Valentine’s Day Nail Art

Some Polishes Provided for Review

Hello All my Lovely Readers! Today I’m using my stash to create a fun Valentine’s Day inspired mani. But, because I didn’t go all heart crazy it will work for just about any time! I used a fun and easy nail art technique that can be used with any combination of polishes.

I used three polishes for this nail art look. MOD Lacquer – Baby Flamingo, Northern Star – Protego Totalum, and Crows Toes – Edgy Ocean Blue. I’ve reviewed all of these before so I won’t go into that in this post.

Crows Toes – Edgy Ocean Blue, Northern Star – Protego Totalum, MOD Lacquer – Baby Flamingo (Left to Right)

The first step was the base color. For the base of my mani I used MOD Lacquer – Baby Flamingo. I used two coats to give it a nice base for my upcoming nail art:

MOD Lacquer – Baby Flamingo

Next I used a latex barrier around my cuticles because I knew things were going to get messy. I used Digital Nails – Questionable Browser History, though I do not think that it’s available any longer. Latex barriers are pretty easy to find these days though and there are a lot of good ones on the market!

Nail Art Preparation

Then using a fan brush I started adding the detail. I got this brush for a set off Amazon, you can find them pretty easily and they don’t cost a lot of money:

Fan Brush

To create my art I started by putting a several drops of Northern Star – Protego Totalum on my silicone mat and I dipped the tip of the fan brush in it. I then swiped it across my nails to create stripes. After I did all of my nails with Protego Totalum I went back and cleaned the brush in acetone and then put several drops of Crows Toes – Edgy Ocean Blue on my silicone mat and followed the same process right over the stripes I made earlier:

Valentine’s Nail Art Progress

I was glad I did use the latex barrier, reds and blues are particularly hard to clean up off of skin. This way all I had to do was peel most of it away and then touch up just a tiny bit around the edges!

I topped everything off with Ciate Gelology Top Coat that I got in my Ipsy Bag last month. I thought I would try it out because it’s supposed to be super shiny, squishy, and hard wearing. It doesn’t dry as fast as a quick dry top coat but it does dry super shiny! I don’t know about the wear yet but if it doesn’t provide at least several days wear I will update this post!

Valentine’s Day Nail Art

There you have it a quick, fun, and EASY nail art look that is perfect for Valentine’s day or any time!

Valentine’s Day Nail Art

Alchemy Lacquers April Lab Report – Swatches and Review!

Apr14

Product provided for Honest Review

Hello my lovely readers! I hope that you enjoyed The Switching Post. Plans for this month’s Switch are already underway…and you won’t believe who I’m switching with this month! Trust me it’s going to be awesome! Today though I have some fantastic polishes from Alchemy Lacquers to show you, including the April Potion LE! You’re not going to want to miss this so settle on in while I share some pretty polishes with you!

First up is Sea of Snapdragons:

Alchemy Lacquers – Sea of Snapdragons

Sea of Snapdragons is a perfect spring color. Really it doesn’t get springier (not a word, as usual I totally don’t care) than this! This beauty is a soft mauve pink creme polish filled with iridescent micro-flakies, gold micro-flakies, and the teensiest tiniest holographic glitter/sparks. It’s shimmery and lovely.

Alchemy Lacquers – Sea of Snapdragons

Let’s talk about formula! The formula on this is really good. Like any good creme polish it went on and was opaque in two coats. Has good self-leveling. I didn’t have any problems with streaks or drags. There appears to be a slight wrinkle on my forefinger but that’s because of me, I touched it and left a fingerprint and didn’t realize it until just now! Ha! This one is definitely a winner. Pictures show two coats plus topcoat.

