Valentine's Skittlette

Good morning!  I have another Valentine's mani to share - yes, another skittlette.  Oh skittlette, how I love thee!  This one turned out so delicate and romantic, I definitely love it!  I used a mainstream, drugstore, international and indie polish to create this look.  Let's jump into the pictures!

OPI: Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter

Julie G: Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter

Jade: Facebook, Instagram

Red Dog Designs: Shop, Facebook, Instagram

I first used Jade Deja Vu on my index nail - hello fantastic hot pink linear holo.  Honestly this is probably the prettiest pink holo I have!  Deja Vu had amazing formula and application.  I used 2 coats and 1 layer of topcoat.  I then used Julie G Rock Candy on my pinky and thumb nails.  Rock Candy is a teal-ish colored texture polish that swings more blue or green depending on the lighting.  It's also got a really great silvery shimmer throughout.  I loved the feel of the texture, it was a perfect grit.  I used 2 coats of Rock Candy.  Finally for my middle and ring fingers I used 2 coats of OPI Skull & Glossbones - a perfect neutral light grey.  I topped it with Red Dog Designs Young At Heart.  Young At Heart is full of "various hues, shapes, and sizes of pink, lime holo, teal holo, white glitters, with microfine holo glitter and pink hearts."  The formula of Young At Heart was great, easy to work with and plenty of glitter came out to play.  I used 2 coats and 1 layer of topcoat.  

Red Dog Designs Love Stinks Collection

Good evening!  I am excited to share the newest collection from Red Dog Designs, Love Stinks!  I love the name of the set, and the names of the polishes are all perfect!  Well not only were the names spot on, but each polish in this 3-piece collection is gorgeous!  So let me stop yakking and get on with pictures so you can drool!  The Love Stinks Collection will be available on Friday 1/31/14 at 3:00 PM EST - just in time for celebrating (or not) Valentine's Day.  

Red Dog Designs: Shop, Facebook, Instagram

*Partial Press Sample/Partial Purchase*

This berry beauty is Love Hurts.  Love Hurts is described as "various sized hex, square and circle glitters in shades of pink holo, and garnet, sprinkled with micro holo glitter, in a berry colored base."  I was completely in awe of how gorgeous Love Hurts was.  It's a stunning berry-pink color (don't be fooled by some of my pictures that read too red).  There is so much depth and richness to this polish.  It's in a jelly-ish base and it built up impeccably well.  I used 3 coats and 1 layer of topcoat.  And just because - here's a video of Nazareth singing Love Hurts.  

Tainted Love is an awesomely fun mix of "hex and square glitters, in shades of neon green, holo lime green, and iridescent green/lime/gold, including black heart and skull glitters, sprinkled with micro holo glitters in a clear base."  I decided to layer Tainted Love over Sinful Colors Unicorn so you could really see all the different green shades.  I also think it helps the black glitters pop!  Tainted Love had a fabulous formula with HUGE glitter payoff!  I used 2 coats of Tainted Love and 1 layer of topcoat.  By the way...this is one of my favorite 80's songs so here's the video for Soft Cell singing Tainted Love!  

The last part of the Love Stinks Trio is Down With Love.  Down With Love is "hex, square and diamond glitters, in shades of teal, holo, black, berry, and purple, including teal and purple hearts glitters, sprinkled with micro holo glitter, in a clear base."  Down With Love is an amazing blend of colors and shapes, I absolutely adored it!  The glitter came out easily and applied evenly and smooth on my nails.  I used 2 coats of Down with Love over Bettina Daydream and Illamasqua Nomad.  I finished with 1 layer of topcoat.  Now one last song to enjoy - Down With Love sang by Michael Buble & Holly Palmer.

Valentine's Day Nails

Good morning lovelies!  I think it's high time that I start posting some Valentine's Day mani ideas, what do you think?  I'm very proud of this one because not only is it pretty, but I STAMPED!!  I did!   And it came out pretty good too!  Good thing you are looking at my left hand and not my right hand though.  I used a mix of drugstore and indie brands, but since drugstore brands are fairly easy to come across I will only list the indie I used today.  Well let's take look at this pretty little ditty.  

The Nail Junkie: Shop, Blog, Facebook, Instagram

Barry M: Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter

Sinful Colors: Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter

LA Girl: Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter

I started this mani with LA Girl Dazzling Pink, a scattered holo, on my ring and pinky nails.  This is such a lit from within holo.  Dazzling Pink is very flashy - I love that about it.   I used 3 coats for full depth and coverage.  I also used Barry M Dragon Fruit, a bubblegum pink polish with very light silver shimmer.  Dragon Fruit is a fantastic jelly finish and it is so easy to work with it with amazing color payoff!  I used 3 coats of Dragon fruit and then stamped a cutesy heart on top with Sinful Colors Black on Black.  I used Black on Black as the base for my middle and thumb nails.  Such an fabulous 1-coater black creme!  I topped that with 2 coats of The Nail Junkie Cupcake - the most adorable glitter combination of light pink, hot pink and red circles with a good helping of holo shimmer in a clear base.  Application and formula of Cupcake were both wonderful - loads of glitter came out with each brush dip and the glitter spread nicely on it's own without manipulation.  I finished off with 1 layer of topcoat.  

