*LynBDesigns products provided for honest and unbiased review. All other products were purchased by me*
Hello, everyone! We've had a lovely cool shift in weather and it's starting to really feel like fall in Chicago. I know I should be worried that it means winter is just around the corner, but I love autumn so much I just can't care at the moment :)
On to the polish! I promised earlier in the week that I'd have the second half of LynBDesigns The Fault in Our Stars collection to share with you and here they are! (If you'd like a refresher over the first 3 gorgeous shades in this collection, you can see my swatches here.)
An olive-toned antique gold with a hint of pink shimmer, Tasting the Stars kind of snuck up on me. I wasn't expecting to love it so much just looking at it in the bottle, but once I got it on my nails I didn't want to take it off! I won't lie; this color is probably not for everyone but to me, it's a gorgeous, sophisticated color (and perfect for fall as well!).
Tasting the Stars was easy to apply and is opaque on its own in 2-3 coats (I'm showing 3 coats with 1 coat of Seche Vite here). Jenna (LynBDesigns creator) mentioned that this would also look great over black, and I'm pretty sure she's right. I'll definitely be giving it a try! No application issues here, just a smooth easy finish.
If you're a sucker for fall colors, be sure to snag Tasting the Stars for your stash. You won't regret it (I hear crunchy leaves in my head every time I look at it)!
Wish Granting Factory is up next. In the bottle, this polish looked bronze-y orange but, once I applied it, I discovered a lovely plummy jelly brimming with holographic flash and golden shimmer.
Opaque in 2-3 coats (I'm wearing 3 with 1 coat of Seche Vite), Wish Granting Factory has a smooth, easy to apply formula. I wore this polish for about 3 days with little to no tip wear, so durability isn't an issue.
Wish Granting Factory is another shade that will be perfect for fall, the wine-hued base practically screams autumn. It's another favorite of mine from this set (I seem to have a lot of those)!
Ok, I'm going to gush a bit. Our Little Infinity is by far and away my absolute favorite in this collection and is definitely in my Top 5 favorites of all time. Not only is it purple, it's a shifter with holographic glitter...it's like Jenna reached into my brain and made this one just for me! A royal blue to rich plum multichrome with flashes of gold and pink, Our Little Infinity is nothing short of spectacular. It's like a purple disco ball when the sunlight hits it and the shift in lower light is a vision. Our Little Infinity seems to glow and its distractability factor is off the charts! I'm thankful I don't drive when I wear this one...I can barely tear my eyes away from it!
*sigh*...I mean, just LOOK. AT. IT! In addition to her spellbinding good looks, Our Little Infinity has a beautifully smooth formula, though you might need an extra coat for full opacity. I'm showing 4 thin coats with a coat of Seche Vite in these photos. I wore this for 3 days on 2 separate occasions and had almost no visible wear. It's the perfect polish, I swear!
I did my best to capture the gorgeousness of Our Little Infinity, I hope you'll realize how special this one is because if you love purple and sparkly and shifty...you NEED this polish!
The Fault in Our Stars collection will be available on the LynBDesigns Etsy site
on Friday, Sept. 19. Tasting the Stars and Wish Granting Factory will each retail for $8 for a full size
bottle with Our Little Infinity at $12. I highly
recommend following LynBDesigns on Facebook to keep updated on new releases, sales, and giveaways. Jenna recently started a fan group on Facebook as well called LynB Loves.
Joining it will gain you access to sneak peeks and other great perks
(like pre-order discounts!), so you might want to consider that, too.
I hope you enjoyed this post and thanks so much for reading!
*LynBDesigns products supplied for honest and unbiased review. All other products mentioned were purchased by me*
Hello, hello! I hope everyone has had a great weekend! My Wildcats pulled out a heart-stopping (I don't call them the Cardiac 'Cats for nothing) win over Iowa State on Saturday so all is well in my world :) But we're here to talk about nail polish so I shan't bore you with football any more!
A few weeks ago, Jenna from LynBDesigns asked me to swatch her September collection which is inspired by The Fault in Our Stars. Jenna consistently puts out a quality polish and hers are some of my all time favorite indie polishes so of course I said "yes!" immediately. Even though I've neither read the book nor seen the movie, I feel like polish transcends its inspiration often enough that you don't really need to have intimate knowledge of that inspiration to appreciate it. However, I imagine that many of you will love this one for the connection to the book. I'll be showing you 3 polishes out of the 6-polish collection today.
