My First Scofflaw Nail Varnishes!

Hi, everyone!  So tonight I want to show you my first two Scofflaw Nail Varnishes!  I can't believe I waited so long to buy from this Indie brand.  These two colors are unique and stunning, each one was opaque in two coats, and the formula is impeccable.  These two polishes were purchased by me.

 

Before we get started I must ask you to excuse my incredibly random watermark on these pictures.  Unfortunately my program is not working properly and while the watermark was in the right place on the program, apparently it did not translate correctly when I saved the pic.... however the heck that works.... :(

 

Moving on!!!!

 

First up from Scofflaw is "Drop Dead Fred" and it is officially one of my new favorite polishes!  I just couldn't stop staring at it while I wore it.  Couldn't.  Stop.  And who would want to!?  "It's a vivid lime green with butterscotch shimmer highlights. It boasts glitters in metallic butterscotch and various sizes of holographic blue," says the Scofflaw site.  What a freakin' masterpiece.  I am obsessed with the shimmer, the colors, the formula..........  Just dreamy, you guys.  You have to get this one!!!  (As you can probably see, this is the last swatch set I watermarked with that program....)

 

 

Next is "Your Cat Ain't Cute," a vibrant coral creme polish full of delicate gold, matte neon coral, and various sizes of metallic brown glitters.  My camera barely does this polish justice!  I don't think that the coral color suits my skin as well as I'd like, but nonetheless I am obsessed with this beautiful glitter polish.  I think that this second photo is very true to the actual color of the polish you're getting.  Also - check out the new watermark!  Ooooh ahhhh!

 

You can find these and other amazing colors online at the Scofflaw Nail Varnish shop!  There will be a restock on February 8th!  You can subscribe for email alerts and follow along on Facebook, too.

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!

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.