Merry Christmas Eve! Lots of Holiday Manis

 Merry Christmas Eve! I have been very busy the past few weeks (first with finals, then with family and festivities and such) so I haven't gotten a chance to post all my Christmas manis - so here are some now!

First up is Chaos & Crocodiles There's Magic in the Air, a bright blue holo with a silvery sheen, from the December Sweet Addictions box. I layered Elevation Polish SBP Peteroa, a mix of various blue and silver glitters, over it. These two went together perfectly - so pretty! I am in love with this C&C.

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Next up is Different Dimension Why Am I Such A Misfit?, a white crelly packed with various pink, blue, yellow and purple glitters. Very cute! I am a sucker for white crellies with rainbow-y glitter, so I loved this one.

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 Next up is KB Shimmer Sugar Plum Faerie, a warm purple base with various purple, pink, and green glitters. Very pretty!

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 Next is Lynnderella Sugar and Ice, a mix of various red, white, green, and a few pink glitters in a sheer white crelly base. I layered it over Essie Marshmallow to help with opacity. Love this one, so Christmassy!

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 Last up is Pahlish Ruby Red Wrapping, a bright pink-leaning ruby red holo. I layered Lynnderella One Nutty Fruitcake, a mix of rainbow and black square glitters, over it. Love this combo!

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You can find Chaos & Crocodiles at their website and Facebook~
You can find Different Dimension at their Facebook or website~
You can find Elevation Polish at their Facebook or website~
You can find KB Shimmer at their store or Facebook~
You can find Lynnderella at their blog, Storenvy, and store~
You can find Pahlish at their website or Facebook~

Have a wonderful day! ♥ 

Penguin Nails!

Hello! Today I have an adorable nail art mani to share with you :) I started out with a base of 3 coats of Ellagee The Only Water in The Forest, a pale turqouise-y blue with pink shimmer. I then used Elevation Polish Wagagai, a creamy vanilla with multicolor shimmer for the dots and the penguin's body. Finally, I used KB Shimmer Turbulence, a dark slate gray with pink and blue shimmery flakes for the eyes, and Orly Cheeky, an orange-y peach shimmer, for the feet and beak.

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yes, I will find a gif for every Doctor Who polish I blog!

I wore this mani for my nephew's 1st birthday party - I thought it fit the theme of baby boy birthday party perfectly :) So so cute! And ridiculously easy too - I will be doing penguin manis again!

You can find Elevation Polish at their Facebook or website~
You can find Ellagee at their Facebook or website~

Have the bestest day ever! ♥

Bear Pawlish Swatchapalooza #1

Hello friends! Today I have some lovely Bear Pawlish swatches to share with you! This is the first time I've really featured Bear Pawlish on my blog, so I'm very excited about it! On to the pretties :)

left to right, up to down: The Ponds, See You Next Tuesday, Weeping Angels

 First up is Weeping Angels, a silvery white with pinky blue shimmer and subtle holo. This polish is so absurdly pretty! It is a little sheer, but goes on great - one coat would actually look great as a super subtle, almost French mani look, but this is three coats here.

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you know what (NOT) to do...

Next up is The Ponds, a lovely light, almost minty, blue-ish green holo. This polish is also ridiculously pretty! I love the blue sheen it has. Also, it is super duper holo! This is three coats here.

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♥♥♥

Last up is See You Next Tuesday, a purple-y fuschia holo. So pretty! Three coats here.

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If you'd like to check out Bear Pawlish visit their Facebook and website~

Have a lovely day! ♥
 

Lots of Lynnderellas Part II

Hello friends! Today I have a few pretty Lynnderella polishes to share with you :)

left to right, up to down: Funderland, Summer of Love 2013, Pink Starfish

First up is Funderland, a mix of rainbowy glitters in a shimmery white base. Funderland was one of the Advent LEs from last year I believe. I layered it over Jenna Hipp Daft Pink, Say Yellow to My Little Friend, We Are Mint to Be, and I Surf With Boys (and, unpictured, Ain't Life Grape? on my thumb - see swatches of these pretties by themselves here!). I love how colorful this mani was!

