Lucky 13 Lacquer Life Is Short And You Are Hot

Welcome back, and happy Thursday! Today I have a gorgeous Indie polish to show you, that does has double duty WOW factor for me. One, it's beautiful! Two, it appeals to my nerd-girl side. Yes, in case you didn't know, I'm a nerd-girl, and when I discovered that Lucky 13 Lacquer had a whole line of Doctor Who themed polishes, a collection called The Last Of The Time Lords, I couldn't get to their site fast enough, I just HAD to have them! The one I have for you today is a lovely one called Life Is Short And You Are Hot, one of my favorite lines from one of my favorite episodes: "Blink!"!

 

LiSaYaH is a magenta jelly polish filled with tiny magenta glitters and medium holographic magenta hexes.

 

You could wear this polish so many ways, probably the most popular way is over white or pink, or layered over itself in 3-4 coats, and all of those would be amazing, but I wanted to do something different, so here is is over blue! This is 1 coat of LiSaYaH over Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure The Sky's The Limit.

Here is the bottle, so you can see the color my nails were before adding LiSaYaH

 

The formula on this polish was fabulous, I had no problems with application and the glitter went on very evenly as you can see

Close up!

This polish is so versatile! Here are some other amazing options for layers Life Is Short And You Are Hot. From left to right, this is one coat over Zoya Monica (a dark purple), Zoya Carey (a light gray), China Glaze Liquid Leather (black), SH CSM The Sky's the Limit (which is what I'm wearing above), and a surprise winner, over SoFlaJo Going Down? (yellow). What can't you wear this over?

Lucky 13 Lacquers are all hand-mixed as well as 100% 3-free, vegan, and cruelty free. You can pick up your own Life Is Short And You Are Hot, as well as check out the rest of the Last Of The Time Lords collection at Lucky 13's website here.

Don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY! It ends Feb 24!

Til next time!
-Kara

Laid-Back 31 Day Challenge: Black & White

Welcome to Day 1 of Crumpet's Nail Tarts Laid Back 31 Day Challenge! I'm super excited about this nail art challenge because it goes through May, so I will have nail art to post regularly - yay! Let's get to it, shall we?

Day 1 of this Challenge is Black & White. I wanted to use my favorite pattern for this - Houndstooth! I love this look so much, it's a real eye-catcher! For this look I used Julep Eileen for the base white used Bundle Monster Plate BM-322 and Konad special black stamping polish.

 

Here's what is coming up this challenge:

Don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY! It runs through Feb 24th, so get your entries in :)

Til next time!
-Kara

Epic Multi-Blogger Giveaway!

The time has come! It's finally here! Hold on to your hats ladies, we have a giveaway for you! I have gotten together with 8 other fabulous bloggers and put together a huge giveaway! Between the 9 of us and donations from some amazing Indie polish makers and nail gurus, we have put together 10, yes, TEN amazing prize packs for you. Are you excited yet? You should be! I'm actually pretty bummed I can't enter, because I would love to win any of these prizes!

Shall we get on with the fun part? PRIZES! Yay!

Prize #1

 

Nail Nation3000 Kizmit, Kelara Lacquers' entire Festivus 4 the Restofus collection minis (set of 5), Island Girl Island Paradise, Milani Nail Art Purple Outline, Fimo slices, and a Julep glass file

Prize #2

3D Nail Stickers, Revlon Heavenly, Pure Cuticle Oil sampler pack (set of 4), Butter London The Black Knight, NailNation3000 Infinity, NailNation3000 Heart of Gold

Prize #3

 Glisten & Glow Stuck on Blu! base coat, Glisten & Glow HK Girl top coat, Julep Chelsea, NailNation3000 Bohemian Rhapsody, Julep Glycolic Hand Scrub (1 fl oz), Sally Hansen nail file, stamping plate

Prize #4

Set of 8 mini bottle of microbeads, OPI DS Magic, NailNation3000 Limelight, Island Girl Old Hawaii, Daily Lacquer Moulin Rouge, Nail Pattern Boldness Boop-Oop-A-Dupe, Julep Age Defying Hand Brightener (1 fl oz)

