Glitter Guilty October box review: In which I nearly murder a tree

 

Hello again, my blogosphere!

I'm excited to bring you another Glitter Guilty winner, this month's box featured some real beauties.  
We had some fun Halloween treats; a chocolate dipped and sprinkled graham cracker and oreo from an etsy specializing in dipped treats.  Sorry no photos of those, though, I uh..."lost" them.  Or perhaps gained them, if you catch my drift?

The polishes were so beautiful, though.  My monthly "me" polish was so alluring, I literally gasped when I saw it (after I tore open the box on the way up my driveway.  Don't drive distracted, folks, a tree nearly lost it's life for this beauty.)

(Clockwise L to R: Zoya "Kristen" with China Glaze "Poetic", Zoya "Kristen" with Julep "Sienna", Glitter Guilty "Lilac Luxe", and Zoya "Kristen" again with China Glaze "Poetic")

"Lilac Luxe" is a super pale cool lilac crelly packed with medium copper hexes, smaller gold hexes, tiny gold round glitters, copper bar glitter, and iridescent microglitter that's mostly only visible in direct lighting.  It was inspired by this photo which I found via pinterest and shared with Glitter Guilty:

 

Stunning yes?  And she did an amazing job of pulling it off, in my opinion. 

 

I chose to try and replicate the inspiration photos in my manicure with the Glitter Guilty polish as anaccent to top it all off.  The closest thing I have to this pale lilac is Zoya "Kristen", which is really more blue (sounds like a good reason for a shopping trip to me!) 

I used the same alcohol marbling technique as I've attempted previously with the gold and rose gold (again, I need to buy a few new colors!) My main beef with this technique is each polish seems to react in a new way to the alcohol, so it is hard to get a cohesive look in the manicure.

 

(You can see my on my pinky how the rose gold polish was trying to spot waaay differently than the yellow gold.  I had to manipulate it a lot for the other fingers featuring this polish.)

 

  

The Monthly mini this month was ALSO pretty awesome.  It's called "Something Wicked", and not only is it stunning for the holiday (Happy Halloween, folks!) but it is also the perfect summation of the beloved musical for which it was clearly named.  I had the opportunity to see "Wicked" during it's tour, and it was just absolutely stunning.  Deviant from the book, yes, but for once not in a way that left me upset.  But, I ramble...on to the polish!

 

 

(Glitter Guilty "Something Wicked")

You can expect to see this one swatched REAL soon!  I'm still ogling it.  In fact, if you've STILL not signed up for your own Glitter Guilty monthly subscription box, you can request a full size AS your monthly "me" from here on out!  You can do this with any of her in-store polishes, since she's changed the program a bit.  There will be about a dozen polish variations in the boxes, in addition to the "in store" items listed on her site.  She'll do her best to fit your likes and dislikes from those dozen creations, or put in your requested pre-made polish. 

I'm dying to see what next month brings to my mailbox!  I hope you sign up so you can get happy mail too!

 

 

 

 

Northwest Diamonds

Today, I celebrate the Pacific Northwest's diamonds...aka, rain.   Growing up in the greater Seattle area and transplanting to Oregon, I'm a PNW native who adores the rain.

Zoya "Tao" offers the perfect stormy cloud base of pewter grey (with a nice soft metallic sheen to back it up), and Sinful Colors "Crystal Clear" glitter, densely packed with holographic diamonds and tiny dots, as well as tiny blue luminescent bar glitters.  It's like a backlit rainstorm on my nails!   Love.

More pics!   

Zoya "Tao" (MSRP 8.00) is from the 2012 fall "Smoke and Mirrors" collection has a lovely formula and is a great fall essential, understated but gorgeous with just the right  amount of sheen.

Sinful Colors "Crystal Clear" (MSRP 1.99) from their limited spring "Diamond Lust" collection has been sitting in my intrudes since I picked it up on a whim this spring.   I'm so glad I have it, though, it's surprisingly well formulated with minimal "fishing" required for diamonds, and less placement issues than most shaped glitters of this size.   It is a little on the goopy side, but not enough to make me hesitate to use it again.   If you find a bottle of this one, pick it up!

Baby's back to school nails!

Hey nail fans!  I've got something tiny, adorable, and fun to share with you today.

My big girl is starting her last year of elementary school this year - wild!   Her nails were suitably decorated, matching her understated leopard print pants (which she paired with a batgirl, supergirl, and wonder woman shirt), and featured Zoya Kelly (grey), Zoya Purity (white), and Zoya Cynthia (blackened teal).  Feast your eyes!

Spring Fever: Indie Glitters and a contest

 This manicure was originally done for Kayla Shevonne's indie nail art contest, but I've done something I love even more.  Hopefully I've made the right choice in which to submit.  I still do love this one, though! 

The Orange is Rainbow Honey's "Hoof Wrassle" with a coat of Zoya "Kate" to pull it a little more coral than pumpkin.  The tips are Zoya "Izzy" with Dollish Polish "Random Dancing" over it, and each finger is accented with a different color, just for fun!  Thumb to pinky the colors are Zoya "Zuza", Sinful Colors "Happy Ending", OPI "Manicurist of Seville", Zoya "Sharon", and Zoya "Hope". 

I think the concept of this contest is both excellent and challenging.  Since most indie polishes are pretty glitter-dense, doing nail art with them is difficult.  I'm happy with how the execution of this one came out, but I'm absolutely in LOVE with the most recent one - I can't wait to share it with you after submission!   I hope to see some of you participate too, drop me a link if you do!

