Today's mani: Stars and stripes

Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans! I hope you get to relax and enjoy some fireworks, BBQ, or whatever floats your boat! We went into Boston for a few hours to walk around and get some burgers.

I did a quick mani to celebrate the occasion. I started with a base of KBShimmer Pimp My Pride, added stars to my middle finger with China Glaze Hanging in the Balance and a vinyl from the For the Love of Polish Box, and painted some flag stripes on my ring finger with Nailtini Bloody Mary and Sinful Colors Snow Me White. Simple!

Swatch: Dollish Polish You Know Nothing, Jon Snow

The product in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

Hi everyone! I've got a fun polish on today: Dollish Polish You Know Nothing, Jon Snow. Obviously this is a Game of Thrones-themed polish! I decided to wear it because the current season is ending this weekend, but I can't do a mani for the finale because I'll be at my sister-in-law's wedding. (My mani for that is gonna be cute--I'll show you later!)

So this is a white (or slightly off-white, I can't tell) crelly with black microglitter and blue-green iridescent glitter. The iridescent stuff reminds me of the White Walkers for sure!

Dollish Polish You Know Nothing, Jon Snow. Three coats with Out the Door topcoat.

The formula was OK--not thick at all, but it dried quickly, so you have to work fast or it will clump up. I needed three coats for opacity (although I only have a mini bottle, so with a full size brush it might only need two). It was very smooth after one coat of topcoat.


This polish is in stock at the Dollish Polish shop in both sizes!

The product in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

Swatch: Fedoraharp Lacquer Whiskers on Kittens

The product in this post was given to me as a gift. All opinions are my own.

Happy Friday gang! Today I have a polish from a fellow blogger-turned-indie, Leah at FedoraHarp! We first met when we were both doing the 31-Day Challenge back in 2013. Then, when Leah decided to try making polish, I was happy to give her what little advice I could. She very kindly sent me some of her new polishes as a thank-you!

What I have today is Fedoraharp Lacquer Whiskers on Kittens. I guess we're both huge Sound of Music fans (Captain von Trapp, mmmm....)! This is a shimmery white crelly with brown, copper, grey and yellow hexes. Leah says it's meant to evoke the colors of a calico cat. So cute!!

Fedoraharp Lacquer Whiskers on Kittens. Two coats with Out the Door topcoat.

I had no troubles with the formula, not overly thick at all, and the glitters came out with little fuss. With the mini brush, I think the color was juuuuust slightly patchy at two coats, but with a full-size brush I'm sure two coats would be perfect.

I also tried this polish matte, and it's gorgeous that way too! (Forgive the chips please!)

Fedoraharp Lacquer Whiskers on Kittens. Two coats with Revlon matte topcoat.

If you want to support a new indie who has definitely done her research, go check out Fedoraharp's Etsy shop! She's based in Israel but ships internationally (for a very reasonable price)! She charges $10 for 15 mls and $4.50 for 5 mls.

The product in this post was given to me as a gift. All opinions are my own.

Swatch: KBShimmer Snow Much Fun

The product in this post was given to me as a gift. All opinions are my own.

Hey guys! Right now we're slowly being buried under a mountain of snow thanks to Winter Storm Juno. All the public transportation in the Boston area is shut down, and my husband's work was canceled. It reminds me of when I was a kid and used to hope for a snow day every time snow was forecast. I would wake up early and watch the news to see if my school was on the list (this was before you could just check on the Internet). Of course, now that I work at home, it's not quite as exciting anymore! :-D

I thought a perfect way to "celebrate" the blizzard would be to try out one of my latest acquisitions, KBShimmer Snow Much Fun. This is a light blue (slightly aqua-leaning) jelly with lots of white and blue glitter, including snowflake glitter, plus silver holo microglitter.

KBShimmer Snow Much Fun. Three coats with Out the Door topcoat.

