1999, Recycled & Upgraded

I mentioned in Friday's post  that I'd recycled the black nails from that mani and made an entirely different look, and that's what I'm sharing with you this morning!  

Same as before, the black nails are two perfect coats of LaCC 1999, which has great staying power when sandwiched between LaCC 2012 base coat and 2013 top coat!  To those nails I added some square peach studs from the Born Pretty Store.  

I changed my two accent nails up by putting on three thin coats of piCture pOlish Peaches n' Cream, a favourite spring/summer polish of mine!  The weather's not been very nice, so I was in the mood for something bright!  Those nails are topped with one easy coat of my favourite black and white glitter topper, Different Dimension Social Suicide.  All nails have two coats of LaCC 2013 top coat.

On a side note, what do you think of this different watermark?  I was trying to come up with something that was more unique and incorporated my logo, but I'm not sure if it's readable enough and if the image distracts from the nails.  Let me know what you think!  

Anywho, I much prefer this look to the previous one.  Recycling those nails to use as a starting point for a very different double-accent look was a fun way to quickly change up my mani!  :)

Winstonia Store Review: 3D Nail Art Charm #4

So I may have accidentally lied in Wednesday's post about showing you the second charm yesterday, but better late than never!  This is the second 3D nail art charm that I chose from the Winstonia Store; it's a super cute black and silver bow with a rhinestone in the middle!  

This look turned out somewhat similar in style to the other one, but I still love it! 

Attaching the charms is super easy.  After my polish base was dry and top-coated, I just attached the 3D charm with a dot of nail glue.  This one isn't curved on the bottom like the other, but due to it being flatter it actually felt more secure.  As with the previous one, it lasted well for the few hours that I wore it.  

I wanted the bow to be the focal point, so I went with a relatively uniform look on the rest of my nails.  The lighter blue is three coats of Essie Rock the Boat, and the brighter blue is two coats of Essie In the Cab-ana.  Awful names, gorgeous shades!  I topped each of them with one thin coat of Different Dimension Social Suicide, which is definitely my favourite black and white glitter topper of the ones I own!  

I love how the black and white glitter compliments the colours of the bow, it came together even better than I'd expected!  

You can find this 3D nail art charm on the Winstonia Store here; this is design #4.  If you missed Wednesday's post, be sure to check that out here.

Overall, I'm really in love with the two 3D nail art charms that I've tried!  Although they're not practical for everyday wear, they make a cute and fun addition to a manicure for a special occasion!  

Have you tried 3D charms on your nails before?  Would you?  :)  

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

Fuse Nail Polish: Blurpleberry & Zombie Snot

Happy Friday everyone!  I'm SO looking forward to this weekend, I've got a lot to catch up on.  In the mean time, I've got two polishes from a relatively new indie brand called Fuse Nail Polish to show you! :) 

Spotty Dottie Pink Gradient

I've finally been starting to get into wearing lighter polishes for spring.  I'm more of a rich and vampy polish person, but I forced myself to dip a toe outside my comfort zone and made this cute spring-y pink mani!

I started with three thin coats of LaCC 1957, the lighter pink.  Next, I sponged on a gradient in LaCC 1950, which I went over twice to get the second colour more saturated on the nail.  Finally, I added a thick sponged coat of All That Glitters Spotty Dottie Light, and topped it all with two coats of Seche Vite.  

This look is super easy to re-create, and there's so many possibilities with what colours you use for the gradient and which glitter topper to add!  Even though I'm not a pink-polish girl at all, I think this mani was pretty cute; I got a lot of compliments on it from my friends!  :)

Chirality Nail Polish: Cereal Killers

I didn't have a very good morning yesterday, but once I came home to a new episode of Castle, lunch with my awesome grandpa, and some nail mail from Chirality Nail Polish, my mood was much improved.  If you like my Facebook page, you might have read that I did a ton of swatching yesterday.  I managed to get all four of the Chirality polishes done, as well as a few others.  This is probably my quickest turnaround time ever, I was just so intrigued by these polishes! 

Swatches and review after the jump!  :)

Nostalgic Nail Lacquer

Today'a post is a little later than usual, but I've got five great polishes from Nostalgic Nail Lacquer to show you!  Take a look!  :)

"Rayanne is part of the My So-Called Lacquer collection of jelly based glitter bomb lacquers, inspired by the 90′s teen drama, My So-Called Life."

"Rayanne is a purple based jelly with bright purple, lavender, burgundy, gunmetal, and pink glitters in various shapes and sizes."

