Monday, March 30, 2015

Bright Stripes for Spring!

Good afternoon, dear readers! I hope you enjoyed the weekend and have had a wonderful start to a new week. I have a quick nail art look I wanted to share with you today; let's check it out!
To create this look, I started with Sweet Heart Polish Don't Touch My CAKE!, and I used Stoked and Rad, also by Sweet Heart Polish, to add the stripes. I then topped my nails off with Glisten & Glow's HK Girl top coat.

I really like this look!The stripes certainly add a nice touch of brightness to my nails, but it isn't too intense for my liking. It's a simple but fun manicure for the sunny spring and summer days!

I hope you enjoyed today's post! I've got company visiting, so I'm sorry my post is a little less verbose than usual. I hope you have a wonderful day!
XO!


Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Fair Maiden Polish: Select Shades from the Garden Party Collection

Happy hump day, dear readers! If you haven't started making any plans for the weekend, now is a good time to start! I have company visiting, but I'm sure I'll still sneak off to paint my nails a little- I always do!

For this morning's post, I have a few shades from the new Garden Party Collection by Fair Maiden Polish to share with you. Fair Maiden may be one of the newer indie brands on the market, but Sarah and Adrienne, the creative masterminds behind the brand, certainly know what they are doing! They have a knack for creating some of the most beautiful polishes with fabulous formulas, and if you haven't tried them out yet, you certainly should! Let's check out three of their newest shades!

Gilded Garden
A strikingly vintage gold metallic polish with light blue shimmer undertones, rose gold sparkle flecks and a linear holo finish.

Ok, I am in love! Gilded Garden is such a striking polish and arguably one of my favorite shades ever made by Fair Maiden Polish. The formula was flawless and quite dense: I used two coats for these photos, but I probably could have gotten away with a single ever-so-slightly thicker coat. Also, like the ring in these photos? This rose gold-coloured arrow ring comes with this polish! It's a great extra to go along with this beauty!

Mint Succulent
Soft seafoam green-blue polish with a strong violet orange flash, linear holo and subtle sparkle.

Ahhhh! You guys have no idea how excited I am about this polish! Ok, maybe you do! This is THE shade I've been eagerly waiting to see this season, and I am thrilled to see Fair Maiden Polish brought it to life! It is perfection! I used two easy coats for these photos.

Sweet Honeysuckle
Soft peachy crème with golden flash and violet red sparkle.

Sweet Honeysuckle is another stunning shade from this collection! I love these peachy shades on my toes in particular, and I'll be doing a pedicure with this baby hopefully later today! I had a little bit of patchiness with two coats, something I always experience with colours like this, but the third coat fixed everything up perfectly.

Now that I have you all excited about these colours, I have some bittersweet news. The launch was such a huge success (yay!) that these polishes are currently out of stock (oh no!). At the time of this post, they have other stunningly beautiful shades from previous collection available for purchase on their website here that won't disappoint. Be sure to follow Fair Maiden Polish on Facebook for news on the restock date in addition to other shop announcements.

Until next time, dear readers, have a wonderful day!
XO!



Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Sweet Heart Polish Birthday Trio and Don't Touch My CAKE!

Good morning, dear readers! I hope you are having a wonderful day thus far! It was a long night here with my toddler, and I'm hoping the caffeine from my coffee kicks in really soon. I have company arriving this weekend, and I've got more unpacking to do beforehand! Of course I had to get a post up, so let's get to it!

Cassandra, the mastermind behind the indie brand Sweet Heart Polish, celebrated her birthday last week, and to commemorate the occasion, she created a set of polishes. The birthday polishes costs of a trio of holographic beauties and an additional shimmery crelly shade that you can either buy separately or receive for free if you buy the holo trio. Let's check them out!

Keeping My Wish Secret
Keeping My Wish Secret is a blue linear holographic polish with silver micro holographic glitter. It is a gorgeous shade of blue, and I'm definitely going to be grabbing for this one a lot! I used two easy coats for these photos.

