Matte flakies gradient

Here is a mani I wore earlier this week.  My base is one coat of OPI DS Fantasy, I then applied sections of three flakies polishes, the first is blue at the top, then green and then yellow.  The flakie polishes I used were Inglot 203, 204 and 205. Then I decided to make it matte, because flakies look awesome matte.

The Inglot flakie polishes are packed with flakies, which is good, cause the bottles are tiny.  This was just one dabbled layer of each of the Inglot polishes.  I never remember to matte any polishes. I must try to remember to do it more often. I particularly like the soft touch feel that matte polishes give.

China Glaze Sexagon + Lush Lacquer Midnight Affair

Hey hey! How's all my polish lovers doing tonight? :)

I recently hauled a bunch of minis from Lush Lacquer, one of my favorite indie sellers out there. They have a huge selection of polishes that are always in stock. I recently decided that buying minis is what works for me when purchasing indie polish because I know I will never use up an entire full size bottle! 

So tonight I am showing you Lush Lacquer Midnight Affair layered over ChG Sexagon. I love layering glitters over the China Glaze Kaleidoscope polishes. When I first started collecting polish, it felt like a sin to layer over a precious holo! haha But I am so glad I tried it because the effect is definite eye candy! Anyway, Midnight Affair wasn't a total breeze to apply, but any headache is so worth it. Plus topcoat makes it all ok in the end. Just look at this...SO pretty!!

Just looking at this makes me happy. What a gorgeous polish.

And in case you are wondering, this is the mani that I experimented using my glue base coat for!

So tell me what you think about Lush Lacquer Midnight Affair!

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Ozotic reswatch spam - 606, 607, 609 & 617

Define: Lazy blog post - blog post in which the blogger posts new swatch photos of previously shown pretty polishes and doesn't provide any other commentary other than polish name. Also known as spam post. Example follows.

Ozotic 606

Ozotic 607

Ozotic 609

Ozotic 617

Ozotic polishes are available from Picture Polish and their various network members around the globe.

Using Elmer's Glue as a Basecoat AKA Easiest Glitter Removal Ever!

Hey ladies!

I have been super busy doing the shipping for You Mix Orders today, but I wanted to make sure I posted tonight because I have been wanting to share with you the latest discovery in the nail world. I hadn't seen any blog posts on it, so I figured I would share!

Recently, Essence came out with a peel off basecoat. It applies like a normal base coat, and then when you are ready to remove, instead of using polish remover, you just peel it off! So far this basecoat is only available overseas, but a super observant person ( I am not sure who this discovery should be credited to, but if you know, I would love to do so!) noticed that the ingredients in the Essence base coat and school glue, like Elmers, are essentially the same thing! So, I wanted to share this method with you, but again, this is not my original idea...it's just too genius not to share. :)

 If you love glitter polish, but hate removal, then this one is for you!

The other awesome thing about this method is that it's super cheap! I bought my glue for .79 at Walgreens and expect it to last me quite a while. So all  you need is some school glue and an empty polish bottle.

Next, use the nozzle tip on the glue and squirt glue into the empty polish bottle. Be careful not to let it come out too fast or it will pool around the opening and make a big mess. I left a little space in mine so I could put a tiny amount of water in the bottle to thin it out just a tad, but I think it's a preference thing, not mandatory to this working.

If you do add some water, put on the lid and shake it up good!

And those super simple, cheap, and easy steps get you a headache free, fast glitter remover! 

I tested this out recently and used 2 thin coats of the glue base coat before doing my polish (I will be featuring this mani before I took it off soon!). I made sure it was totally dry before polishing. Since I was so antsy to see if it would work or not I peeled this off after about 24 hours and this is what I got! I just used my nail and found a spot to start peeling and it came right off!

Final Thoughts: This is hands down the easiest way to remove glitter. No foil, no acetone, nothing! It leaves my nails nice and clean as well. I only needed one cotton pad of remover for both hands to completely clean anything left over. For a super long wear mani, I wouldn't use this method. But at the same time, I don't this method really hinders how long a mani would last. Just knowing it comes off so easily makes me want to pick at it! haha But I love whoever came up with this because it's really a game changer for us glitter lovers. I can now wear any thing I want without dreading the removal process. LOVE!

