Baby Hunch Contest Tomorrow!

Hey, everyone!  Happy Easter to those who celebrate it and happy Sunday to those who don't!
We had a wonderful morning full of bunny shaped pancakes and egg hunting!  My daughter had a great time and so did the rest of the family!

I have decided to run a contest!  I have gained so many amazing followers in the last month and I want to thank you all with a fun game with a nail polish prize! :D

Tomorrow marks one month that I have been blogging, and it also starts the countdown for the last month of my pregnancy!  The baby is due April 30 and I don't know when it will arrive but I AM READY!!!!!

So I have put together a fun guessing contest that will run from tomorrow until the day the baby is born and I really hope everyone has fun with it! :D  There is even one entry that is practically free if you have been reading my blog!

Of course it is a requirement that you follow my blog, At Peace with Polish, to be a valid entry since this contest is a thank you to my followers!

On that note, I leave you all to enjoy your evenings and remind you to look for the post tomorrow with all the contest rules and how to enter!

THANK YOU ALL! :D

Zoya Pixie Dust: Vespa

Hello, all, how is your weekend treating you?  Sorry to be gone a few days, some stuff has been going on.  Not to mention I am now 36 weeks prego and completely exhausted!  Come on out, little boy!!!

Today I wanted to show you my pics of Vespa, the lovely mint green Pixie Dust from Zoya.  I purchased this polish at a local Ulta.  I am absolutely loving this polish!  I think I told you once before, I wore a borrowed OPI Liquid Sand shade once and it just looked like tar on my fingers - especially in the pics.  I liked it for about half a day, that stuff.

But here is something entirely different!  Vespa is such a fragile, springy shade with a subtle texture to the touch but obvious to the eye, and the sparkles add so much oomph to the polish.  I think the pics turned out just lovely and I cannot stop staring at Vespa, especially outside!!!  I think I picked the perfect shade for a simple Easter mani - I just don't feel very nail-arty the last few days.  (Though earlier this week I painted a sweet bunny on my bestie's nails!)

Anyway, here is Vespa!  Now I need to get my hands on Nyx and Godiva and all of the summer shades and I will be a happy textured polish owner! ;)

 

Check out that texture!!!!

Have YOU checked out VINE?!?

Hey, everyone!!!

So a few days ago my hubby (the best PR Manager a gal could ask for) told me about a new Twitter based app called Vine, which is a really awesome little app I can use on my iPhone to post short clip videos.  I asked him what on earth I would do with something like that and he told me that DUH I should show off my nails, i.e. holographics.  That man is brilliant. <3

So of course I downloaded the app (and watched a couple of HILARIOUS videos on the Editor Picks page) and then I signed up to link a Vine account to my Twitter and Facebook.  Hopefully someone (or I) can find a shortcut way to make a Widget for this awesome new app. so I can link it straight onto my blog!  How cool would that be??

So since I wanted to try it out I put on Layla Hologram Effect Flash Black, but as usual, the sun just isn't out for my holo mani.  Just as well, this polish is so stunning that it has a beautiful linear rainbow effect indoors.

So, check this out:
Flash Back video on Vine

What do you think!?  I'm going to start trying out a few things with it, like a way to show my blog name or a watermark of some sort, etc. and I will also try making some clips with nail art.

This may be a really cool way to show off your manis, ladies!!!  Maybe even tutorials, cut down to a quick science, for the people whose data plans just won't allow for 10 minutes on YouTube.com?

Tell me what you think!  Did my husband find something awesome or what?!  Will you be using Vine?  What for? ;)  Send me your links!!!

Featuring ellagee Handcrafted Nail Polish!

Indie Polish Review! Featuring ellagee Handcrafted Nail Polish!

