Nail Art / Swatch & Review

   Good day, Princesses!  Last month when my Laquerlicous polishes arrived in the mail I was immediately inspired by this one.  It was calling out to me from the bottle and I knew I needed to use it in a melon-y manicure ASAP.  I wanted to make the glitters pop, so I couldn't do just a regular pink/red watermelon design.  I thought of trying a nice cantaloupe color, but there is a funny thing about watermelon...


   It's a fruit, it's a vegetable.  It's not technically a melon.  And when it grows without the red pigment-giving antioxidant lycopene... it comes in the most lovely shades of yellow!

Photo source: whataboutwatermelon.com

   I must admit to feeling quite clever about remembering that yellow watermelons are indeed "a thing".  You see, I've never actually found one in person.  They just aren't common in our area.  I'd love to try a slice, though!  They sound like they taste fantastic...  Anyway, nail polish, yes.


   Laquerlicious Melon Sorbet is such a fantastic glitter topper.  I mean, just look at this macro!  It is full of satin and matte shapes in happy shades of pink and green, along with a dash of black and white.  It's the perfect blend of color variety and glitter sizes, easy to work with, and has perfect topper coverage at one coat.  Each nail ends up looking totally unique (without looking chaotic) and there is no need to do glitter fishing.  Though I did fish out the pastel pink circle for my index nail - I saw it in the bottle and I wanted it!  I could go on, but that would probably be cruel.  Right now this polish is on clearance, and there aren't many bottles left.  I'll just say that if you missed this one, I feel very sorry for you.


Details on the nail art:
   Pastel yellow glitter nails: 3 coats China Glaze Lemon Fizz and 1 coat Laquerlicious Melon Sorbet.  Topped with 1 coat of Gelous and 1 coat of Poshe.  (Only used Poshe for the other nails.)
   Melon slice accent nail: Lemon Fizz base with China Glaze Happy Go Lucky sponged at the cuticle for a riper, sweeter-looking melon, black seeds using a nail art striper (L.A. Colors Black), and Zoya Purity sponged at the tip for a realistic fade into the rind..
   Melon rinds:  Base color is Zoya Hunter with squiggly lines done with a bright green nail art striper (L.A. Colors Mint Green).

   I'm a nail-art novice, so I am really happy with how these turned out!  I actually wore these nails at the end of last month; editing the pictures now and seeing them again made me happy all over again!  It's only summer for another week, so it was a perfect time to get my melon on.  Haha.


   If you'd like to see more about yellow watermelon, check out this article on wiseGEEK and this recipe for, what else?  Yellow watermelon sorbet!  Also, if you've ever had the chance to eat yellow watermelon please leave a comment telling me about your experience!  Until I find it myself I'll have to live vicariously through others.  =)


   This might be my last blog post for a little while.  My previous OB appointment revealed that I can basically go into labor at any time (Yay!  ...I think?), and if I don't by this weekend I'll probably be induced (having issues with low fluids again, thus the constant monitoring).  In fact, as this post is going live I'm heading off to one more appointment, where I guess they could say "we're keeping you now".  But I'm hoping that doesn't happen...  Either way, I don't know that I will have much of a brain for blogging.  Most of my time off this week has been spent cleaning, packing, and napping.  ^-^  Until we see you again, hugs and kicks-es from the baby and I! ♥

   Hello everyone!  It's giveaway time again!  While going through my polish collection I realized that I had some brand new doubles of nail colors from L.A. Colors, and I'd like to share the wealth!  This colorful bunch will be perfect for warm-weather manicures, vacation take-alongs, and nail art.

   As always this is open to new and old followers of my blog and Instagram account, but with the close of some Google blog services (see here) you might have to update the way you follow Princessly Polished in order to enter!  I highly recommend Bloglovin', which you can use via a smartphone app or Online, and I've made that option earn extra entries!  Enter using the Rafflecopter widget below!

The Rules:

   You should either be 18 years of age or older, or have the consent of your parents/guardians to enter.

   All entries are recorded using the Rafflecopter widget below, and falsified entries will be removed.

   The selected winner will be notified by E-mail and have 24 hours to respond before another winner will be chosen.

   Any questions or clarification needed, let me know!

a Rafflecopter giveaway  

Swatch & Review

   L.A. Colors recently added new glitters and cremes to their Color Craze line.  I picked up six of the new glitters, and these are the three I've tried so far.  I've been really happy with them because they are exciting nail polishes at a very low price!  From left to right below they are Candy Sprinkles, Flurry, and Broken Hearted.

Candy Sprinkles


   This polish may look familiar, as it is very dupe-y for Deborah Lippman Candy Shop.  It isn't the first look alike, with Claire's releasing their own Candy Shop polish.  I passed on that one because of the warm-toned pink base.  It is worth noting that Candy Sprinkles looks paler and cooler in the bottle than it is when dry, but I found the color to be wearable.  I don't own the original Candy Shop so I can't make a comparison here, but Internet findings show that DL's blend has a jelly pink base and more concentrated glitter, more of the larger glitters, and additional orange glitter.

