Baroness X Mele Kalikimaka~♫

Hello friends! Today I have a pretty Christmas gradient from awhile back I forgot to post earlier. I started out with alternating gradients of Aly's Dream Polish Tiffanytea, Who Sencha?, and Bohemian Raspberry, respectively an aqua blue, pistachio green, and creamy pale berry pink scatter holo. I then layered over it Baroness X Mele Kalikimaka, a mix of pink, blue, green and red glitters in a clear base. Finally, I used matte topcoat over the whole thing. I loved this mani - the glitter matched the base gradients perfectly! Take a look~

indoors, Ottlite + flash

You can find Aly's Dream Polish at their Facebook and website~
You can find Baroness X at their Facebook and website~

Have an awesome day! ♥

NOTD: Rainbow Polka Dots!

Hello! Today I have a fun rainbow dotticure to share with you. I started out with a base of Lilypad Lacquer Rainbows In Space, a black holo. Then, in ROYGBIV order, I used Colors by Llarowe Man In The Red Suit, Orange Crush, Woodstock, Gemini Rising, Aly's Dream Polish Patriotic Blue, Colors by Llarowe Smooth Criminal, and Tank Tops & Flip Flops. Lots of colors made for a super rainbowtastic mani, take a look!

outdoors, sun

You can find Aly's Dream Polish at their Facebook and website~
You can find Colors by Llarowe at their Facebook and website~
You can find Lilypad Lacquer at their Facebook and website~

Have a fantastic day! ♥
 

Happy (6th..) of July!

Hello friends! I hope all my American readers had a lovely holiday weekend. I have been so busy with family, fun, and festivities that I didn't get a chance to post my manis -- but better late than never!

At the beginning of the week, when I was first feeling in a 4th-y mood, I did a skittles mani with 2 coats each of Elevation Polish Bohai Sea, a deep sky blue creme holo, Enchanted Polish Stay Classy, San Diego, a pinkish red creme holo, and Lilypad Lacquer In the Milkyway, a whitish creme holo. I then topped it all off with Lumina Lacquer Young Americans 2.0, a red, white and blue glitter bomb! This was super fun - a great way to kick off July!

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For the actual day, I wanted to try some fancy firework nail art. I started with Aly's Dream Polish Patriotic Blue, a blue scatter holo with glitter, Colors by Llarowe Bea Stings, a pinky red glittery holo, and China Glaze Glistening Snow, a silver holo microglitter. I then used Bea Stings and Patriotic Blue to paint on a firework design (I used my dotting tool like I do for all nail art, because nail art brushes and I don't really get along very well) and put tiny star rhinestones in the center of each firework. I finally topped everything off with Orly Shine On Crazy Diamond, a silver holo microglitter topcoat.

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I really liked both of these manis! The glitter for the first one was the absolute perfect 4th of July glitter, and blended really well with all base colors without clashing or blending in to any of them too much. And I love trying new nail art designs, so the fireworks were really fun, even if they didn't turn out as great as I was hoping they would, lol. But I got lots of compliments on both and I definitely felt patriotic, so mission accomplished!

If you'd like to check out Aly's Dream Polish, be sure to visit their Facebook and website~
If you'd like to check out Elevation Polish, be sure to visit their website~
If you'd like to check out Enchanted Polish, be sure to visit their Facebook and website~
If you'd like to check out Colors by Llarowe, be sure to visit their Facebook and website~
If you'd like to check out Lilypad Lacquer, be sure to visit their Facebook and website~
If you'd like to check out Lumina Lacquer, be sure to visit their Facebook and website~

Have a fantastic day! ♥

A Couple Comparisons - Hot Pinks and Teal Blues

Hello friends! I don't have much to post today- sun has been spotty and with all the Colors by Llarowe round-up posts I have done recently I actually have already posted most of my recent manis - odd! I know I probably have post-worthy pictures tucked away somewhere on my computer, but ever since I got my new computer (which was all the way back in October, alas) my file organization has been a little jumbled - maybe someday I'll find the inspiration to straighten it out. But I have had fun posting daily the past few days, and I don't really want to break my streak! So while it's not much, enjoy a couple comparisons I did recently, as well as a mani I did with the ...comparees.

Aly's Dream Polish Deep Steel Blue is a dark, navy-ish teal with a strong scatter holo effect. By comparison, Steel Blue is more of a sky blue-leaning teal, with that same strong holo effect. Application is great! A little sheer at the first coat but builds easily in three. Obviously here I did mostly Deep Steel Blue in an accent of Steel Blue with Deep Steel Blue polka dots.

