40 Great Nail Art Ideas – Halloween

Some products may have been provided for earlier review

Twas the night before Halloween and all through lands

Crumpet’s Nail Tarts came together to show off the art on their hands…

Hello my most fabulous readers! Ok, ok so I’m not really a poet of any merit, but, it IS the night before Halloween and yes Crumpet’s Nail Tarts are celebrating this holiday in force! I’m going to show you my Halloween-themed nail art and guess what it wasn’t that hard! Anyone can do it!

40 Great Nail Art Ideas – Halloween

Ooooh yeah! I’m actually having a lot of fun with freehand nail art these days. This is a combination of freehand art and stamped art and I thought it turned out pretty cute! And yes (except for the black and white) it’s all indies!

I started with a base of Pretty & Polished Thyme and Time Again. On my two middle fingers I hand-painted Frankenstein and his bride (I was inspired by a nail art video I saw but it was randomly on my facebook feed and I couldn’t find it again to credit where my inspiration came from). My Frank is a little weird but I’m still fantastically happy with this considering my novice-level skill! I used Octopus Party Nail Lacquer – Universal Loner for the touches of red.

40 Great Nail Art Ideas – Halloween

On the other fingers I added a gradient to the Thyme and Time again base using Pretty & Polished – Amethyst or Am I That? and Bohemian Polish – Long Gone. I then stamped over the gradient nails with an image from Vivid Lacquer – VL041.

All in all I’m calling this a win! Do you like this too? Do you think you might give something like this a shot? I definitely suggest that everyone branch out of their comfort zone now and then, which is why I joined this nail art challenge. I hope ya’ll are enjoying it as much as I have been. Sound off in the comments I love to hear from you.

P.S. Don’t forget that Boom Shaka Lacquer’s Two-Year Blogiversary Giveaway is going on until December 1, 2015 and there are some FANTASTIC prizes. You definitely don’t want to miss out. Click Here to find out more!

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40 Great Nail Art Ideas – Geek Week!

Some Products May Have Been Provided for Earlier Review

Yes my dear readers. This is by far and away one of the weeks I was looking forward to the most! We all know where it’s going to go right? I have a love for so many pop culture things but by far and away I like the geeky shows and books the most. Sherlock, The Walking Dead, Firefly, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along Blog, Lord of the Rings, Supernatural, The Hunger Games (books not movies), Harry Potter (books not movies), Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Arrow… Do I really need to continue? I think you get the idea! Anyway I did not mention the one that has the biggest piece of my heart and that’s Doctor Who of COURSE! So today you’ll get to see a homage to the 11th Doctor (I’ve been wanting to do this one for awhile but never had a good time or reason to).

Now, the 11th Doctor (played by Matt Smith) was not necessarily my favorite Doctor. But, I grew to love him despite a rocky beginning. By the end I was just as sad and cried just as hard to see him regenerate as with earlier Doctors. *sniffles* Ah the feels. Ok enough of that! Onto the nail art!

Geek Week – Homage to the 11th Doctor

Bow ties are cool! I knew the minute I saw this stamp that it would become part of an 11th Doctor nail art look! I’m sure that it’s not meant to be bow ties (it comes from a Christmas-themed plate) but it’s so very like the red bow ties that the 11th Doctor wore so well that I could not resist.

Geek Week – Homage to the 11th Doctor

To get this look I started by painting my fore and middle fingernails in a plain white (I used Sinful Colors – Snow Me White, I know I know it’s not indie but I do use mainstream white and a few other plain colors for stamping and such right now). I then painted my ring and pinkie fingernails with A Study in Polish – Not Our Division. I let that dry a bit then I came back in and on the first two fingers I stamped the “bow tie” design from the Cici & Sisi – Christmas 2014 plate using Octopus Party Nail Lacquer – Universal Loner. On the last two I stamped a star design from Bundle Monster – BM20 in silver (Sally Hansen – Silver Sweep, don’t judge!). Of course I couldn’t stop there. I needed to add an awesome 11th Doctor profile and a TARDIS vinyl from YouPolish! Top coat the whole thing and voila, a fitting homage to the 11th if I do say so myself!

I was really happy with how this one turned out. Don’t forget to check out the InLinkz below to see the rest of the amazing nail art that is turning up for Geek Week!

Until next time may your days be filled with Glitter and Flakies!

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Digital Nails – “The Walking Dad” Trio!

Nothing to Disclose

I have such a fun collection for you today readers! We all know my love of Digital Nails, The Walking Dead, and nail polish. What you may not know is that I love a good corny pun/joke as well. There is a well-established internet meme phenomenon wherein Rick from The Walking Dead is featured in meme’s telling an apparently long-suffering “Coral” (seriously listen to the show sometime, when Rick is hollering for Carl it totally sounds like Coral!) some horrible and yet somehow hilarious “dad” jokes.

