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?

The Lacquer Ring Presents: One Stroke Flowers

Purchased By Shelby Lou

I'm a late sharing this post for The Lacquer Ring today. I've been super-sick with the flu all week. This is the second time this year, stupid germy hospital. When I went back to work I wore a mask whenever I talked to patient's and families to keep the germs to myself, which is hot and annoying haha. Hubby is sick now though, he went to the doctor yesterday and had a fever of 102 along with bronchitis. Sorry!

This week's prompt for The Lacquer Ring is One Stroke Flowers. Not gonna lie, I've been dreading the prompt and planned on having at least a few days to practice and try out this new-to-me technique. Without time on my side though, I spent one evening messing around and just went for it. My base polish is Pahlish Imprinted Upon Your Stars, a group custom for Pahlish Lovers. I wore this for a few days by itself and I'm in love. It is such a gorgeous shade of periwinkle with holo and other shimmahs!

Shelby Lou Nails with The Lacquer Ring
One-Stroke Flowers
Pahlish Imprinted Upon Your Stars
Acrylic Paint, Sally Hansen I Heart Nail Art Pen in Black
without flash

For my flowers I started by watching some tutorials online. The ones I found the most helpful were from Lucy's Stash--her artwork is gorgeous! I used acrylic paint in pink and off-white for my flowers. I didn't have any of the correct kinds of brushes around unfortunately, so I ended up using a clean-up brush one that was too skinny to really give this a proper go. So I did my flowers (please don't try to image that process, ugh). I used the end of the brush to dot the centers of the flowers in pink and topcoated. Then I used a Sally Hansen I Heart Nail Art pen in black to outline everything and add a few more dots, then did one final coat of topcoat.

Shelby Lou Nails with The Lacquer Ring
One-Stroke Flowers
Pahlish Imprinted Upon Your Stars
Acrylic Paint, Sally Hansen I Heart Nail Art Pen in Black
with flash

So, not the best, but not too bad for a first attempt! I'm glad I still made myself do this even though it's late. It's important to keep challenging myself at this nail art thing. Anyone else tried these flowers? Not sure I'm going to do these again. They do make me want to try The Lacquerologist's color splash floral nails though! I'm much better at bold, graphic designs.

Have you loved your cuticles today?

An InLinkz Link-up

Pahlish: The Good Dalek

Purchased By Shelby Lou 

Another post this week, I win! Not as chatty as the last one. I fell asleep on the couch today after work and it cut into my blogging time haha. Plus I've just been working and sleeping. I got to cover all the ICUs at the hospital I work at on Monday and Tuesday, which actually turned out alright. I prefer to be steadily busy at work than rushed or bored. I was bored today so I am expecting to be crazy for Thursday and Friday.

I have a mind-blowing polish to share today--Pahlish The Good Dalek. This is a fantastical rose gold holo with pink, gold, and bronze flakes, and probably other indescribable amazingness. I've been posting pictures of it on instagram all week including a macro, sun shot, and #mynailsandmydrink. I definitely kept staring at it and breathing heavily the entire time it was on my hands, and I challenge anyone to not do same. Oh, and studs! Of course.

Shelby Lou Nails
Pahlish
The Good Dalek
-without flash-

Shelby Lou Nails
Pahlish
The Good Dalek
-without flash-

Shelby Lou Nails
Pahlish
The Good Dalek
-with flash-

Shelby Lou Nails
Pahlish
The Good Dalek
-with flash-

So I am really mean, because you can't get this one anymore since it was a Bespoke Batch. If you ever see it on a blog sale though I highly recommend snagging it! I have never seen a polish like this and I have nothing even close. I own a few of Pahlish's flakie-shimmer-holos (fla-shimm-ohs? Sounds like a breakfast cereal) and they are among the most beloved in my collection. Pahlish has a new collection based on Alice In Wonderland coming out soon, make sure you follow them on your favorite social media platform for updates!

Have you loved your cuticles today?

