Red Coat Tuesday: Lynnderella Berry Much in Love

Tonight's Red Coat Tuesday will be a quick one since I didn't get to schedule this one beforehand (Tuesdays are date nights, so I usually can't pop onto the computer until after he falls asleep).  Tonight we're going to take a quick peek at Lynnderella Berry Much in Love over Zoya Sookie.

(Source)

First, the rules!

• Paint your nails red, do your lips red, do a shadow design in red, or do anything beauty related that is mostly red.
• Add your blog and photo to the inlinkz!  If you don't have a blog but do have an IG, you can check this link for directions on how to use your IG for inlinkz.  If you don't have a blog or IG, you can just add your photo to the linkup or send it to Color Me So Crazy, and she will get them up for you!
• Use the #RedCoatTuesday tag when you share your photos on IG, Twitter, or Facebook!

Purchased by me.

Zoya Sookie is a bright almost tomato red creme that is perfectly opaque in two coats.  Application is super easy without the need for much cleanup.  Dry time was average, but I didn't have any issues with adding the glitter topper on top right after applying the undies.

Berry Much in Love is a clear based polish with red hexes and squares, yellow hexes, pink blossoms, green stars, and a bunch of other shapes in red, green, yellow pink.  Application was easy without the need to dab for placement.  Also, the glitter came out of the bottle easily without the need to dig.

Dry time was average, but I did use a quick dry topcoat.  Even though it's a glitter bomb, it's not topcoat hungry, so I only used one coat of KBShimmer's Clearly on Top.

You can purchase Zoyas at beauty supply shops.  You can purchase Lynnderellas on their shops at eBay and Storenvy.

In the end, I didn't love this combo, but that's probably because I didn't love Berry Much in Love as much as I was hoping I would.  It came out during Christmas, so I didn't really feel that its use was all that great outside of Christmas time.  Zoya Sookie, however, is one of my all time favorite reds.  Its perfect brightness and opacity make me super happy.  What do you think?  Do you like this combo?

(Source)

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!

Blog 2 Year Birthday Giveaway Prizes Part One

Ok, remember how at the end of July I posted about a big giveaway I was doing with all of my favorite polishes?  Well, tonight and Friday, I will be showing you all of the prizes!  Tomorrow, I'll have a special post with the new Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Special Edition, Terrific Twos, with a comparison!  There will be twelve winners, and each winner will receive one of the 12 favorites plus my Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Special Edition Terrific Twos and a few other assorted goodies!  So, let's get started!  I think we'll start with the blues because, if you haven't been able to figure out, my favorite color is blue.  Oh, but first, here's a link to the giveaway.  Hop to it if you haven't entered yet!  Only a couple days left!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

[I purchased all but Maui Wowee myself.  Maui Wowee was given as an extra in my order from Indigo Bananas.]

This post will be picture heavy, so be prepared.  As always, click on the photos to enlarge them.  

Prize 1: Zoya Blu

Blu is a lovely gorgeous pastel blue cream.  Application is super easy and self leveling, which isn't always the case for me with Zoya cremes.  This is only three coats with one coat of topcoat.  Dry time was quick as well.  I did a proper review of it here.

Prize 2: Indigo Bananas Immortal Game

I've done a full review of Immortal game here, so I guess I just really wanted to show you guys some more pics of it.  You can never have too many photos of this beauty.

Prize 3: Indigo Bananas Maui Wowee

Maui Wowee is a lovely blue holographic with a teal to purple shift.  It's a little on the sheer side, but it's still opaque in three coats.  Application was super easy, and dry time was fairly quick.  It's also got a bit of a metallic finish, but none of that obscures the holo, which is super vibrant!

Prize 4: Girly Bits Blue-Eyed Beer Drinkin Music Lovin Lawyer

Yeah, this one has a pretty special place in my heart because the most amazing and awesomest Pam of Girly Bits made this for my blog's 1 year birthday!  This squishy blue jelly is packed with blue iridescent glitters that glow while on the nail.  Even though it's a jelly, you can reach full opacity in just three coats!  You could probably get away with just two, but I always add on an extra for my photographs.  As you will note, my bottle has a super special label that was designed by my friend, Austen.  That was a limited edition label, so the new bottles are in Pam's gorgeous printed bottles (whit hot hot hot white lettering!!).

