Every Nook and Cranberry

Here is a lovely polish from the KBShimmer Fall 2013 Collection!  I wanted Every Nook and Cranberry from the moment I read about it on the press release info Christy sent with my Blogger package in August.  My darling husband got it for me for Christmas!  Woo!

This polish is described on KBShimmer.com as "a cranberry satin matte polish with a subtle pink and gold shimmer."  I adore mattes and this one did not disappoint.  Every Nook and Cranberry goes on in two flawless coats for full coverage and has a pretty rapid dry time.  I oohed and ahhed over the gorgeous glitters and blue tones in this polish as I applied it and I really want to try it out with  top coat!

 

Here is a DIRECT LINK to Every Nook and Cranberry on the KBShimmer shop website!!  Go check out all the other gorgeous beauties she has up for sale.  I have 19 different colors by Christy and they are of amazing quality and uniqueness!

Emily de Molly Cosmic Forces

Good morning!
I just laid the little one down for his morning nap and looked over my blog a little.  I am very sad to see that some of my photo quality is very poor!!  They really lost their quality in translation from my iPhone app posting to the PC view....  I'm incredibly sorry about this!!!

Today I am working from the desktop and I want to show off another Emily de Molly to make up for my crappy pics before.  This is the famous Cosmic Forces!  I did take these photos inside, but I don't think they turned out badly.

 



This mani is two coats of this lovely, squishy purple jelly polish.  I especially adore the big holo circles in there that just make the whole thing pop!  My only issue with this polish is that where the big circles stick on my nails it always leaves a violet stain.  It's still totally worth it!!!  I use on coat of Seche Vite on top and it is nice and smooth.  I have never had any glitter problems with Cosmic Forces, whether it be with placing the glitter or any catching.

What do you think of this one!?  Love it!!

I Love Emily de Molly!

And who doesn't?!  If you don't know Emily de Molly Nail Colour you're missing out, my friends.  This gorgeous Australian brand expands all the time but is never out of fresh ideas.  I fell in love long ago with Cosmic Forces, Black Forest, and Zombie Spotting (which, unfortunately was LE and gone by the time I discovered it!).  I finally got my hands on an EdM polish called Ursula from a blog sale and I knew I had to find a way to get more EdMs off my wish list and onto my shelf!

The lovely creation I want to share with you today was on its way to being discontinued when I finally caved and spent $13 plus shipping for it on www.shop.llarowe.com.  If you're iffy about spending $13 on a bottle of nail polish, let me assure you that this is the brand you should splurge on!  Have you heard "you get what you pay for?"  Yep!

This is Regal Beginnings.  If you know how much I adore purple you know I had to have this one!

This is two thin coats of Regal Beginnings.  I kid you not, this polish was literally the smoothest application of a creamy, glitter-filled polish I have ever used!!!  It was practically opaque with the first coat but I wanted to add depth with a second.  This beauty manages to layer the glitter and base color so well that it shows the blue, gold, and black glitter while still stacking creamy layers.

Obviously this became one of my favorite colors ever.  Ever.  Ever. ;)  I only took it off because my bestie got married this weekend and I painted my nails red to match!

Like I said, this is an Aussie based polish brand, but you can find it in online shops.

Ack!!!  These photos make me want to put this color back on sooooooo badly!!!!!! ;)

Do you have any Emily de Molly Nail Colour?

Scratch Nail Wraps Review and Tutorial

PIC HEAVY TUTORIAL :)

What do you think of nail wraps?  You may remember recently I was very curious about them and got some Jamberry Nail Shields mailed to me to sample. (You can check that review out here, by the way: http://atpeacewithpolish.blogspot.com/2013/07/jamberry-nail-strips.html?m=1)

Well around that time I also donated $9 to a neat little Kickstarter project founded by Chelsea Kent and called Scratch!  These uniquely adorned wraps vary in availability from month to month. The Scratch site states, "Our goal with Scratch is to create amazing art for our nails, together. Teaming up with incredible nail artists, designers, bloggers and illustrators from around the world, we will bring a new collection of well designed nail wraps every month. Each month will be focused on the current Featured Artist. You'll be able to purchase their collection which will directly support the artist with a % of every sale."

