Heaven Nail Lacquer, Ruby

There are polishes that absolutely everyone knows about- China Glaze, Orly, OPI, Nfu-Oh, the list goes on and on. They're fabulous polishes, don't get me wrong. But sometimes, it can be fun to find something new, something that hasn't been talked to death already. What can I say, if something's been shown on every other blog already, it makes me think maybe I shouldn't bother showing it?

Then there's the stuff no one talks about. I won't lie. I've been googling myself mad, looking for someone, anyone talking about this stuff. I wondered if the company squeezes live kittens into bottles, or tests their polishes on penguin beaks, upsetting their natural feeding cycle and killing millions every day. Because surely, if a polish was this good, someone would have blogged it by now?

Maybe not. Maybe I'm just lucky, and happened to wander into a place no one has thought to look for interesting new inexpensive nail polishes. If so? AWESOME!! I mean, do you see the polish on my thumb, here? And that, my friends, is without the benefit of a topcoat. This polish is something special, and I cannot say enough good things about it.

This polish is from Heaven Nail Lacquer, in the shade Ruby. You're looking at two coats, no topcoat, shot with a flash. I'm stunned, because honestly, this doesn't capture the beauty of the glitter, the depth of it. This stuff sparkles, with a depth that is absolutely insane. Add a topcoat to it and it's absolutely impossible to stop looking at it.

This bottle of polish cost a grant total of $2, give or take. I think it was $1.99, but I can't swear to it. I'm planning a blog fieldtrip soon, in which I take you all with me to the cosmetics department in which this sweet little beauty lived before it came home with me. This one is my precious, and I think it may be my favorite polish, at least for today.

Now, clearly this one isn't big 3 free. No, it's about as fulla 3 as you can get, but for $2, can you really complain? I wish I could compare it in RL to China Glaze's Ruby Pumps. From what I've seen, this could be very similar to it. It's a rich jelly polish with dense silver microglitter that shines up through the jelly for super depth and interest. I'm serious when I say that when I wear this, I can't stop looking at my fingers. Every time they catch the light, I get a wave of giggles inside, and I feel like I'm wearing Dorothy's ruby slippers on my fingertips!

Of course, I'm also a bit sappy, so it doesn't hurt that my husband got this for me for Mother's day. It's a long story, but a sweet one, and so it makes this polish just that much sweeter. Nothing like a bit of romance to make a great polish even greater!

Take care, lovelies. I've been up all night, and I think I need to curl up with my husband for the few minutes I can and appreciate how lucky I am. Give your honey an extra-loving hug this morning while you can, just because you can. :D

♥, Laynie

*SPLAT* Manicure!

A while back, I was admiring the splat Konad plate (M21). It's extremely cute, and I was sad because I wanted to do something similar on my nails, but I don't have any Konad supplies. Then I saw someone on YouTube (I think?) paint their nails using a brush to get the splattered paint effect. So, I decided to give it a shot on my own.

First off, I started with two coats of Gosh Holographic. I absolutely adore this polish... I love it so much! I need to take some video of it outside, so that you can see the amazing holographic qualities it has. But for now, trust me... It's INSANE!

Unfortunately, using the holographic base for this design wasn't the best use for it. The splats covered up so much of it that the holographic beauty was lost, to a degree. It's a shame, really, because I really, REALLY liked the idea of having that rainbow goodness under the splats. But it's ok, I guess. I've learned that holos aren't necessarily that great under busy manicures. That's a good lesson to learn, so I won't be wasting any more of my precious Gosh Holographic under it!

After that, I started to add splotches with a tiny paintbrush. I used three coordinating shades (two pinks and a red), but I think next time I'll go for more variety in the colors. I used Love My Nails in Delicious (a moderately deep, somewhat dusty pink), Heaven Nail Lacquer in Ruby (an amazing red jelly with intense glitter), and Nail Fantasies in Peppermint Patty (a super hot pink). I basically did one or two splats per nail, alternating the colors somewhat randomly. I also tried to make some somewhat rounded blobs on some of the ends, just for fun.

Overall, I'm really happy with how this came out. I think more variety in the colors would be fun, of course, but overall this was LOTS of fun. I think I'd use a dotter for some of the ends of the splats, to make them rounder. Speaking of, I'll have to make a post about my oh-so-high-end dotting tools. I spent an afternoon with glue, tape, old dried-up pens and various items to make my own! They're even comfortable to use, until I can get some real ones. :D

So, what do you think?

Petites - Dare

Some days are just too good to be true. I've been lemming for a blue flaky polish for absolute AGES now, and whining to my husband about it sadly. Right now, I'm not able to send off for any of the Nfu-Oh polishes, no matter how much I'd love to. So until then, I've been dreaming wistfully, and drooling over pictures online.

Until last night. We'd gone for a walk at our local WalMart and decided to wander through the clearance department. I'm *SO* glad we did, because there in a small box of clearance cosmetics, mixed in among the off shades of MaryKate and Ashley blushes and who-knows-how-old lip glosses was a bottle of Petites polish in Dare.

It was such a pretty shade of blue, and with the Fourth of July coming up so quickly, I decided to carry it with me through the store while we walked, considering if I really wanted to buy it. Yea, it was on clearance, and it's not terribly expensive to begin with, but I've found that carrying something with me for a while lets me decide if I really want to buy it, or if it's just one of those spur-of-the-moment purchases.

But the more I looked at it and saw how glittery and perfect the color was, the more I realized I wanted to bring this little polish home with me. It was perfect for a patriotic manicure, and it was totally the right price. But once I got home and started to apply it I started looking more closely at it. Could it be, I wondered? Are those really little flakies?!

It IS! Beautiful little flakes of glitter, mixed in with a mix of tiny microglitters in shades of silver, teal, and pink, of all colors, float in a gorgeous sheer blue that builds to opacity in three coats. I can't stop looking at it. And most of all, I am loving the fact that I almost put this little gem back on the shelf!

Every now and then I make a good decision! ;)

That prompted today's mani. I wanted something patriotic, but not too over-the-top. I wanted to use the ZOMG gorgeous blue, along with my favorite red glitter polish.. Actually, I pulled out something like 10 bottles, trying to figure out what to use.

I settled on Petites Dare for the blue, Heaven Nail Lacquer for the red, my Art Deco white striper, and an unnamed Sally Hansen Salon silver that came in a 5-pack of minis that I got on sale. The silver did an awesome job of covering the red and white stripes in one coat... talk about fantastic!

Finally I added a single rhinestone (albeit a rather large one!) onto each nail, mainly to cover up the white dot I screwed up on the tip of my left hand. You would know I messed up the one I could paint easily! But whatever... it worked out. :D