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Have you loved your cuticles today?

Grandma Chic Stamping & Giveaway Update!

Thank you all for the love during this awesome giveaway! I wish I could send polish to everyone but alas, I am a poor blogger. I am working on verifying entries, make sure you have your profiles and such public for me! I should be able to announce the winners tomorrow.

And because this is a nail blog, here are my Grandma Chic nails. The base color is Rescue Beauty Lunge Reveillon. It was so promising, a dusty blue with purple/pink and silver shimmer... but it had this unfortunate pearly look that screamed "Grandma!" to me. I wasn't really thrilled with the formula either so I'm glad I bought this cheap on a blog sale. It was thick but tended to pool and didn't self-level very well. This is the only RBL I've ever owned or tried, is this out of character for them? I know they are pretty expensive.

"Grandma Chic"
Shelby Lou Nails

Anyway I decided to embrace the grandma-ness it and stamp it with some fans (shells?) from MoYou London Sailor 05 (review coming soon!). I did the stamping with Pure Ice Silver Star which is the only silver stamper you'll ever need since it's perfect and cheap! I used a-england Merlin with a dotting tool to add some detail to the stamping and then I just used the brush for a gradient on my pinky. A little stud action and voila--embracing your nana's favorite wallpaper like a boss. I kinda like how it turned out, but I won't really be trying this again. Maybe chalk it up to good execution of a poor vision haha!

Have you loved your cuticles today?

My First Time... Enchanted Polish April 2014

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend! Happy Easter if you celebrate. I had a good ol' fashioned ham dinner at grandmas, my mom even made homemade scalloped potatoes. Unfortunately it appears over the weekend I was a victim of a "click farm." Essentially it is a scam which tries to cover its tracks by liking other random pages.... which is bad because these are not real and interested people resulting in less post exposure. I hope y'all follow me on other social media, Facebook is even more useless to me now than it was before which I didn't even think was possible. I will still be notified if you share anything with me on my wall though--which I encourage :-)

Today I'd like to share with you a polish from a brand I originally swore off called Enchanted Polish (like you might not know what I'm talking about lolol). I know all about the drama this brand causes and here is what I've come to understand: There are no principles in polish. If people want to pay cray-cray amounts for polish, that is their choice. If people want to buy something to turn around and sell it to said crazy people, I can't stop them. I don't like it but I'm not going to stress about it.

Anyway, I had seen swatches of April 2014 and I really truly love the color--something I had never felt about an EP before. Plus my birthday is in April! I love justification. I got it secondhand for a modest $25 shipped and invoiced. You may feel how you would like about that price and I will not be offended.

Enchanted Polish April 2014
Shelby Lou Nails

So how was my first experience with EP? Amazing. April 2014 is a beautiful lavender-periwinkle-ish holographic polish. Excellent formula, amazing holo, beautiful color. I hardly needed to do any clean-up. AND it wore amazingly. I used KBShimmer's Basic Training and HK Girl (did you know you can buy it directly from the manufacturer on Amazon?!). I don't know what it was about this combination but I had one chip on day 3, which I touched up, and wore the mani without any other mishaps for another day.

Enchanted Polish April 2014
Shelby Lou Nails

So yup, it's perfect. My cuticles need more love though... work is so drying with all the hand-sanitizer and hand-washing I have to do! Just a note: all of these photos were taken in my light-box in artificial light, click here to see it outside in full sunlight on my instagram feed. Holy. Wow. I wish I had dependable sunlight to swatch all my holos!

Enchanted Polish April 2014
Shelby Lou Nails

In conclusion, will I seek out more EP? If I see one I love at a reasonable price I might purchase it. I'm not willing to stress myself out though for restocks haha. Anyone else have any EP?

Products:
Enchanted Polish

Have you loved your cuticles today?

Pahlish & Elevation Polish April Collaboration Duo: Budding Bromance

Have you entered my sweet giveaway yet? The Spring Spectacular Giveaway has about a week left and there are 6 prizes! Go see the blog post here for the rafflecopter entry form.

