PPU Alert! The Lady Varnishes Avada Kedavra--What A Wonderful Phrase!

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Hello!


That's right, it's that time of the month again--it's time for Polish Pickup! This month's theme is Magic & Alchemy, and we're going to kick things off with The Lady Varnishes Avada Kedavra--What A Wonderful Phrase! inspired by (obviously, lol!) Lord Voldemort:

The Lady Varnishes Avada Kedavra--What A Wonderful Phrase!

The Lady Varnishes Avada Kedavra--What A Wonderful Phrase!

The Lady Varnishes Avada Kedavra--What A Wonderful Phrase!

The Lady Varnishes Avada Kedavra--What A Wonderful Phrase!

The Lady Varnishes Avada Kedavra--What A Wonderful Phrase!

The Lady Varnishes Avada Kedavra--What A Wonderful Phrase!

Coverage: 2-3 coats; I'm wearing three.
Formula & application: Applies smoothly and easily, with excellent control.

The gray base of this combines with the shimmer and flakies to create a depth of green that goes from forest to olive, with a hint of blue duochrome and flash off the flakes. Yes, taps into the murky side of Lord Voldemort, but this takes me to a happy enchanted forest sort of place. I ADORE it.


And here's a little nail art with the polish:

UberChic Beauty Lovely Leaves 4 over The Lady Varnishes AKWAWP

Stamping plate: UberChic Beauty Lovely Leaves 4 (which released today!)
Stamping polish: BeautyBigBang Gold

And here's a final look:

The Lady Varnishes Avada Kedavra--What A Wonderful Phrase!

You can buy this polish during the Polish Pickup sale from September 6th through 9th, but hurry, because it will be capped at 140 bottles. In the meantime, check out The Lady Varnishes' other beauties in her shop, and come over and hang out with us in the Polish Pickup Pack.

Big hugs,
M. xoxo

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The Digit-al Dozen Does Patterns Day 5!

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Hello!


So for the last day of The Digit-al Dozen's Patterns week, I wanted to go out with a bang...


First, the glossy version:

UberChic Beauty 27-03 over Zoya Darcy and Marigold

UberChic Beauty 27-03 over Zoya Darcy and Marigold

And then matte...

UberChic Beauty 27-03 over Zoya Darcy and Marigold

UberChic Beauty 27-03 over Zoya Darcy and Marigold

Base Polish(es): Zoya Darcy and Marigold
Stamping Plate(s): UberChic Beauty 27-03
Stamping Polish(es): Kaleidoscope by El Corazon White
Other: Studs!

What do you think?! Geometric patterns are so fun, and I wanted to play with some awesome summer colors while we're enjoying the awesome heat of August.


So that's it for Patterns week! Check out what the other artists did below. :)

Big hugs,
M. xoxo

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The Digit-al Dozen Does Patterns, Day 4!

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Hello!


Today is day 4 of The Digit-al Dozen's pattern week...and yep, you may have noticed I missed day 3, so I'm gonna make up for it with two manis today. :)


This time I wanted to play with a different type of 'pattern.' Fluid nail art is one of my favorite things because of the randomness of the patterns, and now companies are coming out with specialty polishes for your nail art, like this one from Dance Legend:

Dance Legend Bow Holo Blur is a silver holographic spot-it polish--a holographic spotter! I was crazy excited when I heard about this, and couldn't wait to play around with it. Let's take a look at the two manis I did, and then I'll talk a little about my experience with it.


For the first mani I just did plain old nail art, which, when you add holo, isn't plain-old at all:

Dance Legend Bow Holo Blur over Stella Chroma All Charged Up and Grab The Wheel

Base Polish(es): Stella Chroma All Charged Up and Grab The Wheel


For the second, I wanted to try out stamping over the holo:

Base Polish(es): Stella Chroma Classic Red
Stamping Plate(s): Dixie Plates Boho 01
Stamping Polish(es): Kaleidoscope by El Corazon Black


So in terms of my experience with the project, I found this a little more tricky to work with that other spotting polishes--I found the under polish had to be very, very wet or you didn't get much spread. Also, holo polishes tend to have a sort of fractured or pixelated look, so some of the spots don't show up as well as they otherwise would. Add to that my stamping in the second mani, and a lot of the spots blend in with the black stamping. That said: HOLO SPOTTING EFFECT. You know you want it and you know it's awesome--just make sure to keep those points in mind and you're gonna have some awesome manis!


You can find Dance Legend Bow Holo Blur over at Lantern & Wren.


I'll be back for one final day of Digit-al Dozen patterns tomorrow--in the meantime, check out what the other artists did below. :)

Big hugs,
M. xoxo

Follow me all the places! 

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And check out The Dancing Girls, my debut novel, here!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

The Digit-al Dozen Does Patterns--Day 2!

