Nfu-Oh #51

Before we get to the pretties, I want to remind you of our giveaway. It is going on until January 2. You can enter by going here. Lotsa great stuff with possible surprise gifts later!

Ok, on to the new edition to my lovlies! This is a lemming of mine for over a year now, and I found it! There were a few on FabulouStreet.com, and I snagged one!

The bottle is so adorable! #51 is from the Victorian Series. This is discontinued and can be hard to find, but it seems they have several! I highly recommend going there to get one if you don't have it. The formula... Well, it was spectacular. So easily applied. Even thin coats gave a great amount of flakies. It is very sheer, and hard to build without VNL.

I did index and pinky with just #51. My middle finger is Rimmel Black Satin with two coats of #51, and ring finger has OPI Russian Navy with two coats of #51.

With Flash

Over black and over blue gives different flashes of color. The blue gives off a peach color, where the black gives off a bronze-y orange. It's so versatile.

With Flash

Natural Light

Natural Light

I also tried it over a deep red and a bright orange to see if it would show off the green and blue flashes, but that didn't work. I will be trying other combos and will post which ones work out well.

Do you already have this polish? What combos have you tried? Post any of your pics on our FB site here.

Rachel

Christmas Tree Mani

Today I tried a fairly simple technique. A "V" shaped tape mani. I have seen some uses of this to make christmas trees, but wanted to do a skittles of glitter trees. Albeit, it came out looking a bit sloppy with the pictured. Macro can be unforgiving. But to the naked eye, it looks great. To me at least!

I used Spa Ritual Rhythm of Life for the green base. My index finger is Hard Candy Black tie optional with a silver glitter star, middle is OPI Polka.Com With a purple star, ring finger is Carpe Noctem Cosmetics Hyperion with a gold star, and pinky is Julep Paris with a blue star.

I definitely will be doing this technique again. This time, since the pictures were unforgiving, and I just couldn't get  more than one good one after MANY taken, I only have the one to show you.

Out of the 4, I loved how the Carpe Noctem came out. It was a ONE COAT, where the others were a couple with placement of some glitter. So, as I have gushed before, Emily hits it out of the park again!

Have you tried this technique? What did you think of it? Share your manis on our Facebook page so we can all enjoy them! I look forward to seeing what you guys have done!

Rachel

The Giveaway is LIIIIIIIIVE!

Go Check out our Facebook page HERE and enter!
There's one prize, and it's OPI-riffic!

The first item is a mini set from the Couture de Minnie release earlier this year.

The second item is a duo of Spotted the Lizard and Stainless Steel. With all the duo and multi chromes coming out, I felt this would be a great addition to anyone's collection!

The third item is a Merry Fashionista box with a charm bracelet and bottle of Excuse Moi!

Good luck to everyone!

This giveaway runs until January 2, 2014. All prizes were purchased by me, Rachel. There is no sponsorship of any kind in this giveaway. All entries will be verified. Any entry that do not meet, will end up in disqualification.  The winner must respond within 48 hours of notification, or another winner will be chosen.
*****EDIT***** This giveaway is for U.S. Only. Unfortunately at this time we cannot extend to international addresses. If you have a U.S. address to send it to, we would be happy to have you join!



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LA Bella Vernice - Tinkerbell

Today is a new polish maker to me. La Bella Vernice.
I ordered 5 minis from her collection, one of which is Tinkerbell. It's a soft blue holo. The formula was great! Went on smooth and easy, and dry time was quick. It is a scattered holo, of which I am really liking lately. I'm still a lover of linear, but this really captured my heart.
I layered it over Sinful Colors Love Nails. I think that the color really matched well with Tinkerbell, and only enhanced the holo.

The Accent nail is Orly's Sparkling Garbage, another scattered holo polish that I absolutely ADORE.

I did some stamping with "I <3 Nail Polish" with a little polish bottle using NOPI Stolen Kisses. 

Tinkerbell really seemed to me like fairy dust, and that it was floating! That was really hard to capture in the photos, but it was a great effect. 

You can buy from her store at www.bellavernice.com. 

Rachel

Map Nerls!