Next up is probably my favorite of the trio I’m going to show you today. I submit Sea Holly for your consideration:

Alchemy Lacquers – Sea Holly

Alchemy Lacquers – Sea Holly (Matte)

Oh to the Em to the Gee. This one is beyond amazing. Seriously, I nearly lost what little chill I had over this one. Gorgeous dark cornflower (Thanks Christina for that description *wink*) or dark periwinkle blue crelly…check! Seductive purple shimmer…check! Stunning color-shifting flakies…check! Check! Check! This polish checks all my boxes that’s for sure. You all know I have a passion for blue, flakies, and complex polishes and this one fits that bill to a tee! I utterly fail at capturing the shimmer in my pictures but let me tell you in person on the nail it’s absolutely amazing. You can see it a bit more in the matte pics because matte topcoat makes all the goodies a little more prominent!

Alchemy Lacquers – Sea Holly

Alchemy Lacquers – Sea Holly (Matte)

Formula on this one was nothing short of perfection. This is slightly more on the crelly side than creme side of things but it was still opaque in two easy coats. I didn’t have any problems with all those gorgeous flakies clumping up or any other application issues. No streaks, drags, or balding here! Pictures show two coats plus topcoat in the shiny pics and two coats plus matte topcoat in the matte pics.

Last but certainly not least I have the April Potion LE – Restoration Tonic:

Alchemy Lacquers – Restoration Tonic

Ok I really had a hard time not making this one my favorite. It’s definitely my favorite baby blue polish to date and I have a LOT of blue and baby blue nail polish. I seriously have a blue nail polish problem. Wait…that’s not right, it’s not really a problem. I NEED all the blue nail polish! Restoration Tonic is a perfect baby blue crelly polish packed with stunning shimmer. I see red/pink shimmer and blue shimmer. The shimmer gives it a pearly kind of quality without being frosty, which, for me is fantastic since I’m not a fan of frosty polishes!

Alchemy Lacquers – Restoration Tonic

Restoration Tonic is a gorgeous crelly formula that is opaque in two coats. I had zero issues with application or performance. In fact I’ve been wearing Restoration Tonic for a week now and I have just very minimal tip wear. Even though it’s shimmery and pearly (probably not a word) it does not get brushstrokey (again not a word but you know what I mean). Pictures show two coats plus topcoat.

Oh and did I mention? This polish comes with a set of adorable pink glittery vinyl decals with flowers, butterflies, birds, and rain clouds! I’ll have a nail art look I did with those and Restoration Tonic on my Instagram later! Also, typically these Potions are only available through the month that they are released however Alchemy Lacquers will be on vacation from the end of this month until the end of May so this will actually be around again when she reopens but hey, why wait…you know you need it now!

So you want to know when YOU can get these gorgeous, happy, spring colors? Well I’m going to tell you…TOMORROW, April 15th. I’ll include all the pertinent links below. Which one of these are you the most excited for? Let me know in the comments!

Facebook – Instagram – Shop – Facebook Fan Group

Nerd Lacquer – Swatches and Review

Mar19

Nothing to Disclose

Hello my wonderful readers! I’m delighted to be back to blogging on a kind of regular basis. I hope ya’ll are liking it too!

Today I’m going to show you a NerdLacquer polish. Now, I know there has been a good amount of scuttlebutt in the indie polish community but I still like NerdLacquer polishes and I think other people do too. I personally have not ever had a bad experience and I assure you that if/when I do I will be certain to tell you about it. Enough of this part though…let’s get down to nail polish, that’s what we’re all here for!

Today I’m reviewing Rheingold:

NerdLacquer – Rheingold

I really love the color of this one it’s a slightly blackened teal jelly polish filled with black and gold micro-glitter, metallic gold dots, and matte black hex glitters. There’s a shimmer to it too. It’s a lovely glitter jelly polish that isn’t so heavy on the glitter but has a really good balance.

NerdLacquer – Rheingold

Formula and application on this was really quite good. It didn’t require any fishing for glitter and I got a decent spread. It’s sheer but builds to opacity in about two coats, I put a little extra on the tips of my nails here because they were so long and the nail line was quite prominent. It was also not “topcoat hungry” and smoothed out with my usual topcoat very well. Pictures show two coats plus topcoat.

