NOTD: a-England Lady of the Lake

This is: CND Stickey base coat, one coat Gelish base coat, three coats of SensatioNail 'Heirloom Lilac', two coats of a-England 'Lady of the Lake' and one coat of Jordana Quick Shine top coat. 

I layer regular polish over gel A LOT, as you guys have probably noticed. This is not a particularly good example of that technique. I've got tip wear as well as the gel still showing at the cuticle. I usually stick to a color that's closer to the gel's color and this shows why! If it isn't perfect, you can tell! I usually have only minimal tip wear, and this combo ended up with a lot. 

All that aside, this was my first wearing of an a-England polish. And I LOVE THEM! I bought three when the £6 promo was going on: this one, Saint George, and Dragon. I anticipate using Dragon for an upcoming St. Patrick's Day mani and I can't WAIT to get Saint George on my hands. (Too bad I'm going to Disneyland next week and DISNEY THINGS will be on the nails! This purple is dark and the holo shows up well in bright light (even bright artificial light). It's rather scattered, which I prefer. (Kaleidoscopes over OMGs any day!) 

Verdict: If you don't own any a-Englands, GET SOME! I know they aren't the easiest to get a hold of, but they are worth it! 

*Some of the products featured in this post were provided to me by the manufacturer. All opinions expressed are my own uncensored, regardless. 

SensatioNail 'Heirloom Lilac' giveaway!

Win yourself a bottle of SensatioNail 'Heirloom Lilac'!


Open to US shipping addresses ONLY. (Sorry, International peeps. Shipping is outrageous right now.)

Two winners will win one bottle each of SensatioNail 'Heirloom Lilac' gel nail polish.  Winners will be contacted via email and if no response is received within 48 hours, new winner(s) will be contacted until a response is received.

Please don't enter if you don't have or plan to get a gel nail polish system because you NEED a UV/LED lamp to cure this polish. It will not dry like normal polish. If you don't do gel yourself but plan on giving it to a friend who does or something like that, that is totally cool. I just don't want anyone disappointed that the polish they won doesn't work right.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Valentine's nails + giveaway info!

This is CND Stickey base coat, Gelish base coat, three coats of SensatioNail 'Heirloom Lilac', Gelish top coat, stamped with Konad m59 plate and this unnamed love&beauty wine-colored polish.

Stamping over gel is so much fun! It's so easy to clean up any mistakes without having to worry that you're going to damage the base color. I really don't know why I don't do it more often.

This is NOT my typical mani, as I'm sure anyone that has read this blog for any amount of time can tell. The reason for it? Two-fold! One is that I had to to hearts for TartanHEARTS! I spent quite a while looking through plates picking out which hearts to use. The second, and most important reason, is because I'm going to be giving away two bottles of 'Heirloom Lilac' and I needed a way to showcase it!



That's right! SensatioNail 'Heirloom Lilac' will be up for grabs! The giveaway will have its own dedicated post coming very soon. It will be a rafflecopter giveaway!

*Some of the products featured in this post were provided to me by the manufacturer. All opinions expressed are my own uncensored, regardless. 

Zoya "Storm"

This is CND Stickey base coat, Gelish base coat, three coats of Gelish "Black Shadow", Gelish top coat, one coat of Zoya "Storm" and Jordana Quick Shine top coat.

I've been going through a big dark nail polish phase and this is perfect! Black with just enough brightness. This polish isn't as super fantastic in low light, but in the sun it GLOWS. If you aren't into dark polish, this one probably isn't for you. If, like me, you could wear dark polish every day and never get tired of it, you should probably pick this one up.

I was amazed that this only took one coat over the gel. Usually shimmery/small glitter polishes are pretty streaky with only one coat but this wasn't at all. I've done a bit of color-on-color type layering and this stands out of the crowd.

This polish is part of my first ever Zoya purchase- I got this one (Storm), Shawn, and Ivanka. I'm very impressed with the quality of these polishes and I *will* be buying more Zoya in the future. I guess I finally see what all the fuss is about! And with all the awesome promos they have, you can't beat it!

*All products featured here were purchased by me for wear and review.

twee and honey "Tutu" 061 over black

This is CND Stickey as base coat, Gelish base coat, three coats of Gelish "Black Shadow", one coat of twee and honey "Tutu", with one coat of Jordana Quick Shine top coat.

After wearing such a light, glittery mani for a week I needed something dark. I knew I wanted to do black gel and spent at least 15 minutes sitting in front of my Helmer looking through my un-photographed polish (which I have a lot of). I settled on this one and I am so glad I did!

