A Box Indied June 2016; Campfire Tales

Good morning friends!  I have a fabulous post for you today, showing off all the polishes in the June A Box Indied collaboration box.  The theme for this box is Campfire Tales, ooooh I love me a spooky story!  I actually vividly remember reading Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and being completely terrified at night all alone in my bedroom, but I couldn't stop reading and re-reading the stories.  The 5 polishes in this collaboration box take some of these folklores and translate them into fantastic polishes!  You can preorder your June A Box Indied from 6/1 to 6/4 for $50 USD.  And just like previous months, there will be 5 lucky buyers who receive a $25 gift card to one of the indie brands featured in this box!  Now on to the sad news.  Leah Ann has decided to no longer continue A Box Indied and this will be the last one.  This has been my favorite of the boxes I reviewed so if you were holding out I'd highly suggest you jump on it when the presale window opens.  And I just want close my intro with a thank you to the makers of the A Box Indied, I feel very lucky to have been selected out of the many amazing bloggers in our community to showcase these boxes.  I'm looking forward to seeing these brands in new and exciting collaborations in the future.  

*press sample*

A Box Indied: Llarowe, Facebook, Instagram 

A Box Indied May 2016; Kentucky Derby

Good morning and happy Saturday!  Do you have weekend plans or are you going to lay low and veg out?  My veg out weekends are few and far between, but I definitely enjoy them when I get them.  Sadly this is not one of those weekends.  I've got a race, soccer games and little league games.  I want a nap just thinking about it.  Alas, I won't nap.  But I will share the May 2016 A Box Indeed with you!  The theme for the month is Kentucky Derby.  There's an exciting new comer to the box too...Cirque Colors!  I'm digging the glitter and holo mix this box offers, it's a nice change up of finishes.  You can pick up the A Box Indied for preorder from May 1st to 4th for $50 with free shipping in the US.  Don't forget that there are $25 gift cards inserted in 5 lucky orders!  But wait, there's more!  Just like in previous months there is a giveaway to win the box.  You can find more details HERE Ok ok, enough chit chat, let's check out the polishes in this box!  

*press sample*

A Box Indied: Llarowe, Facebook, Instagram 

A Box Indied April 2016; Take Me Out To The Ballgame

Good morning beauties!  Just finished up my breakfast, boiling some eggs for the kids to dye and planning out a run for the morning before I'm off to a little league game.  Busy busy!  But I have some fantabulous polish to share with you first.  It's the April A Box Indied collaboration, called Take Me Out to the Ballgame.  So yep, baseball inspired pretties.  My husband and I like watching baseball from home, on the couch, where we can fall asleep and wake up and only a couple innings have passed.  But going to the games is fun too, just no napping.  Back to the topic though, this box has 5 beautiful polishes from 5 awesome makers!  The A Box Indied Take Me Out to the Ballgame set will be available from 4/1/16-4/7/16 and is $50, free US shipping.  And don't forget, there are 5 surprise $25 gift cards floating around out there, one from each maker, that could end up in your order!  They are randomly inserted into the boxes so keep your fingers crossed you get one.  Now let's jump into the post and see what we've got going on in this baseball inspired A Box Indied!

*press sample*

A Box Indied: Llarowe, Facebook, Instagram 

A Box Indied March 2016; Spring Theory

Good day to you lovelies!  I am enjoying the warmer weather that we've had in NorCal recently.  While it's still chilly, you can feel the sun warming up your skin and it's nice enough for me to wear sandals and flip flops (thank goodness because unless they are running shoes I loathe wearing anything close-toed).  And you know what?  It's that time of the month again that I am honored to share the upcoming A Box Indied collection!  March brings us the Spring Theory collection, 5 spring-y polishes from fabulous indie brands.  This box will be available for pre-order from 3/1-3/4 and costs $50 plus free US shipping.  The $25 gift cards are also still going on - each maker will provide a gift card to their shop in some lucky orders so there are 5 $25 gift cards floating around out there - maybe one will be in your order!  Ok are you ready?  Let's jump in and check out what Black Cat Lacquer, Contrary Polish, Crows Toes, Fair Maiden Polish and Girly Bits Cosmetics have come up with for this fun sub-box.  

*Press Sample*

A Box Indied: Llarowe, Facebook, Instagram 

A Box Indied; Diamonds are Worthless, Love a Holo February 2016

Good afternoon beauties!  Over here on the West Coast we have been getting loads of rain, but I can't complain because I know you East Coasters are dealing with a major snow storm.  So let's all just cozy up inside with our softest pajamas on and look at nail polish!  I have a fabulous post to share with you today.  A Box Indied will be releasing the February Box, Diamonds are Worthless, Love a Holo very soon and it's full of gorgeous colors inspired by Valentine's Day.  This month brings us Girly Bits, Black Cat Lacquer, Crows Toes, KBShimmer and Colors by Llarowe.  Lots of holo, shimmer, and some flakies to round it out.  A Box Indied Diamonds are Worthless, Love a Holo will be available for pre-order from 2/1 to 2/4.  Each box of 5 polishes will be $50 plus free US shipping.  But wait!  There's more!  Each month there will be a gift card giveaway...each maker in the current box will include a surprise gift card to their shop in the ABI order.  So that's 5 random winners, 5 shop gift cards for $25!  Good luck and let's jump into the post!  

