Spooky Polished Pairings: Holo in triplicate

(All polishes in this post were purchased with my own money.)

Hello!!

What's more awesome than a gorgeous holo? A gorgeous holo that's perfect for Halloween! (Hmmm...this would be the perfect place for a Holo-ween pun...I'll work on it and check back in...) And what's more awesome than that? That same holo paired with not one, not two, but three different Halloween glitters!

Okay, now that I've built it up to a level that I cannot possibly live up to, let's just move on to the polish. I give you the amazing pumpkin-worthy orange holo that is LynBDesigns Am I Ginger?:

LynBDesigns Am I Ginger?, two coats, direct sunlight

This polish slid on to my nails like a silk nightgown sliding over my hips. The formula was perfect, and the coverage was excellent, requiring only two coats for opacity.

This holo needs no accompaniment, but every beautiful girl deserves some extra bling now and then. So, I went on a quest to find the perfect Halloween glitter to pair her with...Let's see how she looks with a coat of Liquid Lacquer Quarter Life Crisis, which is chock-full of purple, teal, and green circle glitters:

Liquid Lacquer Quarter Life Crisis over LynBDesigns Am I Ginger?, artificial light

Oh yes. Circle glitters in Halloweenish colors...there's just no arguing with that. However, let's see what else we can come up with...How about Lush Lacquer Frankenmama:

Lush Lacquer Frankenmama over LynBDesigns Am I Ginger?, artificial light

The small purple glitters in this really bring out the purple in AIG's holo rainbow...it's like AIG has been turbo-charged somehow. Just gorgeous!

I don't know how we're gonna improve on that, but let's take a shot at a classic orange-and-black type pairing with IBD Party Riot, a topper with large and small black hexes, black bar glitter, and gold hexes:

IBD Party Riot over LynBDesigns Am I Ginger?, artificial light

IBD Party Riot over LynBDesigns Am I Ginger?, direct sunlight

This is certainly a very typical sort of Halloween look, but will still definitely get you noticed, particularly when the sun hits it. :)

So what do you think? Which pairing is your favorite?

Halloween hugs,
M.

(All polishes in this post were purchased with my own money.)

Before & After: Citrus Beach

(Products in this post were all purchased by me.)

Hello!

Oh yes, summer is holding on strong here...it hovered around 90 degrees both yesterday and today. And there's not much relief coming any time soon.

So, what else can I do but show you one of the summeriest summer manicures I've ever made? That's right, you've been warned--you're about to be hit by the brightest, citrusiest, beach-blanketiest manicure you've ever seen in your life. I've been saving it for just such an occasion. :)

I started with a base of Revlon Beach, a really unusual shade of greenish-yellow (yellowish-green) with a metallic finish:

Revlon Beach, indirect sunliht, two coats

Revlon Beach, direct sunlight, two coats

Then I added a coat of Lush Lacquer Sizzling Hot, and then stamped a large citrust pattern over it all with Konad White and Bundle Monster BM 308:

Yeah, baby! Tell me that isn't beach-blanket-citrus-licious! No, I don't know what that means, either! But it definitely makes a statement. :)

I hope you're enjoying your dog days of summer, and thanks for taking a look! Hugs and love,
M.

(Products in this post were all purchased by me.)

Before & After: Miami Neon Vice

(Contains affiliate links)

Hello--

This hasn't been a good week, and today hasn't been much of a good day. I sort of just wanted the day to be over so I thought I'd write up with post in the morning, but I can't sleep, so I figured I'd write up the post now--nothing like some pretty polish to cheer a girl up.  Especially when it involves a gorgeous, office-wear holo. :)

Today's manicure is a combination of two challenge manis in one; this is the fourth week of my Nail Challenge Collaborative's neon theme, and it's 1980s week in my Llama Nails group. I didn't intent to combine these themes, but how could I not--what's more 80s than neon??

Plus, my lemming nail mail came, and I had a polish I just couldn't resist using...so all the stars aligned, and here it be.

