After & After: Snowflakes

Hello!!!

Guess what?? It's time to begin my Winter Challenge!!

After doing two challenges for Halloween, I've decided to keep it to one challenge this time...I'm hoping this will give me more time to include reviews and simpler manicures, since I'm sort of in a simple layering phase with my nail art right now. We'll see how it goes...

Anyway, the point is, I'm in one challenge, and it begins today! Here is the list of the prompts I'll be doing:

As you can see, today's prompt is snowflakes or snowfall, and I've been really into snowflake manicures, so I'm excited about this one.

I started with a base of Sally Hansen Lustre Scarab, which is a really pretty blue duochrome. Over this, I layered Different Dimension Rock, Paper, Scissor, Lizard, Spock (indie alert!), a subtly pretty glitter with white, silver and green glitters:

Different Dimenstion Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock over Sally Hansen Scarab

This already looked like snowfall to me, but it needed something...hmmm, what does it need...hmmm...oh, I know! BLING!!

So I stamped on it using Cheeky XL plate L, and Bundle Monster plate BM14, with Sally Hansen White On and China Glaze Metallic Muse. Then, I threw on a couple of rhinestones:

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

I really can't stay...

Baby, it's cold outside!!

I'm in love with how this came out. Yes, I know there's a lot happening. I know it. But it's so sparkly and pretty, and snowy. I guess because I don't get snow where am I, I just had to have an hyper-snowflake snow manicure. :)

Thanks for stopping by to take a look--and please check out my fellow Crumpets' manicures, linked below. :)

Xoxox,
M.

Polish Days Before & After: Christmas Bling

Hello!!!

Today's manicure is for Polish Days, and the theme is 'Bling'

I started with a base of Pretty Serious VT100 (indie alert!), a rich green with gold glitter:

Pretty Serious VT100

Pretty Serious VT100

Then I sponged a bit of Orly Sashay My Way on the nail at the bottom, working up a bit. Over that I sponged some Fanchromatic Nails Fistful Of Latinum (double indie alert!) to add a bit of variety to the glitter. Finally, I added some red rhinestones to make it even more sparkly and festive:

We wish you a merry bling bling

And a blingy new year!

I really love how this came out! Glittery and fun but not too glittery. Perfect for any Christmas Party, and I think I'm going to wear this on Christmas day.

Thanks for looking, and please check out the other participants in Polish Days, linked below. :)

Xoxox,
M.

Indie-licious Review: Polished Components

Hello!!

Today I have an indie brand to review...Polished Components. I've been wanting to try out her stuff for a while now, and finally had the chance to grab some. Ah, the stuff you can justify to yourself during the holiday season, hee hee hee...

First is Future, a pretty flakie topper that I've been eyeing for a while. It has blue and grey flakies that can look light lilac-y purple in certain lights Here I have one generous coat over two different colors, first Barry M Silver Foil, and second Revlon No So Blueberry:

Polished Components Future over Barry M Silver Foil

Polished Components Future over Barry M Silver Foil

Polished Components Future over Revlon Not So Blueberry

Polished Components Future over Revlon Not So Blueberry

I've never seen anything else like this. Future is not your mama's flakie--it has a bit of edge and a lot of fun.

Next  is The Green Fairy. This is a light apple-green shimmer-jelly with matching green flakies in it. It's named after the fairy in Moulin Rouge which is a symbol for absinthe, and I just love that name for this. These flakies don't hit you over the head; they're subtle, so if you like subtle, this is the flakie for you. :) I have three coats on in these pictures (plus topcoat); this was opaque inside, but when I went outside there was some VNL as you can see, and if you're worried about that, four coats would be better:

Polished Components  The Green Fairy

Polished Components The Green Fairy

With light bringing out the frosty shimmer a bit more

I wanted to see what this would look like over undies, so I put China Glaze Holly-Day on all nails except my accent, and put Running In Circles on the accent nail, then put two coats of The Green Fairy over it. The individual flakes show up a bit more over the darker polish, but not really over Running In Circles, but that may be because that's a sparkly polish already, lol:

The Green Fairy over undies

Next up is Mattress Mambo, another name I love! This was a leap-of-faith polish for me--I wasn't sure how it was going to look in real life on me, I was afraid it might be a bit too dark. Turns out, I absolutely love it. It's a black crelly-type polish with a ton of red and purple flakies in it. This polish made me want to scream because it was so hard to take a picture of! I did the best I could here, but the flakes are even prettier in person. As a flakie fanatic, it's not surprising I fell head-over-heels for this one. This is three coats plus topcoat: 

Polished Components Mattress Mambo

Oh, yeah, mambo the night away...::swings hips::

The last polish I have to show you is a different type--no flakies...but that's okay, 'cause it has micro-glitter. :) It's called Psyche, and it's a matte-ish type of finish in a dark electric blue--with teensy pink micro-glitter. I have three coats of it here, but it would have been fine with two, and I didn't use a topcoat so you could see the finish, which I think is really beautiful:

Polished Components Psyche

And the sun decided to come out, how pretty is that color in the sun!!