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Hello!


It's day 2 of The Digit-al Dozen's Patterns theme, and for today's mani I played with using a layer on its own, and layering it with another image. Here's the glossy version:

It Girl Nail Art IG123 and IG111

It Girl Nail Art IG123 and IG111

And here it is mattified:

It Girl Nail Art IG123 and IG111

It Girl Nail Art IG123 and IG111

Base Polish(es): Zoya Darby 
Stamping Plate(s): It Girl Nail Art IG123 and IG111
Stamping Polish(es): Messy Mansion Spring Green and Forest

To me this looks like the shores of a lake surrounded by forest...Summery and outdoorsy and relaxing. What do you think?


I'll be back tomorrow with another pattern mani...in the meantime you can find my day 1 manicure here, and see what the other artists created below!

Big hugs,
M. xoxo

Follow me all the places! 

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And check out The Dancing Girls, my debut novel, here!

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Click here to enter

The Digit-al Dozen Does Patterns--Day 1!

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Hello!


First, I want to apologize that I haven't been posting as much the last few weeks. I've had a number of family situations come up, and a lot of really bad news. Normally nails are something that make me happy and help relieve my stress, but this has been beyond.


Anyway, on to happier things! This week is Digit-al Dozen week, and the theme is patterns! Which is the sort of theme that allows me to just play around with pretty much any types of manis I want, which is really what I need right now. So here's my first mani, to kick the week off, first in glossy form:

UberChic Beauty 26-01 over Zoya Alia

UberChic Beauty 26-01 over Zoya Alia

Then with a little mattification:

UberChic Beauty 26-01 over Zoya Alia

UberChic Beauty 26-01 over Zoya Alia

Base Polish(es): Zoya Alia
Stamping Plate(s): UberChic Beauty 26-01
Stamping Polish(es): Moyra Silver and Kaleidoscope White

I wanted to play a little with the patterns here to show the subtle differences you can get even with the same colors. And I love these three colors together!


I'll be back tomorrow with a little bit more pattern play. :)

Big hugs,
M. xoxo

Follow me all the places! 

Facebook / YouTube / Bloglovin' / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter

And check out The Dancing Girls, my debut novel, here!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

PPU Alert! The Lady Varnishes Fishy, Why Are You Sleeping?

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Hello!

This month's Polish Pickup theme is 'At The Carnival', a perfect theme for summer, I think. Today we're going to look at The Lady Varnishes Fishy, Why Are You Sleeping?, inspired by Kirsten's childhood dream to win a fish in a plastic bag at the carnival--how sweet is that?

The Lady Varnishes Fishy, Why Are You Sleeping?

The Lady Varnishes Fishy, Why Are You Sleeping?

The Lady Varnishes Fishy, Why Are You Sleeping?

The Lady Varnishes Fishy, Why Are You Sleeping?

The Lady Varnishes Fishy, Why Are You Sleeping?

The Lady Varnishes Fishy, Why Are You Sleeping?

The Lady Varnishes Fishy, Why Are You Sleeping?

Coverage: 3-4 coats; I'm wearing 4 (I think this might also look really gorg over black undies...)
Formula and application: Smooth, even coverage, with great dry time

This polish is multichrome and shimmer, and a little spray of flakies...This has so many colors I'm not even sure where to start with them. There's a slate blue to green-leaning teal to purple shift, and copper-to-lavender shimmer. You'll get a slightly deeper set of colors with more coats. There's a mysterious romance to this polish I just love.


I had a hard time capturing the lavender shade in my swatches, but oddly enough, I got it in my nail art pics! Here's a manicure I did capturing the carnival theme:

The Lady Varnishes Fishy, Why Are You Sleeping? stamped with UberChic Beauty Carnival & Fair Time

The Lady Varnishes Fishy, Why Are You Sleeping? stamped with UberChic Beauty Carnival & Fair Time

The Lady Varnishes Fishy, Why Are You Sleeping? stamped with UberChic Beauty Carnival & Fair Time

Base Polish(es): The Lady Varnishes Fishy, Why Are You Sleeping?
Stamping Plate(s):UberChic Beauty Carnival & Fair Time
Stamping Polish(es): Hit The Bottle Taupe-lessly Devoted 


I chose romantic, vintage-style images to go along with the theme and the vibe I get from the polish--what do you think, did I capture it?


Fishy, Why Are You Sleeping? will be available during this month's Polish Pickup sale, from August 2nd through the 5th, it will sell for $12.50 and will have a cap of 130, so grab it while you can!

Big hugs,
M. xoxo

Follow me all the places! 

Facebook / YouTube / Bloglovin' / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter

And check out The Dancing Girls, my debut novel, here!