Introducing Royal Nail Icing

Hiya dolls!

I meant to have this post up on Saturday but life seriously got in the way :\  Today I would like to share a new indie brand with you.  The name is Royal Nail Icing and it is a project that 10 year old JaJa and her mother started....

 Colors Used: Royal Nail Icing - Sweet Concrete and Strawberry Lava, Daisy Nail Lacquer - White Diamond

I've been wanting to do a plaid or patchwork mani for a while now (it's been so long!) so when JaJa asked me if I would create some nail art using her polishes, I knew exactly what I was going to do :)

 I was quite surprised at the ease of which these polishes went on.  I'll get into the formula a little bit later, but I will say that I think I may have found a new fave indie brand of polishes...

Look at how cute the packaging is!  Very, very sweet.

I really love the bottles.  I think the crown is absolutely adorbs haha.  So let's talk formula....

Sweet Concrete is a creme grey polish.  I would describe it as a squirrel/rain cloud grey.  It applies beautifully in 2 coats for opaqueness.  It's not streaky at all

 

 Strawberry Lava is a pink/fuchsia crelly.  It too was really easy to apply.  2 coats would have sufficed but i had a teensy bit of nail line showing thru so 3 coats did the trick for me.  This polish reminds me of a juicy watermelon.  It just looks delicious!

Both of these polishes can be found on Royal Nail Icing's website for $6.50.  A great buy for any polish enthusiast who wants to expand their indie collection without breaking the bank lol.

 One last shot of the nail art ;)

I hope you all have a fabulous week!  I promise not to be a stranger :P

Until next time!

Stef <3

* This product was provided to me for review.  I received no payment or other compensation for the review of this product.  The opinions stated here are completely my own.  The contents of this review are based on my direct experience with this product.

Sunday's Are For Swatching!

Hello, lovelies!

Today I am launching a new segment on the blog.  I recently recieved an email from the logistics manager of my church choir (along with everyone else).  It basically reiterated our dress code policies on Sunday mornings and it stated that while we are allowed to wear nail polish it must be a "normal" color.  Wah wah wah.  So to keep myself from getting in trouble and to continue what used to be my "Church Mani" series, I'll be swatching!  There will be a swatch of my "normal" churchy polish and then a fun color to mix things up!  I may not be able to post every Sunday (brunch is a favorite of mine haha), but at least this way I can get thru my untried polishes quickly :D

Annette

First up is Annette!  Julep has described this beauty as a "light dove grey crème".  Personally, I think it looks more mushroom/taupe in color.  Either way I absolutely love it!  I received it in the most recent Julep Mystery Box that came out this month.  I didn't think it looked like anything special in the bottle but once I got it on.... I couldn't stop staring at it.  It's just so elegant and beautiful :)  This swatch is 2 coats with OPI RapiDry Top Coat.

Retail: $14.00  ($11.20 Maven Price)

Peachy Breeze

There ain't nothin' peachy about this one!  As with all  Insta-Dri's the formula is very thick, creamy and pigmented.  This polish is a bright coral that leans more towards a rosy-pink than orange.  This polish is the perfect "pick-me-up" color and it has been one of my faves for the last couple weeks.  This swatch is 2 coats with OPI RapiDry Top Coat.

Retail: $4.00 

Well, I hope you all have a very wonderful evening/night :)  If you have any suggestions how I can better my swatching posts, feel free to comment below...

Until next time!

Stef <3

What is This?

Hello, dearies!

Sooooo I am in a bit of a pickle.  I have quite a few mani's that I did/photographed before purchasing my light tent.  Now that I have it, I don't want to post those poopy old photos lol.  So that means I created another mani of randomness because I was uninspired but wanted to shoot something new in the tent.  I've heard this randomness referred to as a skittlette?  I don't know what to call it, other than odd...

 Colors Used: Color Club - Mrs. Robinson, Charlotte Russe - Smoulder, OPI - Coronation and Which is Witch?

I literally was about to head out the door to a birthday party, so I painted my nails in a random pallette.  When I got home I decided to bedazzle them haha.  Mrs.Robinson and Smoulder were 2 coats while Coronation what 3....

 (L - with flash, R - without flash)

I used a straw dipped in my polish bottles to get the splatter effect on my index finger.  The skull is an H&M nail sticker.  I used a cheapy kitchen spnge to do the ombre on my ring finger and used a striping brush for the details on my pinky :)

"Maaaaaahh... I'm going to get you!!"

I've finally realized what is so fun about ombres, so just expect to see them popping up more frequently.  Like tomorrow. :P

Until next time!

Stef <3

May TPC - Day 2

Good morning, lovelies!

It's Day 2 of the TPC and I decided to finally attempt a nautical mani.  I used my red,blue and grey polishes.  I also threw in a freebie color; white...