Prize 5: Picture Polish Cosmos

Check out my full review here.  I just adore those irregularly shaped silver holo glitters.  I soooo wish I could find them for sale somewhere, because I would be putting that stuff in EVERYTHING.  

Prize 6: Lynnderella G. Whizard, Esq.

This limited edition polish has a clear base with silver and sky blue microglitters.  It dries with a textured finish, so I needed to use one coat of Gelous (still waiting for my new bottle of Glitter Glaze to make it's way across the earth!) and one coat of KBShimmer's Clearly on Top.  I did NOT need undies.  This polish is fully opaque in TWO COATS.  Yes, you read that right.  Two coats.  Is that not insane???  I used three to touch up any potential bald spots that would show up in my photos, though.

So, there are the blues!  What do you think?  Are you as excited as I am about this giveaway?  What's your favorite prize?  Stay tuned for more exciting prize photos later this week!!!

[I purchased all but Maui Wowee myself.  Maui Wowee was given as an extra in my order from Indigo Bananas.]

Summer of Untrieds Week 4

I apologize for the lack of posts this week, but I've been battling some sort of bug that's had me down for the past two or three days.  That being said, let's get back to the Summer of Untrieds Challenge.  This will be my last post for this fun little challenge, so I hope you've enjoyed this as much as I have!  Let's get to it!

Here are the prompts and the rules:

Rules:

• Use at least 1 untried polish that fits with the prompt for the day.
• If you don't have anything that works with the prompt, then consider it a free day and choose a random untried from your stash.
• There won't be an inlinkz, so keep up with the group by tagging your photos #summerofuntrieds.  I've also been including #julyuntriedchallenge in my posts, so you can add that too if you want.  Also, feel free to add a tag to me if you'd like (either @blueeyedlawyer or #wishesofablueeyedgirl).
• Start crossing off those untrieds in your stash!

[I purchased these polishes or received them as gifts from friends.]

Day 23: Micro Glitter

I decided to do skittles with my micro glitters instead of just picking one.  I picked (from thumb to pinkie): Lynnderella Yes to Know Love, Smitten Oncoming Storm, Lynnderella Thrill Ride, Lynnderella One Hot Summer Night, and Lynnderella Carnivale de Glitterati.  All of the Lynns are colored glitters in clear bases that built into full opacity within two coats.  They all required a coat of Peita's Polish Glitter Glaze and a layer of KBShimmer's Clearly on Top.  The Smitten, however, was small silver glitters in a deep blue base.  It took three coats to reach full opacity, and I again needed to use two coats of topcoat for a smooth finish.  You can purchase LE Lynnderellas at their store here, and you can purchase Smittens here.

Day 24: Holographic

I have a million holographics that need to be worn, so I decided to go with three harder to find ones that have just been collecting dust since I purchased them.  All three come from Enchanted Polish - Engineered to Destroy, Keep Watch, and Dream On.  I did a gradient on my accent nails of Dream On and Keep Watch, which are both purple holos without any added shimmer or shifts.  Application and cleanup on those were easy for a gradient, which was great, and I really liked the outcome.  Engineered to Destroy is a truly special polish.  It reminds me a lot of Dollish Polish Toxic Avenger in that it has this crazy gold / red / green shift in a black holographic base.  But there was just something a little different about it.  I guess it was more black than gold or brown, so it's definitely not a dupe for TA.  All three only required one coat of KBShimmer's Clearly on Top.  You can only purchase Engineered to Destroy and Keep Watch at the Mishka store as they were store exclusives.  I have no idea if they'll ever be back.  You can purchase Dream On from Nail Polish Canada, but again, it has an infrequent restock and is uber hard to snag when it is restocked.

Day 25: Zoya

I only have a small handful of untried Zoyas, so I went with two that didn't look too bad together - Carter and Seraphina.  Carter is from their Pixie Dust line and is a lovely purple textured polish.  I used three coats with two coats of KBShimmer's Clearly on Top.  I really like the look of this with a glossy finish instead of just the normal textured finish.  Seraphina is a silvery grey shimmer that took three coats to reach opacity and only one coat of topcoat.  You can purchase Zoyas at most beauty supply stores.

