The Lacquer Ring: White

Purchased By Shelby Lou

You may have noticed I am posting less and less on the blog proper. I have been taking some much needed time to get my house in order using the KonMari Method. If you don't know what this is, I highly recommend checking it out. I'm not even halfway finished and I am loving it! I wanted to adopt a family this year for the holiday season, but hubby has taken a new job and an initial pay cut. I was instead able to convince him to really purge our home of all the things we no longer need and donate to our Salvation Army home store. KonMari has helped us reframe letting go of stuff (even when I got a good deal or my mom gave it to me... sorry, Mom) as passing it along to be needed by another who can appreciate it. And to consider if an item "sparks joy" instead of keeping things for silly reasons. Life. Changing. And yes, nail polish is included in this purge, but luckily KonMari tells me I can save the hardest things to go through last.

Anyway, I have been so consumed with KonMari that I passed right by my second blogiversary without even noticing. Sorry, Blog! But I am two, and even if I have diverged to less frequent and microblogging I am proud of my nails.

This week I'm posting with The Lacquer Ring and the theme is White. I decided to showcase one of my favorite whites: Rica Whiteout. Whiteout is my holy grail white stamper. It is literally the most perfect white that ever white-ed. For this mani I started with a base of Cirque Coven. Then I used an image from UberChic 1-03 stamped with Whiteout. I finished off the mani with some textured gold studs from Daily Charme.

Shelby Lou Nails with The Lacquer Ring
Cirque Coven
Rica Whiteout & Uberchic Plate 1-03
Studs from Daily Charme

I love all the pattern and texture happening in this look. I had been having some problems using my UberChic plates, but I finally got the hang of it with my trusty Whiteout. I decided to stamp it on an angle because I didn't want to fiddle with getting the image perfectly straight.

Shelby Lou Nails with The Lacquer Ring
Cirque Coven
Rica Whiteout & Uberchic Plate 1-03
Studs from Daily Charme

Bottom Line: Purchase Rica Whiteout immediately if you don't have it. Perfect stamper and makes an excellent white base polish to boot! Make sure you check out what the other ladies in The Lacquer Ring did for White below.

Have you loved your cuticles today?

An InLinkz Link-up

July-August Mani Round-Up

Purchased By Shelby Lou 
Press Samples

I have come to the harsh realization I just don't have the time to really blog about nails and stay sane. Some of my supportive bloggy friends suggested I try still sharing manis (because I love sharing manis!) on instagram though and rounding them up in a monthly blog post. So here are my instagram manis from the end of July and August!

Pahlish Duo for June 2015: Through Tugley Wood

Very Good Advice topped with Mome Raths

Hare Polish - Dreams Under A Microscope 

 Baroness X - Maracaibo

"Girly Stuff"

Zoya Genesis, Nana, & Serenity

MoYou London Tropical 05

KBShimmer Dust In The Bottle

Darling Diva Polish Choking On Swan Gas

Daily Charme Bow Charm

Pahlish Duo for July 2015: Mirror Images

Such Great Heights topped with Freckles In Our Eyes

Check out a macro here!

Pahlish Quite Ribbiting

Check out a macro here!

Quite Ribbing topped with I Love Nail Polish Neon Rosebud

Check out a macro here!

Hare Polish Sea Bunny

Check out a macro here!

I hope you enjoyed this round-up! I have more fun with my polish when I actually get to wear it and don't have to be brilliant with words, too. This will be a monthly feature for a little while. I started blogging almost two years ago and I've had to rethink it a little, but I like the idea of having a permanent place to have my manis. I  Have you loved your cuticles today?

Hump Day HARE: Mermaid Sighting in the GBR

Purchased By Shelby Lou 

I have such an awesome #HumpDayHARE to share today! This is Mermaid Sighting in the GBR. It's a mermaid jelly full of win! I'm short on time. Just drool at the pictures. I also have a macro of this polish on my instagram, if you are so inclined!

Shelby Lou Nails
Hump Day HARE
Hare Polish
Mermaid Sighting in the GBR
Without Flash

Shelby Lou Nails
Hump Day HARE
Hare Polish
Mermaid Sighting in the GBR
With Flash

Of course I had to add a few embellishments! Mermaid is from Daily Charme, I have no idea where all the other studs are from at this point. Probably Born Pretty Store. I think I should have studded half of my index and pinky--next time!

Shelby Lou Nails
Hump Day HARE
Hare Polish
Mermaid Sighting in the GBR
With Flash

I have legit been getting so many compliments at work on this polish this week. When muggles comment on your polish, you know it's awesome! Mermaid Sighting in the GBR is an exclusive to Femme Fatale. It cost me just under $38 (US) for the two Hare exclusives. I was also limited to only one each per customer (boo, I was going to mule some to friends!). I don't pretend that this is rational in any way. It was a total splurge for a brand I love to death. And also: exclusive. Haha!

