Lumina Lacquer Moon Child (fraternal twin post with The Mani Cafe)

Good morning!  I have a fun "twin" post for you today.  But it's more of a fraternal twin post because The Mani Cafe and I didn't do exactly the same thing.  We really just wanted to show off a gorgeous Lumina Lacquer - Moon Child to be exact, and we wanted to do it on the same day.  This was my first Lumina Lacquer and I was obsessed (with the polish and the brand) from the minute it arrived.  You can see my post way back when to see how I wore it in the past HERE!  It's still my favorite Lumina to date!  Anywho, have you checked out The Mani Cafe yet?  The gal behind it is one of my polish besties and one of the sweetest gals around.  And hello her nail art is amazing!  She even did Totoro nails just for me because she knows how much I love that character!  Make sure you head over and check out The Mani Cafe's Moon Child mani too (link to post is HERE)!  Now lets look at what I've got on my nails!
Lumina Lacquer: Shop, Facebook, Instagram Julie G: Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter China Glaze: Website, Facebook, Instagram , Twitter
So I started my mani with Julie G Shark's Cove.  Shark's Cove is a super pretty minty sea foam colored polish packed with mint, pink and silver shimmer.  The shimmer is really stunning.  The first coat was a little patchy and sheer but after 3 coats all was well.  I topped Shark's Cove with Lumina Lacquer Moon Child.  Moon Child is mostly pink, white and purple glitters in a clear base.  I see lots of fun shapes; stars, flowers, diamonds, and large circles.  It's also got a healthy dose of micro glitter.  The glitter came out easily and in abundance.  It spread well and laid flat on my nails.  I then did an accent nail with China Glaze QT, a perfect magenta linear holo.  I did find the formula a little thin (compared to theindie holos that I am used to) but it covered completely in 2 coats.  I used 1 layer of topcoat on all my glitter nails.  

piCture pOlish SPAM!

Good afternoon!  I wanted to try out my piCture pOlish that I hadn't given love to and found it really funny that 5 out of 6 were reds (well and a pink).  I have 1 blue (Paradise) but thought it would look funny in this post.  So I guess it turned into a "pick your Valentine shade" post!  I found all of these colors amazing and gorgeous and perfect both in formula and application.  So let's take a look at all these lovely piCture pOlish shades of LOVE.  

piCture pOlish:  Shop, Overall Beauty, Llarowe, Harlow & Co, Sally's Magpies, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter

Up first is O'Hara.  HELLO gorgeous, bright and classy red!  I really loved O'Hara.  It actually might be my favorite of the post.  O'Hara is described as a "bright red crelly (creme/jelly) holographic (scattered) and has NO glitter."  I was absolutely smitten with the glowy holo shimmer against the red base - perfection!  I used 2 coats and no topcoat. 

Up next in the list is Dorothy.  Another fabulous red.  Dorothy is a beautiful strawberry-red with super sparkly silver micro flakies.  The amount of sparkle on Dorothy absolutely captures it's inspiration of those famous blingy red shoes.  I used 2 coats and 1 layer of topcoat.  

Moving along to a pink - Tease.  Tease, which I can't find on the pIcture pOlish website now might very well be a discontinued color?  Don't quote me on that.   Here we have a pink-berry shade with loads of silvery micro flakies.  This color and the flakies work so perfectly together.  I think if Marilyn Monroe in her sexy hot pink dress when I look at this color.  I used 2 coats of Tease and 1 layer of topcoat.  

Focus is a gorgeous "red/violet saturn creme with a stunning mix of silver/blue micro sparks."  This color is so rich.  The berry hue of Focus is very flattering and the "micro sparks" are very delicate so as to not overwhelm the base color.  I used 2 coats of Focus and no topcoat.  Though next time I would use topcoat because you can see the "micro sparks" have a but of a gritty look in my close up.  

Last but not least...my first pIcture pOlish and still my favorite.  Monroe.  The original jelly, vampy, holo shimmer Monroe.  The new version is the same color base - that blood red shade, but the new version is packed with holographic pigments.  Both versions are lovely, but the original just has that sexy boudoir vibe that I love.  Monroe is jelly perfection.  I used 3 coats of Monroe and no topcoat.  Look at that squishy, shiny, seductive polish!  

