New Golden Dew Cuticle Oil and a Teal Holo Preview

Hi Ladies!

Is your summer going as smoothly as mine is?  I hope so.  It's been great so far.  My big teen is on vacation, due to come home today, and my little teen has been the perfect angel in his brother's absence.  I think there's a correlation there, but I dare comment on it.  Big brother away = little brother being a perfect little angel.  Hmmm...is this a precursor to how life will be when the oldest goes away to college?  If so, I'll help him get packed tonight.  Just kidding. 

Well, with my free time I've been busy making and testing polish, preparing to release a few more colors for the summer season.  Here's a little glimpse at a teal linear holo that's scheduled to come out in a small collection near the end of the summer.  I can't wait.

But that's not what this post is about today.  Nope, today I'm announcing the release of Golden Dew Cuticle Oil.  It's a fruity scented cuticle oil designed to nourish, and hydrate your nails and cuticles.  You can find it online here.  LBD also has a night time cuticle butter called Beauty Sleep Cuticle Treatment that will release in July.  The daytime oil and nighttime butter together will keep your nails nourished, pampered and in great condition to show off your pretty manicure. 

Until next time,

Ciao Bellas!

Golden Dew Cuticle Oil



Beauty Sleep Cuticle Treatment

I Said No No No: Polish By Little Black Dress

Hi Ladies,  I'm finally getting into the swing of things this school year.  Of course we're about a quarter in, but better late than never right?  In my desperate attempts to pull myself together,  I started wearing one manicure for two weeks at a time rather than my usual two manicures for one week.  And with no nail art!  Not a single stamp or rhinestone.   Not even glitter.  It's a travesty!   Although the world did not disintegrate, the cosmos was definitely unaligned.  Yeah, my head is still spinning.

What's been keeping me so busy, you ask?  Well, aside from my kids' usual extra-curricular activities, I've been wrapped up in senior year activities to get my oldest into college next year.  He's excited to go away and experience college life, and I'm excited to get another room. I might be more excited than he is.  The other thing that's taken up so much of my time is my latest nail polish collection.  It's called Back To Black, inspired by one of my favorite singers, Amy Winehouse.  This unadorned manicure showcases one of the polish sets from the collection.  For more pics and detail about the polish or the collection, visit the listing here.

Ciao Bellas!

Sneak Peak: Back To Black Collection By Little Black Dress

Hi Ladies
I'm so glad to announce the latest collection by Little Black Dress Nail Lacquer.  It's called Back to Black, a collection of black based colors inspired by Amy Winehouse, and it will be available for sale mid October. Check the online shop www.etsy.com/shop/littleblackdressnail.  Let's take a look.

The collection includes 3 singles and 2 sets. The sets are dark based colors with coordinating holographic toppers. Here are the names.



I said no no no
I won't go go go
You know I'm no good
No greater love
No heart so true
What kind of *ery is this?
I told you I was trouble




I said no no no and I won't go go go set (available here)


The first set has a dark teal cream base color (not quite black) and a gray tone holographic topper. The dark cream, I said no no ,  applies smoothly and is opaque in two coats. The topper, I won't go go go , is a gray tone holographic polish.  Applied over the dark teal, the duo creates a midnight teal holo.

I told you I was trouble

This is a deep blue flakie polish that has flecks of green and blue.



No greater love and No love so true

This dark rosy set has a dark shimmery rose base color and a holographic pink topper.  The topper can be worn solo and is opaque in two or more coats.

 

You know I'm no good is a shimmering purple/blue polish that applies opaque in 2 coats.

What kind of *ery is this? (Available here)
This one might be my favorite.  It's a shimmering green/gold that sparkles and shines

If you simply can't wait for these to go on sale,  send an email to [email protected] for a special pre-release purchase.
Ciao Bellas!

A Midnight Design For Midnight Polish

Hi ladies,
I have to admit, I've been in a dark mood lately.  I want to say that I chose this manicure design because the color of the polish reminds me of a midnight sky, but truthfully, it reminds me of a charming little nighttime children's book by Adam Mansbach called Go The * To Sleep. Yes,  it's a children's book,  but not one you want to read to your child (although I've read it to mine... several times. My teenager, relax ) .  If you haven't read it, and want a laugh, get a copy.

What were we talking about?  Right, the nail polish. This polish is a newly released polish set by Little Black Dress Nail Lacquer.  The set includes a dark teal base color (appears black) and a holographic topper. More polishes in this collection will be available next week.

Ciao for now.

O.P.I.-athon: Memorial Day Tribute: Going My Way Or Norway?

Going My Way Or Norway?