Tell me your deepest, darkest splurge secrets! We all know you got 'em.

Products:
Hare Polish at Femme Fatale Cosmetics 

Have you loved your cuticles today?

Jindie Nails: A Tale of Two Beauties

Purchased By Shelby Lou (Jindie Nails Phone, Keys, Polish, Check!, Daily Charme)
Press Sample (Jindie Nails The Blue That Holds Us Together)

I am officially over a horrid flu I got last Tuesday night, thank goodness. I had a fever of 101 for awhile there, plus horrible body aches and stuffiness. Since it happened right before New Year's Eve my whole vacation day was ruined, and since I have worked pretty much every other holiday this year that really pisses me off the most. I tried to work on Friday but the doctor I worked with literally called my supervisor and was like, "she is contaminating my floor, she needs to go home" haha! If I had to get the flu, why couldn't it have happened during some uneventful and holiday-free time like February? Ugh, I am so over this. Tomorrow it's back to the grind.

Today I have some AMAZING Jindies to share with you: Phone, Keys, Polish, Check! and The Blue That Holds Us Together. I have shown them both accented with one of my favorite bow charms from Daily Charme--I just can't do a "plain" swatch hehe.

Shelby Lou Nails
Jindie Nails Phone, Keys, Polish, Check!

Phone, Keys, Polish, Check! is a stunning pink jelly polish absolutely packed with shimmer and glitters in matte, metallic, and holographic finishes. I have shown two coats and a coat of Rica's Glossy Glam. I applied my TC poorly and you can see some weirdness in the one of the photos--user error. I can't believe it took me so long to purchase this beauty!

Shelby Lou Nails
Jindie Nails The Blue That Holds Us Together

The Blue That Holds Us Together, Check!'s sister polish, is a bright blue jelly full of coordinating glitters in metallic, matte, and holographic finishes. The overall effect is indescribable, it's like looking at melted metals through water. I used two coats topped with Rica's Glossy Glam.

I hate to say it, but these polishes are way better in person! I've never seen anything quite like them, they are jelly, metallic, holographic, and somehow flakie all at the same time. Both of these colors have a similar formula.

There is a lot of goodness going on in these and the formula is thick, so I added thinner to mine to make it more spreadable. I did a first thinner coat and let that dry well. Then I applied a second thicker coat with a light touch. I found it to clean up rather easy but kept an orange stick handy for when I got too close to my cuticles. If you love blue or pink polish, these are some must-haves in your stash. Follow Jindie on your favorite social media platform to be alerted about restocks!

Products:
Jindie Nails

Have you loved your cuticles today?

Firecracker Lacquer: Winter Wonder

Press Sample

Today I have a new indie brand to share with you: Firecracker Lacquer. Isn't that name the best? I had gotten to know the maker Kendahl, who also blogs over at The Stepmom Chronicles, just before she debuted her line in July. She recently sent me a couple pretties from her new Winter Wonder Collection to share with you guys!

This is Jolly Holly, a dark green jelly with tiny red glitters and teeny white stars. I used three thin coats, making sure to layer in the stars between each coat. The formula was really easy to work with. This is a very dark jelly and I lose some of the red glitters depending on the light, I just adore the white stars though!. I also like that I can get this opaque enough to avoid VNL. I added a lil bow from Daily Charme.

Shelby Lou Nails
Firecracker Lacquer Jolly Holly

Shelby Lou Nails
Firecracker Lacquer Jolly Holly

Shelby Lou Nails
Firecracker Lacquer Jolly Holly

Drop The Ball is a silver mircoglitter in a clear base. I chose to layer one coat over Essie Mint Candy Apple, which you can see has weirdly turned blue. I've seen a few mainstream polishes this shade have this problem, but dang, it's still pretty! I didn't have to fuss with this glitter, just slapped it on and it distributed perfectly. I love it so much over this color and can't wait to try a gradient with it.

Shelby Lou Nails
Firecracker Lacquer Drop The Ball

Shelby Lou Nails
Firecracker Lacquer Drop The Ball

Shelby Lou Nails
Firecracker Lacquer Drop The Ball

The Winter Wonder collection released last Friday and is available now! Check out some of Kendahl's other creations while you are there. I have all of the Captivating Creatures polishes and they are great! I have my eye on some of the other Winter Wonder polishes, too. She also has a really nice selection of studs, I love the teeny triangles I purchased from her earlier this year. Let me know what you think about this new indie!

