Sunday, September 14, 2014

Forget Me Not: OPI Thanks a Windmillion

The OPI Nordic collection is all the rage right now, but I wanted to remind you all of another OPI that would also be great as a transition color into fall. This is OPI Thanks a Windmillion from the Holland collection.  I am so ready for fall, football, scarves and pumpkin everything! Side note: I am burning a new Bath & Body Works candle right now called Tailgate...and I am OBSESSED with the scent!  If you're a fan of their candles I would highly recommend checking it out! Anyway back to this lovely polish...




OPI's Holland collection is a few years old, so that's why I'm titling this as a 'forget me not'.  The formula for Thanks a Windmillion is perfect and this is 2 easy coats. I wanted to make a glitter sandwich but until I get a hold of a bottle of Glitter Off, I am hesitating using a chunky glitter.  I decided to at least try it matted, so these photos are all with one coat of Essence Soft Touch matte topcoat.  So, it's not the most intricate look but still super pretty!

Shade
I love the dustiness that Thanks a Windmillion has; it's very greyed looking in indoor light.  Really almost a sage color, but with just enough blue in it for me to still classify it as a borderline seafoam.  I would grab this, if you can still find it in store...OPI had transitioned this into their core collection.  Otherwise, I imagine it would be fairly easy to find on Amazon. 

I hope you all are enjoying fall where you are!  Thanks for stopping by :)
~Hayley


*All polishes and items in this post were purchased by me.

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Indie Spotlight: Cirque Vaudeville

Hello again!  I really meant to post this before Labor Day...so consider this my last gasp of summer before I jump completely into fall!  It's still hot and sunny on my side of the country anyway! Today I have Vaudeville by Cirque to show you.  While it's not a typical fall color, it is really pretty...

thumbnail
Sunlight

Shade - to show the iridescence
Shade
Sunlight
I would best describe Vaudeville as a muted lavender with gold and iridescent shimmer.  The formula was great, just a little thin, so this is 3 thin coats with no topcoat.  Removal was pretty easy since the shimmer is more micro-flakies rather than micro-glitter.  I don't have too many indies (yet!!) but this has been one of my favorite indies that I own.  My bottle of Vaudeville is about 2 years old and is still really consistent!  I was pleased that the color and formula stayed as it was supposed to this entire time.

Cirque Colors
Indoors - low light
Indoors - normal light
I just love gold shimmer!!!!
If you're interested in seeing what other beautiful polishes Annie has created, I have linked the Cirque website above. (They're 3-free and contain essential oils!)  As always, please let me know if you have any comments or questions!  I hope you have a great week!  See you soon :)
~ Hayley


*All polishes in this post were purchased by me. Links are provided for your convenience.

Sunday, August 31, 2014

BEGL - One Gray-t Year and Fare the Wind Matted

Hello again my polished readers! Today I have a fun mani for you featuring more of one of my favorite indie brands: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers. This is the beautiful One Gray-t Year, an LE polish created to celebrate the 1st anniversary of Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers, with an accent of Fare the Wind.


One Gray-t Year is a gray matte polish with rainbow micro-flakies. I love the matte look on this one! I wish I could have captured the flakies better though! I also topped Fare the Wind with NYC Matte topcoat and I really loved the look this gave me. I have never mattified a holo before, but I think this will be something I continue to experiment with. I also like the way they feel, if that makes sense?

My hydrangeas are just starting to bloom again so I needed a flower pic with it too!

A bit closer, you can sort-of see a few flakes on my pointer from the sun reflection.
The poor cleanup around my pinky is kind of a funny story. As some of you might guess, I try and polish my nails when my little one is napping and usually I'm also doing something else since I love to multitask my "free time". So I was chatting on Facebook, looking at Instagram and also trying to create this manicure at the same time. FAIL. I was balancing my polish on my phone, it vibrated, scared me and I grabbed the cap of One Gray-t Year and it was loose! I flung polish all over my phone and the arm of my couch. After that I was a bit shaky, so when I went to polish my pinky's second coat, I squished polish into my cuticles. This is the best I could do. I hope it doesn't scare any of you away knowing I am human and I make mistakes. If nothing else, I hope you got a little laugh from that story!

What do you think of the matte look? Love it or leave it?

Thursday, August 28, 2014

The Purple Summer

I have decided that this summer my very favorite shade has been purple. I find myself going back to the various shades I own over and over again. This polish is no exception. Shown in these photos is Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers "Fare the Wind" - a gorgeous linear holographic purple with a blue shift. I decided to be a little different and use my middle finger as the accent on this mani. For the accent I used Lynnderella's Blue Rouge - it matched so perfectly! This mani reminds me a bit of the book "The Rainbow Fish" maybe because I've been reading it to my son at bedtime this past week. Or maybe becasue those glitters from Blue Rouge remind me of Rainbow Fish's glittering scales that he gives to each of the other fish in the sea. Time to let the pictures do the talking.

 Used here is 2 coats of FTW, accent of Blue Rouge on middle, and topped with ATC topcoat.

Obligatory Flower Shot



Let's get a little closer, shall we?

I think the draw to holos for me is that sparkle I catch in the sun - the purple is lovely on its own but then POW! the sun shines and rainbows appear. If you don't own any holos, I highly recommend adding at least one to your collection. Unless you hate rainbows, then never mind. Fare the Wind is currently sold out, but if you stalk follow BEGL on facebook, you just never know what she might decide to bring back. As for Blue Rouge, it has been discontinued (so sorry!).

And as always here are a few places where you can find these lovelies:
Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer on Facebook
Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer's Store
Lynnderella on Facebook
Lynnderella's store on ebay