Zoya Caitlin

I was lucky enough to accompany my cousin Megan & her little family to the ultrasound boutique last night for a glimpse at their second baby. Sweet little Katelyn is due in April and I am so proud to be her godmother! I had hoped to have this manicure done yesterday for the event, but there just weren't enough hours in the day. 

While the spelling is different, the sentiment is the same! Today I'm wearing Zoya Caitlin in honor of the sweet little girl that's already stolen our hearts!

2 coats with a clear top coat.

Purple is my second favorite nail color (after blue) and Caitlin doesn't disappoint. It is a beautiful dusty lavender. Zoya polishes are amazing. Great quality, easy application & removal, and with so many colors to choose from, there is really something for everyone!

Desirae

Hello, Holo! Part I

I have a topcoat I am very excited to share with you all. In fact, I am so excited about it that I became crazy indecisive about what to wear it over to show ya'll.

So indecisive, that I am going to show it to you in three parts.

So indecisive, I narrowed it down to... 30 color samples.

Did I mention I was excitedly indecisive.

What strikes me as a bit funny is that beyond this indecisiveness was the original inability to decide if I wanted to invest money in this type of polish to begin with.

I couldn't commit to purchasing holographic polishes. They're pretty popular, but I just couldn't do it. Partially because I was unsure they were my style, and partly because if I did like them s lot... I would want to splurge and get many colors, because, lets face it, I wouldn't be able to pick just one or two.

Remember, I had to narrow it down to 30.

Yeah. Problem.

Enter Mentality. Another indie brand by another husband/wife team (I love hearing that).

Mentality nail polish can be purchased here:
http://www.mentalitynailpolish.bigcartel.com/

A few things I love about this line: they INCLUDE shipping in the price and their labels are transparent. (I should note Chirality's are too and I love that!) I think transparent labels look classier and more professional.

Okay, much of Mentality's line is holographic colors.

But, they have a wicked awesome topcoat for the indecisive folk (or unsure about holographic folk) like me.

Unfortunately, the weather has been cold and dreary here so lighting stinks these last few days. The photos I took slightly show the holographic effect. The fact I took them with a phone probably doesn't help. But trust me, the holo effect is awesome. It's pretty intense when the lift hits it correctly. The closest photos I could get to demonstrating are under a light bulb and even they aren't the best.

I chose to show ten colors this post. I will do ten each in the next two as well. I did them diagonal with the top coat on the tips so you could see the difference between full color and with the slight silvering effect Holo has over the colors. I find that it silvers darker colors more than lighter colors, but you can totally tell either way what your base color is.

Again, the photos have a weird effect and so I must note that in real life, they are not quite this dramatically contrasted.

Well, that and I have never tried this half nail top coat technique and a few times I got it on a little too thick.

I didn't do clean up because it was nearly time to get Spencer lunch. I also marred the surface of a few nails due to my own impatience, and I didn't deal the entire manicure with top coat because I knew I would be taking it off shortly... for the other 20 colors I am going to try.

Left hand, thumb to pinky:
Sinful Colors - Folly
Zoya - Asia
Sinful Colors - Boogie Nights
Zoya - Arizona
Sinful Colors - Pull Over

Right hand, thumb to pinky:
Sinful Colors - Dream On
Wet N Wild - On a Trip
OPI - Tomorrow Never Dies
Sally Hansen - Pronto Purple
Revlon - Lily

I took the photos from multiple light sources in search of the most accurate photos. Stupid cloudy winter weather.

I've joined the circus!

I can't believe I am blogging another manicure today. But, I am. My boys have both been a bit lethargic and sleepy and so I have had more time than usual here and there.

I found the best polish in the world. Or one of them, anyway.

Polish TBH- Circus.

One of my favorite color combos is turquoise/teal and red.

And what do you know? Circus is that beautiful combination in a easy to apply manicure. It's a dusty turquoise color (medium dark with a bit of a smoky feel that my phone turned a tish brighter than real life, but not too much), with small red hex glitter. It's gorgeous in the bottle, and even more so on the nails. Ooh, and it feels kind of rich with a little gold shimmer that my phone picked up on slightly. If you have seen OPI- I Have a Herring Problem, it's kind if similar to that in a base, but a little more green hue I think, and a bit richer in color.

The red glitter is perfect, I think. Excellently balanced so as to not be crazy overwhelming and flashy, but leaving simple, random dots of cheery red on the nail.

I used two coats.

Yes, in fact, it is as if this polish were created specifically for me. I need to win the lottery and buy a bunch so I have it forever!

You can find this, and more, at http://www.etsy.com/shop/polishtbh or search facebook for Polish TBH.

Chirality - The Cereal Killer Collection

Chirality Nail Polish is one of the very first indie brands I discovered. I honestly can't even recall how I found it, but I "liked" the brand after I saw swatches of "the Symbiote." Now, I recall! I saw a review when I was googling giveaways a few months ago!

Anyway,when I fell in love with that polish, our family was in a crazy tight spot financially, where we are still trying to recover. So, I have been constantly admiring that polish and hoping to someday call a bottle my own.

I saw on the site that bloggers could contact and give their info and maybe some day do a review of a polish from the line.

And what do you know? I was fortunate to be chosen. This is my very first official review!

Cereal Killers is the new line. Amanda sent me the first four to test and give my thoughts and share photos. The names make me giggle. But, they do remind me cereal. Well, if cereal was sparkly and floating in a tiny jar of milk.

