A is for A-England Elaine and Digital Nails My Violet Crown

I'm horrible at playing along with challenges, but I really am trying hard to keep up with my Red Coat Tuesday, and now the #alphamani challenge I'm doing in one of my Facebook Groups.  Last week's "theme" was A-England.  I only have one, Elaine, so I decided to pair it with a special Digital Nails polish that went really well with Elaine.  I received the Digital Nails polish in a special swap I did with Raph, the maker, and I seriously love it!  Let's take a look at Elaine with accents of My Violet Crown.  

Purchased by or gifted to me.

A-England Elaine is a deep almost eggplant purple creme.  Application was smooth and super easy.  I didn't need to do much cleanup at all.  The layers went on smooth, and I only needed two coats for full opacity.  I topped it off with a layer of Seche Vite to make it nice and glossy.

My Violet Crown is an indigo based polish with a strong purple to blue shift, silver micro holographic glitters, and a dash of holographic pigment.  It was a tad on the thicker side, but I added some thinner, and it was perfection.  I used three coats with one coat of Seche Vite, and it had a gorgeous glossy finish.

As you can see, I've cropped my nails short again.  I find that I tend to like them shorter in the winter time since the cold and wind can really kill them, my cuticles, and my skin.  If you follow Born for a Storm, you're probably already familiar with the Cutie phenomenon.  Cuties are nails that are intentionally short.  Those of us who like to wear our nails super short never have a nice name for our nails.  People call them nubs, but that's such a pejorative term in the nail community because usually after nub the words ugly, boy hands, or gross closely follow.  To counteract that mentality, Sara and I decided to come up with a new name to describe intentionally short nails - the cutie.  So, if you have cuties, we welcome you to post your manis on IG or FB and tag them as #cutienailclub and #clubcutie.  That way we can all celebrate our short lovely nails!

Anyway, you can purchase A-Englands in several places including Color4Nails.  While My Violet Crown isn't available for purchase, you can grab other Digital Nails polishes at her shop here!  So, how would you describe your nail shape?

Blog swap! Lit from Within and Gorgeous Nail Art

Today, another blogger and I decided to swap blogs for the day!  If you haven't followed Nidia from Lit from Within, you really should.  She does gorgeous nail art that's easy to recreate without needing to be very artistic.  So, without further ado, meet Nidia!

Hi, I'm Nidia, and I run a little blog called Lit From Within.  I love doing nail art, but I don't have a creative bone in my body, so I'm always looking for inspiration.  One of my fave things to do is take looks from other nail artists and change it up to give it my own twist.  I found this look from Tartofraises that I really liked and wanted to put my spin on it.

I Love Nail Polish Touch of Mint.  This is pretty, but it's supposed to be a scattered holo.  I know that the light colors have a subtle holo, but, well, this is REALLY subtle.  As in, I couldn't see it.

I took a striper brush and Mode Starry Night, a shiny forest green, and drew the leaf pattern.  I then dabbed a little A England Morgan Le Fay on the top half of my nail, which added a lovely silvery, subtle shimmer.  I used a dotting tool to apply some Finger Paints Santa's Magic to the corner for that *bling*

This is a pretty easy pattern that doesn't have to be perfect - the shimmer and glitter camouflage mistakes! Subterfuge! *evil laugh*

Bottle shot:  I Love Nail Polish A Touch of Mint, A-England Morgan Le Fay, Finger Paints Santa's Magic, and Mode Starry Night.

If you'd like more information about I Love Nail Polish, you can find them on Facebook, and their webstore. A-England can be found on Facebook.  Currently, they can only deliver within the UK, but they have a list of worldwide distributors. Mode Cosmetics is a value Australian brand.  I got this in a blog sale, but if you'd like more information about them, here's Mode's Facebook page. And, finally, if you'd like to follow me and my beauty blogging, You can find Lit From Within on Facebook, and my blog.  If you try this look, please show me on my Facebook page! Many thanks to Julie for this most excellent post swap!  Don't forget to check out her comparison post on my blog!

Comparison Thursday: Lilac Holos

Tonight's Comparison Thursday will be a little disjointed, and I apologize for that.  Originally, the only two lilac holos I owned were A-England Princess Tears and Color Club Fashion Addict, so I had planned to do this post a very long time ago with just those two polishes.  I'm really glad I waited, though, because I was able to add three other polishes to the line-up.  However, I didn't have all of these beauties at the same time, so the line-up photos will be a little off as I had sold Fashion Addict before I did the final comparison swatches.  Womp womp!  Anyway, let's get to it!

The players: Color Club Cloud Nine, A-England Princess Tears, OPI DS Diamond, China Glaze Visit me in Prism, and Color Club Fashion Addict

Cloud Nine

Well.  I think we should address the massive elephant in the room first.  There's clearly one obvious winner in this bunch - Cloud Nine.  Let's tackle it head on, and then maybe we can take a look at the others that pale in comparison to this amazing work of art.  The linear holo is so bright in Cloud Nine that it's blinding.  The rainbow effect is so strong that the polish almost looks like it has a foil effect to it.  Unfortunately, application was a bit more tricky than some of the others.  You have to work quickly with application to keep it from balding and dragging.  Further, it definitely shows every. single. imperfection. in your nail, so buff it with a shine block or use an aqua base before you apply.  Excuse my smudge!  I purchased my Color Club Halo Hues on Amazon.com.

