Polish Post: The Festive Fortification Box

A few weeks ago, Ellagee and Digital Nails put out the Limited Edition Festive Fortification box.  In this awesome box was a polish from each company, a sparkly hair tie, and some super sparkly rhinestones - all for $20 including shipping!  So, you know, of course I got one ;)  And I have swatches of the beautiful polishes for you!

We'll start with Ellagee's "Garrison of Glitz:"

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Garrison of Glitz is a gorgeous teal/pine green jelly packed with all sorts of green, blue, and holographic glitter shapes and sizes.  It is absolutely stunning!  Opaque in 3 thin coats, though the glitters can be a little stubborn and may need some encouragement to spread out and not cluster.  Dries to a semi-textured finish, so a generous layer of topcoat would even it out nicely and really make it sparkle and shine :)

The polish by Digital Nail is "Bastion of Bling:"

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Bastion of Bling is a beautiful deep berry red jelly glitter bombed with red, blue, and holographic glitters.  Opaque in 3 thin coats, this one also dries to a semi-textured finish.  I topped it (and Garrison of Glitz) with a generous layer of HK Girl Glisten and Glow topcoat to make it nice and shiny :)  The sparkle really pops on this one!!  And the red seems to deepen in color when indoors, which is pretty neat!

I have yet to use the rhinestones but they are the perfect size for nail art - not too big that it's dang near impossible not to knock one off shortly after applying, and not too small that it's hardly noticeable.  And I've always liked the hair ties that Digital Nails makes, because they don't leave a kink in my hair :D  Overall, it's a great box!!  I'm really glad I ordered one, especially since they are already sold out!

While you cannot get this duo anymore, both shops still offer a lot of fantastic polishes!!  Ellagee just released some new flakies and still have the sparkling gemstones collections available - though the shop is on vacation from December 2nd through the 18th  (orders can still be placed, but nothing will be re-stocked or shipped during this time).  Here are some links for you:

Ellagee Shop: Here

             Facebook: Here

             Instagram: Here

Digital Nails Shop: Here

                    Facebook: Here

                    Instagram: Here

I'll be back tomorrow with the next design for Challenge Your Nail Art!  See you soon <3

*NOTE: Links I provide are NOT affiliate (i.e. I get no kickback when you click on them through my blog).  I simply provide them for your convenience :)

Challenge Your Nail Art: Fall Colors

Hard to believe Thanksgiving is tomorrow already!!  I'll be spending the morning making grilled bacon guacamole and sweet potato bacon and chive biscuits.  Yummo!!

Today is the third theme for Challenge Your Nail Art - Fall Colors!

I have to admit, this one had me stumped a little.  You'd think such a vague subject would be easy, but I operate better on specific themes rather than leaving it to my imagination - go figure :P  So I decided to go with something a bit simple, and a little new technique for me :)  Here's my design:

I found every polish I had of my favorite fall colors (the reds, oranges, golds, and browns of the changing leaves).  I lined them up so they would look like they were turning from red to brown/black and sponged them on that way in a long gradient design.  From left to right, I used "Friday the 13th," "Donna," and "Akiko" polishes from Above the Curve, "Gobble Me Up" from Ice Polish, "Latte," "Mocha," and "Dark Roast," from Model City Polish, and "Blackest Night" from Colors by Llarowe.  The beautiful glitter gradient is "Pilgrimatic" from Different Dimension.  

I'm surprised at how lovely this turned out!  I'll be a little sad to take this off, but happy to know that this type of design worked for me ^_^  Sooooo many options out there now!  The world is mine!  Bwahahahaha!!

Make sure you check out the other lovely designs by some more amazing blogger gals!!  See you tomorrow morning for the last design <3

NOTE: Links I've provided are NOT affiliate (i.e. I get no kickback when you click on them through my post).  I simply provide them for your convenience :)

An InLinkz Link-up

Polish Post: Model City Polish "Here Lies..." and "Once Bitten" Swatches, Review, and Nail Art

Good Monday, my lovelies!  I know I usually post my You-Pick-My-Art today, but I wanted to share with you a quick review of two awesome polishes first, because they are re-stocking today, and I wouldn't want you to miss out!!

We all know how much I adore the brand Model City Polish :)  So of course, when she came out with new Halloween colors, I snatched up a few!  Well, my hubby did for me - when they launched I was on a plane headed back home ;)  What a good husband :D

One of the three new polishes I purchased is called Here Lies... - check it out!