"Tutu" is from the t&h 'All Hallows' collection, which I didn't even realize until I looked it up to link here. (I also didn't realize that Ms. Let Them Have Polish did this same mani, although she did two coats.) Though it is part of that collection, it is more than appropriate for any time of the year. There is glitter of several sizes and colors in hot pink, light pink, teal-y. There are flakies. There are HOLOGRAPHIC PINK BUTTERFLIES! (see last picture) One of my favorite things about t&h polishes is that often there are little bits that don't even show up on the side of the bottle but you end up with one or two on your nails. (Like the little orange hearts in "Viscera".) There are always little awesome surprises awaiting you with this polish!

The over-all effect of this mani is super shiny, although it didn't show up that way in the pictures. Which is okay, because it showed the actual colors and character of the polish without being too glare-y.

*Some of the polish here was provided to me by the manufacturer. All opinions are my own, without influence and without compensation. 

List of tartans I've used for custom orders.

Custom tartans have already been done in these tartans:

Click through any of these for pictures of the finished product.

Alma College (2
Ailsa, Dress Gold (2,
Airisaidh Hebridean, Dress Red
Buchanan (2, 
Buchanan, Dress Red (2, 
Buchanan, Dress Turquoise

Bruce
Bruce of Kinnaird, Ancient
California

County Clare
Comrie, Dress Gold (2, 

Cornish National
Cunningham, Dress Lime
Cunningham, Dress Purple (2, 
Cunningham, Dress Royal (2, 3
Cunningham, Dress Tangerine (2, 3,
Culloden, Dress Red
Davidson, Ancient (2, 
Davidson, Modern (2,
DunBroch
Drummond of Perth, Modern
Erskine, Dress Turquoise and White
Erskine, Dress Black and White

Fraser (2, 
Gordon, Dress
Graham of Airth (2, 
Grant

Irish National
Lamont
Lennox, Dress Purple (2, 3, 
Lennox, Dress Red (2,
Lennox, Dress Teal
Lennox, Dress Turquoise (2, 3, 
Lochnagar, Dress
Longniddry, Special Dress Purple
Longniddry, Special Dress Royal (2, 
MacDuff
MacGregor, Dress Burgundy
MacGregor, Dress Purple (2,
MacGregor, Dress Raspberry (2, 
MacGregor, Dress Turquoise
MacIntosh
MacKellar, Dress Cerise (2, 
MacKellar, Dress Lime
MacKellar, Dress Purple
MacKellar, Dress Royal
MacLaren

MacLean of Duart (2,
MacLean of Duart, Ancient
MacLean of Duart, Hunting Ancient (2,
MacLean of Duart, Dress Burgundy
MacLeod
MacNeil of Barra
MacPherson, Dress Black (2, 
MacPherson, Dress Blue
MacPherson, Dress Burgundy
MacPherson, Dress Green
MacPherson, Dress Red
MacPherson, Dress Royal
MacPherson, Dress Turquoise (2, 3,
MacRae, Dress
MacRae, Dress Blue
MacRae, Dress Lime (2, 
MacRae, Dress Purple

MacRae, Hunting
MacRae of Conchra, Dress Purple
MacRae of Conchra, Dress Raspberry (2, 
MacRae of Conchra, Dress Teal
MacRae of Conchra, Dress Turquoise (2, 
MacThomas
Menzies, Special Dress Black (2,

Menzies, Dress Cerise (2, 

Menzies, Dress Raspberry (2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
Menzies, Special Dress Red (2, 
Menzies, Dress Turquoise (2, 
Milne, Dress Green

Napier
Nova Scotia, Dress (2,
Oliver, Dress (2, 
Pride of Scotland, Dress (2, 3, 
Rose, Dress
Ross, Dress Hunting (2,
Scotia, Dress Tangerine
Scott, Dress Green
Scott, Dress Lime
Scott, Dress Navy
Scott, Dress Purple
Scott, Dress Raspberry (2, 
Scott, Dress Red (2,
Scott, Dress Turquoise
Stewart, Black (2, 3, 4
Stewart, Dress (2,

Stewart, Dress Purple (2,

Stewart, Royal (2
Sunnart, Dress Sapphire (2, 
Sutherland, Dress Wine
Yarrow, Dress Purple (2, 

I've done more, and am constantly updating this page as I make more and get pictures of them. For more pictures, my flickr set of tartan jewelry is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bessicajach/sets/72157630690543548/ 

The last manicure of 2012 ...

And the first of 2013!



This is: CND Stickey, Gelish base coat, two coats of ProGel 'Trophy Cup', Gelish top coat, three coats of China Glaze 'Glistening Snow' or 'Angel Wings' on the accent nail, a coat of Jordana quick shine top coat, and a coat of Poshe top coat.

Out of the China Glaze Holiday Joy collection, 'Winter Holly' was the only polish I knew I had to have right off the bat. I actually saw these two in store and didn't pick them up. Until I saw swatches. Then I knew! These two are amazing on the nail. 'Glistening Snow' is like wearing diamonds on your nails! The holo glitter really makes it. These are relatively thick glitters (which I like). I was worried about them being dupes for 'Fairy Dust' and 'Golden Enchantment' but they are no where close. I'd say the closest thing would be the Milani holos, since those are relatively non-linear and have glittery sparkle in all light like these do. And that is a major compliment! I stop to just stare at my nails and move them around in the light pretty often, so that's the best thing I could say about a manicure.