This is a really unique, complex polish, although I wasn't sure about that when I saw it in the bottle. Between the beautiful shade of blue, the unique matte-ish finish, and the pink glitter, this has enough going on to be really interesting but not overwhelming. I love it, and I can't wait to wear it again.

Overall, I really like these polishes. The formulas were good; some of them took a little attention, but nothing that was problematic. While I like my polishes to cover opaque in two coats, for specialty polishes like flakies, that's an unrealistic expectation, so it didn't bother me that it took three coats for The Green Fairy and Mattress Mambo to get to opacity. Most of all, I think all of these are unique, special polishes that give oomph without being over-the-top. They're fun and pretty, and I'll definitely be buying more from this maker in the future. :)

You can find the Polished Components Etsy shop by clicking here. Her full-sized polishes are $8.75, and she has a wide range of polish types in her stop, something for everyone. :)

Thanks for taking a look!

Xoxox,
M.

(These polishes were purchased with my own money, except for Psyche, which was sent for an honest review.)

Lookit: Pretty Serious Christmas Without Snow 2012 Collection

Hello!

I don't know how my readers feel about press releases (please let me know if you want more!), and I don't post many of them--I only post looks at upcoming collections that I'm pretty excited about myself. This one I think is pretty darned cool.

Pretty Serious is an Australian Indie line, and I only have three of their polishes (so far!)--two from their Halloween collection, and one specialty release that went to benefit a charity. I've found them to be very pretty and of good quality so wanted to share with you this information I received about their Christmas collection:

Here is what they have to say about the collection:

"Christmas without snow? What a preposterous notion! For the rest of the world, maybe. But down here in Australia, we love to crack out the beer and boardshorts and soak up the sun at this very special time of year. We wanted to capture the spirit of an Aussie Christmas with our very first seasonal collection consisting of six amazing new nail shades to help you celebrate Christmas the Aussie way!

BLUE GUMS ON BOXING DAY - This rich green shines with a mesmerizing blue shimmer! Perfect for those post Christmas celebrations!
HOT SUMMER NIGHTS - Shining stars sparkle in the velvet sky. This inky blue jelly with silver micro glitter is a nightscape on your nails!
PARTY BY THE POOL - Splash about in this gorgeous peacock jelly, swimming with flecks of green and blue!
SANTA'S SUNBURN - It seems that Santa's Sunburn is the best type of sunburn! This jolly red foil sparkles with tiny flecks of silver.
SEASONAL SUNSET - Seasonal Sunset's rusty jelly base is packed to bursting with bright golden and copper microglitter particles and the result is simply breathtaking. It's a Christmas sunset on your nails!
TWINKLING LIGHTS - Like stars that sparkle in the sky, or Christmas lights twinkling in the night, Twinkling Lights will add something special to every manicure!

And to make things even cooler, our Christmas polishes will come in cute Christmas themed red holographic boxes with new artwork by our one and only Leigh Young! The perfect stocking stuffer! You won't even need to wrap them!

The CHRISTMAS WITHOUT SNOW collection is available for preorder NOW, with orders starting to ship this week! We are also running our amazing Golden Ticket promotion where ten lucky Christmas orders will receive our super secret limited edition GOLDEN TICKET polish! Only ten made and these will NEVER be sold on our site! Competition details can be found on here.

RRP is $9.95, with a 10% discount for buying all six shades! Pretty Serious Cosmetics also ships worldwide. Check out our site for more details.

Bottle volume is 11ml/0.37 fl.oz. Pretty Serious Cosmetics is 100% Vegan and Cruelty Free.

http://www.pretty-serious.com"

And here are the pictures of the polishes:

Blue Gums On Boxing Day

 This one is my favorite of the bunch...So pretty...so green...so ethereal...

Hot Summer Nights

 This one looks like it will be really pretty on, and I don't think I have anything like this...hmmm...

Party By The Pool

 Very pretty with the light sprinkling of glitter...

Santa's Sunburn

 ROFL, this name cracks me up, and I love the silver glitter in it. :)

Seasonal Sunset

 This is pretty, but I'm wondering how close it is to those pretty Jessica polishes that came out in their Fall collection?

Twinkling Lights

This is pretty for many things, but I wish I'd had it when I was doing my 'Festival Of Lights' manicure for my upcoming Christmas challenge...sigh...

And finally, here is how they come packaged:

I think this is a very pretty, non-traditional, but still a teeny bit traditional (the red, lol) collection. Also, I can tell you that when I ordered from them before, I got their polishes in a very reasonable amount of time, so don't be worried about ordering from Australia!

Thanks for looking!

Xoxox,
M.

Dupe Or No Dupe: Orly Synchro vs. Glitter Gal Evening Light Soft

Hello everyone!


