Happy Memorial Day!

I know it's a day late, but I wanted to post my Memorial Day mani and to take a moment to think about those individuals who died while protecting our freedoms and to say thank you to the families who have lost their loved ones defending our country.  What you've lost cannot be repaid, but know that both their and your sacrifices were not for nothing.  My sincerest and deepest condolences to you all.

And now I feel that a stupid manicure really isn't important in the grand scheme of things if you really think about it.  That being said, I'll just make this a quick photos only post.  On my right hand, I used Emerald and Ash Mei Scattering (a white jelly with a super duper subtle holo shimmer, which is also my #1 favorite white jelly), topped with Sonnetarium Snowfall, and then stars made using nail vinyls by @Teismom using Lynnderellas Nail Bed of Roses and Mermuse.  On my left hand, I used Chanel Bel-Argus under Lynnderella Bibbitty Bobbitty Boo Blue, Cult Nails Kiss topped with Lynnderella Love Letter to be Red, and Cult Tempest topped with Lynnderella Tidy Whities (I wish now that I had used Mie Scattering again, but c'est la vie, I suppose!).  All polishes in this review were purchased by me or were gifts from friends.

Comparison Friday: Blue and Green Glitters

What what what is this?!  A blog post from little old me?  And a comparison no less!  The world MUST be coming to an end!  Hahah!  So, this past month and a half (almost 2 months), I've been without any contract work.  I've been working on a pro bono case some, but mainly I've been busting my hump on Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers.  One would think that sitting at home all day would make it easy for me to blog more often, or at least to set up blog posts to auto-post, but apparently not.  And now that I have a gig again, I'm blogging again - even after working a 10 hour billable day and getting almost all of the outstanding BEGL orders packaged, weighed, and labeled!  I think it's an understatement when I say that I am pretty pooped.  I hate getting off a normal sleep schedule, so me staying up until 4 am some mornings this past month really hasn't helped much these past few days when I've had to be up early.  Bah!  Anyway, enough about me, let's get to the good stuff!  Tonight's post is an old one, as is evidenced by my old lighting setup and long-for-me nails (I've been rocking shorties and nubs for the past year, oy!).  This will be a short but sweet post, so hold on to your butts!

All polishes in tonight's post were purchased by me.

Tonight, I'm going to show you two blue and green glitters that, from the bottle, I thought would look a little bit closer on the nail.  I was definitely wrong.  Let's take a look at Pretty & Polished Beach Bum and Sonoma Nail Art 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

As you can see, they are both clear glitter toppers with predominantly green and blue glitters.  Neither are designed to be worn in layers without undies, so they are both definitely toppers.  All photos show one coat of each over Ozatic 517 in artificial light.

As you can see on the nail, however, Beach Bum has more green than blue and 20,000 Leagues has more blue than green.  Beach Bum also has a few gold glitters, while 20,000 Leagues has some white added in for good measure.

Beach Bum has more larger sized glitters than 20,000 Leagues, which has many more micro-glitters floating around in the mix.  

Also, the bases in these two were starkly different.  Beach Bum has a super super slight green tint from the glitters, which obscures the holo in the undies a little more than 20,000 Leagues.  It is also denser with more glitters in the base than 20,000 Leagues.  The base in 20,000 Leagues is crystal clear.  However, the base to glitter ratio is waaaaay more in favor of base to glitter.  If you're not careful, you'll get pooling if you try to get too much glitter on the brush.  As you can see, there aren't very many glitters on my nail, which was a bummer.

You can purchase Pretty & Polished polishes at her store here.  Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and IG.  You can purchase Sonoma Nail Art at her store.  Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and IG for news and updates.

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer 1st Anniversary! One Gray-t Year!

It's been almost exactly a year since I opened up shop over at Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers.  To commemorate the occasion, I've created a limited edition made just for this restock on Sunday.  The brilliant name was given to me by Jessica of Polished 10, and I think it's perfect!  Let's take a look see.  This post will be picture heavy, so prepare yourselves!

