Darling Diva - Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Today, I've got another great indie brand to share with you. I happened upon this brand while I was searching for a whole different polish. The first polish in question is Enchanted Polish, "Future Reflections". Now, the cheapest I've found this polish online is around $25. $25? I just can't bring myself to spend that on one bottle of polish at this point in time. 

A friend informed me that Darling Diva had a polish that bears a striking resemblance to the Enchanted polish I had been longing for...at HALF the price. SOLD!

Here she is, "Crazy Little Thing Called Love".

Makes me drool, every time I look at it. This polish is GORGEOUS!

(Here's some background music for you)

In my pictures I have two coats of base coat, two coats of polish and one coat of Seche Vite.

I think this color is in the running for being my favorite. It's so complex and beautiful. The color shifts between purple and teal with a few hints of copper and gold! The icing on the cake is the holo flare that it has. When you see it in the sunlight, it's like "BAM, look at me".

"BAM. Look at me!"

Darling Diva is a Twin Cities based operation which I think is pretty cool, since I live close. Being close also means I got my order wicked fast!

Darling Diva can be purchased on Etsy and Big Cartel!

Thanks for checking in!

China Glaze - Turned up Turquoise

Greetings! Today I have a cool combo for you! For todays showcase, I have China Glaze "Turned up Turquoise". This exact shade is probably one of my favorite colors.

Nothing too fancy today my friends...in fact, this shade has been around for awhile! The formula of this polish is great. Nice, opaque coverage in two coats! There's a TEENY hint of shimmer in there too!

 What do you think of my glitzy accent nail? I started out with three coats of silver glitter by Pure Ice (sold at Walmart) and it just wasn't quite sparkly enough for my liking. To crank it up a notch, I added two coats of Moonlight Clair de lune by Indigo Bananas. Moonlight is a super duper glitter topper that is filled with silver flakes. It's nearly got a mirror effect, don't you think?

Nothing wrong with a classic sparkly accent nail once in awhile! 

Thanks for checking in!

MCP Faves Manicure

I get a lot of people asking me, "What's with the nail polish?" and "Since when are you so obsessed with doing your nails?". Ladies and gentleman, I am a reformed nail biter. I have ALWAYS been obsessed with nails, I just never had any!!! One day, I got a decent mani, and never looked back! There are lots of people that can vouch for me and how far I've come. 

It was very recently that I discovered "Indie" polishes. Indie's are made by people that (literally) pour their creativity into a bottle and send it out to share with the world. How awesome is that? 

My favorite Indie brand is Model City Polish. SHOCKER, right? I decided to combine my three favorites by MCP in one super cute mani!

Isn't it darling? Here are my three favorites, in no particular order...

Sweet Tart (My first Lemming)

Cold Snap (a stunning blue holo)

More than Words (one of Nina's newest creations)

I've said it before, and I'll say it again...MCP rocks my world. Great polish, great colors, great prices and the BEST customer service around!!!

 You can find all of Nina's creations at:

shop.ModelCityPolish.com

Finger Paints Berry Good Bid, Gelous and Stamping!

Hello there! I have a few cool things to tell you about today! I snagged a beautiful Finger Paints color at Sally's called, Berry Good Bid. Berry is a deep, rich burgundy. It also has a deep indigo tone to it. I wouldn't quite call it a "blurple" it's got too much red in it for that.

Anyway, along with the Finger Paints color, I picked up some Gelous. I have heard that you can use Gelous to build up the strength of your nails. You can also use it to make your polish ultra long lasting. Just for reference, I polished on Wednesday night and took pictures today. That's 3 days of wear...you be the judge.

Still looks pretty good, if I do say so myself!

This is how I applied my layers.

I did a little stamping in there too...I just did it after my regular topcoat and before the last coat of gelous.

For my stamping I used Mentality Moe and my MoYou london stamping plate. Here's a couple close ups of the stamping.

I am seriously in love with the ease of stamping when using Mentality polish. It's by far my favorite. Nice colors, nice texture and it doesn't dry too fast (which is super nice for those trying to get the hang of stamping).

 I would highly recommend using gelous to give your nails strength and make your manicure super long lasting!

Happy Valentines Mani

Ahhhhh love. The day of adoration, love, hearts and kisses is almost upon us. My nails are all ready for Valentine's day, although I must admit I'll probably change them before friday! I felt like doing a little water marbling, and a little stamping too. Apparently I felt like challenging (torturing) myself today...

Yep, there's a whole lot goin on in this mani! I used a white base under my water marble, and also under my stamped finger. Here's a list of my colors...

Thumbs: Sally Hansen Insta Dri - Sonic Bloom

(I also stamped with Sonic Bloom)

Water Marbling - Essie Mod Square and Sation - Of Corset I'll Call you

Glitter: OPI liquid Sand - Pussy Galore and Model City - Pink Diamonds

Here's the thing about water marbling...it's kind of a pain in the ass. The end result is worth it, but just barely! I'm joking...I love the trial and error of water marbling. I made a mini tutorial a while back, you can check it out HERE. It seems there are so many variables when it comes to marbling, so what I will tell you is to try and try again. The same goes for stamping...I probably stamped 8 different times before I kept what you see in the pictures. Even after all of that, I don't LOVE LOVE it. It's cute...but it could look better. 

Here's another tip for water marbling/masking your fingers for nail art...

Use elmers glue!

Rocked my world! You can just peel it right off!!! The thing I hate the MOST about water marbling, gradients and stamping is how stained your hands are afterwards. My hands are SUPER dry so if I don't protect my skin, I end up looking like Lorde at the Grammy's...

Hehe...speaking of gradients, stay tuned for a gradient sometime this week!

Finger Paints - Twisted

Hi everyone! I feel like it's been so long! I was super busy the last couple weeks with travel. I apologize for being gone so long! Today, I am back with an INCREDIBLE polish that I received in the mail today.

 My friend Jenne informed me that I NEED the original Finger Paints flakies in my life. Surprise! I got this lovely from her today!!!  I purchased a few of the colors in the new Kaleidoscope collection, that I have not yet tried. After using Twisted from the original collection, I don't know if it will stack up, to be honest. This polish is AWESOME.

I have been participating in a 30 day untried challenge and so I had a limited amount of things to choose from to use as my base. I selected Venique's "Wrapped in Jewels" which is a gorgeous blurple duochrome.

(Please excuse the dry cuticles!)

I applied two coats of the Venique color and then moved on to the Finger Paints color.

Boom. Amazing, right? Like I said, I think the new flakies from Finger Paints have a lot to live up to!

 For a great comparison check out the review and swatches over at The Polished Mommy!

Thanks for checking in!