The Lady Varnishes Nobody's That Heartless

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Hello!


This month's Polish Pickup theme is Video Games (hey, does Candy Crush count??)--and this month's offering from The Lady Varnishes was inspired by a game called Kingdom Hearts. I'm ashamed to admit I've never played it--have you? Should I?


Anyway, today we're gonna take a look at The Lady Varnishes Nobody's That Heartless, inspired by said game. Describing this one is a bit tricky--it's a taupe crelly, but it has a pink-copper multichrome finish and royal blue flakies that make it so much more than that. Here's the glossy version:

The Lady Varnishes Nobody's That Heartless

The Lady Varnishes Nobody's That Heartless

The Lady Varnishes Nobody's That Heartless

This is two coats with a coat of Seche Vite, and the formula on it is excellent. This takes my breath away whenever I look at it--if there were such a thing as woodland fairies, this is what their wings would look like. Just stunning.


Here it is matted:

The Lady Varnishes Nobody's That Heartless, matted

The Lady Varnishes Nobody's That Heartless, matted

The Lady Varnishes Nobody's That Heartless, matted

The Lady Varnishes Nobody's That Heartless, matted

Again this is two coats, with a coat of Sally Hansen Big Matte topcoat. I was worried the shimmer might dim a little when matted, but it doesn't--is still absolutely stunning. Elegant, sophisticated, magical.


Yes, I've already done some nail art with it, I couldn't resist! First I pulled out UberChic Beauty's new Bottoms Up plate, and did an elegant, vintage tea look. I stamped with Hit The Bottle Polish Everyday I'm Truffling, Moonshine, and A Rose By Any Other Name:

The Lady Varnishes Nobody's That Heartless, stamped with UberChic Beauty Bottoms Up and Hit The Bottle Polish stamping polishes

The Lady Varnishes Nobody's That Heartless, stamped with UberChic Beauty Bottoms Up and Hit The Bottle Polish stamping polishes

I've never had tea in a fancy tearoom, but I want to, and when I do, I want to wear this mani! Something about this felt like it needed to be matted, so I did.


And yes, I've actually already done a second mani with this...This one uses Born Pretty Store Spring Garden L003, with Hit The Bottle Polish A Rose By Any Other Name and Copper-Haired Girl (also available at Lantern & Wren):

The Lady Varnishes Nobody's That Heartless, stamped with Born Pretty Store L003 and Hit The Bottle Polish stamping polishes

The Lady Varnishes Nobody's That Heartless, stamped with Born Pretty Store L003 and Hit The Bottle Polish stamping polishes

I really like this one glossy, but wanted to test out the matte here, too:

The Lady Varnishes Nobody's That Heartless, stamped with Born Pretty Store L003 and Hit The Bottle Polish stamping polishes

The Lady Varnishes Nobody's That Heartless, stamped with Born Pretty Store L003 and Hit The Bottle Polish stamping polishes

I like the matted version, but I think in this case I like the glossy better. Either way, it was a bear to photograph! Which do you prefer?


If you love this polish as much as I do, hurry on over to Polish Pickup to buy it--it's on sale only from June 1st to June 4th. You can check out her other awesome polishes here, and can check out the fangroup for Polish Pickup here, to get advance news and swatches and try to trade for any polishes you've missed in the past!

Big hugs,
M. xoxo

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Supernatural Lacquer Wrath of the Heavens!

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Hello!


How's it going? Are you enjoying your long weekend (if you're in the States)? Are you excited about the unofficial start of summer? I have to say, I've been in a really good mood for no good reason, and I'm just leaning' on into it.


Anyway. Today I have a most excellent polish from Supernatural Lacquer to show you, their offering into this month's Pickup Polish curated collection inspired by video games! Supernatural Lacquer Wrath of the Heavens is inspired by Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls. I've never played Diablo, although I've always meant too--I used to put all of my video game time into World of Warcraft. Now that I've kicked that addiction, maybe I should try my hand at Diablo...


