Creative Cuticles Fire & Ice Duo

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You will never watch the Hunger Games again without giggling the first time Katniss yells "PEETA!"  I chortle, every time.

Creative Cuticles Nail Polish released her "Fire & Ice" duo today, based off the characters Katniss and President Snow from the Hunger Games series.  I was fortunate enough to be able to swatch them - and it was uber exciting to do so, because the Hunger Games series is one of my absolute favorites!!!  It's what finally got me into pursuing archery ^_^

First up I'll show you "Snow" of the duo:

I, uh...I don't paint flowers very well.  That's supposed to be a white rose, since that is a very prominent symbol of Snow throughout the films (perhaps the books, too- still have to read them).

"Snow" is a jelly packed with turquoise and holographic glitters.  I am wearing two coats over a white base in the photos above - in the macro, the jelly looks more turquoise than it is in real life.  I added a layer of KBShimmer Clearly On Top over the nails with Snow.  I used Zoya's matte velvet topcoat over the nail with the rose.  

And here is the Katniss inspired "Ablaze:"

Didn't like my rose so much that I shot an arrow through it and set it on fire.

Ablaze is an orange jelly with gold/orange micro glitters/flakies.  This is two coats over a white base in the photos above with a layer of KBShimmer's Clearly On Top.

This duo is available for purchase at $8.75 each HERE - be sure to enter code FIREICE at checkout for the collection price if you want both :)  You can also follow the Creative Cuticles Instagram for more swatch photos and teasers of upcoming releases!

What do you think of this duo?  Are you a Hunger Games fan (book and/or movies)?

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Polish was sent to me by maker for photography purposes.  All opinions and experiences with the polish are my own and remain 100% honest.

Creative Cuticles Nail Polish: Mother's Day Duo

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Good Afternoon!  Late to post today - been fighting with children and helping to put together a new bed frame for one of them.  It's been a day!

I've got a gorgeous and sweet Mother's Day duo to show you today by Creative Cuticles Nail Polish!

The first polish of the duo is called "Infinite:"

Infinite is a merlot-scented plum/wine colored polish, opaque in 3 coats and dry in under 5 minutes to a glossy finish, shown in the pictures above with no topcoat.

The second polish is called "To Mom:"

Shown over Infinite

To Mom is a rose-scented glitterbomb topper full of pastel pink, peach, yellow, lime green, blue, and purple glitters.  Shown above is one coat over plain white (and Infinite in the last photo).  The polish dries semi-textured, so a nice topcoat would even it out nicely.

The Ups:  These polishes apply super smoothly and dry quickly - a fantastic combination!  And I'm a sucker for scented polishes, so I loved the wonderful Merlot and Rose scents that weren't overpowering or too subtle.

The Downs:  While the scents are not overpowering on their own, if you did want to layer one over the other, the combined Rose/Merlot smell is a bit...off.  I actually got a little headache from the combined smells, thus why you only get a one-nail shot of the two together :P  However, that is the only down to this duo!  EDIT: After speaking with Creative Cuticles, she has informed me she will be offering the duo UNSCENTED as well!  

Overall:  This duo is beautiful!  A nice solid color with a beautiful pastel burst of color to compliment - perfect!  

This duo launches on April 30th on the Creative Cuticles Nail Polish website.  You can also follow updates on the Instagram and Facebook Page.

What do you think of this duo?  Are you a fan of scented polishes?

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Polish provided or swatches and review by CCNP.  Opinion is my own and remains 100% honest.

ISSE: MoYou Nails Stamping Kit

Happy Sunday!!  Anyone else watching the Superbowl today?  I will be - and rooting for the SEAHAWKS!!  Awwww yeah!!  I'll be representing the 12th Man here in Phoenix - Hawk yeah!!

Okay, now that that's out of my system, I'll get on to talking about more fun topics :D

One of the booths set up at the International Salon & Spa Expo was MoYou Nails, and after hearing so many great things about their stamping plates, I made it a point to stop by and see what all the fuss was about - and I left with a stamping kit :P

Stamping has always been a challenge for me.  I have about three different types of stampers, two to three different brands of stamping polish, and a ton of different plates.  I just couldn't seem to get the hang of it.  After watching a demonstration of their plates and stamper at the booth, I decided to go ahead and purchase the small stamping kit that came with white polish, a stamper, and three plates (one was a gift because I was her first customer of the day - it pays to show up early!).

I was excited to try it out when I got home, but nervous at the same time that it wouldn't work the same for me as it had for the nice gal, who'd been doing it a lot longer and more frequently than me.  I'm happy to report that I was successful - for the most part :P

Here's a close-up of the plate images I used for this first mani:

Here they are stamped over Blackbird and Hippy Hippy Shake by Ellagee:

For the most part, the images transferred wonderfully!  I'm very impressed with the detail in the sparrow, and how well that one stamped.  My favorite would have to be the pinky though ^_^  That rose is so beautiful!!

Just for funsies, I wanted to try out a jelly sandwich using some more of the images from these plates :D  So I used "Parker" by Creative Cuticles Nail Polish because it is the best, most beautiful deep blue jelly I've ever seen!  Here's the result:

Not a total disaster.  You can see certain spots where I had extra polish on the stamper than I realized so it looks a bit off, but overall I am pleased!  Four thin layers of polish total, three layers with stamped images.  I like it!  I'll have to try to finesse it later - and try to convince Kayla to make more jellies like Parker, because it was soooooo easy to work with and it's just beautiful!!

Needless to say, I am a re-born stamper!  Now I want to try again with my other plates and different polishes, to see if perhaps it is a stamper issue.  Either way, I have renewed hope that I CAN stamp successfully! :P

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend!!  See you soon <3