Polish Post: You Polish Harry Potter Box Pictures and Review

I am so very excited to share this post with you!! So much so that I even typed this whole thing out yesterday in anticipation of posting today ^_^  There are several reasons why I am stoked right now: the Harry Potter box from You Polish is AMAZING and full of so many awesome things; this is the first time I ever experimented with using acrylic paint on my nails; and this is the first time I'm actually really, really proud of how my nails turned out!

Let's start with the goodies!  In the beginning of June, You Polish had a limited edition Harry Potter box available for purchase.  The box included a butterbeer flavored lip scrub, 40 lightning bolt nail decals, one bottle of each House color, a keychain, and a beautiful bracelet made by Penchantelle that had all four House colors and came with four charms (a snitch, a wand, a phoenix, and a snake) that are interchangeable.  Talk about getting a lot of bang for your buck!  All of the beauty products work very well, and the bracelet is of GREAT quality.  The nerd in me is highly satisfied ^_^

The polishes themselves are quite stunning, and after applying them, I was inspired to go even further with my nail design.  If I don't post pictures already, I'm going to burst, so let's get on with it, shall we?

Behold!!!

Outdoors in the sunlight

Light Box

I was inspired to paint the crest of each House, and on my pinky finger is one of the lightning bolt stickers I received :D  The red color is "Godric" for Gryffindor (thumb), the green is "Salazar" for Slytherin (pointer), the blue is "Rowena" for "Ravenclaw" (middle), and the yellow is "Helga" for Hufflepuff (ring).  All the polishes are holographic, and when not in the sunlight, the colors have a subtle glitter to them.  The polish went on smoothly for each.  Rowena, Godric, and Salazar were opaque after 2 coats, but Helga is a bit thinner and will take closer to 4 coats for complete opacity.  I painted the crests after wearing the polish for two days, and it never chipped or wore off on the tips in that amount of time.  Still going strong on day 3!

I had seen a lot of other very talented nail artists talk about using acrylic paint before on their nails, but I had never really gotten around to trying it.  I paint on canvas sometimes, so I had the supplies on hand.  I decided to try it out because the only tiny brush I owned was for acrylic paint, not polish.  I gotta say, it was sooooo much easier working with the paint over trying to do designs with polish, especially during this time of year when polish tends to get thicker and dry quicker when using it for designs.  It took me the last half hour of While You Were Sleeping and all of Ferris Bueller's Day Off to do these nails - so I guess roughly 2ish hours.  Having great 80's/90's movies on in the background helps pass the time :)

While my artwork isn't perfect, it is not too bad, considering this is the first time I have ever attempted something so intricate and so small.  I am proud :)  And since I now know how great it is to use acrylic, I will be playing around with a lot more detailed nail designs!!  Yay!! Something exciting for you to look forward to!

I suppose that is all for this polish post.  I hope you all enjoyed my artwork!  Please let me know what you think in the comments below, or you can comment on my Facebook Page, too!  Give it a like if you haven't already - I'm having a giveaway when I reach 100 fans!

Birthday Mani!

You know what I really can't stand out here, besides the disgusting heat of the Monsoon season?  Scorpions.  I hate them.  Last year, when we first moved down here, my husband was working back in Seattle for 3 weeks at a time and would be home for 1 week.  The first time he left, that very night I found a baby scorpion.  I lost it, freaking out because I did not realize scorpions could be THAT SMALL.  So as a mother, my mind instantly went to, "Oh my gosh, what if they are in the kids' beds in their sheets?  Or hiding in their toys?"  It pretty much drove me crazy, and I didn't really sleep much that night.  Luckily, my parents knew a great pest company who sent someone out to spray the inside and outside of my house.  Didn't really have any issues inside anymore, but I kept finding them in my backyard along the stone walls that surround it.

So I squished them with a rubber mallet.

Scorpions are nocturnal, and when under a black light, they glow green.  So I took my black light out back at night with my mallet and every time I found one on the walls or in the rocks, I squished it.  My total count by the end of the season (which lasts 2-3 months) was in the high 70's.  I frequently posted my adventures on facebook and apparently garnered a small following, because I had several people ask me how my "Scorpion Wars" were going, and referred to me as the Scorpion Hunter.

I was really hoping this year that I wouldn't have to deal with them again, since I've taken more precautions this year in preparing for them.  However last night, I found a juvenile one in the kitchen on the floor.  Not sure if it was in the house for a while, or if one of my dogs brought it in on their fur.  I went outside last night and found (and killed) 6 more.  I'm hoping it's just outside - I can handle them outside.  I just hate the thought of them inside my house.

Anywho, on to less spine-tingling subjects.

