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Thursday, January 28, 2016

The Nail Challenge Collaborative - January 2016: Purple

*purchased by me*


Hey there! Today I have for you my third post for The Nail Challenge Collaborative January purple theme.  I decided to go with stamping for this one. 
 

I started with a base of two coats of Cupcake Polish Lilac You Mean It which is a creamy pastel purple linear holographic polish.  Above is a picture of it before my nail art. It's really a pretty color, and I love the holo in it! 


I decided to use Zoya Belinda to stamp with. Belinda is a full-coverage, cosmic purple metallic, and it stamped wonderfully! 


I used my MoYou London Princess 12 plate to stamp on the roses.  This is my favorite stamping I have ever done. It turned out perfectly in my opinion which never happens! I love the roses and the colors together! 


I have struggled with the purple theme, but I couldn't be happier with how this one turned out! So far it's my favorite of the three manis I've done for the challenge this month! 

What do you think of this look? Can you recommend any other purple polishes that are great for stamping? 

Please check out the other bloggers below.  Thanks for reading! 

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Red Coat Tuesday - Pahlish Blood On The Mountain II

*purchased by me*

 
Hey there!  I'm so excited that we've decided to continue with Red Coat Tuesday now that Pretty Little Liars is back on.  To be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about this season yet, but I do love the show so I was happy to participate again! 
 

I've also been doing an alphabetical untrieds challenge which is just a personal challenge I started to make myself change my polish more often and to get through more untrieds. Each day I wear a new color, and I select them alphabetically by brand.  For my "P" post I selected Pahlish Blood Of The Mountain II which fit perfectly for Red Coat Tuesday. 


Blood Of The Mountain II is a beautiful garnet red jelly with a mix of pink and gold flakes and scattered holographic flakes. It's stunning!  I definitely see this color as a shade one of the liars would wear!  
 

Pahlish has become one of my favorite indie brands.  I think that her finishes are stunning and the flakes in this polish are no exception.  Also, you can't go wrong with a nice dark red polish! 


SPOILER ALERT (for those of you not caught up): For a long time I thought Ezra was A, and now it seems to be pointing in that direction again. I don't think it's him though.  I'm not sure who murdered Charlotte, but it doesn't feel like it's Ezra to me.  Also, what the hell is going on with Spencer and Caleb? Whatever it is, it's not right! 

What do you think of this season? Any idea who killed Charlotte? Thoughts on the Spencer/Caleb storyline? 

Please check out the other bloggers below! Thanks for reading! 

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

The Nail Challenge Collaborative- January 2016: Purple

Hey there! I hope you're all staying warm this winter!  Today I have my second post for The Nail Challenge Collaborative January purple theme.  


As I mentioned with my previous post I struggle with vague themes like purple so I really didn't know what to do. I chose Essie Hubby For Dessert first which is a sheer candied lilac.  Sitting in front of me at my nail polish table was Philly Loves Lacquer Make Gnome Mistakes from the January G.N.O.M.E. Box. I put these two polishes together and thought they'd be perfect for each other. 


I did two coats of Make Gnome Mistakes on my index and pinkie nails, and three coats of Hubby For Dessert. Once Hubby For Dessert was dry I used cathedral window nail vinyl stencils from Rica to create the nail art on my middle and ring fingers.  I finished up with one coat of KBShimmer Clearly On Top to smooth everything out. 


I'm so happy with how this turned out, and I was right, these polishes were made for each other!  

What do you think of this purple look? Have you done any fun purple nail art? 
 
Please check out the other bloggers below. Thanks for reading!

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

The Nail Challenge Collaborative - January 2016: Purple

Hey there and Happy New Year!  Today I have my first post for The Nail Challenge Collaborative January purple theme.   


For my first post I decided to do a gradient.  I used three colors from Zoya to create this look.  I started with a base of Megan, then sponged on Megan, Mira, and Pinta. 


I don't love gradients cause they tend to be messy. Thankfully latex barriers are easy to come by these days so I used Ellagee's Lickety Split and found it much easier to do a gradient.  Also, I ordered this little, circular sponge thing from China that helped so much with the application. 


I messed up a little on my index finger, but other than that I'm so happy with how this turned out. I love the color combo, and this was definitely one of my better gradients.  


To be honest with you I struggle with vague themes like this.  I need something more specific to come up with ideas so I decided just to do some nail art techniques I don't do often.  We'll see what I come up with next! 
 
What would you do for a purple nail art mani? Any techniques you think I should try? 
 
Please check out the other bloggers below.  Thanks for reading! 

Monday, January 4, 2016

Top 20 Polishes of 2015

Hey there! Today I have for you my Top 20 Polishes of 2015.  I thought this would be appropriate for my first post of the year.  One of my nail polish resolutions it to blog more so let's hope I'm off to a good start! 

I selected a mix of indie and mainstream polishes.  A lot of them are from the fall because I think fall polishes this year totally rocked!  This was really hard for me to narrow down, and I'm sure I missed some.  I bought a lot more than I got to wear so there are ones that probably would have made the post had I worn them.

These are in no particular order except for the order I wore them in.  Let's jump right in!


Rica This Heart of Mine 

This Heart of Mine is a gorgeous bright red linear holo.  This polish was released in February, and some of the proceeds from the sales went to American Heart Association. It wasn't only a beautiful polish, but it helped out a good cause as well! 


Zoya Eden
 
Zoya Eden was one of the polishes in their spring Delight Collection.  I fell in love with this collection immediately so ordered all of them. I was pleasantly surprised that a pink creme was my favorite of the six polishes released. 


