Hit The Bottle Polish To Love or Not to Love plate!

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Hello!


Today we're gonna take a look at a new plate from Hit The Bottle Polish, the To Love or Not to Love plate! To kick things off, here's a look at the video review I did of the plate:

And let's take a closer look at the plate:

Hit The Bottle To Love or Not to Love plate

You guys--this is my kind of Valentine's plate! Love is wonderful, and I love the opportunity to celebrate it. But not everybody is feeling love on Valentine's day, and not everybody wants to celebrate love in a cute, cuddly way! Some of us prefer barbed-wire hearts to lace ones, and sometimes you just want to steampunk that holiday out! This plate gives you so many different ways you can go this Valentine's season, and I love that. Single this year? There's an image for that. Heartbroken? There's an image for that. Feeling so happy and in love you have to shout it from the rooftops? There's an image for that.


Here are a couple of swatches I did for the video:

And let's jump into some manis! I showed you this first one last time:

Hit The Bottle Polish To Love or Not to Love over The Lady Varnishes You Set My Heart A-Humming

Base Polish(es): The Lady Varnishes You Set My Heart A-Humming
Stamping Plate(s): Hit The Bottle Polish To Love or Not to Love
Stamping Polish(es): Hit The Bottle Polish Tangerine Scream and Make Mine A Mudslide


Sometimes a girl just needs a little edge with her hearts...

Hit The Bottle Polish To Love or Not to Love over Sally Hansen Get Mod

Base Polish(es): Sally Hansen Get Mod
Stamping Plate(s): Hit The Bottle Polish To Love or Not to Love
Stamping Polish(es): UberChic Beauty Pure Black

I think this one would look amazing with the hearts in red, too...


And finally, because sometimes love hurts...

Hit The Bottle Polish To Love or Not to Love over Stella Chroma Hot Cocoa and Gala

Base Polish(es): Stella Chroma Hot Cocoa and Gala
Stamping Plate(s): Hit The Bottle Polish To Love or Not to Love
Stamping Polish(es): Hit The Bottle Polish Holo There Beautiful and Shadows of Darkness

This plate is on sale now, both in Hit The Bottle's shop, and anywhere else you can buy her plates, especially Lantern & Wren.

Big hugs,
M. xoxo

Follow me all the places! 

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Check out The Dancing Girls, my debut novel, here!
And the 2nd Det. Jo Fournier book, Taken to the Grave, here!
And the 3rd Det. Jo Fournier book, Her Daughter's Cry, here!

UberChic Beauty's Love & Marriage 05 plate!

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Hello!


Today we're going to look at this year's Valentine's Day offering from UberChic Beauty, their Love & Marriage 05 plate. Of course I did a quick video review, with swatches for you:

And here's an up-close look at the plate:

UberChic Beauty Love & Marriage 05

This is a versatile plate with a little bit of everything--some layering images, some complementary images, great background images, and beautiful lace screaming to be used in a French mani look.


Let's jump into some manis! For my first I wanted to do something sweet for a pretty Valentine's look that tested out one of the layering images:

UberChic Beauty Love & Marriage 05 over Glam Polish Don't Go Breaking My Heart

Base Polish(es): Glam Polish Don't Go Breaking My Heart
Stamping Plate(s): UberChic Beauty Love & Marriage 05
Stamping Polish(es): UberChic Beauty Essential White and Kaleidoscope Pink


For my next mani, I wanted to go a bit different...I'm not a huge Valentine's Day person, I love the celebration of love, but some of the other stuff that gets put onto it can be a little much for me. So here's an alternative type of Valentine's look:

UberChic Beauty Love & Marriage 05 over Sally Hansen Get Mod

Base Polish(es): Sally Hansen Get Mod
Stamping Plate(s): UberChic Beauty Love & Marriage 05
Stamping Polish(es): UberChic Beauty Pure Black and Moyra Silver

