Thursday, November 30, 2017

Nicole Diary plates and polishes!

(Press samples and affiliate links ahead!) 

Hello!


Today we're going to take a look at a new-to-me brand, Nicole Diary. They sent me three plates and three polishes to review. So let's get a move on! Here's the video review I did of the plates:




And here's a closer look:

Nicole Diary ND-026:

Nicole Diary ND-026

I love the beautiful face on that girl, and the music notes coming out behind her!


Here's Nicole Diary ND-027:


Nicole Diary ND-027

Lots of pretty flowers here for a variety of floral manis. :)


And finally, Nicole Diary ND-L001:


Nicole Diary ND-L001

Such a great plate for summer, and if you're an ice cream fan...


I was really pleased with the quality of the plates:

 
 



These were all done with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Plummet, and my clear stamper--and the detail is amazing.


Next, let's take a look at the three holo polishes they sent me to try...first is Nicole Diary My Dance 009, a cherry red holo:


Nicole Diary My Dance 009

Nicole Diary My Dance 009

Coverage: 2 coats
Formula and application: Excellent

This is a great red for all your holiday manis--festive and sparkly and blingy and fun.


Then there's Nicole Diary My Dance 014, a royal blue holo:


Nicole Diary My Dance 014

Nicole Diary My Dance 014

Nicole Diary My Dance 014

Coverage: 2 coats
Formula and application: Excellent

This makes me think of winter night skies...and it's the perfect base for snowfall manis...


And finally, we have Nicole Diary My Dance 015, a gorgeous green-teal duochrome holo:

Nicole Diary My Dance 015

Nicole Diary My Dance 015
Nicole Diary My Dance 015

Nicole Diary My Dance 015
Nicole Diary My Dance 015

Coverage: 2 coats
Formula and application: Excellent

OMG, seriously, I'm so in love with that teal!!! And how perfect would this be for a Christmas tree mani?


Okay, on to the manicures! For my manicure with ND-026, I started with a base of Shinespark Polish Pretty Unicorn, and stamped with Messy Mansion Soft Gold. Then I leadlighted with Shinespark Polish Moondust, a holo topcoat, over some of the stripes in the angel's wings:


Nicole Diary ND-026 over Shinespark Polish Pretty Unicorn

Nicole Diary ND-026 over Shinespark Polish Pretty Unicorn


I think with her sweet face and the pretty wings, she makes a gorgeous Christmas angel.


For my mani with ND-027, I picked started with Zoya Solstice, and picked two flower patterns to mix and match for a single-pass skittle, with Kaleidoscope ST-02 White:


Nicole Diary ND-027 over Zoya Solstice

Nicole Diary ND-027 over Zoya Solstice

I can't get enough of Zoya Solstice, and I'm really impressed with how well Kaleidoscope ST-02 White stamps--excellent quality.


Since it's winter in my hemisphere, I challenged myself to come up with two holiday manis using ND-L001. When I looked at the beach images on the plate while thinking of Christmas, the first thing that popped into my mind was Christmas With The Kranks--how they plan on going on a cruise to avoid Christmas--so I did a Christmas With The Kranks mani! I started with My Dance 015, then added a layer of Hit Polish O Christmas Tree. Then I stamped and filled in my images using Messy Mansion ChalkColor Club Foxy MamaHit The Bottle Polish A Rose By Any Other Name, and Pure Ice Wild Thing:


Nicole Diary ND-L001 over My Dance 015 and Hit Polish O Christmas Tree
Nicole Diary ND-L001 over My Dance 015 and Hit Polish O Christmas Tree

Nicole Diary ND-L001 over My Dance 015 and Hit Polish O Christmas Tree
Nicole Diary ND-L001 over My Dance 015 and Hit Polish O Christmas Tree

What do you think? Have you seen the movie? They never actually make it on the cruise, but they get fake tans and buy swimsuits and all that stuff, so this is sort of like the postcard they were hoping to send.


And for my second mani with this plate, I started with a base of Orly Mirrorball, and double-stamped my image with Messy Mansion Chalk and Red-y Or Not to create peppermint lollipops:


Nicole Diary ND-L001 over Orly Mirrorball
Nicole Diary ND-L001 over Orly Mirrorball

Nicole Diary ND-L001 over Orly Mirrorball
Nicole Diary ND-L001 over Orly Mirrorball


This is such a cute, festive mani! I love the holo flash and the sparkling glitters, it's like a winter candy wonderland.


Phew!! That was a lot of stuff!!!


Nicole Diary sells their products exclusively on Amazon, and you can find them around the interwebs here:





Happy stamping!
M. xoxo

Monday, November 27, 2017

Marianne Nails N. 18!

(Press samples and affiliate links ahead!)

Hello!


Today I have my last Marianne Nails plate of this bunch, plate N. 18, which has a floral theme. Here's the video review I did for the plate:




And here's a closer look:

Marianne Nails N. 18


Marianne Nails' full-nail images are 1.5 cm x 2.1 cm. And the quality is excellent:


 


I did these swatches with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Plummet, and my clear stamper.