As promised a LONG time ago, I use my water decals of a map!
I REALLLLLY love how they turned out. It was the EASIEST mani I have ever done. I used Fing'rs Edge Nail Tattoos. You can get them at Wal-Mart, and I have been seeing them at Bed, Bath and Beyond n their cosmetics area. There are two bottles of polish and three designs. Each design comes with 10 sheets of tattoos, but I only used three for both hands! One I totally ruined because I thought, hey lets see if alcohol works better. DO NOT DO THIS. Cuz it doesn't work at all. Water is what you should use. And yeah, if you're smart, you read directions. Not like I did and didn't read directions. Oh well. MAYBE that is why they are called "WATER Decals"...
ANYHOO... I painted my nails with a white base using OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls, and let it dry completely. The I applied the tattoos. Make sure you let them dry before putting on a top coat. Super simple. One other tip. Take off the excess decal from your skin while it is still wet. If you wait it gets pretty sticky and harder to come off.

Do you have these? What did you think after trying them? Gimme a comment and let me know!

Rachel

Nerd Lacquer Warrior Ethos

Today we have Nerd Lacquer Warrior Ethos.
This beautiful red jelly is UHMAYZINGUH! The formula is so perfect. The glitter goes so well with the red base. And the DEPTH! Oh the depth...
I just cannot express with my limited vocabulary how much I love this polish.
Just let the pics speak...

Looking at it close up, it's like you can swim in this polish and make it rain glittah! Another reason why I covet my Nerds.

Rachel

Nerd Lacquer The Lando System and Sweetheart Cloud Mani

Here for your pleasure is another addition of my Nerd Lacquer collection!
As always, it was a dream. Glitter was amazing. It's a smidge paler than some of the swatches out there, but I still love it dearly. Fo the accent nail I wanted something that would go along with the theme of the polish. What better than a cloud mani!!! I debated on stamping or trying my hand at the ever lovely cloud mani technique I have been seeing.
Don't let the simplicity of that technique fool you. Those lines have to be spaced well and have a nice curve at the top. I failed miserably several times, and tried it on a swatch wheel for a couple tries after having to remove failed attempts from my nail many times. I'm not the best at nail art, so this was fun and challenging.
Now, I wanted to do the cloud technique, but want to put a spin on it. So instead of three stripes for each color, I did a 4-3-2 stripes. I loved how the last color came out as a heart! Considering my love of Star Wars and Nerd Lacquer, I found it quite fitting.

I used colors from the glitter for the cloud accent nail. There is lovely bronze small glitter, the lovely lilac blue small glitter, pink medium hex, and a gorgeous teal blue shimmer to it that is practically impossible to capture.  The base is Finger Paints Figure of Art, with Rimmel Wild Orchid, Ciate Pepperminty, and Sinful Colors Cotton Candy.
I will still be practicing this technique, as I love it. I think "Sweetheart Cloud Mani" is appropriate to call this, dontcha think?

Rachel

La Bella Vernice - Mood Swings Thermal Polish Review

I got exactly what I wanted for my birthday! 

Now that we've addressed my reaction to the perfect gifts, I'll gladly share my shiny treasures! La Bella Vernice Feeling Blue and Feeling Shameless  (as well as more shiny pretties I'll swatch later!) made their way into my collection and I have been obsessed with them since! I can't stop playing with the temperature and ogling the holo payoff. These polishes are gorgeous! 

After being under hot tap water

Both colors are very sheer when applied and need at least 3 coats for full coverage. Feeling Blue was a bit more sheer (especially when warm). I did notice that both had a grittier formula, but that was easily remedied with a top coat.

After being in cold tap water

Let's talk SHIFT. Feeling Shameless easily changes colors between a beautiful cornflower blue to a vibrant blurple. Running my hands under the faucet causes quick and dramatic shifts in color. When my fingers get cold while working, the purple lets me know to grab a lap blanket!

After being under ice water

Feeling Blue is a bit shyer and requires a more dramatic temperature change to see the shift from a light Cinderella blue/grey to a darker cornflower blue. When the house gets cold, it is a bit darker than its "warm" tone, but unless I have ice on hand I don't get to see the vibrant blue color. That doesn't bother me as the Cinderella blue/grey is one of my favorite colors.

Index and Middle: Hot / Ring and Pinky: Ice Cold

I'm over the moon for these two (especially together!) and they only solidified in my mind the need for more temperature affected polishes. Do you have any recommendations?

