Nail Challenge Collaborative: Superheroes and Villains #3 (Avengers)

Hi loves! Today I have my last Superhero mani to share with you for June. Sadly, I couldn't get a 4th look done this time because of the problems I'm having with my nails separating. I'm hoping by next month, they will be healed up enough to participate in July's Travel theme - it sounds really fun! But I may have to take a month off if they're still separating this badly. :(

Anyway, today I have my Avengers mani to show you! This was way harder than I thought it would be (I feel like I say that a lot haha). I chose 4 Avengers designs to paint just based on ones that I thought I could do, and this is what I came up with!

I used all SinfulColors and Zoya polishes for this look. SinfulColors Black on Black, Blue By You, Tantalize, and Zoya Sookie and Trixie. I used my Stripe Rite brushes in black and white to do the outlines and bases for the designs. The Captain America shield actually turned out to be the hardest, because I couldn't get the circles quite perfect. In the end, I gave up and said good enough lol. I topped everything off with HK Girl, which I love because it doesn't smear! I worked on these for like, 2 hours! I would have cried if topcoat ruined it.

I really loved how this overall look turned out, especially Thor's hammer. This mani was really fun to do, even if it did take forever! :)

This month's NCC theme was so fun, I'm really sad I didn't get to do a fourth look. Maybe sometime once my nails are all healed up, I'll do some more superhero manis just for fun!

Be sure to check out everyone's Week 3 manis! Thanks for looking!

Kelly

An InLinkz Link-up

Nail Challenge Collaborative: Superheroes and Villains #2 (Spiderman)

Hi everyone! I have been super busy lately with wedding planning and life in general, but I'm excited to get back to posting regularly. I want you let you guys know that I will not be doing new nail art or swatches for a while, but rather I'll be posting from what is in my fault. My nails on my swatching hand seem to had a reaction to one of the base coats I used and they are starting to separate from the nail bed. I want to let them grow out a bit and heal up before I put them through any more stress with acetone, filing, polish, etc.

Anyway, today I am so excited to show you this mani I did for the Nail Challenge Collaborative. This design popped into my head as soon as I heard the theme was Superheroes and Villains. Check out my Spiderman mani! :)

I started with a base of Sinful Shine Devious on the index and pinky finger, and Sinful Shine Most Sinful on the middle finger. Then I did a gradient using the opposite color. It was harder than I thought to get a nice blend in the middle. That blue is SO vibrant, the red had a hard time going over top of it. Finally got it after many dabs using the makeup sponge.

I used my Stripe Rite striper in black to draw on the spiderwebs and the spider. For the accent nail, I started with a base of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls (how appropriate!) then drew in the Spiderman face using my Stripe Rite brush in black and a striping brush with Devious. I used HK Girl to top it all off.

This was really hard, especially the Spiderman face, but I think it turned out better than I expected! I love how the gradient looks. :) Took me forever but it was well worth it.

I had to include a shot with flash to show how the gradient really pops, and how bright this blue is. This is one of my favorite blues from Sinful. Love it! The flash also helps you see the spider in better detail. I was a little disappointed once I finished it that the gradient was a bit too dark, so the spider was hard to see.

And of course, I was so proud of this look, I had to snap some macros! I worked really hard on it lol.

I really loved how this turned out! I would love to hear your thoughts on it. And be sure to have a look at the other girls' looks - they came up with some amazing designs so far this month!! :D

Thanks for reading <3
Kelly

An InLinkz Link-up

Review: Born Pretty Store - Nail Charm Wheel

Hello lovelies! Today I have my review of an awesome nail charm wheel from Born Pretty Store!

This wheel comes with 12 different charms, and it's kind of fun because when you buy it, you never know which 12 you are going to get - it's a surprise! :) I've tried out 7 of them here today to show you. I paired these charms with a few of the Essie Bridal Collection polishes that I found for 50% off at Walgreen's!

These first couple are over Essie Hubby for Dessert. It's a pretty, soft lilac. For all of the following looks, I just stuck the charm into wet topcoat and let it dry. 

This next polish is Essie Worth the Wait. I wasn't crazy about this one on me. It's like a shimmery peach color with an almost frosty finish. You have to be careful of brushstrokes on this one.

These last few charms are over Essie Tying the Knotie. What a goofy name, haha. I had to say it out loud to get what they were going for! :) Anyway, this is a pretty, feminine pale pink shade. I think it's soft and understated, lovely for a bridal look!

