Shimmer Polish: Candace, Sonia, Rochelle, Kelly, & Caroline

As promised, I've got more Shimmer Polish swatches!  Today I'm showing you Candace, Caroline, Rochelle, Kelly, and Sonia. 

Continued after the jump! 

Shimmer Polish: Bernice, Airriann, Jacki, Adrienne, & Lindsey

Over the next little while you can expect to see a ton of Shimmer Polish swatches here!  Way back, I received the entire (at the time) Shimmer Polish line to swatch and review - I'm embarrassed and ashamed to admit, but I got about half way through and got completely burned out, so the swatches I'd done sat on my computer for ages, while the other half of the polishes waited ever-so-patiently for me to be ready to tackle them again.  I'm moving out of my apartment to a different city in a month, and it's forced me to get my butt in gear and do all the things I've kept putting off; I seem to have got my swatching and posting mojo back, so here we are!   

Since I've got so many polishes, I'll be showing them five at a time.  You can see all my previous Shimmer Polish posts here.  Today I've got Bernice, Airriann, Jacki, Adrienne, and Lindsey. Continued after the jump!

Floral Sky

I happened to purchase Essie Haute as Hello on the same day that piCture pOlish Sky arrived in the mail, and I knew the two would look great together! 

I started by painting all my nails with three thin coats of piCture pOlish Sky.  The floral nail was inspired by this mani by @lifeisbetterpolished on IG.  The darker outlines are Essie Haute as Hello, and the lighter shade is the same polish mixed with a bit of white.  The leaves are LaCC 1963 and Essie First Timer.  One coat of Seche Vite to smooth everything out! 

I posted a swatch of Haute as Hello on IG, which you can see here.

I really loved how bright and fun this simple mani was, I wore it for four days!!  What do you think? :)

LaCC Floral Nail Art & BPS Gold Studs

Good morning!  As I mentioned in Saturday's post, I was super excited to do some nail art with the new LaCC Spring/Summer releases.  This was the first design that I came up with, and I knew it would look awesome accented with these nail art studs from Born Pretty Store.

I started with three thin coats of LaCC 1992, one of my favourite light pink/nude polishes ever!  Next, I freehanded the roses using a few LaCC purples: the new shade 1997 for the main part, 1973 for the darker outlines, and a bit of 1972 for some more dimension.  Once that was dry, I taped over the flowery halves of my nails and painted the other half in the new shade 1969.  I also added some leaves on the flowers in the same green to tie it together.   All nails were topped with two coats of LaCC 2013 top coat. 

I was going to attach the studs with nail glue, but upon grabbing mine I discovered it had glued itself shut... I tried all I could but it wasn't budging, so out of necessity I just attached them with dots of Seche Vite.  They're pretty large so they didn't stay on very long that way, but I'm sure they'd stay on a lot better with nail glue!  

You can buy these gold studs here from Born Pretty Store.  Don't forget to use my coupon code above for 10% off!

Disclaimer: The products in this post were provided for review and my honest opinion. 

Nayll Swatch & Review: Birthday Shots & I'm On the VIP List

I've got two more polishes from Nayll to show you today; if you missed yesterday's post, Nayll is an innovative site where you can select bases, glitters, and shimmers to make and name your own polishes.  As I mentioned in my previous post, Nayll also has a line of pre-mixed polishes you can choose from.  

I've got two glitter mixes, as well as a review of Nayll's Smooth It Out Glitter Top Coat.  Read on after the jump!

Nayll Swatch & Review: My Custom Polishes

By now I'm sure a lot of you have heard about Nayll, an innovative site where you can select bases, glitters, and shimmers to make and name your own polishes.  Each bottle is individually mixed, and they even come with the name you choose printed on the bottle below the brand logo.  It's a pretty nifty idea, especially for people who want to try their hand at frankening without the mess and expense of buying costly supplies and mixing polishes.

There is also a line of pre-mixed polishes you can choose from, but those are being saved for another post.  Today I'm showing you the three polishes I created; they are, of course, all themed around Doctor Who, haha!  Continued after the jump...

New Wave & Pink Whales

There's a bit of a story to this mani, so bear with me...  Last weekend I went to the mall in search of these J Crew socks.  I obviously have a thing for funny socks, because I had seen them on a previous trip and resisted buying them, and really regretted it.  Luckily for me, I went back this time and the shark socks were on sale, and I found another pair that I like even more with whales on them!  

