Nail Art

   Oh, readers, this post is a fun one for me to share!  You may think that with all the pastel colors around here that I am simply a girly-girl.  Not true!  Beneath my frilly, lacy outer layer you will find a cold, hard nerdy comic book geek.  Hey, sometimes your knight in shining armor is actually a knight in really tight spandex.  Don't complain, fellow princesses, you know a spandex spidey-suit is easier to clean than a full suit of armor.  Yay for wash-and-wear!  ...Moving on!


   See what I did here, channeling the vintage comic book cover style?  I'm pretty proud of it... not nearly as proud as I am of these nails, though!!  I painted them on May 3rd, in preparation of my my 2nd wedding anniversary day-early dinner & movie celebration.  (What a mouthful.)  See, I really am a geek - I totally felt this was a sufficient romantic date for an important occasion.

   So yes, this was nail art for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 movie - wait 'til you see the other hand! - but  promise that I will reveal no spoilers.  I hate spoilers!

Swatch & Review

   I was sorting through my Indie polishes when I came across a special bottle that I used but never got around to sharing on my blog - shame on me!  Released at the start of 2013, this is Different Dimension Aorta Miss You But I Don't.  The name makes me giggle, and I'm the one who named it!  This lovely blend of glitters was all Missi's doing, though.  So I feel honored that she thought the name was fitting for it!

   For this quickie swatch I layered one coat of Aorta Miss You But I Don't over Zoya Purity, any I love how it pops on the white base!  There are all sort of pretty glitters floating in a clear base.  The name-inspiring purple hearts, of course, but also magenta circles and larger holographic hexes in pink and red.  What really does it for me is all the pretty microglitter, though!  There is magenta, silver, and even lavender, and it looks sooo lovely together!

   I'm a huge fan of Missi's Different Dimension polish formula.  I ended up wearing this for a couple of days without topcoat. Despite the larger glitters it dries quite smooth; my nails weren't snaggy at all.  A couple larger glitters chipped off but that heart stayed on!  Really impressive all around.  Different Dimension polishes are available on Etsy.  =)

Nail Art / Review

   This was actually a practice session that I felt turned out well enough to share.  I love glitter gradient nail art, but I'm not very good at doing them!  In particular the gradients that start at the cuticle and fade out.  Different Dimension All Red-y In Love is packed with glitter and easy to work with, so I think I did okay this time!  My base was two coats of China Glaze Frosty, a pretty white shimmer that is quite sheer.

   This macro shot of All Red-y In Love shows off the glitter, but none of my pictures is showing just how extremely sparkly it is!  A mix of red, pink, and silver holo glitters, including a dash of holographic red hearts.  I had left my bottle upside-down overnight before using it and had no trouble getting to the hearts that way.

   All Red-y In Love is one of the nail polishes I named!   If you'd like a bottle you can find it in the Different Dimension etsy shop.  =)

   Or, why it's going to be easy not to buy any polish during February.  (So long as China Glaze doesn't release their new holographic polishes in the US.)

   I ended up with over 35 new (or new-to-me) polishes this month, the above photo is missing a few because they are either on loan or scattered through my house.  January was a good month for polish because all my end-of-the-year sale purchases arrived along with a few sakes that took place right at the beginning of January.

   I snagged some Black Cat Lacquer polishes from my wishlist, they are: I Want Candy, Let Them Eat Cake, Put a Bird On It, and Women & Women First.  These came from etsy.  These are all so, so pretty!

   I had a most wonderful package of Different Dimension nail polish arrive.  Mostly colors that I've helped name, but a few other pretties to swatch and review, too!  I've gotten to try most of these already, and their posts are up on the blog.  The polishes shown above are: Honesty Feels A Lot Like Mean, Orbital, Vervain, Aorta Miss You But I Don't, All Red-y In Love, A Love Hue, and Love Her? I Don't Even Lacquer!  Not pictured because it is on loan to my Mom: Yours, Mine, and Flowers.  You can find these polishes on etsy.

      I picked up a couple discontinued polishes from Laquerlicious, Invitation Only and Mint N Chip Frappe.  Along with those I was sent three minis to review, Melted Ice Cream, Rainbow Sugar, and Tart Taffy.  Go check out those swatches!  These also came from etsy!

   Lush Lacquer had a sale, so I picked up my first polishes from them.  The colors I picked are Glitter Girls, Mr. Bubble, Oopsie Daisy, Pebbles, Pink Panther and Slumber Party.  These are all so cute!  Visit the Lush Lacquer shop on etsy.

   I snagged a couple OPI polishes from my wishlist, My Boyfriend Scales Walls and Don't Touch My Tutu!

   When Zoya had their promo for three polishes my husband got me a few cremes from my wishlist: Breezi, Jolene and Wednesday.

   These polishes were partly from a trade and given to me.  Pure Ice Material Girl, Milani Hot Pink, China Glaze Peachy Keen and Luna, KBShimmer Oh Splat!

