Indie Spotlight: Paint Shop Polish, May Flowers & In Bloom

Hello there!  Yes, I know it's been ages and ages since I've posted.  There are tons of excuses I could make, but what it boils down to is just feeling burnt out on blogging.  There just came a point where all the swatching, photo editing, and writing just wasn't fun for a bit and I was all like "Blogging is hard!" so I took a break.  But I'm dipping my toes back in the water, just to test it out.  I can't promise regularity with posting but be sure to follow me on Facebook and Instagram (user name is @vashtiaa).  I tend to post quick shots of current manicures on those accounts.

Alright, back to the point of today's post!  Paint Shop Polish has a new spring collection coming out on Monday, March 23 and I was lucky enough to get to swatch a couple of pretties and I have some photos of those to show you today! 

First up is In Bloom, an appropriately named floral glitter topper.  Large iridescent lavender flower-shaped glitter swim in a clear base with smaller petal pink,  daffodil yellow, and violet hexes, lilac squares, and a healthy sprinkle of holographic micro glitter.  This is just a perfectly pretty spring mix!

I applied In Bloom first in one thin coat to spread out the holographic sparkle and then by dabbing the larger glitters on.  The gradient underneath was created using Sinful Colors Unicorn and Out of Bounds.  In Bloom was fairly easy to work with, the base is a good consistency; not too thick or gloppy.  I did have to fish a bit for the larger flower glitters, but that's pretty much par for the course when it comes to big glitters.  You'll also want a good top coat to smooth out any bumpiness from the glitter.

If you're a glitter topper fan, In Bloom is definitely worth a look.  So pretty!

May Flowers is the second polish I have to show you today.  We all know what a sucker I am for a good crelly and this one fits the bill!  Icy blue iridescent flower glitters are accompanied by small hexes in the same shade and periwinkle hexes in a squishy white crelly base.  This was my favorite of these two polishes...love the glitter mix and the base is beautiful!

No application issues to report, beyond the necessity to fish a bit for the larger glitters.  I'm showing 3 coats here with one coat of Seche Vite on top.  Really just a lovely polish!

May Flowers and In Bloom will both be available this Monday, March 23 on the Paint Shop Polish Etsy site.  A 5ml mini bottle retails for $5.50 and a full size 15ml bottle is $10.  Also, Candi is currently offering 15% off $15 with code PADDYS15 or free US shipping with a $25 order with code FREESHIP25. Both codes will expire on March 31st so don't wait!. Be sure to follow PSP on Facebook to keep updated on new products, sales, and other important info!

Thanks so much for reading!  I hope you enjoyed this post and I'd love to hear from you in the comments section below!

Totally Aflorable

Happy Friday!  I hope everyone has had a great week.  I just wanted to do a quick post to show you my newest Sally Hansen polish strips: Aflorable!

 

I coveted this pattern for weeks before I bought these.  If you follow my posts, you'll know that I finally tried SH's polish strips last week, after finding some on sale for half price at Target.  Since those went over so well, I finally felt confident enough to pay full price for this pattern.  Of course, when I went to Walgreen's to buy them, I found they were having a buy one, get one half off sale so I managed to get a bit of a deal.  Totally worth it!  I just love this whole look!  I think the colors are flattering to my skin tone and these strips are so easy to apply!  Add a coat of Seche Vite and it's near perfection!  Here's a closer detail shot:

So cute!  

On a technical note, I managed to change my settings on my comments so anyone and everyone can comment.  I know a couple of people were worried about logging in or leaving an email address, so now you shouldn't have to worry about it.  Feel free to comment away!

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely weekend!

A Little Failure

This afternoon, while strolling through Walgreen's, I came across something I coveted immediately.  

 Now, I've tried these "polish stickers" (which is how I think of them) before, and I've been burned by them several times.  The ones I've tried have either not stuck at all or start to peel up after about an hour's worth of wear.  I have yet to try Sally Hansen's because when I see them at the store, they typically run about $10.  Not a lot of money, but when you have none to begin with 10 bucks seems astronomical!  So, I looked at this pattern (cutely enough named "Aflorable") and said to myself, "Self, we can recreate this look with polish we already have!".  I mean, I've done Cookie Monster nails, I've done little snowmen nails, I've done black cats on fences for Halloween nails.  A few vines with leaves should be easy!
Sure, no problem, right?

Um...well...kinda not right.  Kinda wrong, actually.  I'm not loving this creation (or these photos, sorry about that).  Color choice here is key.  I started with Sinful Colors Olympia, which is just a little too bright of a green for this look.   I needed something a bit more muted.  And then, the red just wasn't right.  I tried to franken a rustier color with O.P.I.'s Red, Red Rhine and Love My Nails Rasberry (yes, I know that's spelled incorrectly but that's how they spelled it on the bottle) and it just didn't come out great.  Here's another look.

Now, I don't hate it. It's got some appeal...just not what I was looking for.  But, I know I said in an earlier post that I would show some things that didn't work, along with the things that do.  So, now you've had a glimpse of the good and the bad.  I'll leave it on for now, see if it grows on me some more, but don't be surprised if there's something new up for tomorrow!