The Neverending Pile Challenge: Day 1, Glitter: Peridot Power and Funky Flowers

Hi everyone! I'm starting a new challenge today. The Neverending Pile Challenge was created by Missy of Gnarly Gnails. If you're interested in joining, it's running through a group on Facebook called the Glittah Pirates (arrrrr!). The point of the challenge is to use your untrieds - those polishes that you bought with good intentions but have sat collecting dust. I have way too many, and with my goal this year to use more of my polishes, this challenge (along with the GOT Challenge) are perfect for me.

Lynnderella Peridot Power and Funky Flowers

Four Weeks of piCture pOlish + The Digit-al Dozen Does Red, Gold, and Green

Hi everyone! Along with falling behind on my posts for the Digit-al Dozen this week, I also fell behind on my piCture pOlish posts. I tend to dislike publishing posts that serve a dual purpose, for some reason it feels like cheating for me. However, the ladies at piCture pOlish sent me the gorgeous red O'Hara, and it was perfect for this week's Digit-al Dozen challenge.

piCture pOlish O'Hara

So this week's piCture pOlish post features the O'Hara in a holly design inspired by one of my favourite nail artists Lindsey at Wondrously Polished.

The Digit-al Dozen Does Red, Gold, and Green: Day Two: A Classic Holiday Gradient

Hi everyone! You may have noticed (or not!) that I didn't published many posts for The Digit-al Dozen challenge this week. The prompt was red, gold, and green, but because of my work with my day job (teaching assistant) and my dissertation, it was just impossible for me to do any nail art this week. So I have one post for you today, and I'll have one more tomorrow, then I'm giving up on this challenge.

This design is super easy but perfect for the holidays. I've used two Renaissance Custom Lacquer polishes to do a gradient that is very classic and shimmery!

31 Day Challenge: Day Twenty-Eight, Inspired by a Flag: The Franco-Ontarian Flag

Hi everyone! Out of all the prompts in the 31 Day Challenge, the "Inspired by a Flag" prompt is by far the most uninspiring of all of them. I realize that flags serve an important purpose as symbols of nations, regions or groups, and I find it interesting to see what flags different countries and regions adopt. But on an aesthetic level, flags are pretty boring and unappealing. Like, someone please, take a brush and paint some pretty flowers on that thing! But it's a challenge, and in my research I ended up finding a flag that was interesting on a more personal level.

Franco-Ontarian flag nail art

Girly Bits Fall Season Premiere Collection: Part Two, Family Guy

Hi everyone! I have the second out three parts of the Girly Bits Fall Season Premiere collection. This time it's inspired by one of my all-time favourite cartoons, Family Guy. Okay, well pretty much the only cartoon I watch, but that's just a technicality. ;)

Girly Bits Fall Season Premiere Collection - Inspired by the Family Guy

I may never understand why Lois ended up falling for Peter Griffin, why Brian's the only one who understands Stewie, or how the show's writers get away with saying all the stuff they do. However, I do know that this collection is pretty awesome, and that's all that counts. Lol! The polishes and colours are all very strong (although I don't really know how well they fit the show), and I love the references in the titles.

Bird is the Word is a warm-toned purple with a scattered holo shimmer. I love that the holo is scattered - it makes it unique amongst the other indie holos. Also, the colour and shimmer is so beautiful. In terms of formula, it went on very smooth and even, but it didn't have as much coverage as the others. This was 3 coats, and while I was very happy with how it turned out, those with longer nails might have some visible nail line.

Girly Bits Bird is the Word

Girly Bits Bird is the Word

Girly Bits Bird is the Word

Giggity Giggity Goo is a nude linear holo. I love the colour - the polish has almost a silver/gold foil effect, and I feel like it could pass in more conservative work settings. The holo effect is light to medium and difficult to capture, but still very stunning - trust me.  This was 3 coats and I couldn't have asked for a better formula - I had no issues at all to report with this one. Side note: does anyone know what "giggity giggity goo" is supposed to mean, besides being that weird thing that Quagmire does?

