Lacquer or Leave Her!: March 2018

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Two New It Girl Nail Art plates for April!

(Press samples and affiliate links ahead!)

Hello!

Ack! April's almost here! How did that happen?!?! I'm not ready for it. Not ready for Easter, not ready for April, not ready for summer bearing down upon us. Help!!

On the positive side, It Girl Nail Art has two stellar new mini plates coming out in April--and yes, that pun was intended, because they're both celestial themed plates, heheheheeee. And if you've followed my blog for any length of time, you know I love galaxy nails of any sort, so I'm excited to show you these.

Let's take a look at them:

It Girl Nail Art mini plates IG309 & LE102

These are mini plates, and there's a variety of image sizes on them, so here are shots with a ruler so you can judge what will work for you:

Let's jump into the manis! For my first mani, I was drawn to the constellation image on IG309. I started with a base of Julep Ledi, a black shimmer polish. Then I stamped with Moyra silver foil stamping polish, and applied Moyra's silver foil. Here's how it came out:

It Girl Nail Art IG309 over Julep Ledi, decorated with foil stamping

I love the mirror finish that the foil gave to the constellations, it totally made the design pop! So, I wondered, what will that foil look like if I matte it (I used Sally Hansen Big Matte topcoat)? Here's how it came out:

It Girl Nail Art IG309 over Julep Ledi, decorated with foil stamping, matted

I was pretty impressed. The shiny of the foil wasn't quite as shiny as before, but it was still shinier than just regular silver stamping.

For my next mani, I stamped images from both plates over Shinespark Polish Luminous Stone (one coat over black undies, because I just wanted a scattering of the glitter). I stamped with Messy Mansion Blue You Away and Sterling, and decorated my earth with Spring Green:

It Girl Nail Art IG309 & LE102 over Shinespark Polish Luminous Stone

I am so, so happy with how this turned out! I love the look of the earth in the background, and the space guy is just plain fun. I'm still wearing this because I can't bear to take it off.

For my final mani, I wanted to do an astrological sign mani. I'm technically a Virgo, but my birthday is right on the cusp, and if you go buy the descriptions of each sign, I definitely have elements of each in my personality, and I suspect most people would assume I'm a fire sign (no, I don't really believe in any of this, but I've heard it a lot in my life!). So, I decided to dedicate my mani to Leo.

I stared with a base of The Lady Varnishes Harpy, because, gorgeous. Then I stamped my images with Messy Mansion Soft Gold, Holly, Sterling, and Hit The Bottle Polish Drop Red Gorgeous. Here's how it came out:

It Girl Nail Art mini plates IG309 & LE102 over The Lady Varnishes Harpy

This feels warm and fiery to me, and the holo in the base polish definitely makes it celestial! It's much more 'me' than a blue Virgo mani would be, although I'm sure I'll do one of those come time for my birthday, too. Maybe Leo on my right hand and Virgo on my left?

It Girl Nail Art plate LE102 is a limited edition plate that will be available April 6- April 9th only from the Polish Pickup website for $5.00 USD (for sneak peeks and info about upcoming PPU products, check out their Facebook Group). And beware--the plate is capped at 90 only, so if you want it, line up early!

It Girl Nail Art plate IG309 is NOT limited edition, and will be on sale in It Girl Nail Art's shop starting April 10th (after the PPU sale ends). It will be $4.50 USD.

Now here's the super cool part. If you buy LE102 during the Polish Pick Up sale (the only time you can buy it), you'll get a coupon to receive IG309 FREE when you spend $40 in the It Girl Nail Art store. So if you've been wanting to try out It Girl Nail Art plates, this is a great chance!

In the meantime, you can follow It Girl Nail Art around the interwebs here:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/itgirlnailart/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itgirlnailart/

Facebook fan group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1706336266277419/

Big hugs,
M. xoxo

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Sunday, March 25, 2018

UberChic Beauty Collection 24!

(Press samples and affiliate links ahead!)

Hello!

I hope you're having a wonderful weekend--mine has been busy and I've been fighting back the remnants of a migraine. But I think I'm finally shaking it!

Today we're going to take a look at UberChic Beauty Collection 24. Here's the video review I did of the plate:

And here are shots of the plates:

UberChic Beauty 24-01

UberChic Beauty 24-02

UberChic Beauty 24-03

And here are shots with a ruler so you can judge the size of the isolated images (full nail images are 1.7 x 2.1 cm):

UberChic images are always top-notch quality, even with a clear stamper:

And now my favorite part, the manis! I've already shown you two manis with this collection, in this post here. For my first mani, I was inspired by this mani from BreedLoveHoops--I loved it so much, I had to do my own version of it. I stared with a base of Orly Witch's Blue, and then stamped with BeautyBigBang Green 003, then I added silver half-pearl studs:

UberChic Beauty 24-03 over Orly Witch's Blue

And I had to see what it looked like matted (I used Sally Hansen Big Matte topcoat):

UberChic Beauty 24-03 over Orly Witch's Blue, matted

For my next mani, I started with a base of Zoya Haruko, then I stamped the leaf chevrons with Messy Mansion Spring Green. We have lots of Monarch butterflies where I live, so I stamped my butterflies with Messy Mansion Happy Now, then the second layer with Messy Mansion Carbon:

UberChic Beauty 24-01 over Zoya Haruko

And here it is matted:

UberChic Beauty 24-01 over Zoya Haruko

What do you think, which one do you like better? And do you like matted or shiny?

