Tag Archives: indie polish

Sep16

Blush Lacquers: Ballroom Bling Collection

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How to tell when you are officially old:

I have successfully replaced the majority of my heels with flats.  Ugh.  I have so many beautiful pairs of heels.  When I wear them, they make me feel tall and skinny.  I could wear my most dowdy of clothes, but pair them with some pretty heels and suddenly I am the Fashion Queen of the Universe. However, recently, my feet and knees just aren’t feeling it.  I sit down a lot during the day (or during life, in general), and when it hurt just to walk to the copy room 20 feet away, I knew it was time.

Cue sad music and tears.  And a pair of black Dr. Scholl’s.  In my defense though, I told my husband that in order for me to maintain my beauty and youthfulness, I needed a pair of Tory Burch flats.  I don’t know how that worked, but it did.  So maybe this new shoe regime isn’t so bad after all.  If I can somehow get my man to buy me designer, I’ll be short and squatty (but with amazing shoes!) all day long.  Does Christian Louboutin make flats?  If so, I’m coming for you!

Let’s talk about polish!  I had the pleasure of swatching another collection from Blush Lacquers, this time it’s Ballroom Bling:

The creator of these beauties, Victoria, used to be a professional ballroom dancer, so obviously this collection needed to be done.  The sparkling dresses, the festive Latin dances, the expressive and sometimes seductive traditional ballroom dances.  This all translates to some of the loveliest polishes you’ll ever see!  Trust me on this one.

And since I’ve been watching Dancing With the Stars for the past 11 years, I’m basically an expert.  Unlike Victoria’s expertise, but pretty close I’m sure.

First one up is this elegant soft blue called Don’t Forget Your Ballgown:

Aaaaaah, well this is soothing.  Such a beautiful, calming, satiny shade.  It’s Cinderella’s dress in a bottle!   There’s a bit of violet shimmer in it which I found a bit hard to capture in photos, but I gave it my best.  Just look real hard – you’ll see it.

I did three coats for opacity, but man was it worth the wait.  Dream. Boat.  There will probably be a Disney Princess nail art project in my future with this one.

And just for funsies, a macro.  Yes, it’s blurry.  But tell me you don’t see that violet now.  Ugh.  Have your eyes ever been happier?

Now let’s go from dainty to daring.  It’s Dance Floor Lovers:

Ummmmmm, yes please.  When’s the last time your nails looked this sexy?  Holy moly.  I love berry wine shades like this.  Soothes my need for dark polishes in a major climactic way.  There’s red shimmer in it, black holo glitter and some scattered holo, and if someone could just paint all my household surfaces with it, I’d be totally fine about that.

Inspired by the Rumba, Victoria’s favorite dance.  Here’s a shot under the lamps so you can see the sparkle better:

And of course, a macro cuz I’m on a roll now!

I physically can’t stop posting pictures.  We may never get to the end of this blog.

Okay, I’m forcing myself to move on.  There are four other stunners to share.  Below is Skintone Rhinestones:

Okay, did you just die?  Cuz I sure did.  This lovely little nude has bits of a copper rose hue, but could translate to another shade altogether on the nail depending on your skintone.  I’ve mentioned a billion times before that I don’t prefer nude polishes, but every one that I’ve used recently have been turning my head. Change is hard, people.  But I’m okay this time.

Under the lamps:

Do you see?!  I hope you got your credit cards ready.  This one is coming home to you.  Plus, as nude/neutral polishes tend to be, it would be an excellent contrast to some black stamping nail art.

Are you officially convinced?  Do I need to come over there and wave my nails in your face (i.e., completely acceptable behavior)?  Two more close-ups, just to be safe:

My job here is done.

But here is Mirrorball anyway:

It just gets better and better doesn’t it?  This looks like an actual, real-life mirrorball.  Such a gorgeous silvery-white.  I liked it even more than I thought I would.  Such a smooth application, too.  I’m very excited to use this one again.  I’m picturing all sorts of nail art masterpieces!

Under the lamps:

That shimmer is legit crazy.  I can’t even be clever right now because only half my brain is working.  The other half is hypnotized.

