Shark Week

Hey everyone!  Happy Shark Week!  I personally love most ocean animals, including sharks.  So when I saw that Live Love Polish has come out with a Shark Week set including holo shark themed vinyls, I just had to get them!!!

The first shade is a gorgeous silver foil, Shark Skin, opaque in one coat but I did two out of habit.

The second, Shark After Dark, is a gorgeous navy blue scattered holo.  Opaque in two coats and the perfect backdrop for holo sharks!!

I also added a few rhinestones of course because I'm so extra.  I love this set, it's perfect for shark week or just summer time or whenever; there are no rules with nails!

Live Love Polish has the set on sale as well as the individual polishes and vinyls available for purchase here.

Bubble Up

Happy June!  How is it June already??  Time is sure going fast!  I've got a beautiful and simple (for me) mani to share with you today.

Enchanted Polish has recently changed.  Chelsea (the creator) has become more active on social media and more engaging with customers/fans.  As a result, it seems like the polishes that were once nearly unattainable and commanded such a high resale price are now pretty easy to get and not so high priced in the secondary market.

I picked up one of the recent releases, Bubbles, which is a gorgeous baby blue linear holo.  To snazz it up a bit, I added the topper Counting Stars by Different Dimension which features holographic stars, moons, and circles.

Enchanted Polish can be purchased here, sign up for the newsletter to keep up on sales news

Different Dimension can be purchased here, join the Facebook fan group for sneak peeks and more!

24k Magic Nails

April showers?  Not so much here in the desert!  We do have flowers, on cacti....

Today I wanted to tell you about one of my favorite indie brands that I haven't mentioned in awhile.  Fancy Gloss is known for thermal polishes as well as one coat wonders.  Seriously, there's some kind of magic in Jackie's creations.

One of the things I really love about Fancy Gloss is the interaction with buyers/fans.  The Facebook fan group is VERY active, and there's all kinds of sneak peaks going on of new polishes in the works.  One of the really neat things is that quite often, Jackie will ask the fans to help name a polish (which I had the honor of doing last year!).  It really makes it a unique experience that you don't get with a lot of indies.

So today I have for you a fan named thermal, "Calypso's Curse".  When warm, it is a gorgeous turquoise with a purpley-pink shimmer, when cold it is a gorgeous dark orchid purple.

Of course, I had to be extra and add a 24k gold flake topper from Octopus Party Nail Lacquer, "Peace & Karats" to it and I am in love!!

Fancy Gloss can be purchased here, the fan group is here, and there is also a special resale/swap group here.

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer as always can be found here, fan group here, the gold topper was part of a collab box with a Mardi Gras theme!  You can catch more pics of the polishes from that collab on my instagram.

Marching Into Spring

Or is it summer?  It is 90 degrees here already in the desert, we don't really have a spring time to speak of.  I'm glad the sun is back and it's time for some bright colors!  Not that I ever stick to ridiculous societal norms like season appropriate colors, or any real conventions.  More is more!  Bright, shiny, glittery, in your face.  That's my personality and it's reflected in my nails.

So welcome to Spring!  And to another round of yes, my absolute favorite indie polish of all time, Octopus Party Nail Lacquer.  Warning: you may become addicted.

The main focus here is Cribbage and The Horse, a gorgeous yellow with iridescent dark turquoise flakies and a subtle pink shimmer.  The kind of polish that rewards those who take a second look.  This polish is limited edition, and I suggest you get it NOW! Of course I added rhinestones and beads as is my style, but this polish is also great on its own.

You can purchase Cribbage and The Horse as well as some other awesome spring colors here

The blue accent polish is Octopus Prime, a group custom for OPNL fans, you can join the OctoSquad here

Where Have I Been?

Hey all! I can't believe we're already one month into 2017 and yet again I failed at my blogging duties.  Besides work being insanely busy, I took a nice vacation for a few weeks in November to Australia and New Zealand!!!

So these pics are not going to be of any brand or anything, I actually just got gel polish done before I left and then redone while in Australia because I did all my traveling with one suitcase!  And with the liquids restrictions and etc, I did not want to risk losing one of my precious indies in transit.

