Above the Curve Peeps, Love, & Happiness

Polish Information: This fun, springy blue is Above the Curve's Peeps, Love, & Happiness, from their Power to the Polish Peeps collection. It's another well-chosen color for spring- a sky blue with holographic shimmer and lots of pastel glitters. Unfortunately, I had a lot of trouble getting the bigger glitters out, but with some digging, I was able to get a few- including a flower! I love the base color, and it was completely opaque in 1-2 coats (1 was really enough, but I used two). And it didn't have glitters poking up out of it either, after just one coat of Color Club topcoat, which was nice! No staining on removal, and 4 day wear had minimal chipping/tip wear. It was really a great polish, if only the glitters wanted to come out! On to the pic spam!

Peeps, Love & Happiness, indoors no flash

Peeps, Love & Happiness, indoors no flash

Peeps, Love & Happiness, indoors no flash

Peeps, Love & Happiness, indoors no flash

 I don't know why flash makes my hands look tan. I assure you they are not... but I thought it might help show some of the shine! Anyway, I'm including the photos (not 100% color accurate) anyway!

Peeps, Love & Happiness, indoors with flash

Peeps, Love & Happiness, indoors with flash

Final thoughts: I thought this was a gorgeously fun color. I wish the glitters were easier to get out, but I love the base color. Wear time was fabulous as well! If you love light blues, you NEED to add this to your list!

If you haven't heard of Above the Curve before, they are a husband and wife team that created this great brand with a cause- they donate some of each bottle sold to a charity. If you want to get your own, visit their shop here or see them on facebook here! As a note, this polish was provided to me for my honest review, and my opinions are all my own.

Above the Curve This One's for my Peeps!

“All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.”

- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

Polish Information: This fun springy polish is Above the Curve's This One's for my Peeps, from their super-fun Power to the Polish Peeps Collection! It's a pink-leaning purple packed with microflakies that are blue and purple (I think). It's a really fun spring polish with GREAT, smooth application- it looked full coverage in one coat, but I used two to be sure. Also, after FOUR days, only very minor tipwear! I really enjoyed it!

You probably noticed, but instead of a mug, I used one of the Dunkin Donuts Peeps donuts- I thought, how can I resist with a Peeps polish? Here's another shot:

Anyway, on to the polish pictures!!

Final Thoughts: I really enjoyed wearing this one- it was subtle but very interesting, and application and wear time were so fabulous! If you love pinks and purples, this is a MUST!

If you haven't heard of Above the Curve before, they are a husband and wife team that created this great brand with a cause- they donate some of each bottle sold to a charity. If you want to get your own, visit their shop here or see them on facebook here! As a note, this polish was provided to me for my honest review, and my opinions are all my own.

Above the Curve Playing for Peeps

"Never cut a tree down in the wintertime. Never make a negative decision in the low time. Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst moods. Wait. Be patient. The storm will pass. The spring will come."

-Robert H. Schuller

Polish Information: This beauty is Above the Curve's Playing for Peeps, from their super fun and springy Power to the Polish Peeps Collection (LOVE it!!)! This is a tealish blue crelly, loaded with neon glitters. In my bottle, even though I shook it up, the bigger glitters stuck to the side and didn't seem to be too present, so I mostly got the little ones on my nails. Honestly though, I like the look of it so much better with just the little glitters!! It's like the springiest robin's egg color! I love it! Application was easy (as long as you don't want the big glitters) and it was full coverage in 2 thin coats. Wear time was great too- no chips after 2 days, despite how hard I am on my nails! I wore it over Julep's base coat and topped it with Color Club top coat (as I find this smooths out bumps from glitters well). On to the pic spam!

Playing for Peeps in outdoor lighting

Playing for Peeps in outdoor lighting

Playing for Peeps in indoor fluorescent lighting

Playing for Peeps in indoor fluorescent lighting

Playing for Peeps indoors

Final thoughts: I really enjoyed this polish and especially loved it with just the neon microglitter! It was so fun and springy! Wear time was FABULOUS as well!

