Ahhh! Refreshing Mint!

I recently ordered three colors from Mint's premiere collex, and I have to say, I'm pretty impressed.  All three colors applied wonderfully, glossy, self-leveling, and I loved all the colors.  I even did some nail art, and they worked great for that, too!

Original Mint.  I am a sucker for a clever name, and what's more clever than an homage to your own brand? 

The bottles are pretty cute, too!  I used Bleeker St. Babe as well as Original Mint for my art.

I thought the olive green reminded me of plant fronds, so I painted in some long, simple fronds.  The highlight was made by mixing in a little white with Bleeker St. Babe.

Bleeker St. Babe.  And, speaking of, here's a swatch of just Bleeker St. Babe, a lovely olive green.

 I decided to pair it with Lavender Macaron for a simple striped nail art inspired by this look done by The Polish Squirrel (only I didn't use tape). 

I'm not much of a perfectionist anyway, but I kinda liked the 'rustic' look of the messier stripes.  Kind of a 'homespun' look, if you will.  (or, just messy.  I'm not proud.)

Lavender Macaron.  These pastels are hot, hot, hot this spring, and I'm loving them. Pastels are notoriously troublesome; this one was less so than most, but not as nice as the two greens from this collex.

A final bottle shot of all three bottles:

I can't help it, I love chevrons, and before I knew it, I was using all three colors together in a chevron pattern.  I really like it when I can buy different colors from a collection, but they can still be used together.

So, what do you think of Mint Polish?  Any faves?  Are you tired of all of these colors already, or do these have something fresh to them?

If you're interested in finding out more about Mint Polish, you can find them on Facebook and on their webpage.

Rainbow Honey Yokai Collection

I think Rainbow Honey Cosmetics knows a thing or two about marketing, because before this collection was released, bloggers everywhere were publishing gorgeous pix of these three polishes.  Every time I turned around - there was another preview!  It worked, because by the time these were available to the rest of us, I was foaming at the mouth, and ready to buy the moment her shop opened up.

Oni is right up my alley.  Deep, dark, shiny, and opaque in 2 coats.

China Glaze Wagon Trail, Butter London Wallis.. if you like those, you'll probably like Oni.  It has that same mysterious dark olive/gold tone to it, only this is a true glitter.

I admit, I was least excited about Kitsune.  If it wasn't part of the set, I'm not sure I would have even looked twice at it. 

On the nail, it's rather nice, though.  I love the glowing red glitters, which were a pleasant surprise, but that was about it.  It just wasn't my style.

"Kitsune" apparently means, "fox" so I found this tutorial on fox nail art by Pinky Cherry Bomb and did my version of it.

Too cute, eh?  I used China Glaze Roguish Red for the foxes, Layla Ceramic Effect 63 for the brown details, and Sally Hansen White Tip for the face, ears, and tail tips.

 This last polish blew.me.away.

This is Kawako.  I understand it bears some resemblance to Essie Starry Starry Night, but I haven't seen that polish in person.  Kawako is a deep blue - darker than cobalt, not as dark as navy - with silver flakes.

This is one of those "If I was going to a desert island, I would take this polish" polish.  

Did you also pick up this collection?  Even though it was technically released as a Halloween collex, it isn't your traditional colors, which I liked a lot.  All of these could be worn whenever, and especially all fall and winter long.  Which is your favorite?

Buttery Metallic Madness!

I love Fall, I just wish it got here faster and stayed longer in Florida.  As I write this, all the leaves are almost done falling off the trees, but it's still in the 80s.  At least I can have Fall on my nails whenever I want! 

BL Shag is a perfect Fall color - coppery, shiny, microglittery goodness.

I like that it's not a true metallic, not a foil either, but has some elements of both, plus glitter.

I also want to show you an oldie but a goodie, BL Wallis.  This is one of those ugly-pretty shades that not everyone will want to wear, but I get a kick out of it.  Golden-olive green, with a metallic, foil-y shine.

 So, why not put these two crazy colors together?  I used tape to make a checkerboard!

 I think I may like it even better as a matte.  I don't know, I love it both ways!

What's better than one crazy metallic color?  Two together!  I've done a lot of nail art these past weeks with Butter London, but this may be one of my faves.  Like chocolate and peanut butter, these two seem made to go together!

Mysterious Murder by #'s

Crow's Toes is a new-to-me brand that is getting some good press.  I'd seen swatches of Murder by #'s and I'm so excited right now by the dark base/holo glitter combos that I knew I'd want it.. and quick, because it soon became discontinued.

I started with a base of Sally Hansen Olive Branch because I thought it matched the green sheen in MBN pretty well, and because I've been wanting to try it since I picked it up.  It's even more beautiful on that I'd thought it would be, and like most Sally Hansen CSM, it has a wonderful, easy-breezy formula.

I wanted to show you the Olive Branch next to it layered because I thought, as beautiful as it is, it didn't seem to affect the deep color of MBN, which actually has more of an emerald glow compared to Olive Branch.

In this pix, MBN is taking on a purple shimmer!  It's a duochrome.  I love polishes with surprises.

I painted on some butterflies with Sally Hansen White Tip, and brushed on some L'Oreal Silver Sparkle on the wings.  I tried to copy a technique I saw on a Robin Moses video, but I need a little more practice!

Right hand:

Why so mysterious?  Seems I have a disappearing bottle shot, and where's the full mani shot?  I always take them, so it appears that Murder by #'s was just being camera shy that day.  Makes sense for a wanted murderer, I guess.  Can't be too careful.