Good Memorial Day Morning O.P.I. lovers,
Our O.P.I.-athon will not break because of holiday festivities. No, instead we're honoring the men and women who served our country.  Pools open, and the kiddies are wrapping up the school year soon, but this is the day to remember those who served in the U.S Armed Forces. I live near an army base, and here, we do just that. Which leads us to my contribution to this holiday of observance.

Going My Way Or Norway? is the perfect mannequin hand match for me. I lucked up on it by accident and fell in love immediately.  It's the perfect neutral for showcasing a little patriotism. Did I overdo it a bit? Yup, I did, but if it''s not overdone, then it just wouldn't be me, would it?

Because this short series is to delve into the world of O.P.I., here's a little not-so-well known fact.  O.P.I. is sold in more than 75 countries around he globe. Not so hard to believe, but did you know that they fill about 150,000 nail lacquers each day, about 55 million bottles a year? I'll let you know how they do it when I start working there. They don't know it yet, but they're getting a new hire soon. I just need to put in my two week notice.  Then I'm off to sunny CA.

Until next tme, Ciao for now!

Prom Revisited

Hi friends,

Yesterday's zen moment is officially over and I'm back. Got my cake face on, my hair is out of its ponytail, and my nails are once again fierce. Bold blue, a touch of holo action and of course, rhinestones (it was either that or glitter, and rhinestones won). I'm out of my drab gray sweats, and I'm totally recognizable. Looking good, feeling good, and all ready to go to...drum roll please...nowhere. Maybe the grocery store to pick up a few things for dinner, drop my kid off at practice...uh, yeah, gotta fill the gas tank...yup, that's about it.

But that's ok, because I'm living my life vicariously through my kid. Prom was great!. I had ...I mean, they had a ball.  Most importantly, they looked fantastic! She was a beautiful Barbie Doll Princess, and he was all Men in Black, minus the shades and the alien demolishing weapons.

Guys, seriously, I wish you could see my dress...I mean her dress. Any description I give would be an injustice to the dress. Just know that it was fab!

The afterparty at D&B was so much fun. We...I mean they hopped from one game to the next, wining so many tickets until we couldn't...I mean, they couldn't hold any more.

I can't wait for next year's prom.  I'm going to...no, wait. I'm not really going. They are. Well, another chance for me to look back at my proms and dream about the good old days. Ugh, I sound like I'm a hundred.  That's ok, because one day I will be, and I'll look back at the good old days long ago, when my kids went to prom.

What do you remember about your prom?  If you haven't gone yet, then what are you planning to wear? How will you do your makeup.  Most importantly, how are you doing your nails?

Ciao for now.

Oops! I Let The Cat Outta The Bag

Hi friends!
Last month I sortta let the cat out of the bag.  I posted about Morgan Taylor's new summer collection called A Very Nauti-cal Girl. Here's my post  https://www.statikone.net/2016/03/sneak-peak-morgan-taylor-very-nauti-cal.html
Weeeell, I was a little overanxious about the collection and I put it out there a bit early. Morgan Taylor took notice! My sneaky sneak peak got their attention and they mentioned me on their Facebook page.  See what they said on April 11th (You'll have to scrooool down a ways. https://www.facebook.com/MorganTaylorLacquer/


Morgan Taylor, thanks for the shout out!


I decided to do a sneaky manicure, featuring the sneakiest animal of all...the cat.  Meow!
Till next time, Ciao bellas!

China Glaze Hologlam OMG A UFO

Hello friends,
Guess what? I have another China Glaze Holographic polish for you today. I think I'm on a CG roll here. So, let's just go with it.

This is OMG A UFO. Cute name. You guys know that a well named polish goes a long way with me. Unfortunately, the name isn't enough to carry this one. Nice color? check. Fair application? Check (although a bit streaky), Consistency? Check. Holographic? Not quite. I have this Color Club Halo Hues meter, and this polish falls a bit short of the mark. In the light you can see a bit of the holo affect, but indoors it becomes just a gold colored polish.

OMG A I GO by China Glaze

OMG A DUO by China Glaze

For this manicure, I was inspired by fabric swatches.

Would you try out this collection or do you already own a few? What's  your experience?

China Glaze Hologlam Astro-Hot

Hello fashion fingered friends,
Yesterday I had a red China Glaze creme polish for you. Sticking with the China Glaze theme, today I have one of their holographics in a pretty lilac pink. It's called Astro-Hot from their Hologlam Collection. I've found China Gaze holo polishes to be on the weaker side of the holographic spectrum. In a recent post, I showed you a few holo polishes from Color Club's Halo Hues collection, which is the meter by which I gauge all holographic polishes. For me, the China Glaze Hologlam collection sits near the bottom of that scale. With the few that I've tried, I had to double check the bottle to be sure that they were supposed to be holographic polishes. Needless to say, I was not impressed. The colors were nice, though, so I can't be too disappointed. Hopefully, China Glaze will come up with a better formula and give it another try because I so love China Glaze.