If you haven't heard of Above the Curve before, they are a husband and wife team that created this great brand with a cause- they donate some of each bottle sold to a charity. If you want to get your own, visit their shop here or see them on facebook here! As a note, this polish was provided to me for my honest review, and my opinions are all my own.

Above the Curve We are the World

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtfully committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

-Margaret Mead

Polish Information: This polish is Above the Curve's We are the World (WATW), a LE polish in honor of Earth Day!. WATW is a deep blue crelly with green and blue glitters mixed in (the name is so apt- it does look like Earth soup!). It doesn't need undies and comes to full coverage in three coats. Application was nice and smooth, but the bigger glitters were hard to get out (for me this is great, as I love the smaller glitters). It also dried smoothly and one coat of top coat was enough to make it completely smooth. As for wear time, it only had minor tip wear after 3 days of rough wear, which was great by me!

Final thoughts: This was a gorgeous and fun crelly glitter polish, and I really liked it. Application and wear time were great! The name suits it so perfectly as well.

If you haven't heard of Above the Curve before, they are a husband and wife team that created this great brand with a cause- they donate some of each bottle sold to a charity. For this LE Earth Day polish, they are donating money to the Sierra Club Foundation. If you want to get your own, visit their shop here or see them on facebook here! As a note, this polish was provided to me for my honest review, and my opinions are all my own.

Massive BLOGGER MANIa Giveaway!

Woohoo! A very exciting giveaway has come up in which I am a participant! Several awesome bloggers have come together to give away THREE random gift certificates (3 people who enter at random in the rafflecopter will win) and THREE will win based on their fun manicure (one any of the themes listed below)! All the sponsoring bloggers will be the judges. An extra big thanks to ColorSutraa for putting the giveaway together; I'm honored to be a part of it! You can pick a theme from the list below:

MANI CONTEST :

1. ColorSutraa : INSPIRED BY INDIA

2. Coloure My Obsessions : SPORTS

3. IDream Of Lacquer : PASTEL FLORALS

4. I Feel Polished : DOCTOR WHO

5. Kat Stays Polished : CUPCAKES

6. Lacquer : The Best Medicine : MEDICINE

7. Morning Nailspiration :SCIENCE

8. Piggie Luv : GRAFFITI

9. Taneja’s Bride : THE BEATLES

10. That Gal Jenna : CATS

11. The Jedi Wife : THE WILD WEST

This giveaway is INTERNATIONAL!!! So please feel free to enter, no matter where you come from! The winners (6 total: 3 at random from rafflecopter and 3 of our favorite manis) will be able to choose a $20 (for random winners) or $35 (for mani winners) e-gift certificate from the following: color4nails, llarowe or paypal! That's right, $20 or $35 to their choice!!!!

You don't have to enter a mani in the contest to enter through the rafflecopter (and be a randomly selected winner!), so please do that below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

An InLinkz Link-up

MDJ Creations Holo Top Coat

“When I set a glass prism on a windowsill and allow the sun to flood through it, a spectrum of colors dances on the floor. What we call "white" is a rainbow of colored rays packed into a small space. The prism sets them free. Love is the white light of emotion.”

- Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of Love

Polish Information: Above, I am showing MDJ Creations Cascading Holo Top Coat over Zoya Charisma (2 thick coats), which I consider to be an orchid shade (since as we all know, Pantone named Orchid as 2014's color of the year!). The main problem with holo top coats is that they will silver out any color you put them over. The way to get around this is to use a very thin coat, so you get the holo without all the silvering. Therefore, the holo top coat needs to have a balanced amount of spectraflair pigment, which is somewhat hard to do (I've had really bad luck with holo top coats in the past). Luckily, MDJ Creations has found this balance, and one thin coat of her Cascading Holo Top Coat over any color gives the desired holo effect without silvering the color out! It applied easily and smoothly- one thin coat is all it needs!

Zoya Charisma- 2 thick coats by itself indoors

Indoors, no flash

Indoors with flash

Outdoors in shade (no holo reflection, so you can see the pigment)

Indoors, no flash

Indoors, no flash

WHAT? Second color?? Yes, I decided to try the Cascading Holo Top Coat over Zoya Bevin (2 coats) just to show what it looks like over a second color. Again, one thin coat of the holo top coat over the color gave it that holo flair without silvering it out!

