Daily Lacquer Slayer collex

*These products were provided to me in exchange for my honest review*

Hey guys! Happy Friday!! I have something very exciting to share with you today. The amazing Maggy of Daily Lacquer recently released her Slayer Collection, inspired by Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I absolutely LOVE Buffy, I own all the seasons on DVD and have seen every episode multiple times. There was a point where you could say I was obsessed haha. So when Maggy released this collection, I kinda died inside with happiness. 

Today I've got swatches of the three polishes Maggy sent me for review - Don't Spike Me, Wicca Willow, and Welcome to the Hellmouth. I bought the rest when she released them and I will be posting photos of them shortly. :)

I was messing around with Pixlr a bit, and created some collages of each polish.

We'll start with Don't Spike Me. Here's the description from the Daily Lacquer website:
"Who doesn't love a super sexy British bleach blonde vampire???  Spike is edgy and electric which is why I chose this amazing blue shimmer polish to bear his namesake.  This polish is a crazy electric blue with an awesome amount of shimmer and looks gorgeous in the sun!  (Unlike poor Spike who would just fry to a crisp!)"

I really tried to show off the pink shimmer in this polish, but my camera was fighting me. You can see it in the bottle shots above. It is definitely very present in person! You can see it a bit in my index finger in the next photo.

Electric is the perfect description for this polish. It is ridiculously bright! I love it!!

Next up is Welcome to the Hellmouth. I can't even describe to you in words how amazing this polish is!!! Here's Maggy's description:
"OK, so no one really wants to go to the Hellmouth.  But sometimes, you just need a few awesome heroes to save the world and that's where Buffy and her gang comes in.  I wanted to create something dark, but mystical for the Hellmouth and I ended up creating a duochrome shimmer with flecks of gold.  It's a stunningly beautiful polish full of dark creatures that only come out at night."

 I adore all the different colors that appear in this polish! In some lights, it reminds me a bit of Zoya Fei Fei, but it's got so many more dimensions than that. In this next angle, it looks almost pink!

I HAD to do a collage to show all the different sides of this polish. It's truly amazing how different it looks in different angles and lights! Be sure to click on this one to see it full size :)

I saved my favorite for last. I have already worn this one several times since it came in the mail, which is saying something for me! Here's Wicca Willow:

"Willow is the smartest, sexiest, and all around complete bad to the bone witch in all of Sunnydale!  Her power is amazing and terrifying, but sweet Willow always comes out and perseveres with the help of her best friends.  When I think of Willow I think of her gorgeous red hair, but I also think of her magic and the darkness that comes with it.  This polish is a beautiful dark burgundy red with a strong smattering of green shimmer that looks red under certain lights.  Enjoy the beauty of this polish and surround yourself with Willow's amazing dark magic."

I tried so hard to capture the green shimmer in this, but it's been really overcast in Ohio lately. Trust me, it looks so much more beautiful in person. The green is very strong in person, it's such a unique look.

In this next angle, it looks more pink/berry colored!

The Slayer Collection is available now at the Daily Lacquer website. Individual polishes retail for $10 a piece, but you can buy the whole collection for a discounted price of $54! And don't forget to follow Maggy on all her social media sites to keep up to date on restocks, new polishes, and sales!

Daily Lacquer shop
Daily Lacquer on Facebook
Daily Lacquer on Instagram
Daily Lacquer on Twitter

Let me know what you think of these! Which is your favorite? <3
Kelly

These products were provided to me in exchange for my honest review and opinion. I am not being compensated for this post. Please see my Disclosure Statement for more information.

The Nail Challenge Collaborative: Pastels #4

*Everything featured in this post was purchased by me*

Hey guys! I've got my final Pastel mani for the NCC, and this one is my favorite of all! I FINALLY attempted the "braided" look after wanting to try it for what feels like forever. I was searching for inspiration on Google and came across this mani by Neverland Nail Blog, and I knew that was what I wanted to try. But I had some different colors in mind. Check out what I came up with!

I knew the braid was going to be tough, but this was so much harder than I imagined, lol. This took me like an hour just to do 2 nails! I'm sure it will get easier with practice, though. I had a hard time figuring out how to finish it. For some reason, I figured it out on my middle finger, but just could not figure out how to do the end of the ring finger. I stared at it for so long trying to logistically continue the chain...it's so confusing lol!

I loved this mani though! I feel like there are so many different color combinations that would just look great :) I can't wait to try it again in the future.