First up is Time Slut. I love the name of this polish even though I have no idea what the reference is lol Time Slut is a pale lavender metallic polish with a subtle bit of electric blue to violet flash that grabs the light beautifully. I must have autumn on the brain because this polish just reminds me of a cashmere sweater...something about the color is so cozy!
I'm wearing 3 coats of Time Slut with one coat of Seche Vite in these photos. This polish has a great formula and I had no troubles with it at all. Since Jenna sent these to me with plenty of testing time, I am also able to tell you that I wore this polish for 3 days with just a touch of tip wear so durability is also great!
Metallics typically aren't my favorite finish for a polish; they tend to be finicky to apply and can look streaky and uneven. Time Slut does not fall into that category. Easy application and a gorgeous color make it stand out from the pack.
Zeno's Tortoise Paradox is the only crelly glitter polish in the bunch and the next up for review. A pistachio-leaning green crelly base chock full of blue, white, green, and pink glitters in hexes and squares, ZTP is colorful and eye-catching. ZTP reads as a springtime polish to me, the green base and pastel glitters feel appropriate to the growing season and I can definitely see myself pulling it out of the stash come April for a fresh Spring mani.
Again I'm showing 3 coats here and you'll most likely need a top coat (1 coat of Seche Vite shown here) just to smooth the larger glitters out a bit. The opacity is good here and I probably could have gotten away with 2 coats. No dragging or streaking and very little glitter-fishing at all. Just a great formula!
I always love a good crelly polish and Jenna really has a knack for coming up with unique color combos. Zeno's Tortoise Paradox is a fun polish and, if you're a fan of the crelly, you'll definitely want to grab it for your stash!
Okay? Okay is the only holographic polish in the collection and is one of my favorites of the set. Seriously, you add anything holographic to anything blue and you've got a winner! A sky-blue creme scattered holographic with a subtle pink shimmer, Okay? Okay is breath-taking! This one reminds me of crisp autumn skies and that little nip in the air that tells you some glorious fall days are on their way.
Opaque in 2-3 flawlessly smooth coats, I had no issues with application. Durability was also an A+ with almost no tip wear after 3 days (with 1 coat of Seche Vite). If you're looking for stunning blue polish to add to your collection, Okay? Okay is just the ticket!
The Fault in Our Stars collection will be available on the LynBDesigns Etsy site on Friday, Sept. 19. Okay? Okay will retail for $10 for a full size bottle with Time Slut and Zeno's Tortoise Paradox at $8 each. I highly recommend following LynBDesigns on Facebook to keep updated on new releases, sales, and giveaways. Jenna recently started a fan group on Facebook as well called LynB Loves. Joining it will gain you access to sneak peeks and other great perks (like pre-order discounts!), so you might want to consider that, too.
I hope you've enjoyed this post and that you'll tune in later this week for swatches of the second half of The Fault in Our Stars collection...there's a polish in the second bunch that will blow your mind, especially if you love purple, and duochromes, and holographic glitter...you won't want to miss it! Thanks so much for reading!
*Mod Lacquer products provided for honest and unbiased review. All other products mentioned were purchased by me*
Hi everyone! A couple of weeks ago, Jennifer from Mod Lacquer put out the call for reviewers and I was lucky enough to snag a spot this go-round. I've had the pleasure of wearing Jennifer's creations before (as you might remember from this post) so I've been on pins and needles to get my paws on this shipment! I was not disappointed, her polishes are superb and without further ado, let's get down to it!
Both polishes I'm reviewing today are from the Above Top Secret collection, a UFO/Alien-inspired set of holographic loveliness. Alien Encounter is a grassy spring green linear holo. The effect on these polishes is insane and will thrill you to no end in sunlight! Seriously, these babies should come with a warning label about their highly effective distractability (and yes, I know that's not a word but I'm using it anyway).
Alien Encounter applied like a dream. I'm showing 3 smooth coats here with no top coat. I totally could have gotten away with just 2 coats but I never like to skimp when it comes to holo. Pile it on, I say! Rainbows for everyone!
