Monday Mani: Secret Galaxy by 6 Harts

This one I had a HARD time taking off... in fact, I didn't take it off until I *had* to because my whole pointer finger of polish fell off in the shower.  The tip wear on this was incredible, which is a testament to the high quality of the polishes I used.

Base coat by Northern Polish, two layers Willa by Zoya, two layers Secret Galaxy by 6 Harts, and top coat of Glitter Glaze by Girly Bits.  There is incredible sparkle to Secret Galaxy that I had a difficult time capturing on camera.  Holo only seems to want to be captured when the photo is blurry!  So you'll see that in some of my photos in an effort to show you that super sparkle.  Ignore my poor clean-up job - the macro setting is very kind to point out what the naked eye thought was fine!  All taken under studio lighting on a white background.  Love love love Secret Galaxy!

Let me know what you think of the color in the comments below!

Disclaimer: polishes purchased for my own personal use.  All opinions are my own.  No affiliation with Northern Polish, Zoya, 6 Harts, or Girly Bits.

Monday Mani: Polar Bear Club by Paint Box Polish

I've got some glittery goodness for you! This is a beautiful blue chock full of blue, purple, and green glitters. YUM! This was part of a collab box so the polish is not available by itself, and I think all the boxes are gone now. If you want to get your hands on this beauty, try searching in nail polish sales groups on Facebook or eBay. Check out Paint Box Polish for a lot of other glittery goodness today!

Shade

Shade

Full sun

Shade

Disclaimer:  products were purchased for personal use.  All opinions are my own.  No affiliation with Paint Box Polish.

Monday Mani: CbL Rainbow Connection Birthday Exclusive Loving Every Moment

This past week, I have had the fun of spearheading a group buy for Rainbow Connection's exclusive Colors By Llarowe polish called Loving Every Moment that was made for RC's 2nd anniversary.  When I opened the box, I was blown away by the gorgeousness.  Seriously, this is some CbL to the next level.  And I instantly knew this would be hard to photograph.

Application was on the thicker side than I'm used to for the CbL's I currently own, but that may be due to the rich complexity and intense holoness of this polish.  It's opaque enough that you could probably get away with it being a one coater with the right application technique, but I did two to really pop out that richness.  My nails like CbL so the polish dried quick, and slightly gel like.  My kind of polish!  Depending on lighting, it can lean pink or blue.  I've noticed natural light it leans blue and artificial light it leans pink.  And the times it's a straight up purple the richness and depth is drool worthy.  This polish is one of those you appreciate even more in person and can't capture it fully on camera.

I tried taking lots of pictures in several types of lighting.  As a result, some are a little blurry - it wouldn't play nice with the camera and sometimes the blurry ones capture the essence best (perhaps you've heard sometimes blurry photos capture intense holo best?).  This beauty you can purchase from the Rainbow Connection site.  It's been selling fast and I don't know how many restocks there will be!

 

 

studio lighting

 indoors, direct sunlight

outdoor shade

outdoor shade with indirect lighting

These last two shots really highlight the pink, purple, and blue!

Disclaimer: I am no way affiliated with Colors by Llarowe or Rainbow Connection.  Products were purchased by myself.  All opinions are my own.

Tribute to Blogger Colorful Crack: Manis for Gosia

Gosia of popular beauty blog Colorful Crack recently announced her retirement from her blog due to other commitments.  Her friends from the blogging community are coming together to create manis to wish her good luck on her next endeavors.  #manisforgosia

One of Gosia's favorite indie polish brands is Superficially Colorful Lacquer.  She swatches the new collections for the brand, and I noticed a trend of her creating an awesome accent nail for each swatch.  Pulling from my own SCL collection, I created a monochromatic mani using Eye of the Storm and accented the ring nail with a sparkly coat of Imaginary Narwhals to create my mani in honor of and inspired by Gosia.

Eye of the Storm is a very dark and cold blue, somewhat metallic, with a little bit of holographic glitter. In some lighting it leans more navy and in others it leans more blue.  It dries semi-matte with a hint of sparkle.  Imaginary Narwhals is a silvery holographic micro glitter polish with occasional silver stars in clear base. It's fun and sparkly, but you have to fish a little for the stars.  After two days, you can see there's minimal tip wear!

Indirect lighting on the pool deck

Shade lighting on the lawn

Disclaimer: all products were purchased by me.  No affiliation with Superficially Colorful Lacquer and its products.

Day4JNAC - 13 Days of January Nail Art Challenge: Monochromatic

It's no secret blue is my most favorite color.  Yo Cupid Take A Hike by Colors by Llarowe is my biggest lemming so I'm constantly searching for a dupe.

Now, I can't say for sure this is a dupe since I don't own both to compare, but I CAN say that this is literally the exact shade of blue that is my most favorite color.  You know how you have a favorite color, but it's a certain shade within that spectrum that's your most favorite shade, the one that you think is the best representation of that color?  Yeah, this is it.

Say hello to Dream Walker by Darling Diva Polish.  This is almost a one coater polish.  I tried out some new stickers I got and I can't believe how gorgeous this looks.  I decided to be simple and go REALLY monochromatic for this post.  Just mono, haha.  I could just stare at my nails all day long.  I love it.  I'm going to get some serious mileage out of this bottle!

Also, holo.  That is all.

Photos taken outdoors in the shade.

An InLinkz Link-up

NOTD Handmade: Haleakala by Elevation Polish

I'm currently wearing handmade indie polish by Elevation Polish called Haleakala.  This absolutely gorgeous shade is a purple holo that lands somewhere between a berry and a wine shade.  My photo doesn't do it justice!

Earlier this week I wore Darkest Storm. I can never get enough blue!