Amy's Nail Boutique Happy Holly-days

Pressing on with the Christmas theme, I have another indie polish for you today! Let's take a look at this gorgeous glitter topper...

Base coat: 1 coat of China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat
Polish: 2 coats of Revlon Black Lingerie, 2 coats of Happy Holly-days
Top Coat: 1 coat of Gelous, 1 coat of Seche Vite

Happy Holly-days is a combination of red and green hexagonal matte glitter. Since this was a polish clearly meant for layering, I figured that black would contrast the most against the seasonal mix. The glitter kind of "glowed" against the black, it was an interesting effect.

The glitter in this polish did require some "placement" and because I didn't do such a good job of that, there was a lot of bubbling. Which is kind of obvious in my pictures. This made me a little sad. It would have been a perfect manicure otherwise!

You can check out Amy's Nail Boutique on Etsy here.

Are you getting in the holiday mood with your manicures yet?

Thanks for stopping by!

365 Days of Color Trimming the Tree

Hi everyone! Happy December :)

For the remainder of the month my nails will be donning seasonally-appropriate shades. And almost all the ones I have are from indie brands. I feel like indie brands have been KILLING it all year but really did an awesome job with the Christmas collections. I have spent far too much money on Christmas polishes! And I probably have more than I can wear for the rest of the month (this coming from someone who changes their polish three times a week).

Anyway. Today I have Trimming the Tree from 365 Days of Color. Let's take a look...

Base coat: 1 coat of Nail Tek Foundation II
Polish: 2 coats of OPI Jade is the New Black, 2 coats of Trimming the Tree
Top coat: 1 coat of Seche Vite

Trimming the Tree is a wintergreen jelly filled with emerald, brown, and gold glitter. This polish seemed like it would be too sheer for my liking, so I decided to layer it over the OPI color.

It's a very pretty glitter but more on the subtle side. I didn't get much glitter, nor did it spread over my nails nicely. But it doesn't bother me too much because I'm content with the end result.

You know what's cool about this polish though? It's SCENTED! Normally, that doesn't do much for me but I loved that aspect of this polish. It smells like a pine-y soap or cologne or something. Definitely not straight pine. Typically, I hate pine scents...like can't stand them! But I really enjoyed this scent. And when I was actually painting my nails with this polish, that's all I could smell. Which I guess is better than the normal chemical smell.

I'm not sure how long the scent lasts cause I'm still wearing it and it still smells nice and strong.

You can find this polish on the 365 days of Color website here. I got the mini which was $4.50. I would like her Facebook page or follow her on Twitter because she often has promotions and deals!

Thanks for stopping by!

Cover Band Lacquer Sticks 'n Stones

Hi everyone! Today I have a glitter combination that took the nail polish world by storm when it first came out. Something so simple as the contrast of black and white and everyone just went crazy! Well, most people...me included :)

Base coat: 1 coat of Julep Nail Therapy

Polish: 2 coats of China Glaze For Audrey, 2 coats of Sticks 'n Stones

Top Coat: 1 coat of Gelous, 1 coat of Seche Vite

I think the combination of aqua blue and black and white glitter just looks AWESOME. It's such a classic and eye-catching pairing. 

Sticks n' Stones is one of many, many black and white glitter combinations in the indie world. And this one is supposed to be a pretty close dupe of the ever popular Lynderella Connect the Dots, the one that started it all.

I don't have that to compare it to. But I can say I loved this rendition by Cover Band Lacquer. It was very easy to work with and jam packed with glitter! It was kind of bumpy but I feel that's inevitable with chunky glitters like this. Just do your best to coat it with thick top coat!

Can I also just take a moment to dote on how wonderful For Audrey is? This is one of my first China Glaze polishes, and one that I bought when I was still a "muggle". That is...not a crazy person obsessed with nail polish! And after sitting in my nail polish rack for a few years, it still worked perfectly. No thickness, or ugliness. Just applied like butter, like they say....and the color is still utterly gorgeous as well!

You can find Sticks 'n Stones on Ninja Polish, although it is currently out of stock. You can sign up for an email notification when it comes back though!

Anyway, that's all I have for you folks today. Thanks for stopping by!

Zoya Kristen and Revlon Whimsical

Hey everyone! Today I've got a dreamy, glittery combination to show you...

Close-up of the bottle

Base coat: 1 coat of Trind base coat
Polish: 2 coats of Kristen, 2 coats Whimsical
Top coat: 1 coat of Seche Vite

Whimsical is a milky baby blue filled with pink, blue and iridescent glitter. There's also some shimmer in there too. Kristen is a grey-ed out baby blue. It seemed like the perfect match to me!

Unfortunately, Whimsical was a stubborn polish. I didn't get much glitter but plenty of base. I think this is why I got some bubbling (which is probably evident in the photos). That was annoying, honestly and I doubt I'll ever play with this polish again. Kristen is pleasant to work with, it wasn't my first rodeo with this baby.

I got Whimsical from a swap a little while back and Kristen is one of the polishes I got from a Zoya promo months ago. You guys remember the ones where they'd post promo codes on Twitter in limited amounts? Some of them were for a free polish plus free shipping. I was lucky enough to get Kristen this way.

Thanks for stopping by!

NerdLacquer Cold and Calculating

Hey everyone! I've got a real beauty for you today, chock full of purple and silver glitter. It's just dreamy...

Words don't do it justice...so see for yourself :)

Close-up of my ring finger

Bottle shot!

Look at the pretty glitter :D

Base coat: 1 coat of CND Stickey
Polish: 3 coats of Cold and Calculating
Top coat: 1 coat of Seche Vite

NerdLacquer describes this polish as "a cool shimmering violet and charcoal base with silver and royal purple glitter, medium purple hexagonal glitter, and large silver hexagonal glitter."

It's just gorgeous. If the night sky were purple, this is exactly what a starry night would look like. This beauty has me all out of words!

I don't have one negative thing to say about this. The formula was easy to work with, this one didn't smell weird like my bottle of Cyance Friction did and it dried pretty quickly. Not a top coat hungry glitter either. Essentially perfection in a bottle.

I feel so lucky to have any polishes by NerdLacquer. If I could somehow (magically) own every polish from ANY brand ever, I would pick NerdLacquer in a heartbeat. She is easily my favorite brand of polish EVER. I only have three bottles but I treasure them immensely and can't wait to own more!

I purchased this the last time her Etsy shop was open. Her shop is closed right now but you can sign up for email notifications for when she opens again. You can check her out here.

Thanks for stopping by!