After a day of wear, I decided to try one of my new glitter mixes I bought from Glitter Mix Boutique. The amazing Amber of My Nail Graffiti and her husband already sold awesome solvent resistant glitters in their shop You Mix, but now they've created an Etsy shop full of pre-mixed glitter combinations that are just out of this world. If you haven't yet, you have GOT to check out Glitter Mix. The glitter I used on my thumb, index, and pinky is called Unicorn. Since it was full of pastel glitters, I felt it was perfect for this mani! I think it looks best over the pastel orange. I added some Fairy Dust to the two braided nails since they looked plain next to the ones I added Unicorn to.

I hope you have enjoyed Pastel Month as much as I did. Next month's theme is stamping, so bear with me - it's not my strong point haha. But I'm excited to push myself and try to get better!

What do you think of this mani? Have you ever tried the braid? Success or fail? I'd love to hear below! <3
Kelly

The Nail Challenge Collaborative: Pastels #3

Hello all! I hope you're not sick of Pastels just yet - I've got two manis left for you! And, I'm happy to report I'm going to make it before the end of April, so I'm not "technically" late lol!

I am SO excited about this mani, and I just kind of threw it together. It wasn't really planned, I just started doing things and ended up super happy with it. Of course, what's not to love - I'm obsessed with bows! Check it out :)

I started with a base of Rimmel Mintilicious and freehanded diagonal tips using Sinful Unicorn. I swear, I've used this for every Pastel mani so far, sorry! It's just the perfect yellow, and the first polish I think of when I think "pastel". I used one coat of HK Girl to top it off. Then, I added a strip of teal striping tape that came in my Nail Art Society bag this month. And to top it off, I made a tiny dot of nail glue on two of the nails, and stuck on two pastel-ish bows, also from my Nail Art Society box. This month's box TOTALLY won me over because of my bow obsession, lol.

The 3D bows may not be the most practical, but I would love them for an event or a party! They stuck on really well with the nail glue, but I had no trouble getting them off with a bit of acetone on a Q-tip. They popped right off with no damage to the nail, and no glue residue!
So what do you think of this design? I thought it was very spring-y and cute. :) I'd love to hear your thoughts below <3

The Nail Challenge Collaborative: Pastels #2

Oh my gosh...could it be?! A real post!? Lol, yes, I'm back and I'm so happy to be posting again! I have so much I want to share with you all in the near future. Just because I haven't been posting doesn't mean I haven't been painting ;)

Today I have the first of three catch-up posts I need to do for The Nail Challenge Collaborative. April is Pastels Month, so with that in mind, I decided I wanted to do something soft and girly...with flowers!

This isn't something I'd normally wear, but I like trying something different every now and again. I used China Glaze Go Go Pink as a base, and dotted on the flowers using Sinful Colors Unicorn, Candy Coated, and Rimmel Mintilicious. To add a little extra sparkle, I added a coat of Fairy Dust on the accents!

All in all, I really like this mani! Something different is always refreshing :) I've come to realize while doing this challenge, that I really don't use pastels very much, probably because they are not my favorite - I'm more a fan of dark or bright colors. But, it's allowed me to push myself to try new things which is nice!
What do you think of this mani? Is it something you'd wear for Spring? I'd love to hear below. <3

Kelly

1 Year Blogiversary - and Hard Candy Layering

Hey all, Happy Saturday!! And Happy 1 Year Blogiversary to me!! 

It's hard to believe it's been a year since I made this blog and made my first post, and it's even harder to believe when I look back and see how far I've come! Some of my earliest posts just make me shudder, lol. I want to thank all of you for your support, and especially for those of you that have stuck around since the beginning! I love you all :)

Anyway, I've been totally MIA lately because of this move that has pretty much consumed my life, but I promise that I will be back to regular posting very soon. For now, I've got a pretty mani from the vault to share with you, because I couldn't announce my Blogiversary without showing you some nails, right!?

As soon as my Walmart got the Hard Candy display, I snatched up a ton of them (I spent $100!) and this was one of the first combinations I tried. This is Crush on Ivy topped with Black Tie Optional. 

It seems like a lot of brands have hopped on the black and white glitter/Connect the Dots/Sticks and Stones train. I really like this version though. Even with the bars, it was really manageable, and I just LOVE the look of it. I still think I like Ninja Polish Sticks and Stones better, just because of the little holo microshimmer it has. But Black Tie Optional is really versatile and would look great over pretty much any color!