 Colors Used: Julep - Taylor (blue) and January (red), OPI - Skull & Glossbones (grey)

I like this one!  Lol...

I started with my base colors, Taylor and January being opaque in 2 coats while Skull and Glossbones took 3.  I taped of sections of the grey and painted blue over them to achieve some staright-ish stripes haha.  The anchor was free-handed...

I'm anchored!

I'm excited for next weeks TPC manis, I'm going nerd :D  I just hope what I envision and the execution are copacetic!  Be sure to check out the other ladies beautiful creations below...

Until next time!

Stef <3 

Little April Showers

 Good morning, dearies!

Today's mani is inspired by the weather and my umbrella :)  Last week we finally got some "April Showers" in the OC.  It was more like a drizzle, just enough to make my white Jetta look terrible lol.  So I thought, "What the hey!  I'll do an umbrella!."  It is my most favoritest umbrella from my most favoritest store... Target!!  :D

There were a lot of polishes used in this mani and because I did it last week and can't remember them all :\  But, at a glance, I know the base color is 2 coats of Julep Meryl.  I topped that with one thin coat of Revlon Calla Lilly to give it a little shimmer.  The clouds are Julep Dendrie and the raindrops are JLB Aruba Blue.  The Umbrella is my go-to Rimmel Black Satin.  As for the rest... your guess is as good as mine!  ;)

 

The day after I did these, there wasn't a cloud in the sky.  I felt a little silly with this on my nails haha.  Today I wake up and it's gloomy again!  Go figure...

I think I like this one :)

In new news, I want let you know that I am planning on doing both the Hobby Polish Bloggers Challenge and The Crumpet's Tri Polish Challenge for the month of May.  My Jimminy Cricket is telling me this isn't such a good idea, but I hardly ever listen to him :P   I still have some product reviews to get out as well so stay tuned!

Until next time!

Stef <3

P.S.  Welcome to my new followers!  I'm so glad you like my craziness enough to stick around hahaha.

Rockin' Some Hard Candy

Good morning, starshine!

I'm loving the mani I'm sharing today!  Ever since I read the press release for the new line of Hard Candy polishes at Wally World (aka Walmart) I've been super excited and on the hunt.  I went to my local store but the apparently have stopped carrying Hard Candy's products.  So I went to the next town over... their stock had been completely rifled thru and the one polish I've been drooling over (Gummy Green) was completely gone *sniff*.  So I decided to pick up the next best...

 Colors Used: Julep - Dendrie, Hard Candy - Black Tie Optional

I cannot get enough of this glitter!!  

"Crystal Confetti Collection. A unique collection based on artistic expression. Flourishing, adventurous, full coverage shades with various particle sizes and creative textures. Graffiti is revolutionary; it's an outlet to create public art. Now take this artistic and creative expression to your nails."

I started with 2 coats of Dendrie (one of my favorite greys) and topped it with 1 coat of Black Tie Optional.  This was a perfect mani to be wearing on the gloomy day we had yesterday :)

I think what I love most about Black Tie is the various sizes and shapes of the black and white glitters.  I feel like my nails almost look like rocks.  Just 1 coat was compacted with so much glitter... It's awesome!

I am feeling a little under the weather so I may not post again until the weekend, I'm sorry :(  But I promise to have good stuff to share when I return!  On second thought... I did just receive my Julep Spring Mystery Box and it was filled with all kinds of goodies worth sharing... we shall see ;)

Until next time!

Stef <3

Church Mani: Feeling Rosy

Happy Sunday everyone!

I have been absent because of illness, my apologies.  It was one of those weeks where I was sick and feeling unmotivated.  I didn't want to do anything but curl up under a blanket and veg in front of the TV *sigh*.  I did attempt a few mani's while I was on hiatus, tho I'm not really crazy about any of them lol.  I'll be sharing a couple with you this up coming week :)  Onto today's mani!

This mani was inspired by a fan nail of the day that I saw on Julep's blog page (by the by, they shared my Princess Jasmine inspired nails this past week on their Facebook page! *squeals*).  I loved the idea and thought it would be subtle enough for church.

 Colors Used: Julep - Lisa and Hoch, Revlon - Temptress and Tuscan Sun, Wet n Wild - French White Creme, China Glaze - Love Letters

What I like... I think it's cute and fun :)  I've been crazy about grey polishes from the get-go and Lisa is just creamy beautiful-ness (it's practically a one-coater, I'm just a bit of a perfectionist and prefer 2 coats haha)

What I don't like... I need to work on my roses.  They look like something a child would do, definitely not a look I'm striving for lol.  The stripimg is alright. And I don't know what those farbeedoo's are hanging off of my nail but they were driving me crazy!