Hope it's Wine or Polish!
Hope it's Wine or Polish! is a dark pink holographic polish with silver micro holographic glitter. I absolutely love this shade of pink, and it is my favorite from the birthday trio! The formula was great, and I used two coats for these photos.

32? No, 29...Again
32? No, 29...Again is a purple linear holographic polish with silver holographic micro glitter. As someone that is possibly over 30 herself, I love the name of this shade as much as I do the colour! I used two smooth coats for these swatch photos.

Don't Touch My CAKE!
Don't Touch My CAKE! is a mix of pastel dots in a shimmery crelly base. This polish screams Funfetti cake, my go-to favorite! I didn't have cake for my birthday this year with traveling, but I made a Funfetti cake for my toddler for his birthday. The formula was a little trickier to work with just because I was trying to get a nice dispersal of glitters across my nails, but it applied nicely for me with a little extra patience. I still have visible nail line with three coats (plus top coat), so if VNL isn't your cup of tea, you might want to layer this over a base shade. While I tend to shy away from white-based polishes, I do really enjoy this one!

All four of these polishes are currently available for purchase at the Sweet Heart Polish Etsy shop here. You can purchase each of the holographic shades from the trio individually for $10 each or as a set for $24. If you purchase the entire trio, you will receive Don't Touch My CAKE! for free. Alternately, Don't Touch My CAKE! is available for purchase for $9. Don't forget to follow Sweet Heart Polish for shop news and announcements!

Until next time, dear readers, have a wonderful day!
XO!








Monday, March 23, 2015

Literary Lacquers Magic & Mysteries Collection

Good morning, dear readers, and happy Monday! I feel like I have been on a roll this morning; I've got quite a bit accomplished already, and it's not noon yet! Hopefully I can keep the momentum going so I can get even more crossed off my to-do list! In order to keep things going, let's get to today's blog post!
I had shared a teaser of one of the polishes from the Magic & Mysteries Collection by Literary Lacquers that was created for my blogiversary, and I now have the full collection to share! Let's do this!

Flickum Bicus
Red-orange shimmer with blue flakies/glass flecks inspired by Jim Butcher's Dresden Files

Flickum Bicus is a little on the sheer side, and I can still see a hint of visible nail line with the three perfect coats I used here. I adore this colour, and it is definitely one of my favorites from this collection!

Menolly Rosabelle D'Artigo
Silver-blue strong scattered holo inspired by Yasmine Galenorn's Otherworld series

This is such a pretty icy blue shade! It's a nice alternate to the more pastel blues that have been popping up in other collections this season, so I'm glad to see this one. I used two easy coats for these photos.

Octarine
Lilac linear holo with glass flecks and flakies inspired by Terry Pratchett's Discworld

These photos are regrettably a lie- Octarine kept wanting to photograph more pink, and since my editing skills are awful at best, I'm just going to have to note this as operator error. This lilac beauty does have a pink lean to it, especially against my skin tone, but it is a little more purple than these photos are showing. I used three coats for these photos since I think I saw visible nail line on one nail with two coats, but two coats are likely enough. The formula was great and easy to work with as well.

Felix Felicis
Nude with gold flakies and glass flecks inspired by the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling

Check out all that gold! I'm really digging this shade, and I definitely have plans to play around with this beauty. I think it would be a fabulous, albeit a little dense, topper, and I want to try that option out as well one of these days. I used two coats for these swatch photos.

Avada Kedavra
Black matte base packed with gold and green glitter also inspired by Harry Potter

I have to admit, I really teared up when I first put on Avada Kedavra. Darn pregnancy hormones! I don't know if it's the darker shade or the glitters, but it reminded me of the old school Dracula collection from Literary Lacquers, and the nostalgia hit me quite hard. Yes, the description says matte, and no, my photos are not matte. I'm the nitwit that forgot to take photos in the matte stage before adding topcoat, and my matte topcoats have woefully decided to disappear on me. At least you can see how pretty this dark shade looks with a shiny top coat, right? I used two coats of Avada Kedavra for these photos.

