EPIC Indie + Color Club Giveaway hosted by @polishlicious & @lissamel9

a Rafflecopter giveaway


The hosts:
http://instagram.com/polishlicious
http://instagram.com/lissamel9

There are 52 sponsors (all but Color Club are INDIE POLISH!!)
I linked their shops below:

Cinema Swatch Lacquers
Mod Lacquer
Krafty Gurl Designs
Down the Bayou Lacquer
Daily Hues Lacquer
LynB Designs
Jonesy Lou Lacquer
Super Nails
Janes Tiny Things
Liquid Glam Lacquer
Daily Charme
Glitter Lambs
Polish Pusher
Literary Lacquer
Spectrum Cosmetic
Shimmer Polish
The Lady Varnishes
Squeaker Doodle
Two Gypsies Nail Lacquer
Pinwheel Polish
Polish Pets
Polish by Jessica Jean
Sincerely Polish
Legion Lacquer
Hex Nail Jewelry
Philly Loves Lacquer
Pretty Jelly
Black Sheep Lacquer
Laquerlicious
Gamer Gloss
Polish Addict Nail Color
Liquid Afterglow Lacquer
Doctor Lacquer
Angel Wings Polish
NailThins
Fickle Fairy Potions
Sue Me Lacquer
Nail Vinyls
Bellskandi Nail Polish
Candied Lustre
Nail Fabulosity
Heather’s Hues
MeLissa Nail Lacquer
Vivid Lacquer
Polish TBH
Color Club
Colores de Carol
CDB Lacquer
Jindie Nails
Urban Lacquer
MDJ Creations
Duh Nail Polish
Nailpolishaholic

Super Nails "Personal Ads" Collection!

I am so excited about this collection! I released it on March 15th and have been wanting to share it on my blog, but I have been so busy catching up on orders! :)

I am going to be sharing swatches done by myself, Kristi (BeginNails), and Caitlyn (@allaboutnails247)

All of the polishes in this collection are named after the acronyms that people use in their personal ads. There are literally hundreds of these acronyms that people use, but here are the ones I used for naming my polishes in this collection:

LTR - Long Term Relationship
F4M - Female for Male
FWB - Friends with Benefits
BBW - Big Beautiful Woman
NSA - No Strings Attached

 "BBW"

"BBW" is a shimmering purple/gold duochrome clear polish base with purple holographic and metallic glitters, with big gold holographic circles!! First picture shown on my own nails, with this polish over a lavender polish, white, natural nail and last black.

 Second picture is by Kristi, over purple and yellow, and third picture is by Caitlyn over a violet base.

"FWB"

"FWB" is a white crelly polish base with matte blue, pink and coral red glitters of different shapes, including pastel pink stars!! Best over white, but can be opaque in 3-4 coats. Shown in first picture on my own nails, over a lavender polish, white, natural nail and lastly black.

Second photo shows Kristi's nails with 2 coats and top coat, and last photo is 3 thin coats on Caitlyn's nails. 

"F4M"

"F4M" is a clear polish base with neon pink, red, blue, and green glitter of all shapes and sizes, including neon pink hearts!! Shown in first picture on my own nails, over a white polish, lavender, natural nail and lastly black.

Second photo is Kristi's nails, with "F4M" over dark navy blue, and third are Caitlyn's nails with baby blue as a base color.

"NSA"

"NSA" is a clear polish base with black glitter of all shapes and sizes, including black hearts!! Shown in first picture over a white polish, red, natural nail and lastly black.

Second photo is Kristi's swatch using magenta base, and third is Caitlyn's using white base and glitter placement using the diamond glitters to create the chevron pattern!

 "LTR"

"LTR" is a green crelly polish base with teal, turquoise and purple holographic, metallic and matte glitters of different sizes and shapes, including teal hearts!! Best over white, but can be opaque in 3-4 coats. Shown in first picture over teal polish base, white, natural nail and black.

Second photo is Kristi's swatch with 2 coats and top coat, and third photo is 3 thin coats on Caitlyn's nails.

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You can get these polishes on my Etsy shop, individually as either minis or full sized bottles. Minis are $3.99 each and Full Sized are $7.99 each.