Girly Bits Giggity Giggity Goo

Girly Bits Giggity Giggity Goo

This is such a stunning polish, but also hard to capture - hence the extra photo. :)

Girly Bits Giggity Giggity Goo

Girly Bits Giggity Giggity Goo

What the Deuce? is a bright kelly green with a subtle holo shimmer. I found the holo effect was very faint but more visible than you see in my photos. However, the shimmer is still beautiful, and that combined with the bright colour, makes this a pretty fun polish in my books. This was 2 coats, and it has an incredibly good formula - it goes on very smooth and has excellent coverage.

Girly Bits What the Deuce?

Girly Bits What the Deuce?

Girly Bits What the Deuce?

So there you have it! I feel like these are all strong polishes, in what is overall an excellent collection. It's really hard to pick a favourite but I'd have to say I'm leaning towards Giggity Giggity Goo. I love the combination of a nude colour with holo shimmer.

What is your favourite out of these three? Are you a Family Guy fan?

Girly Bits polishes are available from their website, there you'll also find a list of distributors for other places to buy Girly Bits. Follow Girly Bits Cosmetics on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for updates and new releases.

*Products in this post provided for review, all opinions are my own. See my disclosure policy for more detail.*

Pretty & Polished Halloween Collection, Swatches and Review

Hi everyone! I have the new Pretty & Polished Halloween collection for you today! Pretty & Polished is an indie brand that's been around for quite some time, and I've bought them in the past and always been happy with their formula. They have a great selection of glitters, thermals, and crellies with glitter, and in the past year they've introduced bath and body products such as cuticle oils and balms, bath scrubs and bath bombs. Right now everything is on sale so make sure to check out their store.

I was pleasantly surprised with all three polishes. Sometimes indie polishes with glitter can be lumpy and difficult to apply. But I found the formula on these to be excellent, and they had just the right amount of glitter in them - making them easy to apply and quite smooth on the nail.

Pretty & Polished Halloween Collection

One note about the labels - mine came without labels on them, but I'm sure that wouldn't be the case if you ordered them. In the past I've found that if I have a customer service question for Pretty & Polished, Chels, the maker was pretty fast to respond to my questions.

Are You Afraid of the Dark? is a black jelly-based polish with different sizes of teal hexes; red, fuchsia, and wine coloured circles; and teeny red squares. This is supposed to be opaque in 2-3 coats, but I found the base to be a bit sheer so I layered two coats over a black creme. I like how it turned out and I think it makes the glitter stand out.

Pretty & Polished Are You Afraid of the Dark?

Pretty & Polished Are You Afraid of the Dark?

Death By Candy Corn is an yellow-to-red thermal polish. At normal room temperature it will be orangish-yellow, and it turns red when it gets cold. The glitter is fun with a mixture of yellow hexes, white rectangles, small orange squares, and red-orange hexes. The application was great and the glitters are perfectly suspended. I used three coats here.

Pretty & Polished Death By Candy Corn

Pretty & Polished Death By Candy Corn

In order to change the colour, I ended up sticking my hands in ice cold water. I love how dramatic the change is, however, I did find that it went back to it's original colour pretty fast after I took my hands out of the water (hence having water on my hands in these photos). I think this polish would be more fun to wear in the colder weather when there is more of a temperature change.

Pretty & Polished Death By Candy Corn

Pretty & Polished Death By Candy Corn

Glowstick is a neon grass green jelly with small and medium orange-red hexes plus tiny, small and medium kelly green hexes. The application was great - the polish goes on very smooth and the glitter is perfectly suspended in the polish. I used three coats here and there's still some visible nail line, so wear a base polish if you don't care for that.

Pretty & Polished Glowstick

Pretty & Polished Glowstick

The polish glows green in the dark, and I love the mottled effect with the glitter. For these photos I charged the polish for a bit under my daylight lamp (not for long - just 30 seconds or so). I love that you get a pretty strong GITD effect.