Indoors, no flash with bottle comparison to see silvering (or lack thereof)

Indoors, no flash

Indoors with flash

Indoors with flash

Indoors, no flash

Final thoughts: This is a beautiful holo top coat and gives just the amount of spectraflair you need to turn any color into a holographic- without making it a shade of silver. Application was smooth and easy, no pro techniques needed!

If you want your own, please check out MDJ Creations on facebook, or go straight to her etsy store here! As a note, this polish was purchased by me at a discount for my honest review.

MDJ Creations Tropical Heat

“Nights and days came and passed

And summer and winter

and the rain.

And it was good to be a little Island.

A part of the world

and a world of its own

All surrounded by the bright blue sea.”

- Margaret Wise Brown, The Little Island

Polish Information: This polish is MDJ Creations Tropical Heat. It's a hot orangy pink jelly with many small silvery glitters. It was pretty sheer, so I layered 2 coats of it over 2 coats Zoya Mitzi, which makes it look pink on my nails! Julep topcoat was used in these photos. Application was smooth and easy. I only wore it for about a day, but no chips or cracks! Anyway, on to the pics!

Tropical Heat over Zoya Mitzi in outdoors shade

Tropical Heat over Zoya Mitzi in outdoors shade

Tropical Heat over Zoya Mitzi indoors with flash

Tropical Heat over Zoya Mitzi indoors without flash

Tropical Heat over Zoya Mitzi indoors without flash

Tropical Heat over Zoya Mitzi indoors without flash

Final thoughts: This was a fun, bright polish- in stark contrast to the horrible winter we've had up here! It makes me long for an island vacation... Application was great and it wore nicely.

If you want your own, please check out MDJ Creations on facebook, or go straight to her etsy store here! As a note, this polish was purchased by me at a discount for my honest review.

MDJ Creations Festival Lights

“"Well, that’s actually quite understandable," Deepak gently returned, "there are a lot of things people fear, yet really the only thing people have any reason to fear is uncertainty. Of course, the biggest uncertainty is what happens to us after this life, which is why we fear death so much. But even death is rather pointless to worry about, it will happen to each and every one of us, whether we care for it or not, all we can do is try to accept it as gracefully as possible.
"This is why, living day to day, my greatest uncertainty hasn't been about death, but whether you will love me by returning all of my affection. I can’t think of anything I would find more fearful or disturbing than if you were to refuse my feelings or worse if you were to fall in love with someone else before you had a chance to love me."”

-Andrew James Pritchard, Festival of Lights

Three thick coats over white on the thumb here (to show base better)

Polish Information: This polish is MDJ Creations "Festival Lights." It has multiple small yellow and red glitters of different shapes with a slight holographic shimmer in a slightly gold base. The base is nearly clear, so it is certainly best layered, and I chose to use a bright white base so that the glitters could really stand out, and you could see variations on base color. Thus, all photos are 2 coats Festival Lights over 2 coats Sally Hansen Ivory Skull (a bright bleach white). The holographic shimmer in the base is very subtle in photos, but you can catch a bit of holo shine in natural light. Application was very good- no fishing for glitters- they came out easily, even from the mini bottle. I used Julep topcoat. Wear time was pretty good- no chips until 2 days of wear (when I was doing hard cleaning/laundry). On to the photos!

Festival Lights outdoors in the sun!

Festival Lights outdoors in the sun!

Festival Lights outdoors in the sun!

Festival Lights outdoors in the shade

Festival Lights outdoors in the shade

Festival Lights indoors with a flash, close up to show the base/holo shimmer

Final thoughts: This one was fun to play around with. I think in the future, putting it over a gold color would also be very pretty, as the base is light and this would make it stand out more. Wear was pretty good and application was great!

If you want your own, please check out MDJ Creations on facebook, or go straight to her etsy store here! As a note, this polish was purchased by me at a discount for my honest review.