paints-Vivid-Reflection-Flakie-Topcoat

     Vivid Reflection is one of my favorites from this collection because it has different colors than the other flakie polishes I own.


     The more I look at the one the more I like it. But it's not my absolute favorite. I'm saving that one for last. I'd say this was my second favorite of the bunch.


Finger-Paints-Symetrical-Symphony-Kaleidoscope-Collection

     Symetrical Symphony contains yellow and blue flakes with flashes of green, orange and, purple.



Finger-Paints-Symetrical-Symphony
   
     Symetrical Symphony gave me the best coverage out of the entire collection.

Finger-Paints-Symetrical-Symphony

     I'd have to say this is my 3rd favorite of the collection coming in just behind Vivid Reflection.


Finger-Paints-Colorful-Dream-Kaleidoscope-Collection

     Colorful Dream certainly lives up to its name, with flakes the color of a pastel rainbow.




Finger-Paints-Colorful-Dream

     
       The colors; while being on the pastel side still manage to pack a punch as they catch the light.


Finger-Paints-Colorful-Dream
    
     If you're looking for a topper that goes with everything I say Colorful Dream is the one you want.

Finger-Paints-Abstract-Attraction-Kaleidoscope-Collection

     Abstract Attraction turned out to be my surprise favorite of the collection with it's deep blue, aqua and purple flakes.

Finger-Paints-Abstract-Attraction

    I like how deep the colors are in Abstract Attraction. The contrast isn't as intense as the others but it still makes an impact.

Finger-Paints-Abstract-Attraction

     Did Finger Paints find a way to cure my desire to own the original 2012 flakie collection? I wouldn't say that exactly. While this collection is fun and different it's not as vibrant and has me still wanting to get my hands on the 2012 set. I do like that the base has remained clear so far instead of yellowing like the previous collection though. I'd say the Kaleidoscope collection is a toned down version of the original.

     The Kaleidoscope collection is now on shelves at Sally Beauty Supply if you'd like to get them for yourself. Even if you're not impressed with the entire collection I would still seriously consider getting Black Expressionism. I can't wait to see how well it stamps!

     If you've made it this far in my post I want to thank you for sticking with me through another long one. I promise to wait awhile before I throw another one of these at you. Id love to hear your thoughts about this collection vs. the 2012 version. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!







Wednesday, February 5, 2014

6:00 AM

LynBDesings- Nightmare Revisited


    Hi there everyone. Today I wanted to share with you an amazing polish from LynBDesigns. This one is called Nightmare Revisited. A raspberry pink jelly polish that is also a linear holo. Ummm can you say yummy! Nightmare Revisited is from the Nightmare Begins Collection and is based on the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas.


LynBDesigns-Nightmare-Revisited-Nightmare-Begins-Collection

     Here I have 2 thin coats plus topcoat of Nightmare Revisited. Even with my poor lighting, you can see how holographic this polish is. With the first brush stroke, I knew I was going to love this polish!  The application was super easy. The polish flowed nicely off the brush and I was able to control exactly where I wanted it to go. No messy cuticles for me this time, normally I have one nail that I always seem to make a mess of.

     I was lucky enough to have a little bit of sunshine so I took advantage and got a full sun shot to share with you.


LynBDesigns-Nightmare-Revisited-Full-Sun

     I wasn't able to capture the full holographic impact but this is the most color accurate shot I have. I kind of like the snow as my backdrop in this shot. I wish it wasn't so ridiculously cold here this year so I could use it more often. Too bad I haven't figured out how to take pictures with gloves on yet. Anywho back to the polish.

     After staring at my nails for a few hours I decided to see what some subtle stamping would look like. I didn't want to cover up all of this beauty so I went with an accent nail using my Messy Mansion Lily Anna 08 stamping plate and Sally Hansen Lively Lilac. And this is what I ended up with.


      Imagine my surprise when I discovered that standing under my kitchen light with a daylight bulb in it would give me my best picture of this polish. After using my DIY lightbox and facing the cold to try and do this polish justice, all I had to do was walk into my kitchen. Ugh, guess who's getting new lights for her light box soon!

     I like how this manicure turned out with the addition of the accent nail. People at work noticed the color right away and asked to see my nails. When they noticed the stamping the looks on their faces was like watching a child opening a present. I loved it! In fact, I loved it so much I actually wore this manicure for a full week. That doesn't happen very often for me.

     If you'd like to add Nightmare Revisited to your collection you can snag your own bottle on Etsy for $10 and don't forget to check out the other polishes in the Nightmare Begins Collection.  You can also find my previous post on another LynBDesgins polish here. Thanks for stopping by my blog and Happy Polishing!




Monday, February 3, 2014

9:43 AM

What's in a Finish?-Duo chrome


      Good Monday morning to you all. I hope you had a relaxing weekend. Today I have a short post for you about another nail polish finish; Duo chrome. I'm sure some of you are like me and had a short love affair with this type of finish. But what makes a polish considered duo chrome?

     Duo chrome polishes change color with the reflection of light. True duo chrome polishes have two very obvious colors to them, although there are some polishes with subtle color shifts that are also given the duo chrome name.


Sally-Hansen-Lava-Lustre-Shine-Collection
Sally Hansen Lava
     Some duo chrome polishes can have more than just one color shift to them. I've come across swatch pictures where the polish shifts from pink to purple to blue, and green depending on how the light is hitting them. Those polishes are my favorite but sadly I don't own any....yet.

OPI-Just-Spotted-The-Lizard
OPI Just Spotted the Lizard


     My personal opinion was that duo chrome polishes started to die out just a little bit.  But are now back with gusto thanks to several indie polish makers putting out drool-worthy, heart-stopping beauties. Does I <3 NP come to any one's mind when I say that? Oh, what I wouldn't give to get my hands on some of her polishes!

     Thanks for stopping by and checking out my latest post. Happy polishing!

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