2014 Favorites

We hope you all had a great holiday and here's to the New Year!  Without further adieu, these were our favorite polishes from 2014.  Did any of these make your list this year?  Are you making any polish/ blog resolutions in the new year?

Hayley's Favorites:

My resolution this year is to explore (and post) more Indie polishes.  Almost everything I posted this year was from mainstream brands, but there are too many fabulous indie makers out there to pass up!

Sinful Shine Prosecco

A polish so nice, Sinful released it twice! (and right in a row).  I'm sure I don't need to say much more about the stir Prosecco caused, but you can view my full post here.

China Glaze - Choo-Choo Choose You

I imagine China Glaze Choo-Choo Choose You will show up on a few 2014 lists. I love how multi-faceted this polish is, so it deserved a spot!  Post is linked to check out more pictures.

Sinful Shine Go Glossy

I just could not get enough of this color on my nails this fall and winter.  There were many that I liked, but this one actually came out in 2014...way to Go Glossy! ;)

Jackie's favorites:

My resolution is to try more polishes from my stash. Anyone up for "Untried Tuesday" posts? I did get a few new polishes for Christmas so you'll be seeing those soon!

My first pick should come as no surprise and it isn't one specific brand, but a color - PURPLE! I've been so into purple in 2014 and I don't forsee that changing much next year. Here are a few of my favorites I've shared:
BEGL Fare the Wind
Different Dimension Dueling Unicorns
China Glaze Choo-choo-choose You
Above the Curve UH Purple

My next 2014 favorite was a surprise to me. I never would have guessed an orange polish would steal my heart as much as LynBDesigns Am I Ginger? has! This color just worked for me. I admit I bought it simply for the name, but I am so glad I put it on. This is proof that sometimes when step out of your comfort zone you find something new to love.

My final 2014 favorite isn't a polish, but rather my new found love for cuticle care products. Be they oils or balms, I've been much more diligent about using these daily and I try to use something after I wash my hands, even if its just a standard lotion. I've found that moisturizing helps my nails grow faster and I can say that I have seen some improvement in my peeling. Not as much as I'd like, but it all takes time. So if you don't already use some sort of cuticle oil or balm or lotion or something, try it out in 2015 and let us know how it works for you!

Here's to a new year filled with fun new favorites! Cheers to 2015!

~ Hayley and Jackie

Sinful Shine: Go Glossy

I cannot get enough of this deep cranberry color for winter!  I have been wearing mostly black, cream, and grey but adding pops of color in my scarves, nails and statement necklaces. This color goes so well with all of it!
In the bottle Sinful Shine Go Glossy is a red-toned purple, but because of being a jelly-ish formula, it translates to this awesome color most of the time.  Pictures are 3 coats, and there is no visible nail line.  I bet 2 careful coats would be fine too.  I was considering a jelly sandwich with OPI Pirouette My Whistle after the second coat...I'll be trying that next time!  In case you didn't know, Sinful Shine is Sinful Colors (shiny) gel-ish sister.  The two shades I have (this and Prosecco) I love, but they could easily just be in a Sinful Colors bottle.

The dry time felt long to me, maybe because it's a jelly?  I really didn't want to top coat it, because it looked so pretty and squishy on its own.  But after a good 40 minutes, I was afraid of getting it all marked up so I did, since it still felt vulnerable. As you can see top coat messed up my pinky, but I think only because I went back a second time on that one.  I mean that's real life nail probs though, right? :)

You may still see a bottle lingering around your favorite Walgreens or Rite Aid. I almost passed on trying this, but I'm glad I did.  Thanks for stopping by and let me know in the comments what your favorite winter polish purchase or gift has been!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, etc!

~Hayley

*all polished mentioned were purchased with dollars and love :)

Our very first GIVEAWAY!!

We admit we are a bit belated on this giveaway celebrating 100 Facebook followers, but better late than never, right? To celebrate we are giving away a little goodie bag filled with the following:

Yep, you can enter to win your very own Sinful Shine Prosecco as swatched by Hayley in this post! Also included are Sinful Colors 24karat, the e.l.f. concealer brush and cuticle pen, a pretty Bath & Body Works nail file, and some yummy salted caramels.

Enter in the Rafflecopter below. Sorry but this one is US only. We just aren't comfortable shipping internationally at this time. But if you can give us a US address to ship to, go ahead and enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sinful Colors Prosecco - Part 1

I have been happily wearing the same polish color for 2 weeks straight.  What?!?  

Yes, and it's this one!

It took awhile to post, because the very first day I wasn't sure the color looked good with my skin tone.  Then it grew on me, and then changed how I wore it, which will make more sense later.  I'm sure you have seen a swatch or two of Sinful Shine Prosecco.  Prosecco is a limited edition stunner by Sinful Colors and has been disappearing quickly.  It is part of the Fall 2014 Shining Bright Off The Runway collection, and I purchased mine at Walgreens.  I heard a rumor Sinful is bringing this back in an upcoming collection, so keep your eyes out.  I hope that is true because I need a back up of this one...and hopefully one to share in a future giveaway!!

The first time I tried Prosecco I used 3 coats, but I noticed 2 coats had this lovely sheerness that looked more gold taupe than the grey taupe with the 3rd coat.  Both are beautiful, but I am drawn to this way, thus the second wearing so I could show you!  Two coats makes the nail line just barely visible in some lighting, but most of the time it's not.  I  decided to make this a part 1 so I can do a comparison later with 3 coats and with a matte topcoat.  I officially am in love with it, and think it will work with lots of skin tones.

These photos are all 2 coats only and no top coat.  The formula is absolutely perfect and dry time was not bad at all. The glass flecks that Sinful Colors put in this shade are magical and I hope we see more polishes from them that are like this!  The glass flecks have slight color shift in the sun from gold to green and orange.

Indoors

I'm so smitten with this polish, especially for it being a nude color.  This is absolutely office appropriate and perfect for fall.  For only $1.99 you definitely need this one in your collection (and wear time was fantastic!)  I love wearing this with white and navy blue.  I would love to know what you think about Prosecco.  Have you worn it yet?  Let me know! :)

*This song is playing as I write this: New York by Blind Pilot.... I need to make a note because it is a pretty chill song!  :)  Good job, Pandora!

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!

Sinful Colors: Mauve

I don't know about you, but I am really into wintery pastels lately.  I decided this would be an appropriate first post for me, since this is a color that is still widely available and fits my current polish obsession!  This color can easily be transitioned into spring as well.

Sinful Colors recently came out with the Haute Rebel collection.  It is mostly all re-promoted colors with the exception of a couple.  The color I have here today, Mauve, is a very light, greyed out, cool toned lavender.  Beautiful, but hard to photograph without it looking more grey than what it really is.

The formula on this color was fantastic and this was two easy coats.  I also added accent nails of a Sally Hansen glass fleck topcoat called Diamonds.  It glistens opalescent pinks and greens and gave my nails a very icy look.  I added one more photo below, that shows off  Diamonds better and shows how lavender Mauve can sometimes look.  Both Mauve and Diamonds are still readily available at Walgreens and I highly suggest you go check them out!

Disclaimer: Since we are just getting started we are learning about lighting and such. Please bear with us as we get better at the photography. Thanks! 
These pretty polishes were purchased by me and I am in no way affiliated with either company.