Last April Pahlish began putting out monthly duos, which I have been lucky enough to own each month since. This April Pahlish brought back all of the duos for purchase and did a special collaboration duo with Elevation Polish called Budding Bromance! Pahlish's restocks have gotten crazy (which is awesome for Pahlish!) and I was glad to get my hands on this the first Friday in April. When I wore this the first time I tried to do my usual gradient... it looked tragic haha. Since I'm sure you've seen enough of them together, I decided to show these separately this time around.

First I have Pahlish Romance. Described by Pahlish as a "light and airy grey with copper microshimmer and blue and green shimmer." I showed it with an accent of OPI Lights Of Emerald City.

Pahlish Romance
Accent of OPI Lights Of Emerald City

I have to admit I had some trouble with the formula. It was thick and would not self-level. I added a ton of thinner and still application was tricky. I tried two thicker coats which didn't work well, so then I did three thinner coats and slapped on a nice thick layer of KBShimmer Clearly On Top. I also wish the shimmer was more noticeable. I don't want to admit I'm disappointed in Pahlish but I am. Why, polish gods, why?!

Pahlish Romance
Accent of OPI Lights Of Emerald City

Pahlish Romance

Next I have Elevation Polish Bromance. This is a "clear topper with winter white satin squares and hex, sparse matte grey glitter, scattered red-green shifting flakies, in a soft holographic base." I have one coat of Bromance over KBShimmer Honeydew List (the most perfect green ever!).

Elevation Polish Bromance
Shown over KBShimmer Honeydew List

Elevation Polish Bromance
Shown over KBShimmer Honeydew List

I had a tough time with Bromace's formula, too, unfortunately. I felt like it was hard to get enough of the good stuff on the nail without being too sparse which made it feel thick. It also had that self-leveling problem that Romance did. I am surprised that this is a bit of a let-down as well.

Elevation Polish Bromance
Shown over KBShimmer Honeydew List

Sorry for the bummer review of such an exciting duo. I will still say that Pahlish and Elevation fans and collectors will still need these. Because Addiction.

Products:
Pahlish

Have you loved your cuticles today?

Zoya Tickled & Bubbly for Summer 2014 Press Release

Hey all, I have some exciting information from Zoya today! Here is a little preview of the new collections for summer, Tickled and Bubbly.

"Color inspired by the fashion, sun, jewelry and culture of South Beach!" --Rebecca Isa, Zoya Creative Director

Zoya makes some beautiful cremes and that holorgraphic glitter-what?!

I am so excited about those oranges and corals. Love orange!

The Tickled & Bubbly collections are available for pre-order now. I have a feeling Bubbly will sell out quickly so hurry! Also check back tomorrow... should have some more information on another upcoming collection from Zoya ;-)

Products:
Zoya

Have you loved your cuticles today?

Zoya Dillon with Love, Angeline Nail Shields

Yesterday (Sunday) I helped host one of my best friend's bridal shower. It was one of the best I've been to! Maybe because I'm in the wedding party? I am her Matron of Honor. The big day is June 1st which is just before my three-year wedding anniversary. I'm basically reliving my big year in 2011 hehe. I'm still trying to figure out what I want for my nails and I think she is letting me do hers. I think she should do a funky french with a pale purple tip or just straight up wear Picture Polish Majesty. We shall see, anyway here is what I did today!

Zoya Dillon is one of those shades that I fall for every. single. time. It is described by Zoya as "a mint green metallic with silver shimmer." The accent nail is a base of KBShimmer A Touch Of Glass and a Love, Angeline Stuck On Love Nail Shield in Mermaid Scales with one generous coat of Dillon over the top. I sealed it all with CND Air Dry for a shiny finish.

Zoya Dillon
Accent of KBShimmer A Touch Of Glass, &
Love, Angeline Nail Shield in Mermaid Scales

Dillon had a perfect formula--I expect no less, Zoya! I didn't have to do much clean-up, which is good because this has major sparkle herpes potential. I removed it with the tin-foil method to be on the safe side. A Touch Of Glass was also good. I used two coats and had enough coverage for nail art, if I wore it alone I'd probably do three.