The base of Rayanne is pretty sheer by itself, so I layered two coats over NOPI Prized Possession Purple (which has an awful formula, by the way.)  The glitter in Rayanne spread well with a couple extra brushstrokes, and I topped it with two coats of OTD top coat for a smooth finish. 

F*ck And Run is "named after the song where Liz Phair once sang about wanting all the stupid old sh*t like letters and sodas. Anyone who has (proudly?) done the Walk Of Shame ought to own this feminine yet racy shade of lacquer."

This polish is "a red jelly base packed full of hot pink, red and orange sparks. Sheer enough to layer over your favorite pink and red shades but buildable to wear on it's own."

I decided to build this polish up alone, and you're seeing three coats here.  The formula on F*ck And Run was on the thick side but no problem to work with; it dries semi-matte so you'll want some top coat (shown) to get the full beauty of the micro-flakies and shimmer. 

Number One Crush is "full of hearts, stars, hexes, bars and dots in tons of red, pink and white shades. Perfect for layering over your favorite colors!"

Erin, the creative mind behind Nostalgic Nail Lacquer, says "This super valentinesy (yes, I made that word up!) shade is one to die for, or maybe just pray for. It's also the female cousin of Mad World." 

I chose to layer one dabbed coat of Number One Crush over NOPI Studio Mama.  This glitter is a hungry one, I used two coats of OTD followed by one coat of Wicked Fast to smooth it out.  Very Valentine's Day appropriate! 

Possibly Maybe "is a semi-sheer pale yellow crelly with lavender  mint green, silver and gun metal glitters."

The base on Possibly Maybe was very sheer, so I layered two easy coats over OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls and topped it with one coat of Seche Vite.  

"If you are a fan of slightly odd and definitely quirky (like say, Bjork?) lacquers, then you possibly, maybe, probably will love this shade."  Unfortunately, I'm not a huge fan of this one.  I really liked it in the bottle but , it was pulling green on my skin tone and just wasn't flattering at all.  Didn't want to photograph right either. 

Saving my favourite for last, this is You Oughta Know: "a manic mix of bright orange, blue, black, dandelion and white glitters in a clear base."

I knew the perfect base for this crazy mix of glitters would be Picture Polish Tiffany.  You're seeing one-plus-spot-filling coats (haha) of You Oughta Know, topped with two coats of Seche Vite.  

Formula was tricky with all the different and large glitters, but the end result is so worth the extra effort!  It gives a really cool abstract-artsy look from arm's length.  

Nostalgic Nail Lacquer is available through Erin's website, and a new site is under construction.  Keep up to date on Facebook!

I mentioned that You Oughta Know is my favourite of these, but F*ck And Run is a very close second!  Which is your favourite of these shades?  Would you buy any of them?  :)

Disclaimer: The products in this post were sent to me for review. 

The Polish Bar: Winter 2013 Collection

You though I was done with indies for a while after Indie January?  Wrong you were!  I'll still be doing indie posts, just scattered between nail art.  :)

Today I've got four beauties from The Polish Bar's Winter 2013 collection; take a look! 

Sunday Morning is a gorgeous mix of  "fine aqua, periwinkle, lilac and purple hex glitters in a clear base."  I layered one easy coat over NOPI Denim To Earth, and topped with two coats of Seche Vite.  This is my favourite of the four!  

Next is Love Song, a mix of "rainbow hex glitters, purple, lilac and lavender hex glitters and a dash of purple hearts in a clear base."  

I went fishing a bit and didn't get any hearts, but I could see a few stuck to the sides of my bottle so they're in there!  I layered one easy coat plus spot-filling over NOPI Studio Mama, and topped with tow coats of top coat. 

Next up is Butterfly Kisses, which is a clear base with "lavender, baby blue, white and shifting rainbow hex and square glitters, plus a dash of silver holo butterflies."

I layered one dabbed coat over NOPI I've Got Bieber Fever (which I definitely do not, for the record), and topped with one coat of Seche Vite.  This one the only polish that gave me any trouble, the base seemed really thick and no glitter wanted to come out on the brush.  I talked to the owner, Janice, and she said that nobody else has mentioned this issue, so I probably just got an off bottle.  

The last polish for today is Midnight Falls, a clear base with "multi-colored hex glitters in many sizes, black glitter in many sizes, silver and gold holo hex glitters and many others in a clear base."

