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!

The Polish Bar: Winter 2014 Collection Release

Tonight, I have some pretty fantastic polishes for you.  I pretty much love everything that The Polish Bar sends me, and that's for good reason!  Her holos are the glossiest and shiniest holos around.  I have no idea how she does it, but they are all as shiny as glass.  Her Winter Collection is no exception!  It will be available December 1 at her shop.  So, instead of wasting your time, let's get to the pics and reviews!  There are tons of photos, so make sure you click on the pics to enlarge them!

Press Sample

Starlight

Seriously, that name pretty much sums it up!  It's a lovely white-silver holographic with a rainbow of iridescent microflakies that give this baby more depth.  The flakies are very apparent in person, but I just couldn't get my camera to cooperate!  I used four coats for my photos, but I probably could have used just three for full opacity.  The maker suggests using it on its own as well as over other polishes as a holo topcoat.  Dry time is average, and I needed only a little bit of cleanup, probably due to the little brush from the mini bottle.  

Without topcoat, it does have a nice shine, but it's not nearly as glossy as the other holos from this collection.  Actually, all of my Polish Bar holos have a gorgeous glassy shine without topcoat!  I do end up adding a quick dry topper, though, since I have very little patience.  Here, I've added one coat of Alter Ego She Shines.

Mystic Sky

Mystic Sky is a navy blue holo with silver microshimmers.  It's a tad thicker than Starlight, but it still had pretty good application.  The tiny brush did make it a little more difficult to get an even application, but her full size brushes are AMAZING.  

Dry time is fairly quick, so you'll need to work quickly to get this stuff on your nails, otherwise it will drag a little.  Also, you should wait until the previous coat is dry before applying the next one, which will ensure that you don't have any clumping or dragging.  I used three coats for full opacity.  If you can only get one from this collection, this would be my first choice - followed closely by Starlight.

Star Voyage

Star Voyage is a lovely berry red holographic with a gold microshimmer.   Much like with Mystic Sky, it is on the thicker side.  The mini brush made evening it out a little difficult, but I know (and love) her full size brushes will make application smooth and easy.  I was in a bit of a hurry, so I did have to do some minimal cleanup.  

I used three coats for full opacity, but I left the topcoat off of this one so you can see the shine.  Although, it is a bit difficult to see how glossy it is in full sun.  Dry time is about average without a quick dry topcoat.

Cosmic Sea

Cosmic Sea is a green holographic polish with green, pink, purple, and blue holographic glitters.  If you're still looking for a Christmas mani, I would seriously recommend Cosmic Sea!  It looks like a Christmas tree with lights and ornaments on it.  It's a sheer almost jelly polish, so you can see the depth of glitter and holo together very easily.  

Although it is a sheerer and thinner formula, I was easily able to build it up in three coats.  I used one coat of She Shines, and everything was smooth and glossy.  I probably could have forgone the topcoat, but I was in a rush and didn't want it to smudge while I was taking photos.

Dream Galaxy

Dream Galaxy is a lovely indigo linear holographic base with green, blue, pink, purple, and burgundy metallic and holographic glitters.  Much like with Cosmic Sea, it is a thinner and sheerer formula than the other holos. 

I was able to build it up easily in three coats.  Cleanup was easy and didn't stain my skin like a lot of blues tend to do.  Dry time is average.

As I stated above, these lovely polishes will be available at her shop starting Monday, December 1st.  Make sure you follow The Polish Bar's Facebook and Instagram for news and updates!  Which are you most excited to grab?

Game Day Mani: Clemson

Now that Pretty Little Liars is over, I'm going to start using my normal #RedCoatTuesday slot to honor a different Red Coats - the University of Georgia!  [For those not in the know, UGA's marching band is called the Redcoat Band, which I was in for two years in college!]  So, every Tuesday, I'm going to share my team spirit!  I apologize to anyone who doesn't like UGA, but at least red and black are pretty together!  Tonight's mani includes stamping, decals, and Swarovski crystals!  Let's take a look!

Purchased by me or given as gift.

First, though, here's me, Mr. Blue-Eyed Girl (would that be Hazel-Eyed Boy?), and UGA VI in our Redcoat uniforms.  Band geek and proud!

I used the following items for this mani:

Cult Nails Tempest, Cult Nails Nevermore, Cult Nails Kiss, Konad White, Konad Black, Essie No Place Like Chrome, Cheeky plate CH52 from their Summer Collection, Nail Dot water decals, Nail Vinyls, and little red Swarovski crystals I received as a gift!