I really, really loved the versatility you get with this nail art wheel. This exact wheel is not available anymore, but there are tons of nail charms and 3D nail decorations at the Born Pretty Store website.

Born Pretty Store has tons of great products and they are super affordable - plus they offer free shipping to anywhere! And, if you use my code, you can save 10% off your order!

Thanks for reading <3
Kelly

Review & Nail Art: Mentality Neon Glazes!!!

**I want to note that I am no longer affiliated with, or a supporter of, Mentality Nail Polish. Please see my post detailing my experiences with Mentality by clicking here for more information. In short, I would STRONGLY recommend not buying Mentality due to harmful effects that their polishes have had on some people. Even if you've been having an issue and you can't say for sure that it's Mentality polish that's causing it, discontinue use immediately. I didn't know what it was and by the time I realized, serious damage had been done to my nails. They are still not healed. Just don't take any chances. I will leave up my posts where I have reviewed or swatched Mentality polishes because I don't want to just delete them and pretend like nothing happened. I would also recommend reading these great, informative posts by Ashley is Polish Addicted and also The Mercurial Magpie who explain what's happened. Lab Muffin also offers some really interesting possibilities for what specifically about the polishes could be causing these effects.**

*Press sample*

Hi everyone!! I have an exciting post to share with you today. Recently, I received an amazing blogger box from Mentality with their new Neon Glazes. I have to admit, I was really nervous to try these because I have never worked with glazes - not even the OPI Sheer Tints and all those when they came out. So I wasn't sure what to expect or if I could even create something worth showing you guys! I have to say, ever since I started playing, I fell in love. I even rushed off to buy the rest of Mentality's glazes lol.

Anyway, enough talk! I was dying to try the "leadlighting" look, and I thought it was the perfect opportunity. If you haven't heard of leadlighting, it's when you do an open stamping design and then you color it in with sheer glaze nail polishes. It gives a sort of stained glass effect. I have a couple of leadlighting manis to show you today!

First, I'll show you the finished design, then I'll tell you a bit more about the process. Here's what I came up with first! :)

I started with a base of Sinful Colors Snow Me White and then topcoated that with HK Girl. Once that was dry, I stamped using Mentality Scoundrel (new favorite black stamper, hands down!) and Bundle Monster 314. Then I used a small dotting tool and some of my Mentality Neon Glazes - Neon Magenta, Neon Purple, Neon Red, and Neon Orange Yellow - to color in the flowers.

If you can forgive my acetone fingers, here's one shot I snapped in the middle of the process.

Some of the tutorials I read suggested topcoating again after your stamp and before you color it in, but I didn't see a need to. Anyway, after I colored in the flowers, I thought it would be fun to add a background, so I used my dotter to fill it in with Neon Blue.

I had planned on topcoating, but the Neon Glazes actually dry to a super cool matte finish, so I left it. I love this look so much! It's so bright and fun, and unbelievably EASY. I thought this technique would be so much harder. I will never do a stamping decal again - I'm mad at myself for not trying this sooner haha. And the Neon Glazes were so easy to work with. I had heard horror stories about the OPI Sheer Tints being thick and gloopy, so I was nervous - but that wasn't even close to the case here. Mentality's Neon Glazes have a formula very similar to just a regular jelly. If you want to, you can build them up in about 4 coats, 3 on short nails. So I had absolutely no trouble with the formula. It was so easy to work with. I was so pleasantly surprised!

I had to share one last shot with flash to really show off how bright these are. Also, I painted my thumb too, and filled in that flower with Neon Yellow Green, so I wanted to show that off too, even though I hate "claw" pictures lol.

I had so much fun with the first look, after I got photos, I tried another! I used the same technique for this next mani.

This time, I started with a base of Mentality Sunny, and after topcoating with HK Girl, I stamped using Scoundrel and Pueen 13.

I colored in the swirls using my dotting tool and my Mentality Neon Glazes - Neon Green, Neon Orange Red, and Neon Pink. This time I did want to try using topcoat, so I added a layer of HK Girl to make it shiny and also so it would last longer! I love how it turned out! It's so bright and eye-catching. Scoundrel is honestly such an amazing stamper, I have never been able to get such clean, bold lines before. Maybe I'm getting slight better at stamping too, after all these years haha.

I love these colors together - they are so fun, and felt perfect for summer! We've been having horribly dreary weather here in Ohio, and these nails really helped brighten things up. :)

Honestly, my final thoughts? I cannot recommend these glazes enough. If you have been wanting to try sheer polishes for leadlighting, jelly sandwiches, gradients, watercolor nail art looks - these are the perfect set to try with. Formula is flawless, the colors are gorgeous, and the price can't be beat - these polishes retail for only $6 a piece. Love that!

