Recap and haul from the Eyes On Indies event. (Or, there goes my birthday money!:) )

Hello everyone!

Today I had a really cool day--I attended the Eye On Indies event (FB page for the event here), and I had a blast. I didn't know what to expect, but it was a gathering of Greater Bay Area Independent polish makers, and that was all I needed to know. A chance to see the polishes in person, and touch them and stroke them and love them...Sign me up. A chance to actually talk to the polish-makers? Oh heck yeah, I'm in.

I knew it was going to be a great day when I first entered the room and saw the Wicked Polish display...particularly when at the center was 'Hung Over the Rainbow'---one of the lemmingest of my lemmings. As I stood there with that awesome I-Just-Scored-An-Awesome-Lemming polish glow, I actually had a fan-girl moment sneak up that I didn't see coming, and I felt the need to tell her how awesome her polish was and how much I'd been lusting after that particular one.  Fangirl schmangirl, I regret nothing!!

The next booth was Polish TBH--another awesome surprise just waiting for me! This was followed by Polished by KPT, Shirley Ann Nail Lacquer (I've been lemming her Alaskan Tree Frog for quite a while, too), and then...Mentality, master of all things holo, and as it turns out, much more. To say I was like a child on Christmas is an understatement--one amazing polish-maker after another kept appearing, one after the other.

I've tried for a while now to be a supporter of indie polishes on my blog, and this event reinforced for me how deserving these artisans are. Their products are great, of course. But I don't want to buy even great polish from people that are unkind, or nasty, or arrogant...Meeting the makers in person, getting to chat with them, see how fun and sweet and awesome they are--Yes, absolutely these are the entrepreneurs that keep the dream alive, and deserve my money and my endorsement on both of these levels.

I will be swatching and showing the polishes I bought for you as soon as I can (I have a few reviews in the queue I have to put up), but in the meantime, here are a couple of pictures of a few of the displays that were present and the polishes I bought today...The display shots were taken with my cell, so apologies for the quality there!

Wicked Polish display--how flippin' cool is that coffin-in-the-cage display?!

Polish TBH--polish, jewelry, nail repair...tons of polish goodness...

Shirley Ann Nail Lacquer--you can tell how popular this table was, because all the people crowding in the front scrunched up the banner, lol!

And now the really, truly important thing...the adorable, luscious lovelies I grabbed today:


Wicked Polish Hung Over The Rainbow, worth owning for the name alone, and just one example of her gorgeous neon-glitter polishes; also Polish TBH Sorcerer's Stone, one of a number of innovative glitter thermal polish, this one changes from a cherry red to a blood red (seen in bottle):

Three beauties from Mentality; Bandit, a Matte finish, Red Flakie, a flakie finish, and Morality, a holographic duochrome (stick a fork in me):

My beloved Alaskan Tree Frog from Shirley Ann Nail Lacquer, along with Eyes On Indie, a limited edition polish made just for the event:

 Two more lovelies from Shirley Ann Nail Lacquers and one from Polished by KPT: Candy Coated Poison, Corrupted Soul, and Wedded Bliss (Made to celebrate the wedding colors of the polish-maker's upcoming nuptials):

 I can't wait to swatch all of these for you, especially because some of these have hidden charms to be discovered...

Hope you had an equally wonderful Sunday. Hugs and much polish love! :)

M.

Review (sorta): Winstonia Grab Bag

(The products in this post were purchased by me; I am not affiliated with Winstonia.)

Hello!

Did you know that Winstonia does monthly grab bags of nail art products? Well, you do now! It's like a monthly subscription box of nail products, except there is no monthly club, and you don't have to take a risk and buy sight unseen. You get to see the products before you buy, and don't have to sign up or anything--just buy like any other product. The benefit is, you do get a good price for the supplies compared to what you'd pay separately.

I bought the July bag, and I'm very pleased with it. Here's what it contains:

Complete contents

The bag included two wheels of nail studs, one wheel of butterfly fimo slices, one bag of orange sticks, and a good quality double-ended brush. By my informal estimate (which is on the conservative side), this is between $15-20 of nail art products, for $10--and free shipping!

Here's a closer look at the studs:

These come in a variety of shapes and sizes...and most importantly imo, colors! While there are are some of the standard silver, gold, and black, there are cool orange, blue, red and purple-pink. This adds a great extra dimension for nail art.


The third wheel contains fimo canes slices of butterflies. I'm not a huge fan of fimo cane stuff usually, but these butterflies are so whimsical I couldn't resist them. The color combinations are fun and interesting, the detailing is impressive, and I had to have them:

While orange sticks aren't the most exciting thing in the world, they are crazy useful and I'm always glad to have more, especially in various sizes for different uses:

And finally, the thing I think many people will be very excited about--the double-ended nail brush. When I saw this, I instantly thought clean up. The one end can help you get the massive stuff off of the cuticles and round your nail bed, while the slanted brush can help you with precision where you need it more. And from what I can see, it's good quality and isn't going to fall apart on you the moment you use it.

Eeeeek!! Nekkid nails!!!

