Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Nine Zero Valley Isle Collection!

Hey guys!

Press Sample

Today I have swatches of the 4 new polishes from Nine Zero Lacquer and the Valley Isle collection! This collection is inspired by Jess's recent vacation to Maui (which prompted me to call this collection Lil Mau Mau because she didn't have a name picked for a while, lol!)

First up is Coconut, a creamy off white with tons of gold flakies. This had a great formula and was opaque in 3 coats.


Volcanic is a rust red with gold and copper flakies. This was 2 coats!



Trade Winds is "a medium blue jelly base with blue shimmer, color shifting flakies, silver micro shreds, and a pinch of gold shimmer". 3 coats. This is probably the most sheer but the visible nail line was not as apparent in person as it is showing here.



Black Cove is a black jelly with silver holographic micro shreds. This was another great formula and opaque in 3 coats.



I love Volcanic the best, I think. These polishes release Friday June 3 at 11am EST!

Talk to you soon!
Amanda

Thursday, May 26, 2016

China Glaze Lite Brights Textures

Hey guys!

Nothing To Disclose

Today I have my two picks from the China Glaze Summer 2016 Lite Brights collection! I only picked up 3 polishes from this collection because I'm trying to be really good with my polish purchases, lol. But today I'm going to show you the two textured polishes because these were my favorite!

Papa Don't Peach is a neon orange with gold shimmer. The neon in here really isn't being accurately depicted but it's super bright and the orange shimmer in this is texturetastic. This was a bit sheer on the first coat but built up beautifully on the second. 2 coats shown here.

We Got The Beet is a "grape with copper shimmer". This was also 2 lovely coats.

I am not done with textures, are you? I love them!

Did you pick up any polishes from the Lite Brights collection??

Talk to you soon!
Amanda

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Twinsie Tuesday: Inspired by Fabric

Hey guys!

Nothing To Disclose


Today we are being inspired by fabric and I had a super cute pattern all picked out and then it was just a dramatic disaster when I went to create the manicure so I had to start from scratch, lol.

I was thinking about what I could do when I looked down at my pajama pants and thought "oh! I can do that in like 5 minutes time!" because of course it was Monday night at 10:30pm when I remembered that I hadn't completed my mani!

So my fabric manicure is inspired by my pajama pants, ha. I'm not sure where these pants are from but they are lightweight for the spring and super cute!



I started with a base of China Glaze Aquadelic, 2 coats. I let that dry for a few minutes and then dotted China Glaze Make Some Noise and used Call of the Wild for the cherry stems. Then I used Kalahari Kiss for the leaves and attempted to use Sally Hansen OMGhost for the cherry shine thing and also for the dots.


Yeah yeah, not very neat but I was in a hurry lol! If I had taken my time, I think this would have been super cute! Maybe I'll try again when I'm less hurried!

                                                             Alaina at The Little Canvas
                                                             Alice at Nail Art in Wonderland
                                                               Amanda at Amandalandish
                                                                Amber at Nails Like Lace
        Sharon at Behind Green Eyes 
          Steph at Lovestruck Lacquer

Talk to you soon!
Amanda

Thursday, May 19, 2016

Round 24 of Bestie Twin Nails with The Little Canvas!

Hey guys!

Nothing To Disclose


WOW!! It's been 2 years of Bestie Twin Nails with Alaina at The Little Canvas! I have thoroughly enjoyed these prompts and while my nail art is certainly not amazing, I am glad that I've been doing these BTN's!

For this month, Alaina and I decided to recreate one of our favorite manicures and do a new one so it's DOUBLT BTN! WHHHAAATTTT???!! So get ready....

Let's start with the recreation manicure. I honestly have no idea why I love pineapples so much but I just really love pineapple decor and graphics and pineapples pineapples pineapples! So of course, we decided to recreate our pineapple manicure! And since we are watching Psych, it is very fitting.

This time, I used all KBShimmer polishes for this manicure. The green holo is Ins And Sprouts, the gold is Sun & Games, and I used Eyes White Open and Chick Me Out for the pineapple. I don't have a black KBShimmer so I had to use an Art Club black striper for the detail.

Yep, still love the pineapples, lol.

For the next manicure, we wanted to do something bright because as I was looking through our hashtag on instagram (#fftlcbtn, if you're curious), I noticed we hadn't done a lot of bright manicures.

We decided on a diagonal gradient with black splatter. For this, I used all China Glaze polishes:
Yellow - Celtic Sun
Pink - Bite Me
Green - I'm With The Lifeguard
Blue - DJ Blue My Mind
Purple - That's Shore Bright
Black - Liquid Leather

I did use a Sally Hansen Insta-Dri for my white base, OMGhost.