On the same trip to the mall, I innocently walked into Sephora just looking to grab some more concealer, when I spotted one lonely bottle of the limited edition Marc Jacobs New Wave.  However, there were fifty billion people in line so I resigned to just getting concealer at the drugstore.  I was doing so well, but unfortunately Sephora is right by the exit of the mall... So my polish-hoarding self got the better of me and on my way out I went back in to just check if it was still there... And it was... And there was no line-up... So it came home with me.  

Of course I had to put on the Marc Jacobs polish as soon as I got home; two flawless coats for opacity.  What an absolutely gorgeous navy creme!  I wanted to add a little something to the base, and I couldn't resist replicating the adorable whales from my socks!  The little guy is freehanded with LaCC 1950 and a bit of white acrylic paint.  All nails are topped with Seche Vite, as usual. 

Above is a swatch of Marc Jacobs New Wave alone, and below are the whale socks.  :)

Link

All in all, I was completely in love with this mani.  The navy is so beautiful, and the whale was just so irresistibly adorable!  What do you think?  :)

LaCC Spring/Summer 2014: New Releases

Good morning!  I wasn't planning on posting today, but I got some exciting nail mail and just had to squeeze in a post... I've got the two new Spring/Summer releases for La Couleur Couture!  :)

LaCC is one of my favourite brands for their consistently flawless creme formulas in universally flattering shades.  On top of that, LaCC polishes are 5-free, cruelty-free, vegan, breathable, gluten-free, paraben-free, and UV inhibiting.  What's not to love? 

Onto the new shades!  1997 is a complex creme; depending on the lighting it can read as a dusty mauve, lilac, grey, or periwinkle.  So beautiful!  

I applied two effortless coats, sandwiched between LaCC 2012 base coat and 2013 top coat, which keeps any mani chip-free for days on end.  I'm so in love with this shade; it feels very rainy-spring-day to me, which is a lovely bit of nostalgia for me as I grew up in Vancouver where it's rainy 80% of the time.  It also happens to be where LaCC is based!  ;)  I've already done some nail art over this beauty, so look out for that post in a week or so.  

1996 is an interesting green creme, it borders between a pastel green (like 1968) and an army green.  This one also looks different depending on the lighting, so I can do a comparison with some other greens if that's something you're interested in seeing.  Let me know!

Once again, two perfect coats for opacity.  No top coat on this swatch, just to show you how shiny these polishes are by themselves!  They also dry incredibly quickly.  This one feels like a lovely floral green, and is a very flattering shade that I'm sure would look amazing on a lot of different skin tones!  I'm already bursting with ideas for nail art with this one, it'll be great for floral looks!  

You can see my reviews of previous LaCC collections here:  Spring/Summer 2013 & Fall/Winter 2013.  LaCC polishes are available online through the LaCC website, a list of other online retailers can be found here.  Also, as of very recently, LaCC polishes are available at 750+ Shopper's Drug Mart locations across Canada!! 

I'm head-over-heels for these two new shades, and I really can't wait to get to working them into some fun nail art looks!  I'd love to hear your thoughts as well!  :)

Disclaimer: The products in this post were provided for review and my honest opinion. 

Lucie in the Sky with Diamonds

Shortly after receiving piCture pOlish Sky in the mail last week, it dawned on me that I now owned polishes called Sky and Lucie (close enough, haha!)  I couldn't resist the opportunity to use the names as inspiration for some diamond nail art!  ;)

The bases on all blue nails is three thin coats of piCture pOlish Sky, my index finger is two coats of piCture pOlish Black.  I freehanded diamonds on my two accent nails using acrylic paint and Essie No Place Like Chrome, and added a silver rhinestone to my index finger.  My pinky is a glitter gradient with Shimmer Polish Lucie.  All nails are topped with two coats of Seche Vite.  

I was a little worried about freehanding the diamonds, but I think they turned out super cute; I also love the graphic contrast that the black nail provides!  What do you think of this mani?  :)

Born Pretty Store Review: Bow Nail Art Decoration

Good morning!  I've got these super cute bow decorations from Born Pretty Store to show you today.  

