Jesslacquer Fairy Dust - Oh My Flakie Goodness!

 *Prize*

 *Provided for review*

 

Happy Saturday!  I am so honored and excited to share a polish from new indie on the scene, Jesslacquer.  Jess is releasing her new fall polish collection, OMFG - Oh My Flakie Goodness! and it looks to be a stunner based on the polish I'm wearing now.  She had a contest on social media to help names the shades, and I am so flattered that she picked one my names! 
As a thank you to those whose names were selected, she sent us one of the new polishes! And because she's already a sweetheart, she sent one more so I could post my reviews and (little did I know at the time) swatches that you will drool over because of how amazing this collection is!  Thanks so much, Jess!

So, first the package came and the bottles were wrapped so adorably that I had to share with you! Talk about immediately getting me excited...shiny magenta wrapping will do it every time! :)

Then I unwrapped one, and woah......

Then I put is on, and squee!!

Indoors

Fairy Dust is the name of this polish, and I am smitten with it!  This was 3 easy coats, and a topcoat. The first coat was sheer, so you could easily layer it over something.  But 2-3 coats will definitely make Fairy Dust opaque and each coat adds more magic! I have such a weakness for grey polishes.

Fairy Dust is described as "a light grey with holographic glitter, pink/purple/gold multichrome flakies, and teal/green multichrome flakies."  But I think my "OMFG!!" was just as accurate.  I mean, this macro:

I've included a picture she posted that shows all 7 shades in the Oh My Flakie Goodness collection available as of tonight on her Etsy shop. The full collection has crellies, jellies, toppers - something for everyone!  This is her second collection to date, and I am definitely excited to see what's next for Jesslacquer.   You can also keep up with Jesslacquer on her Instagram

 

Thanks for stopping by and please let me know if you picked up any from the OMFG collection!  I have another to show you soon, so until then...

xoxo

~ Hayley ~

Polish & Posies: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer - Siren's Summer Vacation

**Polish in this post was purchased by me with a small blogger discount**

I think it is safe to say that you have seen me pose with various flora from my own garden as well as my parents'. I was thinking of starting a small series called Polish & Posies, where I will feature a polish that matches or coordinates with a flower or plant. What do you think? Let's try it out, shall we?

I try not to feature a polish that is not currently available in a store or indie shop, but I have to make an exception here! I love it when a polish matches the flowers so I had to share this beauty!

This is a limited edition polish created by Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer. Siren's Summer Vacation is described as a neon purple with turquoise, pink, and purple glass flecks. It dries to a matte finish, but I preferred a shiny finish so it is shown with a coat of Rica's Glossy Glam over it. 

I think this Siren likes petunias!

This Siren applied like a dream on both my tips and toes and was opaque in two average coats. Overall, I adore this shade. I've had many compliments on my pedi polish the last few weeks, which just happens to be Siren's Summer Vacation! People seemed to enjoy the name too, agreeing that it feels nice and Summery. I wonder where Siren goes for her Summer vacation?

I know Summer will soon be drawing to a close, but what are your current favorite shades for summer fun? Let me know in the comments and enjoy every last ray of that Summer sunshine!

xoxo

Jackie

Love, Angeline - Almond Darling

*All Polishes Were Purchased*

I have some pretty pastels from indie brand Love, Angeline to share today! Oh, and they're matte.  Oh, and they have some subtle shimmer.  Excited yet?  Maybe just take a peek below.

This is almost the complete Love, Angeline Chateau Macaron collection that released a few months ago for Spring 2015.  In retrospect, I should have just gotten the complete collection because the only one I'm missing is Confection-ary Yellow and I've seen a lot of really cute manis on Instagram using it.  *Sigh* but I digress...

The first color I tried from the collection is Almond Darling.  I used 3 coats and no topcoat in order to leave it matte.  Almond Darling is a very pink leaning lavender.  It's extremely close to the pink in the collection, Baiser de Mousse, but is just slightly more lavender.  The formula was thin, which I liked because it was easy to control and lets a peek of shimmer show through (though very subtle).  I left some dry time between coats so they didn't pull.  This polish self leveled very well and the wear was fantastic!  I had no chipping even after a few days.

Natosha, the creator behind Love, Angeline is very engaging with her polished fans, so I definitely recommend stopping by!  The story behind her brand name is so sweet too!  You can still purchase the Chateau Macaron collection from her shop here.  If you are drawn to brighter shades for the summer, not to worry, because she's releasing a sister collection of summer matte neons called Meet Me At The Tea Salon.

Check out her Facebook and Instagram and if you have any Love, Angeline polishes I'd love to hear which ones you have!  Thanks for stopping by! 

~ Hayley

Pahlish - She Sells Sea Shells (Bespoke Batch)

 *Purchased*

I've really come to enjoy March...college basketball, Shamrock shakes, great weather, Easter candy, and mint/ pastels galore!  There have been some amazing Spring polishes by indie polish makers so far, and Pahlish She Sells Sea Shells is right at the top of my list.
Just look at Pahlish's description: She Sells Sea Shells is a soft Tiffany blue cream with a subtle green undertone; flecked with a mix of purple, taupe, and gold flakes accented by metallic pink/purple/blue chromatic flakes! 