Day 26: Grey

For greys, I used NerdLacquer Don't Blink and Pahlish Romance topped with Elevation Polish Bromance. Unfortunately, all three of these polishes are really hard to find.  NerdLacquer sort of fell off of the face of the earth, and the Pahlish/EVP duo was a limited edition.  Don't Blink (named for my all time favorite episode and baddie from Doctor Who) is a light grey polish with silver, white, and gun metal grey glitters.  This shows three coats with one coat of topcoat.  The glitters on this polish are sinkers, so you have to flip it upside down between layers.  Romance is a darker grey with rainbow micro flakies.  The topper, Bromance, has a scattered holographic effect and is packed with white glitters with larger red to green shifting flakes.  You can find NerdLacquers on blog sales, Pahlish at her shop, and Elevation at her shop.

Day 27: Matte

Initially, I chose to wear Sinful Black Cherry, a vampy matte (or leather effect?) red polish, for this day's challenge.  But it was just so boring alone that I had to add on something fun.  That being said, I chose to top Black Cherry with Lynnderella Billet Doux, which was one of my hugest lemmings that I was soooo happy to squash about a month ago!  I mattified the mani using NYC's Matte topcoat.  Black Cherry is two coats that were a bit streaky, but a third coat would've given it a nice finish.  I chose to only do two coats, though, because I knew I was going to top it with a glitter.  I used one coat of Billet Doux, one coat of KBShimmer's Clearly on Top to make it dry faster, and then topped it with my matte topcoat.  You can buy Sinfuls at Rite Aid and Walgreens.

Day 28: Shimmer

Again, I get really bored with wearing just one color at a time.  Plus, I was really trying hard to fit in as many untrieds into this month as I possibly could.  That being said, I decided to pair a shimmer polish, Arcane Lacquer Locked in Limbo, with a glitter that also has a strong shimmer, Lynnderella Blue Rogue.  Limbo is three coats with one coat of KBShimmer's Clearly on Top.  Blue Rogue shows three coats ALONE without undies with a coat of Gelous and a coat of KBShimmer's Clearly on Top.  You can purchase Arcane Lacquers here.

Day 29: Rainbow Honey

I wore an unnamed sample and Annual Emotion, and I used this mani as last week's Red Coat Tuesday!  Go and check out the full review here.

Day 30: Thermals

I only have three untried thermals, and one is most definitely a Halloween polish, so I went with the other two for this mani - Digital Nails Lying and Pretty & Polished Dollipop.  Both show three coats with one coat of KBShimmer Clearly on Top.  Lying probably could've been done with just two coats, but I chose to do three for my photos.  The main problem I had with the P&P was that, when warm, you could see bald spots in the lighter royal blue that you couldn't see in the colder blurple.  The changes were very reactive and would change fairly easily.  Sadly, however, I couldn't get very good photos of the transition.  You can purchase Digital Nails here and Pretty & Polished here.

Day 31: Foil or Chrome

For the last day, I decided to go a different direction than I had originally planned.  I was going to use some of the Essie Mirror Metallics, but I decided instead to use Enchanted Polish Purple Roses and Elevation Polish Silversword.  I used three coats of Purple Roses, and it went on easily and spread evenly.  Removal was a bit of a pain because the small particles are a bit like glitter, so it got all over the place when I tried to scrub it off (and scrub indeed I did do).  Silversword was almost fully opaque in one coat, but I used two for my photos.  Again, application was really easy, and removal for Silversword was much easier than PR.  There is some glow-in-the-dark pigment in Silversword, but it wasn't very reactive for me.  Granted, I didn't intentionally go out of my way to see how well it worked.  Purple Roses has been long discontinued, but you can purchase Enchanted Polishes at her store here.

So, there we have it!  The end of a month full of fun and lots and lots of new manis! What do you think?  Did you like following along with this challenge?  Would you like to do another one?  Let me know what you think in the comments!

[I purchased these polishes or received them as gifts from friends.]