This polish is absolutely gorgeous, perfect for a snow queen! I had a couple minor issues with the formula. First, it was very sheer, even at three coats. Second, I definitely had to fish a little to get the snowflake glitters. But it applied very smoothly, like all KBShimmers I've tried!

I hope my fellow New Englanders are staying safe and warm today! Here are a couple shots I took of the snow:

Swatch: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Spark in the Dark collection & Siren LE

The products in this post were sent to me for review. All opinions are my own.

Happy Friday! Today I'm excited to show off an upcoming collection from a new-to-me indie brand, Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer! I was so honored that Julie asked me to review for her!

The Spark in the Dark collection is perfect for winter because it's full of different shades of blue, which made me really happy! Of course, blues are the hardest shades to photograph, so I had to color-correct some of these, and the colors still might not be 100% accurate. So I would definitely look for multiple swatches before purchasing if that concerns you!

A note on the formula: the brand states that their polishes are "designed to be opaque in one to two coats, so they may need to be thinned to your desired consistency." I found that they were definitely on the thicker side but still perfectly workable, so long as I was careful to wipe a lot of excess polish off the brush. I didn't feel the need to add thinner to any of them, but that's just my preference!

OK, let's start with an LE polish called Hypothermia! This polish will ONLY be available if you purchase the entire collection. It's described as a purple holo with purple shimmers, although to me the base color is more like faded indigo.

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Hypothermia. One coat with Out the Door topcoat.

The purple shimmers were hard to catch on camera, but they're definitely there in real life. The holo effect is nice and strong. This polish was a great one-coater!


Next is Bound to the City Life, a dark teal jelly with multicolored holo microglitter. It has great depth and sparkle!

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Bound to the City Life. Two coats with Out the Door topcoat.

Since this is a jelly, it was thicker than the others and took a little more finesse to apply evenly. I didn't find it unpleasantly goopy or sticky though. 


This is Counting Down Until I See You, which has a clear base packed with pink microglitter, as well as some larger pink glitter, gunmetal grey glitter, and silver reflective beads. Definitely the blingiest member of the collection!

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Counting Down Until I See You. Two coats with Out the Door topcoat (left) and Revlon matte topcoat (right).

  

Since this one's very sparkly, I added matte topcoat to my ring and pinky nails so you can see the details a little better. (Plus I think it looks great matte!) The glitter applied very evenly, and two coats was sufficiently opaque for my taste. 


Next up is It's Almost After Midnight, a smoky dark grey with strong blue shimmer. This is definitely one of my favorites in the collection--it's so moody!

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer It's Almost After Midnight. Two coats with Out the Door topcoat.

  

This polish was sheer on the first coat but built up well on the second. I couldn't stop staring at my nails. :-D 


Here's Never Danced Like This Before, a navy holo with teal shimmer. It's gorgeous, with a jeweltone-like quality to it.

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Never Danced Like This Before. One coat with Out the Door topcoat.

This was another one-coater. I'm really impressed with how she manages to get such depth and opacity in a polish at the same time! The holo particles here are a little bigger and less dense than in Hypothermia.


Next is She's Electricity, a hot pink holo with pink and aqua shimmers and purple-blue iridescent microglitter. This one feels like a splash of summer in amongst all the blues!

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer She's Electricity. Two coats with Out the Door topcoat.

The extra shimmers and glitter are visible, but they don't pop out quite as much as I was hoping. Maybe if I added some thinner? The holo effect here is the weakest of the three holos in the collection. 


Next up is The Years Have Been Short, which is a slightly white-tinted base with blue, white and iridescent microglitters, blue shimmer, and silver reflective beads. This polish just screams "snowstorm" to me!

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer The Years Have Been Short. Two coats with Out the Door topcoat.

  

Again, the glitter applied very evenly and I was happy with the opacity at two coats. I think this would also look nice layered! 


Finally, here's Wanna Fall in Love Tonight, a red-toned purple with golden red shimmer. This dries to a semi-matte finish, so I've left it au naturale on the two left fingers and added topcoat on the two right fingers. (Pardon my huge nail ridges!)