Pahlish Ticker Tape Parade Duo for March 2015

Purchased By Shelby Lou 

I love me some Pahlish! I've been trying to share more of her duos since I own EVERY SINGLE ONE (like a psycho) since they started in April 2013. I'm still waiting for a sub-box. I go back and forth on sharing duos since I usually get mine too late in the month to share it in time to be nice to any lemmings it would create. I have concluded though that you can use this as more of a reason to purchase future duos, yes?

Shelby Lou Nails
Pahlish Ticker Tape Parade Duo
Confetti Cannon over Tissue Paper Flowers

This month's duo was created to celebrate the 3rd anniversary of Pahlish. I can't believe it's already been that long! And at the same time it seems like it must be longer. Pahlish is quickly catching up to my Hare stash and they happily share one overflow drawer together. The Ticker Tape Parade Duo consists of Tissue Paper Flowers and Confetti Cannon.

Shelby Lou Nails
Pahlish Ticker Tape Parade Duo
Confetti Cannon over Tissue Paper Flowers

Tissue Paper Flowers is a white crelly with bright blue, purple, and hot pink flake shimmer. I can't even with this polish, I love it so hard. Lovely formula, I did three thin coats and wore it for a day alone.

Confetti Cannon is a mix of blue, purple, pink, and aqua glitters in all shades, shapes, and finishes. Perfect formula for a glitter gradient! It is always my tradition to wear my duo base for a day and then add the glitter gradient the next day.

Shelby Lou Nails
Pahlish Ticker Tape Parade Duo
Confetti Cannon over Tissue Paper Flowers

I took a macro on my instagram, make sure you check it out to see all the goodness up close and personal. As far as I know this should be restocked along with other goodies on Sunday March 29th at 7pm Central. If you even kind of like this, get it while you can! I really think this might be my favorite duo like, ever, guys.

Products:
Pahlish

Have you loved your cuticles today?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Purchased By Shelby Lou 

While I am not Irish I still enjoy decorating my nails for St. Patrick's Day! My husband is 1/4 Irish from his mom. He randomly gets red hairs in his beard, which is extra weird because he is very dark skinned with black hair haha. I also believe St. Patrick's Day was around the time my husband and I dated for the first time way back in 2005 (holy crap we are old) because I remember it being a stupid date for an anniversary. Anyway, here are some St. Patrick's Day polishes I acquired this year and wore from late last week until today!

Shelby Lou Nails
Pahlish Fields of Gold
Multiple tones of golden flakes, gorgeous!

Shelby Lou Nails
Pahlish Fields of Gold
Check out that holo!

Shelby Lou Nails

Contrary Polish Shamrock & Roll

*This is not color accurate. Bottom picture is closer but not quite

Shelby Lou Nails
Contrary Polish Shamrock & Roll
Just a hint of VNL at 4 thin coats, not noticeable in real life.
*Not color accurate, the color near the moon of my index finger is closest.

Shelby Lou Nails
Renaissance Cosmetics Prototype 71
Shamrock from Love, Angeline
I adore this microglittered crelly!

Shelby Lou Nails
Renaissance Cosmetics Prototype 71
You can see the hint of shimmer in this picture, love it!

What is on your nails for St. Patrick's Day today? Don't get pinched!

Have you loved your cuticles today?

Pahlish "Warmest Winter" Duo for January 2015

Purchased By Shelby Lou 

I realized I haven't shared some Pahlish on the ol' blog for awhile, which is a great shame I must rectify. Pahlish is easily one of my top favorite indies and every new release makes my heart race. The duo for this January is called "Warmest Winter" which I find perfectly ironic for Buffalo right now. On the plus side my nails are growing out nicely!

Shelby Lou Nails
Pahlish Jaunary 2015 Duo
By Your Side

By Your Side is a dark gray base with gold, purple, and blue flake shimmer. This is two dreamy coats and hardly any clean-up. I want all of my polishes to be this perfect. I wore this for a day at work before adding the topper and it is just so chic! Dark but with a lil something special.