Please note that these products were generously provided to me for review by Laura Garrett, owner and creator of ellagee Handcrafted Nail Polish.  The compensation in exchange for this review is pictured below, and provided polishes/gifts are graciously accepted and do not affect my opinions regarding the products.  This blog review post is my honest opinion for the owner's and any consumers' benefit.  I would like to thank Laura for giving me this opportunity.  :)

Hi, all!  I have such an amazing review to show you tonight!  I have been working on this allllll day!  (Warning: Picture heavy post!!!)   There is a really great up and coming Indie brand who is now allowing pre-orders on etsy.com for their first collection!  The new brand is called ellagee and Laura Garrett is the talented creator of the new Sparkling Spring Wildflower Collection, shipping out pre-orders on April 1st!  You can find the ellagee shop here, on etsy.com!

When Laura asked for Bloggers to submit their information if interested in reviewing her new polishes I quickly sent her a message hoping for a chance to do this.  She messaged me back and I couldn't believe it!  I am so happy that she is allowing me along with a few other really great bloggers a first look at this collection!

The Sparkling Spring Wildflower Collection is absolutely beautiful!  Laura made very artistic polishes that well represent the flowers she named them for.  I'm a country-raised girl out in Texas and I was so pleased to see these colors! ;)

The colors that Laura sent to me for review from this collection included Prairie Clover, and Downy Paintbrush!  But wait, there's one more!  Laura also provided a surprise polish titled Beyond the Sea from her upcoming collection You're the Top, which will be released in mid April!  Ahhhh, these are SO much fun, so let's get started!!!

Firstly I would like to show off this absolutely adorable packaging and gift that Laura sent!

Thank you <3 for the handwritten note!

I love the handwritten note because it is forever a souvenir for me to remember the first new Indie Polish review I was asked to do! :)

Love the treats included!  Smarties and a girly file!

Colors provided from L-R: Prairie Clover, Downy Paintbrush, and Beyond the Sea

Colors provided from L-R: Prairie Clover, Downy Paintbrush, and Beyond the Sea

Colors provided from L-R: Prairie Clover, Downy Paintbrush, and Beyond the Sea

Regarding Prairie Clover and Downy Paintbrush: the formula was pretty typical of a jelly polish, sheer but it covered well and dried pretty quickly.  There was no trouble getting any glitter out of the bottle or with the spreading!  There was no trouble with the glitter being completely covered by the jelly and most of it sat right on the top of my mani, nice and sparkly!  I am not a huge fan of layering jelly polish like some, but I believe you can make this opaque by itself in three coats.  For my swatch to show off the color, glitter and depth I used two medium coats.  I also provided a couple photos of the jellies layered once over a coordinating undies color for something a little different.  Please note that this polish is very nicely made, no goopy textures, and I did not use any top coat for any of the swatch manis unless I state otherwise.  Great jelly polish!!!!

First up is Prairie Clover, which is described by ellagee as a "purple jelly base with shades of purple, lavender, lilac, magenta, and white hexagon and square glitter."  I was so happy to see a PURPLE polish in my goodie bag!  This little cutie really caught my attention because it had tiny little lavender square glitter and magenta circle glitter that really pop out of the jelly.  I fell for it immediately and I enjoy it for what it is as well as over a thicker base color.

Prairie Clover: two coats, no undies or top coat.

Prairie Clover: two coats, no undies or top coat.

Prairie Clover, one coat, over China Glaze Coconut Kiss, no top coat.

Prairie Clover, one coat, over China Glaze Coconut Kiss, no top coat.

Next we have Downy Paintbrush which is described by ellagee as a "coral jelly base with shades of red, orange, yellow, gold, and hot pink hexagon and square glitter."  I'm happy to see this color described as coral because in the bottle it struck me as a red base but on my nail it seemed to be a bit orange tinted.  This color was a pleasure to work with as well: no fishing for glitter and it layered very nicely.  The glitter still sat right on the top as wanted and it is so very sparkly.  Laura is clearly very good at picking glitter shapes and colors to compliment each other!

Downy Paintbrush: two coats, no undies or top coat.

Downy Paintbrush: two coats, no undies or top coat.

Downy Paintbrush, one coat, over Essie Bazooka, no top coat.

Downy Paintbrush, one coat, over Essie Bazooka, no top coat.