Products:
Firecracker Lacquer

Have you loved your cuticles today?

Zoya Wishes Collection for Winter/Holiday 2014 (Part 1)

Purchased By Shelby Lou (Daily Charm products)
Press Sample (Zoya products)

Make sure you've checked out and entered my Christmas Trio Giveaway! All are invited to enter (as long as you have a US shipping address for me) whether you celebrate Christmas, something else, or nothing. There is only one Christmas polish in there so I think anyone would be pleased with the loot :-)

In other news, I have come to the realization that I am a twice-a-week blogger. I just can't keep up with doing full posts three days a week. I start to get cranky and it becomes no fun for me. And I'm sure my husband doesn't like it either haha! I'm going to be posting more nail art and NOTDs on instagram, twitter, and facebook while keeping swatch-and-reviews here. Let me know what you guys think about my new plan as it unfolds!

Today I have swatches from the Zoya Wishes Collection. Wishes consists of three PixieDusts and three corresponding colors in more traditional polish finishes. It's unexpected, let's see!

Zoya Prim
Accent from Daily Charme

Zoya Prim is a frosty periwinkle metallic. There's that f-word so many of us cringe at... I used two coats of Zoya's Get Even basecoat and two careful coats of Prim, finished off with Zoya's Armor.
Objectively Prim is a lovely color and the formula was nice and thick while still being easy to work with. The brushstrokes were not too bad in real life. And it looks pretty cute with the Deco-inspired charm from Daily Charm. Will I wear it? That would be a nope. I happen to know this makes an excellent stamper though, so I will be trying some wintery art with it :-D

Zoya Willa
Accents from Daily Charme

Zoya Willa is a black creme. I used two coats and Zoya's Armor for topcoat. Formula is nice and thick; highly pigmented, but easy to work with and clean up. When I first saw this though I was kinda like, really Zoya? But once I made myself be objective about it, I realize we must all have basics in our lives. It's a fact, like paying bills or buying toilet paper. But just look at how friggin classy it becomes with those teeny triangles from Daily Charme! And of course the formula is amazing. If you are looking for a good black here it is on a silver platter, my friends. I bet it stamps beautifully, too.

Zoya Haven
Accent from Daily Charme

Lastly is Zoya Haven, a "true holiday plum liquid metal." That description just tickled me haha, but I would add that there is a blackened element to it. It looks like an ember, glowing from within. I have Zoya's Get Even underneath with two easy coats and Zoya's Armor, the lil bow is from Daily Charme. Haven has a super-shiny metallic finish without brushstrokes. This is a color I consider a staple in any polish collection, because sometimes you just want to feel glamorous! If these types of polishes are your jam it's a must-have.

So once I put my holiday collection expectations aside, I was alright with these. A stamper, a staple, and something glamorous--I'll take it! I will have the three PixieDusts on Thursday and they really do round out the collection. What are your thoughts so far?

Edited to Add: See Part 2 here!

Products:
Zoya Wishes Collection
Daily Charme

Have you loved your cuticles today?

Hump Day HARE: 11th Dimension Interloper

Purchased By Shelby Lou

So today is going to be a quick post! Literally 10 miles from my house is a raging lake-effect snowstorm that has buried the towns south of Buffalo in 3, 4, even 6 feet of snow! My parents are officially snowed into their home 30 miles from me. Check out this picture I shared on instagram of the storm system from the 12th floor of my workplace looking right towards downtown Buffalo on Lake Erie, A State of Emergency has officially been declared by the state and counties in my area. I have no idea what I am going to wake up to!

I have been wearing today's Hump Day Hare all week. 11th Dimension Interloper is "a neon magenta jelly with a mix of beautiful golden iridescent hexes, blue iridescent squares, gold+blue+charcoal flakies and bright blue shimmer!" I used four coats--I know, but flakies!--and two thick coats of topcoat. The squares are from Daily Charme.

Hare Polish
11th Dimension Interloper

What is it with me a purples lately? 11th Dimension Interloper is part of this year's Fall/Winter Interstellar Invasion collection. I'm wondering there will be a special holiday duo or some such excitingness?!

Products:
Daily Charme
Hare Polish

Have you loved your cuticles today?

Renaissance Cosmetics: St. Clair & Rose-Osie

Press Sample

I have some more Renaissance Cosmetics today! I meant to post Thursday... but I'm still technically keeping up with twice a week so I'll take it. You can see my RenCos post from earlier this week here. I have to start by saying these two polishes were impossible for me to photograph. I actually swatched them twice because I hated my first set of photos. I did however get some instagram videos posted which I will link you to with the swatches. Be nice though... these are my first instagram videos and they are pretty rough. And shot in my new bathroom because I like to keep it classy.