For my manicures, I wanted to do winter florals...so first manicure, I started with a base of Zoya Fallon, and I double-stamped with Messy Mansion Sterling and Hit The Bottle Polish My Suitor Wears Pewter (also available at Beautometry):


Marianne Nails N. 18 over Zoya Fallon


For my second manicure, I started with a base of Nicole Diary My Dance 009, and stamped with Messy Mansion Carbon; I chose an image that would let the beautiful holo shine through:


Marianne Nails N. 18 over Nicole Diary My Dance 009
Marianne Nails N. 18 over Nicole Diary My Dance 009


Marianne Nails N. 18 over Nicole Diary My Dance 009


You can find this plate in the Marianne Nails store, or if you're in the US or Canada, you can find them at Lantern & Wren. And you can follow Marianne Nails around the interwebs here:




Happy stamping,
M. xoxo

Marianne Nails N. 19!

(Press samples and affiliate links ahead!)

Hello!


Today we're going to take a look at Marianne Nails N. 19, which celebrates all things fashion, and sales, which seems appropriate for Cyber Monday! Here's the video review I did of the plate:




And here's a closer look:


Marianne Nails N. 19


What I love about this plate: I adore the dress made of butterflies and the butterfly shoe! And I love all the textile images. :)


Size wise, Marianne's full nail images are 1.5 cm x 2.1 cm. And here's a look at a shot with a ruler so you can get a sense of how small the images at the bottom are:




How about quality? These swatches were done with Sally Hansen Plummet and my clear stamper:


 


Excellent quality!


For my first manicure, I started with a base of Morgan Taylor Drawing A Blanco, and stamped with Messy Mansion Sterling and Soft Gold:


Marianne Nails N. 19 over Morgan Taylor Drawing A Blanco

Marianne Nails N. 19 over Morgan Taylor Drawing A Blanco

I love this for a holiday party look, or even a bridal look.


For my second manicure, I started with a base of Zoya Kelsey, Alicia, and Sally Hansen Get Mod, then stamped with Messy Mansion Sterling and Kaleidoscope St-04 Pink:


Marianne Nails N. 19 over Zoya Kelsey and Alicia, and Sally Hansen Get Mod
Marianne Nails N. 19 over Zoya Kelsey and Alicia, and Sally Hansen Get Mod

Marianne Nails N. 19 over Zoya Kelsey and Alicia, and Sally Hansen Get Mod
Marianne Nails N. 19 over Zoya Kelsey and Alicia, and Sally Hansen Get Mod


I loved this so much, I did an alternate version where I put brads on two of the nails:


Marianne Nails N. 19 over Zoya Kelsey and Alicia, and Sally Hansen Get Mod

Marianne Nails N. 19 over Zoya Kelsey and Alicia, and Sally Hansen Get Mod


What do you think? Do you like the first version or the second version better?


You can find this plate in Marianne Nails shop, or at Lantern & Wren if you're in the US or Canada. And don't forget to follow Marianne around the interwebs, here:




Happy stamping!
M. xoxo

Friday, November 24, 2017

Two selections from The Lady Varnishes Summer Court/Winter Court Collection!

(Press samples and affiliate links ahead!)

Hello!


How was your Thanksgiving? Filled with plenty of nourishing food, I hope, to get you ready for shopping! Today I have a Black Friday release to show you from The Lady Varnishes: two polishes from her Summer Court/Winter Court collection. Each polish in this collection has a twin, so there is a light version and a dark version of each. I received Dragon and Harpy for review:


The Lady Varnishes Harpy and Dragon

First up is The Lady Varnishes Dragon, an ethereal silver holo with a golden-green shimmer:


Lady Varnishes Dragon

Lady Varnishes Dragon
Lady Varnishes Dragon

Lady Varnishes Dragon


Coverage: 2-3 coats
Application: Excellent

This is soft and magical, like a dragonfly's wings. This would be a gorgeous polish to wear to a holiday party, especially New Year's Eve--sparkly, fun, and with a large dash of forest fairy.


And let's take a look at what happens to it over black undies (Sally Hansen's Blacky O):


The Lady Varnishes Dragon over Sally Hansen Blacky O

The Lady Varnishes Dragon over Sally Hansen Blacky O

The Lady Varnishes Dragon over Sally Hansen Blacky O

The Lady Varnishes Dragon over Sally Hansen Blacky O


Coverage: 1 coat over black.
Application: Excellent


O. M. G. This is about as Dragon as you can get! The holo flash makes this a rainbow of green and gold shades, like an enchanted forest or a bewitched emerald. And I've had other polishes like this that don't apply evenly over undies, but this is absolute perfection--nobody would know you're wearing undies. ;-)

By the way...I swatched this the night before Thanksgiving so I could get this up for Black Friday, and ended up wearing it as I cooked a full Thanksgiving dinner. It came out the other side with no chips, still looking like perfection.


And then there's The Lady Varnishes Harpy, a deep garnet holo that has a dark golden-green duochrome flash:

The Lady Varnishes Harpy

The Lady Varnishes Harpy

The Lady Varnishes Harpy

The Lady Varnishes Harpy

Coverage: 2 coats
Application: Excellent


This is one of my favorite polishes--I don't mean in the collection, or of The Lady Varnishes polishes, I mean one of my favorite polishes ever. It takes just about everything I love and puts it into a bottle--a gorgeous holiday wine with a spray of holo and duochrome at the edges. It's jewel-encrusted winter gowns and blackberry brandy. If I had to wear this every day for the rest of my life, I'd be pretty okay with that.


The Summer Court/Winter Court collection goes on sale TODAY, Black Friday, in The Lady Varnishes' Store. And don't forget to follow her around the interwebs here:




Happy stamping!
M.