Pretty & Polished Glowstick

If you like Halloween polishes, you should definitely check these out. And for a very limited time they are on sale! I'm not normally a Halloween person, but these do kinda get me in the mood. :)

Pretty & Polished is available from their online store and Etsy shop. Follow them on Facebook and Twitter for updates and new releases.

*Products provided to me for review, all opinions are my own. See my disclosure policy for more details.*

Contrary Polish Color Context Collection, Swatches and Review

Hi everyone! When it comes to indie polishes, I have a special place in my heart for Contrary Polish. I love that Carrie, the maker, focuses on cremes with gorgeous shimmers. While many other indie creators are making glitter bombs, holos, thermals, and neons, Contrary Polish has focused on a type of polish that is often overlooked - that's changing of course, but you get the picture I hope.

When I saw this current collection, I made sure to get it as soon as it became available. It's not too often that I do that! I was really attracted to the vibrant and rich colours, and swatching them only confirmed how awesome they are. I hope you enjoy these as much as I do!

Contrary Polish Color Context Collection

About the collection: The Color Context collection is a trio of polishes that are cremes with vibrant shimmers. They play off the idea of simple colour theory: red + yellow = orange, blue + red = purple, and blue + yellow = green. It's possible to place two colours next to each other so that they are optically mixed by the eye. That was the whole idea behind the art movement Pointillism and the work of artists like Seurat. So basically, the shimmer "optically mixes" with the base colour to change the overall colour of the polish. I'm not sure if I needed to explain all that but I've read other reviews that say this idea is "complicated", but it's not really. Just read on...

Contrary Polish Color Context Collection

Blood Orange has a vibrant red base - a red that leans towards magenta - as well as a gold-orange shimmer. The overall look of the polish is a vivid burnt orange. The shimmer in this one is gorgeous, it has that "lit from within" look when the light catches it. Also, the shimmer really does change the overall look of the polish - it's quite neat actually.

Contrary Polish Blood Orange

Contrary Polish Blood Orange

Contrary Polish Blood Orange (direct light)

Greenhouse is hands down my favourite of the collection. It has a teal blue base with a gold shimmer - the overall look of the polish is a beautiful green, almost an emerald green. It's stunning because you can see the blue base peaking out, especially around the edges. Like Blood Orange it has that "lit from within" look and it just glows when the light hits it - swoon! :)

Contrary Polish Greenhouse

Contrary Polish Greenhouse

Contrary Polish Greenhouse (direct light)

This polish is so gorgeous it deserves and extra picture... :)

Contrary Polish Greenhouse (direct light)

Indigo Rose is a dark blue indigo base with a pink/purple shimmer. Overall, it has a bit of a purple look to it, however, the colour change on this one is not as noticeable as the others. It's still a gorgeous colour and gorgeous shimmer, I just think the shimmer is more vibrant with the other two.

Contrary Polish Indigo Rose

Contrary Polish Indigo Rose

Contrary Polish Indigo Rose (direct light)

About the formula: The formula is the exact same on all three. I used two coats plus top coat for all swatches. I found the formula on these to be a tad thick, but still manageable. I did a thin first coat, and a thicker second coat and that seemed to work out well. But overall they level well and I didn't have any issues with streaking or patches.

What do you think of this collection? Have you tried Contrary Polish?

I bought these from Llarowe, but check the Contrary Polish blog for links to other retailers.

31 Day Challenge: Day Four, Green: Roses and Stripes

Hi everyone! Do you ever have an instance where you've finished some nail art and you tell yourself, "It would be great if it weren't for XYZ..." With XYZ being some little thing that just looks off to you? I feel like I'm having those moments a lot lately. And in particular with this design. So rather than beat around the bush, I'll just get it out there... it's the stripes, they just irk me!

About this design: I've been wanting to try my hand at painting roses, and I decided to pair them with stripes for that vintage look that seems to be popular. All polishes, with the exception of the off white, are from the Zoya Stunning and Irresistible collections from this summer - the colours just seemed perfect for this design. For the roses, I used this super easy tutorial from The Nailasaurus.