I should note: these images are not specifically designed to be layered, and don't fit perfectly. But I love the way they go together to show three colors, so I had to play with them. :)


For my last mani I went back to a more traditional Valentine's mani, featuring one of my current favorite red polishes:

UberChic Beauty Love & Marriage 05 over Zoya Tanya and Sally Hansen Get Mod

Base Polish(es): Zoya Tanya and Sally Hansen Get Mod
Stamping Plate(s): UberChic Beauty Love & Marriage 05
Stamping Polish(es): Girly Bits Fire-Engine Red and UberChic Beauty Essential White

This plate is on sale now in UberChic Beauty's shop, and wherever else you buy your UberChic Beauty plates.

Stay tuned for my review of their new stamping polishes, and of their St. Patrick's day companion layering plate...

Big hugs,
M. xoxo

Follow me all the places! 

Facebook / YouTube / Bloglovin' / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter

Check out The Dancing Girls, my debut novel, here!
And the 2nd Det. Jo Fournier book, Taken to the Grave, here!
And the 3rd Det. Jo Fournier book, Her Daughter's Cry, here!

Killer Kitties...

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Hello!


So, there have been plenty of times when I've acquired a plate because an image matched something in my wardrobe...but for the first time ever, I bought an article of clothing because it matched an image I have in my stamping plate wardrobe.


It was really only a matter of time.


Here's the image in question, from Creative Shop 151:

Yes, that's right, it's a murderous kitty with a bloody knife standing atop a pile of skulls from his (or her!) victims. Totes adorbs, am I right?!


So you can imagine what happened when I saw this shirt:

If what you imagine is me squealing and clicking 'buy' so fast I sprained my finger, you're spot on.


For reasons I won't get into, I had to do a manicure using orange on the day I used this image for the first time. So here's what I came up with:

Base Polish(es): Stella Chroma Hug The Road and Sally Hansen Get Mod
Stamping Plate(s): Creative Shop 151
Stamping Polish(es): Hit The Bottle Polish My Suitor Wears Pewter, Drop Red Gorgeous, and Kaleidoscope White & Black

How cute and Halloweeny is that?! The next time I do it, I'm going to choose colors that match the shirt more exactly, but I gotta say, I love, love, love how this came out. What do you think? Too creepy for you? Or just creepy enough?

Big hugs,
M. xoxo

Follow me all the places! 

Facebook / YouTube / Bloglovin' / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter

Check out The Dancing Girls, my debut novel, here!
And the 2nd Det. Jo Fournier book, Taken to the Grave, here!

UberChic Beauty Take Me Out To The Ball Game

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Hello!


Can you believe 4th of July is this week? I'm not ready. Nope, time needs to slow down, now!


Today we're gonna take a look at UberChic Beauty's Take Me Out To The Ball Game plate, which is all about baseball, which I think is perfect for 4th of July week, because baseball is considered to be such a symbol of America!

UberChic Beauty Take Me Out To The Ballgame

I did a quickie video on the plate, which you can find here:

And here are some test looks I did:

(You guys--how cute is that heart-shaped baseball image?!?!!!!)


I've loved baseball my whole life, it was one of the ways I was able to spend time with and connect with my step-father. I was lucky enough to grow up in an area with two baseball teams, the Oakland A's and the San Francisco Giants, so I decided to do two manis, each featuring the colors of one teams. First up, the San Francisco Giants colors:

UberChic Beauty Take Me Out To The Ball Game over Stella Chroma Hug The Road

Base Polish(es): Stella Chroma Hug The Road
Stamping Plate(s): UberChic Beauty Take Me Out To The Ball Game
Stamping Polish(es): Kaliedoscope White and Black


And here's the mani featuring Oakland A's colors:

UberChic Beauty Take Me Out To The Ball Game over Girly Bits Saffron, Saffroff

Base Polish(es): Girly Bits Saffron, Saffroff, Sally Hansen Get Mod, Moonflower Polish El Yunque
Stamping Plate(s): UberChic Beauty Take Me Out To The Ball Game
Stamping Polish(es): Moonflower Polish El Yunque, Girly Bits White Wedding and Saffron, Saffroff

What about you? Are you a baseball fan? Is there another sport you prefer, and would love to see in a plate?


