Peacock Gradient

Hey loves! I've just got a quick post tonight since it's my day off and I want to get back to my relaxing! I've got a fall-scented candle burning with the windows open and hot apple cider - what a perfect evening :]

Anyways, today what I have for you is my attempt to recreate a mani I saw at The Polished Perfectionist. Actually, I think I found it on Pinterest, but that's the original source. Mine didn't turn out quite so good, but I still like it. I used Pure Ice Not Now, Orly Sweet Peacock, Wet n Wild Buffy the Violet Slayer, and Revlon Copper Penny.

I painted my nails with Not Now, the greenish shade first, and then I sponged on Sweet Peacock and Buffy. I topped it off with a coat of SV, then I attempted the stamping using Copper Penny and BM-212. I finished it off with another coat of SV.

This was really stunning in person, but I had a hard time capturing the gradient in photos - the purple just does not want to show up! I had a resident actually grab my hands when I had this on and demand to know how I did it, haha. Here's an angled shot that kind of shows the different colors!

My stamp didn't show up very well and I smudged it a bit, but I still thought it looked cool :]

And one last picture, a close up!

That's it for tonight - hope you like my take on Peacock nails! I've been swatching all day so I'll have another indie review post tomorrow for you guys. Have a great Saturday!

Kelly

Charm Your Nails Swatch Post #2

Hey there everyone! Hope everyone is having a lovely Thursday - it's cloudy and dreary here but I'm excited because it really feels like Fall :] Don't forget to enter my 100 Follower Giveaway and my 50 Follower Giveaway if you haven't yet!
Today I have my second of three posts showcasing some Charm Your Nails polishes! I decided to take a little break from Halloween (probably the first and last time I'll ever say that!) and show you two of Lindsay's non-Halloween creations - Glamour Party and My Charmed Life.

When I first picked up Glamour Party, it looked to me like gold bars, hexes and squares, bright blue squares and tiny hexes, and rose hexes.

Gorgeous, yes. But, there was one element I was not able to pick out when looking at the polish in the bottle. Check out this (horrible quality) picture and see what I mean!

Can you see it? Try as I might, I could not get this amazing pink microshimmer effect to show up unless I used the flash on my camera - which I never do! But I had to show you guys this, because it is gorgeous! I layered Glamour Party over black, and after two coats it didn't look like black anymore - the pink shimmer is so stunning!

Here's what the whole mani looked like. I used 2 coats of Glamour Party for my thumb, 2 coats over Revlon Smoldering for the accent, and 2 coats over Rimmel Lasting Finish Black Satin for the rest.

This is a very classy, sophisticated looking glitter. The rose and gold really make it soft, yet still vibrant! It reminds me of New Year's for some reason. The only issue I had with this polish was that a couple of the gold bars had a slight tendency to curl a bit, but they were rare and it didn't affect my mani at all. Most of the bars were perfectly straight, and everything else applied smoothly and evenly. Again, I didn't find it necessary to use the dabbing method here, but it might be useful if you're picky about glitter placement. I found I got great coverage just using brushstrokes.

One more picture - here's a shot I got in the car. You can also see a bit of the pink shimmer in this one, I love it!

Next up, we have My Charmed Life.

This polish is an icy looking mix of bright blue, turquoise and aqua hexes and squares in different sizes. There are also white bars thrown in! Just look at this combination - the colors just really pop!

Again, I did 2 coats with no undies on my thumb, 2 coats over Revlon's Smoldering for the accent, and 2 coats over Rimmel Black Satin for the rest.

I fell in LOVE with this glitter! It is so bright, over black it just jumps off the nail! And to me, it had a very winter-y feel, like snow or icicles, so it would be perfect for seasonal manis in just a couple months.

And of course, the car shot. Wow, my skin is dry - ignore that, please! ;]

I had absolutely NO issues with this formula. Even the bars behaved. I found that I got great coverage using 2 coats of My Charmed Life. Again, I used brushstrokes, but if you're picky about placement, dabbing might be a better method for you.

Thanks for reading, everyone! I'd love to hear your thoughts below :]

And don't forget...

Lindsay has been generous enough to activate a coupon code specifically for my readers, for 15% off your order from Charm Your Nails!! Just enter the coupon code SANITY1713 when you check out to receive the discount. :]

Head over to:

Charm Your Nails on Etsy and

Charm Your Nails on Facebook

Kelly

A  sample of these products was provided for review. I am not being compensated in any way for this post. This review is a statement of my honest opinion of these products, based on experience. For further information, please see my Disclosure Statement.