Shelby Lou Nails
Pahlish January 2015 Duo
Always Warmer

Always Warmer is the stunning holo topper of this duo with even moar flakes in gold, pink, purple, and blue. I died a little when I put this on. I can't even take the flakes with the holo. It definitely has a pinkish hue which you can see from the bottle and I'm dying to wear this over a nude. If you haven't already seen it on my instagram, here is a macro of this duo in all its glory.

This might be my most favorite Pahlish Duo yet-and I'm not afraid to admit I own every single one since they started in April 2013. I also love that the name labels also now have the month and year on them! A new duo for February releases this Friday and it features more stunning flakies, I can't wait!

Products:
Pahlish

Have you loved your cuticles today?

Stamping Saturday: Chromatic Candy Clouds

Purchased By Shelby Lou 

I hope all the Americans had a great Thanksgiving! I will be celebrating today with my parents and my husband. On Thanksgiving I went to my in-laws but my husband worked, boo. I'm still a little bitter. I had a lovely visit with my MIL though, I really lucked out with her!

Today I'm doing that mean thing where I show you polish you probably won't be able to get. I lemmed this so hard and was ecstatic when it was offered once again: Pahlish Chromatic Candy Crunch. CCC was a Bespoke Batch that Shannon, the creator of Pahlish, offered for a second round via pre-order by popular demand. CCC is a metallic silvery lavender metallic holo with all kinds of brightly colored flakies. Gah! I just have no words. Here is the polish alone with flash to show off the holo. I used three thin coats and did add just a lil thinner, as I tend to do.

Pahlish Bespoke Batch
Chromatic Candy Crunch

Isn't that lil ghost adorable? So seasonally inappropriate at this point but who cares, the polish is amazing! I will be trying this over some different colors, I'm sure it would be stunning over black. After wearing this for a day I chose to stamp CCC with one of my favorite images from Nailz Craze NC02 and Rica Whiteout.

Pahlish Bespoke Batch
Chromatic Candy Crunch
Stamped with Nailz Craze NC02 & Rica Whiteout

I always tell myself I should freehand something or use vinyls... but stamping is just so damn quick and satisfying. I'm enjoying Stamping Saturdays, let me know what you think!

Products: 
Pahlish
Nailz Craze
Just Ricarda

Have you loved your cuticles today?

Guest Post from Polished to Precision

Happy Halloween! I did my Halloween wine tour a couple weekends ago to celebrate, anyone else have any fun plans? I have one more guest post this month to celebrate my one year blogiversary. If you haven't entered my giveaway yet make sure you do for your chance to win some of my favorite indies. Tell a friend, too!

Today's post is from Tiffany at Polished to Precision. Her nails are my spirit animal. Flawless swatches and lots of indies, that's how she rolls. I always enjoy seeing what she does from plain old swatches to nail art. Let's see what she has for us today!

~~~~~~~~~~

Hi there Polished Babes! I am Tiffany from Polished to Precision. I am excited to be here sharing a post with you all today. Shelby is an absolute sweetheart and super talented lady! Aren't her nails always flawless? Whether she's doing a swatch and review post or some sophisticated nail art, Shelby certainly brings her 'A' game with each and every look. Thanks for much for inviting me to your blog dear!

I can be a bit of a rambler, so let's get right into the look I created for you all. I know Shelby really loves Pahlish, so I knew that would be my starting point for the manicure. I decided to pull out a pretty that has been sitting in my untried box since I received it. Pahlish Over the Rhone is described by the brand as "a dusky navy jelly with metallic silver flakes and very soft silver shimmer." This is one of the Bespoke Batch series that Pahlish releases weekly. It's one of the most coveted polishes they've released. I missed it when it was first release, but thankfully they launched it for a short preorder and I was able to snag one. #winning I used two coats and topcoat (KBShimmer Clearly on Top) on my thumb, pinky, and index fingers. I absolutely love the depth of this beauty!

Polished to Precision for Shelby Lou Nails
Pahlish Over The Rhone, KBShimmer PT Young Things, Zoya Ryan, Nail Vinyls

For the ring and middle fingers I used KBShimmer PT Young Thing, a silver holographic polish with a perfect formula. I used two coats and topcoat. For the design on these nails, I used the KBShimmer wavy nail vinyls. Zoya Ryan (a deep navy blue creme) was the perfect match to the base of the Pahlish, so I added one coat and immediately removed the vinyls. Topcoat was added to seal the deal.

Polished to Precision for Shelby Lou Nails
Pahlish Over The Rhone, KBShimmer PT Young Things, Zoya Ryan, Nail Vinyls

I really like how this came together! I am no nail artist my any stretch of the imagination, but I can almost always pull off a look using nail vinyls. LOL! Anyway, I hope you like the look I created. Thank you for taking the time to read along today. If you ever have a moment, please stop by and check out me out at Polished to Precision. 

Polished to Precision for Shelby Lou Nails
Pahlish Over The Rhone, KBShimmer PT Young Things, Zoya Ryan, Nail Vinyls

Smooches!!

Tiffany