I decided to do something a little special with these swatches because it's such a fun theme for a collection. My Alien Encounter swatches come complete with their own "little green man", created with AE itself and the addition of some black striping polish. I may have to recreate this with a bit more detail in the future...he's so cute! I shall name him "George"!
Next up is Zero Point. Zero Point is listed on Etsy as a pink linear holographic polish but it really leans more silver on me. There is the barest blush of pink in certain lights but it's not showing up in my photos unfortunately. (If you're looking for a pinker holo, I'd suggest Aerial Phenomenon from the same collection.)
Again, the formula was nearly flawless and applied easily, no flooding or dragging. 2-3 coats for opacity (I'm wearing 3 here) and no top coat needed for shine. I can't say enough nice things about Jennifer's polishes! They're just stunning!
Zero Point, as near as I can understand it, is named after a technology used to power UFOs (and I'm probably completely wrong on that lol). For my accent nail, I used a stamp (I'm sorry that I don't have a brand for you to refer to, but it was a random that I picked up off of Ebay I think) that looks a bit like a planet or an atom...either way, kinda spacey so I thought it fit with the theme. I double stamped with a gold and then a black striping polish.
Alien Encounter and Zero Point are currently available on Mod Lacquer's Etsy shop for $11 per each full size, 15ml bottle. If you're interested in keeping up to date on new products, sales, and other important info, be sure to follow Mod Lacquer on Facebook.
I hope you've enjoyed this post and thank you so much for reading!
Hi there! I'm trying to get back into the swing of things here and I wanted to show off my newest manicure. I'm doing my best to get the hang of stamping and I had a good night of it. My bf even commented that it must have gone well because the process wasn't accompanied with the customary swearing and throwing things...so I have a temper, sue me! lol
I started with 2 coats of FingerPaints Dream I Can Fly, a turquoise-y blue (that's got a touch more green than my pics show) as a base. I was a little disappointed with this polish as my bottle is quite gloppy and streaky. It did even out in two coats, but it was kind of a mess to get there. Fortunately, the color is beautiful!
Using Colors by Llarowe's Smooth Criminal, which I recently snagged from a blog sale, and Pueen 65, which I received as a gift from my friend Liz at A Mani Maniac, I stamped some swirly bits over top. I'm loving the way this turned out and I can't wait to see it in the sunlight (stay tuned for an Instagram pic of that)!
My best stamping tips so far are to work quickly and make sure to rough up your stamper head! Mine wouldn't pick up the image at all until I buffed it lightly with an emery board...now it works great! I'd love to hear any tips you guys have for stamping...it can be a tricky business ;)
Thanks so much for reading!
*Spellbound Nails products provided for honest and unbiased review. All other products mentioned were purchased by me.*
Hello, everyone! I've got a collection of cremes plus a holo
topper to show you all today from Spellbound Nails. Ashely, the owner
and creator of Spellbound Nails, has just opened up a new website
to sell her lovely wares and has released some beautiful new
collections to go with the fabulous new site. I was lucky enough to get
to try out one of these collections and wanted to share them with you!
The collection I received to swatch is called The Darks, a witchcraft-inspired set of 5 cremes. I have to mention upfront that the bottles I received were testers, so the bottles you decide to purchase will possibly be a touch different (as far as any formula issues go). All of Ashley's finished products I've tried have had great formulas, so I never worry about quality issues. Just felt I should make you guys aware that you'll be getting a fully tested, 100% finished product if you choose to buy!
First up is Velvet, a deep, eggplant purple. As purples are always my favorites, I was excited to try this color in particular. The color is beautiful with a smoky edge, very fitting for the witchy theme! I'm wearing 3 coats of Velvet here with one coat of Seche Vite. My bottle was a little streaky up until the third coat but evened out quite nicely in the end. If you're in need of a dark-but-not-black polish for your stash, Velvet is a great option!
Witching Hour is a blackened teal and one of my favorites of this collection. The color is touch less green than my photo in real life, absolutely gorgeous! Witching Hour reminds me of the swatches I've seen of O.P.I.'s Amazon Amazoff and now I'll just have to grab a bottle so I can do a comparison. Oh no! :) No formula issues with this one at all, opaque in 2-3 coats (2 coats shown here with one coat of Seche Vite) and a smooth, easy application.