Uhmmmmm what?! I freaking love these, if I do say so myself. But who doesn't love a neon splatter, amiright?!

Be sure to check out Alaina's BTN post and leave her a single word comment. She'll know who sent you.

Talk to you soon!
Amanda

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Essie Shimmer Brights Collection 2016!

Hey guys!

Nothing To Disclose

I don't often review full Essie collections.... strike that, I've never reviewed a full Essie collection. BUT when I saw the Shimmer Brights collection, I knew I needed to own it AND it includes Essie's 1000th polish, A YELLOW!!! A YELLOW!!! I LOVE YELLOW!

Let's start with the yellow, Aim To Misbehave. This is a medium yellow shimmer. I used two coats but after I ran out the door, I did notice a small patchy spot so 3 would have been perfect. The formula was great though! Super stoked about that!

Sexy Plunge is an orange with orange shimmer. Another great formula, though a bit sheer. This was opaque in 3 coats. 


Seen on the Scene is a bright pink shimmer. Another slightly sheer polish but again, a nice formula. 3 coats.


DJ ON Board is the purple shimmer. This had the least favorable formula and was a little thin but not unmanageable. I used 2 coats but as you can see, I wasn't paying attention and should have done 3.


All Hands On Deck is a gorgeous emerald green shimmer. This was opaque in 2 coats. I did have some slight slight staining with this after I swatched it but I don't wear a base coat when I swatch so I'm assuming a base coat or doubling up on base coat would help.


Catch of the Day is the by far the least shimmery. In fact, the shimmer is barely visible. Since I love blue so much, this was a bit disappointing. However, the formula was great! This was 2 coats.

I ordered mine from eBay but these should be popping up in stores soon, if they aren't already! Are you going to grab any of these polishes?

Talk to you soon!
Amanda

Thursday, May 12, 2016

Stardust Polish Evergreen

Hey guys!

Nothing To Disclose

Okay so don't hate me but I have another retired polish to show you today: Stardust Polish Evergreen.

A simply gorgeous dark green linear holo, this was really really lovely and opaque in two coats. Plus topcoat.



Talk to you soon!
Amanda

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Stardust Polish Yes Doctor

Hey guys!

Nothing To Disclose

Today I have a polish from one of my faves, Stardust Polish. Now I will warn you that this polish is no longer available so I apologize but it's too pretty to not share.

Stardust Polish Yes Doctor is a white crelly with black glitter and it's just lovely. This was 3 coats, plus topcoat.

I always forget how much I enjoy a black and white glitter polish until it's on my nails! Lovely!

Talk to you soon!
Amanda

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Twinsie Tuesday: Inspired By Your Childhood

Hey guys!

Nothing To Disclose

If you noticed, the Twinsies didn't post last week. We are going to be posting every other week going forward for a while, to sort of give everyone a bit of a break.

But today, we are being inspired by our childhood. Now... I couldn't really pick something because I'm old and forgetful but I do have something that I think totally fits.

I don't have an actual memory of this and after asking my mom, she claims that she never planted this plant or that we ever had it around but every single time I smell Lantana, something in my childhood is instantly brought to my mind. Truly, every single time! LOL I've started planting it in my garden bed just so I can smell it and be taken back to a non memory that apparently didn't exist in my childhood hahahha!

Anyway, I started with two coats of Illamasqua Nomad, a bright mint green... dare I say neon mint.

Using the picture linked above, I used Illamasqua Scarab and Optimist to dot some sad excuses for flowers onto my nails. Yes, I know these look nothing like the lantana flowers but you didn't think I could replicate something so delicate and lovely!

What is one of your favorite childhood memories??

Talk to you soon!
Amanda

Thursday, May 5, 2016

Pretty & Polished Icon Collection, Part 1! *Picture Heavy!*

Hey guys!

Press Sample

Today I have 8 beautiful polishes from Pretty And Polished to share with you from the Icons Collection! This is a collection of polishes inspired by some of Chelsea's favorite current female artists! I am going to copy and paste Chels' descriptions for each polish so you get a really great idea as to where the inspiration came from. 

There are 4 thermal polishes and 4 glitter/flakie crelly polishes. ALSO, I am not the greatest with thermals because my hands are usually the core temperature of ice so even using hot water to change the polishes doesn't allow for a lingering thermal change on me, lol. 

ANOTHER Also, all of these had a great formula and were opaque in 2 coats and shown with topcoat, with the exception of two that needed 3 coats, which I will note. 