But I'm getting ahead of myself! First, I started with a base of Ruby White Tips polish Kim, which I got as a thank-you from Laura, the owner, because there was a delay with my order. It was a very sweet surprise which she did NOT have to do, and it just goes to show how amazing her customer service is! Kim is a barely-pink taupe color with a subtle scattered holographic sparkle:

Ruby White Tips Kim, artificial light

Ruby White Tips Kim, artificial light

This polish is like the secretary that has a little secret--that touch of a wild side she keeps hidden at work. In inside light, this is a perfect office-wear polish; the holo goes away and you have a lovely neutral shade. When you go outside or into other types of artificial light, you get that small little glimmer of holo happy that changes it up and makes it fresh and pretty. And while regular taupes can be boring even with toppers, the pink lean to this makes it a great polish to layer under fun polishes; let me show you what I mean...

That lemming I mentioned earlier? It was a general lemming sort of thing, I've been dying to get my hands on one of those matte-neon clear-based toppers. I fell in love with Wicked Polish's Hung Over The Rainbow, but haven't been able to get my hands on it. So when I was shopping Llarowe's restock the other day getting the new a-Englands, I happened to notice that Lush Lacquer Clowning Around also restocked and I grabbed it up. Look at how pretty it looks over Kim:

Lush Lacquer Clowning Around over RWT Kim, direct sunlight

Lush Lacquer Clowning Around over RWT Kim, indirect sunlight

This is one of those polishes I think everyone should own, in some form. I was worried it would be too bright or too neony, but it isn't--it's just the right of amount of happy and smiles in a jar. The kind of thing that just makes your day a little brighter when you need it to. :) This was so pretty I wore it like this for a day by itself.

Yes, that's all well and good as it is, but for a 1980s theme? Not nearly over the top enough. So to build on my Miami-Vice neutral pastel and my 1980s neon glitter, I stamped a 1980s pattern over them, using Pueen 05 (click here to see my review of this collection) and a variety of bright Sally Hansen polishes (Brisk Blue, Lickety-Split Lime, Orange Impulse, Lightning):

I wear my sunglasses at night

So I can so I can...

Not be blinded by this crazy manicure!

I think it's safe to say that's pretty darn 80s. It might even out-80s the 80s, lol...But I'm pretty sure my friend had a sweater that looked just like one of those nails...Right around the same time my boyfriend was looking fine in his parachute pants. Wait, I mean...I'm clearly too young to have lived during that time...I saw it on a tv show! Yeah, that's the ticket! >.<

Thanks for reading, and please check out the other manis linked below. :)

Big hugs,
M.

Before & After: a-England Dragon + Lush Lacquer

Hello!

Today's CNT 31 Day challenge prompt is 'geometric'. My preferred style tends to be flourishy and not so much geometric, so these types of prompts are always fun for me, to get me out of my comfort zone a bit.

I started with a base of a-England's Dragon, which is a gorgeous deep moss green scattered holographic. This is such a yummy polish, I think I need to get Saint George, the teal version of it when I can afford it...I just spent most of my Christmas money on a frankening kit, so I'm not sure when that will be, lol.

Anyway, my second step was to add some Lush Lacquer Slime Time to the accent nail; Slime Time is one of the first Indie glitters I got and it's still one of my favorites. I think what really makes it special to me is the white squares, which seem to just set off the other colors perfectly, and give it just a bit of quirkiness. :)

a-England Dragon + Lush Lacquer Slime Time

I mean, seriously, take a look at the bottle--how pretty is that mix of glitter!

Next I stamped with Konad White and Cheeky B, a square white pattern to mirror the square white glitters; I finished off with a square rhinestone on each nail:

This looks a tiny bit rough because I did wear it for a little while; I ended up loving it and didn't want to take it off. Something about the squares just worked for me, somehow, lol.

Thanks for looking, and please check out the other geometric manis, linked below!

Xoxox,
M.

Indie-Licious Dupe Or No Dupe: Sizzling Hot vs. Bazinga!

Hello!!!

Welcome to the very first Indie edition of Dupe Or No Dupe! I thought I'd take a break from fall and winter colors here to bring you a comparison based on one of my favorite color combinations. :)

For some reason, I love me some yellow-red-orange together. Doesn't matter which is the base and which is added, I just love them all combined. So, I recently bought two glitters that contained red and yellow, perfect for putting over orange polishes.  I can try to play like I meant to do it, thought they were different, yada yada. But the fact is, I bought one, forgot I had purchased it, and bought the other one. And when they showed up and looked alike, I thought to myself...'Now, that wasn't too bright. But the upside is, it makes perfect content for a Dupe Or No Dupe post!'