Fall into Autumn Challenge: Day 4 - Cloudy Days

Helllooo all! I hope everyone is having a good night, I just got home from work a bit ago and I am exhausted! But I had to say, the giveaways are going great and I wanted to thank everyone for entering - I'm so glad to see so many new followers and I hope you like my blog! And, if you haven't entered yet - be sure to enter my 50 Followers Fall Giveaway AND my 100 Followers Giveaway!

Now, onto tonight's post. It's the 4th day of the FiA Challenge, and today's theme is Cloudy Days, so of course I had to do clouds! I had gotten some new neutral colors lately and I was excited to try them out, and I think they make a good combination for a cloudy day mani.

I used Essie's School of Hard Rocks for a base color on all the nails, then for the clouds I layered Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Silver Sweep and Nina Ultra Pro Ink-ling. For the "rain" on my accent finger, I dabbed on a bit of Wet n Wild Kaleidoscope.

Here's a closer shot:

I'm still working on my cloud-painting technique, but I'm getting better! Here's a picture in the sun :]

Let me know what you think! And don't forget to check out the other ladies participating in the challenge!

Good night :]

Kelly

100 Followers Giveaway! [GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED]

**EDIT - I'm so sorry about that, I'm Rafflecopter-challenged...I put the wrong date up! Giveaway is NOW live...really this time!!**

Hey guys! As promised, it is time for my 100 Followers giveaway, and this one is all about indies! I really wanted to give you guys a chance to pick up some polishes by the indie brands that I've tried, and loved! I forgot to specify on my last giveaway, but I really can only accept US entries. Of course, for my 50 Followers giveaway, since I didn't say, I am accepting international entries! Don't forget to enter that one too if you haven't already!

Anyways, onto the prizes! These prizes are NOT in order or anything, I love all these brands and their creators equally, lol. There will be four winners, and each one will get their choice of any one (1) polish that is in stock when the giveaway ends.
The way it will work is, if you win, I'll let you know which brand you've won, you let me know which polish you'd like, and I'll buy it and have it shipped to you! With the exception of Rainbow Polish - because Tonya has been generous enough to DONATE a polish for this giveaway :D Thanks Tonya!

Check out the prizes:

Photo courtesy of me!
(This winner will be able to choose any one polish from the Glimmer by Erica shop).

Photo from Rainbow Polish.
(This winner will be able to choose any one polish from the Rainbow Polish shop).

Photo from Charm Your Nails.
(This winner will be able to choose any one polish from the Charm Your Nails shop).

Photo from Vivid Lacquer. 

(This winner will be able to choose any one polish from Vivid Lacquer's Halloween collection).

Like I said, this giveaway will be US only. Please be honest with your entries, I will be checking! Good luck everyone, and thanks SO much for reading my blog! I love you all :D

Whoa! I guess it's time for another giveaway...

Hey lovelies, I just want to take a second to say, HOLY AMAZING I'm at 101 followers already! I know my 50 followers giveaway is still going on for a bit, but I told myself I was doing another giveaway at 100 followers, so of course I need to follow through on that.

I'm at work right now, but I already know what I want to do for this giveaway - I just need to send a couple emails to make sure everything checks out, and I will post the next giveaway as soon as I get all the details squared away - so CHECK BACK TONIGHT for a chance to win some awesome indie polishes!

Thanks so much for reading, guys. It literally feels like a dream that anyone would care to look at my little old blog - you guys are awesome! :D


Kelly

Charm Your Nails Swatches!

Hey there everyone! It is wonderful to log on and see so many new followers, I'm so happy to have you all here and hope you like my blog! Today I have a new (to me) indie brand to share. I have to say - if you guys are searching for a go-to Halloween collection, look no further. Lindsay over at Charm Your Nails has created a gorgeous set of Halloween-themed polishes, and there is something for everyone! She's even come out with a bunch more since I received these polishes, and I'll be checking those out too.

Today I have two of the four Halloween-themed creations that I received from Charm Your Nails, and they are to die for!

First is Strigoi Bite. I admit, I had to google what the word "strigoi" meant. According to Wikipedia, it's a monster from Romanian mythology that can take forms such as a poltergeist, transform into an animal, or - an immortal vampire. I can totally see that inspiration here. Check it out!

Here's the description from the Charm Your Nails Etsy shop:
"Strigoi Bite-Sink your fangs into this tinted shimmery red jelly base mixed with black glitter and red drips of bar glitter. Like a strigoi bite, it will give you euphoric feelings. Glitter shapes include bar, hex and square."