Prize #5

Microbeads, Sally Hansen Gem Crush mini set (set of 4), Julep Cindy, NailNation3000 Eye of Newt, NailNation3000 Cupids Arrow, Delusional Polish Snow Caps

Prize #6

Pure Cuticle Oil Sampler Pack (set of 4), Julep glitter pot, Orly Steel Your Heart, Color Club Editorial, NailNation3000 Fire Flies, NailNation3000 Kryptonite, Sea Lore Andrina, Sally Hansen nail file

Prize #7

 Microbeads, Daily Lacquer Come What May, NailNation3000 No H8, Deja Vu Dead Sea Minerals Cuticle Oil, Julep Barbara, Color Club Personal Stylist, OPI Ridge Filler

Prize #8

Julep Age Defying Hand Brightener (3 fl oz), NailNation3000 Alison, NailNation3000 Sun Goddess, Elevation Polish Xixabangma, stamping plate, Layla Hologram Effect Mercury Twilight + buffer

Prize #9

NailNation3000 Valley Of Neptune, NailNation3000 Baby Doll, Island Girl (no name), Julep Georgia, TipTop Blue Me To Pieces, stamping plate, Julep The Best Pedi Creme Ever

Prize #10

Daily Lacquer I'll Fly Away, Sally Hansen Gem Crush mini set (set of 4), Revlon Girly, NailNation3000 Max-a-Million, NailNation3000 Lunar Eclipse, stamping plate

I want to take this time to give a very special THANK you to Maria of NailNation3000, Maggy of Daily Lacquer, Tara of Kelara Lacquers, Jill of Glisten & Glow, and Ana of Pure Cuticle Oil for their very generous donations. We love you!

The Rules:
           
                 *This giveaway is open to US and Canada only
                 *You must be 18 or older to enter
                 *Entries will be validated
                 *Giveaway ends 2/24/13
         
                 *10 winners will be chosen at random. The first name pulled will get Prize #1, the second name will get Prize #2, and so on.
                 *The winners will be notified via e-mail, you will have 24 hours to respond to the e-mail, or another name will be chosen. Please check your Spam folders.


How To Enter:

                 Enter via the Rafflecopter below

EDIT: As of 2/07 we have added an eleventh prize! Huge thanks to Stacy of Paris Sparkles for her generous donation of two of her best sellers!

Prize Pack #11

Paris Sparkles Golden Touch and Midnight in Paris

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Jaded Nail Co Andromeda

Happy Friday everyone! Big plans for the weekend? I have laundry and homework to look forward to - yay me! Hopefully I'll have time to do some Nail Art Challenge brainstorming and prep work. I've signed up for THREE next month. I'm insane, obviously. But in the meantime, I have a gorgeous polish to show you today!

Jaded Nail Co Andromeda

This gorgeous polish you see before you is Andromeda by Jaded Nail Co. I'll just give you a minute to soak this beauty in...

 

 Andromeda is a gorgeous dark blue jelly packed with different sizes and shards of holographic glitters. My lighting makes these look royal blue, but it's a bit darker in real life.

more color accurate

This is a pic from my cell phone, it's not great quality, but it's color accurate.

Just look at the depth! I am absolutely in love with this polish, I can't stop staring. This is 3 coats of Andromeda topped with Rock topcoat and Seche Vite topcoat.

Now for the hard part. This is my second mani with this polish. I had a very difficult time with the first one. This polish is pretty thick and it's packed with glitter making it even more so. My first mani with this ended up a gloopy gross mess. I took it off in frustration, but something told me to try once more time, and I discovered the "trick". The first coat you put on your nail has to be thin. Like, super thin. Subsequent coats can be thicker, but that first one has got to be thin, or the whole thing is a mess. Not sure why it needs that base, but it was a lifesaver!

With that said, I honestly believe that this polish is absolutely WORTH the extra effort! I am so glad I gave this one another chance. It is absolutely gorgeous, and I have received many complements on it today. I will definitely be using this polish again and again!

 

Here's a closeup of my thumb nail so you can see all the goodness packed in there :)

If you would like to order your own Jaded Nail Co head on over to their Facebook page, where you can see photos of all the polishes and email your orders.