That's me--always finding ways to make lemonade out of stupid.

But enough about me. Here are the two polishes in question, Lush Lacquer's Sizzling Hot (on the left), and Different Dimension's Bazinga! (on the right):

Lush Lacquer Sizzling Hot vs. Different Dimension Bazinga! in the bottles

Both polishes are clear-based, and have yellow and red-orange hex glitters of different sizes, from micro glitter to medium. Both are densely packed and yummy. In the bottle, Bazinga! seems to have a bit more contrast between the colors, with a bright yellow and deep red, while Sizzling Hot seems to have more complementary orange and yellow shades. Also, Bazinga! seems to have a few more of the larger hexes. Let's see how this shows on the nail.

To test them out, I layered them other Misa Sisterhood:

Misa Sisterhood

Here they are layered over the base polish:

I applied both of these without any futzing--the glitters went where they went--and they both applied with similar ease. Sizzling Hot is on my index and ring fingers, while Bazinga! is on my middle and pinkie fingers.

So what do you think? I say No Dupe, but man, awfully close. The deeper red in Bazinga! does come out, and the difference in hexes showed up a bit even with my non-careful application. But, I'm not sure it's different enough to justify buying both; they both give similar effects. The difference might show up more if I'd put them over another color, say white--if you'd like me to try this let me know and I'll be happy to do it.

In the meantime, I think either of these pretty gems will make you happy. Lush Lacquer charges $8.75 for full-sized polishes, and Different Dimension charges $8.50, so the price difference is minimal. And both shops have holiday polishes out now that are worth looking at. You can visit Lush Lacquer's Etsy shop by clicking here,  and you can visit Different Dimension's Etsy shop by clicking here.

Thanks for reading! :)

Xoxox,

M.

Before & After: Depression Awareness

Hello.

Today's manicure represents a serious subject that is close to my heart. As you may know, October is Depression Awareness month. If you don't know much about depression, please check out Scrangie's post on depression; it contains a lot of important facts about what depression is and isn't.

I suffer from depression, and have for most of my life, as far back as I can remember. In fact, part of the reason I started this blog was to give myself something happy and positive to focus on for at least a few minutes each day.

Depression can be debilitating. It makes your life dark, like a huge, sticky black cloud has engulfed it. When people tell you to be grateful for the good things in your life, that makes it worse, because you already know you're lucky and don't understand why you feel so horrendously bad all the time; and, you feel deeply, deeply guilty about not being able to pull yourself out of it and feel the way you 'should' feel. The fact is, depression isn't a choice. It's a biochemical disorder that sufferers have no control over. And it can destroy every moment of every day for them.

The official color of depression awareness is green. I chose China Glaze Cast A Spell as the base for my depression awareness manicure:

Cast A Spell is a dark, dark olive green that's almost black. It's filled with dark green-gold flecks, and in this context it reminds me of the way that even when light tries to crack through the blackness of depression, it never quite succeeds, and is tainted by the darkness around it.

Many people who suffer with depression work hard to keep the outside world from seeing it. I've had many colleagues in my life tell me that they admire how I'm always positive and energetic, but they don't understand how hard I have to work to put on that face; they don't understand how draining, how much it takes out of me to put on that face. And they certainly don't understand that the darkness is lurking right underneath that facade, barely hidden and waiting to come out.

To symbolize that aspect of depression, I did a skittle artwork manicure:

On my index finger, I put a coat of Hit Polish High Tech (a pretty glitter with greens, silver and black). On my middle finger, I put a coat of CND Jade Sparkle (a green interference topper) along with a ridge of olive glequins. On my ring finger I put a coat of Lush Lacquer Camo Queen (a glitter with olives, golds, and black), and on my pinkie I added Zoya Opal, a green-blue flakie.


But no matter what good things are going on, no matter how good a front I put on, and no matter what I manage to fight through and accomplish when I'm depressed (and even tiny things are a huge fight), it's all still  blunted  by the depression.  There's a pallor over everything, and nothing feels good, nothing feels right. To symbolize this, I put a matte top coat over the manicure:

If you know someone who suffers from depression, you can support them by educating yourself about depression and about the help available to people who suffer from it.