Kristi's comments about the polishes: "Formula was easy to work with on all of them and there was absolutely no glitter fishing…and may I remind you I am using minis and glitter fishing is typical in those bottles.  The polishes are packed full of glitter."

Caitlyn's comments: "The formulas (as usual) are amazing, glitter coverage (as usual) amazing with no major fishing, such vibrant colors, crellys are beautiful, glitter is so sparkly, and I love all the fun glitter like the hearts, stars, and big circle glitter!"

Thanks so much for reading about my latest collection! I hope you love what you see! ❤

March Ipsy Glam Bag

Hello! I have just received my first Ipsy Glam Bag ever! I received the March Bag a couple days ago, since I had been on Spring vacation in Washington, D.C. last week and had my mail on hold. So to get down to it!

Included in the March Ipsy Glam Bag was:

• Nicole by OPI Roughles ("ruffles") in "On What Grounds?"
• bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie Lipstick in "Get Ready"
• Be a Bombshell Eyeshadow Palette in "Bora Bora"
• Pixi Beauty Flawless Beauty Primer

Nicole by OPI Roughles in "On What Grounds?"

I LOVE the textured Nicole by OPI nail polish! It is a creamy light turquoise blue, and had flecks of dark blue, and maybe black and grey in there, too.  It totally looks like a speckled Robin's egg!

I love using textured polishes on my toes in the summer because they seem to last longer than other polishes for me.

The only negative is that I had cut down all my nails for my vacation... and I had to take these pictures with nubby nails! Sorry!

bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie Lipstick in "Get Ready"

I am NOT a lipstick girl. At all. I actually ended up giving this lipstick to my mom. It seemed like a color that would go really well with her skin. My skin is super pale, and lipstick makes me look like the Joker! Eeek! I tried the lipstick on my hand, to show a swatch of it, and it glided on nicely. Such a pretty warm red-pink.

Be a Bombshell Eyeshadow Palette in "Bora Bora"

This palette of four eye shadows is gorgeous. I can definitely tell you that I will be using the brown and the gold shade a lot in the future! Brown and gold look real nice with my blue eyes. The turquoise blue shade is nice as a subtle splash of color. The rusty red shade would look nice on someone with darker skin than mine, and maybe somebody with brown eyes? With my skin tone, it washes me out. All of the colors are shimmery and great for summer.

Pixi Beauty Flawless Beauty Primer

Since my skin tone is super pale, I think this primer would look nice as a highlighter on my cheeks. It is a light tan color, with shimmering glitters that catches the light and looks great with full make up on. I am going to use this more for a night-out on the town look, on my cheeks under my usual peach blush with smoky eye-shadow.

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Overall, I would say that this Ipsy Glam Bag was a huge success! I paid $10 total for the month, including shipping, and after I visited each brand's website, and added the product costs up, I think I received over $50 in merchandise in this Glam Bag! The Ipsy website says that this month's Glam Bag was $30 in products, but the picture shows a different shadow palette and a lotion in place of the primer that I received. So I'm pretty sure the products that I received are worth over $50.

I would highly recommend this monthly beauty subscription, especially if you like to experiment around with new brands, new colors, and different products. Ipsy has you fill out a beauty profiling quiz, and they choose which products they think fits you best each month. It is the cheapest monthly subscription box that I could find, and even if you're like me and subscribe just for the nail polish, it still pays for itself because you get a polish that retails for around $8 anyways. For the other $2 you pay, you get some makeup and free shipping! Not to mention, the makeup pouch with a different designer print that you get each month.

If you think you would like to try the Ipsy Glam Bag and receive your own 4-5 beauty products each month, follow this link to give me referral points: http://www.ipsy.com/r/7v8m 

Thank you so much! I hope you enjoyed reading my review! ❤

*This was not a paid post and my honest opinion was used. The opinions are solely my own and may vary from others. The products mentioned have been purchased with my own money, as part of a monthly subscription box.*

 

I thought I would share a photo of me on Spring Break in front of the White House in Washington, D.C. - that's why this review was delayed!

Review: A Study in Polish "Not Our Dimension"

I received A Study in Polish's "Not Our Dimension" in the Giveaway prize I won from Accio Lacquer's blog.

"Not Our Dimension" is a beautiful royal blue jelly polish with silver hexes in different sizes, including a tiny holographic glimmer.

Beautiful in flash pictures, too.