Princess Tears

Princess Tears is unique to the bunch because it has a very pretty lilac to pink shimmer on top of the holo effect.  Application for all of the A-Englands I've tried has been amazing, and Princess Tears is no exception.  The only down side is that the holo isn't nearly as strong as other holos I own, especially when it's put right next to Cloud Nine.  It's almost unfair to poor pretty Princess Tears...  I purchased my A-Englands on Llarowe.

DS Diamond

I'm not going to lie.  I was extremely disappointed with this DS, which, I guess, is because I'm used to the linear beauties from the older DS line.  Sadly, Diamond was a scattered holo that wasn't even really all that holo.  It's like it wanted to be holo, but it fell short.  Application was a bit difficult because it had the tendency to flood the cuticles.  Since Diamond has been discontinued, I found mine while I was out dusty hunting at a salon.

Visit me in Prism

Visit me in Prism was another dusty find, but I've got to say that I liked it way more than Diamond!  Application was easy but a little watery.  This is four thin coats, and I had to be a little careful with application to make sure I wouldn't flood my cuticles.  Prism is a scattered holo, but the colors refract the light perfectly, and it's probably my second favorite next to Cloud Nine!  Again, since this polish has been discontinued, you'll need to check your local salons to see if they have any they'd be willing to sell.

Fashion Addict

Fashion Addict is another scattered holo that shows up alright in the sun.  It's a little lighter than the rest and its rainbow effect is middle of the range.  Sadly, it's another polish that will show every imperfection on your nail.  Case in point, my index finger.  Ugh.  It also flooded my cuticles pretty easily.  You can purchase Fashion Addict where core Color Club colors are sold.  I believe I saw a few at my Bed Bath and Beyond the last time I was in there.

So, there you have it!  My pick from this bunch is obviously Cloud Nine.  How could it not be?  But each one of these polishes has its own unique positive points.  I will say, though, that you really don't need all of them if you're looking to de-dupe or destash.  Although, these are all really good for collecting if you're looking to keep collections together.  I ended up selling all but Cloud Nine, but that's because I'm moving.  

Which is your favorite?

Purple Sparkles!

This is going to be interesting...  Let's take a look at three different polishes tonight!  A-England Elaine, Sonoma Nail Art Sonoma Sunset, and a Polish Bar prototype that became Berry Shimmer.  I'm going to attempt to do this in as much order as I can, so I hope it doesn't get too convoluted!

*I was not financially compensated for this post.  All items in this review were purchased by me or swapped for by me for my own use.  The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.  For more information, please see my Disclosure Policy in the tab above.*

A-England Elaine

Color: Deep purple

Finish: Crème – a flat polish that finishes smooth with full opacity.

Bottle / Brush: Square bottle – long cap with standard size wand.  Average application with standard brush.

Opacity: High – opaque at two coats!

Glitter Application: N/A

Consistency: Medium – applies easily and doesn’t flood the cuticles.

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

Stampability: Not tested for stamping.

Dry Time: Medium – dry to the touch with minimal smudging in 3-8 minutes. Overall Thoughts:  Elaine is the perfect purple creme.  It applies with ease and looks beautiful and smooth without any manipulation.  Just a perfect, creamy, vampy purple that looks great on its own as well as with glitters layered on top.  I purchased my A-Englands at Llarowe.

Sonoma Nail Art Sonoma Sunset

Color: Clear base with purple, periwinkle, gun metal, and fuchsia hexes

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

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

Opacity: Glitter topcoat – not designed for full opacity.

Glitter Application: Impossible – pools at the cuticles, difficult to spread the glitters evenly, leaves large bald spots unless you apply more than one coat.  You have to be careful because if you try to get enough glitter on your nail with just one coat, it will pool and bulge unevenly on one side and bubble when dry.  The glitter to base ratio is off.  This is two coats.

Consistency: Super thin – runny and floods the cuticles easily.

Overall Ease of Application: Hard – pools at the cuticles.  Does not spread well without massive manipulation.

 Stampability: Not designed for stamping.

Dry Time: Long – dry to the touch with minimal smudging in over 8 minutes. Overall Thoughts:  I think I'm just not in love with Sonoma's formula and consistency.  I love her glitter combinations, but every glitter topper I've tried has had a glitter-to-base ratio that leans heavily in favor of the base.  That's even after storing it upside down for quite a while and rolling to mix it!  I almost always have to use at least two coats to get the glitter coverage I want.  It's really pretty, though, and I love the effect over Elaine.  You can purchase Sonoma Nail Art polishes at her Etsy store.  Follow Michelle on Facebook for news on restocks and new additions to her line.   Oh, and so you know, she has polishes listed right now!  That's a bit of an anomaly.  If you want some of her pretties, get over there stat!

The Polish Bar Berry Shimmer

Color: Clear base with hot pink and purple hexes, squares, and shreds.

