New Storenvy Shop Open!  Adventures in Graphic Design!  

   This post is going up a lot later than I hoped it would, but at least I'm typing again!  One day off blogging turned into two, then an entire week.  Losing my momentum is not good!  But I'm back now...  Let's see how I did this month, shall we?

December Checklist

   Not as good as I would have liked to do, but some of my projects evolved into much bigger ones once I got into them, and little Freya had a very needy two weeks midway through the month.

Hair Care - Video / Review

   Hello Princesses!  I was sent two complimentary Goody hair products in my Violet VoxBox to test & review.  This is how they are both fitting into my hair care routine, and I've made a video that gives a closer look at the QuikStyle hair brush.

  I have an every-other-day hair washing schedule.  On the days I don't wash my hair, I get to use the headband.

Nail Art / Mini Tutorial

   I was swatching Zoya Kristen a few days ago when inspiration struck.  Actually, a piece of fuzz struck.  Necessity is the mother of invention, right?  As soon as I was adding topcoat I noticed a very fine piece of red fuzz glossed into my index nail, like so:

Swatch & Review

   Hello, princesses!  Are you curious about the I Love Nail Polish scattered-holographic effect topper?  I was, so I bought it and tried it over China Glaze Recycle (which is a perfect grey creme that I should have owned sooner, I used 2 coats).  My Private Rainbow (S) is a subtle rainbow-sparkling polish.  My camera muted the effect, which is a bit stronger than in my photo, but it certainly isn't anything linear.  It's like China Glaze Fairy Dust's even daintier sister.  I really enjoyed wearing it, and can't wait to see what it looks like over more... shall I say colorful? polishes.  What do you think of it?

Swatch & Review / Nail Art

   This was one of the items provided for review in my Violet VoxBox from Influenster. They would like us to share a "shining moment" we had while wearing the polish.  I didn't actually get to wear this for very long, but I did dress Sparkling Water up with some pearl-chain nail stickers.  As I was finishing my manicure, I had a realization...

   Are nail stickers "cheating" when it comes to nail art?  Should they even count?  Yes.  Just because you make a cake using a box mix instead of from scratch, will someone claim that you didn't bake a cake: you cheated?  No, you just made what you currently had time and ability to do.  We all admire the hand-piped frosting flowers, the mind-blowing 3D fondant creations that make their way to Pinterest collections... but sometimes you have to be content with sprinkles.  In the end it's tasty, you did make cake.
    With nail stickers and decals... they are quick and easy to master, but do take skill to apply in a creative, eye-pleasing way.  So what if I didn't sit down with a tiny brush and make each dot myself.  I still chose where I wanted the design, carefully cut them to the proper length, and carefully applied them with tweezers.  That's all I had time for.  And you know what?  It was pretty, I enjoyed the look - I did nail art.

   Now, let's get to what we're really after: a proper swatch and review of Sally Hansen Sparkling Water!

Swatch & Review

   I paired two of the newest I Love Nail Polish holographic polishes together to test them out.  Here are my thoughts on Bottle Service and Pt 78.  I wore this manicure back in November, and by some miracle the clouds parted that Monday afternoon and I was able to get a few quick sunlight pictures...

Video

   Woohoo!  Another box from Influester, and another video showing what was inside it!  The contents of the Violet VoxBox were customized depending on who they were sent to.  For me, this is the best box yet - it includes nail polish, and a hairbrush!!  =D

   I was sent these complimentary products in exchange for my opinions; you can learn more about Influenster here!

Nail Art

   Today's post features an ancient relic!  Okay, not really.  But Lush Lacquer recently changed their name to Polish Me Silly, and either way I think Mr. Bubble might be a discontinued color?  I bought it last year.  Mr. Bubble is a mix of matte glitter in a clear base, and I used it to make a really cute glitter gradient sandwiched between layers of L'oréal Bubble Trouble!

Swatch & Review

   Hello, Princesses!  Today I'm sharing an absolutely gorgeous indie creation - Convergent by Digital Nails.  This polish is also extra-special because it was the first manicure I got to do after giving birth to my daughter (she was almost 2 weeks old!), and it felt so great to do my nails again.  The only bad thing about this polish... it's so beautiful and color-shifty that I spent almost an hour trying to choose which pictures to share.  I got it down to 12.

Edit:  Whaa!  I had this scheduled to go live on Nov 30th and I just noticed it still wasn't up... stupid Blogger!  ;_;

    Hello, everyone!  I'm starting a new way to to end each month here on Princessly Polished.  I'm expanding the collective haul post to include other topics such as projects I'm working on, my favorites of the month, blogging goals, etc...  I hope you enjoy it!

   To start things off, this just happened: