Review of Polish Addict Spring Polishes

Laura over at Polish Addict recently sent me two of her Spring polishes to review and it was some of the first nail mail I've received at my temporary resident, my grandfather's home. 

First up, is a neon dream of a polish.  Spring Prom Queen is full of matte neon red and fuchsia hexes and squares, matte hot pink hearts, and several different sizes and shapes of white glitter in a subtle light pink base.

I think that Spring Prom Queen is awesome!  The formula is smooth, easy to apply, and takes two to three coats to reach full coverage.  I love all the different shapes and the white and neon matte theme going on.   Spring Prom Queen proclaims that Spring is indeed here with a fresh and bright signature that I find nicely different than some of the neon glitter bombs we are seeing in indies. 

Next I have Spring Equinox which is a shimmery rose colored base filled with silver and light pink hexes of various sizes and tiny green glitters.   Spring Equinox is the first day of Spring aka March 20th which recently passed and this polish lives up to that hopeful day capturing the colors of a rose garden.     

I love the extra large hexes, the mixtures of these glitter colors, and the shimmering base in Spring Equinox.   Like Spring Prom Queen this polish goes on smoothly and completely covers in two coats.

To get your own Polish Addict Spring polishes, go to Polish Addict's shop on Bigcartel!  The shop reopens Friday, March 29th with new polishes and some great polish deals. Run, Go, you know you want to:)

Essence and Indie Tuesdays: essence grey-t to be here and Windestine Secret Garden

Hard to believe but today's e&I Tuesday offering is my fourth in the series.   It forcing me to get out of my comfort zone with color, to use many indies I have lying around un-swatched, and I have so much more to do.  Did you know that the essence colour & go has several new colors?  I think essence and Indie Tuesdays will continue for quite a while on Nails Actually.

The contenders today are--
essence: grey-t to be here
Indie:  Windestine Secret Garden (recently acquired from a blog sale)

grey-t to be here is a light grey polish with a subtle pink micro shimmer.  The picture below shows the shimmer effect.  This essence polish covers in one coat and dries super fast. I am not typically drawn to grey polishes but I really love the surprise shimmer in grey-t to be here.

Windestine's Secret Garden consist of white heart glitter, pastel green hex glitters in two sizes, pastel purple hex glitters, and silver micro glitter suspended in a clear base.  I thought that the light and pastel nature of this indie would mesh well with grey-t to be here and it does!  This combination has made for a very feminine and understated manicure.  

So there you have it!  Another pairing of commercial and independent polishes colliding together for the sake of fashion and art and beauty!

I don't believe that Secret Garden is still available for purchase but you should absolutely check out Windestine's esty shop to see if there is anything else you might want.  

Mentality's Fervor

I have been eying Mentality's Fervor for quite a while and finally bought it.   Dictionary.com describes the definitions of fervor as "great warmth and earnestness of feeling" or "intense heat." 
It is an apt name because I am feeling all hot, and bothered, and earnest about this holo.

Maybe I'm just a holo-aholic but this polish is my new best friend.  I told the maker Hillary that Fervor was going to get me fired because it was so mesmerizing I knew I'd spend all day looking at it.  As you can see from the bottle shot below, Fervor is a light purple linear holographic nail polish that  promises to shoot rainbows off your nails. 

It took three, thin coats for full coverage and I topped it off with one coat of Seche for quicker drying.  The application was easy and the finish was smooth.  Let's let the pics speak for themselves!

What is not to love about Fervor?  Are you fanning yourself?

 If you simply must have this polish (and you must) you can buy it and other Mentality nail polishes here.  Mentality has a new line of color shifting holos as well as well as a line of warm or neutral toned holo polishes.   If you collect indie brands, don't miss out on this beauty.

Above the Curve Prototype Holos

I recently was able to buy two Above the Curve prototype polishes.  Unfortunately, the supplies used to make these polishes are no longer easily acquired so Above The Curve only made a small amount to sell.

First, I have Prototype Purple.  Prototype Purple is a vibrant purple holo polish with blue and purple shimmering flecks. 

As you can see from the following pics, Prototype Purple's holo is scattered and brilliant.  I am wearing three coats for full coverage with one generous coat of Seche Vite.

Purple is my favorite color and purple holos are a particular favorite finish of polish I love to collect.  Prototype Purple is a great addition to my holo stash.  The polish mixers at Above the Curve are truly exceptional.

Next, I have Prototype Blue, also a scattered holo with pink and blue shimmering flecks.