NerdLacquer doesn’t maintain any social media and their restocks are silent. You just have to watch the site. In recent months things have been pretty well stocked and she has a good variety of geek-themed polishes. Pertinent link below.

NerdLacquer Shop

There you go my lovelies! Don’t forget I have some exciting things coming up so you’ll want to keep checking back! Until then, may your days be filled with Glitter and Flakies!

Fleeting Fancies – Pahlish – River Song Bespoke Trio

Mar15

Nothing to Disclose

Hello my dearest readers! I told you I had some new series of posts to share with you. Over the years I have collected polishes that for one reason or another didn’t make it to the blog. Usually because they were discontinued right after I got them, I picked them up in destashes, or they were limited edition. Now, the polishes I will show you in this series may not be readily available however, they do pop up in second-hand sales in groups or blog sales from time to time so I have decided to go ahead and show you these anyway.

I’m starting this series with a relatively new trio, however, it was part of Pahlish’s Bespoke Batches which are by their very nature limited edition. Today I am going to share with you the River Song Bespoke Trio! River Song is hands down one of my favorite Doctor Who characters and I can tell you that when this trio came out I knew I had to have it!

Let’s start with Penny in the Air:

Pahlish – Penny in the Air

Penny in the Air is a beautiful cream colored creme polish with a subtle copper shimmer throughout. It’s a fantastic neutral with a slight blush from the shimmer. This is a perfect neutral for me and I struggle with them a lot because I’m pale as can be. I really loved how this one worked for me.

Pahlish – Penny in the Air

Penny in the Air went on beautifully, flawlessly, and is wonderfully self-leveling. I tried desperately to capture some of the shimmer and you can kind of see it a little bit. Trust me though it’s there. Pictures show two coats plus topcoat.

Next up is My Bespoke Psychopath II:

Pahlish – My Bespoke Psychopath II

Be still my heart. I’ve discovered my love for purple in the past couple of years and this one is just really perfect and I don’t have anything else like it in my collection. Now ya’ll know, because I keep saying it, I prefer holographic polishes that have a little something something extra going on! This is a purple linear holographic polish with a strong pink shimmer and microflakies. How could I not love it?

Pahlish – My Bespoke Psychopath II

The formula on this was absolutely fabulous. No complaints here whatsoever. This was almost a one coat wonder, I think had my nails been a little shorter I could have gotten away with one coat. Pictures show two coats plus topcoat!

Last but certainly not least is Hallucinogenic Lipstick:

Pahlish – Hallucinogenic Lipstick

This polish is EVERYTHING. I love it so much I’m kicking myself for not picking up back up bottle. Hallucinogenic lipstick is a juicy raspberry jelly polish filled with purple iridescent glitter and some scattered holographic sparks! I’m totally in love with this. It’s squishy, gorgeous, and utterly girly.

Pahlish – Hallucinogenic Lipstick

I really can’t say enough about the formula on this. It’s opaque in two coats but retains all the squishiness that I love about jelly polishes. It’s a smooth application and no issues to report. It *is* highly pigmented so moisturized cuticles and a patient hand will keep you from having an issue with clean up.

While these are no longer available there are tons of other great Pahlish polishes that are available! I highly recommend following Pahlish on social media so that you can see all the gorgeous goodies that she has coming up. Pertinent Links below!

Shop – Facebook – Instagram

Until next time my lovely readers, may your days be filled with Glitter and Flakies!

Boom Shaka Lacquer

For Indie Nail Polish Addicts, by an Indie Nail Polish Addict

Archives

Valentine’s Day Nail Art

Alchemy Lacquers April Lab Report – Swatches and Review!

Nerd Lacquer – Swatches and Review

Fleeting Fancies – Pahlish – River Song Bespoke Trio