Haul: June!

Hello! Happy weekend!

Another month of 2013 comes to a close! June flew by so fast, my head is spinning. Work has been and still is crazy-busy. We celebrated my Mr.'s birthday with two weekend trips, and wedding planning is in full swing (less than three months to go!) So, onto the haul!

First purchase of the month was from llarowe. Leah Ann always gets me with those flash sales! I picked up Hits After Glow and Lambada; Dollish Polish Crystal Empire and Have a Berry Good Day; and Hare Polish The Teen Queen.

Llarowe lovelies. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

 Even though my super awesome fiance's birthday was in June, he got ME a present or two! ^_^ He snagged a few Pure Ice glitters for me. I always love his random little gifts because I love to see what he picks out for me. This is It's Complicated and I'll Behave.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

One particularly bad day, I attempted to drown my sorrows in nail polish. Retail therapy in the form of KBShimmers! This is Sugar Plum Faerie, Quantum Leaf, Don't Teal Anyone, and No Whine Left. Many lemmings were killed this day.

KBShimmer Loot. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

On the same day, Lush Lacquer announced the launch of their new neon collection, and I was terribly smitten with TGIF and Glowsticks. Neon. Glitter. I die. o_O These babies didn't even have the honor of making it onto my official Wish List before falling into my grabby hands. These were also a gift from my guy! He spoils me so. :)

Lush Lacquers. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Lastly, Nerdlacquer restocked this past Monday and I ACTUALLY GOT SOME! *happy dance* I came away with two polishes but four more lemmings! I probably had time to add the others that I wanted to my cart, but, um, you can see I already did enough damage to my poor bank account this month! lol Next time! They're not here yet, so I'll keep secret as to which two should be arriving in my mailbox soon. I'll put those in next month's haul.

More soon! ^_^

NOTW: Pink and Black Skittles

Hello!

Here's what I had on my nails all of last week. It wore like iron!

So, this crazy mess of a mani started with a base coat of Duri Rejuvacote and two coats of China Glaze Smoke & Ashes finished off with one coat of Seche Vite. To my pointer and pinkie, I stuck on some heart shaped plastic chits from a nail art wheel and topped those off with one coat of INM Northern Lights. My middle finger got one lovely coat of Elevation Polish Daisen topped off with the usual, Gelous plus Seche Vite. Thumb got the same treatment but with Dollish Polish Crystal Empire. Finally, my ring finger got stamped with the starts from BM-14 using Pure Ice Gossip, which then got some Northern Lights love as well.

Aren't those two glitters awesome?! If you want Daisen, get it now. Elevation Polish announced Daisen, along with Stay Behind, Catch A Wave, will be retired in September. Check 'em out here!

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Elevation Polish Haba Xueshan

Hello again!

Today I have Elevation Polish's Haba Xueshan to show you!

Elevation Polish Haba Xueshan. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Haba Xueshan was a BIG lemming of mine (along with Stay Behind, Catch a Wave and Daisen), so I was quite happy when I was able to buy all three during a recent restock. Anyway, Haba Xueshan is a nice twist on the black and white glitter trend. This has white, black, and icy blue glitters -- I'll list the shapes out by color, there's a lot going on here! White: tiny, small, medium, and large hexes; bar glitter. Black: tiny, small, and large hexes; small squares. Icy blue matte: medium and extra large circles. So fun!!!

Elevation Polish Haba Xueshan. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today are one coat of Haba Xueshan, one coat of Gelous, and one coat of NYC In a New York Minute over China Glaze Orange You Hot?. Formula on this polish is awesome. This is just one swiped on coat!

Elevation Polish Haba Xueshan. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

Elevation Polish runs their restocks on the 7th and 22nd of each month can be found here. Llarowe has just started carrying them as well!

Elevation Polish Haba Xueshan. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: China Glaze When Stars Collide

Hello!

Another from China Glaze's Hologlam Collection! This is Strap On Your Moonboots' lovely sister, When Stars Collide.

China Glaze When Stars Collide. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

When Stars Collide is a wonderful, plummy holo. Like Strap On Your Moonboots, the holo isn't terribly strong, but it adds a nice touch in direct sunlight.

China Glaze When Stars Collide. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

Swatches today are two coats of When Stars Collide plus one coat of NYC In a New York Minute over bare nails. Since I had some issues with Strap On Your Moonboots over a base coat, I thought I'd try this one out on naked nails. Application is MUCH better without a base coat. I didn't have as many issues with balding or dragging with today's polish as I did with yesterday's.

China Glaze When Stars Collide. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Again, Head2Toe Beauty is where I bought this polish.

China Glaze When Stars Collide. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: China Glaze Strap On Your Moonboots

Why hello there!

I hope you're all doing well! Sorry for the minor hiatus back there. Life just got busy. Really, really busy. I had swatches done and pictures edited... all ready to go... I just didn't get any of the type-ity, type, type done. It's still busy around here, but at least I feel like my head is above water now. So, we can get back on track! To the polish!

