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Everything’s Coming up Roses – Nail Art

Mar30

Some polishes have been provided for previous review

Hello all my lovely readers!  I’m back again with another nail art post.  I hope that you all are enjoying these as much as I am!

I’ve been getting  a lot of comments and compliments on this one and it’s really very easy to do, I’m sure that anyone can do this too!  Let’s start off with the polishes used:  Bohemian Polish – Here I Go, Alchemy Lacquers – Sea of Snapdragons, Digital Nails – Double Helix, and Pretty & Polished – Thyme and Time Again.

 To start I had to get my base on.  I used Bohemian Polish – Here I go as my base.  It’s a perfect sky blue crelly polish.  I did three coats plus topcoat here:

Bohemian Polish – Here I Go

Bohemian Polish – Here I Go

To do the finished look the next thing I did was stamp on some white dots.  I absolutely could have used a tiny dotting tool or a toothpick to make the white dots.  But, I was feeling a little lazy so I did the stamping.  My stamping actually didn’t come out perfect because some of my dots had no middle but I didn’t dislike the effect so I left it.  Just keeping it real folks, from a distance you really can’t tell it’s just in these up close pictures that it’s super apparent.

Everything is Coming Up Roses – Glossy

The next step was the roses!  Using a large dotting tool I made big dots using Alchemy Lacquers – Sea of Snapdragons.  I didn’t worry about them being perfectly round because I knew it wasn’t going to be just dots.  You don’t have to be too precise with this nail art which is great for newbie nail artists!

Everything is Coming Up Roses – Glossy

Everything is Coming Up Roses – Glossy

After I made the big dots and before it dried I used a toothpick to swirl/smoosh Digital Nails – Double Helix on top of the dots.  Then with the toothpick I went back and added a little more Sea of Snapdragons to finish the effect.  Last but not least using a little brush I brushed on some leaves around my finished roses with Pretty & Polished – Thyme and Time Again.

Clearly I did start with a nice glossy topcoat.  But, then I got to thinking to myself, “how would this look matte?!”  I asked a couple of my buddies and everyone seemed interested to see what it would look like so I snagged my matte topcoat.

Everything is Coming Up Roses – Matte

I personally much preferred the matte version!  I feel like it allowed the design to be the star and it didn’t compete with the high gloss!  Both ways were pretty but man oh man that matte version is just one of my favorite things ever!

Everything is Coming Up Roses – Matte

Everything is Coming Up Roses – Matte

There you have it!  Everything is coming up roses here.  I was super pleased with the result.  I really have been enjoying doing a lot of nail art lately.  Even with my little stamping mishap resulting in tiny rings instead of dots I did not get discouraged.  Nail art should be fun and you should be happy with both the process and end result so I try not to let myself sweat the small stuff!

As always, dear reader, you can find me on social media using the big buttons to the right of my page.  Until next time may your days be filled with glitter and flakies!

Fall is Almost Here! Review of Pretty & Polished Dusty Fall Cremes!

Sep6

Provided for Honest Review

Fall is almost upon us my dear readers!  Hot drinks, cool days, sweaters, and gorgeous muted colors will be taking over before you know it!  Ok, so where I live hot drinks, cool days, and sweaters don’t generally come out until Christmas (if we’re lucky).  However, I still love good seasonal polish.  I fully admit that there’s something in my brain that makes me crave muted earthy polishes for Autumn, glitzy jewel tones for winter, delicate and shimmery pastels for Spring, and OMG could they be any more Neon neons for Summer (For the record, I’m not over neons yet, I could really do those all year).

Another thing that I’ve been craving is CREME polishes.  Now I know you’re saying to yourself, “But, Relly, I thought you were all about glitter and flakies?”  You would definitely be right, I am.  However, lately I’ve also been wanting that smooth gorgeous color that you can only get from good creme polishes.  Plus, glitters need bases, and cremes are fantastic for nail art!  Luckily for me Pretty & Polished came out with a stunning collection of Fall-colored Dusty Cremes.  I had the pleasure of trying out five of them, which I am going to share with you!