What do you think of Andromeda? Leave me a comment, I love to read them :)

Til next time,

-Kara

Nail Pattern Boldness Boop-Oop-A-Dupe

Welcome back ladies (and gentlemen?), I have started a second round of a cuticle oil treatment which requires me to have naked nails for three days. Yes, three! Torture! Pure torture! But fear not, dear readers, I have a small stash of nail photos I have not yet shown here, so I will be whipping those out.

Today, I am pulling from the archives a gorgeous Indie polish. I don't know why I never blogged about this before now... wait, yes I do, because I was too lazy to sift through 86 photos of this one polish. To be honest, even with 86 photos to choose from, I'm not thrilled with what I came up with. Thank goodness my photography skills have improved! Anywho, on with the show.

Nail Pattern Boldness Boop-Oop-A-Dupe over Revlon Royal

This is 2 coats of Nail Pattern Boldness Boop-Oop-A-Dupe over Revlon Royal. I don't remember where I first saw this combination, but when BOaD arrived, I KNEW I would be using it over Royal, it's just stunning!

1 coat

2 coats

 Here's why I used two coats. While in real life, one coat was sufficient to see the gorgeous shimmer and shine, it just wouldn't capture very well. Much better with two.

 Boop-Oop-A-Dupe is a dupe for the much sought after Max Factor Fantasy Fire. I think every polish junkie has Fantasy Fire on their wishlist, but it's incredibly hard to find in the US. This is also a dupe for the even HARDER to find Clairins 230 (aka Unicorn Pee). It is absolutely gorgeous, and I am so glad I was able to snag it when I did, those nails are on fire!

Sorry for the awkward pose, but I wanted to show the color shift this baby has! It's red, it's yellow, it's green! It's a rainbow on my nails!

Boop-Oop-A-Dupe is a Llarowe exclusive, so you won't find it in the Nail Pattern Boldness Etsy shop! It retails for $9 and comes in a large 15ml bottle - a much better deal than Fantasy Fire! If you like special effects toppers, I highly recommend this one! Make your reds fire-y-er, your blacks look like embers, your blues, well, you see what id does to blues! Amazing.

I hope you enjoyed this look from the archives while my nails thirstily soak up the cuticle oil :)
What would you layer Boop-Oop-A-Dupe over?

Til next time!
-Kara

Pretty in Pink

Welcome back everyone! I hadn't done any stamping in a while, so I thought I'd give it a go! Luckily, this is the "Month of Untrieds", so it really helped narrow down my options for me.

For this look I used an unnamed pink Miss Sporty I got from a friend in the UK. This is a very pretty color, but very sheer. This is 4 coats, and there is still very visible nail line. I then used Bundle Monster plate BM-213 and Zoya Lara for the images, and to add a little pizazz, I used my dotting tool to add gems to the accent nail. Everything is topped with a generous coat of Seche Vite.

I love the way this turned out, I just wish the base color was more opaque. Perhaps I'll wear some undies next time :)

