More Candy Lacquers!!!

Hi everyone! Happy Monday... or not. I loatheeeeeeee Mondays for the sheer fact that lately I've been literally living for my weekends - I always have such fun things planned and (as you all may have heard) fall in New England is absolutely beautiful for being outdoors. So I've been busybusybusy at work and then busybusybusy on the weekends, but I guess it's good - although time flying is against me because I hate winter.

ANYWAY. Today I have awesome swatches from Candy Lacquer again! These are actually old - pre-lightbox and pre-watermark. So bear with me. Also, all pictures are "natural" light with my white light lamp first and then in the light of my window. Putting these under a cut because there's 14 pictures... oops.

Oopsie, Bad Blogger Alert

Hi guys! So sorry I've been MIA this week. I haven't forgotten, I'm not quitting or taking a break... I've just been super busy! For some reason, it's one of those weeks where all my clients are showing up. I usually see 15-25 in a week, but I've seen over 27 already and still have another day of work. So I've been a little too tired to swatch, edit pictures, write posts, etc. and the one draft post I had, I accidentally deleted all my pictures and text and Blogger saved it as blank... so that's out for now. I'll catch up this weekend, I promise!

xoxo,
Amanda

Sally Hansen Coral Reef + Black Cat LTEC

Hello again loves! I hope your week is off to a good start! Today I'm showing you a recent NOTD of mine. You may know I've become obsessed with coral this year so this was one of my opportunities to wear a lovely coral.

I started with two coats of Sally Hansen Coral Reef, which was so shiny and beautiful even on its own (no top coat here).

But since I love glitter, and I wanted to try wearing Black Cat's Let Them Eat Cake as a "work appropriate glitter", I added two coats on top. I had to use a little bit of dabbing to get the glitter evenly dispersed, but the effect was really beautiful. You can see that it didn't level too well on my ring finger, as there's a bit of a bumpy part to my nail. Nothing top coat couldn't fix!

I adored this look. LTEC is the perfect work-appropriate glitter. Most people didn't even notice or just thought I had some sort of design on my nails. Since it's matte pastel glitter, it was muted and subtle but really pretty once you noticed it on the nail. One of my favorite NOTDs in recent history! What do you think?

xoxo,
Amanda

Geek Glitter: Rainbow Guard

Hi! So sorry that I've been MIA this week. I had a big exam to get my license on Thursday so I studied all week and was just worried and unfocused in general. The good news is I passed - so I get a raise and all that jazz :)

Today I have for you an incredible glitter by Geek Glitter, who was sweet enough to send me this bottle when I told her I liked a promo picture! Rainbow Guard is inspired by Game of Thrones (another reason I love it - my boyfriend and I both are into that show!) and features rainbow colors of glitter in small/medium size hexes, along with tiny holographic shimmer (or maybe it's microglitter...I can never really figure that out!)

The bottles are super cute so I included a couple pictures, her logo is adorable!

So for these swatches I used Essie French Affair as my base and applied two coats. The first coat I applied like a normal polish because I wanted the shimmer to be even and not just globbed on in random places. Glitter was somewhat sparse on the first coat, but I used a bit of dabbing with the second coat to put it where I wanted and I really liked the effect it had. The purple glitter really stood out to me because I feel like purple glitter is underutilized in indies a lot, but not here! I wouldn't wear this one alone but it's an amazing topper. I've worn this a couple times already, which is unheard of for me! I give this an A+ overall, even with the kind of-but-not-really tricky application.

PS Did you guys notice my subtle new watermarks? Also, this is my first post with a polish taken in my new lightbox! What do you think?

xoxo,
Amanda

Memories and a Poll

Hi everyone, today is such a somber day in the US and the world in general. Remembering the events of September 11, 2001 is tough and I'm sure it's been on everyone's mind at some point. I won't rehash it too much here because I know it's been done a lot lately and sometimes we just need time to be quiet and process. (There's the therapist in me coming out, sorry.)

The second part of this post is asking you, my readers, to comment telling me something you'd like to see more of. My most searched term is manicures for short nails, so I'm compiling some guest bloggers to help with that in the future. What else interests you guys: stamping, simple nail art (dots, for example), more guest posts, a 31 day challenge, other beauty products, certain brands? Do you like weeks of particular themes, such as a particular color, brand, or style (glitters, cremes, etc.)? Let me know, please please please!

xoxo,
Amanda

OPI Coral Reef

Hi girls! I'm writing this post live since I just realized all my scheduled posts are all gone! Oopsie! Hope you're all enjoying your weekend! I had a really hectic, stressful week and I had to work Friday all day (usually I'm off or only work until 2 or 3) so my weekend feels stunted. I have so much to do today but I feel like doing nothing at all! I'll probably do the latter and then regret it later ;)

Today I have for you an oldie but a goodie, OPI Coral Reef. This is a linear holo from OPI's It's Summer For Shore collections from a few years back. I got this in that giant haul of old salon OPIs along with her sister, Sand-erella. Unfortunately, it wasn't particularly sunny on the day I wore this, so you just have to imagine the linear holo in the photos below.