~~~~~~~~~~

Wow, I love this look! Done with three of my favorite brands no less. Not gonna lie, I fainted a little when I saw these, especially because of Over The Rhone. I am so impatient with vinyls and end up mussing my mani, I really enjoy the look though. Thank you for all of the kind words, Tiffany, and for posting for me today!

Have you loved your cuticles today?

Ah, the first mani of Fall...

Purchased By Shelby Lou
Press Sample

It's time, my friends. Fall is upon us and thus the first mani of the season is in order. Fall is my favorite season for so many reasons--the colors, the temperature, the pumpkin-everythings... But I digress. I went to my parents' house today in the country (where I grew up, cows literally outnumber people) and we had goulash with the back door open; you could smell the slightly chilly leaf-y smell that tells you fall is almost here!

For this fall mani I started with two coats of Pahlish Bad Wolf, a taupe creme with warm shimmer. When I'm doing a whole stamping mani I try to wear my base for a day or use Pretty & Polished's Swift Sparkle Top Coat because--holy crap--it dries so fast. I have to time it one of these days to prove my hunch that it is even better than Seche.

For my leaves I used MoYou London Mother Nature 07. This is one of those full-image plates that I am pretty much clueless on how to use but keep buying. I figured this would be a good one to finally start with because I'm just stamping individual leaves all over the place, how can I mess this up? I need to give myself polish pep-talks haha! I painted in the image I wanted and kept a precision q-tip handy to wipe off the other leaves I didn't want before I just went to town stamping layers and layers of leaves. I used Zoya polishes for the stamps: Nyssa (although it got lost in the bottom layer), Veronica, Claire, and Emilia. I know I look like some crazy pro-Zoya spokesperson, but the cremes I've gotten to review this year are just fantastic stampers.

For this manicure:
Pahlish Bad Wolf
MoYou London Mother Nature 07
Zoya Nyssa, Veronica, Claire, & Emilia

When I was done with this mani it didn't look that great to me. I think the close-up pictures do it more justice than seeing it in person, how is that for ironic. Ah well, I finally conquered a full-image plate! Who else is excited for fall?

Products:
MoYou London
Pahlish
Zoya

Have you loved your cuticles today?

Lemming: Pahlish Sarey's Berry

Purchased By Shelby Lou

I'm about to show you a polish you can't easily obtain, and for this I apologize. I just know us nailphiles have been all there. You see a polish and suddenly you lose your mind. It is so unique and perfect and you just can't get it out of your head. Every time you see a swatch you get a little flutter in your chest and you know this polish must be yours. You think about owning it and wearing it randomly throughout the day, even while engaging in non-polish activities. You might even put out an ISO or spend copious amounts of money to obtain it (Only a kidney? Shut up and take my useless one!). You have a lemming--and you have it bad.

Allow me to introduce Sarey's Berry.

I am not a purple person. I never have been. But for some reason Sarey's Berry just got under my skin! I'm usually too beat on a Friday night when Pahlish restocks to stalk the Bespoke Batches. But when Pahlish announced they were going to bring back some Bespokes for a preorder I set my alarm. I had that maniacal glint in my eye and I frantically clicked to make sure, even though it was a one-hour preorder window, I was still among the first to checkout. In case of any sudden pigment shortages you know.