*press sample*

A Box Indied: Llarowe, Facebook, Instagram 

A Box Indied, January 2016

Good evening friends!  Long time no talk!  Sorry for going silent, I really didn't mean to and thought I'd be able to jump right back in to blogging (amongst other things) but when I got back from vacation I found myself pretty jet-lagged for a whole week.  On top of trying to get a handle on laundry and the regular schedule (running, soccer practice and games, basketball, taxi mom-life, school, etc...) I found myself a bit overwhelmed.  But the laundry piles have been put away, the Christmas decorations are packed up, the house is back to is clean-ish state that I can deal with and I can now get back to the old blog.  Phew!  So please accept my apology for sharing this one late - so late in fact that it's no longer available.  But I figured I would share it anyways since I do have the February box on the way to me and well, I hate being behind on things so it just won't feel right to share that one and not this one.  And with that we can all take a gander at the January A Box Indied collection.  Hopefully you were able to snag on of these - not only are they great winter colors, but there are also some fabulous shades for Valentines Day!  Let's jump in and check it out!

*press sample*

A Box Indied: Llarowe, Facebook, Instagram 

Girly Bits Bass Ackwards, September A Box Indied

Good evening lovelies!  I am back today with another post to share!  I really wanted to get this one out quickly because it's release date is coming very soon!  What I have on my nails is something special and flipping HAWT!  The September A Box, Indied has the theme "opposites" for the 5 indies included to work with.  That means they all created a polish very different from their usual style!  Well Pam from Girly Bits went with a thermal.  She's never done a thermal before and it's totally awesome!  Before we get into the post I have to give you the details on how to get the sub-box.  The September A Box, Indied goes on sale on 8/26 and is $50 with free US shipping.  There are 5 full size indie polishes in there.  So now let's all enjoy a look at Bass Ackwards and have a good giggle at the name!

*press sample*

A Box, Indied: Shop, Facebook, Instagram

Girly Bits: Shop, Harlow & Co., Mei Mei's Signatures, Femme Fatale, Foxy Fingertips, Rainbow Connection, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter

Bass Ackwards is a neon orange polish with some golden shimmer and what looks like white flakies.  It's bright!  It's in your face!  It's the prefect end of summer polish color!  The formula and application were both wonderful.  I only needed 2 coats for full coverage and it went on evenly and smoothly.  This is the shade while Bass Ackwards is in it's cold state.  

*artificial light*

This beautiful pink is Bass Ackwards when it's in the hot state.  I love that the bright shade of pink rivals the orange - both are vibrant and loud!  Neither will be ignored! 

*artificial light*

I also wanted to show you Bass Ackwards in direct sunlight (because that's just my thing).  Look how bright this polish is!  I adore it.  

Here's Bass Ackwards warmed up to show off the pink color in the sunlight!  SO BRIGHT!  Seriously, both the hot and cold states really made my camera do some work.  The pink is even more vibrant in person!

How fun is this picture showing the colors together!  Aren't the they perfect pair?  The complement each other very well.  

Colors By Llarowe As Rome Burned, August A Box, Indied

Good morning lovelies!  Tick tock, it's almost time for CosmoProf!  2 days 2 days and I'll be in Vegas!  I almost can't contain myself!  I also can't contain myself because I have some gorgeous polish lined up to share with you, starting with the Colors by Llarowe contribution to the August A Box, Indied.  As Rome Burned is...well I can't even begin to express my feelings towards it.  It's literally breathtaking and left me speechless.  What you need to know; the August A Box, Indied will be available on July 26th and will be $50.  As per the norm, you get 5 polishes from a variety of indie brands.  I like the idea of the box because you can get exclusives from your favorite brands or you can try new brands easily.  Ok well let's check out this swoon-worthy polish, shall we?

*press sample*

Colors by Llarowe: Shop, Facebook, Instagram

A Box Indied: Shop, Facebook, Instagram

Ok so As Rome Burned.  This is a gorgeous rusty red holo.  It really looks like burning embers and it's absolutely stunning.  As Rome Burned is a rich, saturated red that had a fantastic formula.  It applied like butter and covered perfectly in 1 coat.  ONE COATER ALERT!  There is very slight visible nail line in my pictures but in real life you couldn't see anything.  I will suggest a good base coat because there is a possibility you could have some nail or skin staining with As Rome Burned.  I finished my mani with 1 layer of topcoat.  

Colors by Llarowe Luke, I Am Your Father from the May A Box, Indied

Good afternoon lovelies!  Unlike the last couple posts I have done, this one (thankfully) is a polish that you can get.  Phew!  It's actually 1 of 5 polishes in the May's edition of the A Box, Indied collaboration.  The listing is already up on the Llarowe site and you can purchase it on 4/26 at noon and 7pm MST.  The price is $50 for either the individual box or the monthly subscription.  The most important thing you want to know about this box?  It's theme is May The Fourth Be With You.  HELLO Star Wars!  Fandom girls everywhere screamed in excitement (including myself).  I have always loved the original Star Wars movies (the recent trilogy was pretty blah to me though) and I am excited for the upcoming one!  Make sure you peek at the listing to see the other polishes included in the box - I spy 2 glow in the dark beauties!  Ok, let's jump in and talk about the Colors by Llarowe contribution to the May box.

*press sample*

Llarowe: Shop, Facebook, Instagram

Luke, I Am Your Father is a black linear holo.  It has a fairly strong blue flash that gives it a blacked blue look in direct sun.  There is also lots of silver shimmer that you can really see in the shade pictures.   When you get to the macro you can see some black flakies/glitter(?) in there too!  This is probably one of the most rainbow-colorful black holos that I have ever worn.  Luke, I Am Your Father is just really amazing.  The formula was awesome and the application was perfect.  I used 2 coats for full coverage and no topcoat.  I would recommend topcoat for a smoother look.  

 *shade*