You can really see the silver flakies in the macro. Literally looks like diamonds.  Proof:

The next two polishes are major glitterbombs.  Let’s start with We Like to Move It, Move It:

Full of red, orange, pink, gold and blue holo glitters, this polish can be used as a topper or as a stand-alone full coverage shade when sponged on (which is what I did here).  It looks really blingy in person – it catches ALLLLL the light.  It’s a scene stealer, is what it is.  A Brazilian Carnival, as Victoria mentions.  Definitely.


Next is Jump, Jive and Wail!, a glitter full of sky blue, baby pink, sapphire and silver holographic hexes:

This one is a little more subdued than the previous, although it’s ridiculous sparkly.  Again, it can be used as a topper or a full-coverage polish if you sponge it on.  Toppers make me nervous because I’m too OCD to appreciate them.  Glitters just go wherever on the nail and sometimes they clump together in groups and you have to go pushing them around with the brush to spread them about.  And once you feel like you finally got it, you spend the next few lightyears analyzing your placement.  It’s exhausting.

And long story short, I chose the full-coverage glitter route, clearly.



The round up:

If you love pretty things, you’ll find lots of drool over in Victoria’s shop.  Every polish she makes is amazing.  I own them all, so expert level:  ACHIEVED.

The Ballroom Bling is available RIGHT NOW, so go go go!  There’s a coupon code too for this weekend only – as if you needed more persuasion.  Use MISSINGPC15 at checkout for 15% off your purchase of $27 (three polishes) or more.  Only valid September 16-18.  And then with the money you save, you can buy me a gift card of appreciation because now that you know about Blush Lacquers, your polish game will never be the same.

And then follow me on Instagram, because you are feeling very give-y and kind.

Later, loves!

Sep14

Little Nail Girl: Flashes of Fall Collection

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There is music stuck in my head that I literally can’t get out.  All day, every day, every song.  And it’s not like it’s music that makes any sense as if I’d just heard it on the radio or something.  No, it’s random in the worst possible way.  This evening as I was driving home from work, it started with the Sesame Street theme song, transitioned to Hanson’s MMMBop, then finally settled on She Works Hard For the Money as sung by I don’t even know who.

I could blame it on the acetone I inhaled the previous night for 12 hours straight (swatch party!), but I’ve been doing this for several years now.  Someone can say a word that will trigger a song verse which will stay with me until someone else says a word that triggers a new song.

What happened to the good old days when I would just read a book out loud and in a British accent, even the Southern fiction ones?  Cuz that’s not weird at all.

But we aren’t here to discuss my bizarre personality tics.  You want polish.  So I give.  Here is the new Flashes of Fall collection by Little Nail Girl.  Behold:

All your most happy moments are flooding back to you right now, aren’t they?  Ugh.  Fall colors.  The most comfy, cozy, smile-inducing colors ever invented.  I have no idea how I’ll ever finish this blog post now, what with my eyes closed in ectasy and all.

Except I am a DAMN PROFESSIONAL and that’s what we do.  Soldier on.

When Heather at Little Nail Girl offered to send me this collection for review, she asked for my suggestion for a collection name, as it was, at that moment, nameless.  I was both honored and petrified.  I can only be clever by accident.  When I try on purpose, I’m like that girl who smells her own fingers out of panic.  And then end up telling my male boss I like tube-shaped packages, when I was only referring to an actual tube mailer for a poster, but it came out of my mouth so very very wrong.

However, as soon as the polishes arrived and I fully took in the shimmery, multi-chromey, metallic-y goodness, Flashes of Fall immediately came to me.  And that was the end of that.

First up is the delicious Bronze Have More Fun:

Campfires, turning leaves, crisp air.  What’s not to love about this polish?  It has a surprising depth to it as well, and it’s basically my new favorite color.  It’s also a one-coater and amazingly smooth.  Of course, I did two coats out of habit, but for those who aren’t as annoying as me, you can get away with just one.

I was asked to do some nail art as well, and I knew I had to do something fall-related.  I had just received the new Lovely Leaves stamping plate from Uber Chic Beauty, and this polish practically begged for it.