Rhythm Nation - This nail polish represents not only the powerful black and white music video for this song but it also represents Janet. Janet is multifaceted. She has so many talents and abilities. Her music is powerful just like her and I felt she needed a polish that represented her power and beauty.
Rhythm Nation is a thermal color changer that changes from a dark grey to a softer pale gray when warm. It is a holographic shade with holographic glitter as well as bright purple and dark gray micro flakes. It is subdued enough to draw you into taking a closer look just to show you exactly how powerful and pretty it is. 

 Warm:

Madonna "Express Yourself". When I think of Madonna there are a few words that come to mind. Soft. Sexy. Confident. Strong. I wanted to pull inspiration from the video but found myself gravitating towards the message and the woman herself. The message is simple, don't settle.
This polish has a white base for Madonnas softness. But it's also packed with sexy red and gold holographic glitters as well as rose and dark gray flakes. The polish has a strong presence in a soft base which I feel suits Madonna perfectly.




Christina Aguilera "Genie in a Bottle". She started off young and had a cool and calm good girl way about her. She has transformed into an iconic powerhouse who can sing anything you throw at her.
This polish needed to be special. Not only does "Genie in a Bottle" make you think of magic literally IN a bottle but I wanted it to be representative of her charm, beauty, and good girl attitude. This shade is a thermal color changer that changes from a gorgeous soft teal to a pale pink when warm. It is also filled with a holographic sparkle as well as teal and pink holographic glitters to play up the changing colors.

 Warm:

Gwen Stefani "Just a Girl". I wanted to choose a song from No Doubt where Gwen really got started and made a huge impact with young girls. She was cool and everyone wanted to know her or be her.
In the video for Just A Girl you see a young Gwen wearing an outfit that was basically the opposite of the girl she was singing about everyone wanting her to be. I wanted the polish to represent that. It's ok to be a Girl who doesn't bow down to the standards put in place for her. You can be whatever you feel and still be beautiful. This polish is a bright blue holographic jelly with a purple/blue shimmer and color shifting flakes.

This was 3 coats. 

Beyonce "Run the World". Beyonce is one of the best selling music artists of all time. If that alone doesn't sell you on her iconic status maybe watching a few of her videos will.
The video for this song was incredibly powerful from the beginning. Females standing together in black and metallics letting everyone know who runs things. So much strength in that alone even without her having to say a word. I modeled this polish off of her presence in the video. This is a strong black jelly with gold and copper holographic glitters as well as some very interesting copper color shifting flakes. This polish has amazing dimension.




Adele "Set Fire to the Rain". Adele is one of the best selling recording artists in the world. And if you are familiar with her sultry voice you know why. This young woman has held her own with every album she has released. Her music is so easy to listen to and elicits so many emotions.
Set Fire to the Rain is a powerful song. My interpretation is that of an unhealthy relationship needing to end and her finally doing just that. Anyone who has been in an unhealthy relationship can atest to the difficulty of walking away from someone you love knowing it's for the best. I wanted this polish to almost have a feeling to it. It changes from a red to a pale orange/purple shift with fiery color shifting flakes. I wanted it to spark interest with the person wearing it and those around them.




Katy Perry "Firework". Katy Perry is an artist that has really given a voice to the underdog. She has a very laid back kind of beauty and attitude but speaks to those who don't always have the words to express themselves. She speaks for them through her music and has really ignited a wave of confidence in young people that's hard to ignore.
I chose this song because I feel like it is one of her most empowering performances. The lyrics push you to keep moving forward and find the light within yourself. The polish was made to match the color in not only her lyrics but the video as well. It's a full coverage flake polish with so many different colors and textures. Its difficult to explain them all without showing you. This polish really ignites your fingertips with color.




Carrie Underwood "Blown Away". Carrie is special because we got to see her evolve from being a normal country girl to an iconic country superstar. She has continued to produce singles that not only showcase her amazing vocal abilities but the good person she is. Her music can speak to you on a very basic human level and make you feel like she's just a normal girl doing what she loves.
Blown Away is a very emotional song. The feeling of wanting things to just go away is an emotion I think we can all relate to at some point. The polish I made to represent this song is a 3 part color changing polish that shows you the beauty in the beast of a storm. It is blue when cold, green when room temperature and a gray when warm with a "dusty" appearance same as our popular "Dusty Creme" line. I feel like I've really captured a storm in this polish.


This was 3 coats.



So yeah these are lovely! I think that Run The World and Just A Girl are my favorites and trust me, Run the World is not as fabulous in this picture as it is in person! I do have a video swatch that I will post to my Instagram account later today, showcasing its magic :) 

These polishes release on May 13th at shopprettyandpolished.com! 

Which ones will you be buying?? 
Talk to you soon!
Amanda