Up first is Reflect and Ponder:

Pretty & Polished - Reflect and Ponder

Pretty & Polished – Reflect and Ponder

Anyone who knows me knows that I have a weakness for dark blue polish.  Dark blues and all shades of gray are probably among my very most favorite polish colors.  I can’t tell you how many various shades of dark or navy blue I have and I’m always delighted to add another shade to my collection (because they’re similar not the same…)  This one is ever so slightly teal-leaning so it’s not a straight navy, which is just fine with me.  Also, this polish is the one that conceals the “dusty” effect that each of these polishes have.  Still love everything about this color and I will definitely be using it again!

Pretty & Polished - Reflect and Ponder

Pretty & Polished – Reflect and Ponder

I’m going to hold off discussing individual formulas because in all honesty they were all so very very close in application.

 

Pretty & Polished - Reflect and Ponder (Macro)

Pretty & Polished – Reflect and Ponder (Macro)

Perfectly smooth and fantastic!

Next up is Saucy Marsala:

Pretty & Polished - Saucy Marsala

Pretty & Polished – Saucy Marsala

Such a pretty color for Fall.  I love pink almost as much as I love blue.  This is a rich dusty mauve pink and despite being a major Doctor Who fan I’m not alarmed at the color (It’s Mauve…the intergalactic color for danger).  You can see the dusty effect in this polish and it’s like a light layer of dust throughout the polish.

Pretty & Polished - Saucy Marsala

Pretty & Polished – Saucy Marsala

I don’t have a macro shot of this one because apparently the photography spirits were not with me and everything I shot came out blurry.  This happened with another of the colors as well – I’m tempted to say it’s the camera but honestly I’m no pro *grins*.

Now for what must be the most perfect green:

Pretty & Polished - Thyme and Time Again

Pretty & Polished – Thyme and Time Again

I love this color so much.  This is such a perfect green for nail art, to go with a lot of my glitter, and just on its own.  This color is almost neutral as well.  I say there’s a case to be made for muted earth toned greens to be neutral and I can imagine this in so many different manis.

Pretty & Polished - Thyme and Time Again

Pretty & Polished – Thyme and Time Again

You can really see the “dust” effect here.  It’s not quite speckles but kind of like speckles.

Pretty & Polished - Thyme and Time Again (Macro)

Pretty & Polished – Thyme and Time Again (Macro)

 

I’m saving my very favorite for last (and it’s not this one!), and it’s going to be a surprise I promise because you already know my preferred colors are blues, greens, teals/turquoises…

Here is Docked at Biscay Bay:

Pretty & Polished Docked in Biscay Bay

Pretty & Polished Docked in Biscay Bay

I’ll admit this one fought hard to be my favorite.  It’s right there in the color family that I am always immediately drawn to.  Gorgeous muted turquoise and it’s just smooth and creamy and everything I ever want in a creme polish.

Pretty & Polished Docked in Biscay Bay

Pretty & Polished Docked in Biscay Bay

Now onto my favorite of the ones I received:

Pretty & Polished - Amethyst or Am I That?

Pretty & Polished – Amethyst or Am I That?

Now I know there are a lot of purple fans out there.  I’ll be honest, I’ve not always been a purple fan.  However how can you resist a color like this???  This gorgeous true purple is just stunning.  I love everything about it!

Pretty & Polished - Amethyst or Am I That?

Pretty & Polished – Amethyst or Am I That?

Quick Macro to see the perfection:

Pretty & Polished - Amethyst or Am I That? (Macro)

Pretty & Polished – Amethyst or Am I That? (Macro)

 

Let’s talk about creme polishes for a minute.  I really debated with myself as to whether I should show you these with topcoat (maximum shine!!!) or without.  I finally decided that I would show you these without topcoat so if there were any formulaic issues they couldn’t be hidden by a glossy layer of topcoat.  One of the wonders of topcoat is that it does cover a multitude of flaws.  Without topcoat you would be able to see any drags, balding, streaks, or other formula issues for yourself.  I felt that this would be the most honest representation of the polishes.  And as you can see I had NONE of those troubles.  They all applied beautifully and leveled out so nicely.

All of these pictures are two coats of the respective color without topcoat.  Almost all of them could have probably been one coat.  Only the green HAD to have two coats because it’s such a light color.  These all dried to a demi-matte rubbery finish.  I think this is great because it gives you two options, high shine with topcoat or the natural finish which could be very cool in nail art.

