Lacquer or Leave Her!: Mentality

Showing posts with label Mentality. Show all posts

Monday, August 24, 2015

PLEASE READ: Mentality Nail Polish

Hello--

You may have recently heard about issues that some users have had with Mentality Nail Polish, particularly with their recent neon collection. Some users have had severe reactions to the polish, which have led in some cases to nails even separating from their nail beds.

I do not swatch or blog for Mentality, have never received a press sample from them, and have not featured any of the polishes they've put out in the past year (the approximate time period polishes with the problematic ingredients have come from). But, I have recommended this brand in the past on my blog and social media; most recently, I featured one of their polishes in a 'best of Indies' post. So, I want to make sure than anyone who has purchased any Mentality polishes in the last year, especially if it was on my recommendation, is aware of the situation, and can take whatever action they feel is appropriate.

There is a lot of speculation going around the internet regarding the situation, including when exactly Mentality knew about the potentially harmful polishes, and which polishes are safe and which are not; there is also a lot of dissatisfaction with how Mentality has handled the situation. I don't have direct knowledge regarding most of it, and I don't want to speak on what I don't know. But what I do know is this: (1) some Mentality polishes may cause severe physical reactions, and (2) Mentality has recently released a statement saying they are no longer willing to take any more refund or remake requests. I believe this makes it even more imperative that everyone who has potentially purchased these polishes be made aware of the situation, so they can look into it as soon as possible and see what options are available to them.

It's my hope that Mentality will make known exactly which polishes are potentially harmful, and will change their minds and refund and/or remake polishes for everyone who has purchased these potentially harmful polishes.

M.

Thursday, July 2, 2015

My top 5 indie polishes!

(Nothing to disclose)

Hello!

A bunch of my fellow blogging buddies and I decided to do a link-up of our five favorite indie polishes. Some of us are doing are favorites from this year, some are doing our all-time favorites--so here are my five all-time favorite indie polishes, in alphabetical order.

Cult Nails: Coveted

I went back and forth about whether to include this polish or Iconic, because they're a tie for me; in the end I chose Coveted because I've featured Iconic before. And there's just so much I love about this beauty--the dark-grass shade of the green, the glowy sparkle, the squishy jelly, the flakie shards. It was one of the first indie polishes I absolutely...Coveted. Sadly, Cult Nails has closed their doors, but you may be able to find this baby in blog sales...:)

Cult Nails Coveted

Elevation Polish Gobi

Gobi is an ethereal beauty that defies description. It's a soft caramel jelly holo with a soft mint green flash. It looks like it glows from within, like it's radiating the light of angels. It's the most amazing neutral, sophisticated and understated, while still being special and eye-catching. It's breath-taking. This polish isn't currently available, but you can find tons of other amazing polish in the Elevation shop.

Elevation Polish Gobi

InDecisive Bloodstone

Ah, Bloodstone. Beautiful anytime, but possibly the most perfect Christmas polish ever made. Deep pine green sprinkled with red, gold and green glitters, with a subtle sprinkle of gold shimmer throughout. It has a vintage feel, like winter in an English manor house. If the ladies of Downton Abbey had worn nail polish, they'd have loved this. And, and: she's still making this one, and you can find it here.

InDecisive Polish Bloodstone

Lucky 13 Lacquer But I Want To Fight! & Fool Of A Took

Yes, okay, this is technically two polishes, but they were released as a twin set, so I'm counting them as one. These two polishes represent Merry and Pippin from the Lord Of the Rings books/movies, and I think they capture the spirit of the hobbits well, with a touch of whimsy in them both. But I Want To Fight! is a dusty grape jelly with green holo glitters; it's pretty with just a bit of twinkly sparkle. Fool Of A Took is a muted avocado with purple glitter that has made it into my Halloween nail art several times, and is fun even when it's not October. These are no longer available, but there are plenty of other beauties that are in the Lucky 13 shop.

Lucky13 Lacquer But I Want To Fight!

Lucky13 Lacquer Fool Of A Took

LynBDesigns Do I Look Like A Frolicker?

This polish is a tangerine jelly with pink-purple flakies; together they give the polish a coral summer-sunset-sky look that's like nothing I've seen elsewhere. It's summery and feminine and it feels like it has just the right amount of magic splashed in. Art in a bottle. You can find LynBDesigns here.

