Nautical Nail Art

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Hello all my lovely readers! Today I’m gonna show you most recent manicure. I decided on a nautical theme, not sure why I just really wanted to give it a go as I haven’t before. Mermaids and unicorns I’ve done to death but I wanted to do something a little different.

As usual my focus remains on indies so I used all indie polishes (except the white, I really need to get a good indie white and black. I think that will be my next goal. I already know I’ll probably get the ones from Digital Nails but if you wonderful folk have any other suggestions I’m all ears).

For this mani I pulled out some gorgeous creme polishes and one really amazing gold flakie topper. I used Literary Lacquers – Bluestocking Romance and OPNL – Universal Loner were part of the Creme a la Mode box which I have reviewed before. They are really perfect for nail art. The gold flakie topper I chose to go with them is Indigo Bananas – A Star to Sail By.

Literary Lacquers – Bluestocking Romance, OPNL – Universal Loner, and Indigo Bananas – A Star to Sail By

First I started by painting my base colors. I used Bluestocking Romance on my forefinger and pinky finger and I used Universal Loner on my thumb and middle finger. I painted my ring finger with A Star to Sail By (keep in mind it is a topper so I needed to use four coats to reach an acceptable opacity, it is possible though!)

Nautical Nail Art featuring: Literary Lacquers – Bluestocking Romance, OPNL – Universal Loner, and Indigo Bananas – A Star to Sail By

Once I had the base down I added a crisp white stripe to the nails painted with Bluestocking Romance using some nail vinyls to make sure that it was straight and clean. I hand-painted an anchor on my ring finger, I know that freehand nail art intimidates a lot of folks but this one is a really simple design that I think anyone can do! I’m no impressive nail artist and if I can do it then certainly anyone can. Once I had the white accents added I decided it needed some metallic studs. I used a teardrop shaped gold metallic stud on my middle finger and thumb and then I added teensie red metallic studs to each of the white stripes on my forefinger and pinky.

Nautical Nail Art featuring: Literary Lacquers – Bluestocking Romance, OPNL – Universal Loner, and Indigo Bananas – A Star to Sail By

While I do not think that Bluestocking Romance or Universal Loner have been discontinued you will want to check Literary Lacquers new pop-up sales model to find out if and when it will be restocked. OPNL usually also works on a pre-order model and releases certain polishes at certain times. A Star to Sail By is still available at the Indigo Bananas shop! I will include social media and shop links for all three brands below:

Indigo Bananas

Facebook – Instagram – Shop

Literary Lacquers

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Octopus Party Nail Lacquer

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Stamping Nail Art

Nothing to Disclose

Hello all my lovely readers. I promised I was back and here I am again! Today I’m going to show you a pretty mani that has me staring at my nails whenever I think no one is looking!

I started off with a base coat of Indigo Bananas – Immortal Game. How I never reviewed this for you guys before I do not know! So let’s start with that. I’ve actually had this awhile but it is still available on her site. If you don’t have any Indigo Bananas nail polishes…I urge you to go and change that. I haven’t been disappointed yet.

Immortal Game is a turquoise crelly polish filled with glassfleck and a color shifting shimmer. Honestly, it’s a fantastic stand-alone polish even without nail art…but I can’t control myself sometimes. I digress! Back to this polish. The color-shifting shimmer was extremely shy when I tried to photograph it. I did get one picture where you can see a little bit of the yummy shimmer. It’s -much- more prominent in person.

Indigo Bananas – Immortal Game

The application on it was fantastic. Even though it is packed with glassfleck and shimmer it went on smoothly. First coat is a touch sheer but it was opaque in two coats so I have no complaints with that. Pictures show two coats plus topcoat.

Indigo Bananas – Immortal Game

So then, I said to myself let’s stamp this. But then I saw my bottle of Cult Nails – Seduction sitting on my desk (I was testing it out with different things) and I thought…why not add flakies…flakies make every mani better! So I started by adding a thin coat of Seduction over top of Immortal Game. Now this darkened the base a bit because Seduction is a flakie topper in a indigo tinted base. Seduction could not be used alone it’s far too sheer for that, but, it makes an amazing effect topper and is packed with iridescent color shifting flakies.