It’s pretty cute if I do say so.  Do you hear tooting horns?  No worries; it’s just me congratulating myself on a job well done.

The little leaf charm came from Winstonia if you’re interested.  I don’t know if they always have them or if it’s just a seasonal thing, but it came with like 4 leaves and a pumpkin.  Figured I’d better get some use out of them while I can.

Next is a most glorious nude shimmer.  It’s called Skinny Dip, and look how lovely it is!

Had to take two shots of this one so you could see it under the lamps as well.  It’s really just the prettiest nude.  I normally don’t wear polishes this color because my skin is too pale and it doesn’t flatter me at all.  But this one is a warm-toned, golden nude which is PERFECT for gals like me.

That shimmer up close! Heart eyes times a BILLION.

Plus, this shade is the perfect base for some nail art.  I did this autumn tree with falling leaves design:

Again, I used the Lovely Leaves stamping plate from Uber Chic Beauty, which is the perfect plate for the season.  Get it!  But buy this polish first.

Last but not least is this fabulous multi-chrome shade called Ride or Die!:

It’s gray, then it’s purple, then it’s green.  Changes colors with every angle.  I love shifty queens like this.  They’re simply magical.  Pretty much a one-coater on this one too.  Ultra smooth and a joy to apply.  Seriously.  That’s not just me being a super dork.  Sometimes certain polishes will just pull you in.  This is one of them. I want to stick my fingers in everyone’s faces and make them look at my nails.  Except that’s frowned upon in most societies.  Personal space, and whatnot.

Now for something precious:

Look at that little owl baby!  I used another new Uber Chic Beauty stamping plate, Who Give a Hoot, and did a little reverse stamping action.  Happy to say it turned out pretty cute, although this was my second attempt.  First attempt I did my owl upside down.  That’s not annoying AT ALL.

The round up:

Okay, I’m serious when I tell you this – but you HAVE to buy this trio.  It’s non-negotiable at this point, right?  However, if these swatches weren’t enough to convince you AND the fact I named the collection myself weren’t either, then how about a discount code?  People love coupons.  For real, there’s a show about it and everything.  And I’m not even making fun of coupon-ers.  I understand obsessions.  In fact, I understand obsessions like I invented the dang thing.

But back to the point, use my code DSETT for 10% off your purchase of anything in the Little Nail Girl store.  And if you want this collection, it will be available to you on September 16.

Later, loves!

Sep10

Pretty & Polished:  Fall 2016 Collection

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You know I’ve always said:  if you’re gonna be obsessed, be obsessed properly.   Don’t just have a hobby and do it halfway.  I mean, if you’re gonna call yourself a crocheter, you better own ALL the yarn.  Know what I mean?  This is most likely the logic that got me swimming in 800-plus bottles of nail polish.  In my defense, nail polish never goes bad.  Yes, it might get goopy.  Or thermal changing powers may fade.  But it doesn’t turn to poison and that right there is reason enough.

The fact I crocheted a blanket made for one teeny tiny extremely skinny person is beside the point.  I still owned all the yarn.  Anybody need a potholder?  I have like 17,000.

But back to polish!  I recently received the Pretty & Polished Fall 2016 Collection to swatch for you, and believe me when I tell you – you’ll want every single one of them.  There’s 10 polishes to love and drool over, so I suggest you clear your schedule and get in your pjs.  Have some Doritos handy while you’re at it (and maybe a Kit Kat for safety’s sake).  We might be here for a while.

First up is Dark Magic – a dark grey creme with holographic glitter and metallic purple hexes:

Did you just die?  Cuz I sure did.  It’s heavenly!  Top photo was taken under direct lighting and the second one was in the lightbox so you can really see those glitters. I did two thin coats for full coverage and two layers of top coat since it dried pretty textured and dull.  But you do what you want.  I’m not the boss of you.

Just kidding!  I am.

Guess who remembered to wrap her tips?!