I layered one coat of Midnight Falls over Picture Polish Tiffany, and topped with two coats of top coat.  Application was pretty easy, I just had to brush over the nail a few times to get even coverage.  

If you've been a long-time follower of my blog, you may remember my review of four matte glitter toppers from The Polish Bar (Oceanside, Shirley, Neon Lights, Dreams) almost six months ago.  Oh, how far my photography skills have come!  :P

You can purchase these and other lovely polishes from The Polish Bar on Etsy here, and keep up to date on Facebook. 

Do you have a favourite of these four polishes?  Any other layering combinations you'd like to see?  :)

Disclaimer: The products in this post were sent to me for review. 

Indie January: ILNP Fully Turqued

Can I get an unenthusiastic hooray for Monday??  It's Day 21 of Indie January, and today I've got one more glitter topper from I <3 Nail Polish to show you, Fully Turqued.  You can see my two previous posts on I<3NP here:  All Gold Everything, and Once Upon A Starry Night.  

Fully Turqued is a clear base packed with black and white matte bars and hexes, and turquoise squares.  I used one dabbed coat over Orly Decoded, with two coats of Seche Vite.  (Eww, the bad bubbles are the fault of my SV with this one!)  The formula was what I've come to expect from chunkier glitter toppers, it needed a little pushing around and fiddling to get an even spread, but not too much trouble.  

I really like how all the nails are unique, but they still have a very uniform look overall.  The different glitters in this blend well together.  I love how the shapes of the black and white glitters are all the same, while the turquoise glitters are also all the same shape; I think it really helps define the different glitters. Does that make any sense? Haha!  I'm wearing this polish right now, and when I'm holding this at arm's length, it looks almost like a splatter mani!  

I<3NP is currently available through Etsy, and like the Facebook page for updates! 

You may have noticed that my nails are a bit shorter... I was in a bad mood last night, and I started filing and just kept going... I guess it's somewhat of a stress reliever, haha!  I really like them this length though, it's not a huge change but it's nice!  

Overall, this is a really cute and fun glitter topper that I think would look good over a lot of different polishes!  What do you think?  Any layering combinations you'd like to see?  :)

Disclaimer: The products in this post were sent to me for review.  

Indie January: CrowsToes Tangled Web

It's Day 9 of Indie January, and today's polish is an awesome glitter topper from CrowsToes!  Tangled Web is a clear base packed with black hexes, bars, and micro glitter, as well as blue duochrome hexes.  

I layered one coat of Tangled Web over two coats of Zoya Dove, and topped with two coats of Seche Vite.  Application required some extra work because it was super thick, so I dabbed it on like I described in this post. 

You're probably aware of my love for black glitter, and I really like the pairing of black and blue instead of the normal black and white!  It gave this really cool almost graffiti look to my nails, I had so many people grab my hand and ask me how I "did" the black, haha!   I find that most nuggles (nail muggles) have some mental block with the concept of matte or black glitter, ("But glitter is sparkly!") 

CrowsToes polish is currently in stock on Llarowe, and follow The Polished Crow's blog for updates.

Black glitter: Yes?  No?  Do you like the different pairing of colours, or prefer the normal black and white?  Comments make me happy!  :) 

Disclaimer: The products in this post were sent to me for review. 

Indie January: Candeo Colors Fallen

I'm starting off my Month of Indie with a gorgeous glitter topper, Candeo Colors Fallen.  Since posting every day this month will be a bit of a squeeze for me, the posts will be a little shorter than normal (I usually babble a lot anyways, haha!)  Let's get right to it!

Candeo Colors Fallen is a mix of white and iridescent glitter in a clear base.  I first layered one coat of this over three coats of Essie Macks for a Christmas-y look; I wore my red and white Christmas sweater to match and really enjoyed wearing it this way!

I then decided to layer one coat of Fallen over two coats of Orly Shockwave, since the iridescent glitter seemed to mostly flash blue.  This combination was also beautiful, but my camera didn't want to pick up the blue iridescent flashes over the blue base! 

The formula on Fallen was thick but easy to work with.  Only a little dabbing was required to get the larger hexes evenly spread.  Two coats of Seche Vite for a smooth finish.  

Fallen is a gorgeous polish, and it looks beautiful over so many different colours!  White glitter is an automatic win, and the iridescent flashes give it that extra special something!  :)

You can find Candeo Colors on their website, Llarowe, and Facebook. 

Disclaimer:  The products in this post were sent to me for review.