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Wanna Fall in Love Tonight. One coat with Out the Door topcoat (ring and pinky fingers).

Although my nail line is visible here, I couldn't really see it in normal lighting. I probably could've gone for two coats though. As you can see, the shimmer is very fine and adds a luminous quality to the polish. 


In addition to the Spark in the Dark collection, I also received a limited edition polish in the Siren Series, which will only be restocked once. Sirens Are Made For Water, Not Snow is a blue creme with a purple flash that dries semi-matte. As above, I added topcoat only to the ring and pinky nails.

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Sirens Are Made For Water, Not Snow. One coat with Out the Door topcoat (ring and pinky fingers).

  

I was a bit disappointed to find that the purple shimmer is much weaker on the nail than in the bottle. (My camera couldn't pick it up at all because it was confused by all the blue.) This might be another case where adding thinner could help.


Overall, I think this is a really solid collection, especially with all those gorgeous blue polishes! My favorites would have to be It's Almost After Midnight, Never Danced Like This Before, and The Years Have Been Short. Which do you like best?

All these polishes will be released on January 12 at Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer's shop! You can get the entire eight-piece Spark in the Dark collection for just $67 (13 ml size) or $37 for minis.

Be sure to follow Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest to stay up-to-date!  

The products in this post were sent to me for review. All opinions are my own. 

The Neverending Pile Challenge: Independence Day mani!

Happy 4th of July to my fellow USians! It's been raining nonstop today thanks to Hurricane Arthur, but we still had burgers and potato salad for dinner. Plus we could see some fireworks from our bedroom window last night!

My 4th of July mani also satisfies today's Neverending Pile Challenge theme, which is free polish (meaning a polish you got for free). I used China Glaze Man Hunt, which I got in a Secret Santa swap, as my base color, and made some faded-looking stripes using Zoya Carmen, Julep Harley and Sinful Colors Snow Me White. I was inspired by this beautiful mani by Manicurator!

Since the Manicurator post didn't have any directions on how to do this pattern, I had to work out my own method. I put down striping tape above where I wanted each stripe to go, then I sponged on each color using the edge of a triangular makeup sponge. I wanted the stripes to be crisp on top and fade away on the bottom. I really like this style, so I'll have to do it again sometime!

I hope everyone enjoys their holiday weekend!


Total untrieds tried: 69 + chevron decals + 3 stamping plates


 

The Neverending Pile Challenge: Barry M Birthday

The product in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

Happy Hump Day! Today's Neverending Pile Challenge theme is pink. Now, if you've been reading my blog for a while, you might have noticed that I'm not really a pink person. Around age 14 I stopped liking pink and started wearing moodier colors, and I'm still basically the same way. So my collection of pink polish isn't huge. But I do have a couple fabulous untried pink glitter jellies, and here's one of them!

Barry M Birthday was made to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the UK drugstore Superdrug. It's pretty hard to get Barry M in the US thanks to the UK's draconian shipping rules, but luckily I got a British friend to smuggle a bottle out for me! It's a vivid pink jelly with a purple shimmer (less blue than it appears here) and white and silver glitter. Very in-your-face!

Barry M Birthday. Two coats with Out the Door topcoat.

This is my first time trying Barry M, but I already understand why they're so popular! This is an awesome summer polish. The formula was great too--thin and easily spreadable, without much need for dabbing to get the glitter in place.

I have no idea if this guy is still available, so you UK folks will have to check your local Superdrug!


Total untrieds tried: 58 + chevron decals + 3 stamping plates

FingerFood's Theme Buffet: Under the sea

Hi! Hope you're having a good weekend! Today I finally managed to get my FingerFood mani for the week done. The theme is under the sea. I decided to do jellyfish! (Apologies for the kinda ragged picture...I was in a rush.)

