Essie Mint Candy Apple...Take Two!

You may remember in a post awhile ago (longer than I'd like), I used Essie Mint Candy Apple for an accent nail and commented on how bright and blue it looked.  I just couldn't let it go.  

So I went searching for a different looking bottle of Mint Candy Apple and found one, so this post is using the new bottle.  I know there are a few colors from Essie that, unfortunately, tend to change over time and thought my bottle might have been on of the unlucky ones.  As you can see the color is quite different than it was here.

Direct Sunlight

Outdoors -shade

This was 3 coats of Mint Candy Apple.  The formula in this bottle was a little more streaky than my last, so I needed the 3rd coat to even things out.  I also chose an untried of mine, China Glaze Luxe and Lush from last year's Hunger Games collection.  It's not so much a flakie as it is iridescent shards, but I love it!!  It looks like shards of sea glass on the nails. The last I noticed, Sally's had a spot for Luxe and Lush in their core China Glaze line.  I haven't actually seen a bottle there just yet. 

Indoors

I know this post isn't anything new, exciting or a unique polish...but I really missed you all!  I've been so busy and just haven't had enough time in my day.  Thanks for sticking around!  There will be more exciting polishes to come!

~Hayley

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Lynnderella Candy Blossom

I apologize in advance for this post being a bit pic heavy. I just couldn't help it! I had the perfect day for pictures and my flowering cherry and lilacs were blooming. Too perfect not to keep snapping!

Let me introduce you to Candy Blossom.

 Candy Blossom contains neon pink, satin pink, white and even yellow (see macro shot below) glitters suspended in a clear pink-shimmered base.

 I love this polish. I never thought I'd wear neon pink anything, but now I am smitten with its cheery disposition.

 

Macro shot of the glittery goodness

All pictures show 2 coats of Lynnderella Candy Blossom over 2 coats of China Glaze Dandy-lyin' Around (the flower names just screamed that they needed to go together!) I did do some digging for the larger glitters for my second coat of Candy Blossom, though it was personal preference to get some of those larger glitters on each nail. I think the shimmer would show up better over a cream base, but I loved this look! I can't wait to wear Candy Blossom over some pinks and maybe even a black, just to see how it changes the color.

Candy Blossom is from Lynnderella's Everything's Coming Up Neon Collection and can be purchased here or if you are international here at Norway Nails.

 

A Quick NOTD Post: A Friday Favorite

It's been awhile since an actual post...so I wanted to share a quick nail of the day with you.  Unfortunately, we are in the middle of our dry season here in Arizona and it's very likely we may not get any rain until July.  This has been wreaking havoc on my hands and cuticles, so I apologize in advance but I wanted to share another color with you!

This is Dusty Blue by Love & Beauty from Forever 21.  It definitely has a slight dusty quality to it, but is more purple leaning that blue for sure.  It's softer looking indoors and that's where I can see more dustiness to the color.  It was one of my very first polishes and I still reach for it time and time again. 
There is a good chance that Forever 21 has a 'Dusty Blue' polish in their stores or on their website...they tend to recycle names though.  So, if they have one it could be the same, but it may be different...just fair warning!

This was 2 easy coats and the dry time on it is impressive!  I added an accent nail of L'Oreal The Bigger The Better (just one gentle coat) and a topcoat.  I love this polish because the glitter is so small but still a fun combination of black and silver glitter. 

I feel like Dusty Blue is similar to some other polishes that have come out recently; Sinful Colors and OPI had shades that come to mind.  But they are more saturated colors in my opinion.  This polish is a dustier purple indoors and looks slightly lighter than the others. 
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great Friday!

Check Out My Guest Post at ECKlipsed by Color!

Click here to see my guest post :)

Thank you, Elena, for having me!

Lynnderella: Everything's Coming Up Neon Collection

I don't know how in the world I got so lucky, but I won the Lynnderella giveaway from OhThreeOhFour! And these polishes are so incredibly gorgeous, I had to share them with you!!

 

It has been a rough week for me. My little one has had the "Fever Virus" since Sunday and he is just not himself, which in turn means I haven't been myself either. This was a nice and much needed distraction!

The lineup, with flash

The lineup, without flash

I am going to try and get some fun manis up using these beauties soon, but I couldn't wait until then to share! These are my first Lynnderellas and I am in love. I practically swooned when I opened my package. (Ok, so maybe I did swoon a little). What I have noticed about these polishes is that there are so many glitters jammed into a bottle and that is what makes them so interesting to me. I don't personally own any polish quite like these, jam packed with so many colors, shapes and sizes!

Is there any one you would like to see first? Anyone have any pairing ideas?

Thanks for reading!

