Jessica- Dazed Dahlia

Wow! You know how sometimes you'll get a positive spike in blog readers, then it'll die down after a couple of days? This totally didn't happen this week!

Instead? OMG, y'all, I've had SO MANY PAGEVIEWS this weekend! Like, 20,000 on Saturday alone! I've been sitting and watching, and expecting the numbers to fall down again, but so far, it's not happening. So, umm...

... Hi, everyone? :D

You may have seen me on Pinterest, or on various blog posts. I love to write, and I love doing nail art. I really enjoy making tutorials, whether with photos or with video. Most of all, though, I really love to be silly. You'll pick up on that if you stick around, which I certainly hope you do! Feel free to make requests of what you'd like to see, too.

So... Back to the polish! After the weekend's revelry, I've been absolutely pooped! Too much dancing, not enough resting, and my spoon supply has been greatly depleted. Still, I can't complain, it was absolutely wonderful spending time with family and friends! Still, I wound up having to go for a simple manicure today... good thing it's a pretty one!

Enter Jessica's Dazed Dahlia, from the Heavy Petal collection. I love that name! It suits me in so many ways... Dazed Dahlia is a gorgeous red-violet creme, deep and saturated and absolutely perfect! Not only is it a beautiful color, not only does it dry nicely, it's a one-coat polish!


That's right... I'm wearing one coat in these photos. I'm in love with this polish, because it's everything I could hope for. Well, it doesn't do my laundry, but then again what polish does?

I'm also happy because I remembered bottle shots for this one! I don't know why I forget those so often, but I do. Ah well... I guess that's not a huge deal. Do you prefer seeing bottle shots in a blog post?

Then there's the stamping. Sadly, it doesn't show up well on black, but that's ok... it's gorgeous on white! I used the Salon Express stamping plates to test it with, and absolutely love the result. I wish they made additional plates!

Now, since it's getting close to midnight and I'd like to sleep eventually, I'll leave you with the rest of the photos I took. You can find Jessica polishes for $7.50 each at a salon near you, or at the Jessica Cosmetics website. With over 200 colors, you're bound to find something you love!

 Til next time!

 

Polish was provided by the brand for consideration.

See my disclosure statement for more information.

H&M Goddess On Stage- I'm Feeling Sorta Purple

Some days I'm in the mood for something light and airy, something feminine. I want to feel delicate, and a pastel color is absolutely perfect. Let's just say today is not one of those days.

Instead, I went for a vampy purple, something that would stand out on my nails and make me feel the slightest bit ... hmm, evil? Seductive? Sassy definitely isn't the word, although it's probably related to it.  It's one of those mysterious shades that draws you in, that hints at a hidden past or a secret kept deep inside. H&M's Goddess On Stage was exactly what I was looking for.

I got this polish in a prize package from Scandalously Polished, along with about a million other polishes. This polish absolutely sang to me, calling to me. I'd used it in an earlier Konad failicure, but I wanted to wear it as a full manicure on its own. I wasn't disappointed.

Goddess on Stage is stunning. It's an almost black reddish purple that has an almost hidden shimmer. In some lights it passes for black, but in others the shimmer will catch the light in an absolutely stunning display. I wish the shimmer showed as much on the nail as it does in the bottle, but it's still very pretty.

One problem that I noticed is that I got tipwear very quickly with it. While I can usually wear most polishes for at least 2 days without noticeable tipwear, I noticed it after just half a day with Goddess on Stage. However, I'm not sure if it's the polish or the new base coat I'm using. I've recently began using Qtica Natural Nail Growth Simulator to see if I can get some length on my nails. So far, no luck... but it's only been less than a week or so. I think it might need more than that to show a difference. I'll have to try this with my usual base coat again to see if it wears better.

As I mentioned earlier, I used this polish to stamp with in an earlier manicure. It stamps really well, if somewhat faintly. Unfortunately, it only shows up well on lighter colors- on dark colors it doesn't show at all. That's not surprising, when you consider how dark a polish it is to begin with. I can't complain about it, though. It stamped beautifully on the last manicure!

Overall, this is a polish I'm glad to have added to my collection. I'm tempted to put a coat of Sally Hansen's Mist You over it, or perhaps my CND Sapphire Sparkle. I think either of those could make this look gorgeous! *jots this idea down into the notebook of planned manicures*

Tomorrow I'll show the manicure I tweeted about. Unfortunately, I tried to Konad over Goddess on Stage and kinda made an ugly look. It's a failicure, unfortunately, although the pictures make it look less of a failure than it really is. But that's for tomorrow...

