If someone could just go ahead and make all Christmas gifts come in perfect square boxes, that’d be great.  Cuz I don’t know about you, but I have about 18 poorly wrapped gifts, sitting in their lumpy and patchworked glory, under my Christmas tree right now.  It for real looks like I wrapped them with my feet, which hurts my heart a little since I actually take pride in my wrapping skills.  It’s the one time where I can let my nerd flag fly without fear of judgement, as everyone knows the one who has the gift of wrapping rules the universe.  Or something along that line.

So basically, I’ve got a chronic case of the hives now until these presents go away.  But at least my nails are done! (Which is my excuse for a lot of things, lately.  But in my opinion, a good manicure offsets even the worst offenses – just try noticing the fact I’m eating bean dip straight out of the can when I’ve got glittery snowflakes on mah nails.  It’s nigh on impossible.)

Speaking of nails, I received a lovely swatch pack from a new-to-me brand called Flirtin‘.  They have released six new polishes today and I have three of them to show you.  Here is the (partial) Ice Kissed Collection:

OMG, you purple lovers are gonna just die over this.  Do not lick your screen cuz there are judgy people all around you.  Not everyone appreciates good nail porn, which a) makes me question what kind of world do we live in, and b) I assume society must be on the verge of extinction then.  So lock yourself in a bathroom stall to read this blog, just to be safe, is what I’m saying.

According to Sham, creator of Flirtin’, the Ice Kissed Collection celebrates the colors of winter created by the shades of water, ice and snow.

“The wintery fresh collection represents windy nights, flurry days, and subzero temperatures. The collection compromises the key components which are most memorable about winter, braving the elements and scenic landscapes. These shades prove winter can also be gorgeous and magical.”

I don’t even like winter, but that description makes me think about it for half a second. Good job, Sham!

Let’s start with Sugar Plums:

Well how pretty is this?!  (Very.)  I’ll be honest and say I was only expecting a normal but pretty polish here. But the blue shimmer got me guys.  It got me good.

This one has a red-toned shimmery purple base packed with lavender holo.  It truly does look like a sugar plum!  Formula is thicker than anticipated but super easy to control.  My photos shows two coats.  And magic.  Clearly, I’ve captured magic.  Ugh.

Under the lamps, that shimmer stands out really well:

And then a macro in case you feel like sitting down and fainting for a second:

Not even joking.  That should do you in pretty good.  Hope you had your smelling salts handy.

Now focus, cuz I nail arted and it didn’t turn out hideous.  Hooray!

I used the christmas tree squiggles from What’s Up Nails to make this simple but impactful design.  And then I matted the whole thing.  I love it!  One of my favorite holiday manis I’ve done this year.

Next up is Nor’easter:

This is Sham’s take on a violent winter storm, with snow, rain and spiraling winds.  That all sounds awful, but the polish is fabulous.  I love me some dark colors, yo.  Get this one on your fingers, stat.

The effect here with all that silvery “stuff” (technical term; I’m soooo good at blogging you guys!) looks like a blizzard against a night sky.  DOES IT NOT?!  

And then you get it under the lamps and it reminds you of icy black pavement.  See:

Yep, Sham killed it with this one.  I don’t even know what the other three polishes are in this collection (yet, as of this writing), but I don’t even care at this point.  I’m buying them.  And so are you.

But look at this macro:

Do you see those surprising blue flecks?  WTF are those then?!  For real, if I had a mic I would’ve dropped it by now and straight up walked out of the room.  Such a cool color.  Want, want and NEED.  That’s your new motto.

More nail art:

Never mind the random cat hair stuck to my pinky.  That’s pretty much me on a daily basis anyhow.  I try to clean myself up for public, but when you force-hold your kitties and carry them around like babies (they looooooooooove it!) (okay, they don’t), you’re bound to have cat hair find you.  I pull them out of my mouth all the time, which is weird, but not completely surprising.

Back to the art – I did pink and blue gradient stamping!  I thought the contrast would look pretty good here.  Plus, had to keep that night sky theme going, hence the star image. Pretty easy, but I’m diggin it.  

Last polish to share is called Nippy:

Look, it’s the color of my lips after sitting in my office for about 10 minutes!  I just need an afghan and some of those heated, fingerless typing gloves and now you know exactly what I look like for 9 hours a day.  Basically grandma status is what I’m saying.  Someone needs to hand me a crochet hook so I can fight off all the boys.  (Obviously.)

This one is a medium sheer blue with a strong violet undertone, and it’s so super pretty on the nail.  It had a thinner formula, and still really good.  And under the lamps, it gets downright ridiculous:

My eyes, my eyes!  I love polishes like this, loaded up with shift.  They practically glow, and this is no exception.  Despite the fact the inspiration behind this polish is subzero temperatures – of which all I can say is NOPE – I truly adore this and want to cover all the surfaces with it.

Finally, here’s the nail art:

I don’t even know what I was attempting here, but I freaking love it!  I did some stamping and then some random swipes with a glitter striper.  Looks a bit like ice, and that wasn’t even my intention, so we’re just gonna call this a SUCCESS and move on.  Hooray!

The round up:

Okay guys, you know what to do.  Click here and go buy these.  Retail cost is $8 which is an excellent price for something so pretty.  I’m headed there now to get the other three I don’t have, and I’m so excited as these are some of my most favorites I’ve gotten this year.  That’s saying a lot cuz y’all know I have no filter on nail polish – I’ve purchased two of the same color in the SAME ORDER before and didn’t even realize it until they both arrived at my house.  In other words, I just throw polish in the cart without even looking.  Cuz I love them all. Want them all.  Need them all.

Well, why be obsessed if you can’t do it properly?

Later, loves!