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!

14 of 31: Flower Nails

Howdy!  As usual, I'm running late with this post.  Today's challenge is Flower nails and, frankly, I was not excited about it.  I'm not really a flower-y girl.  So, I thought and I thought and I thought about what to do.  Then I started googling photos and found this one.  Poppies are one of my favorite flowers and I love the drama of the color.  Here's my version:

This turned out so fabulous that I'm almost sad I'm not at work tomorrow to get some feedback...almost sad, but not really :)  I started here with 2 coats of Wet 'n' Wild's Wild Shine in French White Creme.  Using a striper brush, I painted the flower outlines and seed pods onto my accent nail.  After that, I used acrylic paint to detail some flowers.  I also used the paint in a one-stroke technique to do the larger flowers on the rest of my nails.  Drama, drama, drama!  And in a good way!  Here's another look:

So, again, the 31 Day Manicure Challenge pushes me to come up with something out of nothing!  Thanks so much for reading and I hope you'll come check out my delicately printed nails tomorrow!

6 of 31: Purple Nails

Howdy, everyone!  I'm still keeping up with the 31 Day Challenge and we're on to Day 6.  Here's my take on Purple Nails:

This is my first attempt at a technique called one stroke painting.  I got the idea from this post on Lucy's Stash and did a little research on YouTube to find out how to do this technique.  It's relatively simple, but takes a bit of practice.  If you're interested in learning more, there are tons of videos out there, just google "one stroke painting".  

Here, I started with 2 coats of Essie's Bangle Jangle, a pretty grey lavender creme.  I painted the flowers using purple and white acrylic paint and topped everything with a coat of Seche Vite.  I'm pretty proud of this for a first attempt and I'm looking forward to trying this technique in some different colors.  Here's another look:

Thanks so much for reading and stop back in tomorrow to see some black & white nails!