I started with a black base and used the watercolor method to make a watery background with several shades of blue polish, including Revlon Indigo Night and Plunge Pool, China Glaze Hanging in the Balance, and Sephora by OPI Ocean Love Potion. On top of that, I made white dots for the heads of the jellyfish and dabbed them with a Q-tip dipped in acetone to make them translucent. I added the tentacles and topped everything off with a coat of L'Oreal Miss Pixie, a blue jelly.

See ya tomorrow!

FingerFood's Theme Buffet: Yet another galaxy mani

Good morning! For this week's FingerFood's Theme Buffet we're doing galaxies. I think this is my third attempt at a galaxy mani. My previous efforts were mediocre; I think this one is the best I've managed so far.

I'm actually most proud of the fact that my star placement is pretty random--I really have to struggle not to make everything symmetric! I used Zoya Storm for the base (because really, how could I not?) and Maybelline Porcelain Party, Color Club Age of Aquarius, Julep Bea and Revlon Passionate Pink for the rest.

This mani reminds me--have you been watching Cosmos? I think it's great to have some real science on TV again, since all the "educational" channels have switched to reality shows now. I think the show does a great job communicating the mindblowing-ness of nature! If you like it, you should definitely read some of Carl Sagan's books--he was an all-around amazing human being.

FingerFood's Theme Buffet #12 / He Picks My Polish

Wow, I've made it through twelve weeks of FingerFood's Theme Buffet! We're starting another set of prompts next week, so if you'd like to join in, here's our Facebook group!

This week's theme is Freestyle, which was perfect because I also wanted to participate in the He Picks My Polish challenge for March. (Facebook group here!) For this challenge, you ask a male in your life to pick any three polishes from your stash. No helping! Then you have to do nail art using only those polishes (and any neutrals if needed).

Mr. ALIQUID was skeptical at first, but he came up with an idea and went for it. I should have known that he would pick the colors that match his favorite comic book character, Jean Grey:

(I tried to tell him that Jean Grey's hair isn't actually cherry red, but oh well.) The polishes he picked were Color Club Endless Summer, Revlon Red Carpet and OPI The "It" Color. Then it was my turn!

I decided to try water marbling again, since I've only done it once before. I started with a white base and did a marble with the three colors, using clear polish in between each to let the white show through. I did two passes on each nail to get that cool layering effect!

I confess I have no idea how people manage to get such precise patterns using water marbling; I can't seem to get anything more than random swoops. But in this case I think it looks cool, like tie-dye or some abstract art!

As a matter of fact, my final mani was actually my second attempt. The first time, I tried using the yellow as a base, and it didn't work out so well. Here, I'll show you:

I'm very glad I did it over again!


Below you can check out the other FingerFood manis as well as the He Picks My Polish manis!

FingerFood's Theme Buffet #8: Cute

Hey all! I can't believe we're eight weeks into FingerFood's Theme Buffet challenge already! Where did the time go??

This week's theme is "cute", and as everyone knows, the cutest thing in the universe is a pile of puppies. So here's my doggie manicure!

Hee hee, this makes me smile every time I look at it! I like how the dog on the far right looks kind of skeptical. I started with a base of Zoya Sweet, then added the dog heads, spots and ears with Revlon Stiletto, Sinful Colors Snow Me White, Revlon Stormy Night, Julep Otte and Sephora by OPI Leotard Optional. I added a layer of Revlon Matte topcoat and did the eyes and noses afterwards so they kept a little shine.

I asked Trudy if she approved of my mani, but she was still recovering from her busy day yesterday (busy =  going for a walk):

An InLinkz Link-up

FingerFood's Theme Buffet #7: Abstract

Hey all, it's time once again for FingerFood's Theme Buffet! This week's theme is abstract nail art. I decided to make a second try at one-stroke art; I based my pattern on this golden veil design by Lucy's Stash. I'm not sure if I like the result--I had a hard time getting the colors to blend properly.