It was really weird having someone else do my nails, it's been so many years since I had that experience, it was really nice.  The first "polish" I got was actually just a ton of loose purple glitter with a gel top coat.  Super sparkly!

Then, I got my nails done at a salon in Melbourne, the name escapes me, but they had that holo powder so you know I had to go for it!

Left: indoors, no flash; Right: indoors, with flash

I couldn't resist taking pics at every opportunity.  Definitely a good fix for my holo needs.  So here's mostly travel photos, but there's nails in there so it counts, besides, this is my blog, and unlike life, I make the rules here!  I have once again vowed to blog more regularly, so here's hoping!

Koala

 Feeding a Wallaby with a baby!

Feeding a parrot

Beautiful flowers in New Zealand

Dazzled by Dioptase

Welcome back to the blog! I have an awesome polish for you today!!  When I saw sneak peeks of Cirque Colors new facets collection I knew I had to get them!!

As you may know if you follow me on Pinterest, I love gems and minerals. I go to the largest gem and mineral show in the U.S. every year, which fortunately is held a mere 2 hour drive from me in Tucson.  I love it, the sensory overload from the beauty surrounding me is breathtaking.

At last year's show, I fell in love with Dioptase. A striking emerald green-blue, I couldn't stop looking at it. Normally I gravitate towards amethyst, but Dioptase quickly became my new love.

So when I saw that one of Cirque's new polishes was called Dioptase, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it!  Dioptase is a stunning scattered holo flakie glitter masterpiece. Nearly opaque in one coat, the formula is perfect and it glides on easily.

I took some pics with my specimens of Dioptase as well as some other fossils and minerals in my collection.

Cirque Colors is available for purchase here

It's been a long time

OMG.  You know how you get busy and then you say, "oh tomorrow I will do ____." And then tomorrow never comes.  And then it's two months later and you're like "oh shit!"  My poor blog left all alone to fend for itself!!  It's ok, I'm back and have some neat stuff for you.  Consider this my throwback Thursday.  Here's some weird manis that for some reason did not get put on instagram.  Just those ones I only took one pic of and then forgot about and now here we are!  

To kick us off, since it is Thermal Thursday, here is Octopus Party Nail Lacquer's Disco Tech, topped with Fancy Gloss's black thermal top coat.  Yeah, I am the kind of person who saw the amazing neon glitter rave on my nails and decided it needed more.

For a palette cleanser, here is one of my long time lemmings, Chanel Django.  My friends and family will understand the meaning behind this polish.  A gorgeous milky neutral, appropriate in even the most conservative of workplaces.

But..... you think I would just leave a pretty neutral polish all on it's own?? Think again!  This is me, I overdose on glitter for breakfast!  So, I grabbed some giraffe vinyls, as one does, and added CrowsToes Betelgeuse!  This shifty glitter crashed in waves on my neutral Chanel shores.

I love sparkles so much that I have a hard time using a matte top coat.  It just feels wrong somehow.  But, every now and then I bite the bullet, knowing that my regular top coat will bring the sparkles to life again!  Here is Glam Polish's Baby Got Back, mattefied.

Last, but certainly not least, I bring you the delightfully named Don't Be A Shady Beach from Different Dimension.  A gorgeous juicy pink, perfect for the transition from summer to fall, packed with speckles of black - it almost reminds me of watermelon.

There you have it, it's like we never were apart!  I won't abandon you again, little blog of mine!  

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer is seriously the best thing on earth. Get it here

Fancy Gloss is addictive, so watch out!  Get it here

Chanel is timeless, get it here or any high end department store.

CrowsToes is about to have a preorder, stalk the shop here

Glam Polish is another dangerous one, it feels like there's a new collection every other day.  Start or add to your collection here and set aside a few helmer drawers, you're gonna need them!

Different Dimension is a long time indie love, and the polishes are even more beautiful in real life!  Snatch some here

TwinkledT makes giraffe vinyls, among so many other shapes and animals and oh my!  Get some sass in your mani here