A Very Merry Christmas Eve

I will be traveling A LOT tomorrow and decided that a pretty Christmas nail art mani with trees, snowflakes or any other such decoration would not hold up very well under all the luggage hauling and layovers I have to endure. With that in mind, I turned to an untried, Crow's Toes Black Widow, a blue-leaning black holo with glitter and red sparks. It took three coats to get it smooth, I blame the glitter, and two layers of topcoat, but now I feel as though my nails have armor on them! Office friendly, as they are pretty much black inside, but as you can see, flash and Ott light make them come alive with rainbows and flashes. I don't notice any color shift as some have reported, but I am thrilled with the results. And yes, half my quart bag is remover and polish :P

Christmas in Florida

So we are celebrating our family Christmas together early this year due to schedule conflicts, and I was trying to decide on a mani last night. When I realized it is predicted to be 82 degrees Saturday, I went with a hot summer mani, and it makes me SO happy! Maria at Cult Nails is having a warehouse clearance and I picked up a couple colors I had been drooling over, Ay Poppy! (persimmon crelly) and You're My Dandy Lion, a sunshine yellow cream with a bit of golden shimmer. The shimmer isn't as noticeable on the nail but that suits me fine. It does add a depth to this glorious yellow. It took three coats for opacity, and Ay Poppy! was perfect in two. Merry Christmas, Florida, now go home, you're drunk. HK Girl topcoat over.

My First Magazine Credit!!

go look, order this magazine (only a teaser online...) Beauty and Lifestyle Bride Premier Edition

Throwback Thursday! (I did the polish Thursday...)

I was challenged in a group by Debbie Crumpet to use Thursdays to try untrieds or anything unused in over a year. I dragged out Essie Sew Psyched, one of my first TEN polishes, maybe my first five...and clicked around looking for ideas to jazz it up. I remember feeling so risque wearing khaki green polish to work back then.....2009? I stumbled onto Vicky at Boombastic Nails- GORGEOUS work she does, go, follow her... here. I forgot how lovely this green with gold shimmer polish really is- and I stuck with the rules using Lacquistry Witches Wart, I haven't used it since October 2012....

Untrieds ROCK!!

I've been polish challenged lately, having to try all the holiday polishes I've been sent for review. I'm not a swatcher, I wear polish for at least two days unless it's really really awful, so when I get a chance to wear anything I want, it's usually something FABULOUS! Colors by Llarowe Oh Christmas Tree fits that label nicely. It's a deep evergreen holo, perfect in two thin coats. A squooosh lighter than Glitter Gal Lizard Belly, and a tad bit less opaque.  I'm not as sold on Crows Toes Indian Summer, the purplish/red duo/multichrome. Even after four coats it's patchy and a bit lumpy. Stunning, but meh on application. Not sure what to do there, but it does take pretty pictures- these are all with topcoat in various lighting and flash.

Glitter, glitter, glitter

My latest review on Beauty and Lifestyle Bride magazine

More Colors by Llarowe

OK, so CbL? What's CbL?

Colors by Llarowe is a line designed by Leah Anne Larowe of www.llarowe.com fame. Restocks of her deeply colored heavily holographic polishes are things of legend, so I set my face as flint and decided to see what the fuss was about. Two hours and six polishes later, I see the light. Well, the rainbows. I wouldn't say these are the best holo polishes EVAH because I don't think they are. They are pretty amazing though, even for two coats I needed (some reviewers seem to get away with one coat)  Here is Obnoxious Annie and Black Gold, Texas Tea with Lippmann Gel Effect topcoat. Application was easy and cleanup a cinch.

Yes, Leopard print!

from my Beauty and Lifestyle Bride post here