Speaking of nail art….BOOM:

Reverse Stamping with Pretty & Polished Dusty Cremes (stamp is MoYou London - Explorer 07)

Reverse Stamping with Pretty & Polished Dusty Cremes (stamp is MoYou London – Explorer 07)

 

The buzz over these cremes is tremendous.  It seems that the Indie Nail Polish community is just craving cremes like I was.  This is five of the TEN piece collection.  They work fabulously together and are perfect colors for fall.  This collection will be available for purchase on September 9, 2015.  You can pick up yours at the Pretty & Polished Shop (but don’t wait to visit the shop until then…Chels is running a Labor Day Sale from right now until September 7 at midnight.  Time to pick up some of those other pretty polishes you’ve been eyeing.  Use LaborDay25 to get 25% off of all polish!!  That’s a killer deal right there!).  For all the news and to see other pictures of this and other upcoming collections go check out Pretty & Polished on Facebook and Instagram!

 

 

Pretty & Polished Summer Collection – Review and Swatches!

May28

Provided for Honest Review

I’m very excited to show you three of the upcoming shades from the Pretty & Polished Summer Collection.  I can’t wait…so I won’t!

First up is a patriotic offering, Wham Bam Thank Ya Sam!:

Pretty & Polished - Wham Bam Thank Ya Sam!

Pretty & Polished – Wham Bam Thank Ya Sam!

LOVE!  I love patriotic polishes, I love tiny star glitter, I love crelly-based glitter polishes.  So all of that in one polish spells instant LOVE for me!  This is a squish white crelly base packed with red and blue matte and metallic glitters and especially tiny blue stars!  Looooove.

Pretty & Polished - Wham Bam Thank Ya Sam!

Pretty & Polished – Wham Bam Thank Ya Sam!

Honestly application on this was awesome.  Sometimes crelly-based glitter polishes have a bit of a learning curve but I had no problems with this one, I didn’t have to fish for glitter, and I achieved opacity in two coats.  I couldn’t have asked for better application of this type of polish.  It is a bit chunky so I recommend an extra layer of topcoat to smooth out the glitter a bit this is pretty normal and what I would expect from any glitter polish.

Pretty & Polished - Wham Bam Thank Ya Sam!

Pretty & Polished – Wham Bam Thank Ya Sam!

Polishes used:  Barielle – Nail Rebuilding Protein; Pretty & Polished – Wham Bam Thank Ya Sam!; Digital Nails – Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That Topcoat.

Next up is The Seaglass is Half Full:

Pretty & Polished - The Seaglass is Half Full

Pretty & Polished – The Seaglass is Half Full

The Seaglass is Half Full is a fun polish!  Some magic must have been put in the bottle though because it really looks like seaglass tossed in the sand.  It brought back fond memories that I have of living in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba back in the 80’s.  My friends and I would look for seaglass and one of my friend’s mother made jewelry out of the frosty smooth seaglass.  This is a sand colored crelly polish with semi-translucent matte hexes in green, pink, blue, and lavender.  There is also a smattering of metallic green micro-glitter.

Pretty & Polished - The Seaglass is Half Full

Pretty & Polished – The Seaglass is Half Full

The application was just as magic as the appearance!  No glitter fishing, no glitter placement, just easy peasy swipes of the brush!  Pictures show two coats plus topcoat.

Pretty & Polished - The Seaglass is Half Full

Pretty & Polished – The Seaglass is Half Full

Polishes used:  Barielle – Nail Rebuilding Protein; Pretty & Polished – The Seaglass is Half Full; Digital Nails – Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That Topcoat.

Last but certainly not least is my favorite of the three, Come on Baby Light my Firecracker!:

Pretty & Polished - Come On Baby Light My Firecracker!

Pretty & Polished – Come On Baby Light My Firecracker!

I cannot wait to wear this one again.  I love this color, this polish and everything about it!  Come on Baby Light My Firecracker is a hot magenta linear holo.  As if that weren’t enough it is packed with teensie tiny metallic red micro-glitter.  It is a really unique combination and it’s a color that I will wear a lot!

Pretty & Polished - Come On Baby Light My Firecracker!

Pretty & Polished – Come On Baby Light My Firecracker!

So much shimmer.  Application was flawless on this polish and it sparkles in all lights because of the glitter/holo combination.  I had exactly zero problems with this polish and pictures show two coats plus topcoat.

Pretty & Polished - Come On Baby Light My Firecracker!