Renaissance Cosmetics - St. Clair
Excuse the funky lighting, it shows off the shifty sparkle best!

First is St. Clair, a blue shimmer with aqua and fuchsia sparkle. My photos do not do this justice, I suggest checking out my video of St. Clair on instagram instead so you can see the color and sparkle! My lighting is way funky, ignore the skintone and just look at the polish.
My swatch shows two coats of St. Clair with Glossy Glam on top. This polish had a tendency to pool on me, but then again I was doing coats thicker than usual. Keep an orange stick handy to clean up as you polish along. This was also a toughie to clean up because of all the shimmer. Just take your time painting in the first place to minimize the sparkle herpes. Also, you won't be taking close-ups of your nails so a little herpes is acceptable, and after a handwash or two it'll be all gone.

Renaissance Cosmetics - Rosie-Osie
Bow charm from Daily Charme

Second is Rosie-Osie, a super-saturated red jelly with red shimmer along with red, gold, and silver holographic glitters. When I got this polish on my nails my eyes almost fell out of my head. I mean, it's too beautiful to even take an accurate picture of (or at least beyond my skill). Again, check out the instagram video instead!
I have shown just two generous coats of Rose-Osie. The jelly is so saturated but all the shimmer and holographic goodness shines though. When I was cleaning up, Rosie-Osie tended to stain my cuticles even though I painted carefully--and you will need to paint very carefully. Usually I use Zoya's Remove Plus since it's gentler and less drying, however I did need to use pure acetone for this baby. When I took this off a day later I didn't have any nail staining. But, I do recommend the tin foil method to protect your cuticles and then use acetone or cuticle remover to get any leftover red tint off.

Final thoughts: Both of these polishes require some babying. I know for some the application and clean-up needs might be a deal-breaker, but that's the beauty of a review. You know your polish strengths, limits, and desires. For me personally I know I will be wearing Rose-Osie for the holidays and a mid-winter pick-me-up, I'll just plan for a weekly cuticle removal afterwards. For me the payoff of this beauty is worth it!

Check out RenCos on instagram and facebook for more information about the brand, or just head on over to the shop which I have conveniently linked for you below. Sorry, you will only find enabling here.

Products:
Renaissance Cosmetics

Have you loved your cuticles today?

Zoya Naturel Deux: Part 2

Press Sample

Oh man, I seriously almost screamed and ran out of work on Monday. Everything about it was just absolutely horrendous and all my coworkers agreed. I swear it was that full Moon that was also a super-Moon as well as a Blood Moon Sunday night.... On the plus side, I went to the  Erie County Fair on Saturday with some friends. I of course had to get some henna when I saw it--I adore henna and wish I could tattoo it all over my body. You can see my IG pic of my henna here. Ok, I think that's enough links, I just like people to know what I'm talking about in my rambles haha!

Today I have the second half of the Zoya Naturel Deux Collection. These three polishes all had the same formula so I'll make my notes here. In all of my swatches I have two medium coats with Zoya Armor Topcoat. They were so glossy already I thought about not using any TC, but I always use TC on my polish when I wear it so I added it. The lightest shade, Madeline, was a wee bit patchy on the first coat but was perfectly opaque after the second. I was worried this one might give me trouble like Spencer did, luckily this was not the case! They all self-leveled perfectly and went on like buttah. I also notice that when I swatch Zoyas I don't cough like some of my other polishes make me do since they are 5-free. With all the polishing I do I'm really appreciative of that!

The accents I added in my swatches are all from Daily Charme. I recently spent way too much money there. But look how lovely the gold is with these colors! Please ignore my various skin colors in these photos. The polishes are color-accurate, promise.

Zoya Madeline
Naturel Deux

Madeline is a dusty rose creme.

Zoya Aubrey
Naturel Deux

Aubrey is a deep mauve creme. This has a wine feel to it for me!

Zoya Marnie
Naturel Deux

Marnie is a deep plum creme.
I feel like this is has some purple and red undertones that make me think of a red-velvet mocha.
Yes, this whole collection makes me think of food.

Even six months ago I don't know that I would have appreciated how beautiful these polishes are. However I have come to appreciate a good neutral creme for what it is. No, they are not shimmery or holo, but day-yum they are chic! I felt so sophisticated swatching them and can't wait to rock Aubrey and Marnie, especially at work. I am already planning on doing some art with gold accents for these, stay tuned for that later this week!

You can see my review of the first half of the Naturel Deux Collection here.

Products:
Zoya

Have you loved your cuticles today?