So how many of you have heard of this? Or tried it? I would love to hear your thoughts on this!

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Smitten polish - You're Turning Violet, Violet

Purple lovers, grab your bibs and set your mouths to drool.  Today's beauty is You're Turning Violet, Violet from the recent Confection Collection by Smitten Polish.  The lovely Noelie from Noelie's Nails has created this line and if you don't follow her blog your should, because she has the most stunning nails that are always perfectly painted.  Now, let's get onto this polish.

Firstly, holo glitters, why are you such a PITA to photograph?  I like taking photos of glitters in the shade, or preferably on an overcast day, because that way the glitters don't reflect to much light and you see the polish better.  But with holo glitters it means they look so one dimensional and you don't see any of their multi-shifting colours. Damn you!

You're Turning Violet, Violet has different sizes and shades of purple and blue holographic glitters, all in a fantastic purple jelly base.  I applied three coats on it's own, cause I wanted it to look exactly like the amazingness that is in the bottle.  The formula was very easy to work with and I didn't require any clean up for these photos. I also applied this over a PVC glue peel off base coat, so I know removed will be easy peasy too!  This did dry rough and I put on two coats of Ulta 3 Non chip and a coat of Seche Vite to make sure it was glassy smooth. Even with 7 coats in total, this never felt too thick and I had no shrinkage, I just felt like my nails were bullet proof.

In an effort to capture the sparkly goodness, I took these photos under the bathroom light.  The purple jelly base appears darker, but you can start to appreciate the multicoloured sparkles in the polish.

The polish feels like a purple version of China Glaze Atlantis, except with different size glitters. A complete stunner!  

Smitten Polishes are available from her Etsy Store, and updates on Noelie's Nails blog.

This polish was sent to me for review

Orly Preamp

Hi readers!

Guess what? I am only 11 followers away from 1500 and I have an AMAZING giveaway in the works that I am so excited about! Hopefully we get there soon so you guys aren't left in suspense too long. ;)

I was in Sally's a while back taking advantage of their clearance sale when I saw the beauty that is Orly Preamp. This wasn't a clearance polish, but I couldn't say no. The shimmer is to die for, and this is such a unique pinky-purple shade.

I believe I did about 3 coats.

This bottle shot shows the shimmer and the sort of shift it has to an orangey color. Love!

So the moral of the story is, sometimes you have to see a polish in person to decide you like it! 

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CrowsToes - Absolum - your potions master

After seeing a photo of CrowsToes Absolum - your potions master over on steffels blog, I made sure I snagged a bottle of this off Llarowe last time it was in stock.

This is my first CrowsToes polish and I have to say this lady isn't stingy with the glitters, it was jam packed.  This did mean that the formula is quite thick, but I like thick glitters.  I really hate a runny glitter where you lift your brush out and the polish runs off with all the glitters.  This was sticky and the brush was coated in glitter, which meant applying a single layer using the dabble method worked perfectly.  Don't bother trying to brush this on because you will find the thick formula hard to work with (or if you want to brush it on, just add some thinner to your bottle).

This is one coat of Absolum - your potions master layered over one coat of OPI DS Fantasy, all on a PVC glue peel off base coat.

Here is OPI DS Fantasy on it's own.  This is another polish that I picked up from the beauty supply store at the same time I got the OMG polishes.  It's absolutley stunning and this is just one coat applied over PVC peel off base coat.

I peeled this off in the shower and it took about two minutes to do. I was really easy to remove once you lift that first edge and it was actually rather fun to peel it off in an icky, pick at your scab kind of way!  Here are my peeled off tips, of which there are only nine cause I lost one down the drain. 

What amazes me about the PVC peel off base coat is that it really sticks to the nail well. I thought cause it peeled off that it wouldn't last well, but as you can see in Alanna's wear test, it lasts just as good as any other base coat.  It is so much easier to peel off in the shower, and I think I would always do it there, or at least after soaking my nails for a few minutes in water.  I've used it for four glitter manis so far and I've noticed no adverse effects to my nail surface and my cuticles are loving not being soaked in acetone.  Have you tried the PCV base coat yet?