Favorite Things 1K Giveaway!

Felicitations my varnished vixens,

I have some exciting news for you!  Over the last several months I decided to keep up with my blogging and nail art since it's always been the passion I return too. Some of you have stuck with me through the long haul and others are just joining me for my wild and obsessive ride.  In a short period of time I've seen a dramatic increase in the number of people following my blog, Facebook, and Instagram account.  In fact I finally reached the milestone of 1000 followers on Instagram and over 500 on my Facebook page not to mention the surge I've seen here on the blog!

I know these are pretty small numbers compared to other bloggers, but I'm thrilled even if it's 1 person following me if you like my content and I can inspire you to create!  These days I get so many hits, but in all honesty if it weren't for the occasional comment here and there I probably would have stopped blogging ages ago.  You have no idea how one kind word or even a passing statement makes me happy and keeps me coming back to my craft. So I thought I'd take this opportunity to show my appreciation by holding a giveaway of a few things I can't live without.  Although if you read this blog regularly then you know there are a lot of things I feel I can't live without, but I definitely wanted to giveaway some that I use with regularity.  So let's get to the prizes!

The plates and polishes were just listed from my stash for illustrative purposes.  You will be able to make your own selection for those items noted as such.

From my generous sponsors:

1.  Winner's choice of 3 fabulous polishes by Liquid Sky Lacquer.  Yasssss! Indeed you know when there is a holo or thermal manicure around these parts usually the phenomenal polish creating all the bling is something from Carolyn of Liquid Sky Lacquer.  Her polishes make my mouth water.  So why not yours?

2. Cuticle Oil from PolishTBH.  Sweet nectar of the gods! I spoke about this before when I did swatches for Chrissy.  Her product is amazing!  It has changed my nail health tremendously and kept my cuticles looking fabulous through the long cold winter swatch after swatch after swatch.  I use it everyday and can't live without this stuff! I have decided you shouldn't either ;)

3. Messy Mansion Nail Art Stamping Plates - winners choice of 3.  Yes yes y'all!  Julia was the first interviewee for my Plates I Love series and also a constant inspiration.  Her plates rest firmly in a position of absolutely adored in my heart and mind.  And frankly some of the most successful nail art I've created has been linked with these beautiful plates. Take the opportunity and create some beautiful nail art of your own!

4. MyOnline Shop Jr Nail Art Stamping Plates - winners choice of 3.  I know these prizes are getting sickening aren't they? You know I raved like a lunatic when these plates released, and now you have the chance to scoop 3 out of 40 different plates of your own.  How awesome is that! I love these plates and I know you will too!

From me:

Orly's Spring 2014 Baked Collection. Yup.  If you've been watching recently you may have noticed I keep running back to this set for bright summer/spring nail art.  This might actually be my favorite release of the season!

OPI Sheer Tints in Blue and Purple - Mmmm kinda random, but I've heard so many great things about these polishes for creating nail art using the Leadlight technique I thought it would be a shame not to include a few in the giveaway!

 e.l.f Cosmetics Concealer Brush.  Honestly the start of a good manicure is clean lines.  This is my favorite brush to achieve flawless cleanup.  I hope you can say the same afterwards.

Rhinestones/studs.  Every mani needs a little bling and sparkle or as I like to call it a bit of frosting.  They make such a common appearance in my mani's it would be a crazy not to include them in my favorite things.

Sally Hansen Diamond Flash Topcoat.  Dries in 90 seconds flat, makes stamping a dream, and makes holo's look like hot hot FIRE! Clearly there is nothing to not love ;)

So after seeing all these gorgeous prizes clearly you want to enter right? Like yesterday! Ok all you have to do is fill out the rafflecopter below and for those that follow me on Instagram bonus points for reposting on your account.  This giveaway is international however any shipping above 10USD will have to be paid by the winner.  Thank you so much again for all the support and kindness and above all I hope you continue to stick with me and have fun with my little hobby! And of course good luck :) 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

One caveat I forgot to mention is that any plates or polishes you would like to receive must be in stock with my sponsors at the time of the contest closing.  I don't want to stress out any of these generous ladies and thank you for being understanding!   Please make sure to read the terms and conditions.

Red Hot Harlot: NailsIT Angelique + Giveaway

Hey polished prisoners (wink),

I've got a hot hussy for you today! Her name is Angelique and she packs a real punch.  Angelique is a red jelly polish filled with black squares small white hexagons, medium gold hexagons and hot pink microglitter.  It's part of six piece collection inspired by the Dark Shadows movie that released earlier this summer, and made by a lady who I feel is a good friend and fellow blogger - NailsIT.  On top of being a real dollface her polishes are stunning, and this one is no exception!  

This is two coats of Angelique over one thin coat of Sally Hansen Red-dy To Mingle.

The minute I saw Angelique I knew she had to be mine.  I am a sucker for jellies, but particularly well done red ones.

Perfect candy apple red - I love this color so much!

The only polish in my stash that's close to this kind of delicious depth and finish currently is Smitten Polish's Fire and Blood.  However, it's still a very different red compared to Angelique and has a venous blood hue while Angelique reminds me of very fresh raspberries or apples. 

Suddenly in the shade you can see those gold hexagons and pink microglitter popping.

 I was so enamored with this swatch I left it alone...for now ;)

I did have to use two layers of Poshe to get a smooth finish because of the square shaped glitters, but it was totally worth it! 