You can see the listing for the Mentality Neon Glazes by clicking here.

AND - I have news! If you do happen to want to purchase these glazes, or any other lovely Mentality polishes, be sure to use the coupon code KELLY to save 20% off your order!! <3

If you aren't already, make sure you follow Mentality on social media to stay up to date on new collections and sales:
Mentality shop
Mentality on Facebook
Mentality on Instagram
Mentality on Twitter


Thanks for reading! <3
Kelly

Nail Challenge Collaborative: Superheroes and Villains #1 (Batman/Joker)

Hi everyone! I have a super fun post to share with you today!! This month's theme for the Nail Challenge Collaborative is Superheroes and Villains and I could not be more excited. As soon as I heard the theme, so many ideas went running through my head, I had to reign it in a bit lol. So far I've got two of my looks done and they turned out even better than I had hoped.

First up for this month is Batman and Joker! :)

I knew I had to incorporate the Batman/Joker duo by Jindie Nails and Dollish Polish. This duo is just the perfect representation of both characters - I love it! I did 2 coats of Jindie Nails Ever Dance with the Devil in the Pale Moonlight, on my index nail, and 2 coats of Dollish Polish Why So Serious on my pinky. I did a base of Sinful Colors Snow Me White on the middle two nails and set to work with my striping brushes for the accents. That Batman logo is way harder than you would think lol! I had to take it off and start all over once because I messed it up so bad. I think it turned out pretty cool the second time! The background for the Batman symbol was an unnamed golden yellow that I have no idea where I even got it lol. I topped everything off with HK Girl, and it didn't smudge a bit - gotta love HK Girl!

This mani actually took me like an hour from start to finish, I think my eyes were starting to cross from focusing so hard! But in the end, I love how it turned out and I'm so glad I attempted it, because I almost didn't! When I searched for Joker images and found this design, I thought that it would look really cool but it would be extremely hard. It didn't turn out perfect, but better than I expected. :) And the Jindie Nails/Dollish Polish duo are the perfect additions to this look, I think. Love those polishes!

What do you think of this mani? I'd love to hear!! I can't wait to show you the rest of my superhero and villain manis this month - what a fun theme!

Thanks for reading and be sure to check out the other ladies' superhero looks this week! <3

An InLinkz Link-up

OPI: Do You Have This Color in Stock-Holm and Snow Globetrotter

Hi everyone! Blah, Monday again :( Weekends always seem to go so fast! Sorry I have been MIA a bit lately - I don't really have a good excuse, except I bought the Sims 4 and have been obsessed haha.

Today I have a quick swatch post to share with you. I got these two lovely OPIs a while back as a gift on Reddit - Do You Have This Color in Stock-Holm and Snow Globetrotter. :)

This is 2 coats of Do You Have This Color in Stock-Holm and then one brushed/dabbed coat of Snow Globetrotter. I say dabbed because I did some playing around with the placement of the glitters. You don't have to, but I wanted to be sure they were evenly distributed on the nail. This glitter is awesome! It is amazing how the iridescent hexes seem to glow in shade or low lighting! I can't wait to try it over over colors like maybe black.

And Do You Have This Color in Stock-Holm is such a bright, vibrant purple shade! I absolutely love it. This would be a great toe color too, I love brights like this for summer. :)

Thanks for looking! <3
Kelly

Indie Swatch Spam: 365 Days of Color, Candy Lacquer, and Pahlish!

Hi everyone!

I'm still working on clearing out the infamous vault, so I've got some random indie swatch spam to share with you today. :)

First up is 365 Days of Color - The Boy Who Lived!

The Boy Who Lived is a black jelly with holographic teal hexes in several sizes. Here I've layered it over a medium grey, I can't remember which at the moment, but it ended up being a really cool combo. It would look awesome over black too! This is just one generous coat of The Boy Who Lived, plus Seche Vite topcoat.

I had to share a couple shots of this one in the shade, so you can really see how the teal glitters almost glow. So gorgeous! :)

Wearing polishes like this one reminds me how sad I am Sunny decided to stop making polishes. They were all so amazing!! She really creates wonderful body products too though, so I'm not totally starved of her creative genius lol. Now, if she ever stops making cuticle balms and oils, I will need to re-evaluate my life!