Next is this mustard yellow love of my life called Fuzzy Sweater:

I am drawn to colors like this as if Leonardo DiCaprio himself was at the end of it.  They’re comfy and cozy and wrap my heart with a hug.  Definitely a perfect fall polish.  Look at those color shifting flakies!  And then just for funsies, I matted it for you:

Kinda cool, right?  Again, I did two coats for full coverage and it was soooooo smooth.  It was hard to put down.  I could’ve easily went to Polish Mountain with this baby.

Macro porn!

Next is Taupe Me Off and Leaf!, a pretty taupe creme filled with brown, gold, silver and copper glitters.  I don’t know about you, but these look like chocolate chip cookies:

Well, it’s a stretch, but you get my drift.  Maybe because the taupe creme reminds me of chocolate milk.  Or maybe those dark brown glitters look l i  k klldghlk …

Who wants cookies?  I want cookies.  Dammit, why aren’t there cookies in this house?!

So I did two regular coats here and one dabbed coat just to fill in any spots that I felt looked too naked.  The glitter payoff is unreal and I had to do very minimal maneuvering.  No fishing either – those glitter babies were everywhere.  Really effortless, which is what I like.  I mean, I wear pajamas to Starbucks so there’s no way in hell I’m fiddling with a bunch of glitter placement.

Ahhhh, so dreamy … But seriously, though:  coooookies …

Okay, so this one might be my favorite:

It’s called I Done Plum Had It! and it’s STUNNING.  Well, I mean, clearly.  Look.  At.  It.  Ugh.  Whoever paired up purple and copper was a billion percent correct.  They are the OG Peanut Butter and Jelly.  Top photo is under direct lights so you can see the glow of those flakies, but the second photo in the lightbox really shows ’em off.  Another excellent fall polish.  In case you didn’t know already:  YOU NEED.

And of course, this blog wouldn’t be proper without one shittily focused macro:

Still pretty though.  Tips = wrapped.  So not a complete fail.  And in case you’re curious (you are), this could easily be a one-and-a-half coater (whatever that is) if you aren’t too picky.  Coverage was excellent.

A fall collection wouldn’t be a fall collection without an orange.  Here’s Patch under the lamps:

Uhhhhhnnnnnnnn.  That’s the sound my brain makes when it can’t think of words.  I love green; it’s my favorite.  But orange!  Orange is right up there.  Plus, this isn’t any ordinary orange, it’s a dusty creme orange.  I love Pretty & Polished’s Dusty Creme line.  Those dark speckles are something you never knew you needed.

Here’s a shot in the lightbox:

Wanna see those specks up close?

Ahhhhh, who just wrapped you up in a big warm blanket and handed you a bunch of kitties?  Cuz this polish is legit happiness.

And now, the amazing Heavy Metal:

This photo was taken under the lightbox and you can really see all the glitz and glamour.  The base is silver and it’s chock full of silver, gold and copper metallic glitters.  There’s also a small sprinkle of flakies, which are good little hide-and-seekers, although I did get a couple on my nails.  And it was so easy to apply.  Two coats of not-goopy perfection!

Very reflective under direct lighting:

Looks like foil!  This would be a perfect going-out polish, you know, for people who go and “do stuff.”  Assuming that includes a The Walking Dead marathon, which is how I prefer to “do” my “stuff.”  Of course, this comes from the girl who gets excited over her new Fruit of the Loom Breathable underwear.  I may not be the best source of info.

Prettiest macro award goes to:

My eyes!  My eyes!

Now for a thermal polish.  I give you Fall in Love a Latte:

This is its warm state, a creamy off white.  Loving this fun glitter mix!  There’s a couple shades of pink, an orange, a turqouise – some of the brighter fall colors.  Consistency was thinner than all the other polishes, but it was very easy to apply.  No streaks!

Here’s the cool state:

Those damn cookies are back.  With sprinkles.  Ugh.

Here’s an excellent warm to cool transition photo that only took 217 tries to get:

Photographing thermals make me nervous.  You know much time I spend trying to get my fingers and nails cold enough to change colors?  Light years, at the minimum.  But I do it for my nailie friends because without you all, I’m just a crazy person with her hand in the freezer.