 I wanted the same color and opacity of the bottle, so I used three coats and then I applied a top coat and Model City Polish Cuticle Oil.

After a day of wear, you can see the tip of my nail got a little dinged.

It seriously reminds me of the stars in the sky! It's such a beautiful polish.

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Pros: The formula is good, not too thin or thick, and plenty of glitters come out in every stroke. I didn't have to fish around. All of A Study in Polish's products are 3-free and are not tested on animals. The bottle came with two small stainless steel mixing balls, which is good because I had to really make sure I shook the bottle before application, because most of the glitters sunk to the bottom, but that is normal and only to be expected of a jelly polish.

I love that she makes a lot of Fandom-themed polishes, such as her current collections of: Hannibal, Sherlock, Teen Wolf, and The Hobbit! How amazing!! 

Cons: I really can't think of any cons about this product. It is beautiful and I am going to make sure to grab some more of her polishes! 

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It reminds me of one that I used to carry in Super Nails shop, that has been discontinued that was called "We'll Never Be Royal(Blue)" - but the polish I made was a bit of a lighter blue with different silver glitters, like diamonds and shreds.

If you would like to get your own polish from A Study in Polish, her store is located at this link.

Here are her social media links: Instagram & Facebook & Tumblr

Thank you so much! I hope you enjoyed reading my review! ❤

*This was not a paid post and my honest opinion was used. The opinions are solely my own and may vary from others. The products mentioned were won in a giveaway.*

Interview of Me Conducted by the Good Witch of the Midwest Blog

Hello! 

Inspiration poster for my Etsy "About Me" section that I made a couple months ago.

I wrote my own version of an origin story a couple of days ago, but I really wanted to share this interview that Breanne, from Good Witch of the Midwest gave me, so here it is!

"Good Witch: What are your favorite sources for inspiration?
KC/Super Nails: My favorite sources for inspiration are from Comic Books and Movie & Cartoon Characters! I am torn between DC or Marvel, I can't seem to choose one over the other. They both have characters that I love. I even named my business after superheroes! :)
Other places that I pull ideas from would be my favorite Foods (bacon & eggs, brownies, M&Ms… and I am working more for the near future!) I also enjoy matching my nails to the holidays that are coming up, so naturally I have Holiday themed polish whenever possible, including Birthstone colors.

"Good Witch: Where does your creativity stem from to allow you to come up with an array of colors and possibilities?
KC/Super Nails: I was always artistic in school, and took a couple art classes in college before majoring in business, so I would say that my creativity has always been with me. I like to play around with theme colors from comic book characters, so that is just a matter of matching up the right tone and texture of glitter to their suits and costumes.
I have an entire collection of bottles of colors that I put together that I am nervous about releasing because they are off the wall… I am not even sure what I could name them yet. I like to also look at what colors are on the forecast for the season in fashion magazines to give me an idea of what others might be looking for.

"Good Witch: What do you love about making polish?
KC/Super Nails: Other than the creative part of designing the polish, I love the meditative properties of it! All of my bottles are made-to-order, so I put good thoughts into the making of each one. It isn't a mass produced product when you buy from me, and not even made in batches and poured all at once. I feel like measuring out the amount of all of the glitters I put into each bottle is calming and it keeps me from getting bored since I get to play with so many different colors each day, depending on what was sold.
Another part I love about being a nail polish maker is getting to meet so many nice people in the online nail community. I never knew there was such a large group of ladies in this world that love nail polish so much! Having conversations with customers and bloggers is such a great experience for me, and it has helped me grow so much!

"Good Witch: What made you start making polish?
KC/Super Nails: I am still developing my origin story, but one reason I can think of right now is because when I discovered indie polishes, I fell in love! After awhile, I wanted nail polish to match my nerdy shirts, such as my Batman t-shirts and other geekery I get from shops from Etsy, Threadless, and Redbubble. That is really what started all of this craziness. After I got started, I found out that other people also love my polishes! When I realized people loved my polish designs had to be one of the most confidence building event for me ever! You're all so wonderful!!

"Good Witch: Do you have anything awesome in the works for your customers?
KC/Super Nails: I am continuing to design more DC and Marvel superheroes and villains. I am also working on a collection including Disney characters and villains! I want to eventually expand into some of my favorite movie and television show characters. I am also working on other secret collections, and I list new polishes almost every week, so the best way to keep up with my new polishes would either be by checking the shop often or  following Super Nails Lacquer on Facebook."

