Stamping Saturday: Independence Day Nails

Purchased By Shelby Lou 

Happy Independence Day to all my fellow US readers out there! I absolutely love patriotic manis and nail polishes, so for today I knew I just needed to go over the top and do a skittle mani.

Index (and thumb, not shown): Pretty & Polished Wham Bam Thank Ya Sam
Middle: SquareHue Times Square with Painted Polish Life, Liberty, & The Pursuit of Holo
Ring: Essie Butler Please stamped with Vivid Lacquer 002 and Pure Ice Silver Star
Pinky: What's Your Point-settia? stamped with MoYou London Pro XL 01 and Rica Whiteout, along with silver stud accents

Shelby Lou Nails
Stamping Saturday
Independence Day Mani

Shelby Lou Nails
Stamping Saturday
Independence Day Mani

Tonight my husband and I are going to try and check out some local fireworks! We both have to work Sunday so I hope the ones we plan on going to don't go too late. What are your fun plans for the Fourth of July this year?

***Bonus Stamping Saturday Mani*** 

Earlier this week I shared Hare Polish I'm Your National Anthem. I popped off the studs and stamped it with Vivid Lacquer 015 and a Sinful Colors gold metallic polish. I wish I had done that in the first place, I love how the firework stamp looks over the flakes so much! Check out my Hump Day HARE post from earlier this week to see more of this gorgeous Hare Polish, too.

Shelby Lou Nails
Hare Polish I'm Your National Anthem
Vivid Lacquer 015 & Sinful Colors Gold Medal

Have you loved your cuticles today?

An InLinkz Link-up

Hump Day HARE: Hare Polish King of Carat Flowers

Purchased By Shelby Lou

Hey guys! I had such good intentions to get some swatching done this weekend but all I did was go to a Fleetwood Mac concert Saturday night--say what! I grew up listening to Fleetwood Mac since my parents were fans and have always loved them, especially my Stevie. My husband got me and his mom tickets for Christmas, which totally blew us away. I think this is essentially their last tour--they are pushing 70 now but they still rock it out like nobody's business. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience I will never forget. Thank you, hubby <3

Shelby Lou Nails
Hare Polish King Of Carat Flowers
Valentine-Spring Skittle

Okay, enough fan-girling, on to Hump Day HARE! I have been wanting to wear King of Carat Flowers ever since @swatchbucket, one of my nail buddies, posted this swatch on her instagram. I decided I needed something a little Spring-y since winter is really getting to me at this point. So a heart makes it Valentine's-y, too, right?

Shelby Lou Nails
Hare Polish
King of Carat Flowers Skittle (without flash)

Hare Polish King of Carat Flowers is a gray crelly with yellow, gold, and light purple glitters along with some magical blue shimmer Hare is famous for. I quite like how this skittle turned out! Usually I stay away from purple and gold since they were my grade-school's colors, but those usually ended up a weird royal purple and mustard... clearly these shades are much more lovely together.

Shelby Lou Nails
Hare Polish King of Carat Flowers (without flash)

Shelby Lou Nails
Hare Polish King of Carat Flowers (with flash)

Thumb, index, middle: Two coats Hare Polish King of Carat Flowers, two coats of KBShimmer Clearly On Top.
Ring: Two coats SquareHue Groovy Love (04/13), heart free-handed using Revlon Brilliant Strength Hypnotize and a teeny detail brush, all sealed with KBShimmer Clearly On Top.
Pinky: Three thin coats of Nicole by OPI Carried Away (texture)

Shelby Lou Nails
Hare Polish
King of Carat Flowers Skittle (with flash)

It is entirely possible I smashed too many themes into this mani. I still consider my nails to be in rehab at this point, but they are passable. This Hare is one that is periodically restocked, make sure you follow Hare for restock updates!

Products:
Hare Polish
SquareHue
KBShimmer

Have you loved your cuticles today?

SquareHue Rovaniemi Review

Purchased By Shelby Lou (Hex Nail Charm)
Press Sample (SquareHue Polishes) 

Have you entered my Christmas Trio Giveaway yet? There's not much time left to enter!

You will notice I rounded out my nails this weekend. I'm not sure how I feel about them, but this attempt at rounding has been more successful than past ones haha. Square/Squoval is just so much easier to shape. I lost two corners this weekend though that I couldn't work into the squoval. Oh well!