Spring Fling Challenge Day 5: Watermarble or Gradient

We made it to the last day of the challenge!  I chose to do a subtle glitter gradient for today's theme.  I used a few long time nail polish favorites that are still readily available at Ulta or Walgreens.

I chose Essie Turquoise and Caicos as the base for this manicure.  It's a slightly squishy, jelly finish and this was 3 coats on my nails.  Next I layered a coat of OPI Pirouette My Whistle, which I am still loving as a glitter top coat.  To finish the gradient, I dabbed Essie Set in Stones around the base of my nails in a curved fashion.  What do you think?

Maybe it's just me, but I feel like this sort of is reminiscent of a Tiffany look.  My bottle of Turquoise and Caicos ends up looking almost exactly the same as a Tiffany & Co. bag when it's on my nails. 

Outdoors - sun

Right hand! What?!?

I'm sorry this is a slightly picture heavy and not very descriptive post, but I'm writing this later than normal! So, I'll just let you decide what (if any) pictures you like! 

I've had fun with this challenge and a big thanks to Elena and Kelly for coordinating this!  It has been wonderful getting to know the other ladies that participated in this and I looked forward to checking their posts everyday!

Have a great weekend and I hope Spring weather is finally here for you!  Thanks for stopping by!

~ Hayley ~

Spring Fling Challenge Day 4: Bunnies!!

 
 Time for cute overload. I'm just gearing you all up so you are smiling when you see my attempt at nail art. And I'm going to apologize now for the state of my cuticles. I need to do something, just haven't had the time! Without further ado CUTE BUNNIES!!

 

Source

OMG This bunny is so fluffy I could die!

Source for the 4 above

Are you smiling yet? I hope so! Well on to what you came for, my bunny mani! For this day of the challenge I just kept thinking about those fluffy little bunny tails for some reason, so that is what I decided to try! I give you: Bunny Bums....

For this look I used Essie St. Lucia Lilac as the underwear and then I used my new Lynnderella Sugar Bunny on top. To create the Bunny Bums I used Essie Chinchilly and Sinful Colors Snow Me White. To create the shapes I used my dotting tools. I also used a coat of Seche to smooth the glittered nails a bit. I've never used it before and I've heard it is the quickest drying top coat so I thought I'd give it a try. Patience is not one of my virtues!

Remember to check out the other bunny manis at:
ecklipsedbycolor
tuxarina
lovelylacqueredlife
nailsnoob
Pink & Purple Dots

And to top off the cuteness I leave you all with bunny hugs :) Thanks for hopping by!

~ Jackie ~

Bunnies even hug adorably!

Disclaimer: All polish was purchased by me EXCEPT the Lynderella which I was lucky enough to win in a giveaway from OhThreeOhFour. Look for some bottle shots of my epic win soon!

Spring Fling Challenge Day 3: Patterns of Fashion

I'm back again for day 3 of the Spring Fling challenge presented by Elena and Kelly!  The theme this time is Patterns of Fashion...and I get to show off a fun indie today.  For today's theme, the pattern I chose is polka dots.

Check out this pretty polish named Marmolada from Elevation Polish.  This is a dusty blue jelly with light blue, silver and purple circle glitter.  This was two coats over two coats of Essie's Who Is the Boss, a pale dusty blue cream that was from the 2012 Wedding Collection.  I decided that Marmolada may have had more depth if I had just used 2 or 3 coats on its own...so that is my plan for the next time I wear it.

Shade

I definitely have to give a shout out to my Polished At Heart other half, Jackie, for pouncing on this color for me so I could add it to my collection.  You can only buy Elevation Polish on their website, and they sell out fast so pay attention to the restock dates!

Shade

So that was my representation for day 3 of the challenge.  I have no idea what's in store for tomorrow but I'm excited to see it!  I'm off to check out the other Spring Fling posts and you should too! :)

Spring Fling Challenge Day 2: In Bloom

Wow day 2 of the Spring Fling Challenge came fast!  This is like a nail polish and blog boot camp session for me! :)  Today's theme is In Bloom.
I would've loved to have possibly ventured into hand painting a watercolor flower as an accent nail instead of the accent I did, but I have never done nail art before.  I'm not into stamping or nail art but attempting a simple flower on one accent nail is something I can see myself trying in the future once I get better.

Because I was timid, I chose the flower-named polish, Delphinium.  She is a limited edition Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure color that was part of the 2011 Tracey Reese collection.  As you probably guessed, it is discontinued but I have found bottles on eBay (and where mine was purchased at Christmas) so I'm sure there are still some floating around.  They may re-promote this color in the future, since I heard they recently did it with Green Tea...which I am obsessively trying to find! 
The formula on Delphinium was easy to work with and I used two coats.  It's no secret that my love for a good dusty lavender/ lilac is alive and well...