Crush on Ivy is really gorgeous, too - I wish I would have snapped a few shots of it on it's own. It is far from a plain old green - you can see in the bottle shots that it's got this golden shimmer that almost gives it a sort of rainbow effect. Hard to describe, but it's gorgeous, trust me!

So what do you think of this mani? I'd love to hear from you!
Also, any thoughts on what I should do for my epic 1 Year Blogiversary, givewaway?! I've got some ideas, but I'd love to hear from readers! What would YOU like to win?? Let me know below!!!

<3 Kelly

Hard Candy - Pixie Pink

Hi loves! Quick swatch post today. As soon as my Walmart got the new Hard Candy collection, I snatched up all the sprinkles polishes! Today I've got swatches of Pixie Pink, a soft pink base with purple and silver glitters. This one is super pretty! I've have more swatches soon of all the colors!

What do you think of this one? Did you pick up any of the new Hard Candies?? I love the ones I've tried so far. :) I'd love to hear your thoughts below <3

Kelly

Vivid Lacquer Spaaace! Plus: a topcoat lesson.

Hey everyone! I am in a wonderful mood today because the weather is beautiful in Ohio and it's got me in high spirits! Plus, I'm totally avoiding the fact that I have to pack and move my entire life in less than 6 days - yay for procrastination, and denial! :) I hope you all are having a lovely day as well, and I wanted to share these photos that have been in the vault for a while. This is the beautiful Spaaace! by Vivid Lacquer!

Spaaace is a deep royal blue jelly full of all sorts of glitters in hexes and shreds. The jelly base of this polish builds up to opacity beautifully, and the best part is that it builds depth with some of the glitter pieces being more visible than others, creating what looks to me like a galaxy mani in a bottle! So, for those of you that love the look of galaxy manis but just can't seem to get it right, this polish is for you.

Now I'm sure by now you've noticed the somewhat wrinkly look of this mani. Let me be clear: this is NOT the fault of the polish. I don't know why I do this, but every so often, I decide to stray from my quick dry polishes: Seche Vite, Poshe, and HK Girl. Maybe I decide to give them another chance, I don't know - but every time it's a mistake! I had a lot of time to let this dry so I decided to try using the Ulta brand top coat and I let it sit for about 10 minutes before I moved - and it still wasn't dry! Not only that, but it left this wrinkled looking finish, almost as if I went to bed with the wet nails and they got sheet imprints. Anyway, I tried to cover it with a coat of SV but the damage was done. So, please try to ignore the dumb wrinkles and focus on the beauty of this polish! Lesson learned: stick to what works! 

Overall, I LOVE this polish! It retails for $9, which is very reasonable in the indie world. I had no issues with application, not even with the shreds, which can be temperamental sometimes. These swatches show 3 easy coats, and though I guess you can sort of see VNL in these photos, it wasn't visible in real life. Or, you could always layer this polish over a deep blue or a black and you'd have an awesome look in just one coat. I think the depth that the jelly base brings to the polish really makes it, though.

You can check out Vivid Lacquer at the links below. She's got some awesome polishes in stock right now. Theoretical Rainbow is calling my name...
Be sure to follow her on Facebook to get updates on her restock dates!
Vivid Lacquer on Etsy
Vivid Lacquer on Facebook

Wine Nails for the Glass City Wine Festival

Hey there! A few weekends ago I was lucky enough to attend the Glass City Wine Festival in Toledo, Ohio, courtesy of my boyfriend's wonderful parents! I'm a huge fan of wine so I was beyond excited to go sample all these wines. I ended up spending way too much money but it was so worth it. I tasted some of the most amazing wines I've ever had at this festival!

You know I did my nails for the occasion! I wanted to do a simple wine colored polish but then I decided to do a little accent of grapes. I used Zoya Aurora for most of the nails, which is a gorgeous berry with a scattered holo effect. For my accent nails I used a base of Milani White on the Spot, then I dotted on grapes with several different purples and added a wine glass using Essie It's Genius and a black striper. 

This was like, two manis before my pinky nail betrayed me and broke clean off - man, I really miss these long talons! I've got nubs now and I hate 'em. But I LOVED this design! I felt classy as I sipped all my wine samples! Both hands were painted the same (which never happens) but I felt like matching for this festival. It was so much fun, and I would definitely do it again. I highly recommend events like this for those of you who are wine connoisseurs like me!!

So what do you think of these nails? Do they properly convey my wine festival excitement!? I loved them. Almost as much as the wine. ALMOST. <3

Kelly