There it is! I was so happy with the results, that I just had to put it onto my own blog, too. Be sure to check out and follow Breanne's blog: thegoodwitchofthemidwest.blogspot.com

By the way, don't forget to enter my Blog Launching Party Giveaway! It ends this Wednesday at midnight! ❤

Another inspiration poster for my Etsy "About Me" section that I made a couple months ago.

And the last inspiration poster for my Etsy "About Me" section that I made a couple months ago.

 The interview kind of ties into these inspiration posters, I think.

Review on Pop Culture Cosmetics - Retired polishes

So I decided to start my indie polish swatching with Pop Culture Cosmetics. I have 7 polishes from her, which I bought mostly in the beginning of 2013, so the polishes I have swatched are no longer being made and sold by Pop Culture Cosmetics, but they are still a good representation of her little goodies.

My collection consists of:

"Tantrums and Tiaras" - glitter topper from 2012 (won't be pictured)

"Boo to You" - glitter topper from Halloween 2012

This glitter topper is a clear base with orange and purple hexes and squares, green hexes, orange and purple and green stars, and two sizes of black dots.

Here are the colors I used as undies for "Boo to You"

 I used 4 coats over the undies listed in the photo above. 

"5 Golden Rings" - shimmering glitter topper from Christmas collection 2012

 

This glitter topper is a clear golden shimmering base with holographic gold hexes in two sizes, and holographic gold bars.

Here are the colors I used as undies for "5 Golden Rings"

 I used 2 coats over the undies listed in the photo above. 

"Shamrock Shake" - shimmering glitter topper from St. Patrick's Day 2013

 

 

This glitter topper is a clear green shimmering base with green glitters of all colors, shades, shapes, and sizes, including iridescent glitters.

Here are the colors I used as undies for "Shamrock Shake"

I used 2 coats over the undies listed in the photo above. 

 

"In Bloom" - shimmering glitter topper from Spring 2013

This glitter topper is a clear iridescent shimmering base with blue dots, pastel pink and green and blue hexes, and yellow and red and pink daisies.

Here are the colors I used as undies for "In Bloom"

I used 2 coats over the undies listed in the photo above.  

"Dream Dust" - glow in the dark cream (2013)

This polish is an off-white glow in the dark base with dark green crescent moons, black hexes and diamonds, and green hexes and squares.

Here are the colors I used as undies for "Dream Dust"

I used 2 coats over the undies listed in the photo above. You can see the glow in the dark worked best on the nude nail.

"Harvest" - thermal crelly from Fall 2013

This polish is a thermal polish, which is a brown base with orange and gold shimmer, and turns black when cold, and burnt orange when hot. I used two coats of the polish in my manicure.

The colors I used as undies for "Harvest" You can see the polish is brown when in between hot and cold. 

The color when it is hot is almost black.

The color the polish is when hot is like a burnt orange.

Below I posted a video of the polish going from Cold to Hot. The pinky nail is with a black undie, so that is why it appears like it doesn't change colors. 

Pros: I like the shimmering bases from Pop Culture Cosmetics the best, like "In Bloom" and "Shamrock Shake". I really like how Pop Culture Cosmetics included 2-3 steel balls in each of the bottles. My favorites are "Dream Dust" and "Harvest", because the glow in the dark is great in this formula, and I always love thermals!

Cons: Her glitter toppers (at least the ones I have from a few years ago) are a little bit thin for my liking, and the glitters sink to the bottom easily, which also makes it very difficult to fish for the glitters and can be frustrating. The shimmering bases help suspend the glitters better, though. And I see that she makes a lot more creams and jellies now, so I think her formula may have improved since the release of these polishes I swatched. I will have to find out for myself!

Here is a link to her shop, and a link to her Facebook, where you can get her updates about coupons, sales, new polish releases, and giveaways!

If you liked what I did here, let me know or give me some suggestions of what you'd like to see in the future, in the comments section below! Thanks so much for reading! ❤

*This was not a paid post and my honest opinion was used. The opinions are solely my own and may vary from others. The products mentioned have been purchased with my own money.*