Smelling (Insta)Naturally Good! #essentialoils

Product provided for review.  All opinions are my own.

Hello, Fireflies!

My little world mostly consists of a small house with four dogs, so it isn't always the best smelling place to be.  InstaNatural Essential oils can help me turn that stank into a delightful smell - and so many other things, too!

Glitterween, Part II

Hello, Fireflies!

Can you feel Halloween getting closer? I have a fun, spooky mani for tomorrow, but for today - MOAR GLITTER!

This is LynBDesigns Psychedelic Vampire. 

Some vampires *are* sparkly, I guess! And, uh, purple.  Name aside, this polish is really pretty, and doesn't have to be relegated just to Halloween.

Pretty & Polished Witchy Woman is a purple jelly with glitter and a purple shimmer. 

The bottle is from a scratch and dent sale, but the polish is perfect.  So purple-y!  It needs at least 3 coats, though, especially if you have long nails.

This polish was even more sheer.  365 Days of Color I Smell Children is purple glitter in a really sheer black jelly base.

I'm torn about using undies on this polish, because the jelly is what gives it that cool translucence.  But this is 3-4 thick coats, and I'd never be able to wear that without denting it. 

Also, I will note that this polish doesn't really smell like children.  In case you were wondering.

Last, but not least, Dollish Polish Vampires Coven.  Dark black jelly with red/orange/pink glitters.  Looks like glowing embers.  Pretty cool.

My only complaint is that it needs a little more glitter.. and would look great with some of those larger holographic circles, right?  Of course, they weren't a thing when this polish was conceived.

Doing these posts made me realize how I've moved largely away from glitters lately.  It was fun to remind myself how interesting a good glitter can be.  Have fun with your seasonal glitters, and don't forget the peel-off basecoat!

Glitterween, Part I

Hello, Fireflies!

It's almost Halloween! For today and tomorrow, I've picked some glitter polishes I had that just felt right for this time of year. 

I love the picture on The Nail Junkie Candy Corn.  Angry Candy Corn will make you sick! More than a few pieces of the real stuff, and I do feel a little nauseated, so it's pretty appropriate.

I still love a milky glitter, and I love all these colors.  The formula wasn't as nice as I would have liked - it was kinda hard to get a nice distribution of the glitters, especially on my smaller nails.  It wasn't so terrible, though.  I'll still wear it again because I love the colors.

I fell in love with this polish all over again when I put it on.  This is Dollish Polish I'm the Boogieman.

In Real Life, it's easier to see the awesome golden shimmer that really makes this polish crazy beautiful. 

I got some skull & crossbones glitter from my friend Emma, and added a few. Cool!

I doubt that Rainbow Polish Jungle Paradise was intended to be a Halloween polish, but.. well... green with orange glitters? 'Tis the season!

This one was a little sheer.  I bet some green undies would look great.  Going lighter or darker would totally change the look, too.

The last one for today is Pretty & Polished Blood Clot, a red jelly with red glitters.

I'm kinda torn about this one.  I love the concept, and it looks great.  But the red base is just a little too cherry pink for me.  Oddly enough, it photographs darker - I wish it were the color in the top photo!  The pix below is closer to true color. 

Stay tuned for more Glitter-ween Gorgeousness tomorrow!

EcoPolo - Summer Sky

Images of a summer sky... you're probably thinking blue skies, white, fluffy clouds... so, maybe this shimmery blue Peace Camp from Pretty & Polished is a perfect summer sky blue..

Sometimes, these heavier shimmer polishes can hide the bigger glitters, but this one does a pretty good job of letting you see all the nice colors in it.

I live in Florida, and our summer skies are often punctuated by torrential thunderstorms.  So, I painted one rolling in, with lots of our famous Florida lightning.

I mixed up SOPI Frankly, I Don't Give Adam, Dark Room, and I Don't Bite to get the murky sky, and drew in the lightning with a white striper.

Bottle shot:  Pretty & Polished Peace Camp, and SOPI Frankly, I Don't Give Adam, I Don't Bite, and Dark Room, with a white nail art striper.

What do the summer skies look like where you live?

Indie January - Pretty & Polished

If there is one cue that the major brands are taking from Indies, it's putting out a great milky-based glitter, or a jelly-sandwich in a bottle.  This is one area where a lot of the Indies shine, and I have three from Pretty & Polished to show you today.

First up, Dalmation Nation. 

It's a little weird, right?  I feel like I have googly eyes on my nails.  I've seen there's an actual polish that *has* googly eyes in it, though.

I really like the white with small black glitters, and I like the concept of large circle glitter, but they required a lot of fishing and placing.  It took a loooong time to get one out for each of my nails.

Next up, Power Cosmic.  Oh, if the white is good, the black is awesome.  I love these black jellies with glitter floating through them - like a galaxy nail in a bottle.

It looks even deeper with topcoat.

I couldn't resist adding a little China Glaze Fairy Dust to really give it that 'galaxy' nail look.

I saved my fave for last:  Private School.

The grey jellies are my fave of the milky-based glitters, I do believe.  Foggy and mysterious, bright and naive.  I could take or leave the little red glitters, but this polish is a stunner all the way around.

Are you a fan of the jelly sandwich/milky-based glitters, too?  Which Pretty & Polished is your fave?
You can find Pretty & Polished on Facebook or on their website.

Pick your (holiday) poison?

Wet 'n Wild came out with the Pick Your Poison collection for Halloween, and I wanted it oh, so very much.  It wasn't to be found any place I looked around me, so I found some lovely polish hounds on the 'net to buy them from, and somehow I ended up with a full set.  What I love about this set is that all the polishes are rich and pigmented, and many are jewel colors, which makes them perfect for the whole holiday season.. and beyond!

Chirality Nail Polish

When it comes to holo polishes, I'm like a Mockingbird to shiny.  I can't resist.  So when I saw a new Indie line of holos, I had to check it out, and I'm so glad I did, because I love this line.

Chirality means something that has a mirror image that can't be superimposed - like your hands are mirror images of each other, but try as you might, you can't put one over the other and have all the bits line up exactly.  I'm guessing that chirality in handed-ness may be the link to this polish brand, but I don't know for sure.  You don't have to be a scientist to appreciate the gorgeousness, though!

Floam and Sand Art

When I couldn't get a bottle of Floam for love nor money, it was said that Pretty and Polished Sand Art was a similar polish, so I snagged one of those.  Later on, after everyone else bought a bottle of Floam, I got one, too!

I layered both of them over a polish brand that is new to me, but was great - Black Radiance B-Girl.  This is a gorgeous teal, nice formula, and inexpensive. 

Which of these is not like the other, which of these is not the same?

Yep, Sand Art is on all the fingers except the ring finger, which is wearing Floam.  They are cousins, but not dupes.  Sand Art is a little darker, and has those lovely pink and purple glitters that Floam lacks.

I reversed them on the other hand.  Everything is Floam, except the ring finger.  I love this look.  It's like one of those hidden picture games - no one would know I have different colors on unless I told them, but *I* would know.  lol!

 That microglitter is the bomb-diggity.  I love it!

 I added some NYC topcoat for shine:

 And, then, I matted it.  Which do you like better?

What's your vote? Sand Art or Floam? Shiny or matte?