Virgin Huntress
Bright blue glass fleck/flakie polish inspired by Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

I've always been a fan of vibrant blues, so you know I am loving Virgin Huntress! Amy does such an amazing job with glass fleck polishes, so I am thrilled to see one in this shade! I used two easy coats for these photos.

Mirror of Galadriel
Silver linear mega glitter holo inspired by Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien

Check out that sparkle! Mirror of Galadriel is absolutely gorgeous, and looking at these photos is giving me a nail art idea to try out. The formula is smooth and easy to work with, and I used two coats for these photos.

Cast From Stormhold
Red-purple with gold flakies and silver glass fleck inspired by Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Don't worry, you're not going crazy, I've shared this one before. Cast From Stormhold is my baby to celebrate my blogiversary, and even though I shared it before, this collection post just feels so incomplete without it. You can read my previous post about it here for more on my specific inspiration if you are interested. I used two perfect coats plus top coat for these photos.

The Magic & Mysteries Collection is currently available for purchase at the Literary Lacquers Etsy shop here. Be sure to follow Literary Lacquers on Facebook and Instagram for more photos and shop news and announcements.

Until next time, dear readers, have a wonderful day!
XO!









Sunday, March 22, 2015

SuperChic Lacquer: Assorted Shades from the Serendipity Collection

Good morning, dear readers! I hope this post finds you well! I got back into town after a vacation this week, and I've been going more than a little crazy trying to catch up on my day-to-day life and needs on top of attempting to swatch and blog. It got to be a little too much trying to do it all, so unfortunately my blog had to get put on hold for a few days. I got a bit of swatching done yesterday, so I'll photos posted this week!

For today's post, I wanted to share some of the shades from the SuperChic Lacquer Serendipity Collection that launched earlier this month. I was really excited when I first heard about the collection! I'm a little iffy on pastels, but the idea of bright pastel neons with matte to low-sheen cream finishes sounded like so much fun! I now have four of the shades plus the new holo topper that was released as part of the collection; let's check them out!

Cause & Effect
Cause & Effect is described as a stunning cross between a tangy tangerine and a pink grapefruit. I personally think it is more of a cross between a cantaloupe and a peach, but regardless of how you describe it, it is such a fun and bright shade for spring! I used three easy coats for these photos.

Ride the Neon Rainbow over
Cause & Effect
Ride the Neon Rainbow is a stunning hybrid of neon luminescent reflective glow combined with strong linear holographic. I only used a single coat of this topper, and I definitely had a beautiful holo effect on my nails! This topper is a little sheer, and the result is a less graying holo topcoat than any of the others I have used in the past. It's certainly going to make it my go-to topper!

Crystal Blue Persuasion
Crystal Blue Persuasion is described as a heavenly ethereal crystal blue. While I normally prefer darker blues, I really have been enjoying this shade quite a bit already this season! I used three smooth coats for these photos.

Ride the Neon Rainbow over
Crystal Blue Persuasion

Dumb Luck
Dumb Luck is described as a jaw-dropping most incredible retro green. I am totally in love with this vibrant green hue! I did have a little bit of patchiness with this particular polish, and while it wasn't this noticeable with the naked eye, my camera certainly captured it! I used three coats for these photos, and now I'm wishing I added a fourth! 

Ride the Neon Rainbow over
Dumb Luck

Synchronicity
Synchronicity is described as an amazing electrified grape, and that it is! This purple shade is striking, and one that needs to be part of everyone's collection! I used three smooth coats for these swatch photos.

Ride the Neon Rainbow over Synchronicity

I'm really digging these shades from the new Serendipity collection! The polishes are colourful and bold, and the holo topper is perfect for adding the holo effect without graying out the base shade much at all!

This collection is currently sold out, but it is scheduled to be restocked this Tuesday, March 24th at 4PM PST on the Wonder Beauty Products Etsy shop here. You definitely don't want to miss out!

You can also follow Wonder Beauty on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for shop news and announcements.

Until next time, dear readers, have a wonderful day!
XO!



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