Pahlish
Sarey's Berry
Bespoke Batch

I can't even decide how to describe Sarey, so I'm going to go with: An orchid crelly with translucent white flakies, purple shimmer, and there is something blue about it I can't put my finger on. The lighting changes this shade anywhere from violet to fuchsia, and in all its forms I adore it.

Pahlish Sarey's Berry
Left: With flash
Right: Without flash

I tried to do some stamping over Sarey. I'm only sharing one picture because I feel like I ruined her with attempting a straight-line image (sadness). I have super-curved nails and I just can't seem to get straight-line stamping to work. Any advice would be appreciated! I used a big squishy stamper for this, maybe I should have gone firmer with a rocking motion.... Oh well, at least I can't be accused of being perfect! You can see the clear flakies on my ring finger better where I had to wipe off a stamp that didn't work out. The stamping did look better in person. Like from a normal human viewing distance and not with close-up macro focus.

Pahlish Sarey's Berry
Stamped with MoYou London Pro XL 02 &
Just Ricarda Blackout

Pahlish restocks every Friday at 7pm Central--you could be reading this just in time! While this one is no longer available there are many other pretties to tempt you, including the Bespoke Batches and September Duo, which I will be purchasing myself tonight. Tell me about your lemming!

Products:
Pahlish

Have you loved your cuticles today?

Pahlish August Duo: First Day Of My Life

Purchased By Shelby Lou

With the end of summer fast approaching I have a few more summer manis to share. Fall is easily my favorite season, but I'm not quite done with summer yet! Here is the August Duo from Pahlish, First Day Of My Life.

First Day of My Life is a duo "inspired by the end of summer and the last few days on the beach." This set sold out so fast the first Friday it was available, I feared I might actually not get my hands on it. Shannon, the maker, heard our pleas though and has kept it well-stocked since!

Pahlish Duo for August 2014
"First Day of My Life"
Meet Me in the Morning and Blankets on the Beach

The base polish is Meet Me in the Morning, which is a bright blue creme with copper microflakes for shimmer. This is the quintessential Pahlish polish finish that makes me keep coming back every month for duos. This polish was a little thick and prone to dragging. To fix this I added a few drops of thinner and did three thin coats, letting it dry well in between. I find this is the case for most of my Pahlishes of this type but it is easily fixed... hence I have almost a full melmer drawer haha!

The glitter is Blankets on the Beach, a topper made up of gold, turquoise, and copper in hexes, squares, and dots as well as gold flakie shimmer. I did a glitter gradient, my tradition pretty much since I started buying duos in April 2013. I used only the polish brush and painted the top third, then the top two-thirds of my nail. Quick and easy!

This is one of my favorite Pahlish duos ever. Meet Me in the Morning is such a classy polish all by itself and is totally glam with Blankets on the Beach. Every month I am amazed by Shannon's creativity and understanding of color.The duos are very affordable (only $16.00 plus $3.00 shipping in the US) and are such a good mix of colors that one could be satisfied by these alone (if one were able to control oneself, but I won't name names).

Pahlish restocks every Friday at 7pm Central. This is the last week the August Duo will be restocked, make sure to log on if you want it. There will also be a special pre-order for six Bespoke Batch colors from 7pm-8pm Central which were originally never to be made again. Make sure you check out Pahlish on facebook or instagram for more details!

Products:
Pahlish

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?

Pahlish Spam: January, February, & March Duos

You'll notice I'm back to nubs. Again. The hospital I work in now is drying my nails and cuticles so badly this winter. Ah well, slap on the polish and rock it!

Pahlish is one of my favorite indie brands. I have been getting Pahlish's duos since they started in April 2013 and I can't get enough. I was going to stop after one year so supposedly March was going to be my last duo.... But every month Pahlish's duos are just too perfect so I'm so I will continue to purchase them until the end of time. They are so affordable for indies, too--with shipping the duos cost $18.00 which is a steal for such a unique pairing. I've got the three duos for the first quarter of this year to show you today.