Overall tho, I am pleased with the way it turned out :)

That's all I have for now.  The next post I'll have for you might qualify as my first "swatching" post.  I dunno... either way it should be interesting!

Until next time!

Stef <3

Church Mani: Semi-Braided

Hello lovelies!!  Gahh I've been gone for far too long *sigh*

I'm taking a break from packing (we're moving in 5 days!!!) and I've decided to share my church mani from this past Sunday.  I got inspired my nail art I saw here...

 Colors Used: Sally Hansen - White On, Love & Beauty - Beige, Julep - Meryl

I haven't really had any time the last couple of weeks to do my nails, which is pretty tragic.  I've slapped some polish on and ran out the door but the nail art has been pretty non-existent.  So, while this mani is simple, it's a small step towards getting back into my routine :)

All of the polishes I used are fairly thick, I used one coat of each (one thick coat).

 

 I was bumming around in my favorite Target sweats all day Saturday haha...

 

 So these you have it... yay nails!!

I suppose that's all for now.  Love to you all <3

Until next time!

Stef <3

Church Mani: Chevron/Fishtail Frenchie

Good afternoon, all!  A quick Sunday post before I run off to my practically-nephews' 2 yrs old birthday extravaganza.  One of my very best friends gave birth to 2 amazing little boys 2 years ago and I can't wait to celebrate with her and the cuties :)

For today, I did a design that combined a technique that I'd been playing with for awhile and a design I saw from Sarah at Chalkboard Nails (If you're not familiar with her blog, please check it out!  She's phenomenal!).  I don't know Sarah personally but I really do admire her work.  Here's what I did...

 Colors Used: Confetti - Lonesome Dove, O.P.I. - My Boyfriend Scales Walls

I actually did this mani last night after taking off my first attempt at the chevron/fishtail mani (which turned out REALLY well and I'll be sharing it with you tomorrow lol).  2 coats of each color and then polka dots (if you follow me regularly, you know how much I love polka dots!).  Lastly, I topped it off with Juleps Fast Dry Topcoat because I wanted to climb into bed quick like.  Please forgive my poor, beat-up cuticles :(  I have not had time to properly manicure them in a while and during the second service at church this morning, I got a little bored an started picking at them.  They're not holding up so well so I shall be putting Neosporin on them and hopefully that will help. 

So there you have it!  I hope you all have/have had a very happy and blessed Sunday :)

Until next time!

Stef <3

A Monochromatic Mani (aka Ombre :P)

Good day to you nail art / polish lovers!  It's almost the weekend as much as I love my time off, the next few days are going to be busy and hectic.. bleh.

Well, for today's mani I decided to do a full ombre look (I did a frenchie ombre that you can view here if you'd like :) ).  I love the color grey... a lot!  And grey scale nails just sounded like a great idea, so here they are haha...

 These are my favorite grey's in my collection.  I really like the ombre look, I think it's very fun!  There is another technique that I want to try out where you just use one color polish and add drops of black or white to change the shade. 

Here are the colors used...

Rimmel - Black Satin, Charlotte Russe - Smolder, Julep - Meryl, Confetti - Lonesome Dove, O.P.I. - Skull & Glossbones

Of course, I can't just leave plain polish on my fingers.  I need some pizazz!  Lol so I added my go to glimmer on top.  You know what it is I'm sure...

 China Glaze - Fairy Dust

It's my favorite, what can I say?  It's just so sparkly!!

As a side note, I've had a couple of friends ask me about my manicure techniques.  While I'm still learning myself, I have found some of the tips at Nails by Kayla Shevonne to be quite helpful!  Her "Manicuring 101" series is pretty awesome :)

So that's my post for today... unless you are curious about my recent polish haul ;)  It's after the jump!

A Short & Sweet Sponging Technique

'Ollo, friends!  My post for today is coming a little later than usual and I apologize.  I got home really late last night from rehearsal and I over slept this morning as a result.  I was going to skip blogging altogether today but I felt compelled by the nail gods to do something new lol.

We've been having gloomy/drizzly weather here for a few days and it's really been dampening my inspiration for nail art.  So I decided to run with it and try a gloomy/drizzly sponging technique...

Colors Used: Julep - Meryl, O.P.I. - Skull & Glossbones, Wet-n-Wild - French White Creme

This mani is pretty simple and fun to do.  With a makeup sponge I layered the colors on my nail, cleaned it up with some acetone and a brush and then I applied 1 coat of SV.  Since the paint was sponged on pretty thin, this mani dried incredibly fast!  I am pleased with the results :)

I hope you all have a lovely day and I can't wait for tomorrows post (eeeeeee!!  :D)

Until next time!

Stef <3