Obviously I thought this sounded very cool!  The project had already met its projected goal before it was suggested to me, but I felt that it was a good investment and I had no idea which wrap I would be getting - and who doesn't love surprises?

When my package from Scratch arrived it contained a cute green chevron set of wraps in several sizes, directions to locate their easy to follow instructions, and a cute mini file.  I thought it was a good opportunity to do a basic tutorial for you all!

First you should make sure your nails are clean and dry.  No base coat needed (and they didn't leave any damage!)

The next thing I had to do was pick the right size, of course.  Next ya tear your strip off and start peeling!  It's pretty cool, actually, the way it's made.  The strip essentially comes apart in three pieces: the top plastic cover, the strip itself, and the thicker plastic cover over the adhesive.  I found that it didn't really matter which I removed first. 

Next you apply the strip against your cuticle.  The adhesive is wonderful - sticky, yet forgiving if you have to move it to line up your wrap.  The plastic is also nice and stretchy and shiny!  The instuctions say to add a top coat but I wonder if it's really necessary....?

Press the wrap down over your nail to all the edges and make it stick. Here's where the file comes in handy!  The instuctions say to file the extra length off in a downward motion - I had to file the bottom and sides on most of my tiny nails.  I actually pressed the wrap down against my nail edge to begin sort of a tear, but DON'T just pinch it off!  It will yank a little piece of the wrap off your nail that you don't want to lose. Trust me, I learned that the hard way!!!

Here is where I got frustrated.  My nails are very tiny.  For this reason I will not be using wraps anymore.  The wraps are pretty uniform in their designs but in a way that the precut is designed for the strip size, not the nail size.  Does that make sense?  If you look at my pic of the finished mani you will see what I mean.  It seemed to me that once done I had a sloppy mess of green.  Some nails looked like I had applied them crooked or didn't use all the green colors, etc.  Top it with your favorite top coat polish and you're all done. 

Overall I thought this product was fantastic!  They lasted until I took them off without any issues - much better wear time than Jamberry.  Scratch even has a monthly subscriber box now. I adore this idea, but like I said, I think the art doesn't get portrayed well on my tiny nails.  I would probably buy them as a gift though!!

You can't get these particular wraps anymore, but every month is something new!  Go see what's up for October at www.goscratchit.com!

Naomi Rose

This polish was generously provided to me for review by Darah Patterson, owner and creator of Sweet Tea Polish. The provided polish is graciously accepted and kept, and does not affect my opinions regarding the product.  This blog review post is my honest opinion for the owner's and any consumers' benefit.  Thank you, Darah, for the opportunity to review these awesome polishes!

Sweet Tea Polish is so much fun!  Today I have another color Darah calls Naomi Rose.  Naomi Rose is described as an opalescent turquoise with pink, purple, aqua & silver glitter.  I love how each color stands out independently from the base but in certain lights it all blends together.  It sound strange, but it's just hard to describe!  Pictures really don't do this creation justice.

I layered two thin coats over Sinful Colors Snow Me White for this mani and it got so many compliments at work!  I adore looking at the shimmery color shift happening in this subtle shade!  A must have for glitter lovers as well as the more conservative of polish wearers.  There was no trouble applying this one, I just shook my bottle up and let it sit upside down for a little while before use and the glitter was very easy to grab.

See how it kinda looks like a glare on my nails and in the bottle?  It's not!  That's the turquoise standing out!

What do you think?  I'm so happy to have this one!  Once again here is the shop info for Sweet Tea Polish: You can purchase Sweet Tea Polish on etsy here for $9 a bottle plus shipping: http://www.etsy.com/shop/designsbydarah.