Verdict: If you don't have these, get them! (If you can, get the set with a free shot glass!)

*All products featured in this post were purchased by me for wear and review. 

2012 year end round-up!

I've come a long way in 2012, as you're about to see. I started out with some pretty sloppy work and am very proud to say that I have cleaned things up quite impressively!

Here are some of my favorites from 2012:


From January: 1970s nails



From February: matted glitter nails



Done in February but posted in March: reggae nails


My first ever magnetic from all-green March.

Also in March, I started TartanHearts Jewelry! Mostly because I needed an excuse to buy more polish.


I don't care how much hate it gets, I'll always love China Glaze "Trendsetter". Also from March.


I started doing gel in April and never looked back! (and this polish will be part of my first nails of 2013!)


By June, I'd already started on a gel stash.


I got a little crazy in July.


October was Orange October and my manicures helped my beloved San Francisco Giants win the World Series!


This one helped them win the NLCS.


Seriously, it was a big month for my nails. This polish has tiny orange hearts! I still can't get over that.


Things got simple again in November and I tried the 'scrubbing in' method of wearing gel with glitter and loved it!


See? It's good in every color.


December got a little different again ...


... but it's finished off pretty strong with my Christmas nails.

I'll have one final 2012 mani after this: my New Year's nails. I just finished them up before I started working on this. After all, what better thing to do when your nails are still wet than a little typing?

Happy New Year! I hope 2013 brings as much nail-related awesomeness as 2012 did!

Christmas mani #2 featuring Candy Lacquer "Rudolph's Treats"

This is three coats of Gelish "Runway for Your Money" with a coat of Candy Lacquer "Rudolph's Treats". Accent nail is a taped Christmas tree using China Glaze "Winter Holly" for the tree, Candy Lacquer "Dippin' Dots" for the ornaments and a fished out giant piece of glitter as the topper from Kleancolor "Afternoon Picnic". All topped off with two coats of Poshe top coat.

As soon as I saw the Candy Lacquer polishes with all round dots, I *had* to have them. They are really fun! They are something that is a lot cuter to me and in close up pictures than anything else, because you can't tell the difference between the round and hex unless you're really looking. (As I'm typing this, I can't tell when they're at keyboard's length.) Also, I had a bit of an issue with the glitter separating from the base in the round glitters. I own several other Candy Lacquer glitters and haven't had this issue with any of the others, so I assume it is related to the round glitters. A little shaking and everything is back to normal, so no biggie!

I didn't like this as much as my other Christmas mani, but it would be pretty hard to beat that one! I'm not sure what it was, but something about this one just didn't "click". I'll try "Rudolph's Treats" over another base in the future and see how that works. (I'm getting all kinds of ideas now, but it's after Christmas! Day late; dollar short.)

Happy New Year! New Year's nails coming soon.

Christmas nails! featuring the Hungry Asian "Candy Cane"

This is three coats of Gelish "Black Shadow", with one generous coat of The Hungry Asian "Candy Cane". Accent nail has one coat China Glaze "Twinkle Lights". All topped with one coat of Jordana Quick Shine top coat.


"Candy Cane" is a clear/slightly shimmery base with small red and white matte hex glitter and small green matte square glitter. It spread very well. I used the dabbing on method to apply it, because it is somewhat thick but that helped get maximum glitter on the nail.

"Twinkle Lights" is a clear base with tiny red, green, and gold glitter.

This was my first time using any of the Hungry Asian polishes I have, even though I've got a few minis. (I'm not sure why, because they are almost all colors that will go great over gel, but that's another subject entirely.) I can't recommend it more enthusiastically! Not only are her polishes very cute and quite often stuff that you don't just see everywhere else, she adds personal touches to every order. The labels are hand-drawn and every order has a cute little handwritten note inside. I adore stuff like that! It will keep me coming back over and over more than anything else. Plus, the quality of the polish is wonderful. And you know being TartanHEARTS and all I don't have to say that I adore the heart-shaped bottles because it's too obvious but I will say it anyway! I know I would be justified buy full-sizes of any of her polishes because they are so beautiful, but I can't get over how cute the heart-shaped minis are.

I'd also been sitting on China Glaze "Twinkle Lights" for a year or so. I was surprised at how much I liked it on the nail! I wasn't sure, because it seems a little muddy in the bottle. Not so on the nail! The red and green stand out from the gold very distinctly.

Over-all, I wanted to put this back on after a week. I didn't so I could wear more Christmas-themed polish but I would have been happy putting this right back on.

*All polishes featured here were purchased by me.