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Someone in a nail polish comparison group I'm in on Facebook wanted to see the two pretties above compared with Enchanted Polish August 2013, which is also a blue-ish teal holo. It is most close to Steel Blue, but is a little darker, leans more green, and of course has a linear holo effect instead of scattered.

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It really is not that similar to Deep Steel Blue at all - Deep Steel Blue seems much bluer and of course much darker than both of them, as shown below. And overall, the formulas are a different, though both are good - the EP is heavier and more creme-based and covers completely in two coats, vs. the slightly more sheer ADPs that need three. Basically all three polishes are different enough that if you like teal polish you need them all :)

indoors, Ott Lite

Another comparison that was requested was Colors by Llarowe It's Shocking (which can be seen on its own here), which is a warm-leaning hot pink linear holo) and Enchanted Polish Disco Barbie, which is a more cool-toned hot pink scatter holo. Obviously by looking at the picture Disco Barbie is much cooler-toned than It's Shocking, and appears brighter. Though Disco Barbie is typically called a scatter holo and It's Shocking is definitely linear, the holo effect doesn't seem that different in the below photo - neither are terribly strong but definitely are visible. They clearly are quite different and pink lovers definitely will want both of these as well :)

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It was really fun doing comparisons like this! I don't think I've ever done a comparison post on my blog before, but I would definitely be interested in doing more in the future! If any one has any requests just let me know in the comments - as long as I have the polishes I would be happy to give it a go! ;)

Have a fantastic day! ♥ 

Aly's Dream Polish Macaroon Dotticure

Hello! Today I have a pretty dotticure to share with you. For the base I used several polishes from Aly's Dream Polish's Macaroon collection (which are all creamy subtle scatter holos) - Rumpleberry, a blue-toned lilac, Bayouberry, a cool-toned pale blue, and Bohemian Raspberry, a warm purple-leaning pink. I then dotted on butter LONDON Cotton Buds, a white creme. Finally, for a little extra sparkle (but mostly because I recently got a new bottle and it was sitting on the counter staring at me in all its twinkling glory, begging to be used),  I topped it all off with China Glaze Fairy Dust. Take a look!

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On my nails:
1 coat Innisfree Eco Peel-off base coat
3 coats each Aly's Dream Polish Rumpleberry/Bayouberry/Bohemian Raspberry
-dots- butter LONDON Cotton Buds
1 coat China Glaze Fairy Dust
1 coat HK Girl Topcoat

I love love love these colors together! But of course it makes sense they go well together, being in the same collection and all. These are the cool-toned Macaroons - I plan to do a repeat with the other half someday, since they are so pretty and work so well together. I got a bunch of compliments on these pretties today as well, which always makes me a happy camper :)

To check out Aly's Dream Polish be sure to visit their Facebook for info on future restocks on their website~

Have a lovely day! ♥

Holo Leopard Nails!

Hello all! Today I have some fun leopard print nail art to share with you. I have done leopard nails before, but never traditional real leopard-looking ones, so this was a fun look to try out. For the gold base I used Dollish Polish Squirrel!, a soft gold linear holo. Since I was trying to match my mani to some leopard print leggings I wanted to wear, I had to mix the perfect brown color since I didn't have the exact shade, so for the brown, I used a mix of Aly's Dream Polish Copper, a copper scatter holo, and Chirality Nail Polish I Got a Rock, a brown linear holo. I then just drew on the spot outlines in Aly's Dream Polish Super Black, a black scatter holo. I think it turned out really cool, take a look!

outdoors, sun

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On my nails:
1 coat Innisfree Eco Peel-off base coat
3 coats Dollish Polish Squirrel!/ 3 coats Chirality I Got a Rock/Aly's Copper
(dotted on) Chirality I Got a Rock/Aly's Copper/Aly's Super Black
1 coat KB Shimmer Clearly On Top

Very fun mani! Looking back at all my old leopard print nails it's nice to see I've improved, haha. And of course it is always fun to match your mani to your outfit!

You can find Aly's Dream Polish at their site and Facebook~
You can find Dollish Polish at their site and Facebook~
You can find Chirality Nail Polish at their site and Facebook, too~

Have a wonderful day! ♥

Twelve Manis of Christmas

Hello all, and a very Merry Christmas to you! (or Happy... Boxing Day? Apologies, this post was planned for earlier but I got carried away with festivities and such). I hope you all had a lovely day! I have of course been a bit slack with posting all my Christmas manis... but I have still been wearing them! So once again I will have to resort to a mass post with multiple manis, just like I did on Halloween. But, but but! since it did actually end up being exactly 12, I figured it was meant to be, haha. Enjoy!