This polish also took three, thin coats to get full coverage and the effect is worth the drying time.
I topped it with Seche Vite and let the holos fly off my nails.   Like purple, I am a bit of a fool for blue polishes thus Prototype Blue is also a very nice addition to my holo collection.

The verdict?  I am very sad that this polish will not be readily available to other holo lovers but I am glad I was able to get them.  Console yourselves with the fact that there will always be other innovative holographic polishes you will be lemming for.   That is what is so great about indie polishes and polish makers...they always astound.

Polish Addict's Dr. Franken Review

Hello, ya'll!  I hope you are all having a great weekend.   Today I have another "kitchen sink" glitter polish for ya~

I recently ordered several of Polish Addict's glitter polishes.  You can find her shop here.  I love glitter bombs so Dr. Franken was a must buy.  It has tons of different sized hex, square, and micro glitters in all colors.

Application was easy and coverage was achieved by the dabbing method.  I have just two coats of Dr. Franken over Orly's Viridian Vinyl and its topped off with one coat of Seche Vite.  

Last, as usual, I used my butter London matte topcoat to tone down the glitter polish base so you can see the glitter detail.  

All I can say is wow!  It a fun house, circus, and rainbow party on your nails.  Gah, what is not to love about this polish?!  Its an indie keeper:)

Emily de Molly The Fifth Element

Today, I have a very quick swatch for of Emily de Molly's The Fifth Element.  Not only is this polish named after one of my favorite movies but its also very striking. 

The Fifth Element has red and teal hex glitters and teal micro glitter in a turquoise base.  The application was easy and full coverage was achieved with two coats.   Emily de Molly polishes are hard to find.  I lucked out and happened upon a restock on Llarowe.  You have to camp out for this brand because its popular and hard to get. 

I will add a bottle shot soon to this post but for now, feast your eyes on...

Different Dimension Right to Vote 2012

So the genius behind Different Dimension, Missi, made an offer a month or two ago.  Send her a shot of your polling place and she'd send you a election inspired polish for $4 total.  As I've said, Different Dimension is one of my favorite indies so I was all over this polish offer.  I snapped a screenshot of my voting place and within a week I was a happy new owner of Right to Vote 2012.

You know me...I love to embellish so I added my own style to the Right to Vote 2012 polish.  But don't let my mani or this awesome polish distract you from the message...VOTE, please!

Different Dimension To the Moon and Back

Another lovely mix from Different Dimensions, this one is called To the Moon and Back.  The name of this polish takes me back to the 90s, riding the bus on school events and blaring Savage Garden's To the Moon and Back.  Ah, memory lane!  Anyway this polish has a cool shimmery blue base with dark blue and silver micro glitters and silver star and moon glitters.   I just noticed I missed some clean up but it doesn't take away from the beauty of this polish.  Yep, this one is a keeper! 

Different Dimensions Rainbows and Butterflies

Today I have a beautiful glitter from Different Dimension called Rainbows and Butterflies.  I cannot say enough about this polish.  Its sooo gorgeous on nails and the butterfly glitters are an added bonus.  This polish looks solid after two to three coats and you'll be staring at your nails a lot.  Don't stare and drive!  Different Dimension polishes are not disappointing and its one of my favorite indies right now.

And here it is on top of SH Salon Manicure Parrot.  Ah-mazing!

Indies again...2 Chix Holographics and Glitters!

Just got these in and haven't had a chance to swatch them.  But I thought I'd atleast show the bottle shots!  Who doesn't love those? 

These are from the esty shop 2Chix which is not currently selling at the moment. Sweet Cheeks and Blue Monday are not customs but I don't think they are available for sale on the site.  If you decide you must have any of these, let me know and I can put you in contact with the maker or contact them on etsy!

China Glaze Blue Iguana topped with Crow's Toes Absolum

Just a quick swatch of my one and only Crows Toes polish, Absolum.  I paired it up with China Glaze Blue Iguana.

Year of Polish Challenge Catch Up: Rock Star Nails aka Week 29

While grad school has been kicking my butt this summer semester, my nail art/blog/facebook/and overall pouring over other nail art blogs and images has suffered.

I decided I couldn't skip the 5 weeks that I've missed of the year of Polish challenge so I am making them up when I can and getting back on track.....until grad school kicks my butt again!

Here's my quick Rock Star mani with Pretty and Polished's Punk'd Up Betty.

Punk'd was MADE for rock star nails, just sayin'!