I used two coats of Miss Ashleigh My Merlot Made Me Do It (swatch), and stuck on the decorations with some top coat.  I put two coats of Seche Vite on top, but the edges somehow still managed to poke up a bit; nothing too terrible though.  I just think these tiny bows are absolutely adorable!  :)  

You can order them online here, design K90, and don't forget to use the above code for 10% off.  

Disclaimer: The products in this post were provided for review and my honest opinion. 

Born Pretty Store Review: Fox 3D Charm

I've got another nail art product to share with you today; it's this super cute fox 3D charm which you can find here, #162.  

I started this mani with three thin coats of piCture pOlish Honey Dew, one of my absolute favourite polishes for spring and summer.  I attached the 3D charm with a dollop of Seche Vite as I was just wearing it for an evening out, however if I was planning on wearing it for longer I would have secured it with a dot of nail glue.  I felt as though my other nails needed a little something more, so I added silver rhinestones from a Sally Hansen I <3 Nail Art kit.  

Unfortunately the charm isn't curved so the edges do stick out quite a bit, but the little fox is just so cute that I'm willing to put up with that!  :P 

You can purchase this charm through Born Pretty Store here.  Use the code PPJ61 to get 10% off your entire order!  Are you as in love with this little fox charm as I am?  :)

Products in this post were provided for review and my honest opinion. 

Born Pretty Store Review: Oil Painting Water Decals

Today I've got a mani to show you, which features some water decals from Born Pretty Store.  These are the oil painting water decals, and they've got some beautiful designs to choose from.  Of course I chose pattern QQ-88, because it's a ballerina! 

Unfortunately I obviously didn't fully look through the description, because I received one big water decal (approximately 4.5x5.5cm) instead of the expected smaller individual-nail decals.  I was also disappointed by the fact that a large corner of the decal was unusable, because the white rectangles with the pattern number on them are actually on the decals themselves.  I was a bit sad that I wouldn't be able to get the whole dancer on my nail, but I plugged away in pencil on the back of the decals where I was going to cut pieces out for each nail.  I lay down two coats of LVX Fantom on all nails, and set to work applying the water decals.

As you can see, I only ended up with two nails actually covered in the decals.  These two were cut out from the edges of the decal, while all of the pieces I had cut out of the dancer in the center refused to stick to my nail.  I soaked them in water to remove from the backing, and the images were still stiff.  No amount of soaking would soften them up, and they wouldn't stick to top coat on my nail, or "shrink" onto my nail when I applied top coat over them, like what usually happens.  After trying again and again (there's only so many pieces you can cut out of the decal) I had to give up getting decals on the rest of my nails.  

I removed the rest of the white bases, and stuck on two coats of OPI Russian Navy, followed by a coat of Essie As Gold as it Gets for some more visual interest.  All nails are topped with a coat of Seche Vite. 

You can use the code PPJ61 for 10% off your entire order!  

You can purchase this product through Born Pretty Store here.  Despite my slight disappointment and frustration with the decals, I still really love how the final slightly-improvised mani came out!  I've had nothing but good experiences when using water decals from Born Pretty Store before, so I'm really not sure what was up with this one.  What do you think of the finished look?

Products in this post were provided for review and my honest opinon.  

April #HePicksMyPolish

Earlier this week I stumbled across a post about this challenge in a Facebook group, and it sounded like fun so I decided to give it a go!  The challenge consists of getting your "he" to pick 1-3 polishes from your stash, and creating a manicure using only those polishes.  You can join the challenge group on Facebook here. 

My boyfriend, Mr. Who, went out of his way to make things difficult for me, and choose polishes of types I've previously told him I didn't really care for; primarily orange, and bright, shimmery pinks.  

The polishes he chose were OPI Chop-sticking to My Story, CrowsToes Love Stinks, and Zoya Aurora. 

I started with a couple coats of CrowsToes Love Stinks, and then sponged a gradient down the middle of my nails with that and OPI Chop-sticking to My Story.  Once that was dry, I taped off a line down the middle and painted over it with two quick coats of Zoya Aurora.  It's all topped with a coat of Seche Vite. 

Considering I was initially very worried about his polish choices, I quite liked how this mani came out!  What do you think?  :)  You can see everyone else's posts through the InLinkz below. 

An InLinkz Link-up