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Next up is Pink Starfish, a mix of hit pink microglitter, pink stars, and tiny baby holo stars. I layered it over Black Dahlia Lacquer Wild Cherry Blossoms, a fantastic one coat pink holo! I love this mani, so pink and sparkly and girly!

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 Last up is Summer of Love 2013, a mix of all sorts of shapes of rainbowy glitter in a shimmery purple base. I layered it over Colors by Llarowe Tank Tops & Flip Flops, a medium purple holo here. Perfect combo! Confession: this mani is from over a year ago, but I still remember this as one of my favoritest polishes/combos ever - it is that great!

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You can find Colors by Llarowe at the site and Facebook~
You can find Lynnderella at their blog, Storenvy, and store~
You can find Black Dahlia Lacquer at their site and Facebook~

Have a superb day! ♥
 

NOTD: Watercolor Nail Art

Hello! Today I have a fun watercolor-like mani to share with you. I first started out with a white base using Zoya Purity. Then I just dabbed a variety of random colors carefully onto my nails in a random pattern: Colors by Llarowe Grape, Tweety Bird, and Ocean Water, and China Glaze Isle See You Later, Heat Index, and Shell-o. Finally, I topped it all off with Rainbow Honey Sakura Matsuri for a little extra sparkle!

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This mani is from April actually, so it was perfectly springy back in the spring :) I loved this look! Now that I've unearthed it for the blog, I really want to try this kind of nail art again... maybe in a Christmas mani?

To find Colors by Llarowe check out the site and Facebook~

Have a phenomenal day! ♥
 

NOTD: French Mani with a Twist

Hello friends! Today I have a simple NOTD I did awhile back for the school career fair. I needed something professional, but wasn't feeling a neutral or red or anything, so I decided to try my hand at a freehand French mani! I have definitely tried them before in the past, but that was back in what I think of as my "pre-polish days" - that is, when I wore and consumed nail polish like a normal person, instead of the obsessive kind :P So, while those past attempts were quite unspeakably ugly, I thought I might have a little more success now - and I was right!

I started out with two coats of Essie Adore-a-ball, a sheer pale pink. Then, I used the classic Essie Marshmallow, a sheer white, on the tips. I was worried about this, but it turned out quite nice! In the past I had always tried to draw on tips by just dragging the brush horizontally across the edge of my nail, which I think makes it very easy to end up with an uneven line. This time, I decided how thick I wanted the "tip" to be, then did short vertical swipes from that line to the tip of my nail. This gave me a lot more control I think, and made it easier to get the line exactly how I wanted it. Finally, to add a little kick (because I can't stand not to sparkle) I added an unlabeled iridescent flakie polish I found for some added shine :) Take a look!

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I was very happy with this mani - hope you all love it too! Now that I know I can manage them, I expect I will be doing many more French tip manis in the future :)

Have a lovely 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! ♥

Lilypad Lacquer Spring Sorbet Skittles

Hello friends! Today I have a very springtastic post for you. The Lilypad Lacquer Spring Sorbet collection was recently released exclusively over at Llarowe, and being the pastel holo lover that I am, I couldn't resist snagging all of them. I swatched the entire collection individually and will post those pics up shortly, but today I want to share a cute skittles mani I did with all of the pretties.

I started out with three coats each of Sherbet (blue), Minty (green), Passion (purple), Peachy (peach/coral), Musky (pink), and Lemony (yellow). I then used the Saran wrap method (topcoat, then layer on the top color, then dab with Saran wrap to create a marbled effect) with In The Milky Way, a grayish white creme holo with the same holo effect as the others. Finally, mostly because I was bored, haha, I used my dotting tool to individually place glitters from Lynnderella Connect the Spots, a multicolor dot glitter mix in a shimmery clear base, in a rainbow design on one hand and a flower design on the other. Take a look!

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I really loved this mani! Super cheerful and colorful and definitely very springy. I really like the method of using glitters in this way - this was the first time I've done it, but I definitely want to again! A great way to add an extra poppy slash of color to a mani.

To check out Lilypad Lacquer be sure to visit their Etsy, their page on Llarowe, and their Facebook~
To check out Lynnderella be sure to visit their store~

Have a fantastic 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!

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 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! ♥