Roses and stripes nail art

Roses and stripes nail art

To get this look: For the green base colour on my thumb, index and pinky, I used Zoya Josie, which applied amazingly well in two coats. I then sponged Zoya Rikki (a green foil) on the tips. For the middle and ring fingers I used OPI My Vampire is Buff (of course!) as a base. For the roses I used Zoya Micky (dusty mid-tone pink) as my base colour, Yana (darker pink/fuchsia) and Bobbi (magenta foil) for my darker areas, and My Vampire is Buff for the highlights. The leaves were done with Josie.

Roses and stripes nail art

Roses and stripes nail art

For the stripes I used Zoya Josie, Micky, and Tinsley (rose/gold foil). I also added some blue stripes with Zoya Rocky because I thought the variation would be good, but afterwards I really didn't like this - I should have stuck to pinks and greens!

Roses and stripes nail art (matte!)

I'm really happy with how the roses turned out, and I'll be doing them again. I feel like I need to practice painting stripes, I'm never happy with how they turn out. Maybe some blue stripes on Friday, eh!?

What do you think of this design? Is there a nail art technique for you that you just can't seem to get?

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Models Own Ice Cream Sundae Collection, Swatches and Review!

Hi everyone! I recently got my hands on the entire Models Own Ice Cream Sundae collection. I bought a few from Harlow & Co. and then was able to get the rest when Nail Polish Canada started carrying the brand. Sometimes with the hype around new collections we forget about past collections that were good but didn't necessarily get the attention they deserve. The Ice Cream Sundae collection I believe came out last year. There's a newer collection of pastels called the Fruit Pastel collection, but unfortunately I don't own those, so I can't compare the two.

Models Own Ice Cream Sundae Collection

So far I've been really happy will all the Models Own polishes that I have. In Canada they retail for $8, which makes them a bit more affordable than some other polish brands. I find their cremes are good basics for nail art and for wearing under glitters, and their shimmers and glitters very beautiful. So if you are interested in any of these read on for my thoughts!

Beth's Blue is a pastel blue, almost a cornflower blue. I really love colours like this, but have a hard time finding pale blues that aren't streaky and sheer. This one had a great formula and the consistency was perfect. It went on very smooth and was completely self-leveling. I used 2 coats here.

Models Own Beth's Blue

Models Own Beth's Blue

Fuzzy Peach is a pastel orange that has hints of coral. It is one of the brightest colours of the collection. I needed three coats for full coverage - it was a bit streaky still after two coats, but with the third I had a perfect finish. Otherwise it has a good formula and was completely self-leveling.

Models Own Fuzzy Peach

Models Own Fuzzy Peach

Jade Stone was the first one I bought of the collection, I loved it so much that I had to get the rest. I showed it previously in a dot manicure, which you can find here. Jade Stone is a beautiful pastel jade/mint green. The formula and consistency was perfect - very smooth and self-leveling. I used two coats for full coverage.

Models Own Jade Stone

Models Own Jade Stone

Lemon Meringue is a pastel lemon yellow. Yellows can be really tricky but I love this on it's own and underneath glitter polishes. The formula was a bit thick as you can probably tell from the photos, so next time I'll add some thinner. Otherwise the formula was great like the others. I used three coats here.

Models Own Lemon Meringue

Models Own Lemon Meringue

Lilac Dream is a warm-toned pale lavender. This is two coats and the formula was great, very even and self-leveling. Another great colour for spring and summer.

Models Own Lilac Dream

Models Own Lilac Dream

Pastel Pink is exactly as the name states, a good pale bubblegum pink. I found it a tad thick at times, but it worked out in the end. The formula was great like the others, and I needed three coats for full coverage.

Models Own Pastel Pink

Models Own Pastel Pink

Overall I really like these colours. They are not groundbreaking, but if you like pastels, you might want to give some of these a try. I found them perfect for wearing under the fun glitters that have been coming out this spring, so expect to see them again in future posts!

Models Own is available directly from their website. In Canada they are available from Nail Polish Canada and Harlow & Co.

What do you think of these? Do you own any of the polishes from this collection?