Pinks!

Happy New Year's Eve!  I hope everyone is having a great time tonight!  I'm currently going polish free for a bit while I grow out some damage spots, so I won't be showing off a NYE mani this time.  Instead, let's take a look at the third installment of my Enchanted Polish week!  Tonight's post features some gorgeous pinks, so let's get to it!

Purchased by Me or Gifted to Me

For this mani, I used Life in Plastic, As If, and September 2013.

For the base, I started with a layer of As If, which is a gorgeous milky baby pink holographic with strong blue shimmers.  My bottle is a decant, so I can't accurately speak to application issues.  After this base layer was dry, I then took my handy Elmer's Glue that I put into an old Seche Vite bottle and painted the skin around my fingers.  I did this to make cleanup later easier.  Now, once I've finish the mani, all I have to do is peel off the glue, and it'll take the excess paint around my fingers with it!  I swear by this trick every time I do a gradient and often times when I do stamping.  It's a huge time saver in the long run!

After laying down a base layer of As If, I then sponged on a gradient using As If and September 2013.  September is a medium pink linear holographic with a slight golden flash.  I sponged on two layers of gradient, which came out nicely.

Next, I added on a layer of Life in Plastic, which is pink shimmered neon pink glitter topcoat.  Application was a tad difficult because the glitter to base ratio is a bit more in favor of base to glitter.  I had to dig out some of the glitters, and even then I had to deal with pooling on my skin.  It definitely required cleanup, but that wasn't a deal breaker for this mani since I already had to do some cleanup for the gradient.

September is no longer available, but LiP and AI do pop up at EP's suppliers every once in a while.  Otherwise, you can find them on blog sales.  

Grey and Pink

Man, I almost let the post slide tonight because I've been laid up all day with a horrible fever and cough.  But, I didn't want to give in, so here we are!  Apparently, this week is going to be an Enchanted focused week!  Tonight, we're going to take a look at a lovely grey and pink combo using Enchanted Once Upon a Cloud as accents with Lynnderella Pink Sapphire Stilettos.

Purchased By Me or Gifted by Friend

Once Upon a Cloud is a lovely medium grey linear holographic with loads of pink shimmers.  This was a polish she surprise restocked, so I was very fortunate to grab it when it was listed on her shop.  Application for OUAC is pretty amazing just like with almost all of the EP's I own.  It applied easily without pooling or streaking.  You could probably wear it with just one coat, but I chose to wear it in two for my photos.

Pink Sapphire Stilettos is a pink jelly based polish packed with hot pink metallic and holographic glitters.  Even though it's a glitter, application was relatively easy, and I only needed to lightly dab to get the glitters to spread evenly.  Unlike many Lynnderella glitters, PSS is actually fully opaque on its own in two coats!  I didn't need undies, so I didn't use any this go around.  I did use an extra coat of topcoat to tame the glitters a bit and give them a glossy look.

Sadly, these two are unavailable for purchase (I'm sorry I keep doing that to you guys!), but you can find them up for sale on blog sales pretty frequently.  Otherwise, you can purchase Enchanted Polishes at her shop here and Lynnderellas at their shops here and here.

Neons and Neutrals

Week two of back to blogging, and I'm determined to keep it up!  Today's post is all about dichotomy - brights and neutrals coming together into one perfect manicure.  For today's mani, I used Enchanted Polish Afternoon Delight topped with a Lynnderella twinset - 7 Minutes in Heaven and Girl-Boy Party.

Purchased by Me

Afternoon Delight is a lovely nude linear holographic with a substantial blue shimmer.  Application was flawless without any need for cleanup.  I used two medium coats for full opacity.

I then topped AD with a layer of Girl-Boy Party.  GBP is a clear based polish packed with red, purple, pink, and blue glitters in hexes, squares, diamonds, blossoms, and bars.  It varies slightly from its sister Boy-Girl Party in that it has more shapes as well as more pink.  Like most Lynnderellas, this one was definitely heavy on glitter and light on base.  The glitter comes out of the bottle easily enough, but you will need to use the dab method in order to spread the glitters evenly across the nail.  It's also a very topcoat hungry polish, so even without the additional coat of glitter, I would have needed an extra coat of topcoat to calm all of those glitters down.

Lastly, I topped the whole thing with 7 Minutes in Heaven.  7MIH is a clear based polish packed with blue shimmer and neon matte glitters in hexes, squares, and bars.  Unlike GBP, 7MIH isn't quite as dense, which means that you do have to do a little more digging to get the glitter out.  The shimmered base also gives it a bit of a frosty look, but it wasn't too bad with the shimmer already in the base of AD.  I used one coat with a normal paint motion in order to get a little bit of a more sparse look so it wouldn't overwhelm the mani.  Because it's a little runnier, there was need to do a bit of cleanup from where the polish slid onto my skin from the nail.