My birthday was this last Saturday the 28th!  Originally we were going to go to a lake and my dad and I were going to scuba dive, but due to a miss-communication, there wasn't any gear available to rent.  So, my mom and I had a girly day instead ^_^  Went to breakfast at our favorite French-themed restaurant, then a quick shopping trip at Penney's followed by our traditional birthday pedicures.  My mother never used to like the idea of someone touching her feet, but after I persuaded her to at least try a pedicure, she has been hooked ever since, and now for every birthday and mother's day, we go :D  I'm so proud <3

That evening I had more family over for a potluck styled dinner and some cake (duh).  It was a lovely birthday!  And of course, I did a special manicure for the day :D  I wanted to do something that reflected a part of me.  So I decided to try a scale pattern, because I not only love fish, I also love mermaids (and secretly long to be one).  Now most scale patterns I've seen on nails are painted over a gradient or solid color.  I did it differently, because I not only lacked a teeny tiny paint brush, I also lacked the ability to paint smooth, even scales.  I instead used my dotting tool and did individual dots (yes, it took me a very long time).  I think it looks pretty good for a first attempt, and a little more detailed!  Check them out:

Outdoors in direct sunlight

Outside in the shade

Light Box

Macro

I used Model City's "Fairy Godmother" for the base color, You Polish's "Rowena" for the dark blue, Colors by Llarowe's "Surf My Wave" for the medium blue, and a specially made light blue from Above the Curve.  All the colors went very well together, as you can see.

Like I said, not too shabby for a first attempt!  I was happy :)  And I didn't want to cover each nail completely, I wanted to be a little unconventional and do "patches" of scales on the other nails.  I got quite a few complements on them, too!  Hooray for progress!!  Next step is to try doing it the way I always see it done - by painting the scales on.  I better start looking for a teeny tiny paint brush!

I hope you all survive your Monday!! I'll have another new post for you tomorrow morning!

Polish Post: You Polish "Anchors Away" and Mermaid Decals!

You know, Tuesday kind of gets the shaft during the week.  Tuesdays don't really have a title.  Wednesday is Hump Day, Thursday is One-Day-Away-From-Friday, Friday is, well, Friday, Saturday is the First-Day-of-the-Weekend, Sunday is Church and/or Last-Day-of-the-Weekend, Monday is Sh*t-I-Have-To-Go-Back-To-Work Day, and Tuesday is...nothing.  Poor Tuesday :(  Perhaps I will make a special kind of post that I do every Tuesday, just to make it feel more special ;)

Until I figure out what that special post will be, here's another Polish Post ^_^  Today's is brought to you by the company You Polish (www.youpolish.com).  Another indie company, all their polishes are DBP, Toluene, Formaldehyde/Resin, and Camphour free.  Hooray!!  They also do custom polishes, monthly boxes that are collaborations with other indie polish companies or jewelry companies, nail decals and stencils, lip scrubs, and all different types of polish.  Recently, they released a Harry Potter series with a holographic color that resembles each house from Hogwarts, along with a bracelet from Penchantelle (http://www.penchantelle.com), butterbeer lip scrub, and lightning bolt decals :D Here's a link to Gryffindor (you know, the best house ;) ) http://www.youpolish.com/harry-potter-godric-gryffindor/  The company is just awesome, we'll leave it at that ^_^

The polish I'm reviewing from them today is called "Anchors Away" and I used a mermaid decal I purchased from them a little while back - I actually purchased decals before I purchased polish from them because I was so ecstatic to find mermaid nail decals in a color of my choosing :P  Take a look at the pics below of the polish with the decal:

The polish is a beautiful, deep navy blue with a subtle holographic effect.  There are also beautiful, larger pieces of a royal blue glitter scattered throughout that really make the color pop in the sun.  When not in direct sunlight, the holo and glitter are more understated, but the polish still looks lovely.  The application was smooth and the color was opaque after 2 coats of polish.  The decal stuck nicely to the nail, too, without popping up on the sides.

Here's the only issue I had with the mermaid decal - the first time I ever used these, I applied my Seche Vite topcoat.  This was a mistake, as the topcoat took away the rainbow holographic effect and made the decal a matte silver color instead.  Now, the decal in the picture is still covered in Seche Vite, however this time, I put another clear coat over it first as a barrier (in this case, Nicole's anti-chip overcoat).  Once that clear coat was dry, I put on the Seche Vite and everything was peachy :) So there's nothing wrong with the decal, it just doesn't get along with Seche Vite fast dry topcoat apparently.  Keep that in mind when you purchase and use the decals from You Polish.

Overall, great polish, great brand, great products!! I look forward to purchasing more from them in the future, and encourage you to do the same!! Here's a link to their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/youpolish  Head on over, give them a "like," and let them know MomMrsAndMe sent you :)

I suppose I should get back to reality now.  It's oddly quiet in the playroom where my kids are, and that is pretty much never a good thing...