Stormy Sparkles

Today I have a Pacific Northwest friendly fall manicure.   Zoya's moody "Kelly" puts on some sparkle with Rainbow Honey's "The Worst Possible Thing" to get in the celebratory mood that this time of year always brings me.  I love the storm clouds, the fall drinks and treats.  I feel like it's Christmas as soon as the rainy season moves in, so the holo glitter wonder here mixed with the deep grey is just perfect.

 Bottle Love!   Rainbow Honey "The Worst Possible Thing", Zoya "Kelly"

In the shade, Kelly deepens, but the sparkles still shine.

There you have it!   Do you love Autumn as much as I do? 
What are your favorite holiday treats?

Paisley proof of life...

I'm alive!   It's been a while since I've posted anything - a lot has changed in my life.  We moved to the country, and got pregnant!  I'm actually about 16 weeks along now, and finally felt up to doing some half decent nail art.  Are you as excited as I am?

This is the final result (left hand pictured) of my hard work.  Not perfection, but whimsical and fun and therapeutic.  I'm pretty stoked about the thumb and pointer on this hand, and I'll definitely be doing this again.  (Sorry about the crappy cuticles and formatting here)

I'll even share the right hand with you...feeling special yet?

(Right Thumb)


OK, one more look at the "good" hand.  TTFN!

OPI Black Spotted - three ways

If you aren't an avid nail blog stalker, chances are you don't know about this little beauty.   Originally only released in France (though now appearing in some Holland Sephora stores), Black Spotted replaced the crackle polish that came out with OPI's Spiderman collection.   My friend Candice in France was kind enough to snag one for me, and I am obsessed, to say the least.   

Let me show you why:

This is OPI Black Spotted over Zoya Poppy.   

Like "shatter" or "crackle" effect nail polishes, it is meant to be applied in a single, quick layer over completely dry polish.  The spotted effect is random and mesmerizing.   Black Spotted paints out almost like a watercolor, not like traditional nail polish, and a very thin coat is suggested. 

This one is pretty addictive, so of course I had to explore other layerings.  I googled, and couldn't find a single image of OPI Black Spotted over glitter.   So I dug out a really sparkly one - Color Club Beyond the Mistletoe.   It took four coats to get good coverage of that one alone, but the effects were worth it.  

 (Sorry, my camera likes to be cruel.  "Oh, you thought your cuticles were moisturized and that you did a good clean up job?   Suckaaah!)

(detail)

The most recent way I've worn it, though, is over a good duochrome.  I'd love to have painted it out over OPI's green Just Spotted the Lizard, but I don't have it.  So I pulled out one of my precious favorites, Sally Hansen Nail Prisms in Amber Ruby.   This polish shifts depending on the light, from a golden saffron to a crimson fuschia color.  

Observe:

I painted in different directions on my left hand, to see if altering the brush stroke would change the spotty effect.   It did, but not enough to warrant the mess it made IMO.  But, if you'd like to try, here are the results - with arrows indicating the direction of the brush stroke.

I hope that OPI chooses to release this in the US, and that they release it in more colors as well.   Do you love it?  Which layering is your favorite?  Thanks for reading!

The girl and the poet

Hello friends!   Today, I've got a lovely little combo for you with a short life expectancy.  China Glaze Poetic meets my favorite, Zoya Harlow.   This is two coats of Poetic, striping tape and then a thick coat of Harlow.  Peel off the striping tape and you've got a stunner!   Hope you love it!

Swirling spring

Hi friends!   I've got something brewing today - it's all the colors of spring, and tons of fun!   You've seen some water marbles I've done before, and I'll admit this one took doing and re-doing to get right, but I'm SO pleased with the results.  Here's the players:

 Zoya Keiko, Shawn, Happi, and Kendal

(Please excuse the mess, the girls got a bit messy playing today...)

 Here's my left hand - doesn't this just scream "SPRINGTIME!" to you?

 

The ever elusive right hand makes an appearance - say hello!

 

And here's something special - Happi has microglitter in it that really shines through if you find the right light.  It's light green and compliments Shawn oh so well.   I'd give you a better picture, but the sun is a rare visitor here in Oregon.  I'll post an update picture if I can get one!

Springtime Blues

Hey there!   My dearest husband and I recently got our tax return, and so I did some playing, of course - and picked up some ADORABLE converse.  I was over at my friend Mommy Does Her Nails' place, putting on my snazzy new kicks, and she (being the queen of greens and teals) had the perfect shade to match my nails to these Converse.   Don'tcha just LOVE them?  So perfect for spring.

This is Julep Amy, and the accent nail is done with Zoya "Christinna" (White), Sally Hansen "Sun Kissed" (Orange) and "Mellow Yellow", Loreal "Cockatoo's Mystery" (Grey) and Sinful Colors "Secret Admirer" (Black).

One more close up of the accent nail on my right hand:

How about it, folks?  Are you dreaming of blue skies and spring blossoms?  Skirts, linens, and less hail? (Yes, it was JUST hailing here a few minutes ago.)

Fly, fly away

Just a quick post to share a couple of my recent mani's with you!   Don't forget to enter the "Show me your mug" contest, I'm taking entries until Sunday!

On to the manicures!

This one makes me think of peacock feathers...

 (Sinful "Rise and Shine" stamped with Zoya "Kelly", with OPI "Simmer and Shimmer" accent dots)

And a similar style with these happy jewel toned butterflies:

  

(Base: Zoya "Pandora")
(Stamped with Zoya "Breezi", "Kelly", "Anja" "Drea" and "Neeka", accented with dots of OPI "Simmer and Shimmer")