Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Custom Giveaway

Today I have a super fun post for you that includes :::drum roll please:::: a GIVEAWAY! 

Since my little man is in preschool, I decided to take my obsession with polish one step forward by having the talents behind Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer and Monster Polish create some custom colors as gifts for his teachers. And they are so amazing and awesome that they provided a couple for you, my readers! 

First I'm giving a chance at my BEGL customs (so check back since you know I'll have some Monster Polish up for grabs at a later date!) I asked Julie to create something that was "Christmas-y" and also incorporate that my son is in the Rainbow Room at preschool. Man, did she come through! May I present "Merry Christmas Rainbow Room!" and "Rainbow Room Christmas Rumpus"!

Aren't they simply gorgeous? MCRR is an ultra sparkly red holo and RRHR is a light pink crelly with metallic and holo glitters. So much glitter and rainbow! Yes, I know these beauties have Christmas names (as they were made for my son's teachers for Christmas) but I thought they were the perfect colors for Valentines Day. And if you're not into V-Day, think of the awesome anti-V-Day mani's you could do with this red holo...

Alright, ready to enter to win? Please make sure you enter the best email to contact you at in case you win! I'd hate to pick you but not have a way to get in touch. I can only ship within the US right now, but if you have a US mule, you can enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

SinfulColors Love Sprinkles: Flirt With Hearts (Valentine's Day 2015 Collection)

  * Provided for review *

It is quickly approaching, and like it or not, you will be inundated with hearts, flowers, chocolates and a whole row of stuffed bears and frogs staring you down at the store.  This year I get to share the 2015 Valentine's Day standout polish with you.  Check out Love Sprinkles by SinfulColors, the star of their Flirt With Hearts collection!

The entire SinfulColors Flirt With Hearts collection is full of bright and cheerful shades. Their collection description says it all:

"Channel your inner Cupid this Valentine’s Day with eight sensuous hues that are guaranteed to make hearts flutter."  

There is nothing dull or dark about these polishes; they are all bright pinks, purples, reds, and teal that will melt any winter blahs away.  They stepped up their game with Love Sprinkles though, it's subtle and versatile because of the clear base.  The glitter mix is small, matte light pink and tiny white glitters with matte white hearts. Matte!

Application of Love Sprinkles was good, it's not meant to be a dense glitter...just a sprinkle.  The key to ensuring some hearts make it onto the nails is shaking the bottle as the heart glitter tends to settle at the bottom.  I used one coat over 24/7 on most nails, two for a few nails that were sparse.

Described as the "hottest pink", 24/7 is my first experience with a neon polish.  I would personally consider 24/7 for a summer neon color, while also appropriate for Valentine's day.  Three easy coats were needed but dry time was really good!  This collection was mostly re-promotes and core colors along with the limited edition Love Sprinkles.  This collection will be available at Walgreens, Rite Aid, and other mass retailers in February for $1.99 each.  You can keep up with SinfulColors on their website and other social media.

Maybe Valentine's Day isn't your favorite day....BUT just remember the day after is a great day!  All the yummy chocolate is half off and always worth grabbing one of your favorites.  :)  Thanks for stopping by!

~ Hayley

*products featured in this post were sent for my honest review

SpaRitual Arroyo

  *Purchased by me*

I'm excited to announce that I found another SpaRitual that I wanted from the Wander collection.  This one is called Arroyo, it is another "sandy matte shimmer" and this time I left it matte!  SpaRitual Arroyo is a pink that leans to the mauve spectrum, and has a golden shimmer to it. 

Sunlight - no topcoat

I had to look up the definition to Arroyo (which I'm a little ashamed to say, since I live in Arizona) but it means: A dry creek or stream bed—gulch that temporarily or seasonally fills and flows after sufficient rain.
Yep, we have those all over the place here....and now on my nails. 

This is two coats with no top coat.  Dry time is nice and quick because of the matte finish.  There are some great swatches of Arroyo with top coat, and like Nomad, the shimmer really pops with a shiny top coat.

Again if you wander into an Ulta (see the first sentence for what I did there) and find these on clearance, I absolutely recommend getting them!  The sale price definitely makes these worth adding to your collection! 