New Indie Brand! Sweet Tea Polish!

Sweet Tea Polish: "colors inspired by the Sweet South!"

This polish was generously provided to me for review by Darah Patterson, owner and creator of Sweet Tea Polish. The provided polish is graciously accepted and kept, and does not affect my opinions regarding the product.  This blog review post is my honest opinion for the owner's and any consumers' benefit.  Thank you, Darah, for the opportunity to review these awesome polishes!

Today I want to share a new Indie Polish brand with you!  Lovely Darah Patterson contacted me to review her southern inspired lacquers and I couldn't have been more excited!  This initial set of colors is expansive and diverse and really showcases Darah's creativity.

A graphic designer by trade, Darah designed her own adorable Sweet Tea Polish labels and put together a super cute little package for me!  I was so exited to find a very cool little set of bonus hairbands with my polish samples.  Unfortunately I forgot to take some pics of them and I am at work, but since I have two great colors to show you I will be sure to have pics of them next time!

For now this is Barefoot Belle!  This glitter topper shines with gold, rose, and lavender bits in different shapes and sizes depending on the color.  I wasn't sure what the best color would be for under this one and it looked a little dark in the bottle so I went with a silver first.  To me this does not show off the glitters at all!  I made a huge mistake lol!  The glitter is actually very lightly dispersed and the colors are bright and shiny and not dark at all. 

So of course I corrected this mistake and did a little art!

This is Barefoot Belle over a gradient with e.l.f. Taupe of the World and Zoya Pepper!  The gradient alone is pretty awesome and I will have to show you that another day!

Look at all that sparkle!!! I love how all the colors compliment and pop off my nails. What do you think?

You can purchase Sweet Tea Polish on etsy here for $9 a bottle plus shipping: http://www.etsy.com/shop/designsbydarah.

Tell her I sent ya! :)

Nice Planet!

Kunimitsu Nail Potions is a really neat little Indie brand I discovered on Etsy and absolutely love! This color really caught my eye when I first saw it and when I found it in a blog sale I was so excited.  Nice Planet! is a white base with a green shimmer that I did not notice until I put it on my nails!  The shimmer really sets this glitter packed polish apart from other similar colors. 

This is two medium coats with no white undies. The polish is very opaque and super easy to work with - perfect formula and glitters in green, teal, and gold!

You can purchase Kunimitsu Nail Potions on etsy.com here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Kunimitsu

If you have any of these up for swap or sale let me know, would ya?!  I just adore these colors and can't wait to get more. 

KBShimmer Birthday Celebration, The Finale!

This polish was generously provided to me for review by Christy Rose, owner and creator of KBShimmer Bath and Body. The provided polish is graciously accepted and kept, and does not affect my opinions regarding the product.  This blog review post is my honest opinion for the owner's and any consumers' benefit.  Thank you, Christy, for the opportunity to review these awesome polishes!

The gorgeous colors I will share today to continue my celebration of KBShimmer's 5th Birthday are so bright you might wanna grab yo' shades!  I wasn't sure what to think of these two when I opened my review package from Christy Rose, creator of KBShimmer, but when I put them on I was super excited to show them off!

This first polish, Blinded by the Bright, is a super neon yellow crelly with a rainbow of different size and shape glitters!  I got sooooo many compliments on this one, you guys.  The more I stared at it the more I fell for it!  This is three thin coats to grab lots of glitter for layering. It also worked well with two but I couldn't help myself!  What do you think?

The yellow base seemed like it might overwhelm the glitter colors but it really wasn't too bad!  We all know Christy makes amazing polish so I dunno why I doubted.  LOL.  You will notice some of the glitters obviously have yellow polish over them, but it really adds to the depth and doesn't take away from the combo, in my opinion.

