Lynnderella Salad Days

Hi everyone! I'm not sure why it has taken me so long, but I finally decided to wear the Lynnderella that I MOST wanted from the Sweet Somethings for a Summer Solstice collection: Salad Days. This polish is so whimsical and fun. It looks just like a salad with all the fixings. This is 1ish (dabbed on) coats of Salad Days over Illamasqua Rampage.

I have a weakness for green glitters, and this one gets an A+ in my book. If I had to pick my favorites from the collection, it would definitely be Salad Days and Deep Blue Seeing. Thanks for looking everyone!

Zoya Roxy

I have been neglecting a lot of my non-Indie polishes lately, so I decided that I really need to work on wearing other polishes from my collection more often. I have had Zoya Roxy for ages untried so I decided to  give it a little attention.

This is two coats of Zoya Roxy. All of the pictures I have seen online seem much lighter than this, but I have to assume they were taken in really bright lighting or something. It is really this dark in real life. It is a lovely deep wine colored jelly with bright fuchsia micro glitter throughout. It has some similarities to Deborah Lippmann Razzle Dazzle I believe (though that one leans more red while Roxy is a deep winey purple.) It reminds me a lot of China Glaze Mummy May I, but with a wine colored base instead of the dark grey/black jelly base.

Does anyone besides me feel like they are ignoring their stash lately? Too many indies around! But there are so many gems in my regular stash that need some attention, like this beauty. Thanks for looking!

PSA: Advent Calendar Nail Challenge!

Well guess what guys...it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here!! I enjoyed the last nail art challenge I participated in so much that I have decided to participate in one for the month of December. This challenge was created by Kristi at Hap Hap Happy Hands and it looks like it is going to be a blast! I love all Christmasy things and I have several polishes I have been dying to wear, but I have been saving them just for this challenge. It's only 24 days long instead of 31, so you will have plenty of time to relax after Christmas. 

Here are the "rules" copied from Kristi's blog post:

The "rules" are simple: be inspired by the suggestions for each day! I tried to be a little vague so that you could find inspiration for what each day means to you. I'll be circulating this calendar on Instagram (my username is happyhandsnailpolish) as well as my blog and my Happy Hands Nail Polish Facebook page. I hope you'll take part and repost this image (though please do not remove anything or edit it besides adding Instagram filters) and if you post your challenges on Instagram or Twitter, please tag them with #adventcalendarchallenge and #happyhandsnailpolish so everyone can find them. And most importantly, have fun!

So I hope that everyone who is interested will participate...even if it isn't every day. I didn't get a chance to participate in the Halloween challenge that was going around back in October, so I am pumped about this one! Thanks for looking everyone...and I hope you will participate!

Pretty Serious Galaxy Invader

I decided to show you a swatch of one of the Pretty Serious polishes from their mini collection for fall called "They Came From Beyond Space". There are three polishes in this collection (I have all three and I will get to the others eventually) and they are all foily duochromes.

Galaxy Invader is a foily blue with a purple duochrome shift. It can be worn on its own, but I found that layering over black really made the duochrome pop more. The duochrome in these was camera shy, but very apparent in real life. I had to take some extreme measure to get it to show up on film, but it is definitely there. Polishes that refuse to photograph properly frustrate me to no end! It isn't their fault...I guess the camera just doesn't like picking up certain things that are so obvious in real life. This is 1 coat over black.

These polishes can be found on Pretty Serious's website. Pretty Serious Cosmetics is located in Australia, but they do ship to the US (and at very reasonable rates) so don't let that deter you from checking them out. There are a lot of gorgeous shimmers and glitters available from them as well (with fantastic formulas to boot). I highly encourage you to check out this brand if you haven't already. Thanks for looking everyone!

Illamasqua Nomad

Guess what...another Illamasqua creme! Did I mention that I'm obsessed with these? Well...I need them all! They are so fabulous! This one I have been waiting on for awhile and I am stoked to finally have it.