What do you think? If you like it, you can get it for a few more days by clicking here. I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with for August. :)

Hugs and Happy Saturday,
M.

My haul from the Sally Beauty Red Tag Clearance sale. :)

Hello!

I promised to report back what I managed to score at today's Sally Beauty Red Tag Clearance sale as a demonstration of one of my favorite budget-saving polish-hoarding tips. I have two Sally's near me, and I visited them both. Here is what I scored:

Color Clubs, Finger Paints, and mini Orlys

China Glazes

And my favorite: 2 polishes and a little picture frame for $1.50

There were a ton more Orlys and China Glazes that I already have, including the Hologlam collection. :)

So how much did this all cost me?

Grand total: $27.25. 

Hey Montell! Hit it! "This is how we do it...It's Friday night and I feel alright, the party is here on the Sally side..." ::does happy polish dance::

Hope you scored mounds of polish awesomeness...:)
M.

Laguna Beach Julep Mystery Box

Hello!!

I did it again. I signed up for another Julep Mystery box...see...they know...they know that the word 'mystery' calls to me and I can't pass it up...

I picked the Laguna Beach, and here's what I got:

The polishes came in that sweet little blue bag

• Julep Hand And Cuticle Stick (plan on trying it tonight)
• Julep Strawberry Mint Lip Balm (OMG this smells and tastes soooo good, it must have calories)
• Julep Nikki: A greenish-yellow neon (sort of a split-pea yellow look) that dries to a wax finish)
• Julep Natalie: A bold coral creme
• Julep Simone: A soft lilac creme, with a flash of light blue shimmer 

All of these were items I didn't already have, and I like all of the nail colors, so I think I did good this month. Especially since my main box only had the DD creme in it, and I didn't get any nail polish, so it was nice to get these. :)

Here are closer-ups of the bottles, and stick swatches: 

All of these covered the swatch stick in one coat, which is a return to excellent Julep quality:

Julep Nikki

Julep Simone (now with bonus cat hair, added by my darling kitties!)

Julep Natalie (this is not textured, that is just the nail stick texture)

What do you think? Did you get this or another Julep box?

Thanks for stopping by...hugs and loves,
M.

Swap: Brazilian Babies!!

Hello!!

Guess what guess what guess what!! I got the very bestest kind of nail mail the other day--a swap from my friend Janaina in Brazil!

Ages ago we decided to do a themed swap based on the current season...The idea was that we'd put together a three-photo mosaic representing what we love about the season to guide the other person in the swap, and we'd exchange some polishes and one non-polish item. Initially that was going to be a fall/spring swap (fall in my half of the world, spring in hers). But then my world got a bit complicated, what with dogs showing up and my house getting foreclosed on. So I dropped the ball a bit, and the swap had to shift to a winter/summer swap, and even then only got completed after the target seasons were over.

However, that doesn't change how much fun it was, or how awesome Janaina's package was. :)

Here is the photo collage I put together to show what I love about Winter:

And here is a group shot of the polishes Janaina picked based on this:

From left to right, these polishes are:

Risque Niasi Azulcrination, a shimmery jelly
Colorama Mesquita Azul, a very deep ink blue crelly
Risque Niasi Cobertura Encantada, an orange and yellow flakie (eeeeeee!!!!)
Impala Na Mira 3D, a gorgeous silver/charcoal/rainbow amazing holo
Realce Cobra Verde, a shimmery forest green jelly
Risque Niasi Maca Do Amor, a shimmery blood red jelly


And in the below picture, you can see the extra non-polish item she sent--a hand-made manicure towel, cross-stitched with my name:

Every time I look at this, I'm just speechless. I also cross-stitch, so I know how much work it is, and this is incredibly special. All I can say is...wow. This will never go anywhere near nail polish, no way no how. But I will use it for routine-care manicures where I know none of the substances can ruin it, lol.

Here are some individual bottle shots, and for each one, I'll share Janaina's explanation of why she picked each polish, based on the photo collage. First, Colorama Mesquita Azul and Risque Niasi Azulcrination:

Colorama Mesquita Azul

Risque Niasi Azulcrination

Janaina said "Azulcrination and Mesquita Azul are in this pack to represent the deep blue sky you showed in your mosaic. In my opinion, Mesquita Azul (Blue Mosque) is the most beautiful and will really stand up on your nails."

I happen to be wearing Mesquita Azul right now, and I couldn't agree more. It's a deep inky blue that's almost black, and looks like an infinite starless night sky. :)

Next is Realce Cobra Verde:

Realce Cobra Verde

"Cobra Verde (green snake) is representing Charlie Brown's X-mas Tree. Heh heh!"

In the bottle, this looks like a tealish green, but on the nail, it is a stunningly perfect Christmas-tree green shimmering jelly. Sublime!


Next, Risque Niasi Maca Do Amor:

Risque Niasi Maca Do Amor

"Maca Do Amor (toffee apple) Is here to bring you some warmth". I also think this is the perfect representation of the warm tones in the place setting in the mosaic, and of course, it's red, so yeah. 'Nuff said.