You can find this plate on sale now in UberChic Beauty's store.

Big hugs,
M. xoxo

Follow me all the places! 

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Dixie Plates Summer 03 and Boho 01

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Hello!


How are you guys? This week has flown by--I've been trying to catch up on everything I let slip while I met my deadline and I feel like I've only accomplished half of it, and it's already Friday! So much to do, so little time...But, I vacuumed, and that's the main thing, lol.


Anyway. Today we're going to take a look at two new plates from Dixie Plates, Summer 03 and Boho 01: 

Summer 03 is a fun blend of images to get you through all your summer and vacation fun, and Boho 01 has a ton of lovely henna type images that make it easy to create jewelry for your nails.


Let's jump right in to the manicures, 'cause we all know that's the best part!


For my first mani, I wanted to do something bright and fun and summery. I first sponged coordinating colors over white, then stamped my images in a range of citrus colors:

Dixie Plates Summer 03 over Sally Hansen Get Mod

Base Polish(es): Sally Hansen Get Mod
Stamping Plate(s): Dixie Plates Summer 03
Stamping Polish(es): Sally Hansen I-Rush Luck, Lightening, Orange Impulse, sponged with Zoya Bee, Tiana, and Sawyer



For the next mani, I went for Miami Vice meets Hawaii Five-O:

Dixie Plates Summer 03 over Sally Hansen Persis-Tint

Base Polish(es): Sally Hansen Persis-Tint
Stamping Plate(s): Dixie Plates Summer 03
Stamping Polish(es): Kaleidoscope Pink & Mint


For my third mani with the Summer 03 plate, I wanted to go a more elegant direction:

Dixie Plates Summer 03 over Sally Hansen Molten Mauve

Base Polish(es): Sally Hansen Molten Mauve
Stamping Plate(s): Dixie Plates Summer 03
Stamping Polish(es): Colour Alike Grenadine


I also had to see how this looked glossy, since that would bring out the holo of the stamping:

Dixie Plates Summer 03 over Sally Hansen Molten Mauve

For my first Boho 01 mani, I wanted something dramatic to really give a 'nail jewelry' feel:

Dixie Plates Boho 01 over Stella Chroma Hey, Sailor

Base Polish(es): Stella Chroma Hey, Sailor
Stamping Plate(s): Dixie Plates Boho 01
Stamping Polish(es): Colour Alike Hot Sand


I loved these colors and images together so much I did a second version, this one with an image from Summer 03:

Dixie Plates Boho 01 and Summer 03 over Stella Chroma Hey, Sailor

Base Polish(es): Stella Chroma Hey, Sailor
Stamping Plate(s): Dixie Plates Boho 01 and Summer 03
Stamping Polish(es): Colour Alike Hot Sand


For my final look I wanted to go a little softer:

Dixie Plates Boho 01 over The Lady Varnishes Make It Rain

Base Polish(es): The Lady Varnishes Make It Rain
Stamping Plate(s): Dixie Plates Boho 01
Stamping Polish(es): Moonflower Polish El Yunque

What do you think? I love how easy Boho 01 makes elegant looks, and Summer 03 is surprisingly versatile for a plate dedicated to a summer theme, which is always a good thing. :)

Both plates are available now in Dixie Plates' store, and anyplace Dixie Plates are sold. :)

Big hugs,
M. xoxo

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Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Matte Metallics

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Hello!


So I met my deadline Friday for the next book in my series--it's safely with my editor and I have time to breathe!