I really loved how this came out.  The neutral base really makes the colored glitters pop, and the look is just perfection.  Unfortunately, all three of these are unavailable, but you can often find them up on blog sales.  Otherwise, you can purchase Lynnderellas here and here, and you can purchase EPs here.

Black and Silver Stamping

Tonight's mani is one that I'm just soooo proud of.  I haven't had stamping come out as lovely as this in a long time.  And the fact that I have them on Cuties just makes it all that much better!  Cuties is the term I've dubbed nails that are intentionally short.  Nubs tend to have a negative connotation, so I've decided that Cuties should be the term we use for those nails who are short on purpose!  I know that I, for one, enjoy wearing my nails cropped low sometimes.  Whereas, there are others who will only wear Cuties - such as my lovely friend Sara from Born For a Storm!  When I wear Cuties, I tend to like to wear them with vampy colors, which is what I've done with this mani!  So, without further ado, let's take a peek at Chanel Cosmic topped with stamping using Color Club Harp on It.

Purchased by Me

I started with a base of two coats of Chanel Cosmic, which is a gorgeous black creme loaded with irregularly shaped silver holographic glitters.  Two coats was perfect for this polish and didn't require much cleanup.  While it's a lovely polish, I sincerely wish that it was a little more jelly so that you could see the glitters a little more easily.

To top it all off, I decided to use Color Club's silver holo, Harp On It, from their 2013 Halo Hues collection.  It's an absolutely lovely silver holographic, and it stamped really well.  The image transferred easily without drying onto the plate or stamper.  

I used regular Elmer's glue around my cuticles to make cleanup easier.  With this, I was able to just peel off the bits of stamp that got onto the skin around my nails.

I topped everything off with KBShimmer's Clearly On Top, which didn't smear the design.  Dry time with the topcoat was quick.

I know this isn't exactly winter-themed, but I did really love this manicure.  It lasted almost 5 days, which was fantastic because I just didn't want to take it off!  Have you ever had a mani you wanted to wear for as long as possible?  Tell me what it was in the comments!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!  For those who don't, happy belated Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Merry Festivus, Happy Solstice, Happy Yule, and just a plain old Happy End of the Year to everyone!  Normally, I do comparisons on Thursdays, but I'm going to show you guys a few of my Christmas manis from this year instead!

Purchased, Gifted, or Made by Me

Christmas Ornament Mani

I used three Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers as well as a gold Sephora pen for this design.  For the undies, I used Untrodden Snow.  For the holly and leaves, I used Mickey Smith Defending the Earth and You Just Want to Mate?!  I modeled this manicure after my all time favorite ornament that we used as our inspiration for all of the decorations in our house!

Christmas Tree Mani

I apologize for the photos on this one because, honestly, I took them with my iPhone, lol!  Here, I used Literary Lacquer's 1000 Christmas Trees and Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Grandpa.  To make the Christmas Tree, I used some striping tape and the LL.

Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy Mani

For this manicure, I decided I'd go with something bright, flamboyant, and not quite Christmasy, per se.  For this mani, I used Smitten's In October We Wear Pink topped with accents of Lynnderella Sugar Plum Pink from the 2012 advent LE collection.  This is another pic taken with my phone, which I haven't quite mastered due to my shaky hands.

Tacky Winter Sweater

I did another untraditional mani, but this time I went with a polish based off of the love of tacky winter sweaters, which happens to be the name of this polish!  BEGL Tacky Winter Sweater is a hot pink crelly base packed with snowflakes, diamonds, and glitters in various other shapes.  And yet another mani taken with my phone instead of my real camera!

Matte Glitter Gradient

For this mani, I used OPI Feel the Mo-heat-toes Green topped with a glitter gradient with Lynnderella Merry Ferry, and then topped with NYC Matte Topcoat.  Again, I apologize for this photo because I took it on my phone!  Here, I'm showing off my mani with a lovely beer by the Bruery called Seven Swans a Swimming, which is an amazing Belgian Quad!

Christmas Skittles

It's a very Lynnderella Christmas!  For this look, I used BEGLs, and RBL, an OPI, an EvP, and a metric-butt ton of Lynnderellas!  From thumb to pinkie - OPI L.A.M.B. topped with Lynnderella Change; BEGL Grandpa topped with Lynnderella Happy Holodaze; BEGL Siren's a Special Snowflake topped with Lynnderella Holo-day Hearts; RBL Gondoliere topped with Lynnderella Fire in the Jelly; and Elevation Wuyi Mountain topped with Lynnderella the Mindful Heart.

Candy Cane Tape Mani 

For this mani, I decided to go with a classic look that I've been seeing around town (i.e. on IG by Nail Polish Wars and Pointless Cafe- I know there have been more, but I can't find them now!).  I used two coats of Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Dogwood because it has that shimmer that really makes it look candy-like.  I then topped it with Seche Vite, used my striping tape to tape off some lines, and topped that with BEGL You Just Want to Mate?! and another coat of Seche Vite.