Nerd Laquer Hyper Space Bypass and Mentality Black Holo

GOT NERDS!
Had to yell it. WOOT!
Today is Nerd Lacquer's Hyperspace Bypass. I tried to find something for an accent that would not overwhelm HB, and accent the name. What better than a space-y looking black linear holo!!! Mentality's Black Holo is gorgeous. Unfortunately I couldn't get sunlight to make it shine. :( The flash on my camera made it come out some, but not do it justice. It is a STRONG holo.
Now, for the HB. LOVE EET! Spectacular formula, glitter payoff insane, and dries quickly. I do understand why they are so sought after, and sad that the make fell on hard times.

Do you have anything from Nerd Lacquer or Mentality? How much are you in love with them?!

Rachel

Destined Bff's - Cadillaquer Masterpiece and Scofflaw David Bowie's Bulge

It's true, there are kindred spirits out there. Same goes for nail polish.
When I got Scofflaw's David Bowie's Bulge, I thought... This is it. Perfection. Love at first site. Then Cadillaquer made Masterpiece. And I fell in love again (sorry, Pierre. I love you too, just differently). One day the polishes were sitting next to each other and BAM! They fell in love with each other! It happens. Inanimate objects falling in love. This love had to be expressed on my nails. :D

So, BFF's in polish land. Whodathunk?

The way the glitter just POPS in each is so wonderful.
The other day I also thought about what would be in my top 5 favorite polishes of ALL TIME. These two are in it.

Until next time,
Rachel

Challenge - Birthday/Halloween Nails - Zombie Cupcakes

Last week was my birthday and this week, I got my present from Rachel! Happy Birthday, me!! Ladies and gents, I've made it 30 years on this planet and finally met the polish of my dreams.

After breaking the crap out of my nail and having to mow them to less than half their length (TRAGEDY), I was feeling less than elegant.  I wanted to do something fun to make up for it and haven't yet tried the cupcake nails I see so many ladies on r/redditlaqueristas sporting on their birthdays. With Halloween around the corner, Rachel and I brainstormed these adorable zombie cupcakes!

I had started the manicure with Julep Francis, Julep Cleopatra, and Sinful Colors Dream on. As I was being indecisive over what to use as sprinkles, my birthday present came: Nerd Lacquer All of Time and Space! It is stunning and made for some perfect sprinkles!

The formula is ridiculously smooth and full of glitter. The glitter does settle in the bottle but simply turning the bottle upside down for a short time remedies the issue. All of Time and Space applies evenly, dries quickly, and results in a smooth (no glitter bumps!), shiny coat of polish. I'm in flipping LOVE.

Have you met a polish that raised your expectations of all other polishes? I'm pretty sure that just happened to me.

Challenge - Monster & Halloween!!!

Once again, I have put two challenges together since they were pretty similar. Monster and Halloween!

I chose to do a Witch-y theme. Not that many witches are monsters, but it works. I am very happy with my mani this time! Took a bit, and I tried a new technique of bubble mani. Definitely need practice for that technique, but the effect came out ok.

The index finger is a cauldron using the bubble technique. Meh, but was interesting to try it out. Will definitely be attempting again. Then middle is the lovely witch. I didn't want her to be ugly, so she is kinda glamourous with sparkly skin. My ring finger is "eye of newt". I have always loved that phrase for some strange reason, and Cadillaquer's Masterpiece just screamed it! Of which, it is a spectacular polish! It's like a reverse Scofflaw's David Bowie's Bulge. That's a combo that will be tried, fo sho! Last, pinky kitty! I didn't give him a pink nose because my cat is all black with a black nose. I did want him to have one, so it made it grey.

My thumb I did a sparkly jelly green for sparkly slime!

What do you think?! I really loved doing this one. My freehand has been getting pretty bad lately, so this turning out was a big boost in confidence.
What were your Halloween mani's?

Rachel

Glitter Gal Crushed Ego, with special guest Naild'It PURP... Excuse Me!

Huge fan of holo's here!
Today is Glitter Gal Crushed Ego. LOVE IT! Got a lil' bit o' accent with Naild'It PURP... Excuse Me!

Now these pics came out really close to the real color for Crushed Ego. I would put it as a bright royal purple. PURP... Excuse Me! is pretty close too. I am still learning, but they are great polishes, and highly recommend you get you some!
Naild'It is a new brand for me to use, and have been wanting to try them out for a long time. TWO lemmings knocked off my list!
Please ignore the chip on my forefinger I did not see before taking the pics, even if it is very obvious I SHOULD have seen it...

I did find PURP a little on the thicker side. After reading the description on Etsy, they did say that because of the raw ingredients that it can be a little thicker, and you can add some thinner later if you want. It dried quickly and was pretty easy to apply. And talk about glitter pay off! The large circle glitters I had to fish a little for, but I was not looking to have a million of them on my nail, so turned out perfect after sitting it upside down for a couple minutes.