Til next time!

Deborah Lippmann - Between the Sheets

I'm a simple girl with simple tastes. I've said for years that nail polish is nail polish is nail polish, and that I had no idea what could make a $16 polish so much better than a $1 polish. I've maintained that my Wet n Wild polishes, as long as I use a good base coat and top coat, are just as good as anything that comes with a fancier name and a fancier price tag.

Then I got polishes from Deborah Lippmann. First of all, they come in a sturdy plastic box, clear so that you can see the delicious color inside. The box is strong, and made me feel like I was getting something with a little bit more value. It's a nice touch, and I appreciate it.

After I opened the box, I was struck by just how solid the bottle feels. It's a square bottle with a little pedestal on the bottom, and to be honest, there's a lot of polish in it (.5 fl oz/15 ml). It feels substantial in my hand. At this point, I started talking to my husband about it, how silly I felt. I know I'm easily swayed by packaging, whether it's cute or elegant. But I didn't want to fall for this polish's packaging and be biased about the polish's performance. I wanted to give this polish a fair evaluation, and be willing to tear it to shreds if that's what it needed.

So I waited a day or two to apply it. I've got patience, I don't have to pounce immediately. But as soon as I got that bottle in my hand, I got excited. It doesn't smell quite as strong as other polishes, so that's a major plus. But as I started to apply it, I was absolutely stunned by how creamy and gorgeous this polish is to use. The color was almost opaque after 1 coat. My nails practically painted themselves!

I tweeted about it halfway through doing my nails. My friends laughed at me because I don't normally rave about a polish like this. But this polish was an absolute dream to apply, and as it dried, it didn't lose that wet glossy shine I love so much. Two coats dried quickly, and dried glossy. I had to call my husband in to see!

So today, we went to play cards, and as I was shuffling the deck, my husband noticed that my nails seemed glossier than usual. Nothing changed but the polish, but if my husband notices my nails something has to be different! He said the color looked rich, deep, and they made him think of a custom paint job on a fancy car. I think the color is juicy and inviting, to the point I can't stop looking at my nails.

After wearing the polish for two days, I've got minimal tipwear. No chips, no problems other than the tips, and that happens no matter what I'm wearing. I feel like the only way this polish could get better is if it cleaned my bathrooms for me!

So, I thought to myself... what else can I test? I decided to see if it would work with Konad stamping. Surely it can't be this fantastic and work with stamping too, right?

Wrong. I got the best stamp I've ever done from this polish. It's not quite opaque, and I don't think I'd try it on black. But on light colors, this stuff is a dream.

At this point, I can't think of any other tests to do with it. I'm wearing it with nail decals, and while my poor topcoat has had a time with them, the polish is still in perfect shape. It's official- the packaging, the product, and the performance of Deborah Lippmann polishes really are worth the extra money. If you feel like spoiling yourself, grab one of the creme colors- if you're anything like me, you'll feel like a million bucks!

Polishes were sent to me by PR for consideration.
See my disclosure statement for more information.

Paint splatters can be FUN!

You know, I admit it. I am totally a child of the 80s. I love neon, I love wild prints, and I love paint splats. This set of nails reminds me of a sweatshirt I had in grade school, only the shirt was white instead of black. But what better color than black to make colors pop?

You can see how vivid the colors are. I can't lie, I want to keep these all for myself! So much fun, but at least I can redo them if I decide to!

This set of nails is made with a custom-mixed rainbow of acrylic paints, so that they have the same level of intensity. I love the black base, and the topcoat makes the colors so intense and glassy!

I won't lie, I can see doing this design with shimmers, metallics, glitters... monochromatic colors, analogous colors... I think it'd be fun no matter HOW I mixed it up! It's just downright FUN! Oooh, imagine white splats on a black background, with the occasional splat of red! There are so many ways to do this, and I don't know if any are better than the others. You'll definitely see this pattern again, if only on Etsy! Speaking of Etsy, these will be going up as soon as I finish this post.

I'm so excited to add that I've got some surprises coming up soon! I'm planning some videos, both of some of those dramatic, color-shifting polishes in the sun as well as some technique videos. If you have anything you'd like to see, feel free to leave requests in the comments!

And oy, I've just looked at the clock to see that once again, I'm catching 7:30am from the wrong side. I think I need to go to sleep. Man... one of these days I'll get my internal clock set right again.

...maybe. :D