Til next time!
-Kara

Blogazons Weekly Roundup

• Chickettes.com: Add some glitz and glam your nails for a night out on the town with the Gelish Sizzling Summer Nights collection!
• Beauty Fiends: Curious about mineral foundation? Julia at Beauty Fiends has been testing Ferro Cosmetic's Ultimate Mineral Foundation. Find out what she thinks!
• Emily Hudspeth, hair design and makeup artist: My YouTube channel got a facelift! Now you can find your favorite tutorials and product reviews organized into playlists. Enjoy!
• Adore A Polish: Kristina shares her favorite nail polish picks from 2012.
• Lola's Secret Beauty Blog: Looking for a whole new customizable Beauty Box experience? Then take a look at Wantable!
• Polarbelle: Want to know how to really plump your lips? I'd like to suggest EnvyDerm lip plumping gloss.
• TheFabZilla: TheFabZilla starts a new series- Lips Showcase. What is it? Hop over to her bloggity blog.
• Vicerimus: Like the Suede finish, but not feeling like wearing it as a full mani? Do Suede accent nails!
• Ishah x Beauty: Looking for a YSL Glossy Stain dupe? Check out L'Oreal Colour Caresse Shine Stain!
• Samarium's Swatches: Sarah shows off her LE collaboration piCture pOlish shade Atomic!
• The Beauty Think Tank: Revlon has debuted the new Photoready BB Cream - but the question on everyone's mind... is it obnoxiously shimmery?
• Lacquer Buzz: This week Lacquer Buzz ventures into makeup territory to show you this awesome movie inspired palette by NYX.
• Makeup Demon: Fresh blue and green makeup + photoshoot. Waiting for the Spring...
• Pinked Polish: Holy Holo Stamping Batman!!!!! Stamping with the beautiful Halo-graphic. :)
• Très Beau Glamour: Nay Denise has gotten her hands on the BH Cosmetics Day & Night Palette and used it to create an amazing Turquoise & Purple look. Check out the tutorial she created!
• Beauty by Arielle: Dior 5 Couleurs in Smoky Design Swatchfest & Review.
• Beauty Professor: Completely obsessed with all things Tom Ford, the Beauty Professor swatches the entire shade spectrum of his Traceless Foundation Stick!
• The Passenger Element: new year's giveaway.
• Never Gonna Give You Up: Kara swatches and reviews Daily Lacquer's I'll Fly Away.
• Midnight Manicures: Check out Jeanie's review of the Parnevu Tea Tree Shampoo & Conditioner and Hair Mayonaise. Enter the giveaway for the same 3 products.
• Love At First Site!: Beauty Elixir by Caudalie. A review. I decided that is was high time that I shared with you my views on the Beauty Elixir of Caudalie, which is said to have been inspired by the elixir of youth that Queen Isabelle of Hungary used!
• Mama Fashionista: Julep is already a star when it comes to polish, but can they "nail" mascara as well? Find out the verdict in Mama Fashionista's latest review!
• datyorkLOVES: HTF Ellen Tracy Gun Metal Gray Nail Polish *Photo Heavy Post.
• Spontaneous Chick: If you like hair products made with argan oil then check out 8 DermOrganic reviews by Spontaneous Chick.
• Lisa's Nail Obsession: What inspires your creativity?
• Beyond Beauty Lounge: Bulletproof Cream Eyeshadows from Mally Beauty.
• Rachel's Makeup and Skincare: Rachel finally invests in some Bite lip products, what's the verdict?
• The Beauty Delicacy: Quick Pink + Gold Tribal Nails.
• The Convenient Beauty: Dress up your lips with this opulent Tom Ford Black Orchid lipstick.
• Amber Did It!: Amber takes you over the rainbow with a colorful saran wrap mani.

Daily Lacquer part 2: Satine

Welcome back lacquer lovers! Today I have the second of my two part Daily Lacquer series, another gorgeous polish from the All You Need Is Love collection, a valentines day collection inspired by the movie Moulin Rouge.

This is Satine is a gray/black based holographic polish packed with holographic glitter and holographic diamonds. I wish the pictures could capture the sparkle better, I'm sitting here in unnatural light distracted from my typing by my shining fingers.

This is three coats of Satine over bare nails. Two would have been sufficient, but I killed the holo by adding topcoat over the first two coats, and instead of starting over, I just added another coat on top.

Can you see that double rainbow?

You know I love my close up shots! This reminds me of a galaxy!

Satine's formula is fabulous, I would expect a polish packed with so much glitter to be thick and difficult to work with, but Satine has a great consistency. Thin enough that it goes on nicely, but thick enough that it covers completely and reaches opacity easily. I have not yet found a topcoat that doesn't dull holos, so without a topcoat, the texture is gritty, but that is to be expected due to the glitter. And all those diamond glitter? I didn't have to fish for those at all, they are packed in there!

Finally, here is a photo with the flash to bring out the holo. This polish truly is a Sparkling Diamond!

Daily Lacquer is a great quality, hand-made, 3-free nail polish. Check them out on Etsy and be sure to visit Daily Lacquer's Facebook page.

Til next time!
-Kara

This polish was provided to me for review, all opinions are my own. 

Please see my disclosure policy.

Daily Lacquer part 1: I'll Fly Away

Good day, good day, good day everyone! Why did I say that 3 times? I don't know. I'm sleep deprived and excited. Why am I excited? Thank you for asking! Today I have a beautiful new polish to show you, lovingly created by Maggy, creator of Daily Lacquer nail polish!

