Smokey Mountain Lacquers Valentine's Duo

***Discount Code***

I cannot believe V-Day is already less than a week away.  Where the heck is 2016 going - is it being sucked into some time vortex??

I suppose I should start rolling in those Valentine's manis and such.  I'll start today with the Smokey Mountain Lacquers Valentine's Duo:

The duo is comprised of a lilac purple holo called "Heartbreaker"...

...and a lovely pink holo glitter bomb with a blue shimmer called "Put A Ring On It."

Heartbreaker went on smoothly, only requiring 2 coats for opacity.  It dried a bit textured, so a good topcoat smoothed everything out nicely.  Put A Ring On It spread out wonderfully for a glitterbomb offering excellent coverage!  Two coats for complete opacity for this one, and it also dried just a bit textured and required topcoat to make it smooth and really make that holo pop!  The hearts on my middle and ring fingers were made using Valentine's day vinyls from Sweet Lacquer.

All in all this duo is adorable!  I like that it is a less conventional duo, meaning it's not strictly pink or red.  I love that the lilac is a color suited for many occasions and holidays (I can definitely see it used in an Easter mani), and that the pink is a softer, more vintage pink than an in-your-face Barbie pink.  Way more versatile (and tolerable for me :P ).

You can pick up a full size or mini size of this duo here - there aren't many sets left!  You can also follow Smokey Mountain Lacquers through these links:

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What do you think of these colors?  Do they suit V-day to you?  Let me know in the comments! <3

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Duo was purchased by me using a discount code provided as a thank you for working with SML in previous press samples.  All opinions and experiences with the polish are my own and remain 100% honest.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Well it's Valentine's Day again - another Christian-holiday-turned-Hallmark :P  It's been a fun week creating lots of different mani's for various Nail Art challenges!  I wanted to show you a few I've done that I didn't blog about immediately :)

I've been doing a few designs for @NailPromote on Instagram.  Here is one from February 11th where the theme was "bows:"

Here is a design from the nail art group "Nail Crazies Unite" on FB for this week's prompt of "Love Song:"

I created this one after the love song by Maroon 5 called "Maps" :)  All but the blue polish background is freehanded.

And here is today's prompt from Challenge Your Nail Art & @NailPromote of "Happy Valentine's Day:"

I used a group exclusive by Ellagee for the base color and attached a beautiful charm by Mr. Nail Art.

I've had lots of fun so far, creating designs throughout the month - it's keeping my artistic juices flowing :D  I hope you've enjoyed them, too!  I've attached the inlinkz for both my Facebook challenge groups so you can see the other lovely and talented designs created by some incredible artists!  I'll be back tomorrow with a super awesome Twin Nail Art post with Narmai!!  You won't wanna miss it!!!

Here is the one for the Challenge Your Nail Art group:

An InLinkz Link-up

And here is the one for the Nail Crazies Unite group:

An InLinkz Link-up

Challenge Your Nail Art: Love Letters

I knew *instantly* what I wanted to do for today's prompt ^_^  Check it out:

And...it GLOWS!!! :D

I'd seen the letter design on pinterest a while ago, so I did that on the pointer as a "love letter" and then added the x's, o's, and I-L-O-V-E-Y-O-U as love letters - get it?  Eh?  Eh?? :D

I used Serum No.5's "Pure Glow Getter" for the white glow-in-the-dark base, and Gothic Gala Lacquer's "Blushing Bodies" for the glow-in-the-dark heart ^_^  Everything else is acrylic paint.  I'm pretty happy with it!

Check out the other lovely designs below!  I'll be back tomorrow with the next prompt <3

An InLinkz Link-up

Polish Post: Drip Drop & Candied Apple Polish Duo

Hiya, and happy Wednesday!