Next for today is Candy Lacquer - Mermaid Wishes.

Mermaid Wishes has pale blue, teal, red/orange, pale purple, dark purple and lime green glitters in a clear base with a slight mixing of iridescent shimmer. The glitter shapes that I see are flowers, stars, hearts, and hexes in various sizes. Candy Lacquer has the cutest glitter toppers - I love their polishes! This one is so much fun and so perfectly named! It really does remind me of mermaids and the ocean, so I paired it over a nice bright blue. I want to say it's OPI Can't Find My Czechbook, but I'm not 100% sure. Looking back, this glitter is so densely packed, it only really needed one coat. But I was so distracted by wanting to get every different shape of glitter out of the bottle and onto my nail that I went a little heavy-handed haha. Formula was great, no issues to report - I love how chock full of glitters it is - no fishing required...unless you're crazy like me and feel a need to try to get every single shape out! :)

Last for today is Pahlish - Gilded Greenwich!

This polish is so stunning! It's a dark charcoal gray creme with gold shimmer and micro-flakes. I wore this for some family event - I'm spacing on what exactly - where I wanted to have pretty nails that weren't too over the top. It would be perfect for work too, if you aren't allowed to wear certain colors or anything too flashy - though it still has that amazing shimmer! :)

I'm wearing 3 coats here of Gilded Greenwich plus HK Girl topcoat. As per usual with Pahlish, I had zero issues with formula - it's pure perfection! I could have even gotten away with 2 coats, but I wasn't careful with application and missed some spots - I painted my nails in the car haha!

Thanks so much for looking. Which of these is your favorite? I'd love to hear below! <3
Kelly

Mentality Swatch Spam! Marie, Sly, and Sourball

**I want to note that I am no longer affiliated with, or a supporter of, Mentality Nail Polish. Please see my post detailing my experiences with Mentality by clicking here for more information. In short, I would STRONGLY recommend not buying Mentality due to harmful effects that their polishes have had on some people. Even if you've been having an issue and you can't say for sure that it's Mentality polish that's causing it, discontinue use immediately. I didn't know what it was and by the time I realized, serious damage had been done to my nails. They are still not healed. Just don't take any chances. I will leave up my posts where I have reviewed or swatched Mentality polishes because I don't want to just delete them and pretend like nothing happened. I would also recommend reading these great, informative posts by Ashley is Polish Addicted and also The Mercurial Magpie who explain what's happened. Lab Muffin also offers some really interesting possibilities for what specifically about the polishes could be causing these effects.**

Hello lovelies! I have lots of amazing Mentality beauties in the vault, so I am sharing a few random swatches with you today. I still have yet to meet a Mentality I haven't fallen in love with!

First for today, I have Marie - this is such an amazing shade!

Marie is a turquoise shimmer with blue to purple flash. This one reminds me of peacock feathers! I have to do a peacock mani with it. :) It reminds me a bit of Zoya Giovanna minus the horrendous staining. In fact, the formula for Marie was pure perfection. This is 2 easy coats, and I had absolutely no issues with application. Even with the shimmery finish, which can sometimes be unforgiving and show every brush stroke - this one is not like that in the least. A+!

Had to include a shot with flash to really show off that gorgeous shimmer! Unfortunately, Marie is not available anymore, but you may be able to find it on blog sales or destashes. You need it! :)

Next up for today is Sly, which I somehow botched the label on lol!

I'm not sure what happened there, I think I may have touched it with acetone fingers. Anywho, Sly is described as a bright magenta pink holographic nail polish with blue and purple duochrome flashes. I absolutely love the subtle holo effect, it's so soft and pretty! And I like that this shade is a fun mix between pink and purple at least to my eye. It's very berry-ish, I think. Love it!

Great formula here yet again, of course. 2 easy coats plus topcoat. The topcoat didn't dull the holo effect either, which was great! Sly is very nicely pigmented, I think it would be great for stamping too! :)

I snapped a shot with flash to really show off the holo sparkles and the blue toned flash that shows up in Sly in certain lightings.

Last for today is Sourball, one of the Candy Jelly holos! :)

Sourball is a green jelly holographic. It's kind of like a green appley or minty shade. The holo is so strong in Sourball - I love it!! :)

This is 2 coats of Sourball plus HK Girl topcoat.

And of course, I had to include a shot with flash to show off the holo!! It's really a stunning polish.

As always, Mentality did an amazing job with these 3! Which is your favorite of these? I think mine would have to be Marie. :)

Thanks for reading! <3
Kelly