Thanks for stopping by! 

~ Hayley

SpaRitual Nomad

Happy Friday!! This brand is completely new to me.  I walked into Ulta's clearance sale on New Years Eve with the intent of getting some Zoyas, and walked out with this one also. I am sure you can relate. :)
I remembered admiring some of SpaRitual's Wander Fall 2014 collection, particularly Nomad, Arroyo and Starry Night.  I didn't see the other two, but grabbed the last Nomad because I have nothing like this in my collection.  I'm pretty infatuated...

Macro! (with topcoat)

The bottom of the bottle says sandy matte shimmer.  I read that and I acknowledged it but it didn't register.  Then when I tried it and saw it drying matte, tears of happiness welled up and I immediately messaged Jackie.  All the swatches of Nomad were mostly shown with topcoat (it is awesome this way).  I planned to leave it matte, but top coated it to make sure I could get pictures the next morning.

These swatches are 2 coats of Nomad and 1 coat of Out The Door.  It has a great formula and no clean up was necessary with this polish.  Nomad looks olive green with rose shimmer outdoor light and warmer greenish gold with rose shimmer indoors. Leaving it matte makes the polish softer looking and a unique, but very wearable olive.

Inside: polish accurate, not skin accurate!

 

If I had bought this before New Years Eve it would have definitely been on the Favorites post!  I would consider this beauty if you see it, or send me over a back up bottle! :)  My SpaRitual obsession starts now.

~ Hayley

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer - A Spark in the Dark Collection Swatches and Review

 *Press Samples*

It's no secret that Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer is one of my favorite indie polish brands. January 12th brings us a new collection release called A Spark in the Dark and I am lucky enough to share three of these polishes with you!

Caught a bit of sunshine - see these beauties sparkle?
From L to R are Hypothermia, It's Almost After Midnight, and Bound to the City Life

First up is Bound to the City Life which is described as a dark teal jelly with teal, turquoise, purple, and blue holo microglitters. In the bottle the polish looks almost black, but on the nail you can see the teal come out. This teal leans more blue than green and is stunning on the nail. Shown are three thin coats over a base coast plus a top coat.

Look deep into the squishy-ness!

I normally shy away from jellies as I like my polish to be opaque in as few coats as possible. I also felt like jellies were hard to work with. I'm happy to say that I had no issues applying Bound to the City Life. The formula of this color is on the thicker side which means that it only really took two coats for me to be happy with opacity, but I used three for the sake of pictures (the camera always finds a bald spot!).

Florescent lighting

Macro Shot!

Next up is It's Almost After Midnight described as a medium grey creme with blue shimmer and blue flash. This one is gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous! Did I mention its gorgeousness? This beauty was opaque in 2 coats but I'm wearing three here for photo reasons.

Direct sunlight

IAAM has that dusty quality that I often look for in polishes but with the added flash it really gives it something special!

Direct sunlight

Macro Shot

And last but not least is the collection limited edition Hypothermia! Hypothermia is a gorgeous purple holo with purple shimmers. This is a re-release from last winter. It was so popular that Julie was awesome enough to give those of us who missed out (ahem, yes, sadly I was one of those people) a shot at getting this beauty. Remember, it will ONLY be available if you purchase the full collection!

Direct sunlight

Like all of the BEGL holos, this baby sparkles like nobody's business! I love this shade of puple, which is slightly darker and much dustier than my other favorite BEGL Fare the Wind, the perfect purple for winter.

Indirect (indoor) lighting - see that "dusty" quality?

Macro in direct sunlight

The A Spark in the Dark collection will be released on Monday, January 12, 2015 at 3:30 pm EST. The full collection of 8 polishes will be $67 for full sized bottles and $37 for minis. Remember you can only get the elusive Hypothermia with the purchase of the full collection! There will also be a new limited edition Siren released that day!

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer's shop can be found here. Be sure to follow Julie on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to keep up with the latest news and release information. She can also be found blogging at Wishes of a Blue-Eyed Girl.


Disclosure: These polishes were provided for review. All opinions are my own.