Thank you for reading if you've made it this far. Below I've linked in with other bloggers who are also spreading the word about depression.

M.

Before & After (& After): D is for Duochromed Stamping Sandwich

Hello!!!

Today's theme for this week in Llama Nails, we're on the letter 'D', and my 'D' is for Duochromed Stamping Sandwich. :) This manicure was an awesome happy accident that I'd love to claim I had planned out from the start, but I didn't...it evolved into something that I finally loved. :)

This started out with an awesome discovery as I was looking for shoes at Payless Shoe Source...a brand they sell there called Brash. There were a number of colors, but the one that I had to have was this one, Sergeant Khaki:

Brash Sergeant Khaki in the shade

Brash Sergeant Khaki in partial sun

Sergeant Khaki is an olive green with a silvery-green glass-flecked finish. I love the texture on this and the deep shade of green. I wanted to add a metallic stamp to complement the finish, so I stamped over it using China Glaze Passion and Cheeky plate CH16; to give it some definition, I put Lush Lacquer Camo Queen (Indie Alert!!) on the ring finger:

Lush Lacquer Camo Queen over Brash Sergeant Khaki

I liked this, and I wore it this way for a day, but it just felt a little too stark and chaotic to me, and I wanted to put something over it to mute the effect. And then Enchanted Polish Hey Jude (Indie Alert!!) came in the mail and I decided it would be perfect! So I threw a coat on over the manicure, and here's what I got:

Enchanted Polish over the stamping and glitter

Enchanted Polish over the stamping and glitter

Enchanted Polish over stamping and glitter

I've done glitter sandwiches before, but I've never thought before now to do it with stamping--a stamping sandwich! But rest assured, I'll be doing this again. I love the way the duochrome shines but the stamping still peeks out from under it, and the stamping is now calm enough to be enjoyable. And how amazing is that Enchanted Polish to be able to keep that gorgeous color shift even when it's sheer enough to have something else visible under it? Beautiful.

So there it is, my duochromed stamping sandwich! Thanks for taking a look, and please check out the other 'D' manicures by my fellow Llama bloggers! :)

xoxo,
M.

(UPDATED) Haul: Happy Birthday Part 2

Hello!!

A couple of weeks ago I showed you the first half of my birthday haul, and promised you that there was a part two coming...I'm finally able to post it today! Have a look:

So excited to play with all this awesomeness!

One of the things I was really excited about was getting my first Enchanted Polishes; these are normally out of my price range, but they're so gorgeous!:

Enchanted Polish 'Hey Jude' and 'Secret Sauce'

And of course I had to have some glitters:

Lush Lacquer Camo Queen, Sizzling Hot, and Fuzzy Peaches

My first Impalas

And no stamping fanatic's birthday would be complete without some cool plates! I finally was able to order some plates from Magno Nails, and get the new LeaLaC plates. I've already reviewed LeaLaC plate A (if you're interested, you can find the review by clicking here), and will be reviewing the other plates shortly:

LeaLaC Plate A

LeaLaC Plate B

Magno Nails Plate M

Magno Nails Plate O

Magno Nails Plate T

UPDATE: I've had a question about pricing here, and I should have put it in the first place! Here is pricing/ordering information:

I got the LeaLaC plates, the Enchanted Polish, and the Impala polishes Llarowe:

The Impala polishes are currently $4.50 each.

The Enchanted Polish line can be found here and have currently been reduced to $13 each.

The LeaLaC plates  can be found here; there are different sizes, but the ones I bought are $20.

The Lush Lacquer line is here, and her full-sized polishes are $8.75 each (she also has minis available).

Last but not least, the Magno Nails line is here; this is a German store, but don't let that stop you from ordering from them. I got the best customer service from her, and they are very on top of the packages they ship. When the *US* post office temporarily misplaced my package--not the German post--she filed a complaint that day and I got my package the next! The large plates that I got go for 15 euro, which came to about $20 American when I bought them.


So, just a hint of some of the things I'll be featuring in the blog soon, or am in the process of featuring! And if there are any images in particular you'd like me to test from the plates, please do let me know. :)

Thanks for looking!

xoxo,

M.