Illamasqua Nomad is a bright jade green creme. It is so vibrant and fun! The formula was top notch as well. This is two coats.

I decided to jazz it up a bit, so I layered it with Paul & Joe #14 (Confetti) , a primarily gold microglitter with multicolored and iridescent glitter mixed in. I loved this combo.

Thanks for looking everyone!

Lynnderella Deep Blue Seeing

Sometimes I have to admit when I am wrong...and this is one of those times. When I ordered the Sweet Somethings for a Summer Solstice collection and it arrived, I was totally meh about this polish. I didn't think there was much special about it and I almost got rid of it. I even thought it had curling glitters (for some reason...I'm still not sure why.). I saw someone layer it over a super dark blue and it looked lovely so I decided to give it a shot. It is now one of my favorite Lynnderellas.

Deep Blue Seeing seems so simple and straightforward in the bottle, but when you put it on (especially over a really dark blue where everything "pops") it is so complex. I especially love the addition of the matte blue glitters among the metallic ones. There are also subtly varying shades of blue. It gives it a lot of interest. This is one coat of Deep Blue Seeing over Zoya Ibiza.

Never have I been so happy to be so wrong. I love this one! Thanks for looking everyone!

Work Appropriate Nails: Essie Vanity Fairest

I was going through my Photobucket and I realized that I forgot to post some work appropriate nails for you guys! I pretty much NEVER have those, so I thought I would share.

I had to go out of town on a work trip and decided that I should stash my glitters and holos for a few days (as sad as it made me). My very first "my nails but better" polish that I bought a long time ago when I first got into nail polish was Essie Vanity Fairest. I do get the hype and great love for the the OPI Ballet collection (and I do wholeheartedly agree...I LOVE those), but Vanity Fairest has still remained a favorite of mine for a work appropriate mani. This is 3 coats of Vanity Fairest. I love the hint of subtle shimmer it has.

Do you guys have a favorite "my nails but better" polish? I will have to say that Essie Vanity Fairest and OPI Care to Danse? are my top two. Thanks for looking everyone!

OPI Designer Series Luxurious and Indulgence

When I saw the two new Designer Series polishes from OPI for the fall, I knew I had to have them. I know a lot of people have complained that they are "not worthy" of the Designer Series title because they aren't as special as say...the grand holos that started the Designer Series line, but they are still fabulous in their own right. These two polishes are reminiscent of one of my favorite collections, the Zoya Sunshine collection from Summer 2011.

First up is DS Luxurious. This is a beautiful red-orange with lots of golden shimmering particles throughout. I'm still unsure what the technical term is for finishes like this. Foil? Glass flecked foil? I'm not sure...but I LOVE polishes with this finish! A lot of people have compared this polish to China Glaze Riveting from the spring Hunger Games collection and it is similar to that polish, but it has more of a red tone to it with more golden shimmer. They are not dupes. DS Luxurious is just a richer color. This is two coats.

Up next is DS Indulgence. This a rich, warm pinkish red with golden shimmering particles (it has the same foily/glassflecky finish as Luxurious). The color of it is gorgeous. It reminded me a little of Zoya Reva from the Sunshine collection, but Reva was a lot pinker and a bit lighter with less golden shimmer. This is two coats. 

They are no holos, but they are worth having in my book. Thanks for looking everyone!!

CrowsToes Bah F@#$%*g Humbug

Today I have a gorgeous polish from CrowsToes' Christmas collection. I wore this a few weeks ago and never posted it for some reason (I have SEVERAL that I haven't posted, so bear with me..I might do some serial posting over the next few days to get them all up before a fun Christmas challenge that I'm participating in starts up).

This is Bah F@#$%*g Humbug over Nails Inc Warwick Way. This is a gorgeous glitter bomb that can be worn year round since the colors don't necessarily scream "Christmas". This has a mix of blue, green, and yellow glitters in a clear base (it is a mixture of different sized hexes with a few bar glitters thrown in). I absolutely LOVE this polish!