Then we have Riverside Drive, a luscious almost teal-y blue creme with blue, silver and grey flakies:

One of the prettiest blues you’ve ever seen, yes it is.  Again, ultra smooth and opaque in two coats.  Seriously, this collection was made for people like me (i.e., lazy) cuz I could literally get a mani done in less than 20 minutes – and that includes my OCD-caliber cuticle cleanup.  For real, is that not the longest part?  I can spot a wonky cuticle line from a mile away with my eyes closed.  Not that my cuticles aren’t ever wonky, but you best belive nothing else matters until I can get home to fix it.  Sorry, I’ve got a job to get to?  Not today, Satan.

Now look at this macro:

No words.  Moving on.  Here’s Creme de la Creme:

Another dusty creme!  This time it’s a delicious sandy beige shade, and those black speckles really stand out.  I normally don’t wear colors this light because I’m already so pale – and pale is not a good color for me.  It’s not the delicate Irish Rose kind of pale.  It’s more of the IT’S TOO HOT OUTSIDE, I’M GONNA SIT ON THE COUCH AND WEAR A BLANKET WITH THE A/C ON kind of white.  Or the I DON’T LOOK GOOD SWEATY kind.  Maybe a skosh of the INDOOR ACTIVITIES ARE THE BEST ACTIVITIES sort.

Long story short:  I don’t get out much.

Again, two coats of perfection!  I can’t think of any reason why you’re not buying these.

Last but not least, I give you this lilac thermal called Lavendarling and about .000027% of my attempts at photographing:

If you guessed I was sitting on my floor next to the air conditioning vent with my hand in a cup of ice water, having anxiety, you would be correct.  I just wanted to show you the best pictures I could get of this gorgeous color-changer.  The fact I about had a panic attack just shows you the depth of my love.

The below lilac is the warm state, which is how I found it looked on my nail most often.  Once cold, it turns to a deeper purple.  The transition happens quickly and changes quickly back – or at least on me it did.  At one point it was like a race between me and this polish.  I’m pretty sure I won.

And of course, the requisite macro. Look at those precious pink and blue flakes.  And a bit of holo.  It’s a very girly, sweet polish.

The round up:

If you think I went out and bought a mum just to shoot this lovely collage, well how transparent do you think I am?  (Very.)  Enjoy it, cuz this plant has about 5 days until I kill it with my impressive gardening skills.

This entire 10-piece collection is available first at Polish Con in Chicago on September 17 in case you’re going or happen to be wandering past a bunch of crazies hauling shopping bags of nail polish out of a building – go in there!  For all the rest of us who aren’t as lucky, you can snag these beauties on the Pretty & Polished website on September 23.  Thermals are $9, glitters and flakies are $8.50 and dusty crèmes are $7.50.  Full collection will go for $78 and qualify for free shipping.

Thanks for reading this massive post all the way to very end.  You make my spending 18 billion hours on my iPad writing this thing totally and completely worth it.  Internet hugs and kisses for everyone.  Well, just the cute ones.

Later, loves!

Aug29

Blush Lacquers – Power and Beauty Collection

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If you ever want to know how old you really are, try going to a Coldplay concert.  You know, all I wanted to do was just sit in my chair and enjoy some music.  When did people start standing throughout an entire 4 hour concert?  Ugh.  Mama’s tired.

I tried to be cool about it – I mean, it was Coldplay after all.  When Chris Martin tells you to “get low, get low” you think, FINALLY! And then sit back down in your seat.  That was not the point.  You “get low” to “jump back up real fast” apparently.  Yeah, I was feeling slightly out of place. I’m not ready to be old, you guys!  My 42nd birthday is tomorrow.  Certainly, I have a few more years before I am forced to go see a Barry Manilow show? (No offense to those who actually go see Barry Manilow for fun.  I’m just assuming there’s lots of sitting opportunities there .. )

But back to the whole reason for this post – I picked up the entire Blush Lacquers Power and Beauty collection a couple weeks ago and then did a marathon swatching sesh just for all my nailie friends.  I promise you, it physically hurt to remove some of the colors just so I could put on the next one.  I might’ve cried a little at the orange one.  There’s no shame in that.  You nail girls know.