Indigo Bananas – Immortal Game topped with Cult Nails – Seduction

Then, because as I mentioned I can’t stop (can’t stop won’t stop!) I stamped a pretty lacy image from Moyra Ornaments 03 over top in a magenta creme. The stamping is subtle particularly with all the glassfleck and flakie action but I’m really pleased with the result. Because I used a flakie topcoat I used a matte topcoat so that they really pop (matte all the flakies!).

I hope you like this as much as I did. Unfortunately Cult Nails is no longer in business, but I will include links below for Indigo Bananas. As usual you can find me on Facebook and Instagram and I love hearing from my readers!

Indigo Bananas Website – Indigo Bananas Facebook – Indigo Bananas Instagram

Gorgeous Fall Holos from Indigo Bananas

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I know, I know it’s Winter! But I have some of the gorgeous fall holos from Indigo Bananas to show you and they will transition beautifully into the Holiday and Winter season so if you haven’t snagged them yet – you’ll want to get on that!

Ok, ok, ok! I’m moving onto the holo’est holos I own right now. Now, we all know that holo polishes are not my “go-to” but sometimes even I can’t resist a mega-holo of epic proportions which is why I *had* to pick up a couple of the Indigo Bananas fall holos (in actuality I ordered one and the amazingly awesome Indigo Bananas’ maker included two others as a special treat, and boy, am I glad she did. My polish collection wouldn’t have been the same without them!)

First up is the amazing Rhythm and Booze:

Indigo Bananas – Rhythm and Booze

Rhythm and Blues is a royal purple linear holographic polish. It’s got a rich fantastic color and the holographic flame even if artificial lighting is spectacular!

Indigo Bananas – Rhythm and Booze

This polish was really good formula wise. I used two thin coats and they didn’t drag or pull. I could have gone for another coat and it would have deepened the color even further but I was really happy at this level of awesome. This is shown with topcoat.

Indigo Bananas – Rhythm and Booze

Next up is Polish of Unusual Quality (or POUQ for short):

Indigo Bananas – Polish of Unusual Quality

Ok I admit I drooled a little when I saw this one. This deep dark magenta is truly breathtaking. By far and away the strongest holographic flame in my entire collection.

Indigo Bananas – Polish of Unusual Quality

Seriously, I love this color so much and I can’t wait to use it in a nail art look. The application was perfection. None of the issues that I typically find with holographic polishes. Indigo Bananas does have a possible stain warning on this polish however I did not have a problem with staining. Pictures show two coats plus topcoat.

Indigo Bananas – Polish of Unusual Quality

Last up is my favorite. Synonym Bun!

Indigo Bananas – Synonym Bun (no topcoat)

Indigo Bananas – Synonym Bun (with topcoat)

Synonym Bun is a gorgeous rich cinnamon holographic polish. The cool thing about this one though is that it has two different looks depending on whether you use topcoat or not. If you want a traditional holographic flame then the no-topcoat look is for you. If you like those deep velvety-looking holographic polishes then definitely add topcoat! I like both looks and can see using both in the future.

Indigo Bananas – Synonym Bun (no topcoat)

Indigo Bananas – Synonym Bun (with topcoat)

This polish applied perfectly as the other two. I didn’t have streaks or drags or anything like that. Also, just like POUQ Indigo Bananas does have a stain warning on this listing but I did not experience any staining for the time that I wore it. I would recommend a good basecoat, however, if you are prone to staining. Because it is a rich deep color with a lot of red in it clean up around the cuticle is a bit of a challenge, but moisturizing ahead of time and/or using a barrier may assist.

Indigo Bananas – Synonym Bun (no topcoat)

Indigo Bananas – Synonym Bun (with topcoat)

I highly recommend picking up these and a bunch more Indigo Bananas polishes. I have been completely happy with everyone that I have ever received. I’ll include all the pertinent links below!

