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!

Recent Haulage or Bottle Spam Porn!

Hey everyone, I thought I'd spam you guys with some pretty bottle shots. Feast your eyes on these babies...

Clusterfrak, Dirtball, Planetary Romance, Attack Ships on Fire

Takko Lacquer To Infinity and Beyond, Kiss the Sky, Jimi's Jacket

Kiss the Sky, Jimi's Jacket
Just look at that shimmer and sparkle! 

Jacob's Protection, Alice Had a Vision Again, Modern Romance, Chic Reloaded and OPI Goldeneye

MyTenFriends and Takko Lacquer are both new indie brands to me. Their polishes are stunningly beautiful. Like what you see in my pictures is nothing compared to how gorgeous they are in person. They are almost too pretty to use! I kind of just want to stare at them in the bottle forever. But seriously. When I unearthed Jimi's Jacket from my package, my heart almost stopped. The golden shimmer and flakes in this is just too pretty for words!!!! And the multi-chromatic shimmer of Kiss the Sky is hypnotizing.

The Essence and OPI I got from Ulta. I had a $5 off $10 coupon so I got all those polishes for $12 and change. Pretty good deal, if I do say so myself!!

You can visit MyTenFriends on Etsy here. The seller is really nice and friendly and ships quickly! I totally recommend checking her shop out.

Takko Lacquer is on Etsy here. Sheryl is a complete sweetheart as well! She restocks on Fridays. So sign up for email notifications if you want to get in on this!

That's all I have for you guys today. 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!

Pretty and Polished Candy Corn

Hi everyone! Time for a manicure that's just a few weeks late ;)
This is what I had on my nails for Halloween!

The orange side of Candy Corn

Here you can see both colors

Looks like a sunset, no?

Base coat: 1 coat of China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat
Polish: 4 coats of Candy Corn
Top Coat: 1 coat of Seche Vite

Candy Corn clearly resembles its namesake. It's a temperature changing polish that shifts from yellow to tangerine!

It was really fun to wear because it's my first experience with a color-changing polish. I have to admit though that I wasn't a fan of the yellow shade. And since I guess my hands are really warm or something, that's what I typically saw on my nails. I didn't see much of the pretty color shift or just the orange unless my hands were in cold water. Maybe my nails weren't long enough, who knows.

This polish was also super sheer! I realize that it's a jelly but I thought I'd be able to cover my nail lines with 4 coats but to no avail. Next time, I'd definitely layer it over white.

Despite what might seem like a lot of complaints, I still enjoyed wearing this baby!

This polish is actually still for sale in Chelsea's shop.
You can visit her Etsy shop here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Back from the dead...(also Halloween Indie Polish spam)

Hi everyone! It's been ages since I've blogged but I really want to get back into it. I won't make a huge list of excuses, so I'll quickly say I've been busy with work and school.

Now onto some polish spam! For the entire month of October, I wore nothing but Halloween-themed/related polishes. Most of them were from indie sellers too. I didn't get a chance to take pictures of all of my manicures but I'll include here some of the ones I did get to photograph.

Base coat: 1 coat of China Glaze Strong Adhesion base coat
Polish: 2 coats of Sinful Colors Happy Ending, 1 coat of All that Glitters Horror Business
Top coat: 1 coat of Gelous, 1 coat of Seche Vite

Oh em gee. This was one of my favorite manicures of the month and I got a lot of compliments on it too! Formula was a breeze.

Pardon the cat hair!

Base coat: 1 coat of China Glaze Strong Adhesion base coat
Polish: 1 coat of Zoya Mira, 1 coat of All that Glitters Night Fright
Top coat: 1 coat of Gelous, 1 coat of Seche Vite

This was pretty too but Night Fright is crazy thick and stinky!

Sadly the best picture I could get...

Base coat: 1 coat of China Glaze Strong Adhesion base coat
Polish: 2 coats of China Glaze Recycle, 1 coat of Jindie Nails Frankenstein Spit
Top coat: 1 coat of Gelous, 1 coat of Seche Vite

Matte glitter heaven! Frankenstein Spit is one of the more unique polishes out there and it was easy to apply. Another favorite <3

Base coat: 1 coat of China Glaze Strong Adhesion base coat
Polish: 2 coats of Zoya Shawn, 1 coat of Lush Lacquer Halloweenie
Top coat: 1 coat of Gelous, 1 coat of Seche Vite

I can't say enough good things about Lush Lacquer. This polish is no exception! Such a festive glitter mix.

Base coat: 1 coat of China Glaze Strong Adhesion base coat
Polish: 4 coats of Circque Kabocha, 1 coat of Circque Neko
Top coat: 1 coat of Gelous, 1 coat of Seche Vite

This orange glows in the dark! Very cool glitter mix too, although some of the pieces can be sharp!

Holy lobster hands!

Base coat: 1 coat of China Glaze Strong Adhesion base coat
Polish: 4 coats of Pirate Polish Zombies!
Top coat: 1 coat of Gelous, 1 coat of Seche Vite

Love, love, love this polish to death! Really easy to apply and looked so good in person!

Base coat: 1 coat of China Glaze Strong Adhesion base coat
Polish: 2 coats of China Glaze Street Chic, 1 coat of Ninja Polish Spooky Floam
Top coat: 1 coat of Gelous, 1 coat of Seche Vite

Spooky Floam is another glow in the dark polish. This was pretty awesome too!

Links:
All That Glitters
Jindie Nails
Lush Lacquer
Circque
Pirate Polish
Ninja Polish

I hope you guys enjoyed this polish spam and I hope everyone is well.

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!