One Gray-t Year is a matte grey polish with rainbow micro-flakies.  It dries to a satin finish instead of a straight matte, but it's still really nice.

This shows three coats without topcoat.  It's a bit shiny because I got some cuticle oil on my nails a bit, but it's definitely more of a satin finish than glossy.

It's a tad on the thicker side, but not difficult to work with.  Application is easy without any flooding or pooling.  Even though it's a matte, there's no issue with balding or clumping, either.

Dry time was a bit on the long side when worn without a quick dry topcoat, so be prepared for that if you're in a hurry.  With topcoat, however, dry time is average.  The photos below show it with one coat of Rush quick dry topcoat.

One Gray-t Year will be available at the Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer store with the rest of the Fan Favorites Collection on Sunday, May 18, at 3:30 pm edt.  This one is a one run polish, so make sure you grab it while it's still available.  The other polishes available for purchase include Newly Impassioned Soul, Fire in Your Eyes, Sordid End, Monster's Tea at Tiffany's, Love Makes You Do the Wacky, Dorkhead?! You Slash Me with Your Words!, We Saved the World, I Say We Party!, Tact Is Just Saying Not True Stuff.  I'll Pass, and Tea is Soothing. I Wish to be Tense.

Sign up for my newsletter and follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for news and updates!  Are you ready for the Fan Favorites Collection?!  Which are you looking most forward to purchasing?

Digital Nails and Ellagee Fi-Bros for Life Collab

Oh. My. GAWD.  I'm so in love with the creative geniuses that are Digital Nails and Ellagee!  Today's post is a super special one as it is dedicated to Fibromyalgia awareness because today is Fibromyalgia Awareness day!  Here's a little bit of info about the duo and the reason for its creation from the makers themselves!

Taken directly from the Digital Nails Facebook Page:

     Earlier this year I had the opportunity to hang out with Laura, the creator behind ellagee & we hit it off immediately! Other than having the common thread of being a small business owner and indie polish creator, upon countless other things, we found of that we share something way less fun, we both have Fibromyalgia!
     It is so important to keep to keep a sense of humor when dealing with anything so awful, so we decided to to a collaboration project to help bring some awareness to the public, but mostly as an excuse to hang out and just have fun with someone who really and truly understands.  I am so glad to have found a friend like Laura!
     We had the MOST fun putting this project together! We wanted to make something that symbolizes fibromyalgia and other invisible illnesses, but also wanted to keep it light because you've just gotta keep laughing.
     The two polishes we created are exclusive to the limited edition collaboration box which will be available from Monday, May 12 through Thursday, June 11. Pre-orders will begin on Monday in both shops and the first shipment will go out on Friday, May 16.

*I was not financially compensated for this post. I received a sample for review purposes. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.  For more information, please see my Disclosure Policy in the tab above.*

So, let's get started!  The package you get will include both polishes, Chronic Badass and Whack with Poo Brain, as well as a few other goodies that include nail charms!  I'm not going to show you guys all of the stuff in the box because I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise!  First, we'll take a look at the lovely Whack with Poo Brain!  (And before you get all O.o about the name, it comes from an Adventure Time episode.)  Get ready for a lot of photos!  As always, click on the photo to see it in greater detail!

Color: Light purple with purple, pink, white, and black hexes and dots in varying sizes and small blue/green iridescent glitters that just glow.

Finish: Glitter Jelly – glitter in a colored jelly base.

Bottle / Brush: Round bottle – the wand is the standard length, but the brush is a super fat and wide one.  If you've got smaller nails, you may have a difficult with application.  However, the larger brush makes it easier to get the larger glitters out of the bottle.

Opacity: Medium – achieves opacity at three coats.

Glitter Application: Easy – Spreads evenly without much manipulation.

Consistency: Thick – on the thicker side but doesn't need thinner.

