Saturday, November 23, 2013

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

Friday, November 22, 2013

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

Thursday, November 14, 2013

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

Sunday, November 10, 2013

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

Friday, November 8, 2013

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?

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

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

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

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