   So how do I feel about this rendition?  The creme base is opaque at two coats, and the mix of glitter is very good.  Larger hexes in silver, magenta, green and yellow.  Small pieces of silver, blue and green.  Red glitters are tiniest of all.  Personally I really like it.  They put a lot of blue in, which sets off the pink nicely, and having the smallest glitter in only red makes it stand out.  It's not perfectly balanced but also not an overloaded, muddled mess.  Two coats were smoothed out with regular top coat and wore well.  Removal was surprisingly easy.  And when you can buy it for $1-$2 per bottle, it's not hard for me to choose Candy Sprinkles over either version of Candy Shop.

Flurry

   This is the manicure I'm wearing right now!  My base colors were China Glaze Smoke and Ashes, and Zoya Yummy, which was the closest blue I had to Flurry's bottle color.  I love this polish more than I expected to!  Flurry is packed with both iridescent micro glitter and small hexes.  My pictures can't fully capture all the color shift going on here.  Over black the glitters flash emerald green, lime green, yellow and orange.  Sometimes even teal blue.  Over blue I see aqua green, purple, yellow and faint orange.  My husband said they looked "like space" with all the colors, and I have to agree!

  I used one coat on my index and pinky fingers, two on my middle and ring fingers.  I like it both ways.  The polish has a thick-but-smooth formula that is very easy to apply.  It dries nicely and is completely smooth with top coat.  I think the blue jelly base should be sheer enough to layer over a variety of polishes.  Maybe not the most unique polish but I'd definitely recommend it!

Broken Hearted

   I wore this polish two ways, so you're getting double pictures of everything!  My right hand had a gradient of Essie Licorice over China Glaze Wicked Style, which is the bottle color of Broken Hearted's jelly base.  My camera was having trouble capturing the vibrant pinkness!  I used one coat of Broken Hearted.

   After using Broken Hearted and seeing how vibrant the base was I decided to do my left hand differently.  I used two coats of Broken Hearted both alone and over my black accent nails.  While it does add a nice bit of pinkness I wasn't too fond of the visible nail line, so I freehanded my tips with Wicked Style.


   One coat or two, look at those colors!  This blend of glitters is awesome.  I can't think of any other polishes that mix iridescent shredded bits with small and tiny hexes.  The shreds shine orange to yellow.  The hexes flash an entire rainbow, showing mainly blues and greens.  It is like crushed candy on your nails.  =)


  Application was easy, with a few glitter shreds needing to be poked down into submission.  Top coat smoothed everything out nicely.  I didn't have to fish the glitter out at all, in fact I often was wiping excess back into the bottle!  I'd say black is definitely the base color of choice for this pretty polish, but it can make an interesting French manicure, as well.  (I will note that I had some patchy pink staining on my right hand; the fault of Wicked Style.  My left hand is fine.)  I doubt I'll ever use more than two coats, because I wouldn't want the distinct colors and glitters to get lost.


   I'm very happy with these three polishes, they are definitely keepers!  L.A. Colors 2012 Color Craze polishes are sold in 13ml bottles that you might be able to find in your local dollar store!  Have you spotted these yet?  Which manicure is your favorite?

Swatch & Review

   Out of all the Different Dimension polishes I've done swatches for I employed the most creativity with Social Suicide.  I loved wearing these nails!  They were just so happy... literally!  (Once you see the face created by a random swipe of glitter you can't unsee it.)

   To create my Lisa Frank-esque base I painted my ring and thumb nails white, then added stripes on top.  Left to right I used L.A. Colors Art Deco polishes in Poppin' Pink, Dee-lite, Hi-Lite, and Limon.  I added a swipe of China Glaze Gothic Lolita to the outside of my thumb to tie my rainbows in with the rest of my nails, which were done in two coat of Gothic Lolita as well.  Then each nail got a coat of Different Dimension Social Suicide.  More pictures (including those of smiley nail!) and thoughts ahead!

   One week later... finally getting to show how I wore LA Colors Pink Chiffon and Glitrix/Glix Dianthus together.  Here are my nails with one coat of each.

   Dianthus is packed with glitter, and I love the color of the pink!  It matched with Pink Chiffon really well.  It also contains silver glitter, and sparse color-changing glitter.  I would see some sparks of blue-purple, yellow-green glitter.  Would love for there to be more!  There are star-shape silver glitters in the bottle but none came out.

   I was planning to make a different post today but I had to share this color instead.  I guess this is like a pink Wednesday post!  I don't do pink Wednesday on purpose, I'm way too random with my color wants.  But today is LA Colors in Pink Chiffon.  Perfection in pink polish.