Today I have a review of the December 2014 Box: Rovaniemi. I was so flippin' excited when I opened the box and even more so when I realized there were three different finishes inside. I also appreciate that this last installment of The Passport Collection is a town on the Arctic Circle where Santa Claus visits during the holidays! So did the polishes live up to this nail polish/childhood mash-up I concocted in my head?

SquareHue Sampokeskus
12.14 Rovaniemi
The Passport Collection

First is Sampokeskus, a pale gold textured microglitter. These are Finnish names I can't even begin to pronounce, so I am just going to affectionately refer to this one as Sam. I had to swatch this one twice. The first time I didn't anticipate how quickly it would dry. I tried to do a thin first coat but that ended up a clumpy mess. The second time I did two medium-thick coats. Once I got over that application hurdle I was pretty pleased with Sam. It is a unique shade of gold and looked lovely on. Now I could not personally wear this because the texture is quite rough, but I think texture lovers would enjoy it.

SquareHue Revontuli
12.14 Rovaniemi
The Passport Collection

Revontuli is an evergreen suede. This application was rough. I had to redo this swatch because I got a lumpy mess the first time. When I applied this the second time I started with a ridge-filling basecoat and applied a medium-thick coat. Then I repeated the ridge-filler and did a last thick coat. And I also dumped a little of the polish and added a ton of thinner. This is a really fast-drying formula, much more like a plain old matte. It drags and clumps so easily. It's not often a polish application makes me want to scream but this one did. It looked passable but not as good as I would like. Revontuli, oh how much I wanted to love you... but alas I cannot. Especially when I have Zoya Veruschka which applies like butter. Hey, the little Hex Nail Jewelry tree is cute though!

SquareHue Joulupukin Pajakyla
12.14 Rovaniemi
The Passport Collection

Joulupukin Pajakyla is a blue-toned red jelly with red microglitter shimmers. I am going to nickname this one JP haha. I did three easy coats of this beauty, clean-up was easier than I anticipated with the red because of the jelly-type formula. Is it unique? In my collection it is. I like the subtle microglitter shimmer of it very much and it was easy to apply. I think I might be wearing this one to work tomorrow!

So a bit of a mixed review here. To have two polishes with application issues kind of makes this box a fail. This really mystifies me though, because when I subscribed in 2013 I can't remember any formula issues with their polishes (you can check out previous posts about SquareHue on my blog here). All I can think is the mattes threw them off their game. I'm sad that I have to post about this experience for a review when I had 12 good months last year! I'm still personally thinking about starting up my subscription for 2015. We will see what the nail budget brings. Any other SquareHue subscribers or veterans out there? Thoughts?

Products:
SquareHue

Have you loved your cuticles today?

Ugly Curtain Nails

Purchased By Shelby Lou 

I am pleased to report that my nubs from last week have already grown out to a length with which I am more comfortable! Do you ever see a nail polish color that you know is totally ugly but so different and unique you must wear it? Today I bring you SquareHue Savanna Sundowner, a golden olive-y metallic which may remind one of baby poop. This was one of the polarizing colors from September 2013 that I think turned some people off. But look what glorious ugly curtain nails it makes!

I used two coats of Savanna Sundowner then a quick-dry topcoat. Then I used my holy grail black stamper Rica Blackout and an image from MoYou London Fasionista 07. I love how even over such a dark color Blackout lives up to its name! I am also entirely too obsessed with this plate, I can't stop. I'm not entirely happy about my stamp placement, but I already redid one nail so I just went with it. I love dark colors on shorties and I kept looking looking at my nails all day.

Ugly Curtain Nails
SquareHue Savanna Sundowner
Rica Blackout
MoYou London Fashionista 07

I did the SquareHue box for a year and I really enjoyed it. I suspended my subscription for this year because I wanted to try other sub boxes, but I'm thinking of starting it up again for 2015. I know SquareHue gets a lot of mixed reviews but I liked the variety of colors I got. They were a mix of expected, seasonal, and fashion-editorial.

What do you think of my gorgeous ugly nails? Other thoughts on SquareHue and/or sub boxes?

Products:
SquareHue
MoYou London
Just Ricarda

Have you loved your cuticles today?

SquareHue The Moto Collection for October 2013: Swatches & Review

I feel like SquareHue is a hot-button topic. Me, I've always been fond of my SquareHues. I find that their colors are very runway-informed and not things I would typically buy for myself--usually in a good way.
SquareHue also donates a portion of their proceeds to The A 21 Campaign which is an organization devoted to raising awareness and stopping human trafficking.

I realize this collection is no longer available, but you might see them pop up on blog sales and I wanted to share my SquareHue experience!

October 2013: The Moto Collection
From left to right: Oil Slick, Iron Horse, Desert Grit

You Polish Monthly Box for October

I have another box review today! I saw some You Polish swatches and decided to try out their monthly box. For $16.99 (that includes shipping!) you can choose two full-sized polishes from a monthly selection in a variety of colors and finishes. Of the six polishes available for October I chose the two I am going to show you today: After Midnight and Calaveritas. Keep reading to see some nail art, too!

You Polish October Monthly Box

After Midnight

Black Jelly with Orange, Purple, & Silver Micro Glitter

Two coats over China Glaze liquid Leather

I felt that the Purple leaned more Magenta and I saw green sparks along with the silver--all quite fine with me! What you see in the bottle is what you get on the nail! Formula was very good, thick but easy to apply.

 Calaveritas

Black, White, Gray, & Pink Glitters--and SKULL GLITTER!

Shown over OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls

This is the polish that made me check out You Polish. SKULLS. You Polish tells us that Calaveritas means "small skulls" or "skulls" and is inspired by sugar skull tattoo art. Love love LOVE. To apply I turned my bottle upside down while I was swatching my other polish as the large glitters are sinky. I applied a first coat and did a little dabbing, then I did some major fishing for the skulls. I would fish around and when I caught one on my brush I grabbed it with a toothpick and placed them on my nails, without looking too planned. Completely worth the effort and overall a good formula considering the large glitters which was a very pleasant surprise!

I felt like I didn't choose the best undies for the swatch and I planned on wearing this awesome glitter anyway, so here is my skittlette featuring Calaveritas. I don't even care how cliche this mani is, I freakin' love it!

Index--3 coats SquareHue Happy Creme, white studs from Born Pretty Store
Middle & Ring (& Thumb, not shown)--2 coats Sephora by OPI Break A Leg-Warmer!, You Polish Calaveritas
Pinky--3 thin coats Zoya Dahlia
All topcoated with 2 thick coats of KBShimmer Clearly On Top

Sorry for the zombie skin, I took this without flash so you could see the glitter goodness!

For more information and to purchase You Polish, you can visit their shop. I will for sure be checking out the November box, I hope there is another holo selection then to try!

Do you think black & pink are overdone? Will you be checking out You Polish?
I know you've loved your cuticles today ;-)

Skittlette with Scofflaw Nail Varnish Sturm Und Drang

Today I have a skittlette featuring Sturm Und Drang from Scofflaw Nail Varnish. Scofflaw informs us that "Sturm Und Drang" is German for "Storm and Stress" but the name reminds me of Durmstrang Insititute from Harry Potter...hmm, maybe Durmstrang came from the German. Anyway, Scofflaw is an indie maker with very unique polishes which I love using in skittlettes. This one even looks a little Halloween-y to me!

Skittlette featuring Sturm Und Drang

Scofflaw describes this polish as "a pewter polish full of shimmer and scattered silver holographic highlights. It features glitters in aqua, silver, gunmetal, lavender, violet, and lime green."

For this manicure I used:

Pinky--3 thin coats of Dance Legend Argentum

Ring & Middle--Sturm Und Drang, 2 coats with one coat topcoat

Index--3 coats SquareHue Flower Power, stamping is with Vivid Lacquer plate VL-002 and Pure Ice Silver Star

Thumb (not shown)--Sturm Und Drang 

Hmm, didn't realize that the oil I used was going to show up so much in my photos. I supposed I over-loved my cuticles haha!

If you look really hard I nicked my index finger and my star on the tip is missing an arm, oops! There was no way I was going to do that all over again so I just used the green to cover it hehe. I have been working really hard on reminding myself sometimes "good enough" is more enjoyable :-)

You can find out more about Scofflaw Nail Varnish at their website.

You can also purchase Scofflaw at their etsy shop.

Have you tried Scofflaw Nail Varnish? What do you think?
Over-loved cuticles are better than under-loved!