Next up is my favorite of the three: Beyond the Sea!  I fell in love with this polish on sight!  Not only is it a perfectly named beauty, but the glitter color choices blew my mind.  I can't help but relate this glitter to The Little Mermaid.  I can't help it!  This glitter polish is a clear base filled with many sizes of turquoise hexes, some yellow hexes, tiny turquoise squares,  as well as teeny tiny yellow and magenta glitters.  Oh my goodness, isn't it lovely!?  I wanted to show you over a black base as well as a white base, and I also was in awe of how lovely the glitter is with a matte top coat.

Beyond the Sea: 1 coat over black with Essie Matte About You, 1 coat over white with Essie Matte About You,
1 coat over black with no top coat, 1 coat over white with no top coat.

Agh, I just cannot get over it!  I love it over the black, and yet I love it even more over white!
Now, check this out.  I wanted to do something a little different with this polish and use a bright, fun color to make it pop in a summery sort of way without taking away from the colors that are already in it.  Behold:  ellagee's Beyond the Sea over China Glaze Orange You Hot? with Essie Matte About You top coat.  Yes.  I went there. <3 <3 <3

It's sort of like a summer sunset on the beach to me.  It just makes me think WARM.  And sunglasses.  And mermaid.  And tanning.  I am going to wear this mani until it chips away!  My other idea for these beauties is to use them over some holographics because the transparency of the formula is just right to grab a spectraflair sparkle and not take away from the brilliance of Laura's creation....  How do I know, you ask?  Well, it's because I have already tried it!  LOL.  Maybe you should go visit the Pre-Order Listing for these babies, grab some, and try out the infinite combinations that are available with these versatile colors.  (Oh, and then send me pics!!!!)

Thank you, Laura, for creating such a fun collection and allowing me to check them out!  I cannot wait to see what else you are doing with the You're the Top Collection!!!!

HOLO HOLO HOLO!!!!

Can you guess what my favorite type of nail polish is?  That's right: holographics.  I. Love. Them. Dearly.  So tonight's theme has to be hologram polish!

I promised an amazing photo of the Puzzled & Polished pendant out in the sun, so firstly let me share that!

Now if that doesn't get you excited about holographic polish let me show you another take on things!  I am dying to have Glitter Gal's Light as a Feather.  Just withering away every day that it is not in my hands!!!!  So I attempted to make a similar holo using a very awesome holo topcoat.  This is two coats of Mentality Polish's Holo, found HERE, over Sinful Colors Snow Me White (my go-to white base).

So, here are my thoughts on this mani.  Pros: It looks pretty dang awesome outside.  Not a flawless, pure white holographic polish, but very pretty and achieving the desired effect.  This topcoat also works really nicely over other shades, light and dark alike.  Very versatile & definitely worth it if you are on a tight budget, as some holos are pretty pricey.  Cons:  It was a little bit difficult to cover the nail completely and evenly on this light color.  The edges, as you may be able to see if you look closely, are still SC White even though I tried to dab a bit of the topcoat over the edges.  In the sun you can't tell that it looks a bit uneven, but indoors it's almost completely silver (and a bit patchy) with no holo properties it seems.  So, is it worth it to toss on over white?  It's super fun to stare at outside!  It's great to take pics of and enjoy it!  However, if you are in an office all day or possibly wearing it on a cloudy day it just won't POP and rainbow like you'd expect from a holographic polish.  Of course, maybe that's perfect for an office setting that requires a very tame mani? ;)

Sticking with my theme here:  Ladies and gents, I am in possession of LAYLA HOLOGRAM EFFECTS.  I cannot tell you how long I have drooled over this collection.  I wish I could claim to have them all, but unfortunately the Ulta I ventured into only had four remaining bottles for less than half-price on clearance.  Did I pick up all of them?  Um heck yes, I did.  Anytime you see a Layla holographic and it doesn't cost $15+ I demand that you purchase it.  Do it.  Especially since the nice lady at the counter replied when I asked for more: "We aren't carrying those anymore."  Welllll then I'm glad I picked them up!  YAY!