Shop — Instagram — Facebook

40 Great Nail Art Ideas – Hobbies

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Hello my lovely readers. I have something a bit new for you today! I have joined the Crumpet’s Nail Tarts and have committed to a nail art challenge that is going to span the whole year! This is how it’s going to work. Every other Friday you will see a nail art post from me (as I get better at doing these nail art posts maybe I’ll include some tutorials and things like that) based on that week’s theme! This is the first week of the challenge and I have been just so excited to share this with you. I decided I wanted to do this for a couple of reasons: 1. I want to improve my nail art game and I hope to see a definitive difference from my posts early this year and later on, 2. I want to incorporate some more variety in the blog, 3. I hope ya’ll will like it!

So here’s how it works: Crumpet’s Nail Tarts are getting together to show you (our wonderful readers) 40 Great Nail Art Ideas. At the bottom of each post will be an InLinkz so that you can easily check out everyone’s nail art looks. Without further ado:

This week’s theme is Hobbies. I was pretty excited about this one. I thought and thought about it. Should I do something that involves the jelly and jam-making that I love doing, should I do nail art inspired by nail art (this was a definite contender!), or should I do something that involves my longest love and passion. I finally landed on my longest-loved hobby – Reading!

Crumpet’s Nail Tarts – 40 Great Nail Art Ideas

Now, I know it’s not perfect, I totally bumped my ring finger before my topcoat was fully dry but I didn’t notice until the picture was taken. Ah, well. I’m new to this posting nail art game so a few snags here and there at the beginning is ok with me.

Crumpet’s Nail Tarts – 40 Great Nail Art Ideas

The thing about this is, this is all hand-painted by me. I do not do a lot of freehand nail art because, well, I don’t feel like I have the chops. So I was really proud of this one. I did not trust myself to paint directly on my nails so I made my own decals and hand-painted them and then applied them as I would any decal, whether it be reverse stamping, or a dry water-marble decal. This epitomizes my love of books and my desire to see everyone read more. Oh and if these colors look familiar? They should I just reviewed the Creme a la mode box a few days ago here and then used them all in this nail art look!

I hope that you like this new nail art adventure. Don’t forget to check out all the awesome blogs below to see more great nail art ideas!

[inlinkz_linkup id=555971 mode=1]

Creme a la mode collaboration box – Swatches and Review

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Alright my dearest readers! I have another exciting bunch of creme polishes to show you today. Recently four makers (three of them already long-time favorites of mine and one I’ve been dying to try) got together to start a collaboration box. Each quarter a new box will be released of fashion-forward, seasonal, on-trend colored creme polishes. Their first box was a quartet of fall colors. Of course the instant the pre-order was opened I snagged my box…I definitely wasn’t going to miss out on this!

Creme a la mode Box

This is how the Creme a la mode box works: Every quarter Digital Nails, Literary Lacquers, Indigo Bananas, and Octopus Party Nail Lacquer are going to release four on-trend creme colors. These will first be offered in the Creme a la mode box which is a pre-order at an amazing discounted price (under $30 – can’t beat that!). Once the Creme a la mode box has made its way into the eagerly awaiting hands of the customers the individual brands will release their own individual color in their shops, at the normal price. So that means if some random shenanigans keeps you from ordering the box, never fear, you can still get the colors later but they will be priced higher. So, each of the polishes I show you today will be, if they aren’t already, available through each brand’s website.

Whew! That’s a lot to get through I know! But it’s so worth it because these polishes are the… creme de la creme (HA! See what I did there??!!) and definitely live up to the hype!

First up Indigo Bananas – The Dark Side of Maroon:

Indigo Bananas – The Dark Side of Maroon

Oh yes, The Dark Side of Maroon almost made me swoon (rhyming for the win!). The color is an absolutely beautiful deep wine color. Perfect for fall. Honestly, if you are more into vampy dark colors, it’s perfect for any season!