   This is just one coat - application was so great!  It is easy to work with and opaque.  If you work quickly it self-levels beautifully and starts drying fast.  It is a rosy pink creme with extremely fine silver shimmer that gives it depth and gorgeousness.  No brushstroke issues, either.  No topcoat in these shots.

   I think I'm getting the hang of my new camera, too!  It is a learning process for me but slowly and surely you will be every speck of glitz in my polish, every ragged torn cuticle, each dried piece of skin... exciting, right?  =D

   Anyway, later I will be sharing these nails again with a super dose of glitter, but I loved this color too much by itself to not share it.  Like I said, really great pink.  It's girly and feminine, but has an air of sophistication about it.  It says "I'm a lady, and I have good taste in what I wear".  Plus it looks great at just one coat so HELLO base for nail art and layering!

   Anyone else own this one?  Or other colors by LA Colors that you love?  I had picked this one up because it looked pretty enough (better on the nail, I'm glad to say) and because of the name.  I'm a seamstress, so "pink chiffon" appeals to me.  What do you think of it?  Thanks for looking!

   Yes, another haul post today, with items from two different places.  Some goodies came from CherryCulture, and a couple polishes were found in a store locally.  It just got me thinking about the differences between shopping Online and In-store, especially when it comes to little colorful things like this.  Here is some discussion!

   I think we all prefer to see things in person, hold them in our hand and put them up to our skin or favorite shirt to make sure they match correctly.  But there is a sort of thrill that goes along with picking items out Online and being surprised when you receive them.  Sure there will be some letdowns and the inevitable pair of shoes that just don't fit, but generally I'm happy with my purchases.

   Then on one hand it's nice to find something and have it right away - sometimes you need it right away.  But I don't think I'm the only one who looks forward to getting a package in the mail later on.  It's like a present sent to yourself.  I think it is a lot of fun to unwrap things, and watch this...

   Go to this:

   Alright, fine, onto the haul goodies!

   So last week I finally got to try my treasured Cult Nails Clairvoyant nail polish.  Unicorn Puke, Clairvoyant, call it what you may, it really is a great nail polish.  Mine is the Clairvoyant version bottle from the Super Powers collection.  I actually prefer this as I adore the silver writing on the "regular edition" bottle!  I'm leaving just two pictures out and the rest will be after the jump since they are pretty similar, but I couldn't narrow them down.

   The sun was out really bright when I took these pictures and my camera could barely handle the sparkling rainbow of flake glitter.  It captured the color very well, but it couldn't focus sharply.  Bummer!  These are the colors on my nails:

L.A. Colors Morning Glory, Essie Licorice, Cult Nails Clairvoyant

   First off I have to say that Essie's Licorice surprised me.  In the past I've used it and been fairly "meh" about it's coverage, it took two coats and even then it didn't seen quite perfect.  This time it was a one-coat wonder.  I did apply it carefully, but I don't think my skills have changed that much, so I wonder if it is from using the Orly Bonder basecoat.  Seems to be good stuff.

   Anyway, now I have to give L.A. Colors Morning Glory some love.  This is a color that I picked up on a whim based on the name - after all, it's just another blue-toned purple.  The truth is morning glory flowers are one of my favorites, so when I saw the name I had to buy it (it was cheap!).  But I'm really glad I did because it turns out it's a lovely color.  I chose it for this mani because it seemed to perfectly match the "juice" of Clairvoyant.  When I was painting my nails I almost couldn't cover it with Clairvoyant, though, because it's so deep and shimmery and pretty!  Definitely one I will revisit to wear on it's own.  I will say that it had a slightly runny and watery consistency but I got away with two coats.

   Alright, here is part two of the glitter set swatches!  This is LA Colors Mini Glitter set 126.  I have more pics and descriptions after the jump, along with the unlabeled polish dupes!

   I'm declaring this glitter week on my blog!  To kick things off I have swatches from a set of LA Colors minis.  These sets are only numbered and the polishes are not marked.  I did some searching to try to determine if they correspond to any of the brand's regular-sized bottle colors.  Find out more after the jump!

   ...And that's just what I bought for myself.  Well, okay, maybe I'll do some sharing.  ;)  I have to start by saying that I absolutely looove CherryCulture.com and I'm always snagging pretty colors for myself and Mom through their store.  Generally my hauls are centered on pigments and glosses, maybe a few nail polishes.. but this time was different.  I was so impressed with the few Nyx Girls polishes that I picked up a few more, and the same story for L.A. Girl, too.  Well, enough of my gabbing, let me just show you!

   The L.A. Colors mini sets.  Top Row: Glitter 126 and Glitter 124.  Bottom Row: Bright 123 and Bright 125.  Yes, they really are that creative with their collection names.  These polishes are unnamed but I believe they are just smaller versions of polishes in their regular lines.  I was interested in this brand because of their 3-free formula and that they are very obviously animal-cruelty free - they have the little heart-ear buns right on the bottles!