For the accent nail I used CND Effects in Gold Sparkle.  This polish is similar to Essie As Gold As It Gets but the flakies are much smaller and a lighter shade of gold.  This was also 2 coats and was still very subtle on the nail.

Again, be sure to check out the other participants of the Spring Fling Challenge listed at ECKlipsed by color and Tuxarina

 Thanks for stopping by and see you tomorrow for day 3!

~Hayley

Spring Fling Challenge Day 1: Indie Skittle

This first day has made me realize that skittles are hard, but I *think* I was able to pull off an ok set of *kinda* matching colors. Since this is a Spring themed challenge I went with pastels. My husband was laughing at me as I pulled all my indies out and made a little lineup on the living room floor (as we watched some Doctor Who which has lately been my other obsession). Then I proceeded to eliminate the colors that weren't pastels. This is what I came up with:

On my thumb (which I realize you can't see very well) is365 Days of Color Crush on You (Valentine's Mystery Bag exclusive), then we have Eggcentric Bunny on my pointer, Nomad on my middle, Frolicking on my ring and Rainbow Honey Be Mine as underwear for 365 Days of Color Jellybean There Done That. I have more 365 Days of Color in my collection than any other indie and ironically, most of those are Springy shades!

No tulips were harmed during these photos

 

 

Be sure to check out the other participants of the Spring Fling Challenge listed at ecklipsed by color and tuxarina.

Spring Fling Challenge Day 1: Indie Skittle

Well, for the first day of this challenge I have learned two things:
 1.  My indies don't skittle well together.

I find that odd because I generally stick to a core color comfort zone when I buy polishes. In this case, I can get 2 possibly 3 to look okay together, but not 5.  Also, I don't have that many indies in my collection yet...so maybe that means I just need to buy more polishes!

Direct Sun

The best I could come up was this skittle, which is really only one indie polish.  (I'm sorry EcklipsedByColor and Tuxarina! - This is my first challenge; be gentle!) 
I originally wanted Tryst Lacquer's Fluer-y of Flowers, to replace the void I have for not owning Illamasqua Speckle.  I love the idea of this polish...a light lavender with tiny black speckle and light blue glitter. 
Unfortunately, most of the light blue glitter has fallen out of suspension in my bottle so I don't think I get the intended effect. :(  Needless to say, I still absolutely need the Illamasqua!

This leads me to the next thing I learned with this skittle...

 2.  Essie Mint Candy Apple looks so bright on me, I don't even recognize it compared to other swatches I've seen.

I don't know why it leans this way on me.  It's just...different than I thought it would be and I'm fairly sure it's not my bottle.  The other color I used is Kiss Me Here by Pure Ice, a pretty grey cream.

Anyway...I still intend to have some fun with this challenge!  Thanks again to ECKlipsed by Color and Tuxarina for hosting this.  Here are the themes going forward, so join in!

Indie Spotlight: Pastoral by Cagedbird Nail Lacquer

I have a lovely Spring glitter to show off to you all today.  Let me introduce you to, Pastoral, by Cagedbird Nail Lacquer.  This is a perfect combination of matte mint, white, lavender, and pastel green and silver metallic glitters in a clear base.  I mentioned in a previous post that Sarah, the creator of Cagedbird Nail Lacquer, could have just named this polish 'Hayley'.  I seriously don't think I could have come up with a more perfect combination if I would have customized it myself.

My love affair with Cagedbird started a few months ago when I stumbled on her Facebook page and was in awe at the pastel glitters.  She was extremely close to 500 followers at the time and I was honored to be her number 500.  To my surprise, she sent me a mini bottle of polish to celebrate the milestone.  It was my first (and still only) polish prize!  I was beyond excited.  I mentioned how in love I was with Faerie Carnival and Pastoral and a week later a mini Faerie Carnival showed up as my prize.  How thoughtful was she?!
I immediately bought Pastoral from her Etsy store and I recommend you check out all of her creations!

Pastoral: Outdoors - shade

Indoors

To showcase this glitter, I used two coats of Sinful Colors Mauve with one coat of Pastoral.  I know...I've already used Sinful Colors Mauve before.  I didn't mean for it to happen this way, but it did.  The formula in my bottle is just flawless.  I had a few colors picked out to try with Pastoral and it was a tough decision.  My other contenders were: Sally Hansen CSM Ion, Zoya Neely and Sinful Colors Cool Gray.  I will definitely be using them all with Pastoral at some point, because I think they would all look great.  The only downside to using Mauve was that it made some of the lavender glitter not as noticeable on the nail.  I think Sally Hansen's Ion would be a good choice to show off the seafoamy mints, lavenders and greens.
Just for fun I took this macro shot of the glitter and thought it turned out pretty!

 
Disclaimer: This pretty polish was purchased by me and I will be getting it again and again and again!