Drip Drop Nail Paint and Candied Apple Polish put out a Valentine's themed duo at the end of January called the "Box of Candy Drops."  It contained one polish from each brand, and two baggies of loose glitters - one with pink butterflies and hearts, and the other with purple and holographic hearts.  I managed to snag one before they were all gone :D

The polishes included are "Mint to Be" by Drip Drop and "Sweet Nothings" by Candied Apple:

Mint to Be is a gorgeous mint colored creme polish with an ever-so-subtle holographic dusting.  It applied very smoothly and was opaque in two coats.  Dried in about 5 minutes to a nice shine.  Sweet Nothings is a glitter topper with various sized turquoise, fuchsia, and holographic glitters as well as large white hearts.  Application on this one was a little tricky, as the glitter didn't seem to spread out very much (I'm wearing two layers in the photos, and I had to move the glitters around to evenly disperse them).  It was very difficult fishing those white hearts out because they fell to the bottom so quickly.  It did dry fairly quickly though to a nice shiny finish.  I added some of the lose hearts from the box to my middle and ring fingers to continue the Valentine's design :)  Who says Valentine's designs have to be pink or red? :D

Overall, this box was okay.  Mint to Be is my favorite, and I'm always happy with the formula of Drip Drop polishes.  I will say, though, I'm deterred from purchasing glitters from Candied Apple if they will all have that same formula - it was really tough to work with.

What do you think of this duo?  Do you prefer one to the other?  :)

ISSE: International Nail Manufacturers (Press Sample)

*PRESS SAMPLE*

One of the many awesome booths I stopped to check out at the International Salon & Spa Expo was International Nail Manufacturers (or INM).

You may know them best for their amazing quick-dry topcoat Out The Door.  They are a family-run business since 1979, with the goal to "meet the needs of nail technicians worldwide" (Source).  They've got a wide variety of products to offer, but I know them best for their topcoat and their amazing oils!!

I had the honor of meeting the ridiculously talented Lorena Marquez, the Director of Education for INM.  She is an incredible woman who has won many nail art awards (look her up, it's seriously impressive!) and is very sweet in person :)  I'm so happy I had the opportunity to meet her!  Lorena was kind enough to let me pick out five polishes to use for nail art!  I was delighted at the opportunity, and decided to choose colors that would suit a Valentine's Day design - and I came up with five to show you!  Let's get to them!

First up is "Sweet Bouquet:"

Sweet Bouquet is a beautiful soft metallic purple that dried in about 5 minutes to a lovely shine.  The formula was very smooth and easy to work with.  I decided to do a simple accent nail with some freehanded dangling hearts using another one of their polishes, "Bows of Holly."

Next up is "Bubble Gum:"

Bubble gum is exactly the color that its name suggests, but with a beautiful blue/purple shimmer.  The formula is a bit thinner on this one and would take probably about 4 coats to be completely opaque - I'm wearing two in the photos, but without the design, there is visible nail line.  Same dry time and application as Sweet Boquet.  I used Bows of Holly for the red hearts and Creme de Carnivale for the light purple V tips.

Speaking of, here is "Creme de Carnivale" and "Glitz:"

Creme de Carnivale is a gorgeous lilac purple creme polish that also applied like a dream and dried quickly.  It was opaque in two coats, too!  I used Glitz for the heart accents, and one thing I want to point out about it is that yes, while the glitter settles to the bottom, shaking it up makes it all even - but it also means that it is not as THICK as most glitter bombs.  I don't mind having a glitter I merely have to shake before use if it means it won't be super thick in application - and Glitz was nice and thin, and the glitter spread out evenly.  Really great glitter polish!

The final polish to show you is my favorite of the bunch - "Bows of Holly:"

I love Bows of Holly!!!  This read is DIVINE!  Thinner formula, so it is pretty much opaque at 3 coats, though there are still certain angles you can see some nail line.  Application and dry time is the same as the others.  I used nail vinyls for the hearts (I know - I didn't freehand O_o  Whaaaaaaat?!)

For every one of these pictures, I used the INM Premium Cuticle Oil (also provided by Lorena) in the scents Cranberry and Kiwi Hemp.  The biggest plus to this cuticle oil is the fact it doesn't make my skin look oily in pictures - my skin actually absorbed it well.  This is the only cuticle oil I've come across so far that does that for me so quickly.  I also really like the thin, clear brushes in the bottle - makes the application really easy!

Here's one final design, just for funsies, using Bows of Holly, Bubble Gum, and Creme de Carnivale:

THESE hearts ARE freehanded :P

I tell you what, I am so glad I got the opportunity to try their polishes - until now I had only used the topcoats and cuticle oils.  These polishes are really nice!

What do YOU think?  Have you tried INM's polish before?  What's your favorite design of all the ones above?

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*Product was provided by INM.  My opinion is in no way swayed, and remains 100% honest.