Next we have Bewitched, a deep, rusty burgundy. This was my least favorite of the colors as I just don't think it goes with my skin tone very well. The color itself is lovely, just not for me! I had no trouble with the formula here, this is an easy 2 coats with a coat of Seche Vite.
Salamander is greyed, camouflage-y green; the perfect match for slimy, salamander skin! That said, it's actually a very lovely color. I'm a big fan of green polishes right now, I think it's because we had such a long winter and I'm just thrilled to see anything that looks like growing things lol I'm showing 3 coats of Salamander here with one coat of Seche Vite. Again, easy application with no dragging or streaking, just a great polish!
Hearthstone, a mid-tone grey with a touch of earthiness, completes the collection. This color was my top fave of the bunch! Something about the perfect grey polish gets to me every time, what can I say? I'm showing 3 coats of Hearthstone here with one coat of Seche Vite. Like Velvet, my bottle of Hearthstone gave me a little streaky trouble, but did even out just fine with the third coat.
The Darks are currently available on the Spellbound Nails website and retail for $8 for a full-size, 15ml bottle. Should you decide to purchase the entire full-size collection ($40), Ashley is currently offering a free full-size bottle of her scattered holographic topper, Holo Back Girl! which I was also lucky enough to swatch :)
This is one coat of Holo Back Girl! over 2 coats of Witching Hour. The sparkle on this beauty is incredible! A great holo topper is an easy way to freshen up a days-old mani that's still in good shape or revitalize the boring polish colors. Holo Back Girl! essentially doubles the polishes in your stash by giving you the option to make each one a holographic! I love the versatility with this one.
I wanted to show you a blurry photo so you could get a better idea of the sparkle factor going on here. So many rainbows! And one coat will do ya, easy application and a great payoff!
If you want to keep apprised of new releases, sales, and other important information be sure to follow the Spellbound Nails Facebook page. I hope you enjoyed this post and thanks so much for reading!
*Nothing to disclose*
Hello, hello! Do I have some gorgeousity to show you today! Mod Lacquer LLC is a new-to-me brand and when I saw her latest collection, I knew I had to snag a few! Above Top Secret is an all holo, UFO-themed, 7 polish collection. I would have loved to buy the whole set, but since my budget isn't unlimited I picked my two favorites and I have those to show you today.
Majic Eyes Only is a silvery, lavender linear holographic polish. As far as I can tell from the two I purchased, Mod Lacquer does not skimp on the holo...rainbows everywhere! This color is so beautiful! It's actually a lighter purple than I thought it would be from the listing photos, but I don't care at all.
Seriously, look at that holo halo! This polish will wow you in the sunshine, but the effect is also strong enough to be seen in regular indoor lighting. The formula was easy and smooth, opaque in 2-3 coats. I didn't not top coat this so all the shine is just Majic Eyes Only. After I took these photos, I top coated Majic Eyes Only and wore it for 3 days and noticed only a small amount of tip wear, no chips. Definitely passes for durability! And the top coat did not dull the holographic effect at all.
If you're looking for a purple holographic polish that will knock your socks off, I'd highly recommend Majic Eyes Only. And if you're saying to yourself, "Well, I already have 4 purple holos..." then you're probably in the wrong place ;)
Next up is Men In Black. This gunmetal linear holographic polish is a stunner! I had a hard time describing the base color of this polish. I was expecting black, the listing says charcoal, and my boyfriend thought it was gold lol Whatever you chose to call her, she's mysterious and dark...just like her classified namesake.
Another beautiful formula here, again opaque in 2-3 coats and shown without top coat. And again, the holo effect was easily noticeable in regular indoor lighting, though you'll get the strongest effect in sunlight. I did top coat Men In Black after I took photos and noticed no dulling of the holo.
Overall, I have no complaints to report about either of these polishes and I'm hoping to grab a couple other polishes from this collection in the very near future!
Majic Eyes Only, Men In Black, and the rest of the Above Top Secret collection are currently available on the Mod Lacquer Etsy store for $11 for a full-size, 15ml bottle. Please follow her Facebook page as well, to keep up with new releases, sales and other important info!
Thanks so much for reading!