Overall Ease of Application: Medium – applies well with minimal pooling, dragging, streaking, or balding.  Spreads well without much manipulation.

Stampability: Not designed for stamping.

Dry Time: Medium – dry to the touch with minimal smudging in 3-8 minutes.

Overall Thoughts: The first coat goes on super sheer, and I was afraid that I probably should have used undies instead of doing thick layers.  However, it was fairly opaque in two coats with just a slight hint of the nail line underneath.  I really liked the jelly sandwich look with this polish, but I think it would also look nice over a similar shade creme.  Application was relatively easy, but I had some issues getting it on my side walls.  I think that's due to user error and not polish error, though, so keep that in mind.  I like that it's purple, which is the Fibromyalgia awareness color.


Now, we'll take a look at Chronic Badass!

Color: Clear base with black and purple hexes and squares, fuchsia dots, black stars, and purple and silver holo butterflies.

Finish: Glitter Top Coat – glitter in a clear base to be worn as a top coat.

Bottle / Brush: Round bottle – the brush and wand are the standard width and length.  Easy to control and manipulate.

Opacity: Glitter topcoat – not designed for full opacity.

Glitter Application: Medium – requires the dab method, but glitters are easy to extract and spread evenly.

Consistency: Fluid – thin but flows easily from the brush.

Overall Ease of Application: Easy – applies well without pooling, dragging, streaking, or balding.  Spreads evenly and smoothly.

Stampability: Not designed for stamping.

Dry Time: Quick – dry to the touch without smudging in under 3 minutes.

Overall Thoughts: This glitter topcoat is a lovely tribute to Fibromyalgia awareness as it mixes both purple and the symbol of Fibro awareness, butterflies!  I'm one of those people who loves butterfly glitters, so this topper was especially fun for me.  Application was super easy, and the glitter to base ratio was perfect, and I only needed one coat with the dab method to get great coverage.  Most photos show CB over Zoya Julie, but I've included some below that are CB over WwPB.  It was a little busy, but not in a bad way.  I received two butterfly charms, so I wore one over just Julie on my accent nail.  The charms will vary from box to box, so you may receive a different fun shape.

Here are the two layered over one another.  There's a lot going on, but it doesn't look bad.  It's actually kind of cool!  And the varying glitters give it depth!  This is three coats of WwPB and one coat of CB.

You can purchase this limited edition set at both Ellagee's and Digital Nails' stores.  They will go up for sale tonight at 6 pm central time.  They will be available for the next month, so make sure you grab one while you can!  Follow both lovely ladies on Facebook, IG, and Twitter for more updates and information on new releases!  (Digital Nails FB, IG, Twitter | Ellagee FB, IG, Twitter).  

*I was not financially compensated for this post. I received a sample for review purposes. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.  For more information, please see my Disclosure Policy in the tab above.*

Zoya Mimi and Lynderella Salad Days

So, tonight's post is going to be a quick one. Because it's late, and I'm in a mood. Dishes will do that to you, lol.  Let's take a quick look at Lynnderella Salad Days over Zoya Mimi with a matte topcoat.  I did this a looonng time ago, so I'm not really sure I remember everything about it, other than this was a combo that I thought might look good but then turned out excellent!  Ok, let's take a look!

Mimi is a lovely shifter that goes from purple to pink to gold.  The pigment is a bit grittier than most shifters, and it comes across almost like a glitter than a pigmented base.  It builds well, and this is three coats.

Salad Days is a gorgeous clear based polish with predominantly green glitters but with a smattering of other colors tossed throughout.  Application is super easy, and the glitters were easy to get out of the bottle.  Unlike a lot of the Lynn glitter bombs, as you can see from the bottle shot, this one wasn't so full of glitter that it was difficult to apply.  The base to glitter ratio was perfect!

You can purchase Zoyas at beauty supply shops and some salons.  You can purchase Lynnderella polishes at their eBay store!

What do you think of this combo?  Do you like it as much as I do?