 Game. Set. Match.

I really don't need to say how much I adore this polish.  I feel so lucky that I was able to grab this one!  If you don't know much about Pahlish, she has amazing seasonal collections, duos and other creations.  She also releases some special Bespoke Batch polishes.  These are limited edition, small batch polishes and Pahlish usually reveals what Bespoke Batch will be available a day or two before her restock.  (So, check Pahlish's Facebook and their shop!) 
My apologies for posting this lovely polish, knowing that it's not available any longer...but Pahlish does polishes like this quite a bit so I'm sure there will be plenty other beauties in the future!

But really, don't you feel just a little bit better knowing that this exists in the world?  Maybe that's a little over the top, but that's how I feel when I see seafoam anything!)

Indoors

Sunlight

My photos show 3 coats of She Sells Sea Shells with no topcoat. Dry time was great and I know I'll be reaching for this polish constantly throughout Spring and Summer!  Pahlish is celebrating their 3 year anniversary, so I bet there will be some fantastic polishes coming up! :)

Have a great week and let me know the best Spring polish you have come across so far this season!

~ Hayley

KBShimmer: I'm So Sweet Pea Spring 2015 Collection

 *Press Sample*

Happy Friday!  I hate to admit that I am in the one place where the weather is pretty stellar right now, and no snow.  I am ready for Spring and it's no secret that Spring pastels are my favorite for everything!  Today I have a KBShimmer polish from the Spring 2015 collection to show you!  This delicate beauty is I'm So Sweet Pea:

KBShimmer's I'm So Sweet Pea has teal, purple, pale mint and light pink matte glitters in the palest lavender-almost-white crelly base. I used 3 coats on my middle and ring finger and just 1 coat over Essie Lilacism on my thumb.  Three coats of Essie Lilacism are also on my index and pinky fingers. The formula on I'm So Sweet Pea was great, the base was not thick at all and no fishing for any glitter. 

The entire KBShimmer Spring 2015 collection is available right now.  This collection has 7 (seven!!) amazing looking crellies all with very unique pastel color combinations, like I'm So Sweet Pea.  There are also 4 pastel holo polishes, for all you holo addicts out there (aka most of the nail community).  If that's not enough, there's also a white cream polish that I hear is great, and Spring nail vinyls too!  The description of this collection is beyond perfect: "Say goodbye to winter's dark hues, embrace sunny skies and open toe shoes."  Um, yes please!  Have you grabbed any KBShimmers yet?  I'd love to know which is your favorite!

KBShimmer products can be found on their website or on Amazon.
Connect with KBShimmer on their Facebook and Instagram to see all the gorgeous creations.

 

Black Cat Lacquer: Let Them Eat Cake (Besides, it's my Birthday!)

*Purchased by me*

If any day is a day to eat cake, it's on your birthday!  Since that day is today for me, I couldn't think of a better nail polish to wear than Black Cat Lacquer Let Them Eat Cake!  My nails aren't in the greatest shape right now, but I still wanted to share with you.

Let Them Eat Cake was my very first indie polish, and can you believe after over 2 years this is the first time I've used it?  Every time I looked at my bottle I thought I'd have to bring it back to life with some thinner or buy a new one.  I decided to be brave and open it anyway just to see how bad it was, and to my surprise it still was easy to apply.  It was somewhat thick (possibly just my bottle), but very manageable even without thinner!  I think that's a testament to a great quality polish!  Pictures shown are 1-2 coats of Let Them Eat Cake over China Glaze's Dandy Lyin' Around.  I did matte this with NYC Matte Me Crazy.

I love the mix of pastel pink, baby blue and light green glitters and a scattering of holo micro glitter for a subtle sparkle.  If you want some cake of your own, you can still purchase Let Them Eat Cake from Black Cat Lacquer's website or keep updated on all the new creations on their Facebook page.  

I'd love to know what your favorite polish is to use on a special day, like your birthday!  Thank you for already making my birthday happy just for stopping by!

~ Hayley

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

Let's get Christmas-y with Above the Curve - Husbands Just Don't Understand

I don't know about you, but I love seeing everyone's holiday nails! This week I decided to join in and share one of my very favorite Christmas presents from last year - Husbands Just Don't Understand from Above the Curve. I just checked the store and I didn't see this beauty in there, but I know I've seen it recently. You could always ask!

With Flash

 HJDU is a dark teal scattered holo and it is just perfect (in my opinion) for the holidays. For me it conjures images of a lovely blue spruce adorned with twinkling white lights. Yep, I'm in the Christmas mood now! And how about that name? I know my poor husband will listen to me talk polish for short bursts, but he doesn't get it and probably never will.

Without Flash

This polish applied like a dream and shown is 2 coats with the ATC quick dry topcoat. I love darker colors in the fall and winter seasons and this really fits the bill.