Pretty & Polished – Come On Baby Light My Firecracker!

Polishes Used:  Barielle – Nail Rebuilding Protein; Pretty & Polished – Come On Baby Light My Firecracker; Digital Nails Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That Topcoat.

There you have it – three more gorgeous shades from Pretty & Polished.  I’ve been consistently impressed with polishes that I have received from them.  That doesn’t surprise me though they are one of the indies that has been around for a long long time and with good reason!  I also am a diehard fan of their sugar scrubs and can’t wait to try some of their mani-bombs as well!  You can buy Pretty & Polished products on their Web Store.  For sneak peaks, fun stuff, and contests be sure to check out their Facebook Page and Instagram Feed!

Pretty & Polished – Swatches and Review

Mar21

Nothing to Disclose

A couple of weeks ago, or last week, it’s so hard to keep track Pretty & Polished had a pretty awesome sale to “celebrate” Daylight Savings Time.  I chose this opportunity to snag up a couple of polishes I’ve been eyeing!  It’s been awhile since I had some Pretty & Polished polishes so I was definitely due to add some more to my collection!  I wanted to share them with you as they are both still available at Pretty & Polished along with a whole host of other amazing polishes as well as some hand care items!  Not to keep you waiting any longer allow me to start this review!

First up is Maleficium:

Pretty & Polished - Maleficium

Pretty & Polished – Maleficium

Palest gray – check!  Flakies – check!  Wait…Multi-Chrome Flakies??? – check…Check…CHECK!  Oh I’m sorry I was just checking off all the ways that you could tell that this was an amazing polish!  This stunner is a super pale gray crelly (I initially thought it was white but I really think it’s super pale gray, either that or the flakies are shifting the white a bit gray) with a slew of multi-chrome flakies in all different color shifting colors.

Pretty & Polished - Maleficium

Pretty & Polished – Maleficium

The formula on this is really impeccable.  It is a crelly so it is sheer but it builds up to opacity quite nicely.  It’s squishy and packed to the brim with the color-shifting flakies.  I didn’t have any problems with application such as streaking or dragging and the pictures show three thin coats plus topcoat!

Pretty & Polished - Maleficium

Pretty & Polished – Maleficium

Bonus Macro Shot!  I’m working on getting better at these you’ll have to tell me if you like them – I might make it part of my repertoire.

Polishes used:  Barielle – Nail Rebuilding Protein; Pretty & Polished – Maleficium; Digital Nails – Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That Topcoat

Next up is May Flowers:

Pretty & Polished - May Flowers (Cold)

Pretty & Polished – May Flowers (Cold)

Now ya’ll know me and how I’m surprised to find polishes to be thermal when I’m not expecting it well..it happened again!  I bought this because of the pretty turquoise color and all the fun springy glitter.  So I start swiping it on and realized that the tips were staying turquoise but the polish over the nailbeds was getting decidedly lighter!  May Flowers is a turquoise to white thermal crelly polish filled with raspberry and peach metallic dots, lavender matte hexes, green and gold microglitter, and light pink flower glitter.  Whew that’s a lot of glitter!

Pretty & Polished - May Flowers (Warm)

Pretty & Polished – May Flowers (Warm)

Pretty & Polished - May Flowers (Transition)

Pretty & Polished – May Flowers (Transition)

Here are some pictures of it in the warm and transitional states.

Pretty & Polished - May Flowers (Transition)

Pretty & Polished – May Flowers (Transition)

Application was really nice…I’ve been pleased with the Pretty & Polished crelly polishes that I’ve tried in the past.  Even the jumbo flowers didn’t need a lot of work to come out of the bottle or get on the nail.  The glitter spread is very nice and I didn’t have to fish, manipulate, stand on my head, or employ any other drastic measures to get a good coverage of glitter!  Pictures show three thin coats plus topcoat!

Polishes used:  Barielle – Nail Rebuilding Protein; Pretty & Polished – May Flowers; Digital Nails – Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That Topcoat

Pretty & Polished actually just launched their 2015 Spring Line as well as a limited run of some of their most popular retired polishes.  You’ll definitely want to get in on the action of those because who knows when they might come back again…if EVER!  You can follow Pretty & Polished on Facebook and Instagram and make sure to head on over to their Shop to pick up some gorgeous polishes and lovely handcare products!