Today we're gonna take a look at some new Sally Hansen Insta-Dri polishes, this time matte metallics! I'm super excited about these because I love matte polishes, and because Insta-Dris tend to stamp really well (because they're often one-coat polishes). So let's take a look at how these hold up:

Sally Hansen Burnished Wine

Sally Hansen Burnished Wine

Sally Hansen Burnished Wine

Sally Hansen Burnished Wine

 Coverage: 1-2 coats (I'm wearing 2)
Application: Like butter! Fast drying!

OMG you guys!! Burnished Wine is a multichrome purple-copper-pink scattered holo! It has all the awesome things--and it's matte! The color is sexy and vampy, like a yummy glass of wine in an atmospheric bistro. This is a must have, as far as I'm concerned.

Sally Hansen Gold Rush

Sally Hansen Gold Rush

Sally Hansen Gold Rush

Sally Hansen Gold Rush

 Coverage: 1-2 coats (I'm wearing 2)
Application: Excellent and fast drying!

Gold Rush is a rich gold with plenty of metallic sparkle. Bright and fun, perfect for summer, and goes with everything.

Sally Hansen Molten Mauve

Sally Hansen Molten Mauve

Sally Hansen Molten Mauve

Sally Hansen Molten Mauve

 Coverage: One coat
Application: Like slipping into satin bedsheets, and dries fast!

Molten Mauve is a sexy berry that make me want raspberry-blackberry gelato right NOW. I've been wearing this on my toenails since I got this non-stop and I've had it on my hands three times now. Can you tell I adore it?

Sally Hansen Rose Flush

Sally Hansen Rose Flush

Sally Hansen Rose Flush

Sally Hansen Rose Flush

Sally Hansen Rose Flush

 Coverage: 1-2 coats (I'm wearing 2)
Application: Gorgeous and fast drying!

Rose Flush is another multichrome--this one a peach-coral-gold-pink. I didn't expect to love this one, but I fell head over heels--this is another must-have. It's soft and romantic and reminds me of a summer sunset. Gorgeous.

Sally Hansen Smokey Silver

Sally Hansen Smokey Silver

Sally Hansen Smokey Silver

Sally Hansen Smokey Silver

Sally Hansen Smokey Silver

 Coverage: 1-2 coats (I'm wearing 2, but you'll likely just need one)
Application: Excellent and fast drying!

Smokey Silver leans a little toward a pewter, but not all the way--it's strong and steely and super versatile. A great neutral!

Sally Hansen Smouldering Teal

Sally Hansen Smouldering Teal

Sally Hansen Smouldering Teal

Sally Hansen Smouldering Teal

Sally Hansen Smouldering Teal

Coverage: One coat
Application: Fast-drying perfection!

Smouldering Teal is like the bright waters of the Caribbean, or the rich, mid-afternoon sky of a hot summer day. I'm always up for a good teal, and this one is fast, easy, and perfect for summer.


All of these polishes had lovely, fast-drying finishes, and the little extra surprises were very cool! I don't expect duochromes and scattered holos in Insta-Dris, and I'm very glad they're here.


So how do they stamp? Well, unfortunately, their success as stamping polishes were limited, both because they're matte polishes (and dry so quickly), and because of their specialty nature. They did stamp to a degree, but not as brilliantly as many other Insta-Dris:

From left to right we have: Burnished Wine, Smokey Silver, Smoldering Teal, Molten Mauve, Gold Rush, and Rose Flush. As you can see, Smokey Silver, Smoldering Teal, Molten Mauve, and Gold Rush all stamped visibly (Molten Mauve also did show over black, but my camera didn't want to capture it for some reason) and if you're going to by them anyway, you might get some use here depending on the look you're going for. But I wouldn't call them an overwhelming success. Of course, stamping isn't what they're designed for! They work beautifully as specialty matte metallics, well enough I don't care if they stamp or not. :)

You can find all of these polishes on sale wherever Sally Hansen polishes are sold. Or, if you don't like to drive around to a bunch of stores because you have to have ALL of them (nope, I'd never do anything like that), can find them on Amazon.

Big hugs,
M. xoxo

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