I started with a base of Indigo Bananas Wise Up, Janet!, a lovely lavender holographic glass fleck. I did the one-stroke parts with acrylic paint. Finally I added Revlon matte top coat.

I need to keep practicing one-stroke art! There are so many beautiful designs you can do with it (many at Lucy's Stash!).

An InLinkz Link-up

Swatch: Incoco Made With Love nail polish appliques

The product in this post was sent to me for review. All opinions are my own.

Today I've got another adorable set of Valentine's nail wraps from Incoco for you! Made With Love has a white base with a spun-sugar pattern in gradient pinks and reds. I like that Incoco seems to be keeping on top of nail art trends with patterns like this!

Incoco Made With Love nail polish appliques. Out the Door topcoat.

These appliques are more up my alley than the previous Incoco Valentine's pattern I reviewed--I love how the pattern looks kind of messy and improvised, but still really pretty! As usual, I had no trouble applying these. I did get a little bit of wrinkling on my index finger, but I blame myself for not being careful enough sticking the wrap on. The rest of my nails are super smooth! And don't forget that these are removable with polish remover!

Made With Love is available at incoco.com ($8.99 for 16 strips).

The product in this post was sent to me for review. All opinions are my own.

FingerFood's Theme Buffet #5: Party time!

It's Sunday, and that means it's time for FingerFood's Theme Buffet! This week's theme is birthdays and celebrations. I was a bit short on inspiration this week, but I ended up trying to reproduce the shaggy texture and fun colors of a pinata.

I just used a small nail art brush to paint on little irregular streaks of polish. I started at the tip of each nail so each color would be layered over the one below it. Here are the polishes I used: China Glaze Aquadelic, Julep Nina, Sinful Colors Snow Me White, Color Club Twiggie, Zoya Ali (the closest Zoya's gotten to my name!) and Sally Hansen Lightening.

Don't forget to follow our Pinterest board to see all the challenge manis so far!

Swatch: Orly Milky Way

The product in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

Hey! There's less than a week left to enter the giveaway I'm participating in at Marbles for Polish!

It's Friday! Anyone have any fun weekend plans? I've already started working on my next polish collection, so I'll probably spend some more time on that! (Have you checked out my shop lately?)

Today I've got a new polish from Orly's Galaxy FX collection. This is another case where I think the company looked at indie polishes while coming up with their collection--look at all the glitter! Milky Way is a pastel blue base with small white, red-orange and holographic hexes, plus light blue microglitter.

Orly Milky Way. One coat with Out the Door and Gelous topcoats.

(Time to shorten my nails, huh? They're getting a bit duck-footed.)

I love that Orly went all-out with the glitter in this one. Despite the base color being pretty sheer, I only needed one coat because the glitter covers everything up. I didn't really have problems getting even coverage. The only downsides were 1. the formula was hard to spread because of all the glitter (the polish itself doesn't seem incredibly thick) and 2. even after two layers of topcoat it still feels bumpy. The texture is only visible in closeups though.

Milky Way is available at Orly's website ($10 for 18 ml), or you might be able to find it at your local Sally Beauty like I did (I'm not seeing it on the site right now).

The product in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

FingerFood's Theme Buffet #3: weather

Good morning! It's time once again for FingerFood's Theme Buffet! The prompt for this week was "weather". I decided to recreate another mani I did about a year ago (pic is down below).

First, today's nails:

It's a beautiful day! (Unlike the weather here lately!) I started with a gradient of Zoya Blu and Wet 'n' Wild I Need a Refresh-Mint. Then I made the clouds by sponging on Maybelline Porcelain Party with a little corner of a makeup sponge. The trick to doing clouds is to make sure there's not too much polish on your sponge--you want the clouds to be fuzzy and translucent. Finally, I painted the hot air balloon with Revlon Red Carpet, Sally Hansen Lightening, China Glaze Hanging in the Balance, and Julep Otte; I sponged one more cloud on over the balloon to give a little 3D effect.