The entire line all displayed out for you like I’m a dang professional photographer or something. Let’s take a moment to appreciate the fact I saw I huge furry caterpillar about .25 seconds before I took this shot and somehow ended up with this not-blurry picture.  For real though.  I know that caterpillar was about to kill me.

First up is this most stunning caramel orange called Fight Like a Goddess, named after Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom and War.  I.  Can’t.  Even.  I loooooove colors like this.  Almost makes me second guess green as my favorite color.  It’s so warm and cozy and comforting.

See, I told you!  It also has a pink to gold shift at certain angles and these pretty copper and black holographic glitters.  Here’s a (badly photographed) macro:

It’s hard to capture the true beauty of a polish with just your iPhone and a $5 clip-on macro lens.  But hopefully you can see all the glitters and the shifting shimmer.  On the nail, it is seriously gorgeous.  I did two coats and it was smooth smooth smooth.

Next is this pale blue beauty called Moonlight Huntress, named after Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt and the Moon:

Normally I don’t wear polishes this light, but man, it’s soooo pretty!  It’s the perfect moonlight shade isn’t it?  Or like gossamer.  Or air.  Those iridescent flakies are to die for.  Look at them:

Again, not the best macro but you get the point.  They look like tiny chips of pearl.  If you’re into delicate polishes like this, it would be awesome in your collection.  I did three thin coats and got pretty good opacity.  Although they don’t market it as a fully opaque shade.  And if you’re into nail stamping or nail art, I can totally see someone making butterfly wings out of this.

Just noticed there is a speck of orange in my macro.  Pretty sure that’s a Doritos crumb.  Oops.

Then there’s this:

My heart swells looking at this, like I invented it myself or something.  This one is called Eye of the Soul, named after Psyche, the Goddess of the Soul.  And I’m pretty sure my soul is exactly this color, so good job Blush Lacquers – you nailed it!

Base is a medium lavender with this amazing mint green shimmer.  Goes on so smooth and super shiny.  I did three thin coats, primarily cuz I couldn’t stop polishing.  How could I?  Just look at it:

If you noticed that’s a much better macro, you are correct.  This one definitely played nice with my camera.

Next up is the biggest surprise for me.  It’s called Of Seas and Shells, named after Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, borne from a giant clamshell:

I honestly thought this was going to be just a nice beige polish, but it is so much more than that.  I got it on my nail and I was like, hello beautiful!  Most perfect beige ever!  Actually, it’s more of a golden taupe-y, khaki, wet sand shade (as Victoria from Blush Lacquers puts it).  And it’s true.  Looks exactly like the beach at Hilton Head where I went for vacation last fall.  How she got that translated into a polish – well that’s some straight up voodoo.

Look at those delicate pink flakies.  For real, you guys.  This is one of the prettiest little surprises I’ve seen in a while.  Buy it!

And then we have THIS.  Below is Life in the Underworld, named after Persephone, Goddess of Spring and Queen of the Underworld.  I soooo love dark polishes – they are my favorite kinds – and this blackened blue is probably my second fave of the collection.

Mmmmm, red glitters!  I was so mesmerized, I took the shittiest macro and didn’t even realize it:

Hahah, someone needs to watch a YouTube video or something.  Certainly there’s a How-To Not Take an Ugly Macro clip on there.  I mean, if it’ll teach me how to make a tiny Happy Meal out of powder and water, then someone’s put up a macro tutorial, surely.

Okay, last but not least – this peacock/mermaid glitter bomb called Queen of Gods, named after Hera, the Goddess of Marriage and Children and Queen of Olympus:

Ugh.  My eyes!  This is only two coats over a naked nail.  The glitter payout is AH. MA. ZING.  I did do some manually placed glitters around the cuticle line to make it nice and neat, because I have OCD and knew I’d spend 17 hours obsessing over anything less than that.  But I was quite impressed with this polish.  It can be a topper, sure, but it works fantastically on its own.  Super smooth application as well.  Hooray!