I love it! It was stunning in the bottle, but even better on the nail! It really reminds me of blood :]

Look at this gorgeous, juicy polish! I fell in love with it, especially because it is honestly unlike anything I own. It doesn't even need undies - these photos are 3 coats of Strigoi Bite with 1 coat of SV over it.

Here's a closer shot:

I had ZERO issues with this polish. Lindsay included a little enclosure with notes about the polish and how to best apply, and she recommends using the "dabbing" method. I didn't actually find that it was necessary to do that! I found that all of the glitters and the jelly base went on smoothly and evenly, and I didn't notice any problems even with the bars. With just 1 coat of SV, my nails felt super smooth and glossy.

One last close up! I can't wait to wear this again :]

Okay, last up for today is a polish called Spiders in the Candy Corn. First of all, LOVE the name. You see tons of Candy Corn themed polishes, but this one really looks like what would happen if a bunch of spiders got mushed in the candy corn, lol! The bars look like spider legs!

Look at these cute labels (it reflected my camera, oops)!

The glitters I spotted were: different sized hexes in orange, yellow, black and white, black and orange bars, and white squares. It is the perfect candy corn colored mix of glitters with something different added in! I loved it.

I thought this glitter would look awesome over purple and green for Halloween :] I used Rimmel 60 Seconds in Camouflage, and Pure Ice No Means No for the accent.

I loved these color combinations! Please ignore the bubbling on the green nails, I'm not sure why it did that! I probably didn't wait long enough for it to try. This formula was pretty much perfect as well, though I did find more success in placing the larger white hexes and the bars when I did use the dabbing method. It's not a necessity though, if you're against that method - you'll get great coverage in 2 coats either way. These polishes are really packed with glitter! :]

 More pictures because I was obsessed with this mani...

So what do you guys think of these two glitters by Charm Your Nails? I am SO glad I found this brand - the formulas are great, color combinations are perfect and they're affordable for indies!

Charm Your Nails polishes retail for $8.50 USD for 0.5 oz (full size).

And, to make things even better? Lindsay has been generous enough to activate a coupon code specifically for my readers, for 15% off your order from Charm Your Nails!! Just enter the coupon code SANITY1713 when you check out to receive the discount. :]

Head over to:

Charm Your Nails on Etsy and

Charm Your Nails on Facebook

If you do pick up some polishes using the code, let me know what you choose and how you like them! :}

Kelly

A  sample of these products was provided for review. I am not being compensated in any way for this post. This review is a statement of my honest opinion of these products, based on experience. For further information, please see my Disclosure Statement.

Zoya Zuza with Floral Stamping

Hey everyone! Hope you're having a great weekend! I've been spending it with my boyfriend's family so that's been great - I've loved having a couple days where I didn't have to worry about work or responsibilities. Plus, we got to go to the fair in his county so I ate about a million delicious calories of fair food. :] Anyway, today I'm sharing with you a mani I did a couple weeks ago but never got the chance to post - it was my second successful attempt at stamping.

First I did 2 coats of Zoya Zuza - this was my first try with this color and I fell in love! It was so much more opaque than I thought it would be and what a gorgeous color! I had to get a couple swatches of it before the stamping, even if it was pre-cleanup.

For the stamping design, I used one of the Bundle Monster plates (can't remember which one right now) and Wet n Wild Black Creme for the flowers. I've found that this polish is surprisingly great for stamping, especially considering they cost 97 cents for a bottle, and sometimes they are on sale for 67 cents at Walgreens!

Another picture for good measure! I was pretty happy with it. I still need tons of practice with lining it up (I can't get those French Tip style stamps right for the life of me) but definitely seeing improvement! :]

Hope you guys like it! And don't forget about my giveaway going on right now! You can enter here!

Kelly

Glimmer by Erica: Treasure Chest

Hello, loves! Today is a bittersweet day, because I have my last Glimmer by Erica polish to share with you but it is also my favorite one! Also, last night I hit 50 followers and my giveaway is live, so I'm super excited about that! Check it out if you want a chance to win some great fall polish colors. :] Now, onto Treasure Chest. This was the polish that caught my eye the most when I first looked at Erica's shop - it seriously looks like a pirate's treasure. I was so excited to try it! It's a clear base, and I can spot different shapes and sizes of glitter in blue, red, and gold, plus silver holo diamonds thrown in.

Ah, check out this gorgeous macro shot! This polish is seriously stunning.

I layered Treasure Chest over (left to right) Revlon Copper Penny, Pure Ice Not Now, Revlon Smoldering, and Rimmel Lasting Finish Black Satin. My thumb is about two and half coats of Treasure Chest without undies.