Finally, my two favorites...(I can't stop squealing when I look at these), Impala Na Mira 3D and Risque Niasi Coberatura Encantada: 

Impala Na Mira 3D

Omgomgomgomg. There are not words.

Risque Niasi Cobertura Encantada

"Na Mira 3D (on the target/aim) and Cobertura Encantada (charmed coat) are bringing you some light, both from stars and the candles we have during the festive times."

I couldn't have picked two better polishes to represent the lights in the collage--Cobertura Encantada practically jumps directly out from the candle light in the one picture, while Na Mira 3D captures the magic of the Christmas lights against the peaceful night background in the other picture.

Not only am I incredibly impressed at how well her choices matched up with my pictures--my choices for her mosaic were much more fluid and intuitive, not nearly as on-spot as her choices were--I am amazed at how perfect her choices were for my collection. I have several flakies, but none of them are orange/yellow, and I've been wanting one. And of course I have a number of holos, but Na Mira 3D is not only not like any I have, it's not like any I've even seen before. Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous, and I'm darn glad to own it.

While those were my definite two favorites, I assure you that the other follow closely behind. Beautiful jewel tones are my absolute favorites, and I have nothing like these with finishes like this. I continue to be amazed at how beautiful Brazilian polishes are. Sigh...:)

I'll be showing swatches of these polishes over the next few days/weeks; I couldn't wait to show the awesome swap asap, though. :) And I had to post a thank-you to Janaina for sending me such an awesome, touching package! Girl, you ROCK ROCK SUPERROCK from start to finish. :)

Thanks everyone for looking!

Big Hugs,
M.

Haul: British Bonanza!

Hello everyone!!

In my previous post, I mentioned I was in a hurry to use some British polishes that my friend Dina of Secretary's Nail Art recently sent me. A while back Dina mentioned to me that she was going on a trip, and asked if there were any polishes I was interested in, and of course there were a ton of them! She was a champ and found almost every one of the polishes I had on my list, even though it took her a ton of visits to a ton of places. A few days ago, my beloved package of British polishes arrived, and I was like a kid in a candy shop opening them and picking which one I wanted to use first!

I couldn't resist sharing on the blog because there are so many beauties...And, now Ninja Polish is starting to carry a lot of the Barry Ms, so if you see something you like, you can probably find it there:

Overall picture of my British polish haul: Top row, Top Shop; Middle row, Barry M; Bottom row, Models Own, Max Factor, Barry M Magnetics 

Models Own Golden Green, Max Factor Fantasy Fire (x2 cause she rocks!), Barry M Magnetic Burgundy and Magnetic Dark Silver

 

Barry M: Silvery Lilac, Lilac Foil, Silver Foil, Gold Foil

Barry M: Vivid Purple, Croc Effect Black, Denim, Black Glitter, Chameleon Effect Blue

Top Shop: Hypperreal, Hidden Treasure, Phenomena, Eclipse, Cosmic Karma, and Hypnotic

I can't wait to try all of these out over the next few days/weeks. If there are any in particular you'd like to see, let me know!

Thanks for looking,

Xoxox,
M.

(UPDATED) Haul: Happy Birthday Part 2

Hello!!

A couple of weeks ago I showed you the first half of my birthday haul, and promised you that there was a part two coming...I'm finally able to post it today! Have a look:

So excited to play with all this awesomeness!

One of the things I was really excited about was getting my first Enchanted Polishes; these are normally out of my price range, but they're so gorgeous!:

Enchanted Polish 'Hey Jude' and 'Secret Sauce'

And of course I had to have some glitters:

Lush Lacquer Camo Queen, Sizzling Hot, and Fuzzy Peaches

My first Impalas

And no stamping fanatic's birthday would be complete without some cool plates! I finally was able to order some plates from Magno Nails, and get the new LeaLaC plates. I've already reviewed LeaLaC plate A (if you're interested, you can find the review by clicking here), and will be reviewing the other plates shortly:

LeaLaC Plate A

LeaLaC Plate B

Magno Nails Plate M

Magno Nails Plate O

Magno Nails Plate T

UPDATE: I've had a question about pricing here, and I should have put it in the first place! Here is pricing/ordering information:

I got the LeaLaC plates, the Enchanted Polish, and the Impala polishes Llarowe:

The Impala polishes are currently $4.50 each.

The Enchanted Polish line can be found here and have currently been reduced to $13 each.

The LeaLaC plates  can be found here; there are different sizes, but the ones I bought are $20.

The Lush Lacquer line is here, and her full-sized polishes are $8.75 each (she also has minis available).

Last but not least, the Magno Nails line is here; this is a German store, but don't let that stop you from ordering from them. I got the best customer service from her, and they are very on top of the packages they ship. When the *US* post office temporarily misplaced my package--not the German post--she filed a complaint that day and I got my package the next! The large plates that I got go for 15 euro, which came to about $20 American when I bought them.


So, just a hint of some of the things I'll be featuring in the blog soon, or am in the process of featuring! And if there are any images in particular you'd like me to test from the plates, please do let me know. :)

Thanks for looking!

xoxo,

M.