Anyway, so that's my --- WAIT, OH WAIT, WHAT IS THAT?  Did I pick up TWO of the same shade?  Well, of course I had to get it so it wouldn't be left all by its lonesome on the shelf!  But do I need two of them?  Hmmmmm MAYBE I am planning a giveaway in the near future......?  *hint hint!*

What do you all think about holographics!?  Do you own any Layla's yet?

Featuring Puzzled and Polished!

Good evening, all!  Today I have a gorgeous piece to share with you: a pendant featuring Jade Holográfico Violetta that was created by Mandy and Blake, the husband and wife team behind the brilliant campaign that is Puzzled and Polished!

Please note that this piece was generously provided to me for review by Puzzled and Polished.  This blog review post is my honest opinion. :)

First, please let me tell you a little bit about this small business with a really big heart.  Mandy and Blake are the proud parents of Cristian and their mission statement, taken from their Facebook description, is "[t]o help raise funds for Walk Now for Autism Speaks and to help raise awareness for Autism and all of the children and families who are blessed with this gift."  Their site states that they created Puzzled and Polished with the perfect combination of their true loves, including polish and crafting, social media and design, and for the support of their son Cristian.  Mandy states that "[a]ll proceeds will go to Autism Speaks via a donation on behalf of Cristian's Cruisers for the Milwaukee Walk Now for Autism Speaks."

It was so generous of Mandy to send me a pendant for review, and she even asked me to pick which one I would like sent to me.  Naturally, you know me, I went straight for the purple holographic piece!  I am so happy to be promoting such an important cause and such a caring business!!!  One more thing before the pics: I have had this gorgeous pendant since Thursday evening and the sun JUST WON'T come out for me!  I can assure you, however, that you will see me wearing this piece in the future (and maybe C too!) and you will get a good shot of it in all it's glory, I promise!  I took some outdoor pics and I have also included a few indoor pics with a tiny lamp held over the pendant to show off the polish inside.  Feast your eyes!!!!

 

 

One of the things that I adore about my polish collection is that I can change my nails whenever I want to whatever I want, but we all get a little bit attached to some of the colors, right?  I think that the idea of using favorite polishes to create wearable pieces of jewelry is just brilliant.  This pendant appears to be flawless.  There are no dings or bubbles in the polish applied within, the shine is impeccable, the holographic effect is 100% there, and the antiqued gold amulet does not have any visible seams or flaws either!  C informed me that to her it looks like the purple amulet necklace on Sofia the First (can you tell she is just loving this show? lol!) and I think, yeah, maybe it's the grown up version!  When R got home from work he admired this piece as well; he is also a big fan of purple and holographics.

I would like to thank Mandy again for kindly allowing me to share this polished pendant with you, and I would like to now steer you over to their Facebook once again because their Shop site is currently under maintenance.  Also, if you would like to make a donation to Cristian's Cruisers, please head on over to Walk Now for Autism Speaks: Milwaukee!

The Polish Bar's Spring 2013 Collection

I absolutely must have all of The Polish Bar's Spring 2013 Collection!  They are just stunning colors.
When the collection launched I was trying really hard to be good, so I only purchased one color for now.  I chose Shiny Pebbles because the glitter combo is unlike anything else in my collection!

I think I applied the glitter a little bit heavy, but it somehow still does wonders for me.  It's probably the color combo that I am so enthralled with!  Here are two thin coats of Shiny Pebbles topped with a layer of Flakie Friend because some of the glitters were piling up and poking out a bit.  The formula is very easy to work with, it became opaque in these two coats and a lot of the glitter sits on top of the base all by itself so that it's nice and shiny without the base dulling it out.  I am in love!  I may use it as one coat over a white base next time to see how that works out.  (Please excuse my dry cuticles, I think the baby is sucking the life out of me LOL.)

The glitters in the white base of Shiny Pebbles include the obvious metallic orange hexes, the turquoise-aqua metallic squares, and a faint scattering of black hexes, as well as the less obvious peachy shade of hexes, all hanging out with micro-glitter to match!  I just can't get enough!  Weird how in some pics it kinda looks matte... I did not put any matte on it but now I think it might be an interesting change!

 

 

What do you think of this color?  Did you get any of the beautiful glitters from the new Spring Collection? Check out the Etsy Store!