Indigo Bananas – The Dark Side of Maroon

Excuse me…I was just drooling a bit over here. In fact I’m pretty sure I need to go put this back on again right now. The formula was very good. The polish goes on a bit sheer in the first coat but is fully opaque in two coats, which I think is perfectly acceptable. It self-levels beautifully and dries to a high-shine finish. I had no problems with application on this polish and found it very easy to work with. It is highly pigmented so you’ll want to keep clean up to a minimum if possible because it can be a touch tricky, but no more so than any highly-pigmented dark or red color.

Indigo Bananas – The Dark Side of Maroon

Pictures show two coats, sans topcoat.

Next up Literary Lacquers – Bluestocking Romance:

Literary Lacquers – Bluestocking Romance

Hubba freaking hubba. Yeah I said it. We already know my well-documented love of navy blue polish. This polish is utter perfection color-wise. It is a deep rich navy blue without leaning teal or being so dark that it appears black. It’s just stunning.

Literary Lacquers – Bluestocking Romance

Can I get a round of applause? Holy cow these pictures make me want to wear them all again! This polish could have been a one-coater. For the interest of pictures and consistency I did two coats. Again another fantastic formula, self-leveled, dried to a high shine. This one was very easy to apply and I had no problems with snags, drags, or streaks. Like the Indigo Bananas, it is highly pigmented so you’ll want to keep clean up to a minimum if possible because it can be a touch tricky, but no more so than any highly-pigmented dark blue polish.

Literary Lacquers – Bluestocking Romance

Pictures show two coats, sans topcoat.

Next up a new to me brand, Octopus Party Nail Lacquer – Universal Loner:

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer – Universal Loner

Holy freaking crap! This is a true red creme polish. Fun fact, I did not own a true red creme. I know, I know, no need to hyperventilate! I’m aware that it’s nail polish sacrilege not to own a true red creme but, I didn’t. So, yeah, needless to say I was all about this one. I didn’t even want to take the swatch off so I kept it on for like two days. You can’t more classic than a true red creme polish and this one is beautiful.

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer – Universal Loner

Ditto my reaction to Bluestocking Romance. Hubba freaking hubba AGAIN! Like The Dark Side of Maroon the first coat on this is a bit sheer but builds to perfect opacity in two easy breezy coats. Highly recommend careful application, because, this is a highly pigmented polish and like a lot of reds, dark blues, and dark purples they can be a little bit tricky to clean up. The good news is that it had a very easy to control formula and it made careful application not only possible but delightful. Dried to a high-shine.

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer – Universal Loner

Pictures show two coats, sans topcoat.

Last but certainly not least…Digital Nails – Tauping Mechanism:

Digital Nails – Tauping Mechanism

Oh.My.GLOB. EVERYTHING. This polish is EV-ER-Ything to me! I spend so much time trying to find perfect neutral polishes and I always gravitate to grey. This is a beautiful putty or “greige” color. The perfect balance of beige and grey. I am so in love with this color I can’t stand it. I just know it will be the base of much nail art and be layered under glitters galore.

Digital Nails – Tauping Mechanism

I have come to expect, and receive, perfection from Digital Nails’ polishes. I should have known that a creme polish would be the same. This one is very opaque and was easily opaque in two coats and some people may be able to get by with just one. I looooove the brush in this polish (something I rarely mention because, well, nail polish brushes are all pretty ok for me mostly) it’s round and fluffy but doesn’t lose any of the control that you would expect from a polish brush. Self-levels, check. High Shine, check. Great formula, check! This one was the easiest to clean up but that’s to be expected as this is a much lighter color.

Digital Nails – Tauping Mechanism

Pictures show two coats, sans topcoat.

There you have it. I have broken down the inaugural Creme a la mode box. I loved every one of these polishes. I’m delighted to finally add an Octopus Party Nail Lacquer to my collection (and I know it won’t be the last). Trust me, next quarter grab the box when it’s up for pre-order. You won’t be sorry.

Make sure to follow all the makers on their social media and check out their shops if you missed the Creme a la mode box this time.

Creme a la Mode

Facebook – Instagram – Shop

Digital Nails

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Indigo Bananas

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Literary Lacquers

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Octopus Party Nail Lacquer

Facebook – Instagram – Shop