   And nail polish in another form - jewelry!  Sweet Tips Nails had an amazing sale, so I picked up some necklaces and other accessories.  These are really cute!  The shipping prices are really good, too.  And yes, these came from etsy, too!

   So, a pretty good haul, I'd say!  A lot of polish to keep me busy this month and a lot of it from indie sellers.  The plan this month is to be good and not buy much.  ;P

Swatch & Review

   Hello princesses!  In contrast to yesterday's bright and springy polish post I have a swatch of Orbital, another Different Dimension nail polish.  Part of Missi's ever-growing space themed polishes, I was honored to name this one!  Isn't it gorgeous?

   Orbital is a black jelly polish filled with a perfect mixture of aqua, pink, and purple holographic glitters.  As you can see from my bottle shot it is filled with about four different sizes in each color.  Sadly pictures don't capture just how awesomely sparkly this is!  Especially in lower light this polish twinkles like a rainbow-hued night sky.

   In these swatches I used three coats of Orbital alone, and one coat of Poshe to top it off.  The formula on this polish is phenomenal.  The glitter stays well suspended, you get plenty of it on each brushstroke, and it spreads over the nail evenly.  The black jelly base is never streaky and even looked decent at two coats, then opaque at three while still having amazing depth of glitter.  It is well behaved, dries fast and doesn't eat topcoat.

   I think this now one of my very favorite Different Dimension polishes based on the beautiful glitter and perfect formula.  I can't wait to try it layered over black, and even just one coat over a grey would be nice!  I definitely recommend this polish, go get a bottle!

Swatch & Review

   Today I'm sharing another polish that Missi from Different Dimension sent me for review: Vervain.  I didn't actually name this one, but it reminded me of the same flower that she did name it after!  I was browsing the Internet looking at flowers for spring time polish name inspiration when I saw this picture:

   Verbena and vervain flowers come is several colors, but I think this white and purple type is the prettiest.  Let's take a look at a bottle shot of this polish!

   It contains small purple holographic hexes and large purple hexes.  The large size glitters are more sparse and you won't end up with as many on your nails as they appear in the bottle, but they are there.  Most of mine ended up buried in the layers of polish.  The milky white base is hiding a very beautiful purple micro-fleck shimmer.  This likes to hide and I couldn't see it on the nail at all, but if you enlarge this bottle shot you can see it in about the middle-right area.

   I wore 4 coats of Vervain for these swatches.  The formula was a bit more tricky that usual for Differnent Dimension.  It was also sheer and that is what it took to get rid of my VNL, but if you're okay with some VNL it was looking good at 3 coats.  If you're totally obsessive over opaque nails or "saving" on your glitter polish you could layer 1-2 coats over white.  That would (probably) still end up being 4 coats of polish, though.  I really like the depth of all the glitter.  I just wish you could see the pretty shimmer!  I have a hunch that you could layer it over another color to get that shimmer to be seen - any suggestions?

   As always Different Dimension polishes are available on etsy!

Swatch & Review

   This is the lovely Yours, Mine, and Flowers by Different Dimension.  I can take credit for the name but I had nothing to do with the blend of glitters.  I loved this polish so much I wore it twice in a row!  Partly because I wanted my swatches to really show off the pastel glitters, and black was better for that.  So here is one coat of Yours, Mine, and Flowers over Wet 'n Wild Black Creme.

   Yes, this really is one coat, and yes, you really do get that many flowers in one coat.  Missi knows what she is doing with her polishes!  No skimpy glitters here.  Also, do you see the bright blue sparks on my nails here?  Those are color-shifting glitters.  They look more purple in the bottle but they show up blue on my black base.

   This is how I first wore Yours, Mine, and Flowers - one coat over China Glaze Sea Spray.  This winter-sky colored polish gave my nails a much softer and more subtle look.  The color shifting glitters only faintly flashed purple.  The colors in this clear-based polish are satin finish baby pink, lavender, pale green, powder blue and white, as well as matte white in the tiny glitters.  It's a really pretty blend.

   The formula on this was very good, though it is a little more slippery than some of the other Different Dimension glitters.  I had to use a light hand so I wouldn't drag the glitter around, and give it a moment to set.  It is packed with glitter, but here is my tip for super-easy flower catching: leave the bottle upside down for a half hour before you use it.  Yours, Mine, and Flowers was just added to the Different Dimension etsy shop over the weekend, so you can go pick up your bottle there!

Swatch & Review

   Here is another polish from the Different Dimension Love's A Punny Thing collection.  I was happily surprised when Missi chose my name "A Love Hue" for this polish.  It fits it more perfectly than I would have thought!  I used OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls as my base, a super-pale grey creme.  My nails above have one coat of A Love Hue over top, and I adore it!

   This polish is a mix of pink glitters, mainly this perfect holographic rose color.  The larger pieces are squares and hexes, and there are lots of teeny glitters in both the rose color and a deeper pink.  It makes for a perfect blend, all floating in a clear base.