This is China Glaze Strap On Your Moonboots from the recent Hologlam Collection.

China Glaze Strap On Your Moonboots. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Strap On Your Moonboots is a gorgeous navy holo. The holo isn't super strong with this one, but it does glimmer nicely in the sun.

China Glaze Strap On Your Moonboots. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

Swatches today are a base of Seche Clear, two coats of Strap on Your Moonboots, and one coat of NYC In a New York Minute. The formula on this polish is not forgiving and will bald easily. It will not withstand any manipulation, so make sure each coat is dry before applying the next one. Otherwise, I found this to be nicely pigmented.

China Glaze Strap On Your Moonboots. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I snagged this bottle from Head2Toe Beauty.

China Glaze Strap On Your Moonboots. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

 More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: China Glaze Orange You Hot?

Hello!

China Glaze Orange You Hot? Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

My recent Head2Toe Beauty haul included this year-long lemming from China Glaze, Orange You Hot? This was released last summer in the 2012 Summer Neons collection.

China Glaze Orange You Hot? Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Orange You Hot? is a perfectly summery neon orange with orange shimmer. It isn't as searingly neon as I had hoped for, but it is still fun!

China Glaze Orange You Hot? Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

Swatches today are a base coat of Seche Clear, three coats of Orange You Hot?, and one coat of NYC In a New York Minute. Formula is easy to apply -- no issues here!

China Glaze Orange You Hot? Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: China Glaze It's a Trap-eze!

Hi!

I have a more recently released polish on the blog today! This is China Glaze's It's a Trap-eze! It's a Trap-eze!, besides having an awesomely nerdy name, is an exciting, multi-colored glitter bomb in a sheer, white base. There are two sizes of hex glitters in a rainbow of colors. It's a party in a bottle!

China Glaze It's a Trap-eze! Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

For these swatches, I've used three coats of It's a Trap-eze! plus one coat of Gelous and one of Seche Vite over a base of Seche Clear. Formula is better than I expected -- it is thick with all that glitter, but surprisingly easy to work with. The glitter doesn't clump up or drag/bald much. I expect that dry time on this would be long and suspect waiting in between coats for the polish to fully dry would be best.

China Glaze It's a Trap-eze! Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Honestly, this polish is too crazy, busy for me. As I've repeatedly stated, I prefer a sparser glitter, so I tried layering just one coat of It's a Trap-eze! over China Glaze Re-fresh Mint to see if I liked how that looked better than on it's own. I also added a layer of Gelous plus NYC In a New York Minute to smooth and gloss. I think I prefer this look!

China Glaze It's a Trap-eze! over China Glaze Re-fresh Mint. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

It's a Trap-eze! turns out to be a versatile polish. I purchased mine from my local Sally Beauty, but they don't carry these seasonal collections very long. Head2Toe Beauty is my go-to for polishes from older collections.

China Glaze It's a Trap-eze! Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Naild'it Candy Corn

Hello!

I've got another oldie on tap today. This is Naild'It's Candy Corn from last fall.

Naild'It Candy Corn. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Candy Corn is chock full of tiny and small copper hexes. There are fewer medium matte yellow, orange, black, and white hexes in there as well, and a sparser smattering of black and white bar glitters and some extra large, white and black hexes. All together, they make up a really great looking glitter topper. Lovely for fall (hey, it's almost fall again! I'm only like 8 months behind...)!

Naild'It Candy Corn. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today are one coat of Candy Corn and one coat of Gelous plus Seche Vite over yesterday's China Glaze Fast Track swatch. This swipes on easily, but I did take care to purposefully place the larger glitters for even distribution and personal aesthetic preference.

Naild'It Candy Corn. Outdoors, natural light (shade), no flash.

If I remember correctly, I purchased this bottle from llarowe... last fall during some Black Friday flash sales. I don't think it's currently available from Naild'It or any of their e-tailers, but check out their Facebook page for any news and updates about upcoming colors or re-releases!

Naild'It Candy Corn. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: China Glaze Fast Track

Hello!

China Glaze Fast Track. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

This is China Glaze Fast Track from last year's Colors from the Capitol collection.

China Glaze Fast Track. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Fast Track is one of my favorite neutrals. The base color works with my skin tone, but it's the shimmer that I love the most. Oh the shimmer! This polish is packed with golden shimmer, and it is gorgeous!

China Glaze Fast Track. Outdoors, natural light (shade), no flash.

Swatches today area base coat of Seche Clear, three coats of Fast Track, and one coat of NYC In a New York Minute. The formula here is easy to work with, but a tad sheer, causing me to need three coats instead of my usual two.

China Glaze Fast Track. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

This lovely polish can still be found at places like Head2Toe Beauty, which is probably where I bought my bottle. It's waited patiently for it's turn in the spotlight for a long time, so I can't be sure where I purchased it!