I was lucky enough to be awake before my boys and I tried all four. Overall, they are excellent! Application was smooth and hassle free. I didn't have to fish for glitter once! The glitters all laid smoothly and flush with the nail and when dry didn't even need a topcoat. They didn't snag on the fleece or flannel blankets I tested on! They didn't take long to dry, either, and as far as glitter goes, removed pretty easily too.

I used two coats of each. They each nearly covered the blue stains on my thumbs completely!

Pictures will be at the end, as I am writing this from my phone.

Each consists of various size matte hex glitters in a single colors, tiny glitters in that color, and some scattered holographic bits. I wish this phone could have captured them better! They're so fun!

Special BTK is red. It went on easily and the reds totally pop visually! It's bright and cheery and my second favorite of the four.

Raisin Gein is purple. There are a few different shades in the polish. I don't know if its really the case, but it seemed like this has a little less glitter than the others. It wasn't a problem and just an observation that may be incorrect. I think this one feels calmer or more muted and subtle than the rest. It's very pretty!

Blue is Bundy Berries. This was my favorite! It had the perfect amount of glitter in each coat, for me anyway, and the bright blue is spectacular! It's not cobalt, but bright. It's a visually stunning color! My two-year old liked it quite a bit too and asked to see my fingers and was in my business while I photographed. Haha.

Dahmer Crunch is the black one. This one made me want to call and beg Dairy Queen to find someone to deliver me an Oreo blizzard. That's what it reminded of, immediately. This one was packed full of black glitters. I don't know, agAin, if its the case but it seemed like it had the most glitter in it of the four. Not a complaint, of course. Because of the stark black and white contrast, I would call it the most "daring" of the four.

Overall, five stars! I think these would work best layered over a white or nude base and would hide visible nail lines that way. They were nearly opaque though, two coats over nothing. And had I used top coat they would have been crazy smooth and shiny. They were great without it even!

I think these are fab. They can be found (along with the Symbiote that I long for) here:

http://www.chirality.bigcartel.com/

And now, my photos. Pardon the lack of clean-up detailing.

Over the taupe, Flossy, Flossy.

I broke a nail. Had to change my manicure. Darn!

I decided today would be a glitter day.

I started by picking out four different base colors to go with my Wet N Wild, Fergie collection, Flossy Flossy.

As a music artist, Fergie is lame. My opinion. I'm not a fan of her at all.

But she has some pretty polish colors. Flossy Flossy is one of three I own. It's got gold, mauve, and copper hex glitters and gold, mauve, blue, purple, aqua, green and copper micro glitters (or at least really small glitters).

I digress.

I decided to go with brown because I figured it would be most likely to complement whatever I wear tomorrow.

The brown I chose is one I have not used before. And shame on me, because its beautiful! I chose OPI - Over the Taupe.

It looks like yummy Swiss chocolate milk. I nearly left it as is, but reminded myself I was committed to glitter.

I used two coats OPI and one WNW. I used Hard Candy's Matte-ly in Love (matte top coat) on all but the ring finger and decided to leave that as a glossy accent nail.

This glitter went on awesome. I love the wider, flatter brush.

I took these photos before cleanup because the lighting in my house is starting to dim and Collin was starting to stir.

Anyone else love brown polish? Glitter?

For the LOVE of chevron!

In anticipation of Spenk & Ollie Creations upcoming chevron giveaway (I only need four more facebook likes!), I decided my nails should be festive.

In my new MASH nails plates, by golly, there is a chevron stamp!

I used OPI- Didn't You'Ear About Van Gogh as the base. And then, from thumb to pinky...
Thumb: Essie - Merino Cool
Pointer: OPI - San Tanonio (I think, the label fell off...)
Middle: Zoya - Wednesday
Ring: Zoya - Amanda
Pinky: Essie - Lapiz of Luxury

I love how they turned out... Or would have had I filed my nails down just a tad shorter. The stamp didn't quite cover the longer nails. And I went a little crooked in a few parts. But, I'm still a novice, so it's okay.

Who else loves chevron?!

Nik is seeing dots!

Yesterday, for some reason, I was up way before my boys.

So I did my nails.

NYC - Sidewalkers (my go to gray) with some dots on my accent nail. Hand painted! Sinful Colors - Snow Me White, Unicorn (apparently they are light yellow, who knew?!) and Pull-Over.

I only did one nail because I was shaky from caffeine on an empty stomach!

Silver circles.

Last night, using my phone as a flashlight so I could sneak downstairs without Spencer noticing and following and not letting me come back upstairs, I dropped my phone in water.

It's fine now.

Without said phone to occupy my night without my husband (working late), what was I to do but redo my nails...

Hey, it was a good excuse to play with my new stamping plates!

I decided after much deliberation to do gray based stamping. I chose two that seem nearly identical to me, wondering how it would turn out.

I chose Zoya (my favorite) Harley & Carey. They are very similar in shade. They are both a light/medium gray. Harley is a tish lighter and has shimmer.

I painted all but the accent nail with Harley as a base, (two coats each nail) and was going to do a double reverse accent again like my pink and red, but in the dim light you couldn't really see Harley over Carey.

So, I redid the ring finger to match the rest with Harley as the base. I chose a circles design that covers the full nail and stamped Carey over all 10 fingers. I liked it! The stamping was subtle, but awesome. I added my Sally Hansen Insta-Dry so I could go get a beverage.

In full natural light, I LOVE this manicure. There's more contrast than I thought, but it's still subtle. I think it's a winner! I love the shimmer beneath the barely darker circles. It looks even better in person!