So remember a few days ago I posted a manicure with Glitter Gal Evening Light? If you missed it, you can see it by clicking here. It's one of the Glitter Gal shade shifter polishes; they are stunning duochromes in the prettiest colors and finishes...and they cost up to about $17.

To me, that's a lot. I got lucky--I happened to catch mine on a super sale at Llarowe. But everyone might not be able to get that lucky, and if not, I may have another option for you...

I recently ordered Synchro from Orly's Electronica collection, and when it arrived, I couldn't help but think it reminded me of something...And then it came to me...My Glitter Gal Evening Light Soft! But no way they would be the same?! ...Right?

Let's take a look. Here they both are in the bottle:

It goes without saying, but Orly's Synchro is on the left, and Glitter Gal ELS is on the right. This will be the same position you'll see in all of the below pictures, as well. 

Hmmm...They look pretty close, but not identical. There is more orange around the edge, and it look like it might be more shimmery. But that could be the shape or glass of the bottle...

So let's look at them on the nail. I've painted them directly on the nail (index and middle), and then layered them over black (ring and pinkie): 

Orly Synchro vs. Glitter Gal Evening Light Soft in the shade

Orly Synchro vs. Glitter Gal Evening Light Soft in the sun

Orly Synchro vs. Glitter Gal Evening Light Soft in softer shade

Direct on nail to avoid reflection from black

Direct on black to avoid reflection from direct nails

So, what do you think? To my eye, these are not exact dupes, but they are pretty close. In most lights, the Glitter Gal has a bit more orange when directly on the nail, but is the same when painted over black (GG looks a bit darker on the pinkie, but this is due to the curve of the nail, if you look closely).

Could you justify having them both? You could, although it would be a tough sell, I think. More importantly from my perspective, if you like the look of the Glitter Gal polish but don't have $17 to pay for it, you can get something that is darned close for $5. Not too shabby, in my opinion. :)

As always, I hope this has helped you decide if you want one or both of these. Thanks for reading! :)

Xoxox,
M.

Before & After: Rocker Barbie

Hello!!

I've done a couple of out-of-season manicures this week, so I figure why not one more! I just finished another franken and thought I'd post it...And not only is it not very 'holiday season', it's not really even very 'me'.

You know I don't really care for pink, especially bright, bubble-gum Barbie pinks. They're lovely for other people, but just not my thing! Well, I recently got the Wet n Wild Mega Last mini set at CVS for $0.99, which was a killer price...and of course it included a pink. The good news about this was that since I knew I'd never wear it, it gave me a great reason to franken it into something I *would* wear, and would give me a little more experience with polish-making.

You'll also remember I reviewed the China Glaze Cirque du Soleil collection recently, and was a little bit frustrated by one of the glitters, Get Carried Away. I love the glitter, it's really pretty, but application is...odd. There is a bit too much glitter in it, and it's a bit thick, so it's hard to get a light coat of it (the sort of thing I prefer with glitter). I've heard on the internet that a bit of polish thinner helps, and I'm going to try that, but in the meantime I thought it would be a perfect way to start trying to franken with glitter.

Here is what I came up with when I was done; I call it Rocker Barbie, and it's a pink I can get behind, cause it has edge!:

Rocker Barbie

Rocker Barbie again

I decided to see what it would look like matted, and then of course I had to stamp on it, hee hee hee...I used Bundle Monster 323 for the barbed wire (with Pure Ice Silver Mercedes) and Cheeky 29 for the lips (with Wet n Wild Ebony Hates Chris):

Take that, stereotype Barbie!

Sealed with a Goth Barbie kiss

So what do you think? I love how the glitter is thinner, and I'm happy I managed to make the pink a bit darker and edgier. And I'd created my first glitter franken, so I'm slowly branching out. :)

Thanks for taking a look--I promise to be more seasonal soon!

NOTD: Winter Scarf

Hello!

To kick off December, the Sat-ART-day stamping challenge chose 'Winter sweaters or scarves' for today's theme. Where I live in California, it doesn't usually get cold enough to need either heavy winter sweaters or scarves or mittens or caps, so I don't really have anything like that. But I am familiar with the concept (lol), so I thought I'd create a pattern that I'd like to have on my winter scarf, if I had one.

I started with a mystery base polish (I'll be reviewing it later in the week; stay tuned!) which is a very pretty candy apple green.  Then, using plate HD05, I stamped on it with Konad white. I finished off with a coat of China Glaze Fairy dust to give it a little bit of sparkle:

Winter Scarf design

Soft and wintery and cuddly and sparkly. :)

I'm wearing this now and I don't want to take it off. It so soft and pretty! And it took nearly no time at all to make--very simple. The only downside is that the polish underneath it is a subtle flakie, and the glitter makes the flakie hard to see. But if you look closely, you can see it...:)

Thanks for taking a look! Please check the other contributer's manicures out, linked below. :)

Xoxox,
M.