Well, isn't this pretty baby too gorgeous for words? I love it so much I may have to get a backup when her shop reopens.  If you are interested in purchasing Angelique of any of the other yummy mouthwatering shades by NailsIT you can find info on that here on her blog.  While your over there you should enter her giveaway because she's giving out five of her gorgeous polishes along with Nfu-Oh 61!  You should also check out her nail art as well because this lady also has some seriously banging skills.  Thanks so much for reading and see you next post! Toodles...

Appealing Oranges...

Hey polished prisoners,

I love a good orange and today I've got a gorgeous little glistening glitterbomb for you from none other than one of my fav indie polish makers - KBShimmer!  This one is a real beauty too!  Orange-A-Peel is a bright neon orange polish, part of a six piece summer neon set, packed with various sized orange, pink, and white hex and white bar glitters.  In a word OAP is DENSE as glitterbombs tend to be.  That said the formula is smooth like butter and easy to apply with no need for fishing for pieces of glitter.

Isn't this just such a fun bright nami? And look at all the pink glitters in OAP!

I layered this over Essie's Marshmallow to make the neon even MORE neon.  You do need to wait about 5 mins in between coats otherwise the polish drags.  I also did a little colorblocking using Essie's Lights and Action and finally added some microbeads and tiny little hot pink butterflies to the mix.  

This is three layers of Orange-A-Peel pictured here.

 I am not at all happy with how the microbeads turned out - I accidentally knocked my hand before the topcoat set and they moved (boo!).  I still thinks it's cute-ish though...

It's super bright in this pic! Lol!

So here we have it yet another indie brand that I love.  And yes, I know I really darn well need to get my haul posts done (cringe).  I keep popping up out of nowhere with these polishes, but I just can't help myself when so many unique brands keep appearing these days!

Indies come to me!

Photo Source: comedycentral.com

Are you dying of laughter over my Rick James photo with an orange halo of light surrounding his beckoning form? No? Coldblooded...Do you at least feel overcome with lust to acquire this pretty baby?  I know I was when I saw the swatches put up by Amy from Nailventurous. Well good news! Though KBShimmer polishes used to be pretty hard to come by these days you can access her entire collection with ease here on her storefront.  She also has an Etsy where limited editions are listed from time to time.  Speaking of LE's it just so happens our little miss will be giving away 5 of them that she made as part of a rainbow polish making challenge. The contest ends this Friday and you can enter to win here.  Here's hoping to scooping up a new pretty to play with! Thanks so much for reading and I'll see you next time. Toodles...

The Relevation of Elevation....Polish, That Is

Hey polished prisoners,

Get ready for some serious polish smackdown!  I have been sitting on my Elevation Polish order for a few weeks now.  Mainly because I wasn't sure which to start with first and secondly because I have so many untrieds these days that I need to to try and get through some of them so I seem less insane for acquiring so many polishes at once.  If you haven't heard of Elevation these polishes are amazing! Check them out on I Dig Brown Polish.  The creator Lulu has some of the most coveted polishes in the indie polish sphere.  So of course I couldn't pick one when I set down do do my manicure.  I got the idea for a braided fishtail manicure from Nails Like Lace and then added my own geometric accents. The result was a braided fishtail manicure featuring Owen, Ubsunar, Pata on the Back, and Aurora with Essie's Mojito Madness and Sonoma Nail Art's Russian River Glitter accents.

Bling Bling...gleam!

Now let's talk formula!  Pata On The Back and Ubsunar were 5 star wonders both in density and intensity of formula and ease of application.  This was also true for Essie's Mojito Madness, a lime green cream that was opaque in gasp one freaking coat! Essie has been killing me with their spring and summer collections this year and I am super impressed!  I wanted Owen and Aurora to have the same formula as Pata On the Back and Ubsunar, however maybe it was because of the density of the shimmer, but they were much thicker and a bit more difficult to apply since the polish dried rapidly.  They reminded me a bit of working with crackle polish i.e. the need to be quick and concise, but the simmer in these two made it well worth the effort so 4 out of 5 stars.  As an accent I used Sonoma Nail Art's Russian River, which went beautifully with Mojito Madness, it also gets 5 stars for formula and ease of application.  Finally, I used my LA Colors Nail Art stripper in gold glitter to add a geometric twist. What do you ladies think?

This fishtail took me 3 hours.  I used Color Club Dry Ice to speed the drying process and my beloved Poshe Fast Drying Top Coat.

It was exceedingly difficult to capture the hue of Owen but I finally got it!

All this sparkle makes me happy!

Just seeing what I could do with the Elevations makes me eager to try other combos of the fish tail!

This is probably one of my favorite nail art manicure's to date! It looks so intricate and yet simple simultaneously and trust me that is tough to pull off.  Plus look at all that shimmer from the Elevation Polishes, and the yumminess of Mojito Madness combined with Russian River!  There wasn't one polish I didn't love here!  I cannot wait till the next Elevation restock, but let me give you some good news.  Fingers Polish Mania is doing a giveaway of Elevation's 180 degrees collection - here! Ugh of course I entered since getting my hands on Lulu's amazing polishes is no mean feat, but you should likewise enter too as the colors of this collection are amazing - see them here.  Will you be entering? Do you have any favorites in the collection or must have Elevations? I do - everything lol!  Thanks for reading and toodles!