*outside pictures*

2,000 "Likes" Giveaway!

Good morning *insert birds singing*!!  I'd like to take a quick minute to show my gratitude for everyone that follows my blog - either here on GFC or G+, Bloglovin', Facebook or Instagram.  Thank you, all of you!  I reached 2,000 "likes" on Facebook last week and my numbers are steadily moving on GFC, Bloglovin' and Instagram too!  I love being a part of the nail community, I love admiring nail polish and I love that I have so many readers that actually want to read my posts and interact with me.  It's so amazing!  I look forward to a wonderful year with many milestones, improvements and more giveaways.  But let's talk about this giveaway now!  
You probably know that I love me some indies so I have collected 6 brands, in fun and pretty colors that you can wear for Valentine's Day and beyond!  ONE lucky winner will receive all the items shown below!  That's 6 bottles of polish, 2 sheets of nail stickers and 1 mini OPI travel case.  All items are brand new.  This giveaway is open to US and International followers.  Good luck to everyone!

1 bottle of Red Dog Designs Down With Love

*picture courtesy of Red Dog Designs

1 bottle of The Nail Junkie Cupcake

*picture courtesy of The Nail Junkie

 1 bottle of Girly Bits custom Burning Love

*picture courtesy of Girly Bits

1 bottle of Lumina Lacquer Forever Thine, Forever Mine

 1 bottle of Above The Curve Truly Madly Deeply

*picture courtesy of Above The Curve

1 bottle of Darling Diva Polish Lady Boss

*picture courtesy of Sweet Southern Haze

2 sheets of Valentine's Day themed nail stickers

 1 mini OPI travel case

Giveaway Details:

• You must be 18 to enter
• Open to US & International residents, excluding New Zealand and Italy
• 1 winner will received 6 polishes, 2 sheets of nail stickers and 1 mini OPI travel case (all listed and pictured above)
• Giveaway will run from January 29, 2014 to February 10, 2014 12:00 AM PST.  
• Prize must be claimed within 48 hours
• Please follow all the rules...follow and/or like all the provided links
• Prizes were purchased by me with the exception of Girly Bits Burning Love, which was provided
• I am not responsible for lost, damaged or stolen goods

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Rescue Beauty Lounge SPAM!

Hello hello!  I am back this morning with more SPAM!  I really hope you like these kinds of posts because I sure like working on them!  It's so much fun to feature one brand in a big way and try out loads of my polish that needs some love.  Today's SPAM is Rescue Beauty Lounge.  RBL is one of the higher end boutique polishes.  Boutique sits somewhere between mainstream and indie - don't ask me the details because I barely understand it myself.   All you need to know with this post is - HELLO - RBL makes some very lovely polish!  Let's take a look, ok?
Rescue Beauty Lounge: Shop, Facebook. Instagram, Twitter
Reveillon is from the Fan Collection 2.0 and is a gorgeous "cool, silver-toned blue (more silver than blue)."  I loved this shade.  Reveillon has loads of pink shimmer and blue sparkles.  I used 2 easy coats and the formula was fantastic.  Application was smooth and easy.  I finished with 1 layer of topcoat.   

Coquette is another polish from the Fan Collection 2.0.  I see Coquette as a perfect blend of coral and pink with lovely silvery shimmer.  This one might very well be my favorite in this post.  I love how girly and demure Coquette is.  But it's a perfect every day color and will work so perfectly for the spring and summer months!  Coquette had a fabulous crelly like formula and great application.  I used 2 coats and 1 layer of topcoat.  

Here it is...Aqua Lily.  Many a polish fanatics holy grail.  I completely understand why, it's gorgeous.  Most recently released in the Bring It Back 4, Aqua Lily was inspired by the Maldives, Aqua Lily mimics the "turquoise water is a crystal-clear sea green" with a "shimmery-pink hue."  It's truly a fabulous color.  The pink shimmer is so strong in my opinion it really makes the polish something special!  I used 3 easy and smooth coats for full and perfect coverage.  Sadly, Aqua Lily is an RBL RIP color.  

This "dark mossy green pond" polish with a "glittering cast of copper shimmer" is Turn It Around.  Turn It Around is part of the Emoting Me collection.  Isn't Turn It Around a beautiful and unique color?  When I first saw the preview I knew I must have it!  Once on my nails it didn't disappoint!  The chunky copper (and pink) shimmer really stands out against the green base.  The formula was nice, a little sheer. Application was good.  I used 3 coats and 1 layer of topcoat.   Turn It Around is currently on the RBL RIP list.  

Moving along to another oldie but goodie - this is the original Scrangie.  Scrangie is a "tinted purple with an iridescent blue-green shimmer."  I found the color of Scrangie really lovely, but the shimmer was a bit heavy for my personal taste.  The first coat applied sheer but in 3 coats it had built up to full coverage.  Scrangie is another RBL RIP color.  

I have another purple to share and this one is bright and beautiful!  Pause is another polish from the Emoting Me collection.  Pause is a "multi-faceted mid-violet" with same tone and fuchsia shimmer.  I love this royal purple color.  This was another one that was high on my list for favorites for this review set.  The formula and application of Pause were both amazing.  Pause is such a rich color.  I used 2 coats for cull coverage and 1 layer of topcoat.