Have you gotten any new polishes recently? Let me know, and what you thought of them!

Wing Dust - I Am Yours, You Are Mine

I treated myself to a couple new indies, including Wing Dust's I Am Yours, You Are Mine.
By now, you may have guessed that pink, or any shade/hue of pink is my favorite color. This polish is now... My favorite of all time?! IS IT POSSIBLE?! The formula was perfect, color perfect, glitter perfect, holo PERFECT! In the sun it looks like holo strawberry sorbet. Who could ask for more, because that stuff is tasty.

The name reminds me of my dad listening to Crosby, Stills, and Nash. I think that really adds to the love I have for it. We would listen to the oldies station every Saturday. I still remember hearing him whistling along.
Thank you, Wing Dust, for bringing back such a wonderful memory and making a FANTASTIC polish!

Rachel

Challenge - Plants - Venus Fly Trap

Daffy looks just like my late Basil. RIP

Plants are collectively some of the neatest organisms on the planet.  My grandmother is a plant fanatic and has always stopped to smell the roses in her own way (usually that way is by keeping little baggies with her to take clippings and seeds home with her to plant later).  From a very early age I had a healthy respect for how difficult it is to balance loving your plants with drowning them. I don't have any houseplants because I still haven't mastered not going all Abominable Snowman on them. That said, I was pretty stoked for this week's inspiration.

I decided to go after The Venus Fly Trap and I love how they turned out! The texture of the spun sugar feels really neat on the nail while the contrasting colors really pop.  It was a time consuming manicure but definitely worth it for the final look!

First, I painted 2 thin coats of Julep Francis. I free-handed a ruffian over that with NYC Broadway Burgundy Frost and topped with a coat of seche.

Next, I dropped a bit of Julep Francis on some photo paper and mixed it with a toothpick until it was thick and no longer freely dripped. On a fresh toothpick, I grabbed a bead of the tacky polish and brought it up to the nail. I touched the bead to the nail and slowly dragged it diagonally down the nail. When I had gone far enough, I retraced my route so any stringy bits could be easily masked in the line I'd made. Rinse and repeat! When the polish got too thick, I'd add another drop or two and mix thoroughly.

Finally, I used a detail brush to paint the outside edges of each nail with a thin dry brushing of Julep Leah.
This is my second attempt at Spun Sugar.  Have you tried it?

Carpe Noctem Cosmetics & OPI

A while back I got a gorgeous, perfect, spectacular custom polish from Emily at Carpe Noctem Cosmetics. We also were generously given another bottle for our relaunch giveaway. Again, Emily was so AMAZING to work with. I could not gush enough to get this point across. Also recently I purchased Mermaid Tears by OPI. They work PERFECTLY together.  And really do match my kitty's eye color!

Please forgive the dry skin. It's been nutso dry here lately.

With Flash.

I am smitten with large circle glitter. I love how they flash in the light.
One thing I am seeing, and this happens with a lot of super glittery polishes, is that it sucks up the top coat like crazy. However, this does NOT bother me. I like texture, it adds another layer and creates depth, which I enjoy. Some have a problem with that, and it is easily solved with a coat or two extra of top coat.
BRAVO EMILY! Once again, I am so loving this polish!

Until next time,
Rachel

Challenge - Plants

Just like everything, this challenge was filled with good intentions.
And like some things, it fails miserably.
I chose to take pics of this mani anyway, for posterity. I have to say, this is quite possibly the WORST mani I have ever done. Possibly would take 1st prize in a contest for "Worst Mani's EVER". I'm actually pretty proud of that.
No... No I'm not. LOL!
So, I had used Orly's Royal Navy and just LOVE it! I did have a lot of VNL, but the color is just gorgeous. OF COURSE, no pics of the before the rampage of awful came across it. On to the terrible!

Yep. Since I started this blog with Tey, I promised myself that no matter how awful, I would still post it. I think the pinky looks like a daisy put it's leaf in a electrical socket. Looks kinda punk. 

No... No it doesn't.

It's like those "country" hand painted flowers on furniture, but done by a two year old. ROFL!

I was thinking of doing this challenge again, but am ready to just move forward. Already took of that monstrosity and am ready to put on something cheerful and sparkly to make me happy.

Until next time,

Rachel