Next up is The Dancing Green!  I was really hoping to be blown away by this one because my favorite colors are purple and green.  While it isn't my favorite color by KBShimmer I have absolutely zero complaints about the formula, coverage, or amount of glitter in this crelly.  The green base is thinner than the yellow base and makes the glitters pop from every coat!  Christy says The Dancing Green "features fuchsia square glitters, chartreuse dots,  sapphire hex glitters and fuchsia dots.  A subtle micro shimmer completes this emerald colored polish."  Check it out!  This is three thin coats. 

These two colors are currently still available at www.kbshimmer.com.

My Birthday Nails

Hi, all!  So as ya may know my birthday was on the 25th and since I found out on my bday last year that I was preggers with E I was determined to go out this year!  I wanted to show you the fun nails that I made based off a design I found a long time ago by honeymunchkin.com.  I adore this mani and it was perfect with the gorgeous dress my sister bought me for my birthday outing!

I used Spoiled's Show Me Some Skin and Sally Hansen's Black Out to create my claw tape mani!  Isn't it fun?!

Here is the dress my sister bought for me:

I had always wanted something like this!!! Woo!

Also, here is my stunningly gorgeous sister A!  Hahaha she brought glow in the dark goodies and mustache finger tats for all the ladies who came.  Such fun ice breakers and pics came from this silly idea! Love you, A!!!

A Visit to the KBShimmer Circus!

Continuing with my Feature KBShimmer Month today!  I have an hour for lunch at my new job and of course, once again, I am sitting alllll alone!!!  I am not letting it get me down though because it's the ONLY time I am ever alone!  And it gives me time to blog!  ;)

This polish was generously provided to me for review by Christy Rose, owner and creator of KBShimmer Bath and Body. The provided polish is graciously accepted and kept, and does not affect my opinions regarding the product.  This blog review post is my honest opinion for the owner's and any consumers' benefit.  Thank you, Christy, for the opportunity to review these awesome polishes!

Today I have two lovely older colors from a collection by Christy that was inspired by the circus. These two colors are currently still available at www.kbshimmer.com but are going fast!

First up is a color that was on my good ol' wish list for a long time!  Elle is a sheer, pale grey crelly packed with glitter!  I was a little sad about how sheer it was, but when I put one coat over Revlon Stormy Night it turned out to be a perfect amount of glitter!  You could make this one fairly opaque with 2-3 coats alone, however, it gets a little clumpy that way due to the fantastic plethora of glitters.  There are several pink, white, and grey sparklies in here of different shapes and it's a crowd pleaser for sure!  Check out one medium coat of Elle below.  The application was as impressive as all KBShimmer colors and with one or two coats it is a pretty smooth finish. 

Speaking of fantastic glitter, the next color I want to show you is a glitter topper.  It's a clear base with about 100 different types of glitter in each varied batch!  Does that sound like the type of polish everyone should have in their collection or what?!  Funny thing: I never really wanted this one before because the name honestly just bugged me a little.  Now that I have it I am beyond glad! I wore it until it was growing out, then I matte top coated it for fun and wore that until it started to peel!  So. Gorgeous.  This phenomenal glitter topper is called Clown Puke, and it is loads more fun than the name implies!  Perfect application, obviously, this is one medium coat and a few extra dabs because I couldn't help myself over Sally Hansen Black Out. 

Look!  A big, teal holo round glitter!  Look!  A white, matte square!  Look!  A black, matte square!  LOL

Fun stuff!  I even got a star on this hand!  My husband also spotted a red heart in the bottle and I myself saw several sizes of black round glitters, fuchsia round holos, and a purple flower!  How exciting is that?!

I am sure just Clown Puke alone has overwhelmed you, so I am gonna put the store link here for you once more and leave you to your shopping!!! ;)

Go to www.kbshimmer.com right now!!!!  See ya next time!

KBShimmer Fall 2013 Colors Part Two

Yay! Time for part two!