Zoya Dillon
Accent of KBShimmer A Touch Of Glass, &
Love, Angeline Nail Shield in Mermaid Scales

Whenever I use something new for the first time I only do an accent nail. This keeps me from feeling overwhelmed haha. I've never used Stuck On Love Nail Shields before but I have to say they were amazing! I re-stuck it a few times while I got the hang of it and it still worked perfectly. I have really curvy nails and found that lining up the pattern on top of your nail then smoothing it down from the middle out worked best. I used only half of a nail shield for my accent nail (preserve all the nail shields!). You do have to "weed" them out yourself but only a few of the scales stuck and I used pointed tweezers to get them out no problem.

Overall I am so pleased with this mani! What's a color that gets you every time? Have you rocked a mermaid look yet?

Products:
Zoya
Love, Angeline
KBShimmer

Have you loved your cuticles today?

Girly Bits Perry-twinkle & Messy Mansion Scales

Ok, I am getting back on track with blogging. Promise. Ha! Everything seems to be going so friggity-friggin' crazy for me right now so hopefully that stops soon. Also, I can't stop saying frggity-friggin'. Try it, I bet you'll like it ;-)
If you haven't already make sure you enter the giveaway I am hosting with six amazing bloggers. Seriously, I love these girls! You can get the rafflecopter link to the Spring Spectacular Giveaway here.

Today I have Girly Bits Perry-twinkle. I fell in love with Girly Bits from the March A Box, Indied and was so excited to see they had another one coming in the April edition. Perry-twinkle is a periwinkle holographic polish with pink shimmer. I can't have my holos without the colored shimmer now. The formula is perfect, I used three thin coats for my swatch.

Girly Bits
Perry-twinkle
A Box, Indied Exclusive

I took the photo of the swatch after I had worn it for a day at work. I've been wearing this since Sunday night and I still have no chips, so decided to refresh Perry-twinkle because it was too beautiful to take off. I used Messy Mansion MM21 and Sally Hansen Insta-dri in Silver Sweep. And, because why only go halfway when you can go all the way, then I added INM Northern Lights.

Girly Bits Perry-twinkle
Stamped with Messy Mansion MM21 & Sally Hansen Silver Sweep
Topcoated with INM Northern Lights

Remember The Rainbow Fish? I feel like I have magical fishy nails!

Girly Bits Perry-twinkle
Stamped with Messy Mansion MM21 & Sally Hansen Silver Sweep
Topcoated with INM Northern Lights

Products:
Girly Bits
Messy Mansion
Llarowe

Have you loved your cuticles today?

Spring Spectacular Giveaway!

I apologize for the unexpected radio silence last week. I had a couple breaks on my swatch hand and a rough week at work in general. Luckily though my birthday is Tuesday (yay! but also I am old again) plus I am hosting this extra special giveaway!

I have teamed up with some lovely bloggers who I now consider personal friends of mine. I have included photos of everyone's prize as well as their blog urls, because these girls deserve to be checked out. We have six prizes available (five US winners and one Canadian winner). Let's take a look!

Prize #1 (US) from Shelby Lou Nails

KBShimmer Laugh Myself Lily & Clearly On Top

Sally Hansen Nail File & Other Surprises ;-)

These are just some of my favorite products!

Prize #2 from Tunay Na Mahal

KBShimmer What’s Your Damage?

Sally Hansen Nail File & Holographic Cosmetic Case

We know what we like!

Prize #3 (US) from The Mercurial Magpie and AuttyW

Cult Nails Casual Elegance Collection: Casual Elegance, Intriguing, & Winter’s Light

Can you think of a more fabulous prize?!

Prize #4 (US) from Polished Lifting

Seche Vite & Seche Restore

Hard Candy Black Tie Optional

Can you ever have too much Seche and black & white glitters?

Prize #5 (US) from The Stepmom Chronicles

Strike A Rose & Spring In My Step (from the Flourish collection) 

Shine-Nanigans & Create A Spark (from the Surprise collection)

China Glaze Coin Purse, Cupcake Nail File, & Five Wood Cuticle Sticks

Those China Glazes look lovely!

Prize #6 (Candian) from In Jeeb We Trust 

OPI Sheer Tints Mini Set

Earrings handmade by Jeeb herself with a-england Dancing With Nureyev

Umm, Jeeb, I need those earrings. Srsly. Gorgeous.

See terms and conditions for more information. Good luck!

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