The Nail Junkie SPAM!

All right, all right (a-la Matthew McConaughey).  I'm jumping back into the posting pool with a spam post featuring one of my favorite indie brands.  The Nail Junkie has been around for about 2 years now (give or take) and has amazing collections that she keeps growing and adding to.  Her collections are beautiful and her labels are super cute.  Every one that I have tried has been amazing.  I have a variety to show tonight, polish that comes from several of the available collections.  Let's just jump in and admire the beauty of The Nail Junkie.  

The Nail Junkie: Blog, Shop, Facebook, Instagram

Up first I have Leaf from the Fall 2013 collection.  This is a gorgeous coppery-gold micro flakie glitter topper.  It's actually 4 colors of flakie glitter to create a complex and luxurious look.  It's absolutely stunning and blingy and rich.  Leaf covered really well and I think it would look great over many colors.  Leaf had a smooth and easy to apply formula.  I layered 2 coats of Leaf over 3 coats of Orange (from the Neon Shimmer Jelly Fruits collection).  I'm pretty sure my version of Orange is the original color because the newest versions of the Neon Shimmer Jelly Fruits have been amped up in color).  But this version of Orange was the perfect indie color for Leaf.  This jelly built up great and also had a fantastic formula.  I finished with 1 layer of topcoat.  

This is another combo that's all The Nail Junkie!  I started this mani with 3 layers of Grape, another fabulous color from the Neon Shimmer Jelly Fruit collection.  What I love most about this collection is the holographic shimmer.  They are all so beautiful!  Grape, much like Orange, was easy to apply and had a great formula.  I topped Grape with Angel from the recent Winter collection.  Angel is made up of "5 different shades of clear color-shift micro flakies in a clear base."  I loved how delicate and angelic this looked.  Angel really gave an ethereal look to Grape.  I think Angel is another topper that would look fabulous over many colors.  Angel applied with ease and the formula was lovely.   I used 1 coat of Angel and 1 layer of topcoat.  

This turned out to be my favorite combination of the bunch.  I started with one of my favorite Nail Junkies - Blueberry.  Yes, you guessed it, another Neon Shimmer Jelly Fruit!  Honestly that collection is really amazing - if you don't have any you need to try them!  Blueberry has a fantastic formula and applied like a dream.  I used 3 coats of Blueberry.  I then used Fairy, "a whimsical`and fun glitter topcoat full of silver hex glitter, pink stars, purple stars and a dash of holographic micro glitter."  Fairy is gorgeous!  I love it so much!  It's an amazing glitter topper and I am kicking myself for waiting so long to try it!  I used 1 coat of Fairy (hello loads of glitter with 1 coat!) and it applied magically!  I finished with 1 layer of topcoat.  

Hello neon-awesomeness!  This turned out so much better than I'd imagined it in my head!  Unicorn and Watermelon turned out to be an amazing pair!  Watermelon is from the Neon Shimmer Jelly Fruit collection and is a stunning red-orange color.  You know I adore this color so Watermelon is one of my other favorites from this collection.  Watermelon is so bright and juicy!  I used 3 coats and the formula and application were both wonderful.  I topped Watermelon with 2 coats of Unicorn.  Unicorn is a fun "bright and shimmery glitter topcoat polish made up of 5 different shades of neon hex glitter and a dash of micro holographic glitter."  Unicorn had a great glitter payoff and applied easily.  The glitters spread evenly and laid flat.  I finished with 1 layer of topcoat.  

Finally we have Peacock.  One of the most recent additions to the Animal collection, Peacock is a an absolutely fabulous mix of "gold, blue and green micro glitters all floating in a barely there blue jelly base."  This beauty can be worn alone in a couple coats or over a base color in one coat.  Since I already had it sitting next to me I used Grape as a base color and layered 1 coat of Peacock on top.  The colors in this polish are luxurious and beautiful.  Peacock had a gorgeous formula and applied like a dream.  I finished this with 1 layer of topcoat.