This particular CrowsToes is an Overall Beauty exclusive and is limited edition for the holidays (all of the Christmas collection are LE). It appears to be sold out at the moment, but hopefully it will be restocked before it is gone for good! Thanks for looking everyone!

Jade Magia Negra and Jade Vermelho Surreal

Everyone needs some rainbows to light up Black Friday, right? What about black rainbows? Yes, I think those are in order. I had to work today so I did zero shopping, but I thought I would participate with my nails at least so black rainbows it was.

This is two easy coats of Jade Magia Negra. So pretty!! It is an amazing black holo polish. And as with all of the Jades, it does not require and sort of special base coat and isn't chippy.

 

 

 

 

 

A week or two ago I wore Jade Vermelho Surreal so I thought I would share that one with you as well while I'm at it. This one is so amazing! I love the shade of red. And I also found out that Jade holos are magical under football stadium lights. I wish I had a picture of how amazing this mani looked that night under the lights!! It was awesome! This is also two easy coats.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've got some comparisions for you to hopefully help you slay some hard to find lemmings.

 

 

From L-R: OPI My Private Jet, Jade Magia Negra, Ozotic 518, Jade Vermelho Surreal

 

 

 

 

As you can see, the Jades are actually more holo than either the OPI or Ozotic. And I actually love the richer red of the Jade as compared to the Ozotic. So if you are in the market for either of these HTF pretties, I highly recommend the Jades.

 

 

Jade holos are available from Llarowe and I am slowly but surely collecting them all. They are must haves for holo lovers in my opinion. Thanks for looking everyone!

CrowsToes Her Goose Got Cooked

So for my Thanksgiving Day mani, I decided to go with a combo so Thanksgivingy it hurt: CrowsToes Her Goose Got Cooked over Jessica Spicy Pumpkin. It was perfection!

Her Goose Got Cooked has gold, orange, and pink glitter in it (holo and metallic) and it is so fallish and festive. Over Jessica Spicy pumpkin, it was a blingtastic masterpiece. This is 1 coat over Spicy Pumpkin.

 

 

 

CrowsToes Her Goose Got Cooked is a Llarowe exclusive. You should snatch one up while you still can because the Christmas collection is Limited Edition. Thanks for looking! 

 

 

Fall Mani: HARE Polish Rusty Hearts and Pahlish Combustable Lemon

So today I have a fabulous combo for you. I was originally just going to wear HARE Polish Rusty Hearts, but I kept looking at Pahlish Combustable Lemon and I thought they would look awesome together. Turns out...they were made for each other.

I decided to do accent nails because I was being SUPER lazy, but I think that this would have looked absolutely fantastic if I had done a glitter gradient with the Pahlish. The glitters in Combustable Lemon look like fall leaves (well...if they were shiny with bits of holo, right?) LOL!

 

 

 

 

 

Here is Rusty Hearts on it's own. This one is from the recently released Antiquities collection for fall. This is has such a gorgeous shimmer, just perfect for fall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

HARE polish can be purchased from Llarowe as well as HARE's Etsy Store. This Pahlish is from the Portal Collection which is now available exclusively at Shannon's Etsy Store. Thanks for looking! 

 

 

Stamping with China Glaze Bohemians: Stained Glass Nails

I put the China Glaze Bohemians on my wish list strictly for nail art purposes. Why you ask? Because The Polished Mommy did a super cool series using these polishes and I HAD to have them. I was recently given 4 of them as a gift and I couldn't wait to try out some Bohemian nail art. 

I used American Apparel Hassid as a base and stamped with the Bundle Monster 208 plate. The China Glaze Bohemian polishes that I used were Deviantly Daring, Unpredictable, No Plain Jane, and Want My Bawdy. I thought the resulting mani resembled stained glass.

I can't wait to try some more nail art with these polishes! Thanks for looking everyone!