When the glitters caught the sun, this mani was even more amazing. I've learned that I basically judge my nails by how many compliments I get from my residents at work, haha. I got a ton of compliments, people kept grabbing my hand and asking me how I got it to look like that, lol!

Here's another picture but close up! I think I like it best over the copper or the silver...I thought the teal would look like ocean water or something, but it ended up reminding me of Christmas. Not my favorite choice, but that's what experimenting is for! ;]

Here are a couple macro shots of my favorite nails!

Love love love this polish, as well as all of the Glimmer by Erica polishes I got to try. I'm so glad I found her shop, and I will definitely be getting more of her creations in the future! I hope you guys have enjoyed my Glimmer week and will check out her shop as well!

Glimmer by Erica on Etsy
Glimmer by Erica on Facebook

Thanks for looking! Hope everyone has a great Friday! <3

Kelly

A  sample of these products was provided for review. I am not being compensated in any way for this post. This review is a statement of my honest opinion of these products, based on experience. For further information, please see my Disclosure Statement.

50 Followers Fall Giveaway!!! (GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED)

You guys, it is finally time for my first ever giveaway, and I could not be more excited!!! When I got into nail art back in April, I never thought anyone would bothering to look at my little old blog, but I've gotten connected with so many awesome bloggers and I am so thankful I found a community where my addiction is actually understood and appreciated! :]

I decided to do a fall-themed giveaway by having several fall-colored polishes you can win. All prizes are brand new, and were purchased by me. Like I said, it's my first giveaway and first time using Rafflecopter, so please let me know if there are any issues or problems.

***Oh, and I totally did not think to add extra entries for sharing the giveaway on Facebook, your blog or Twitter, but it would really mean a lot to me if you did!***

Thanks SO much for following, and good luck!

Fall into Autumn Challenge: Day 3 - School Spirit!

For Day 3 of the FiA Challenge, the theme is school spirit! I've been to three total schools in my life (well, I count my elementary school and high school as one because it was the same district, just a different building) and all of them have totally different colors and mascots. My most recent school was University of Dayton, where I went for my MA in Clinical Psych and I hate the school colors (red, white and blue). I went to Gannon University for my undergrad studies, and the colors were maroon and gold, which is better but I didn't want to do that either, lol. Ultimately, I went with the school I spent the most time at - my elementary/high school.
Here is my mani representing Sharon Tigers! :]

I used Rimmel Lasting Finish Black Satin and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Heat Flash for these designs. I used a black Stripe Rite nail art brush for the black tiger stripes, but I don't have an orange one so I just used another striping brush and dipped it in the Heat Flash for the orange stripes. For the paw prints, I used the tip of the nail brush for the big part and bobby pins for the smaller dots.

Hope you guys like my school spirit nails! Check out the other participants in the challenge :]

Kelly

Glimmer by Erica: Twilight Sky

Wow, it's already Thursday - this week is flying by! Today I have the fourth Glimmer polish review to share with you all, and this is a lovely glitter named Twilight Sky.

Erica's description for this one is charming:
"This polish's inspiration was a stunning sunset I saw one summer evening. It has a sparkling purple glitter base with purple, blue, and orange micro glitter, blue sapphire holo glitter, purple square glitter, and dark navy blue glitter, all in a clear lacquer base. It is super sparkly and looks beautiful on the nail."

Oops. Cat hair on the bottle! Miss Cleo felt she wanted to contribute something to the photo. :]

Wow, this macro is just stunning to me. I felt like we see lots of glitters with blue and purple combinations, but the orange in this one just makes you look twice. Love it!

I layered this glitter over (from pinky to index) Catrice Sold Out Forever, Orly Rage, Revlon Smoldering, and Rimmel Lasting Finish Black Satin. The thumb is 2 coats of Twilight Sky alone. All were topped off with 1 coat of SV, and I had no problems with grittiness. 

I really loved the look of this polish! When I went out in the sun, it was even more amazing!

And another car photo! I just love it over black!

And of course, I took some close-ups of my favorite color combinations to show off the beauty of the glitter!

 What do you think of this polish? What color do you like it best layered over?
And don't forget to check out:

Glimmer by Erica on Etsy  and
Glimmer by Erica on Facebook !

See you tomorrow, everyone, with my last Glimmer review!
Kelly

A  sample of these products was provided for review. I am not being compensated in any way for this post. This review is a statement of my honest opinion of these products, based on experience. For further information, please see my Disclosure Statement.