Coral Reef is actually shockingly opaque for a holo, I only used 2 coats here. You do have to be careful with dragging, though, so make sure each coat dries completely. I added topcoat which did not dull the effect and I'm wearing my normal base coat, not an aqua base.

Overall, Coral Reef is gorgeous but I was a little disappointed. It's not as outrageously holo OR coral as I'd wanted it to be, but it's going to stay in my stash anyway for a rainy sunny day. I'm not sure it compliments my skin tone but I don't usually care about that anyway ;) Here's one last bottle shot to show you some of the holo:

xoxo,
Amanda

Updated Blog Sale

Hi ladies, quick announcement: I updated my blog sale! The list can be found here if you are interested. Added some HTFs including OPI Movin Out, OPI Glacier Bay Blues, etc! Will haggle or discuss deals with you, but please be reasonable :) To request any, please email me at az270890@yahoo.com and indicate it's for my blog sale in the subject line.

In the notes column, I've made some of the polishes freebies with a $10 purchase (or about there), please let me know if you want any of those!

I will ship internationally but will have to estimate shipping case-by-case. US shipping will be $3 for first polish (to cover shipping and materials) then $0.50 for each additional.

Thank you and happy shopping! (Spreadsheet link is here again JIC!)

xoxo,
Amanda

Pink Wednesday Featuring Aquadaisy Kesha's Floor Sweepings

Hi girls! Another week is upon us but most of us Americans have a short week Labor Day! Weeee! Did you guys do anything fun over the weekend? I tend to use my weekends for a lot of relaxing lately, which makes me feel very ancient since I catch myself saying things like, "She's way too young to dress like that!" or "I don't really feel like drinking, I think I might go to bed." Ahhh, aging. So fun. ;)

Today's polish is very special to me because a) it's related to one of my heroes, Ke$ha, and b) a dear dear friend, Jamie, gave it to me! It's Ke$ha's Floor Sweepings by Aquadaisy! This is the only polish I have from Aquadaisy and somehow it sat untried for a while. I admit, this is a swatch and not a NOTD but it definitely convinced me to wear it more!

I wore KFS over two coats of Essie French Affair (one of my favorite pinks, can you tell?) and application was flawless. One easy coat, no fishing, dabbing, or pushing around. Just pure glitter awesomeness. Also, I can imagine this is exactly what Ke$ha's floor must look like. Or what I wish my tiles looked like in my bathroom or kitchen.

Low light to show the colors and holo glitter

Flash

Under my "natural light" lamp

I'm not usually a fan of holo glitter, but this polish was perfect. The combination of holo glitter with colors of glitter and the easy application completely sold me! Aquadaisy is available via her Etsy shop and retails for $9 each plus shipping.

xoxo,
Amanda

Black Cat Lacquers

Hi everyone! What are you guys doing for the long weekend? I'm busy busy busy! Yesterday I went to the beach (finally!), today I'm hiking and having lunch with my girlfriends, then off to the drive in with some co-workers and my boyfriend, and then Monday I'm hanging with my boyfriend. A great weekend plan, if you ask me!

Today I have for you some Black Cat Lacquers, which I ordered after seeing them on The Polishaholic's blog. Up first is Tetris, a multi-colored square glitter topcoat. SQUARE. GLITTER. I'm in love already. I layered this over OPI Atomic Orange because it seemed to complement the colors of glitter in Tetris. This is one coat with no top coat, using some dabbing but nothing difficult. It easily self-leveled so I didn't have to worry about bumps from tons of the base as I globbed glitter on.

Flash

Natural light

Next up is Let Them Eat Cake, which is PASTEL GLITTER. Does this brand get me or what?! This is actually my second bottle because the first had really sparse glitter. I emailed Sabrina and she replaced it, no questions asked! I was really pleased with the customer service!

This is two coats over OPI Fly, Nox Twilight (some pink, the bottles aren't labeled - I'm sorry!), Revlon Taxi, and OPI Alpine Snow. This was really easy, no dabbing or pushing glitter around. No top coat here but you can see it's a little globby in some places.

Low light

Flash

Natural lighting

So there you have it! I love both of these and they made me want to buy more from Sabrina, who is available on Etsy and is currently having a Labor Day sale: 10% off if you enter LABORDAY10 until September 4th.

xoxo,
Amanda