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And of course, I couldn't resist a little nail art ;)

Here Lies is a lovely grey crelly with black and white flake glitters - and this one is scented!!  She offered scents this time as an option for your polish, the scent for this one is an Earthy/floral scent.  If you are familiar with Renaissance festivals, and frequent them like me, imagine the smell inside the clothing booths - that woodsy incense smell is almost identical to this polish's scent.  It's really lovely :)

Application was a dream, as usual!  I used 3 coats to make it completely opaque, and it dried to a shiny finish, as seen above in the photos (no topcoat was used).  It dried fairly quickly in under five minutes, too, which is always convenient.  

The other polish I purchased is Once Bitten:

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Of course there's nail art for this one, too!

Once bitten is a gorgeous deep red crelly with gold fleck glitters and a subtle scattered holo, and comes with the option of Caramel Apple scent.  I got the scented in this one, too, and it smells glorious!  

Application was nice and smooth, though I did find this one remained a bit tacky for quite a while - like, an hour or so :-/  Not sure if it was because I had 3 layers, or if it is a formula thing, or if the scent did it, but it is something to consider.  A simple solution is a quick-dry topcoat (that will also add a nice shine to it - I added a topcoat in my photos), and the best part?  The topcoat does NOT cover up the scent!  Well, mine didn't, and I used the hardcore HK Girl "Glisten and Glow" topcoat.  Other than than the tackiness, it was perfect!  Just love that smell :)

She has just re-stocked her website, and has also added a lot of colors that will be discontinued to her clearance section.  She has also added some new scents to her Cuticle oils that I highly recommend - like caramel ^_^  Here are links to her shop and her social pages:

Shop:  Here

Facebook:  Here

Blog:  Here

Instagram: Here

I hope you all survive your Monday!  I will be posting a picture of last week's You-Pick-My-Art winner this afternoon on my Facebook Page, and will possibly have a blog post about it tomorrow :)  See you soon! <3

Polish Post: Knockout Lacquer "Bridger Blue" and "It's All Over" Swatches and Review

Hello all!  I've got a pretty fun indie polish to show you this lovely Monday called Knockout Lacquer.  I'd recently ordered a charity polish and another really gorgeous polish from this brand, and loved them so much I just had to share them with you!!  Let's get right to it!

First up we have a charity polish called, "Bridger Blue:"

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Rather than trying to put the description in my own words, I'll paste here what's posted in the description on the website for the polish, "Sacha and Preston recently welcomed their third little boy into their lives. Unfortunately, Bridger was born with tetrology of fallot with pulmonary atresia. He received his first heart surgery at 4 days old, and will need more surgeries in the future. Sacha has been separated from her two other boys while she stays in Minnesota to be close to Bridger, and it just kills her. I created "Bridger Blue" in honor of the toughest fighter that I know! I will be offering this exclusive custom color as a fundraiser. 90% of the proceeds from each bottle sold will be donated to the Bolstad family to assist with hospital bills and expenses. "Bridger Blue" is a robins egg blue with a subtle scattered holographic shimmer that will remind you of a beautiful baby boy. A beautiful baby boy who is fighting a battle every day. Thank you for your support in this cause that is so dear to my heart. -Ashley at Knockout Lacquer"

I mean whoa, what a heart-wrenching story, especially as a mom :(  Good cause aside, this polish really is awesome!  The application was super smooth, really nice formula that wasn't too thick or thin and spread out evenly without flooding my cuticles.  The polish also dried in under 5 minutes to a shiny finish.  It's really pretty outside when the sun catches those holographic glitters.  Great polish all around!

The other stunner I have to show you is called "It's All Over:"

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The dork in me was really excited to use my Taekwondo gloves for this pic ^_^  Don't judge me...

Now I've had some reds so far - solid colored, holographic, sparkly - but this red really takes the cake.  It's All Over totally owns the Knockout brand!  Two coats to bring it to opacity, it's jam-packed full of holographic and red sparkles, dries to a shiny finish in under 5 minutes, and looks KILLER!  This polish is an all-around WIN!  And quite possibly the best quality?  No staining, at least for me.  I would definitely recommend taking a precaution and putting down a good quality base coat, just to be certain, and use something really strong to clean up around the cuticles - like, 100% acetone strong.  But you cannot go wrong with this polish - it's fan-freakin'-tastic!

Here are some social links for you to follow and keep up to date with Knockout Lacquer:

Facebook:  Here

Shop:  Here

Instagram: Here

Hope you all have a wonderful day - see you soon! <3

*NOTE: Links I provide are NOT affiliate (i.e. I get no kickback if you click on one through my blog).  I simply provide them for your convenience :)