What's your favorite holographic polish? I have to broaden my holographic horizon and find a few more. Any suggestions?
Ciao for now.

Color Club Halo Hues Holographic Polish Review

Happy Manic Monday  friends,

I hope you had as pleasant a weekend as I did. No activities for the kids, no classes, and minimal errands to run. I'd say I had a pretty restful weekend. Today I'm playing catch up. I've been eager to write this review for some time, but quite a few things pushed it further down my To-Do list. Finally, it's time to talk about Color Clubs Halo Hues polishes. I fell in love with these gems on the first stroke of application. As far as holographic polishes go, Color Club is top of the line. The smooth application and rainbow effect put them far ahead of most. There's holographic, then there's Holographic and my rating scale starts at Color Club. If a holo polish comes close in comparison to Halo Hues, then it's good. I purchased a set of six from Live, Love Polish, and I used four of them in the designs below.

Over the Moon

Over the Moon is a soft blue holographic. I used two coats for all of these, that's all you need.

Eternal Beauty, Harp On It

Eternal Beauty is a lovely lilac. You can see how sunlight captures the holographic effect. Harp On It is a reflective silver.

In direct sunlight

Cherubic, Beyond

Both Cherubic and Beyond are holo nuetrals. Cherubic is a light beige with a holographic finish. Beyond is a dark gray holo. All four of these polishes require only two coats and apply smoothly. I experienced no pooling or streaking. And a clear top coat did not diminish the holographic effect.

These are hands down, my favorite holographic polishes. When and if that changes, I'll let you know. But until then, I'm going to enjoy Halo Hues.
Ciao for now.

Literary Lacquers Indie Polish Review

Disclosure: One or more of these polishes were sent for my honest review. I only recommend products that I use and believe my readers will enjoy.

Hello lacquered lovelies,
Today, I have another review for you.
I was sent these polishes by Literary Lacquers  a couple weeks ago, and had a great time playing around with them. Right away, I discovered that this stuff is good. I mean really good.

Before I get into specifics about these polishes, let me start with my initial experience. Of course, I was excited to receive the bottles and was eager to try them out. I did not, however, anticipate what I found. There is a certain luxurious quality to these polishes. The colors are vibrant, yet not overdone. Don't get me wrong,  I also enjoy polishes that are over-the-top, but I found these to touch on a certain level of understated elegance. Even the glittery ones were right on target, sparkly, but not garish, and very wearable. I wore them to the office and received complements. A few of my more conservative friends were very impressed with the glitters, which was a shocker to me since anything beyond neutrals and pinks are a little outside of their comfort zone. Not only was I impressed, but these polishes appeal to a range of tastes beyond my own.

Ok, with that said, let's take a look at the consistency and application.

These are dream polishes, meaning that they applied like a dream. This is how you wish all your polishes applied, smoothly, without pooling or clumping. I did not have to use special care with the glitters and there was no streaking. I used three coats, but these polishes are opaque in two.

Now, let's get to the good stuff, the polishes themselves.



More Like Fire Than Light

 More Like Fire Than Light from The Good Parts Collection, is described as an orange linear holographic polish. It applies smoothly and is opaque in two coats. The formula is a little thin, but I experienced no pooling, and was surprised that it was opaque in two coats. I love the rich color.

Everything You Love



Everything You Love

Everything You Love is a soft muted lilac linear holographic polish that is opaque in two coats. Like the other four polishes, this one applied easily, with no pooling or streaking.

 

Je Riviens



Je Riviens

Je Riviens is a deep teal linear holo with holographic sparkle from the Rebecca Collection. I fell in love with this polish immediately because of the vibrant sparkles, just the perfect amount to set off the lovely teal color. The consistency was just a tad thicker than More Like Fire Than Light, and it applied smoothly. The sparkle effect was evenly distributed throughout. 






Mirror of Galadriel

Mirror of Galadriel

Mirror of Galadriel is a gorgeous sparkling crystalline silver linear holographic, inspired by Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. This is my favorite of the four because the sparkles are simply captivating. The formula is the same as Je Riviens and was opaque in two coats, although I may have used three for the pictures.

 

Overall, I think Literary Lacquer polishes are a winner. The formula is well perfected and the color selection is outstanding. I love Amy's creative vision and inspiration for her polishes.

Amy Midler, shop owner and creator of Literary Lacquers is an avid reader who gets her inspiration for her lacquers from literature. Anticipate her Holiday Collection to launch around Black Friday.

The Literary Lacquers Etsy shop can be found at  https://www.etsy.com/shop/LiteraryLacquer.
Facebook   https://www.facebook.com/LiteraryLacquers/
Instagram  https://instagram.com/literarylacquers

Ciao for now.