Wrath of the Heavens is a blackened evergreen-leaning teal jelly with a shifting blue-green shimmer, orange, red and gold color-shifting flakies and blue and silver holo flakies, along with--just to make sure it's beyond awesome--a spray of holo glitter:

Supernatural Lacquer Wrath of the Heavens

Supernatural Lacquer Wrath of the Heavens

Supernatural Lacquer Wrath of the Heavens

Supernatural Lacquer Wrath of the Heavens

Supernatural Lacquer Wrath of the Heavens

Supernatural Lacquer Wrath of the Heavens

This feels like a deep, enchanted forest flowing with fiery leaves--it also makes me think of crushed velvet and encrusted jewels that throw light when your fingers move. It's rich and elegant, but also powerful. And, possibly because Diablo and World of Warcraft are made by the same company and have a similar aesthetic, it makes me think of an elven druid I used to play in WoW. So, I just had to dress that elf up in some formal finery:

Supernatural Lacquer Wrath of the Heavens stamped with MoYou London Mandala 14 and Messy Mansion Soft Gold

Supernatural Lacquer Wrath of the Heavens stamped with MoYou London Mandala 14 and Messy Mansion Soft Gold

This is stamped with MoYou London Mandala Collection 14, and Messy Mansion Soft Gold. I think it feels like a deco flapper dress, with one of those cool headpieces. This was definitely one of those manicures I never wanted to take off!


You can pick up Wrath of the Heavens from the Polish Pickup site between June 1st and 4th, for $12. There will be a cap of 200 bottles, so snap yours up! You can check out Supernatural Lacquer's other creation here:

Store: https://supernaturallacquer.com

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SupernaturalLacquer/

Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SPNLFanGroup/?source_id=214874792006258

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

And don't forget to join the Polish Pickup Pack over on Facebook.

Big hugs,
M. xoxo

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NOTD: Playful squiggles :)

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Hello!


I'm in a playful mood today, I'm not sure why--maybe it's the holiday weekend, or the apple fritter waiting in my refrigerator, I don't know--but I am. And so, I figured I'd share this mani with you, since it sorta captures the way I'm feeling:

UberChic Beauty 25-02 over a gradient of Zoya Missy, Sandy, and Ellie

UberChic Beauty 25-02 over a gradient of Zoya Missy, Sandy, and Ellie

To make this, I started with a gradient of Zoya Missy, Sandy, and Ellie. Then I stamped using images from UberChic Beauty 25-02. I stamped with Kaleidoscope St-01 Black and St-02 White. I think this came out playful and fun! I hope you think so, too. :)


(Psst: If you didn't know, UberChic Beauty is having a HUGE sale this weekend. Now's the time to stock up if you've had anything there on your wishlist!)

Big hugs,
M. xoxo

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Clear Jelly Stamper plate CJS LC-30--(or, books, books, books!!!)

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Hello!


Don't you love it when a plate feels like it was made just for you? That's how I feel about the plate we're gonna look at today, Clear Jelly Stamper CJS LC-30, their collaboration plate with Lantern & Wren! I'm a reader, a writer, a teacher and an academic, so pretty much every part of my life has involved books since I first learned how to read.


First, here's the video review I made of the plate:

And here's a still shot of the plate:

I love that you can use a different color for the cover of the book and your pages, and I love all of the three-part layering images. And how cool are all the little images for the different genres?! Love.


Here's a shot with a ruler, so you can judge the size of the images:

And here are three sample looks I did using the plate:

The Sherlock Holmes image just makes me happy, and that dragon! So adorable!


For my first manicure, I started with a base of Zoya Jack. Then I stamped with Hit The Bottle Polish Moonshine, Taupe-lessly Devoted, and Make Mine a Mudslide (which I reviewed last time):

Clear Jelly Stamper CJS LC-30 over Zoya Jack, stamped with Hit The Bottle Polish Moonshine, Taupe-lessly Devoted and Make Mine a Mudslide

Clear Jelly Stamper CJS LC-30 over Zoya Jack, stamped with Hit The Bottle Polish Moonshine, Taupe-lessly Devoted and Make Mine a Mudslide

There's nothing I enjoy more than curling up with a good book and a cup of coffee and while I don't need glasses to do that yet, they're so adorable I had to include them!