I hope that everyone has a lovely and safe holiday season!  May your new year be better than you expect and happier than you hope!

Lynnderella Nosegay

The first time I saw Lynnderella's Nosegay, I just *knew* I needed it.  Seeing photos of this pretty lady online was all fine and dandy, but seeing her in person just blew me away.  There's just so much going on here!  Let's take a look!  Please keep in mind that I took these photos a while ago, so the lighting is different (this was actually taken in the car on the way home from Orlando a few years ago!), and my skin care and nail regimen are both very different.

Purchased by Me

Nosegay is a lovely lavender base with medium and small metallic purple hexes and squares.  It's got a gorgeous blue shimmer as well as blue-purple iridescent glitters, both of which are difficult to see in my photos.

Here, I've worn it alone with three coats.  I am absolutely in love with this crelly base.  I wish that Lynn did more of them because Nosegay just shows how well she does them!  Dry time was quick with one coat of quick dry topcoat.

I did this mani while I was on vacation, and it was super easy to do.  The glitters were easy to get out, and they spread well across my nail.  Unlike a lot of the Lynn glitters, it wasn't thick at all.  It's got a perfect crelly base that shows the glitters nicely through the other layers.

You can purchase Lynnderellas at their shops here and here.  Follow their fan page on Facebook and IG.  Make sure to tag your photos on social media with #lovelynnderella to be featured on their pages!

Vampy Reds

I'm so glad to be back and going strong, two days in a row!  Hah!  Enough of the chit chat, let's get to the polish.  Tonight, I've paired together one of my favorite Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers with a lovely Lynnderella Special Edition!  Let's take a look!

Purchased and Made Myself

I've already done a review of Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Toasty Warm, which you can read here.  Instead, we'll be focusing on Lynnderella Glitter in Her Blood.

GHIB is a blackened jelly base packed with red and black micro glitters in both metallic and holographic. GHIB actually reaches full coverage in two coats!  Here, I used three thin coats to ensure that my photos didn't show any bald spots that my eyes didn't catch.

The glitter applies easily even though it's a thicker formula.  It's actually nice to have a thicker formula for microglitters, though, because it helps with accuracy of application.

I am a huge fan of microglitters, as you might have realized, and Glitter in Her Blood is no exception.  While it's a tad thick, I actually appreciated the thickness because it made application accuracy much easier.  I was easily able to apply without any pooling on my cuticles.  Dry time is pretty long, though, which is probably due to the fact that I had to use two coats of topcoat to get a smooth and glassy finish.  I love the holo bits in this one, too, and how it doesn't overpower the look.

Although both of these polishes are discontinued, you can purchase other Lynnderellas at their shops here and here.  You can purchase other BEGLs at my shop here.  Follow me on Facebook, IG, and my Newsletter!  Also, I've got a fan group on Facebook, and you can request to join by emailing the admins at beglovefb@gmail.com.  As I mentioned yesterday, I'll be going on a few week vacation on 12/24, so grab what you're lemming before I go on break!

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Siren's Holiday Soirée

Man oh man!  After the past few months that have been chock full of work, polish making, and visiting with family and friends, I decided to take some time to myself!  I've missed you guys, and I'm so glad to be back to blogging!  In an effort to ease my way back into the blogiverse, I've decided to ditch the normal long-format review and go with a photo-heavy just the facts ma'am post.  It may stay like this in future so I don't drive myself crazy by doing too much, or I may go back to the long format.  I haven't quite decided yet, so we'll see what the next few months hold!  Tonight, let's take a look at Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Siren's Holiday Soirée!  This polish became available yesterday, and there are still quite a few left at the shop!  Again, this will be heavy on photos and light on commentary.  Click on the photos to enlarge them!

Made by Me

SHS is a squishy cherry red jelly packed with purple iridescent glitters and shreds as well as neon pink, hot orange, and cherry red glitters.

I wore this as three coats, and as you can tell there's still a bit of visible nail line due to the jelly base.  You could probably wear it over something, but I wanted to wear it on its own.  I just love that squishy look!

Dry time is average, and application is easy.  Like most BEGLs, it is on the thicker side, but that's by design - I'd rather formulate polishes that aren't runny so that customers can thin it to their desired consistency.

SHS is the December polish in the monthly numbered limited edition Siren Series.  Yesterday was its release, so once it sells out, it'll go into permanent retirement.

You can purchase Siren's Holiday Soirée other BEGLs at my shop here.  Follow me on Facebook, IG, and my Newsletter for news and updates!  Also, I've got a fan group on Facebook, and you can request to join by emailing the admins at beglovefb@gmail.com.  I'll be going on a few week vacation on 12/24, so grab what you're lemming before I go on break!