With Flash

Are you ready for the holidays? I'm ready to have some time off, but I've got a lot of things to finish before then!!

Movember Mustache Mani

I'm sure you have seen the hype about Movember and what it stands for, but just in case you can check out the Movemeber Campaign here. The short version is that men grow mustaches to raise money for mens health. And the fun for me is that I've got a little obsession with mustaches (I think they are hilarious) so much that I chose a 'stache centered theme for my little man last year. We had a blast. Anyway, on to the mani!

I started with Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer's Two! (ring finger and thumb) and Above the Curve's Lemming Have It. I topped them with Monster Polish Wyatt's Whiskers, a custom that Diana made me for above mentioned party. She also sent me a little bag of mustache glitter to place as I wished. Those are on my ring finger and thumb.

Outside in shade

Outside with direct sun

Direct sun

Direct sun

I love the way this turned out! The only thing I'd do a little differently ifs the pre-bend the mustache glitters on my thumb so that they would lay on the nail a little better. This was a really fun mani to create and to wear. As you may have noticed I love purple! And blue isn't far behind on my list, so this combo made me very happy. 

Thanks for checking out my 'stache! Are you participating in Movemeber?

Endless Summer Extend-a-Mani

Hopefully you have seen my first "Endless Summer" post where I used Cult Nails Intriguing. I decided after looking at it for a day that I wanted to brighten it up a bit. So I tried my hand at stamping! This was my very first attempt and I don't think it went too bad. Now I have this desire to collect all of the buy a few more plates so that I can do some more nail art!

Outside, Full Sun

Indoors, natural light

For this, I stamped a lovely leopard print on my middle finger and jazzed up my ring finger by changing the polish to match the stamp. For this I used Essie's Tart Deco. I have to say that while this is a bright polish, I love the color for summer and especially the beach. My poor bottle needs a little thinner though since the formula was thick and a bit streaky. It didn't self-level very well either. Admittedly it has been sitting in a drawer unused for a year, so it makes sense that it needs a little TLC. You can really see the unevenness in the picture above.

Outside, Full Sun

Macro shot of the stamped finger

Almost forgot to say that I used a Konad stamper and stamping plate that I received last Christmas (yes, it has taken me this long to muster the courage to stamp!) I'm not sure it has a number but it was in a mini set that had a picture of Santa on it.

Have you ever tried stamping? What are your favorite plates and designs? Please let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

~Jackie~

Endless Summer - Cult Nails Intriguing

This week I've been attempting to relax and extend my summer a bit at the beach. I've had a few polishes in my untried pile that I decided to bring along. I'm all for Fall, but in truth I'm sad to see Summer go. I love the feeling of freedom that it brings and also the beautiful bright colors. Up first for the week is Cult Nails Intriguing. Though this shade isn't too bright I think it is perfect for the beach and also as a transition color.

Direct Sunlight

Intriguing is a soft scattered holo that is a bit on the sheer side. I used three coats for these pictures and topped it with Above the Curve's 5-free Quick-Dry Topcoat. I'd say this shade is a dusty blue leaning periwinkle.
 

Close-up, Direct Sun

Direct Sun

Macro on the nail, Direct Sun

This was from their Casual Elegance collection that was released in April this year and was limited edition. I really hate to post something that is hard to find, but this turned out to be a lovely shade. I'm sure with a bit of searching you could find this for sale or swap.

I know I mentioned this is a nice transition color. Do you wear colors that are seasonal or do you go with whatever you are feeling? Let us know in a comment!

Thanks for reading!

~Jackie~

LynB Designs - Am I Ginger?

Let's have a moment of pure honesty reader. When I saw this polish I needed it not for the color, but for the name. Frankly the color scared me. Which is why I have waited this long to put it on my fingers. Am I glad I did! This is such a great shade for Fall. And it's a holo. So glad I finally put it on!

Here are a couple of bottle shots, just for fun. These were taken outside and it was cloudy at the time so the holo-y goodness isn't showing here.

 

Am I Ginger is an orangish-red jelly with linear holographic tendencies. The jelly makes this polish all squishy and great and the holo, well I think you know how I feel about holos. 

For those of you not familiar with the reference, the name is taken from the Doctor's desire to be ginger. Still hasn't happened. Poor Doctor. I feel your pain. I love red hair too.

Source

Got it here

I can't help myself when it comes to Doctor Who references. I'm addicted. Sorry, not sorry. Anyway, more on this ginger polish. Geronimo!

The following photos show 3 thin coats (though I think 2 would probably suffice) topped with Above the Curve's 5-free Quick Dry Topcoat. The sun peeked out from the clouds just long enough to catch the holo!

 

 

Want Am I Ginger for your own? Check out LynBDesigns store on etsy.

 

So what do you think? Perfect for fall, right? (Not that I would limit my use to only fall with this stunner!) Do you own any colors that you are afraid to try on? Have you ever been wary of a certain shade but once you tried it you were in love? 

Let us know in the comments! 

~Jackie~

 


*Disclaimer: All polishes in the post were purchased by me. Links are provided for your convenience (not affiliate).