Hi there, folks! I hope everyone is having a great week! It's been awhile since my last post (which included a giveaway, so be sure you don't miss it!) and I've got some fun stuff coming up for you to check out! To start off, Ashely from Spellbound Nails has a new St. Paddy's Day duo coming out and was kind enough to let me play with them before they release. The set is called The Drunken Leprechaun Duo and consists of two shades of green holographic polish. As an added bonus, these polishes glow in the dark!
First up is Magically Delicious, a mossy green holographic polish. There are times when I have a bit of trouble figuring out if a holographic is linear or scattered and that's how it is with these two. I'm going to go with scattered for these, but it's a strong effect.
Next up is Lucky Charm (she what she did there?). A light sage green scattered holographic polish and my favorite of the two. They're both pretty, but the way the light hits LC just makes it sing...with an Irish lilt!
Ashley asked for some nail art with these two polishes, so that's what I've done in lieu of the standard swatch. I alternated MD on my thumb, middle, and pinky nails with LC on index and ring nails. I'm showing 3 coats of each here. The formula was great on both of them and they dry with a bit of a semi-matte finish so you'll most likely want to top coat them. I used a coat of Seche Vite here (post nail art) and noticed no dulling of the holographic effect. In fact, in this case I think it enhances it.
This was my first attempt at negative space nails. You can see (or at least I hope you can!) two little negative space shamrocks on my middle and ring fingers. The technique is pretty easy to do, but a little finicky to pull off. I outlined the design using Moon Frost by Kleancolor. One Nail to Rule Them All has a great tutorial if you're interested in trying it yourself! My thumb, index, and pinky nails are stamped with little clovers using a generic store plate (it came in one of those little stamping kits) and Sinful Colors' Last Chance.
I have to preface this last photo with an apology and a plea for help! I'm rubbish at taking long exposure photos and can't figure out any other way to photograph glow in the dark polishes! So I'm terribly sorry for the quality of this photo but I wanted to give you an idea of the glow. If you've got any tips for low light photography, I'd love to hear them!
You can see, it's not the best photo ever, but these polishes do have a nice glow to them. Also, Ashley has said that her new batch of glow in the dark additive has an even stronger glow than this, so if you order this duo you'll get more bang for your buck! Both of these polishes are so pretty and just perfect for St. Paddy's Day or just Spring in general.
If you're interested in ordering The Drunken Leprechaun Duo, they'll be available for presale beginning this Saturday, Feb. 15th through Feb. 22nd on Etsy and Storenvy. You'll have to purchase both polishes if you opt for the presale but you'll get the discounted price of $16. If you decide to wait, the full release will be on 3/1. Regular pricing is $18 for the set and $9 for an individual bottle. And can I have a "hurrah!" for an indie maker offering a holiday polish a good while in advance of said holiday? It's so frustrating to order a holiday polish and not have it in time to wear it before or even on that holiday!
Make sure to follow Spellbound Nails on Facebook to keep up with new releases, giveaways, and other relevant info! Thanks so much for reading!
*All products purchased by me*
Hey there! I'm a little late with my Sunday Similarities post, but I knew I really wanted to get this one up! I've been reorganizing my stash over the last few days (read: moving my polish around into piles and then letting it sit until I figure out what to do with it) and as I was digging through my untrieds bin, I came across LynBDesigns' Nightmare Revisited. I thought it looked pretty similar in the bottle to both I Love Nail Polish's Molly and The Devil Wears Polish's A Nice Chianti. What do you guys think?
As you can see, each of these lovely ladies is a berry or wine tinted holographic. I held these bottles up to show my bf and he laughed at me for having 3 of exactly the same color polishes by 3 different makers. However, I urge you to look at the following photo and tell me who's laughing now?
Nightmare Revisited is actually much more pink, verging on a hot pink, on the nail whereas A Nice Chianti and Molly are both deeper in color, closer to a raspberry or wine color. A Nice Chianti has the most holographic punch of the 3 (I would expect nothing less of The Devil Wears Polish) but all of them will knock you out in sunlight! Nightmare Revisited is also the sheerest of the bunch, showing at 3 coats here. A Nice Chianti was fully opaque in 2 coats and Molly was practically a one coater. A Nice Chianti and Molly are similar but Molly is 2 to 3 shades deeper than A Nice Chianti. They are all, of course, gorgeous and I'm so happy to own them all!