So, Digital Nails apparently also enjoys these because she released a gorgeous trio of coral (hahaha) polishes based on “The Walking Dad.” When I saw them I knew I had to have them because of all of the reasons above. Plus, they are just downright gorgeous. You ready? Let’s get started!

First up is Ten Tickles:

Digital Nails – Ten Tickles

I know that you know it’s coming, an octopus joke! The name of this polish is the punchline to the following “Walking Dad” joke: “How many tickles does it take to make an octopus laugh, Coral? Ten, Coral! Ten tickles.”

Ten Tickles is a hot coral holographic polish with gorgeous rose-gold microflakies. I am totally in love with this color and I wore it (with some nail art which I will show you later) and it was very well-received by my friends and family!

Digital Nails – Ten Tickles

In this lighting you can see the flakies, so even if the sun isn’t out to play with all the holographic goodness there is still some stuff going on. Plus, you all know that the more interesting and complex the holo, the better I like it!

Digital Nails – Ten Tickles

The formula on this was perfection. It went on very easily without any mishaps or issues whatsoever. This is definitely a must-have for any collection. Pictures show two coats plus topcoat.

Next up is He Doesn’t Carrot All:

Digital Nails – He Doesn’t Carrot All

This polish was originally debuted in an Easter-themed mega box of indies that came out around Easter time this year. The joke for this polish is: “How does emo bunny feel about Easter, Coral? He doesn’t care, Coral. He doesn’t carrot all.”

I’ll admit this one made me giggle but not as much as the next one! He Doesn’t Carrot All is a pale coral creme with a lovely green flash of shimmer.

Digital Nails – He Doesn’t Carrot All

Formula on this one was utterly perfect. I mean it’s everything I would expect from a creme-based polish. No leveling issues, did not drag or streak. Pictures show two coats plus topcoat.

Last but not least is my favorite of this trio. They Can’t Even:

Digital Nails – They Can’t Even

Just…oh.em.gee. This polish is so stunning. It’s my favorite because of the color and the name though! This is more of an orangey-coral base packed to the brim with silver flakies. The joke for this polish is: “Why do teenaged girls walk in groups of three, Coral? Because they can’t even! They can’t even, Coral!” I’m right there with those teenaged girls because I can’t even with this color! I’m telling you this color has moved up into my top echelon of all time favorite polishes.

Digital Nails – They Can’t Even

It just gets prettier and prettier every time I look at it! I had no problems with application at all. The only thing I will say is that those gorgeous flakies are very tenacious if they get on your cuticles so you’ll want to apply carefully to avoid too much clean up. Pictures show two coats plus topcoat.

Digital Nails – They Can’t Even

Seriously, look at that! I can’t even. I just can’t even!

OH I promised nail art didn’t I…well ok!

Digital Nails – Ten Tickles with He Doesn’t Carrot All accents

I started with Ten Tickles then did a little reverse stamping. I used MoYou London – Pro 13 for the image and filled in the flowers with He Doesn’t Carrot All.

Digital Nails – They Can’t Even

This is just simply They Can’t Even stamped with a cute swirly image from the Cici & Sisi Christmas 2015 plate.

There you have it a gorgeous collection! You can check out Digital Nails at the links below. I highly recommend following them on Facebook and Instagram.

Store – Facebook – Instagram

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

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

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

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)

Perfectly smooth and fantastic!

Next up is 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

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

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

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)

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

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

Now onto my favorite of the ones I received:

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?

Quick Macro to see the perfection:

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)

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!

Christmas Nail Art Roundup!

Some polishes may have been provided for previous review

I decided that this year I would save all my holiday manis of the year to share with you in one post. I know that I do quite a lot of swatch posts but I do actual nail art as well and while I’m no genius at it I do like to have fun with different combinations and I’ve been practicing some freehand stuff as well!

I hope you enjoy and also be sure to check out the inlinkz at the bottom to see a lot of other awesome bloggers and their holiday manicures!

Digital Nails – Supernova with Gothic Gala Lacquers – Holiday Berries

Gothic Gala Lacquers – Holiday Leaves with Alchemy Lacquers – Gilded Holly and Jindie Nails – Through the Eyes of a Child

Literary Lacquers – One Thousand Christmas Trees with Zoya – Liberty, Chyna and Solange

Alchemy Lacquers – Gilded Dreidel with Elevation Polish – Darkest Storm stamped with Cici & Sisi Christmas 2014

There you have the looks I’ve done for this holiday season! I had hoped to do more and I think next year I’m going to increase my goal! But I’m pretty happy with this group of nail art looks.

I want to wish everyone a very Happy Holidays and all the best in the New Year!

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