Surprise~!  Two of the items from my haul post were actually giveaway goodies!  These pretty necklaces from Sweet Tips Nails on etsy are going to find new homes with my readers!  What better way to celebrate a new blog domain name than with a giveaway that everyone can enter?  =)

The Prizes:

   Heart-shaped Pastel Rainbow Necklace - This has a soft rainbow sparkle as well as being painted in rainbow stripes!

   Flower-shape Hawaiian Dream Necklace - This is full of shimmer and glitter held a fun flower pendant, very unique!

   Both of these necklaces are ready for spring and summer!  I was going to start the mini giveaways this month, but I thought a nail polish jewelry prize would be much more exciting.  Rather than limit the giveaway to one prize being domestic and another International, these are both available to anyone, anywhere.  Which one will you choose?

The Rules:

   This giveaway is open to all my followers, new and old!  International followers are welcome but please be aware that I'm not responsible for missing or damaged packages.

   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.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

   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

   This is an extra-special review post, because I'm getting to share my very own custom polish creation from Different Dimension on Etsy!  After seeing a similar polish in her shop I was inspired to request my own tweaked version called Pastel Nonpareil.  Isn't it lovely?

   My inspiration for the name was taken from these amazingly tasty and especially eye-catching treats served at our belated wedding reception.  They were made by my sister-in-law!

   Didn't she do a stunning job?  Let me tell you, these did not last long at all.  Everyone loved them!  Nonpareil (non-puh-rell) sprinkles are my favorite sprinkles ever, too!  Put them on something and I'll want to eat it.  Thus the name behind my polish!  So, let's get down to the nitty-gritty on custom polishes from Different Dimension.

   First off, sizing and price.  A custom polish from Different Dimension is going to be in a full size Different Dimension bottle which holds 15ml.  The cost for calling all the shots on your own Big-3 Free blend is $10, which I'd say is a smoking deal considering the quality Missi is known for and the fact that every custom polish comes with a personalized gift.

   Admittedly, I had it pretty easy in describing my request.  "Like what you made there, but with X color added and no shimmer."  Still, the customer service was great.  My questions were answered and I had some options to work with before I fully made up my mind.  I gave the polish a name and Missi had it finished for me in no time at all.  Here you can see it has a printed label, finished the same way that one of Different Dimension's regular polish offerings would be.

   Oh, and that free gift?  It's a handmade necklace of your polish that arrives in a little drawstring bag.  Missi takes a bit of your custom blend and pours it into a cute glass vial, corks it and puts it on a long chain.  (My chain was 24", it can be cut down easily if a shorter length is desired.)  The cork is sealed into the bottle with a very strong clear glue.  I don't know if the polish will ever dry out inside the bottle but I doubt it would change the look much if it did.

   Isn't it adorable?   The bottle measures 1 inch including the cork, so it makes a nice piece for layering.  I can definitely see wearing a couple of these necklaces together.  I was very happy to open my package from Different Dimension and be able to wear my custom polish right away - no dry time!

   One other thing to note is the value of the necklace.  You can buy a vial necklace filled with one of the colors regularly offered in the Different Dimension store.  It's essentially the same thing, and the cost is $5.00.  So if you figure that you just spent $10 for a 15ml nail polish made just for you and that polish included a free gift valued at $5.00...  I don't need to point out how good of a deal that is, do I?

   Pastel Nonpareil is a white jelly polish filled with small holographic glitters in a mix of rainbow colors.  As you can see in the above macro shot there is a lot of glitter!  It mixes easily and the somewhat thick formula is easy to work with just like all the other Different Dimension polishes I used beforehand.  I almost used a white creme polish as a base, but I'm so glad I didn't.

   Above, three coats is squishy white jelly perfection.  Top coat smoothed everything out, but I've also worn this polish without a top coat and the glitters aren't annoying or snaggy.  You can see a hint of my nail line in this picture, but I hardly noticed it with my non-macro eyeballs.

   What surprised me is how much I loved it at one coat.  I'm not generally into sheer polishes, but Pastel Nonpareil won me over.  The white jelly base is what makes it work, evening out perfectly and making my nails look like they must be lovely on their own, not slightly stained from all the dark polish I wear...  Oh, and the glitter helps, of course.  ;D  I actually wore my manicure with 3 coats one one hand and 1 on the other, and the winner remains undecided.  I'll wear it both ways!

   I've also used this polish in layering for jelly sandwiches, and it was wonderful like that, too.  I ended up with a very versatile polish!  Which Pastel Nonpareil manicure is your favorite?

   In conclusion, I definitely recommend Different Dimension for custom polish creation.  I already have a few more ideas cooked up and am excited to say that you will be seeing a polish named by me in the Different Dimension shop soon!

   Just got a forwarded E-mail in my Inbox.  Ironically it was from a male friend who probably doesn't even know how much I like nail polish, but hey!  I just have to share it:

   The artist is Laurel Roth, and yes, these beautiful birds are made entirely from "human mating plumage" (according to their description) - press-on nails, barrettes, jewelry and crystals.

   And we think our nail art is time-consuming!

   These are just two of many pictures from this series, and I snagged them from Laurel Roth's website here.  I highly recommend taking a moment to look through the rest of the collection.  It made me smile.  =)  Which bird is your favorite?