Liebster Award Nomination!

I was so surprised and flattered to get a comment from Tami of Polished Dreams and Life Things telling me that she nominated me for a Liebster Award!!!  This is such a big deal to me as a new blogger.  I know that everyone in this community is super supportive and didn't think I would fail, so to speak, but it is incredibly inspiring and humbling when people comment, like, follow, and enjoy my posts.  And now this!!!!  So, Tami,  THANK YOU for being such a darling, kind lady!  Everyone please go see Tami's blog; I really enjoy looking at her posts!

This award was designed to be a blog award in the "pay it forward" fashion. Once you've been nominated, you award it to five blogs that you like that have fewer than 200 followers, to encourage new visitors to visit these blogs.

The rules for accepting this award are:

You need to thank the person who gave you the award and link back to their blog. Post the award onto your blog. Give the award to five bloggers who you appreciate that have fewer than 200 followers. Leave a comment on their blog letting them know that you have given them this awesome award!

Here are my nominees, some really sweet ladies who I am getting to know. Each one has a really wonderful blog!  I have enjoyed looking at their posts and you will too!

1.  Tiana of Sugar Coated Nails, who was one of my first four followers and I must thank her!  She has beautiful, detailed swatch photos and does really cute nail art.  Hi, Tiana! :)

2.  Karrie of Never Nude Nails, who is always putting up very creative nail art with lovely pics.  She is also currently doing a giveaway!  Hi, Karrie! :)

3.  Aglaya of Aglayanails, another of my early followers who I want to thank.  She is in Switzerland and sharing very elegant nail polish combinations with the world.  Hi, Aglaya!

4.  Meghan of CHERRY BOMB, who shares really gorgeous pics of her nails and her makeup.  Another of my early followers, so thank you!  Hi, Meghan!

5.  Kristin of Ermahgerd Perlish!, who I just discovered today through Llarowe.  You have to see some of Kristin's nail art - she is so creative!  Hi, Kristin!

I was so surprised to find such a modest following on these ladies' blogs!  They are so super talented!  Please be sure to check them all out! :D

Kinda Reminds Me of Cupcakes...

Hi, everyone!  So the other day I posted a super fun, messy pic on the APWP FB page of my gradient I was working on but I haven't had a chance to show you how it turned out!

For this mani I started with Sinful Colors Snow Me White, sponged on Sinful Colors Sugar and Spice, and then topped it off with a gorgeous, glittery helping of Too Cute-icle's Pretty, Pretty Princess!

What I was hoping to achieve here was for the pinks to compliment each other more than they did, but I think my pink I chose for the gradient was too dark for this.  However, it does sort of remind me of cupcakes... or ice cream... I'm not sure why! :D  (Forgive the mess, I saved the super clean up for after the glitter was applied.)

While the pinks didn't do what I wanted, the glitter is just beautiful in itself, isn't it?  I love Too Cute-icle's combo of pinks and blues with the tiny holographic pieces scattered in it.  It's pretty remarkable outside.
This is the mani I was wearing last night when a nice lady at Wal-Mart (who had her bare foot up on a shelf next to the Sinful Colors display comparing reds!) couldn't believe that my nails are my own and wanted to know EXACTLY how I achieved this look!  It really made me think that I should have some cards to pass out or something for my blog... what do you all think?  Do you promote your blog like that or in a similar way?  Anyway, so this lady was just a doll and she was looking at a red that would have NEVER matched what was on her toes in the way she wanted, so C and I helped her out.  She asked how I knew so much about the colors and I proudly told her, because I can now!, that I'm a blogger and I have almost 300 beautiful colors!  I can't help but wonder how things worked out for her and her red toenails.... ;)

Don't forget you can find Pretty, Pretty Princess at Jess's Etsy shop, Too Cute-icle! :)

Before I forget - I didn't get to post the mani yesterday because C has been soooo good in school for the whole month -- she has an excessive talking problem... I can't IMAGINE where she gets it!!! ;) -- and so R and I took her to the local PetsMart after school to pick out a new guinea pig!  Previously we had a wonderful piggy, MOMO, who lived a very long, happy life with us until she passed of old age.  This is our new little buddy, Clover, who C named after the rabbit friend on Princess Sophia. ;)  ISN'T HE JUST FLIPPIN' PRECIOUS!?  I love guinea pigs!!!!