You can find this collection now in UberChic Beauty's shop, and any retailers that stock UberChic. And don't forget to follow them around the interwebs:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uberchicbeauty/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uberchicbeauty/

Fan group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1150090828353009/

Big hugs,
M. xoxo

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Wednesday, March 21, 2018

BeautyBigBang Holographic Polishes!

(Press samples and affiliate links ahead!)

Hello!

Today we're gonna take a look at six holographic polishes from BeautyBigBang!

All of these covered in two coats, and they all had an excellent formula. So let's dive on in and have a look!

BeautyBigBang numbers their polishes, so first up is BeautyBigBang 001, a classic silver holo:

BeautyBigBang 001

These are the jelly-type holos, not so much the mirror-chrome type holos, but wow, do they throw quite a flash! I had no problem at all capturing the linear fire on most of these even inside, and outside they were nuts.

Next up is, you guessed it, BeautyBigBang 002, a fuchsia holo:

BeautyBigBang 002

I love the red and blue flash that come through on this one, and it's just such a fun, happy color, especially for spring and summer.

Next we have BeautyBigBang 003, a black holo:

BeautyBigBang 003

I personally think a bold, oil-slick black holo is a beauty beyond words. This holo is a bit more subtle--it has a flash, but it stays mostly blue. Very nice, but less holo than the rest, so keep that in mind depending on what you're looking for.

Next we have BeautyBigBang 004, a rich, gold holo:

BeautyBigBang 004

Wow, I love this! I love how the flash is icy silver next to the warm yellow-brown shade of gold. This feels like sunshine for my nails.

Next we have BeautyBigBang 005, a vampy, nearly aubergine holo:

BeautyBigBang 005

This is my favorite of the bunch--so beautiful! The way the blues and reds in the holo flash play with the purple, it's like a big duochrome-y tye-die-y mass of goodness. I can't get enough of it.

And finally, we have BeautyBigBang 006, a strongly blue-leaning teal holo that borders on cerulean:

BeautyBigBang 006

I love the iciness of the flash on this one, and can't wait to pull it out come summer for those beach manis!!

So what do I think overall? These holos apply well, show lots of flash, and are available in the colors you've come to expect. And you can find them now in BeautyBigBang's store (each polish is linked individually above), use my code for 10% off your order (MISHKA824M) and don't forget to check them out around the interwebs:

Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/beautybigbang/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beautybigbangnail/ and

https://www.instagram.com/beautybigbangs/

Big hugs,
M. xoxo

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Sunday, March 18, 2018

BeautyBigBang Stamping Polishes!

(Press samples and affiliate links ahead!)

Hello!

Today I have some stamping polishes to show you from BeautyBigBang! We're gonna take a look at their metallic gold stamping polish (011), their metallic silver polish (008), and a spring green creme polish (003). Here's the video review of the polishes if you want to see them in action:

All three of the polishes performed extremely well for me. The consistency was good, they spread well, and they picked up images very precisely. And, as you can see in the swatches, they're very opaque over both white and black:

BeautyBigBang Gold 011

BeautyBigBang Silver 008

BeautyBigBang Green 003

Especially for that green, that's super impressive to show up over the black!

Also, these didn't smear at all when I used my Seche Vite over them; you'll notice a little bit of shadow on the green swatch (the white side), but that was just because I stuttered when I stamped. If you look close you'll see that wasn't a smudge.

Because the gold and green are such perfect colors for St. Patrick's Day, so I decided to do manis that would work for that theme, and the plan was to post this on St. Patty's day! But, with The Digit-al Dozen's stamping week posts, I got a little behind, and wasn't able to do these until actual St. Patty's day. So, I decided to pick images that would work both for St. Patty's Day and any other day, too.

For my first mani, I started with a base of Sinful Colors Show Me The Way, then stamped an image from UberChic Beauty 24-01 with BeautyBigBang 011:

UberChic Beauty 24-01 over Sinful Colors Show Me The Way, stamped with BeautyBigBang Gold 011

And because I'm in the mood to matte everything lately, I threw on a coat of Sally Hansen Big Matte Top Coat:

UberChic Beauty 24-01 over Sinful Colors Show Me The Way, stamped with BeautyBigBang Gold 011, matted

For my second mani, I started with a base of Zoya Snow White, and stamped an image from UberChic Beauty 24-02 with BeautyBigBang 003:

UberChic Beauty 24-02 over Zoya Snow White, stamped with BeautyBigBang Green 003

And here's what it looks like matted:

UberChic Beauty 24-02 over Zoya Snow White, stamped with BeautyBigBang Green 003, matted

I love that chalkboard look! But I do think I like both of these a little better unmatted. :)

You can find these polishes in BeautyBigBang's store, and you can use my code, MISHKA824M for 10% off your order. And you can find them around the interwebs here:

Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/beautybigbang/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beautybigbangnail/ and

https://www.instagram.com/beautybigbangs/

Big hugs,
M. xoxo

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