   Here I took a macro of my thumb because I was trying to show the depth of the glitter at 3 coats.  While it doesn't reach opacity it is very dense, and would probably appear opaque if you put it over a matching pink base.

   Once again this is 3 coats of A Love Hue.  Pictures don't come close to showing just how sparkly and eye-catching this color is.  The formula is very good.  You get a lot of glitter on your nails even at one coat, and that is how I will wear it most.  I was happy to see that even three coats didn't become a top coat devouring mess.  The formula is thick enough that it never feels gritty and always spreads evenly.  Whether you paint just one one coat or layer it on for glitterbomb nails you would need two layers of top coat for it to be perfectly smooth, but I'm just wearing one for these swatches.

   What do you think of Different Dimension A Love Hue?  I personally love it!  It has taken first place in my collection for favorite pink glitter topper.  You can find it at the Different Dimension shop at etsy.

Swatch & Review

   When my nail mail from Different Dimension arrived, chocked-full of nail polishes that I helped name (still in a slight state of disbelief on that), I didn't know where to start.  I felt like I needed more hands right away!  I finally settled on Love Her? I Don't Even Lacquer! for my first mani, since it is the polish that got the ball rolling.

   First off, take a look at the pretty bottle macro!  You might want to click to see larger.  LH?IDEL! is a black and white glitter with a little something extra in the form of holographic microglitter and blue-purple sparks.  You'll find white hearts and tiny glitters, sheer white squares and hexes, and black hearts, squares, and hexes.  This is all floating in a clear base for maximum versatility!

   My base was two coats of Zoya Layla, an insanely-bright-yet-not-neon color that dries to a rubbery finish as seen above.  I don't often reach for such a bright color but I was pleased with how wearable Layla was!  This plain swatch is more accurate of the pink color, as well.

   Now, I know that not everyone likes large glitter on their tips, so the above nails are for those people!  I managed to avoid the hearts not not shaking the bottle at all and using one thin coat of LH?IDEL!  I really liked this look!  Sort of Lisa Frank dalmatian puppy.  Otherwise just leave your bottle upside down for a bit before using to help the heavy heart pieces mix in better.  There are a lot in there, and using that method I ended up with plenty of hearts on my other nails.

   I used the tip of an orange stick to poke some of the unruly hearts into a better place on my nails.  I used one coat of Poshe topcoat on the nails that had no hearts or hearts that laid flat, and two coats for the ones that had more texture.  This polish wore really well and I didn't get a single chip, even when I started picking at it!

   You can get your own bottle of Love Her? I Don't Even Lacquer! from the Different Dimension etsy shop.  What will you wear it with?
   Zoya Layla can be bought from the brand's Online shop.

   Thanks for letting me share this extra-special polish with you!

NotD / Swatch & Review

   Oops, this manicure almost got away from me!  These were my nails on January 1st, two weeks later I finally realized that I forgot to post about it!  I ordered 5 of the Jelly Syrup colors by Nfu-Oh, and figured that since I have 5 fingers on each hand I could use them all together.  And because they are jelly polishes I should do use them for jelly sandwiches!  The awesome black & white glitter Social Suicide from Different Dimension was my choice.

   As seen above:  The Nfu-Oh colors I used are #05: yellow; #10: true pastel pink; #13: lavender; #15: robin's egg blue; and #17: pastel green.  These are on the bright and vibrant side of pastels, but they are still pastels to me.  It was very hard to narrow it down to just these five colors to start with, but I know I'll use them a lot.

   I started my manicure with two coats of each color.  As you can see they are sheer, shiny, and squishy-looking.  The first coat tended to be a little patchy but the second coat leveled it out well.  I was careful with my brushstrokes to get a good spread of polish on each nail.  I was really impressed with the yellow, I didn't expect it to be so bright and it was more opaque than the purple.  After admiring how pretty these jellies are by themselves I put one coat of Social Suicide on each nail and covered it with the jelly color again.

   I loved this look so much!  It seemed like my nails were tiny pastel dinosaur eggs, hehe.  I used one coat of my Poshe topcoat to seal everything in and they dried to a super-shiny smooth finish.  Three coats of these polishes made for good opacity, though they were still sheer at the tips.  You could use a creme-glitter-jelly combo if you have a creme that would match one of these jellies.

   My pink thumbs were my favorite nails of all, if only because I think pink, black and white is an awesome combination!  I would wear a complete manicure of any of these colors, but especially this pink!  I was also very happy with the wear I got out of this manicure.  It stayed very shiny and it didn't get any chips.  I have always been impressed with my Nfu-Oh polishes and these followed that trend.

   I'd definitely recommend these polishes if you like the jelly look and what you can do with them.  If pastels aren't your thing there are a bunch of other colors in this line, too!  I buy my Nfu-Oh polishes from FabulouStreet.com - the customer service is great!  Social Suicide is available in the Different Dimension etsy shop!  Let me know if you have any of these polishes and what you think of them.  =)