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

Bottle / Brush: Round mini bottle – wand and brush are just long enough to reach the bottom of the bottle.  However, the fact that it’s a mini makes application a little tricky.  Requires a steady hand to apply evenly without pooling.

Opacity: Glitter topcoat – not designed for full opacity.

Glitter Application: Easy – Spreads evenly without much manipulation.

Consistency: Medium – applies easily and doesn’t flood the cuticles.

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: If you haven't tried out the Polish Bar, you should.  This is one of my favorite glitter toppers, and I'm sad I only have a mini!  I received this beauty in a hand-made polish swap I participate in every couple of months.  The consistency is perfect.  Unlike other glitter topcoats, it isn't clumpy and it doesn't pool or bulge.  It's bright and fun and goes well with Elaine topped with Sonoma Sunset.  The holo bits shine brightly and make this polish seriously bling-tastic.  Absolutely gorgeous!  You can purchase The Polish Bar polishes from her Etsy shop.  Also, follow Janice on Facebook for news and updates.

Which is your favorite glitter topper?

Cupcake Nails and Giveaway Winner!

Well, we have a winner, ladies and gentlemen!  Congrats to Liz Lew!  You have won the Color Club Starry Temptress collection pack!  I have emailed you, so you have 48 hours to get into touch with me before I have to choose a new winner!  By the way, you may want to check your spam folder, just in case.  ;)  Congrats!  Thank you, everyone, for playing along!  I truly appreciate your follows and feedback.  There is another giveaway on the horizon, we're only 26 followers away!  Trust me, you're not going to want to miss this one!  Think indies, mainstream, and jelly sammiches!  Piqued your interest yet?  Good!  (Although, the prize for the next giveaway isn't really a secret.  I have a picture of it on my Facebook page, so go and check it out!)


Since today is my birthday, no I'm not looking for well-wishes (although, they are appreciated, lol), I decided to do cupcake nails!  I have never done a cupcake nail in my LIFE, so I used this tutorial:

I honestly had no idea it would be that easy.  Cutepolish has a youtube channel with tons of tutorials, so I am hoping I can use her videos to start incorporating more nail art into my weekly posts.  You can check out Cutepolish here.

For my cupcake mani, I used Elevation Marble Caves for the base color and cupcake wrapper, A-England Elaine for the striping, 365 Days of Color Birthday Bash for the icing and accent nail, and Essie Sure Shot for the heart on top.

Without further ado...  Here is my special birthday edition manicure: Cupcake Mani!

I still just love this mani!

Since it is my birthday, I really wanted to try out 365 Days of Color Birthday Bash.  Birthday Bash is a white creme based polish with fine teal glitters and multicolor shreds.  I thought it would be perfect for cupcake icing!  I also wanted to check out how it would look on a full nail, so I did my pointer finger as an accent.  It applied well and only needed two coats for full coverage on my accent nail.  I'm a little torn on this one.  I like the idea of this polish, but maybe not so much the actual polish.  It looked great as the cupcake icing, but I'm not a huge fan of it on its own.  I'm not even sure why I don't like it.  I guess, if I'm going to go with white and teal, I'd rather use Dollish Expecto Patronum.  Plus, I have so many white based polishes, it's kind of insane.  That being said, I think this little guy will make its way to the blog sale soon.

Close-up of 365 Days of Color Birthday Bash.  The shreds were hard to get out.  :(

Holy moly, I love Elevation Marble Caves.  This polish is GORGEOUS.  I hated covering it up with stripes!  It applies very thinly, so it requires three coats to get full coverage.  That pale purple is one of my favorite colors, plus it has iridescent glitters that shine blue, green, red, and gold.  I hate that it was a limited edition because it's just such a beautiful polish.  Plus, it applied really well.  I've had it on for 3 days, and only 1 chip and no tip wear.  That's amazing considering how badly I treat my hands!

Look at that sparkle!!!

I used A-England Elaine for the stripes.  Elaine is a deep purple creme.  I can't really say too much about it because its use was so limited.  I've put it back into my untried stash so I can get a real manicure out of it.  It applied well with my nail art brush, but I still want to see what she can do with a proper manicure.  The same can be said of Essie Sure Shot.  Again, I used it for such a limited purpose that I can't truly review it.

I have loved this manicure so much I have worn it for 3 days.  I'll probably keep it on until tomorrow!  Plus, this design was actually pretty easy to accomplish.  I felt so proud of myself for doing proper nail art.  The hubs thought it was pretty cool, too.

Verdict: cupcake manis: keeper; Elevation Marble Caves: keeper; 365 Days of Color Birthday Bash: seller/swapper; A-England Elaine: back in the untried stash; Essie Sure Shot: back in the untried stash.

Lastly, I thought I'd show off my nail mail!  I can't wait to try them all out for you guys!!  They make for a nice birthday surprise.  :)

Dollish Heart of Glass, Dollish 3 Best Friends, Dollish Master Chief, Dollish Greased Lightening, Elevation Ama Dablam (x2), Dollish Zombie Flesh

Have you ever done a cupcake manicure?  How did you do your nails on your last birthday?