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?

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer February Releases Part 2

It's been a busy couple of days due to some tight deadlines at my day job plus prepping for today's preorder!  Remember, this month's release is a preorder that will be up until 3:30 pm est on 2.10.2015.  If I have enough stock left after I fill the preorders, I will list them on the store, but some polishes may not be available after the preorder.  You can check out the first half of the Crooked Hearts Collection here.  Let's take a look at the last three from that collection as well as the latest in the Siren Series, Siren Sweetheart.

All polishes were created by me.

Cold Inside Me

Cold Inside Me is a teal creme with green to blue to purple shifting glass flecks.  Unfortunately, you can see the purple flecks best in the bottle but not very well on the nail.  Otherwise, the blue and green show up really nicely in the bottle and on the nail.

I used two coats here with and without topcoat.  I had to take my photos in the sunshine because this color really messed with my camera.  It's very bright and definitely teal, but all of my indoor photos made it look blue.  CIM dries with a satin finish, so you will need to add a topcoat to get a glossy look.  Dry time was quick, but I still suggest using a quick dry topcoat so you can get back to using your hands more quickly.

The One Worth Leaving

TOWL is a deep berry pink with pink and purple glass fleck shimmers.  The shimmers can look flat in photos, but they're very bright in person.  This polish is a little less thick than most of my polishes, but that's because I needed a not-quite-but-almost-jelly formula so you could still see the shimmers without the opacity dulling them.  Because of this, I used three thick coats for my photos, but you could probably do four thin coats if that floats your boat.

TOWL is probably up in my top favorite BEGLs ever, and I just love the effect it gives.  It's vampy and yet demure.  It would be a great work appropriate color that has just enough extra umph to make it fun.  I didn't have any staining issues with this one, which is great because my nails and skin tend to not like deep reds/pinks.

Might Not Recover

This is probably one of my blingiest polishes.  It contains platinum flakes, silver reflective beads, silver holographic microglitters, and purple/lavender holographic microglitters.  This one seriously shines like only one other polish I've ever made.  The first coat can be a tad tricky depending on your base coat, but you can easily use the dab method to get great coverage in two coats.  Here, I've worn three to make sure I covered up any bald spots.

Please note that reflective beads are slightly heavier than normal glitters, so they may sink to the bottom of your bottle.  Simply roll your bottle upside down between your hands or store it upside down while you're prepping your manicure to mix them back in.  I used two coats of Seche Vite to get a super glossy finish as it does dry a bit textured.

Siren Sweetheart

Siren Sweetheart is a clear based glitter topper packed with blue/green iridescent glitters in varying shapes and sizes, white glitters in hexes, squares, rectangles, dots, diamonds, and stars, and periwinkle glitters in hexes, dots, and mini stars.  Application was relatively easy, but you may have to dig a bit for some of the larger glitter pieces unless you store it upside down during your mani prep.

Here, I've worn it in one coat and a few glitter placements over BEGL Hydrangea and accent of Cult Nails Tempest.  It looks thicker than it really is, so I'm not sure why my photos are doing that.  I only needed one coat of Seche Vite to make it smooth and glassy.

Again, the preorder for the Crooked Hearts Collection is open at my shop until tomorrow at 3:30 pm est.  If there's anything left after I fill the preorders, I'll be adding it to the shop.  So, which are you most excited about?

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Release and Restock September 2014 Part 2

Tonight, we're going to take a look at the rest of the Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer polishes coming out this September.  Check out the first three polishes from this release here.  This month's restock will include limited quantities of any excess stock of all older polishes I have on hand as well as the introduction of the second Siren in the limited edition Siren series (which you can see here), the Special Edition Terrific Twos (which you can see a full review of here), and the release of the first six polishes in the It Got Away from Me, Yeah... Collection - the Women of Doctor Who!  So, let's take a look at the final three ladies of Doctor Who!

It Got Away From Me, Yeah... Part 1: The Women of Doctor Who

A Long Time Ago Tomorrow

Tardis blue creme with blue to purple to pink shifting glass flecks.

Shown here with three thin coats, but I could've done just two for full opacity.  

Dries satin, but I did some without topcoat and some with one layer of Alter Ego's She Shines.  This polish is based off of Amelia Pond.

Just Admiring Your Skills, Sweetie

Purple creme with pink to purple shift.

This polish is a one-coater, but I used two for my photos.  The shift is a bit more noticeable in the bottle but it is still evident on the nail.  

I used one coat of Alter Ego She Shines topcoat.  This polish is based on River Song.

A Snogging Booth?

Clear base with black and red metallic and holographic micro glitters.

These swatches show three coats for my photos, but I only needed two for full opacity. 

Dries slightly textured.  Again, I wore this alone as a texture and then with a layer of Peita's Polish Glitter Glaze and a layer of KBShimmer's Clearly on Top.  If you have any of my other micros, this one is slightly less textured than the others.  This polish is based off of Clara Oswald.

Remember, the September sale will include the first six of the fifteen polishes in the It Got Away from Me Yeah... Collection - the ladies of Doctor Who.  The Gents of Doctor Who and the Doctors will be released in October and November respectively, so I will announce those colors and names as it comes closer to their release.  All polishes in the IGAFMY collection will remain available from their release through the restock in November.  Other new items that will be released this month include the newest Siren from the numbered limited edition Siren collection and Terrific Twos, the polish I created to celebrate my blog's second birthday!  Both of these will be offered only during this sale.  There is very limited stock for both the Siren and Terrific Twos, so make sure you get there early!

All items will go on sale at my store here this Sunday, September 21, at 3:30 pm edt! Good luck!!