Emily de Molly Monet's Garden

Hi everyone! I was so very excited to get some Emily de Molly nail mail this week (from an awesome Aussie) so I have one of her newer polishes, Monet's Garden. As soon as I saw it I had to have it. It did not disappoint. It is a beautiful teal jelly with various shades of green glitter and a smattering of pink glitter (some of the glitters are holo as well). I chose to layer 2 coats over American Apparel Malibu Green.

Emily de Molly polishes are available from creator Hayley's Etsy Shop if you are in Australia. If you are elsewhere in the world, Llarowe ships these internationally. This particular polish hasn't made it to Llarowe yet, but hopefully she will have it in the next restock. Thanks for looking everyone!

Purple Shimmer Sunday: Illamasqua Poke

Hi everyone! For the second edition of Purple Shimmer Sunday, I have a polish that I've had for probably almost 2 years untried. I got Illamasqua Poke when I first started my polish collection and it have sort of forgotten about it. I even considered selling it once. It is SO PRETTY though. And also a beast to photograph. It has a reddish purple base, but it wants to lean really blue in photographs. I swear it has some sort of neon pigment in it. It has a fabulous silver shimmer with hints of blue throughout the base. This is 2 coats of Illamasqua Poke.

*Most color accurate pic...it leans more red like this*

After I wore Poke alone for a day, I added a cute blue/purple fine glitter topper from Nicole by OPI called Gone Wishin' (that was a gift from my pal Moxie over at Pied Polish Piper). I thought this worked really well together.

So all in all I love both of these polishes that have been untried for ages. It is fun to dig around and find treasures in my stash. Be sure to check out what Kristy has in store over at The Polish Haven for all of your purple shimmer needs on Purple Shimmer Sunday!. Thanks for looking!

Neon Dotticure

Hi everyone! So I have been wanting to do something crazy with neons ever since it started heating up for summer, so I decided going off for a friend's bachelorette was a great time to do it. For this dotticure, I started out with a white base (Sally Hansen Insta Dri Whirlwind White) and then dotted with China Glaze Surfin' for Boys (Orange/Coral), I'm With the Lifeguard (Green), Sun-Kissed (Yellow), Splish Splash (Blue), and Orly Oh Cabana Boy (Pink). I was so mad that I used some topcoat that needed thinning and had bubbles galore on my finished mani, but it still looks cool so I kept it.

Are you loving neons for summer? I haven't been much on them in the past, but this year I'm obsessed! Thanks for looking everyone!

Ninja Polish Mystic Glacier

Ninja Polish has been killing it with their Enigma Collection and I just had to pick up one of the most recent additions: Mystic Glacier. This polish is SO gorgeous! It is my favorite from the collection so far (I still have to try Shillelagh and it looks pretty darn amazing too). What is so fantastic about these polishes is that they can be worn on their own with no need for layering and you still get the fantastic multichrome effect from the color morphing pigment.

Mystic Glacier has a medium blue jelly base (I have determined it is very close to New York Summer Hot Sky Blue) with red/green/gold color morphing shimmer. As I said, this one you can wear on its own without wearing a base color, but you can if you desire. For my mani I did 2 coats on its own.

If you like color shifting polishes, I really recommend picking this one up. It is a stunner. The colors shift looks just this vivid in person. Ninja Polish's Enigma Collection is available from their website and while a lot of the polishes in this collection are out of stock right now, you can sign up for stock notifications, and Ninja Polish will e-mail you when they are restocked. Thanks for looking everyone!

Favorite Neutrals/Nudes

I'm going to be careful here when I say "nudes" because I am not generally a "nude" person. With my skintone, most true nudes do not look right on me, so I generally go for stuff that is more in the pink family. I want to include them here, separate from the pinks, though.

OPI My Very First Knockwurst. This one is actually a really a nudey pink, but it is PERFECT in every way. Holy grail material for me. It matches my skintone and I could not love it more. I didn't think I could love a "nude" until I found this one.

CrowsToes Birthday Suit (over OPI My Very First Knockwurst). I layered this polish basically to hide visible nail line, but it is such a lovely nude shimmer. Very flattering and great as a nude with a twist. 

Essie Vanity Fairest. This polish is so dainty and the shimmer is what makes it stand out to me. My very first "my nails but better" polish. 

OPI Care to Danse? My favorite of the OPI Ballet Collection (followed very closely by Don't Touch My Tutu...to be added to another favorites category later). This one is just perfect for a "my nails but better" look. 

Color Club Magic Attraction (2 coats over Butter London All Hail the Queen). Nude glitter? Well..I call it nude...ish? LOL...overall it reads very neutral but also blingy as all get out. This is one glitter that everyone needs for sure! Check out the blurry picture for the bling factor!

Butter London All Hail the Queen. This is very subtle and neutral. A no fuss, work appropriate mani. 

Color Club Cherubic. Flawless nude holo. And such a strong holo at that!

I know I don't have a lot of favorite nudes, but I think these are really nice! Also a good variety of finishes so I can go for a really safe neutral or one that steals the show. A lot of the other posts I'm putting together are going to be a lot longer so be ready. They are going to take longer to put together but I hope you guys will like them!

Kiko Sugar Mat Spring Green

Hi everyone! Thanks to my good friend Jill, I finally have my hands on a few of the Kiko Sugar Mat polishes.  Now you guys should know by now my obsession with topcoating ALL THE TEXTURE POLISHES, and the shimmery half of the Kiko Sugar Mats looked like they would be amazing with topcoat.

Spring Green (#643) was the one I was most anxious to get my hands on so I had to try it first. It did a little more yellowy green than these pictures show (more like the close-up photo). This is 2 coats plus topcoat (2 coats Gelous, 1 coat NYC Grand Central Station).

And here it is without topcoat. I definitely prefer it topcoated. 

Kiko polishes are available in the UK and, as I said, I was fortunate to have a friend pick them up for me that was coming to the US (since the UK has tightened up on their postal regulations). Thanks for looking everyone!

Happy Hands Illusions, Michael over L.A. Girl Electric Coral

So...I'm sort of late to the party, but I just started watching Arrested Development on Netflix. I'm on season 2 now and I'm kicking myself for waiting so long to watch it. I finally GET what everyone is always talking about. And I finally GET the names of the Happy Hands I've Made a Huge Mistake collection. After Kristi, the maker of Happy Hands, re-released this collection I had to grab a few. I actually ordered OPI A Roll in the Hague because I loved Samarium's combo with it and Illusions, Michael, but I just happened to be wearing L.A. Girl Electric Coral when my package arrived. It was a match made in heaven. 

Illusions, Michael has red, orange, and gold glitters as well as gold star glitters in a clear base. It was inspired by Michael's brother Gob, a wannabe magician who is constantly trying to wow everyone with his "illusions" (not tricks). This is 1 coat over L.A. Girl Electric Coral. The stars come out quite easily, but I did place them a bit because I wanted them on the flattest part of my nail. 

Here is L.A. Girl Electric Coral, from the 3-D Effects Collection, on its own. It is just gorgeous! It is juicy and jelly with holo bits floating around. I would definitely recommend picking this one up (as well as any of the polishes from this collection.)

Happy Hands Polishes are available from Kristi's Etsy Shop or her Big Cartel Shop. For international customers, Happy Hands polishes are also available from Harlow & Co., Mei Mei's Signatures, and Femme Fatale Cosmetics. I buy L.A. Girl polishes either from Rite Aid or online from Cherry Culture.