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First off, by far my favorite ultra-Christmas mani I wore this year - Candy Lacquer Mickeys & Mistletoe over Aly's Dream Polish Emerald and Dark Emerald. I just love how the lime green glitters here contrast against the dark green! And of course the Mickey glitter is just adorable.

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Next up is Lilypad Lacquer Sweet Baby Jesus, a sheer silvery scatter holo with flakes and a pinky blue shift. So pretty! Shown here over Enchanted Polish Dime Piece, a silver holo. I wore this one to church on Christmas Eve - thought it was perfect, given the name :)

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Next up, my picks from the KB Shimmer winter collection. Merry Pinkmas  is a baby pink crelly with assorted Christmassy glitters. It was a little sheer on me, so it took about four coats I think? But totally worth it! So adorable :) I actually wore this one for like an entire week - over Thanksgiving, was too busy to change my mani, but definitely a great one to get stuck in for awhile!

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Snow Flaking Way is a blurple jelly with various silver and blue glitters and of course snowflakes! I had a specific dress I wanted to match this one that was a touch bluer than its base, so I layered it over Picture Polish Freya's Cats, a blue jelly scatter holo to blue it up a bit. Love it, so squishy and wintry!

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And the last of the KB Shimmers, Christmas Now is a grassy green jelly base with assorted Christmassy rainbow glitters. It was a little sheer so I layered it over Essie Mojito Madness, a grassy green creme. I just loved this one, one of my favorite shades of green! I don't have any pictures I don't think but I matteified it after a bit, and I really loved it that way too.

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Onto another brand... I actually got a couple more Lynnderella Christmas polishes that I haven't worn yet (one of the new Christmas collection, and I was also lucky enough to snag one of the Advent LEs, w00t!) but have only worn Eleven Ladies Dancing, a mostly red-leaning rainbowy glitter, thus far (P.S. aww, the number 11 just reminds me of the Doctor Who Christmas special tonight :( anyone else watch it?!) But anyway, I layered it over Aly's Dream Polish Bayouberry, a cool sky blue soft scatter holo. Great combo, perfect together!

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And on to my Dollish Polish picks of the season. I couldn't help loving Dolly's Christmas Vacation-inspired holiday collection; totally my favorite Christmas movie! This one is Jolliest Bunch of A**holes This Side of the Nuthouse, a pink-leaning white crelly with Christmas dots and microglitter. Very cute, love white crellys!

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Also from Dolly is Merry Christmas... Sh*tters Full!, haha. It's a fantastically dense rainbow microglitter, shown here over Aly's Dream Polish Super Black, a blue scatter holo. Seriously in love with this glitter, might be my new favorite rainbow glitter! It looks like rainbow fish scales.

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Next up are some lovely Enchanted Polish skittles, both topped off with lovely Candy Lacquer glitters. First is EP Ho Ho Holidays (Chelsea's Christmas collection from last year): Bruised Nutcracker, Dance of the Sugarplum, Green Peace on Earth, and Olive the Other Reindeer with CL Holiday Dreams, a mix of various holo pastel shapes. Super pretty; all the colors went together perfectly!

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I also did the same idea with EP Holiday 2013, a plummy burgundy holo, Dime Piece, and All Love Garden, an olive holo, topped off with CL Candy Cane Lane, a mix of red and white glitters in various shapes. Looking at this one now I miss it, haha - so festive!

outdoors, sun? I think

 The last of my Christmas Candy Lacquers! Rocking A-Round the Christmas Tree is a clear base with rainbowy circle glitters and green shimmer in the base. I layered it here over Aly's Dream Polish Emerald. So pretty! Love the abundance of circles.

And finally, my actual Christmas mani - the one I am tipwearing into oblivion as I write this post. On my nails for the big day was Colors by Llarowe Man in the Red Suit, a red holo (super holo too, but totally covered up by) Different Dimension Don't Be the Santa of Everything, which is red and green glitters and just about as Christmassy as you get. Apologies for the garbage picture; we were gone about all day today, bouncing around several family members' houses and visiting and I just didn't get a chance to get a good picture. This was crazy sparkly though, just like an ornament!

And there you have it! My posting schedule the past few months has been atrocious, so it kind of sucks that I had to shove all these feature-length manis into one big long post, but at least it was a good one full of lots of pretty :) Here's to hoping 2014's posting will be better! -clink-

Have a wonderful day! ♥