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 :)

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?

Covergirl Outlast Nail Gloss: Crushed Berries

Hi lovelies! I cannot get enough of this deep, dark berry cream for fall...I can't believe this is the only polish I have like it!  This beauty was found in the Walgreens clearance section a few months ago and is the first Covergirl polish I have probably worn since high school!  This is Crushed Berries from the Covergirl Outlast Stay Brilliant line.

I used two coats and a quick dry topcoat.  The formula was nice, thin and pigmented.  Because a darker berry polish was a newer venture for me (and the thinner formula), I struggled around the cuticle area a bit...but I adore this color!  I love that it is not as purple or pink as some berries and has just the slightest hint of brown that gives it this color.  Wear time was really good...after the 5th day still no chips, just nail growth and slight tip wear.

Outdoors sunlight

Crushed Berries isn't in stores anymore but you can find it on Amazon for a good price!  While I would definitely buy this line again, I think the the normal price of $5.49 - $5.99 is a bit much.  I will pretty much stick to checking in the Walgreens or Target clearance areas or a good sale.  Thanks for stopping by and let us know your favorite berry polishes!

~ Hayley

Happy November! Fall Worthy China Glaze skittlette

I hope everyone had a great Halloween with lots of chocolate involved! I cannot believe it's NOVEMBER.  The weather is still  in the 80s on my side of the country....but it's supposed to get cooler this week (finally)!

In honor of it fall, I wanted to do a simple skittlette and finally try my OPI Glitter Off that I had been pining away for.  It has been completely M.I.A. in stores, but I finally found it on Amazon. Also, China Glaze Boundary of Memory had been sitting in my melmer untried for too long, so I had to change that!

This is China Glaze Release (thumb, index and middle), Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Ion (a Target exclusive from 2012), and China Glaze Boundary of Memory glitter (pinky).  Nothing super intricate, but I loved the color combination.  The China Glaze formulas were great...2 coats and easy to work with.  Ion was challenging, so you're not missing much if you don't have it!  The color is pretty (light warm grey) but was streaky, tough to apply evenly, and dry time was long even before I could topcoat for fear of pulling.  I don't know how it compares to China Glaze Five Rules or OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls (let me know if you do!) but they might be close!

Indoors - Release has more grey undertones

I didn't know what to expect with Glitter Off...I figured after 2 days I would see wear.  I did use topcoat since Boundary of Memory doesn't dry super shiny on its own.  Maybe the topcoat helped, because around day 5 I worried that there was some super glue mixed into my bottle since it was still going strong.  I removed it on day 6, and it was very much like peeling an eggshell; little pieces came off.  I was still happy that no remover was needed, so I call it a win!  It is very dry right now in Arizona so maybe that aided in it adhering better to my nail?  Any ideas?

Indoors low light - love Boundary of Memory!

Lastly, (but not least) THANK YOU to all our new friends who entered our first little giveaway!  We hope you stick around. :)  Congratulations to the winner, Heather, and stay tuned for more in the future!

HPB Oct. Halloween Mani Link-Up

Ready for a little Halloween mani?

This month we are linking up with Hobby Polish Bloggers, a great group of casual nail bloggers that give encouragement and guidance to other nail bloggers. It's kind of like a support group for those of us who blog just for the fun of it. As a group, we are starting a monthly link-up and this is our very first one! And appropriately, the theme is Halloween!

I decided to do an accent nail featuring what I have been referring to as "Lil' Frankie". I knew I wanted to do a mani with black but I also needed some sparkle so I used Blue-Eyed Gril Lacquer's Siren Noir on the rest of my nails. The idea for Lil' Frankie came to me since I got this neon green glow-in-the-dark polish from Rite-Aid. I knew I wanted to use it in a Halloween mani and Frankie fit the bill. I did a Google image search for Frankenstein nail art and there were tons of cute ideas! I'm sure there are even tutorials! Anyway I got the idea from those images to make his face fit my nail and just went from there. I think he turned out pretty cute too!

What will your nails be for Halloween this year? Let us know in the comments.

An InLinkz Link-up