I took the below photo outside in natural lighting to show you a variation of how the glitters can look.  I’m still wearing this polish and it looks more like this than in the above picture.  Unless you’re carrying an LED lamp around with you all day (turned on, of course), the below might be the best representation of real life.

Best macro of the day award goes to this one:

That’s a ton of blue, purple, green, brown, gold and silver, wouldn’t you say?  Yes you would.

The round up:

Blush Lacquers is a relatively new indie brand (debuted in June), and every polish I’ve purchased from them have all been unique, exquisitely crafted and simply beautiful.  Not one bad formula either!  I highly recommend you head over to their shop to purchase this collection – or any of their other polishes for that matter.  You will be so happy you did, and then you will overwhelm me with gift cards of gratitude!  (Right?)

Later, loves!

Aug24

SwatchFest 2016 – Octopus Party Nail Lacquer

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Oh my goodness, is this thing still on?  *taps mic*

If you guessed I’ve been hiding out in my lady cave for the past 15 months polishing my nails like someone was paying me to do it – you’d be right.  Mama’s in full-blown obsession mode and I can’t seem to find my way out.  Not that I’ve tried or anything, but that’s how I justify 800+ bottles of nail polish to my husband:

“I’m stuck.  It’s not my fault.”

He barely blinks his eyes at it now.  As long as I don’t change the channel while he’s watching his football show, I think I can get away with pretty much anything.

So Dave from Octopus Party Nail Lacquer recently contacted me about swatching a couple of colors of their new Fall 2016 collection.  Lemme tell you, fall colors are my faaaaaavorite.  Not necessarily fall weather because the lurking of winter ruins that for me, but fall colors have my heart.  Greens, burgundys, plums, oranges, chocolate-y browns.  Ugh.  Heart eyes times a billion.

Here are the two colors he sent:


Left side is Red Blood Sells and on the right is Swamped.  Both colors are beautiful (as you can clearly see).  Let’s do some close-ups, k?

First is Red Blood Sells:



This is a brown-leaning burgundy linear holographic with red flakies.  Top photo is taken in my light box and shows off the truest color and bits of flakie.  Middle photo was taken under a daylight lamp and pulls much more holographic.  And then I threw a macro in there so you can see the sparklies up close, but also as a reminder to myself to NEVER FORGET TO WRAP MY TIPS.  Sorry about that.  I’m working on it, I swear.  Ask me how many times I’ve wrapped my tips in my life prior to 15 months ago when I could throw a nail polish in the trash and never shed a tear.  Seriously ask me.  The answer is ZERO.  Sometimes habits like that are hard to break.

Next color is Swamped:



This is a black-leaning olive green linear holographic.  Again, top photo was taken in my light box, which is pretty, but it’s that middle picture under my daylight lamp that gives me major feels. I looooove that holo and how deep and rich it looks.  Literally, someone could give me a choice between a big bowl of mashed potatoes (with gravy) or one nail painted with this green polish, and I’d have to think on it for about 1.27 seconds.  Mashed potatoes are my happy place in case you didn’t know.  But I can never pass up a pretty green mani.

And not to toot my own horn, but I remembered to wrap my tips on the green macro.  I love it when I do things the right way.  I deserve a prize.  Nail polish and/or nail polish gift cards – or even actual paper money for nail polish – are accepted.  I’m not picky.  I’m very simple to please.  If it’s nail polish-shaped, chances are, we’ll be best friends for life.

Both polishes are ultra smooth and opaque in two coats.  Totally worth a look.  You neeeeeed.  For real, I’m not even joking.  It’s not a $50 Tom Ford lipstick this time, so you can trust me.  Not that you didn’t need that Tom Ford lipstick, but you can buy four polishes for the price of one lipstick – and who’s gonna argue with that kind of logic?

These two polishes, along with two others that are part of the collection, are available for pre-sale until Saturday, August 26 so be sure to get your name on the list!  Click here to buy.  Also, feel free to check out my Instagram cuz all the cool people are doing it.

Later, loves!