January 2014: One Last Bow

Eleven's Hour Is Now Over--Base

The Clock Is Striking Twelve's--Glitter Topper

Some notes about Pahlish's formula. For the polishes that are opaque I find that they can be thicker than my liking, so I do add some thinner to make doing my preferred thin coats easier. I know they must be thick because of all the goodness inside! And I tend to be thinner happy anyway since I love my thin coats.

February 2014: EXTERMINAAAATE!

a.k.a. "The Doctor Who Duo"

The Primary Order--Base

The Crucible--Glitter Topper

Pahlish's glitters are a different story--I do all of my gradients with the brush only. The glitter formulas are always perfect, nice spread, not too thick or thin, the perfect amount of glitter. You will notice this is the millionth time I've used the word perfect in this post haha! For my gradients I paint the top third of my nails and then I go over the top two-thirds of my nails. A little dabbing and you've got a perfect gradient.

March 2014: Don't Hesitate

Shadows Grow So Long--Base

Fireflies Under Pines--Glitter Topper

Have you tried Pahlish yet? I can't get enough. You have two more chances this month to get the March Duo during their restocks which occur each Friday at 7pm Central. Just a few months ago I used to take my time logging on but now I am refreshing like a crazy person to make sure I get what I want at 8pm (my time). Pahlish is getting big people, make sure you check it out! I will have some amazing holographics to show you soon.

PS: Pahlish, please just take my credit card and sign me up for your monthly duos forever!

Products:
Pahlish

Have you loved your cuticles today?

Pahlish: The Great Pumpkin Duo for October 2013

Fall is my favorite season and I love everything about it, especially the polish! I love the bright colors and crazy glitters, every year my stash seems to grow exponentially. In Western New York we have a beautiful autumn. I don't think I could ever leave the area for this reason alone. I have a very dear friend who moved to Florida and she misses fall like crazy. We have agreed that I can enjoy fall though because she gets to enjoy the beach in the winter haha.

I have another Pahlish Duo to show you today inspired by the classic holiday cartoon "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!" My pinky nail on my swatching hand is a little nubby, so I had to photograph my left hand. I hate when that happens.

The Great Pumpkin Duo

A Most Sincere Pumpkin Patch & Bag of Rocks

Most Sincere Pumpkin Patch is described by Pahlish as "a multi-shimmered black jelly with gold, olive, pink, and copper shimmers."

The formula on this was amazing. I used just two coats to achieve the depth of this black and have it shown with no topcoat. It is opaque but I also felt like I could fall into it. The shimmer is shy, but when the light hits it just right you see this beautiful hidden sparkle that gives the polish a multi-dimensional sheen. I own nothing else like this.

Bag of Rocks is described by Pahlish as a "clear base topped with a mix of gunmetal and chartreuse glitters in hex/squares/circles accented by a subtle olive green shimmer."

As always, Pahlish's glitter formula is perfection. I used just the brush to do my gradient and then one thick-ish coat of KBShimmer Clearly On Top.. The square glitters have a very slight reflective curl, but they do not feel curled at all. How does that work? I don't know. All I know is I love this. It's a different take on Fall and Halloween plus I have nothing like this in my stash.

So what do you think? You can purchase your own duo here.
Keep your cuticles moisturized, fall is dry!

Pahlish October 2013: Dark Carnival Duo

First off I must say, I LOVE PAHLISH. Okay, with that out of the way I will try not to say it one million more times in this post. Pahlish is in my top three favorite indies--I would say #1 but my three favs are tied! Shannon is an amazing polish genius. Her shimmers and glitters are complex and so unique in the polish world.

I have for you today The Dark Carnival Duo. Since April this year Pahlish has put out a monthly duo and, most recently, two monthly duos! I love (oops) these duos so hard, there are just no words. Everytime she previews them on her facebook page I am like, Pahlish makes me poor! Unfortunately I only have a picture of the polishes together, as this was my NOTD and I always wear my Pahlish Duos with the glitter gradient. I used KBShimmer Basic Training and one coat of Clearly On Top.

October 2013: Dark Carnival Duo