Now here's my old mani that inspired this one:

The clouds are a little heavy-handed, but I still love this mani! I don't think I would have been able to manage the balloon a year ago though. :-)

Don't forget to check out the rest of today's challenge manis below or by following the Pinterest board!

FingerFood's Theme Buffet #2: Geometric

Hey kids! It's time for the second installment of FingerFood's Theme Buffet! This week's prompt is shapes/geometric. Since I'm a left-brained person at heart, this challenge gave me a chance to satisfy my need for order and straight lines.

 I went for lots and lots of triangles! This was pretty easy to do--the only tools I used were striping tape, a nail art brush, and lots of patience. The base color is OPI My Vampire is Buff, and the triangles are in Zoya Sailor, Julep Brielle and Julep Harley. I added Revlon matte topcoat at the end.

Check out the other participants in today's challenge below, and/or follow the Pinterest board!

FingerFood's Theme Buffet #1: Animal Print

Happy Sunday! Today I'm starting another nail art challenge, FingerFood's Theme Buffet. This is a weekly thing, so it shouldn't be as stressful as the 31-Day Challenge was! The first prompt is animal print. I had to do leopard print again because I love it so much, plus it's incredibly simple to do!

I decided to make things a little more interesting by starting out with a gradient background. I used two DIFFERENTdimension polishes, Totally and Gnarly, which are super bright neons with holographic shimmer. This mani is a nice antidote to the horrible winter weather we've been having here (not so bad today luckily)!

I did the leopard spots using a dotting tool and my favorite black and white polishes, Revlon Stiletto and Sinful Colors Snow Me White.

Here are the upcoming prompts for the rest of the challenge:

If you're interested in joining in, you can request to be added to the Facebook group. This is a really low-key challenge--you don't even have to do all the weeks if you don't want to! You can also follow the Pinterest board to see everyone's manis!

Here are the rest of today's animal print nails!

Pics from Christmas vacation

Hi folks! I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas yesterday! I got some nice presents (like a picture frame with some beautiful prints from our wedding) and ate way too much food.

My sister let me do her holiday nails--Essie Good as Gold with Essie Blanc polka dots. I didn't have my dotting tools, so I just used a bobby pin:

I miss my puppy Trudy, but meanwhile I get to play with my parents' dogs. Here's Sydney, the alpha dog of the pack:

And this is Max, who is much more gentle and laid back:

Can you tell neither of them like getting their picture taken?

Take it easy everyone! Stay warm!

Swatch: Formula X for Sephora - Thunder

The product in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

Yesterday the hubby and I went out to see the new Hobbit movie (we both enjoyed it, despite some glaringly obvious CGI), and while we were out I stopped by Sephora to check out their new brand of polishes. There were tons of great colors and I had a tough time narrowing it down to one, so I made my husband pick. (So you can blame him if you don't like my swatch!)

Formula X for Sephora Thunder is a glitter topper, which I don't normally go for, but I'm a sucker for matte glitter. Plus, I thought this polish had a wintery kind of vibe. It has blue, pink, white and yellow-green hexes of various sizes in a clear base. Here I've layered it over Wet 'n' Wild On a Trip.

Formula X for Sephora Thunder. One coat over Wet 'n' Wild On a Trip, with Out the Door topcoat.

I think this polish would be perfect if it didn't have the largest hexes. They tended to clump together, which is why I got three on one nail and none on the rest. Plus I think their size is incongruous with the rest of the glitter. Other than that, I really love the color combo, and the glitter was easy to distribute evenly (I had to dab just a little). The texture isn't terribly bumpy, unless you get one of the huge hexes on a curvy part of the nail. I definitely recommend a topcoat in any case.

(I'll also mention that the chunky bottle cap is removable, with a much more manageable cap underneath.)

Thunder is part of a line of glitter topcoats called Xplosives, and is available in Sephora stores or at sephora.com for $12.50 (12 ml).

The product in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.