KBShimmer Men Are From Mars-ala 
 
Men Are From Mars-ala was KBShimmer's take on the 2015 Pantone Color of the Year.  I like that they did a holo instead of a creme like other brands were doing. This color surprised me.  I didn't think I'd love it, but once I wore it I was sold! 


Pahlish Sailing the Hispaniola 
 
When Pahlish released the Buccaneers and Buried Gold collection I knew I needed Sailing the Hispaniola.  In 2015, I really got into shades of cobalt/royal blue so this beautiful ocean blue with subtle linear holo was a must have for my collection! 


Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Sirene Fatale
 
Every month Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer releases a limited edition Siren.  In March, Julie released Sirene Fatale.  This neon pink with blue shimmer was not easy to get, but I couldn't be happier I was able to snag one. This color is stunning, and it's easily my favorite polish of 2015.  


Literary Lacquers Blue Lullaby and Vurt-u-Want 
 
When the Vurt-u-Want collection from Literary Lacquer came out I knew I must have these two polishes. They looking amazing in swatches I saw and were even more impressive on. I'm counting these two as a tie cause I couldn't decide between the two of them! 


Sweet Heart Polish Summer Breeze
 
In 2015, a new box released, Addicted to Holo.  The same five makers created a holo polish, and they released this box every other month. I automatically fell in love with Summer Breeze because honestly who doesn't love a pale grey holo! 


 
Glam Polish releases trios based on a certain color every once in a while, and since blue had become my favorite polish in 2015 I had to get the I Got The Blues Trio. Storm was my favorite before I even bought them, and you can see why!  
 

 
I'm 2015, Stardust Polish easily became one of my favorite brands. With gorgeous polishes and excellent customer service it was easy to fall in love!  Sophie was easily one of my favorite polishes of the year.  It's a burgundy creme with intense indigo flash, and totally stunning!  
 

Zoya Charli
 
Zoya has always been my favorite mainstream brand, and actually was the brand that started my polish addiction. This is the second Zoya in my top ten with one more coming up.  When Zoya releases a collection I typically want the entire thing especially their fall collections. The Focus collection was no exception, but the one I wanted most was Charli.  It was unlike anything in my collection. This dusty taupe creme with a hint of Army green was the perfect fall color in my opinion. 
 

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Siren's Mint Smash
 
Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer has been my favorite indie for a long time so it's no wonder more than one of Julie's polishes made my list. Honestly I had four more on the list, but had to narrow it down!  Siren's Mint Smash was another of the monthly limited edition Sirens.  As you may know I have always loved polishes in this color range, but this one is really special being a mint green jelly with gold/green/blue shifty glass flecks.  It's so pretty and unlike the other mint polishes I own.
 

 
I remember when I used to hate orange polishes. I was so young and naive!  For some reason in the fall of 2015 I wanted every orange polish released, but when I saw Picture Polish Autumn I knew that was the one for me! It totally made me fall in love with orange polishes, and I'm sure you can see why!
 

Stardust Polish Stardust 
 
Stardust is my second polish from Stardust Polish (now Stardust Beauty LLC). When Drema released this polish I immediately fell in love. This gorgeous pale grey holo with lilac flash was easy to pick for my top polishes of 2015.  
 

Cupcake Polish Blood Hound
 
Cupcake Polish released an awesome fall collection called The Modern Vampire. I loved them all, but knew I needed Blood Hound. This burgundy holo was the perfect fall color, and easily my favorite holo of the year. 
 

Lynnderella Fall for Jammy
 
Lynnderella was a new addiction for me in 2015.  I got hooked on the eBay auctions due to how competitive I am! She has a set of polishes called Jammies which I needed all of for personal reasons. When I put on Fall for Jammy I immediately fell in love cause it totally reminded me of fall foliage and the leaves changing.  
 

Fair Maiden Polish Pretty People Taste Better
 
I hate to admit it, but I've never seen an episode of The Walking Dead.  When Fair Maiden released their Fright Knight collection the one I needed most was the one based on a show I never saw! Pretty People Taste Better is such a unique color, and was even prettier on than in the bottle. 


ILNP Mountain View
 
I was able to snag some of ILNP's Fall 2015 Collection after they released, and started wearing them right away. I loved the finish in this collection, and all of the ones I own are amazing. This collection is by far my favorite collection of 2015, and Mountain View was my surprise love. I never like dark, forest greens on me.  When I put this one on that totally changed! 


Zoya Cinnamon 
 
Cinnamon is my third pick from Zoya, and believe me it was hard to narrow it down to the three I did! Cinnamon is not a typical color for me, and I was scared I would totally hate it. That was until I put it on when I immediately fell in love.  It screams fall to me, and I'm really happy I got this one from the Flair collection. 


Pretty & Polished Frozen In Time
 
Being part of the Pretty & Polished fan group on Facebook gave me early access to her fall collection, and I couldn't have been more excited.  When I saw searches of Frozen In Time I wanted it on my nails so bad! It totally did not disappoint me when I got it.  I love a great navy polish, and a holo navy polish at that! 


Smitten Polish I Smell Snow
 
My favorite winter collection was Smitten's Christmas In Stars Hollow collection. I mean I love every polish she released in this set, and the fact it's Gilmore Girls themed just makes them that much better.  I Smell Snow is such a beautiful polish that just screams winter to me!  It sparkles so much on the nails that I couldn't stop staring at them! 

That's my Top 20 Polishes of 2015 for you.  I hope you like my selections. I know we all have different taste, and 2015 released so many beauties it really was hard to narrow it down.  Thanks for reading my blog all year! I hope you continue to in 2016!