This polish was generously provided to me for review by Christy Rose, owner and creator of KBShimmer Bath and Body. The provided polish is graciously accepted and kept, and does not affect my opinions regarding the product.  This blog review post is my honest opinion for the owner's and any consumers' benefit.  Thank you, Christy, for the opportunity to review these awesome polishes!

Continuing from my previous post, which you can see HERE, I am gonna show you the other two colors in the new KBShimmer Fall 2013 Collection that were sent to me for review!

This perfectly fall color is called Turbulence and when I put it on all I did was stare at my nails! I sincerely think I will use this bottle up and that doesn't happen often! This gorgeous gray color dries to a matte finish and features flecks of glitter. I shook well, used two thin coats and appreciated the fact that it didn't take very long to dry! I adore matte finish polish! In the last pic below you can see what Turbulence looks like with a top coat. 

And last, but certainly not least, is You Autumn Know! If you have read my blog before or know me at all you know I have a serious addiction to white base polish with glitter! I was so happy to see this color when I opened the package from Christy!  This is two coats of You Autumn Know, which, as you can see, has a variety of glitters including two sizes of hex glitter in orange, yellow, and fuchsia, small circles in orange, yellow, and purple, and to accent those are short bar glitters in orange and fuchsia!

So far that's a duochrome, a jelly, a matte, and a crelly!  And that's not even all of the colors in the collection! I sincerely wish I had the others to swatch for you because they are also just stunning! Keep your eyes peeled for swatches of those from other lucky duck bloggers. 

I hear that this collection will be released on September 1 on www.kbshimmer.com! 

Don't forget to also drop by Facebook and leave KBShimmer happy birthday wishes and tell Christy how stunning these colors are at www.facebook.com/kbshimmerbathandbody.

KBShimmer Fall 2013 Colors Part One

Oh boy do I have some amazing colors to show you today!  Earlier this month I Christy Rose, the genius mind behind KBShimmer contacted me regarding the fifth birthday of KBShimmer! YAAAAY, KBShimmer, Happy Birthday!!!!! In celebration I am going to show you several colors from new and old collections by KBShimmer throughout August!

This polish was generously provided to me for review by Christy Rose, owner and creator of KBShimmer Bath and Body. The provided polish is graciously accepted and kept, and does not affect my opinions regarding the product.  This blog review post is my honest opinion for the owner's and any consumers' benefit.  Thank you, Christy, for the opportunity to review these awesome polishes!

I must warn you - this post is gonna be nice and picture heavy! Therefore, I am going to split it into two posts so I don't overwhelm you! Ack! I can't even decide which color to show first because they are all so amazing.....

This is Teal Another Tail! This soft duochrome color is sure to impress. Christy created this color based off what she believes a mermaid tail would look like, and for me I think she was spot on! My favorite thing about this teal-to-purple sparkling beauty is that it looks to me like the texture of a mermaid tail. This is two coats and it was perfect coverage. I didn't have any trouble whatsoever with the application. It dries to an almost smooth finish and a topcoat does not diminish the scaly texture look! Isn't it AMAZING?! I don't usually buy duochromes but this color had me in awe - I even put it on my toes!

Next up is Vicious Circles! This lovely red jelly is packed full of silver holographic round, hex, and micro slice glitter! There are so many sizes and so much that it is guaranteed you will have a brush full every time. For so much glitter the application was surprising easy and smooth. This is two coats. I don't think I did this one justice in layering it, but I really want to try it out over red undies and see if I like it more. 

I am so impressed with this collection because it has such a variety of colors and finishes while still managing to be unique and fall themed all at once! Autumn is for sure my favorite season and I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to be one of the first to show you a new collection from my favorite Indie brand! Now go look at Part Two and see more amazingness! ;)

I hear that this collection will be released on September 1 on www.kbshimmer.com! 

Don't forget to also drop by Facebook and leave KBShimmer happy birthday wishes and tell Christy how stunning these colors are at www.facebook.com/kbshimmerbathandbody