Cupcake Manicure and Red Carpet Lacquer's Mrs White

Hiya fellow polish fiends,

I'm dedicating today's post to something so yummy and delicious that it needs no introduction - cupcakes!  I'm actually quite a cupcake connoisseur IRL if I do say so myself, and Washington DC has no shortage of such shops if you want to indulge including the oh-so-famous but IMO overhyped Georgetown Cupcake.  I have my favs - namely Baked and Wired, Hello Cupcake, and Crumbs so when I sat down to do a sweet manicure the first thing that popped into my head was cupcakes.  Lots of other ladies have done them, but for some reason I hadn't until now.  I started with Essie's French Affair and then added a layer of Essie's Peek A Boo.  PAB is a very sheer pink polish that really functions more like a super sheer low volume blue shimmer sparkle polish than a stand alone but I love the effect here.  I also accented one nail NYC Cashmere Creme - a pale metallic baby blue that is opaque in 2-3 coats.  The cupcakes were made from various polishes which I listed below the photos.  I wanted to keep the other nails crisp and simple but cute so I added RCL's Mrs. White as a final touch.   I ended up loving the way the PAB peeks out from under the chunky white circles of glitter.

In the words of one of my favorite drag queens sickening no? (Indoor lighting). Can you see the PAB glittering gently on the pink of French Affair?

Sprinkles are Color Club Blue Ming and Chelsea Girl, China Glaze Purple Panic & Lemon Fizz and Essies Bangle Jangle.  Cupcake base is OPI Chocolate Moose accent by Essie's Buy Me A Cameo.

Still trying to figure out how to make my cuticles look perfect post-clean up :(

  I really love how Mrs. White is it's own sort of sprinkles here as well.

My friend L said this mani was like the perfect birthday treat - cute right!

I gotta say this is another indie polish winner for me, and maybe it's just me but I think cupcakes got a whole like yummier.  Thanks for reading and please let me know what you thought below.

Indie Polish Haul Bottle Spam + Ebay finds!

Man there are a lot of great indie brands out there and more coming every day.  However, it can be a bit overwhelming - polishes in limited supply due to hard to attain base for polishes as well as glitters and pigments, limited staffing/personal time, long wait lists, and stalking stalking stalking.  It can be exhausting and annoying, but it can also be extremely rewarding when you finally get your hands on a hard earned lemming.  I mean - I'm still dying inside for some Nailventurous and Dollish polish and a few others but I know when I get them it'll be worth the wait.  My recent haul includes some real beauties too as well as a few Ebay finds so let's get this post rocking!

 Red Carpet Lacquer
I recently posted about the my incendiary lust for CTD especially when combined with deep bloody red glitter - which is exactly what Toro for me was (see post here).  In any event I also took the opportunity to grab up some Mastermind and Mrs. White with a couple more awesome polishes on my radar.  Jaime, the creator behind this brand, has some beautiful packaging and the polishes come in a lovely organza gift bag packaged in silver confetti wrap - classy.  Best yet these polishes are packed with glitter and have easy spreadability.  I haven't struggled to get the glitter fully mixed with the base as I have some other brands.  Overall this brand's a winner.  Check her out on her Etsy store here for more great polishes - just leave some for rest the of us!

From left to right: Toro, Mastermind, and Mrs. White

 Lush Lacquer
Damn damn damn!  I don't have words for this brand.  I literally got knocked speechless. Karen and Lexi of LL have so many great polishes it will make your head spin!  Endless combinations of glitter and shimmer enough to spark any lacquerista's imagination.  Certainly, they grabbed my attention with some of their wonderful creations. I picked up two great polishes Salt N Peppa and Party Rockin'.  I haven't done any swatches yet, but stay tuned. They are both insanely dense glitters with moderate to easy spreadability and no settling issues here!  I have great plans for Party Rockin' and Salt n' Peppa is an instant winner.   You can  find these polishes and more  here on Etsy.

Left to right: Party Rockin' and Salt N' Peppa

Tina and Lucy
This creator is sweet with excellent communication.  I ordered two polishes from her and there was a mix-up with inventory.  She noticed immediately and sent me an alternate plus two smaller samples one of which I was really lemming.  I have to say that good customer service and communication goes a long way with me and this creator has both.  However, a couple things drove me crazy in a not so good way.  First, one of the polishes I got sent looks completely different from the photo's posted in the shop.  I mean it's entirely 5-6 shades darker than the listing.  Second, the glitters in these polishes seem to settle and I mean settle heavily making application frustrating and more than a bit annoying.  Applying Jade I would shake until everything was mixed up.  The instant I stopped shaking glitters were settling deep into the bottom of the bottle and unfortunately the color began separating too - not fun!  I'm still on the fence about these polishes and I'll have to try out a few more before casting a final decision.  It is worth saying though that she has some truly beautiful neutral shades in her range which is unique for indie glitters.  Find more polishes and info here on Etsy.

Stamp Stamp Stamp - Ebay Finds :)
I found these cute little plate while searching around on the 'bay for something oh so Hello Kitty cute!  These fauxnad plates are adorable KD01 and KD03.  I can't wait to do something fun with these check out the cute little bunny kitty on  KD01!

Thanks for reading and please let me know if you've also found some cool indie companies or products that you're trying out!

Red Carpet Lacquer's Toro Meets Lynnderella's Connect the Dots and Very Pretty Vampire

Hey lacquer ladies,

In the brief intermission between my last post a slew of indie polish orders hit my door.  Most have been a delicious dream come true.  Others a tad more frustrating but I'll leave that discussion for a later post.  I will say this now.  Glitter polishes are dangerous - to both my budget and my nail art designs.  Some of these polishes are so pretty I can't think of how to add extra beauty to them or I dare not because they are so badass all I can do is stare.  Heehee...now onto the mani.  Red Carpet Lacquer created Toro - a shimmering red microglitter base with red squares and bars this is intermixed to a much lesser degree with white and black bar and hex glitter.  It is the maker's homage to Bring It On. Eep cheerleaders - still cute though!

For me Toro is what happens when red meets Lynndrella's CTD's i.e. a lacquerheads wet dream ok ok maybe this lacquerhead's wet dream.  Alas - maybe it was because the polish bottle was so full so it couldn't be mixed to it's full potential or because the ratio of white and black glitter to red wasn't quite what I expected.  However that was nothing a little additional layering of CTD couldn't handle.  When I did I thought I'd died and gone to polish heaven - sparkly sparkly or in the words of my friend Steve - just too cool! I also wanted one unique nail so I made a sandwich which Sally Hansen's Cardinal as a base color (btw's this is the base color for this entire mani) followed by Lynnderella's Very Pretty Vampire followed by a swipe of Toro.  Yum Yum Yum.   Spam please?  Oh yes....

Talk about Sunday bloody Sunday!

I don't know about you ladies but I could definitely be inspired to do some running with the bulls after meeting Toro! This mani would be so clutch for a bloody Valantine's Day or a cult Holloween kinda thing.  Love these polishes to bits and pieces - you can check out Red Carpet Lacquer here and Lynnderella polishes can be gotten at Llarowe though she is currently not accepting wishlists, but in my opinion she is definitely worth the wait.