Next time I'm on here I will have a stunning polish pendant to show you that was created by Puzzled and Polished!  I can't wait to tell you how this piece impressed myself, my daughter, and my husband; as well as how purchases in their shop benefit a very important Walk Now for Autism Speaks team!

Illamasqua's Fragile

How do you know, when you think blue — when you say blue — that you are talking about the same blue as anyone else?

Hi, everyone!  I hope you don't think I have forgotten about you.  Just been a very busy couple of days in my house.  Quite exhausting!  Good thing I have such an amazing, supportive family. :)

I know you all are also very supportive, so I have been putting a lot of thought into my first giveaway.  I'm trying to decide when to have it and what you all would like to see!

So: What would YOU like to see in a giveaway? Please comment below!

It's been a bit yucky outside this morning so I'm hoping that I will be able to make the mani I have in mind impressive enough to overcome the muck.  In the meantime, I have been wearing Illamasqua's Fragile for the last three days (it wore well until I did the dishes!) and I have really enjoyed it.

Fragile is the first shade I have worn by Illamasqua and it was one of two shades I purchased when Sephora was having it's little sale recently.  Here is it over my Cult Nail's Get it On base coat and topped with one coat of Seche Vite.  I really wanted to show off how incredibly well this formula spreads glitter and how it is just the perfect make for layering glitter to show depth!  I think they did an immaculate job with this one, from the gorgeous baby blue color to the array of glitter sizes within.  Check out my mani, I did three thin coats of Fragile to achieve this look! :)

I have to say, this polish is definitely going to be one that I will wear often as a go to mani.  It's just such a beautiful color!  I spent a lot of time staring at it!  Did you get any of the Illamasqua Speckleds?

Too Cute-icle's Bonny Blue Yonder

Remember when I made my first Too-Cuticle purchase last week?  Well Miss Jess was such a sweetheart and sent out a surprise special mini polish of a color that was not released until yesterday!  Here are a few swatches of a beautiful blue and silver glitter polish called Bonny Blue Yonder:

mini Bonny Blue Yonder

Bonny Blue Yonder over Zoya Shawn

2 coats over black, 2 over white, 1 coat alone, 2 coats alone

One of the things that really caught my attention about this beautiful blue is that it is full of sparkling circles AND squares!  They are floating effortlessly in a sea of tiny blues and silvers that are easy as pie to apply.  I had to do no dabbing on my bigger nails (just on my pinky for the first coat) and the second coat glided on with no trouble.  Glitter was dispersed evenly and this baby sure does sparkle.  I put it on over Zoya Shawn to have a little something different, a little something green, but personally I LOVE how Bonny Blue Yonder is really shown off over a nice plain black polish.  I am even thinking about throwing a matte on it some day to see how it looks!

You can find this color has been released - but has gone very quickly! - on Too Cute-icle's Etsy shop.  I also grabbed Sleepy Flower & Pretty, Pretty Princess when I was there, so keep an eye out for those as well! :D

Baby Shower Nails!

Hello!  I hope everyone had a great Saturday!  I sure did; my baby shower for my son was really, really nice!

Now, I was super busy and you'll have to forgive me for the indoor pics I took of my nails (I wish I had had a chance to take some in the sun before I got tip wear and one finger peeled off) but you can still see what I did with them!  My son's name!!!! :D

In April we will be welcoming our son, Elric J Thurston Galvan!  Yay!!! :D
I painted with a Kiss striper brush over my CC Blue Heaven mani, and I accented with a little Too Cute-icle's Bonny Blue Yonder glitter.  And, yes, I did paint his name in cursive all by myself lol.  (Everyone keeps asking!)

My husband doesn't have a middle name so all three of his children have two middle names.  It's just a fun, silly thing we have stuck with since his oldest daughter has two! :)

What do you think!? :D