LynBDesigns Do I Look Like A Frolicker?

Mentality Tenderness

(Um, Michelle? I think this is more than five polishes, even with your little cheat about the twin polish set from Lucky13 Lacquer...) (Shhhhh...quiet...nobody needs to know that, keep it to yourself!)

*Ahem*. This polish. THIS polish. THIS. POLISH. Deep regal purple with an amazing scatter of holo throughout. Nothing more needs to be said. Just enjoy and try not to drool everywhere. You can find Mentality's shop here.

Mentality Tenderness

Sweet Heart Polish Hurry Ba-ack!

(Um, Michelle? I think you're pushing this pretend-this-is-only-five-polishes thing a little far...) (Hey! If Douglas Adams could put out a trilogy that had five books, I can do a post of my five favorite indie polishes that has eight polishes! Work with me here!!)

Hurry Ba-ack! was a limited edition polish in honor of the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland, and I think it is easily the funnest polish (most fun polish?) I've ever seen, hands down, indie or no. I love the combination of the bright glitters in the squishy jelly, with the healthy dose of shimmer added in. I love that it captures the vibe of the ride, at least for me. I never thought I'd call a black-based polish 'happy', but it is. It's happy and it's fun, and it makes me smile. I loved it so much that although I was originally sent a mini for review, I bought myself a full-sized bottle. LOVE. This was a limited edition polish, but you can find her other beauties here. :)

Sweet Heart Polish Hurry Ba-ack!

Narrowing it down to five was crazy difficult, I had at least 30 more I wanted to include. So I'm thinking maybe I need to do this by season or something in the future, give myself an excuse to pull out pics of more awesome polishes! But there are my top indie polishes today, at this moment. Wait, maybe I should have put in...focus, Michelle, focus!! Don't forget to check out what the other bloggers chose in the link-up below. :)

So what do you think of my choices? Any there you love? And what's your favorite indie polish of all time?

Happy polishing!
M.

An InLinkz Link-up

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Before & After: Can anyone give me a hand?

(Nothing to disclose)

Hello!!

You know, it occurs to me that we are well into October, and I have not posted a Halloween manicure yet this month.

This cannot be allowed to continue! Who am I? What am I becoming??!?!?

For this manicure, I started off with Mentality Meeny, a light golden olive with a holographic sparkle:

Mentality Meeny

I hated covering this up, but hey, Halloween brings out the worst in me....>.>

First I stamped the background of eyes using Sally Hansen Lightning, and then I stamped the gravestone and zombie hands using China Glaze Grape Pop; I used Bundle Monster plate H08 and Bunny Nails HD-D:

Hey, I need help over here...

Can someone lend a hand??

Click here to see my reviews of the Bundle Monster Holiday set and the Bunny Nails Halloween plates used in this manicure.

So there you have it, my first official Halloween manicure of the season. What do you think? And are you ready for Halloween yet?

Happy Halloween Hugs,
M.

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Review and Before & After: MoYou London Scholar Collection 02 and 06

(Nothing to disclose)

Hello!!

Today is one of those cool days when a bunch of stars in my polish world come together. First, in my Freakin' Fingers Holo challenge, this week's holo color is brown--so I'm going to show you the brownest holo I have. Second, I recently uploaded my video review of MoYou London's Scholar Collection plates 02 and 06, and have been looking foward to making this mani with it.

So, first, here is the video review:

Second, here are still images of the plates (but note, they have made some changes to plate 02, mostly minor, so be sure to double-check the image there before buying):

Scholar Collection 02:

MoYou London Scholar Collection 02

Scholar 06:

MoYou London Scholar Collection 06

And here is a comparison to the standard Konad plate, so you can judge the size of the images:

MoYou London Scholar Collection 02 vs. Konad

MoYou London Scholar Collection 06 vs. Konad

I love books, and as a professor, I love learning and scholarship. I've been a teacher and a researcher, and I've been an avid reader my whole life. These plates were practically made for me. :)

For the holo-tastic base of my manicure, I chose Mentality Proper, a copper-brown lightly linear holo: