Girly Bits Serendipity

Purchased By Shelby Lou 

I know Daylight Savings is only one hour of lost sleep but I am going to gripe about it anyway. I want my hour back! I will be a mess for the next two weeks. I much prefer to fall back.

Anyway, this is Girly Bits Serendipity, an exclusive to an indie box. I'm being mean since you can't get this anymore, but it is too beautiful to not share! Plus it reminds me of a lovely Barenaked Ladies song called "Serendipity" that I start singing to myself every time I see the name. I wasn't sure I was going to like this because it is trying to be a glitter and a holo--too many things! I believe the base is a champagne linear holographic with a generous helping of lavender and rose glitters.

Shelby Lou Nails
Girly Bits Serendipity
With Flash

So opulent, like jewelry on my fingertips! I didn't even add anything to it and you know I love an embellishment. I was really surprised by how easily this applied, too, with all the glitters. Just a light touch and they spread perfectly all by themselves.

Shelby Lou Nails
Girly Bits Serendipity
Without Flash

You can also check out the macro I posted last week on my instagram. Seriously, you want to. I can't believe how magical this polish is. And I was going to sell it off on my blog sale--that would have been a shame!

Shelby Lou Nails
Girly Bits Serendipity
With Flash

What polish were you unsure about but ended up loving lately? What do you think about the new angle in my second photo?

Products:
Girly Bits Cosmetics

Have you loved your cuticles today?

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer Baroque-n Record

Purchased By Shelby Lou 

Have I mentioned how sick of the weather I am yet? I saw this in a post on From Polish With Love and wanted to share. It sums up my feelings exactly.

Have y'all heard of Octopus Party Nail Lacquer (OPNL) yet? I don't own many, but the ones I have I love. This is Baroque-n Record, described by the maker as "an icy-teal linear holographic, with strong emerald undertones and golden shimmer." So much shimmer! I shared a macro earlier this week on my instagram if you are interested as well. This polish applied so easily and was practically no clean-up for me.

I wanted to do something bold with black for this polish, so I broke out the tribal sheet from my KBShimmer Vinyl Nail Decals. I haven't ever just stuck the decals right on my nails and left them, I'm so glad I did though! I cut down the one of the chevrons for my teeny pinky. I used some KBShimmer Clearly On Top over the whole mani and the vinyls stayed on just perfectly. I have a few photos with and without flash for you.

Shelby Lou Nails
Octopus Party Nail Lacquer Baroque-n Record
KBShimmer Tribal Vinyl Nail Decals
Without Flash

Shelby Lou Nails
Octopus Party Nail Lacquer Baroque-n Record
KBShimmer Tribal Vinyl Nail Decals
WithFlash

I'm so glad to have my square nails back! The flash photos make my skin look really red, just focus on the holo and shimmer. I love how much of a chameleon this polish is with the silver, blue, gold, and green in it. OPNL is sold out right now, make sure you follow them for restock news. The maker, Dave, has been doing some amazing collaborations with other indies and is really making a name for himself, I can't wait for more!

Shelby Lou Nails
Octopus Party Nail Lacquer Baroque-n Record
KBShimmer Tribal Vinyl Nail Decals
With Flash

Products:
OPNL
KBShimmer

Have you loved your cuticles today?

Nail-Aid No-Rub Acetone Gel Review

Purchased By Shelby Lou's Husband (Isn't he wonderful!)

I interrupt today's regular programming to bring you a review on Nail-Aid No-Rub, advertised as the first acetone power gel. When I saw cutepolish's video, being the nail addict I am, I immediately asked Hubby to pick it up from Wal-Mart on his next trip. So! I don't have any fancy videos, but here is my experience with this product. I recommend watching cutepolish's video because she shows you exactly how to use this product according to manufacturer's directions and I will refer to it in my review.

Nail-Aid No-Rub
Acetone Gel

I decided to remove the mani I happened to be wearing the day I got this--Painted Sabotage Happy Hearts and Hooves Day. You can see what it looks like here as worn by one of my nail pals, In Jeeb We Trust, and she actually gifted this to me, too! You can see that it doesn't have a very heavy glitter load, and teeny glitters at that.

Here were my first impressions:
--Jelly feels like the consistency of ultrasound or sonogram gel. Not unpleasant.
--Strongly smells of acetone. The directions clearly tell you to put the lid back immediately after dipping your fingers hehe.
--So cold! But apparently that's normal.

I had the best results by:
--Dipping my nails and leaving a generous, heaping glob on top.
--Keeping my hands flat... or the gel slides off.
--Leaving gel on for 5 to 6 minutes.
--Rubbing off the nail polish with felt (as show in cutepolish's video, but she uses a papertowel) followed by regular remover on a new, clean cotton round.

Cons:
--Not available in acetone-free.
--Acetone wreaks havoc on cuticles.
--Very gooey on removal, which can quickly become a mess (complete with glitter herpes) if you are not careful. A few of my other nail friends also confirmed this gooey mess.
--Still had to follow-up with felt and remover after initial gooey mess is taken off.

Pros:
--No need to mess with tin foil and cotton.
--Inexpensive.

In the epic battle, my method still wins!

Sorry guys, but for me this does not remove glitters better than my method. I'm sure there was much more rubbing involved than cutepolish showed to get her results... I also ended up using MORE cotton rounds and felt than with my method. In conclusion, this is not magic and has not solved the problem of removing glitter polish for me. Boo, this is why I hate writing reviews on things I don't like. Such a bummer!

Products:
No-Rub Gel
Or just get it at Wal-Mart for $3.88

Have you loved your cuticles today?