Daily Lacquer just released their Valentines Day collection called All You Need Is Love, inspired by the movie Moulin Rouge. Please don't hate me, but I've not actually seen the movie. Yet! This gorgeous line of polishes has me itching to see it!

I have two of the All You Need Is Love polishes to show you, but I'm going to break them up into two separate posts, because each are beautiful and deserve the spotlight to themselves. Part one is dedicated to I'll Fly Away.

Isn't it gorgeous? I'll Fly Away is a gorgeous shimmery turquoise crelly packed with small matte pink hex glitters and pink matte hearts and flowers. Cute, huh? This is two thin coats of I'll Fly Away over China Glaze White On White, all topped off with a coat of HK Girl topcoat.

This was my third mani using this polish, and just as an FYI, the previous two had many more hearts and flowers than this one, but I preferred the way it looked over white to the other ways I had tried, so those pics didn't make the cut, but by the third mani my mini bottle was running low, but the bottles really are packed with them. Rambling? Perhaps. Moving on...

The formula on this polish was great, it was very easy to use, not too thick or gloopy. It's a nice consistency that allows you to easily use thin coats or thick coats depending on how you load the brush without ruining the beauty of the polish, which I love. I did have beef with the brush on my bottle, but mine is a mini, not what you would get when you purchase a bottle.

And here's a bottle shot, but keep in mind, this is a mini, not what you will be receiving when you buy Daily Lacquer. Her bottles are adorable, and much larger :)

Daily Lacquer is a 3-free, quality, nail polish. Maggy only uses the best ingredients, so you know your polish will be great, and if you're looking for a unique glitter bomb or crelly, Daily Lacquer is the place to go! You can get your own Daily Lacquer from her Etsy store, and stop by her Facebook page to see pictures, get updates, or just to say "hi".

 Til next time!
-Kara

This polish was provided to me for review, all opinions are my own. 

Please see my disclosure policy.

Indie Swatch Spam

Hey everybody! Hello! I am still alive! I apologize for the absence lately. Classes began, transitioning B into sharing a room with A (and out of MY room), and best of all, I have been working on a huge giveaway for you! Just finalizing a couple last items for prizes, then you will get all the yummy details. I promise you'll forgive my lack of posts when I reveal :)

Anyway, to make up for it, I will be posting some Indie swatches for your viewing pleasure.

 This is That Is So Fetch from Different Dimensions Mean Girls Collection. Fetch is described (on her etsy listing) as "several different sizes of matte purple hex glitter, matte fine glitter, matte sqaures and ultrafine purple holographic and purple glitters in it! Also some fun color-shifting glitters to finish it off." This was my first Different Dimensions purchase, and it does not disappoint. It is absolutely beautiful! I've layered it over China Glaze For Audrey.

Macro!

 

Next is another Different Dimensions nail polish. Also from the Mean Girls collection. What can I say, I love Mean Girls! Anyway, this is On Wednesdays We Wear Pink is a pink crelly with different sizes and shades of pink matte and holographic glitter. This is two coats over Essie Marshmallow.

 ^^Macro :)

This is Essie Marshmallow topped with two coats of Nostalgic Nail Lacquer's The Basketcase from their Saturday Detention collection, inspired by the movie The Breakfast Club. The Basketcase is a mixture of pink, burgundy, and gunmetal glitters in a clear base. I layered mine over marshmallow so I could do....

THIS! You probably don't know this about me, because for some reason I haven't blogged much about my love/obsession with jellies and jelly sandwiches. Anyway, I added one coat of OPI Don't Touch My Tutu. I love this combo of white jelly and The Basketcase. Love!

Last, but certainly not least is a pastel beauty by Whimsical Ideas by Pam (affectionately called Whimsies) Once Upon A Time from her Halloween collection. Once Upon A Time is gorgeous pastel green and purple hex glitters and teeny weeny micro glitters. This is layered over Essie Bikini So Teeny.

So there you have it! Some beautiful Indies for your viewing pleasure.
Which ones are your favorites?

Til next time!
-Kara