For my second manicure, I wanted to celebrate my bookworm status. I eyeballed the layering so I could get a comic-book-style look--I'm going to do a video tutorial to show you how to layer three-part images perfectly if you want a more precise look. I started with a base of Spellbound Nails Marauder's Map and stamped with Messy Mansion Red-y Or Not, Gingerbread, Chalk and Carbon:

Clear Jelly Stamper CJS LC-30 over Spellbound Nails Marauder's Map, stamped with Messy Mansion polishes

Clear Jelly Stamper CJS LC-30 over Spellbound Nails Marauder's Map, stamped with Messy Mansion polishes

That little bookworm is so adorable with his little glasses! I just can't with him. And I love the messy bookshelves so much. :)


You can find this plate on sale now at Lantern & Wren! And follow Lantern & Wren around the interwebs here:

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

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/lanternandwren/

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

Big hugs,
M. xoxo

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Three new-to-me stamping polishes from Hit The Bottle

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Hello!


Today we're going to take a look at a couple of Hit The Bottle Polish stamping polishes, in three beautifully complementary colors: Moonshine, Taupe-lessly Devoted and Make Mine a Mudslide. Here's the video review I did if you want to see me test them out in action:

Here are the lovelies all together:

Hit The Bottle Polish Taupe-lessly Devoted, Moonshine, and Make Mine a Mudslide

I tested the polishes out using a bicycle image from Moyra 33 Rivalda, over white and black:

Hit The Bottle Polish  Make Mine a Muslide, Taupe-lessly Devoted, Moonshine

All three of these polishes make me even happier than I normally am with Hit The Bottle polishes. As always, the quality is amazing, the polishes are opaque even over dark colors, and there's no smudging whatsoever, even though I topcoated about two minutes after stamping. But I love each of these colors specifically, as well. Moonshine is a pearly white with a hint of silver--sometimes I don't want a stark white creme but I also don't want a full-on silver, and this polish is perfect--AND it shows perfectly over white! I've also struggled to find a taupe I like even over white, let alone one that shines like this over black. And while Make Me a Mudslide seems to be a bit camera shy, it does show up better over black than my pictures makes it seem. Here's one that shows it a bit better--the point is, you can absolutely see it, and that is ah-mazing:

Hit The Bottle Polish  Make Mine a Muslide

I've already shown you one manicure with these polishes, today I'll show you a second, and tomorrow I'll be back with a third. I love how well these three work together!


For this mani, I started with a base of Zoya Karen, and then did some gradient stamping with the trio, using UberChic Beauty 25-03. I always have the best results with gradient stamping when I use polishes from the same maker in the gradient--I supposed because the similar formulas make for the most equivalent scraping, drying times, etc.:

Hit The Bottle Polish  Make Mine a Muslide, Taupe-lessly Devoted, Moonshine, with UberChic Beauty 25-03

Hit The Bottle Polish  Make Mine a Muslide, Taupe-lessly Devoted, Moonshine, with UberChic Beauty 25-03

Seriously check that out --the polish picks up the image perfectly, even when I have them blended in a gradient. This is top-notch quality.


I'm not surprised these are awesome, I've never had a polish from HTB that wasn't. In fact, I have two brands that are my absolute favorite stamping polishes, and Hit The Bottle is one of them. The dry time is perfect--not too fast that I have to throw out half of my images because they dried before I could finish, but not so long that everything smudges. And, as you can see, they show up over even the darkest color. I'm not sure what brand of sorcery Michelle uses to make that happen, but I'm sure glad she does. :)


You can buy Hit The Bottle Polishes directly from Michelle's store, or from other retailers. In the US and Canada, you can find them at Lantern & Wren; check her website for other retailers near you.

Big hugs,
M. xoxo

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The Digit-al Does Inspires Each Other, Day 5: Kitties and Puppies with Beauty Big Bang XL-008

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Hello!

Today's the last day of The Digit-al Dozen's inspire-each-other week, and I'm bummed--this has been so much fun, not only to do my own recreations, but to see how the other ladies have inspired one another. I'm sorry to see it end.


So, I decided to go out with a bang! You'll see what I mean...


First, let's talk about who inspired me for this mani. I absolutely fell in love with this manicure by Nails Like Lace:

I fully intend to buy that plate, but for now I don't have it...luckily, I have another one with very cute cat images on it...Beauty Big Bang XL-008. Here's the video review I did of the plate:

And here's a still shot:

I did three quick sample looks in the video:

(Please excuse the fuzz on the third swatch stick--I hit it with my acetone-covered cotton by accident. It was not my best moment.)


