Princesses and Villains: Mulan & Shan Yu

Sorry for the delayed post today - I slept in later than I anticipated.  Clearly I needed the sleep :P

I gotta say, this is my favorite set so far with regards to accuracy.  This is the first princess I'm not embarrassed to show!  Hooray!!  Here is Mulan & Shan Yu over Mulan and Shan Yu by Ice Polish.

Mulan and Shan Yu (the polishes) are my favorite of the Princess/Villain polishes in the Dreams Come True...Not If I Can Help It! collection, not just because they look fantastic together, but because they have the loveliest colors to me.  The application was really smooth, and even though Shan Yu's formula was a bit thicker than the others, it still applied evenly without gooping or pulling.  It was practically opaque after one coat, but I added one more to make sure it was nice and even.  Another great set of polishes by an awesome indie brand :)

And like I said, I'm darn proud of this art!!  I feel like I finally captured the Princess well instead of making her look like the oddball cousin :P  I hope you all enjoy this art, too!

Next Thursday is the last Princess/Villain set, so keep an eye out for it.  Tomorrow is the next round of You-Pick-My-Art on my Facebook Page - we're going to go old-school horror for that one ;)

See you soon! <3

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

Polish Post: Doctor Lacquer "The Trail of Time" Swatches, Review, & Nail Art

Happy Hump Day!

A few weeks ago, my husband bought me the Chromozones Collection by the indie brand Doctor Lacquer - just cuz he loves me ^_^  Yeah, I'm a pretty lucky gal!!

There are 7 full-sized bottles in the collection, and I also received 3 bonus minis for ordering the full set!  Woo-hoo!!

These chromes are absolutely stunning, and have so many different colors and shifts to each that I decided to break down the collection into separate posts so I don't blow your mind with 16 photos per polish - that's a lotta pics!

So without further ado, let's start with The Trail of Time.

Outdoors

Indoors

Here's a direct description of the polish, taken from the website - it's written so well I wouldn't do it justice to describe this polish in my own words:  

The Grand Canyon in Arizona, USA offers an incomparable experience and a breathtaking view for anyone! This trail of time was carved by the Colorado River, and shows us million years of history. This divine beauty shifts through the color of rocks and soil, plus the sky and setting sun! This one has strong shifts from shades of cyan, violet, and red, and subtle copper shifts!

This polish is absolutely stunning!!  The application was fantastic, too - very smooth, took three thin coats to achieve opacity.  Dried in under five minutes to a nice shine as seen in the pictures above.  The only aspect of the polish to be conscious of is the fact that you can subtly see brush strokes in application, so make sure you're applying it in the same direction.  

There are so many wonderful color shifts to The Trail of Time it was impossible not to stare constantly at my nails :D  I tried to capture the different shifts the best I could in these photos.  I will have a video posted later today on my Instagram showing the color changes as the light shifts, so keep an eye out!

While the color itself is inspired by the Grand Canyon, I was inspired to paint a Dali-esque interpretation of the name of this polish, The Trail of Time - check it out:

Hard to tell in the pics, but those "blob" looking things in the top left are "melted" clocks.  Eh, it's art :P

I will have another lovely polish from this fabulous collection to show you next week!  Here are some links for you to browse the pretties and keep up to date with the company:

Store: Here

Etsy Shop: Here

Facebook:  Here

Instagram:  Here

Keep your eye out for tomorrow's post - the next Princess/Villain set!!  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 :)

Go Ahead, Make My Millennium!