I started out by applying my undies, (thumb to pinkie): Nevermore, Tempest, Tempest, Kiss, Nevermore.  Next, I stamped onto my thumb, index, ring, and pinkie fingers using the Cheeky plate.  For my thumb and pinkie, I did a double stamp using Konad White and Cult Kiss, which actually stamped really well.  On my index finger, I stamped using the Essie.  Lastly, I used Konad Black and White on my ring finger over Kiss.  This was my first time doing the double stamp, which came out better than I had anticipated!

Next, I used the little G water decal from Nail Dots that I applied over the silver stamping.  I like these little decals, but they always tend to wrinkle and stick up around the edges, which is not so awesome.  I ended up using an extra coat of topcoat to smooth it down.

Then, after I waited for my coat of Tempest to dry on my middle finger, I applied the Nail Vinyls and painted on Kiss and Nevermore.  This was probably the best Nail Vinyl mani I've ever done!  I think it's because I waited long enough for my base to be 100% completely dry and removed the stickers as soon as I put the paint down without letting it dry.

Lastly, I added on the Swarovski crystals and added another layer of topcoat.  I was actually really surprised that most of these crystals lasted for two days, and I only lost two!  I'm not normally the type of person who likes doing anything that sticks up on my nails, but these aren't that bad or inconvenient.

All in all, I was so pleased with the outcome of this mani!  I highly doubt I'll be doing anything this elaborate for future game-day manis, but I wanted to go all out for the season opener.  Do you follow any fall sports?  Do you like to do fun manis to show your team spirit?

Pretty Little Liars: Rainbow Honey Sample and Annual Emotion

Tonight's post is going to be a combo just like last week's where I combine both my #RedCoatTuesday post with a Summer of Untrieds post!  As per my usual, I haven't seen tonight's episode and won't be able to until sometime tomorrow or later tonight, so no spoilers please!  Today's Summer of Untrieds theme was Rainbow Honey, and I chose a red polish, fortuitously apparently, that also doubles as my Pretty Little Liars Mani!  So, let's get to it, then!

(Source)

The rules are easy!

• 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!

For the Rainbow Honey challenge, I chose an unnamed sample I received from a random blog sale and Annual Emotion, which came out last December.  I got bored easily with the plain silver foil, though, so I went ahead and added some stars using @Teismom's Nail Vinyls.

The unnamed sample polish is a cherry red with red and silver micro-flakies with bits of silver holo particles.  It built up very easily in two coats, and I didn't need to use any extra topcoat to help smooth down errant glitters.  Dry time was pretty average even using a coat of KBShimmer's Clearly on Top.  

The particles came out of the bottle easily and spread across the nail without needing the dab method or other placement.  The consistency wasn't bad, as it wasn't too thick nor too thin.  I didn't need to add in any thinner, which happens often for me with Rainbow Honey polishes.  The consistency stayed nice and fluid the whole time I did my mani without any further thickening or clumping.  Application was easy and didn't require cleanup at all.

Annual Emotion is a silver foil with a touch of linear holo in the base.  The first coat covered pretty well, but it's definitely one of those polishes that you need to carefully apply or it will drag and bald.  Make sure you wait until each coat is dry before you apply the next coat.  I ended up using three coats to ensure there weren't any bald spots in my photos.  Otherwise, the consistency was a bit more fluid than the sample, and required a bit more cleanup.  Dry time was average between coats and was fairly quick with a coat of KBShimmer's Clearly on Top.

The Nail Vinyls were easy to apply, but make sure your polish is completely dry before you use them.  I always make the mistake of trying to use them before my polish is dry and, inevitably, have to redo at least one nail.  Someone in one of my Facebook groups recommended taking the vinyl and pressing it on my palm once or twice before applying it to my nail, and that helped me keep the stickers from pulling up my polish too badly.  I used one coat of the sample over the vinyls and quickly removed the stickers so the fresh paint wouldn't stick to the stencils when I removed them. 

I really like how unique these polishes are in my collection.  The silver holo is the only one I own that's more foil than holo, and I wish that the holo was a bit stronger even in the sunlight.  The flakies in the sample were dense without looking cluttered.  All in all, I truly enjoyed the look of this mani!  

You can purchase Rainbow Honey polishes at their store.  Follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for news and updates.

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