I also did two full manis...first let's take a look at the one inspired by Nails Like Lace. As you know, I have both cats and a dog, so I decided to modify the mani a little bit to include dogs. Since my cats completely own my dog, I thought I'd use a dog pattern in the background, with little kitties popping out on top of it. I started with a base of Spellbound Nails Marauder's Map, and then stamped with Kaleidoscope St-01 Black. I did my kitties with reversed stamping; I used Messy Mansion Summer Heat and Bisque, Moyra Sp-08 Silver, and Kaleidoscope St-02 White. Here's how it turned out:

Beauty Big Bang XL-008 over Spellbound Nails Marauder's Map

Beauty Big Bang XL-008 over Spellbound Nails Marauder's Map

So it's a little bit different, but I think I captured the spirit of the inspiration...what do you think?


For my second manicure, I started with a skittle of Zoya Karen and Sally Hansen Get Mod and Blacky O. Then I stamped my images with Hit The Bottle Polish Moonshine, Taupe-lessly Devoted and Make Mine A Mudslide (also available at Lantern & Wren):

What do you think? Those kitty paws just kill me!


You can find this plate on Beauty Big Bang's site, and don't forget to use my code for 10% off your order: MISHKA824M, and follow 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/

And don't forget to check out the other ladies' final inspiration, linked below. :)

Big hugs,
M. xoxo

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The Digit-al Dozen Inspires Each Other--Day 4!

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Hello!

Today's the fourth day of The Digit-al Dozen's inspire-each-other week, and today I'm inspired by this manicure from More Nail Polish:

Isn't that a beauty? I absolutely adore the rhinestones across the nails. That got me to thinking...and my end result requires a little explanation, because it's fairly far afield from this one. Besides the rhinestone wave, I also love the way the nails were divided into two sections, and I wanted to play with that. I'm currently obsessed with the naked-nail-negative-space trend, so I decided to combine the two.


First, I used latex mani defender (normally used to protect your cuticles) to divide my nails--I swept it in a curve across my nail, and waited for it to dry. Then I stamped an image from Dixie Plates Lace 01, with gradient stamping--I went from white through different pinks, and finally to red (Messy Mansion Chalk, Dogwood Pink, Petal, Red-y Or Not, and Kaleidoscope St-04  Pink. I peeled of the latex, which left me with half my nails stamped, then lined with my rhinestone gradient. Here's how it came out:

Dixie Plates Lace 01, stamped with Messy Mansion and Kaleidoscope polishes

Dixie Plates Lace 01, stamped with Messy Mansion and Kaleidoscope polishes

So, as you can see, my mani is pretty different from the original--but you can definitely see where the inspiration comes from. And that's the cool thing about inspiration--one element can really speak to you, and take you off into your own new direction.


If you'd like to see how I made this mani, check out my tutorial:

I'll be back tomorrow with my final inspired mani...in the meantime, please check out what the other ladies did, below. :)

Big hugs,
M. xoxo

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The Digit-al Dozen Inspires Each Other: Day 3!

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Hello!

Today's day three of The Digit-al Dozen's inspire-each-other week, and this week I'm inspired by this mani from The Polished Koi:

What I love best about this mani is the interplay between the delicate blossoms and the opalescent glitter, and the way the texture of the glitter still shows through the leadlighting. So, I set out to recreate that.


I knew I wanted to use Zoya Saldana for my base coat right from the start, but was surprised to discover that I don't have any cherry blossom images like this--all of mine are smaller and solid, so not really leadlight-friendly. So instead, I chose a similar type of image from UberChic Beauty 14-02, and stamped with with Kaleidoscope St-01 Black. I did my leadlighting with LA Colors Nuclear Energy (at least, that's what my bottle says the name is, but I'm doubtful, because I got it at the dollar store, and when I google that name, a green shade comes up...), which I cut with a one-to-one ratio of topcoat:

UberChic Beauty 14-02 over Zoya Saldana

UberChic Beauty 14-02 over Zoya Saldana

The texture doesn't show quite the same way as Oksana's, but I do love the way the purple in the leadlighting plays with the purple shimmer in the polish, so I'm happy with how it turned out. :)


Tune back in tomorrow, same bat-time, same bat-channel, for another inspired mani! And in the meantime, check out the awesome work of the other ladies, linked below. :)

Big hugs,
M. xoxo

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