China Glaze Fast Track. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

NOTW: Sweet Heart Skittles!

Hello, hello!

I've got a sweet, sugary mani this week that was inspired by Sally Hansen's All Yarned Up. I started with a base coat of Duri Rejuvacote and three coats of Cult Nails Untamed, which I absolutely love to bits! It is such a fun pink.

To my pinkie and ring fingers, I added one dabbed coat of All Yarned Up topped with Gelous plus Seche Vite. My middle and pointer fingers got stamped with the heart image from Bundle Monster plate BM-317 with Zoya Robyn and Pure Ice Gossip, respectively, and then were topped with one coat of NYC In a New York Minute.

Finally, I added the two heart shapes from a nail art wheel to my thumb using NYC. Since they are flat and I have really curved nails, I wanted to be sure they'd stick around all week, so I added a coat of Gelous plus a coat of Seche Vite over that. Those bits of plastic are NOT coming off my nail! They are buried in clear coat!

I'm really pleased with how this turned out -- it's cheerful and fun! It reminds me of candy! More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Color Club Cosmic Fate

Hello!

This is Color Club Cosmic Fate from the newest Halo Hues collection!

Color Club Cosmic Fate. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Cosmic Fate is super, incredibly, almost unbelievably, very, very holographic in direct sunlight. Look at that light bend!

Color Club Cosmic Fate. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

The base orange color does appear a little washed out from all that holo goodness and ends up looking like a delicate peach polish indoors. It still throws a bit of a rainbow bend indoors, though. So much so, that when I wore this out shopping, the cashier at the mall grabbed my hand and was like "What is this polish!?!" She had never heard of Color Club before... either you're welcome for introducing you or I'm sorry I may have started another polish fiend down this road, Miss Icing Store Cashier. ^_^

Color Club Cosmic Fate. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today are a base coat of Duri Rejuvacote, and two coats of Cosmic Fate (no topcoat). This has a super formula. It glides on easily, dries fast, and is quite forgiving. Orange holo perfection!

I purchased this bottle during my celebratory Head2Toe Beauty haul.

Color Club Cosmic Fate. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Essence Space Queen

Hello!

Another Essence polish swatched today. This is Space Queen.

Essence Space Queen. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Space Queen was an impulse buy. It looked so pretty in the bottle, so I had to have it! It is simply a ton of small, iridescent glitter in a lightly tinted base. The base is too sheer to reach opacity, but I think that base color is what really appealed to me. I wanted to get this to look as much like the bottle as possible on the nail, so I layered it over yesterday's Peach & Cream. This is one coat of Space Queen over yesterday's swatch plus one coat of Seche Vite. The formula was okay -- no issues to report.

Essence Space Queen. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

This is simple and pretty. It will add a nice, subtle bit of sparkle to any mani. The iridescent glitters like to hide in most lighting conditions, but they really show up nicely outside in natural, not direct light. Check out the pretties in the shade!

Essence Space Queen. Outdoors, natural light, no flash.

Like yesterday's Essence polish, this one was purchased at Ulta.

Essence Space Queen. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Essence Peach & Cream

Hello!

Essence Peach & Cream. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Today, I've got a quick post on Essence Peach & Cream.

Essence Peach & Cream. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Peach & Cream is a lovely peach with subtle shimmer. You can barely see the shimmer even in the sunlight, but I promise, it is there! This polish is pale and pretty, and I kind of totally love it.

Essence Peach & Cream. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash. Hidden shimmer!

Swatches today are a base coat of Duri Rejuvacote, three coats of Peach & Cream, and one coat of Seche Vite. The formula on this polish is so-so. It went on rather streaky, so it took all of those three coats to get an even finish.

Essence Peach & Cream. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

I found this one in the always picked over display at my nearest Ulta. I had been on the hunt for the perfect peachy polish, and I think I found it!

Essence Peach & Cream. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Candy Lacquer Candy Dots

Hello!

We're starting the week with a fun polish. This is Candy Lacquer Candy Dots!

Candy Lacquer Candy Dots. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Candy Dots is a simple glitter topper. The clear base is loaded with shiny, circle glitters in fuchsia, light pink, green, yellow, bright blue, and red.

Candy Lacquer Candy Dots. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today are one dabbed coat plus one coat of Gelous and then one of NYC In a New York Minute over Thursday's Caribbean Blue swatch. I found this polish to be rather thick and the glitter wanted to clump together. I think it could benefit from a bit of thinner before its next use. It's worth the effort -- it's a fun, happy polish.

Candy Lacquer Candy Dots. Outdoors, natural light (shade), no flash.

I bought my bottle from Candy Lacquer's store. It looks like they are currently on a hiatus, so check out their Facebook page for updates on restocks and new polishes.

Candy Lacquer Candy Dots. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^