If you would like to snag any of these beauties, they are all currently available on their makers websites. Nightmare Revisited retails for $10 for a full size 15ml bottle, Molly is also $10 for ILNP's full size 12ml bottles, and A Nice Chianti comes in 13.2ml full size bottles for $12 and 5ml mini bottles for $5.75.
*All products purchased by me*
I also urge you to follow each of these fabulous makers on Facebook as they all share fantastic manicures, new release info, and tons of other things you'll want to keep abreast of! You can like The Devil Wears Polish here, LynBDesigns here, and I Love Nail Polish here.
Thank you so much for reading!
*All products purchased by me. Unsolicited review*
Hi there! I hope a few of you are still home and awake on a Friday night. I'm about down for the count, but I wanted to throw a quick post up about this gorgeous polish! A few weeks ago, I Love Nail Polish had a restock and a pre-order release of some new colors. I was lucky enough to snag a few of them and I've yet to be disappointed by anything Barbara has shipped out to me. This polish is no exception!
A.C. Slater is a liner holographic with a dark greyish brown base; I'd call it mink. The color itself is beautiful, soft and shimmery. And that holographic....wow! Warm and smoky with that colorful flash, this polish evokes outdoor bonfires on the beach and the sun setting on the water. Simply sublime!
As with every other ILNP polish I've tried, the formula was excellent. Opaque in 2 coats and oh! so smooth! I've used one coat of Sally Hansen Inst-Dri as a top coat for durability but the finish on this polish is so shiny, a top coat may not be necessary (unless, like me, you have a job that requires getting your hands beat up all day long!). Even with my tough-on-the-nails day at work, I only had a bit of tip wear and no chips at all.
A.C. Slater currently retails for $10 for a 12ml bottle, however, the site is currently out of stock. These babies go fast over at ILNP's website, so you'll want to follow the Facebook page to keep up with restocking information, new products, and any other pertinent news. Additionally, if you sign up for an account on ILNP's site, you'll be notified by email of upcoming restocks and when they go live. I will also say that ILNP has the BEST pre-order/restock system for ordering I've experienced for such a high-volume brand, including text/email notification when your turn in line comes up. It's pretty awesome!
*All products purchased by me. Unsolicited review*
Before I let you guys go, I wanted to let you know that I'm part of a pretty fantastic giveaway currently over at ColorSutra's blog. She's celebrating 2K Facebook likes with a 31 prize (yes! 31!) giveaway! Tons of great indie makers and other bloggers have united for this one and you won't want to miss it! Go enter and good luck! Thanks so much for reading!
Ok, I'm not sure how the Holographic Mish Mash Challenge ended up being in November, but lemme tell ya, the Universe has a bad sense of humor! I'll apologize in advance because all my photos are indoor lighting and don't show the true holo-happiness of the polish but we do what we can with what we have, yes? That said, I'm still excited to show you this polish because it really is gorgeous in any light. Carpe Noctem Cosmetics had a deal last week with a freebie mini if you purchased more than $15...the freebie was a mystery I just couldn't pass up! Emily's polishes are always lovely, so I knew whatever it was, it would be fabulous. I was so not wrong!
Don't Panic is not only a linear holographic, its base is the shifty goodness of CNC's Interstellar Towel. This is such a stunner in sunlight that I'm totally bummed I didn't photograph it outdoors when I had the chance. The base shifts from grey to green to purple (similar to Essie's For the Twill of It) and the holographic is fantastic!
The macro shot on the left shows a more "natural" indoor light, where you can actually see that holographic better. The photo on the right shows my normal lightbox setup lighting. The holographic is more subtle, but both are pretty in my opinion.
The formula was great, smooth and opaque in 2 coats. I did not want to take this polish off! If I didn't have so much to swatch this week, I'd still be wearing it. I don't know if this is still available with orders over $20 (that was the last deal I saw on it), but I'm sad to say, I think she might be out. The base polish, Interstellar Towel, IS available however, along with lots of other fabulous creations over on the Etsy site. For updates on Carpe Noctem Cosmetics, follow her on Facebook.
I cannot wait to see what the other Mish Mashers do this week! I'm sure we're in for some awesome manicures. If you'd like to check the other gals out, you can find them via the thumbnails below! Thanks so much for reading :)