Last Friday was another round of You-Pick-My-Art on my Facebook Page, and the winning theme was Beetlejuice!  Now I will admit - I have only ever seen Beetlejuice once, and it was a looooooong time ago.  I remember enjoying it, and have actually added it to my Netflix queue to watch again ;)

It was tough to come up with a unique design that hasn't been overdone before.  The two most popular posters/pictures out there have already been done (by much better artists than me, too).  So, I decided to come up with one based on my favorite scene from the movie, which happens to be at the end :P

I remember laughing quite a bit when I was kid because of the sound of his voice, and the silly look of the dude with the shrunken head :D  Here is the design I came up with based on this scene - and forgive the amateur art, I'm still trying to get down painting people :P

I could have done the witch doctor on the middle finger and Beetlejuice on the ring, but it would have been practically impossible for me to fit that uber long number on my pinky :P  Plus, the shrinky-head guy is the one that made me laugh as a kid ^_^  The two polish colors I used for the background are "Queen of the Night" on the middle and ring finger, and "Flor de Muerta" by Black Dahlia Lacquer - their Halloween Duo :)

I hope you all enjoyed this art!  What would you like to see for this Friday's theme?

Polish Post: Darling Diva "Please Stand By," "...Is Boring," and "OMGBFD" Swatches & Review

I am so very thankful the weather is *finally* cooling down here in the desert - so much so I can actually leave my air conditioning off!  What?!  Crazy!!

Today I've got three polishes to show you from a new-to-me indie brand called Darling Diva Polish.  In my recent order with the brand, I chose a "Mystery Bag" option where I received 5 full-sized mystery polishes for $25.  These three polishes are from that mystery bag, and wowza, I got some goooood colors!!  

The first color is called, "Please Stand By."

Outdoors

Indoors

Please Stand By is a beautiful dark purple jelly with a blue flash/shimmer, a scattered holographic effect in the sunlight, and big flecks of green glitter.  It is a stunner!  Took 3 coats for it to be completely opaque, and it dried fairly quickly in under five minutes to a shiny finish.  It is a really pretty polish that was easy to applicate and work with.  

The second polish is called, "...Is Boring."

Outdoors

Indoors

...Is Boring is anything BUT boring!!  This polish is a beautiful blue linear holographic with big flecks of gold glitter, though those got completely overtaken by the holographic effect.  Opaque in two coats, the polish dried to a shiny finish quickly in under five minutes.  This color really pops inside and outside - it's a very, very fun polish!

The last of the polishes to show you today is my absolute favorite of the five mysteries, and it is called, "OMGBFD."

Outdoors

Indoors

OMGBFD is the perfect name for this polish, because Oh My Gosh, it is a VERY Big Freakin' Deal!  This color is a grey jelly packed with a linear holographic effect, an iridescent shimmer, and turquoise and purple glitters.  My eyes seriously freaked out once I stepped outside with this polish on - they had no idea where to focus!!  I used three coats to make it completely opaque, and it also dried fairly quickly to a shiny finish.  I love, LOVE this polish, and it is soooooo much fun!!  I did take two videos of the sparkly goodness of this polish, one outdoors, and one close up so you can see the glitters.  Both will be posted on my Instagram later today :)

Sadly I cannot seem to find these three colors available on her website, so my guess is they are discontinued leftovers.  The brand does have many, many more colors to choose from though, and I highly recommend browsing them, because from what I've seen so far of the polishes I received, this is a great brand!!  I'll certainly be keeping them on my radar - and here are some links so you can, too!

Facebook: Here

Store: Here

Instagram: Here

I hope you all enjoy your weekend!  I will work on the Beetlejuice nail art to show you on Monday.  See you soon! <3

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

Princesses and Villains: Aurora & Maleficent

I've come to the conclusion that my Princesses are always gonna look like poop.  For some reason, I just can't seem to paint them well.  Oh well - you win some, you lose some!

This week's Princess/Villain set is Aurora and Maleficent from Ice Polish :)  Here you go!

Aurora is a gorgeous baby pink with a light scattered holographic effect, and Maleficent is a beautiful duochrome with a nice sparkle in the sunlight.  Maleficent was a limited edition polish and is no longer available, but Aurora is still up for grabs in the Etsy shop!

Tomorrow is the next round of You-Pick-My-Art!!  Be sure to check my Facebook Page and vote for your favorite!  See you soon <3

*NOTE:  One of these two polishes was a prize for winning a giveaway.  While it was not purchased, it was NOT supplied for the purposes of a review.  Links are NOT affiliate (i.e. I do not get any sort of kickback when you click on them through my blog),  I simply provide them for your convenience :)