Smokey Mountain Lacquers - Scream Queen

Anyone who knows me knows that I love the holiday season. I've been counting down the days until October 1st so I can put up my Halloween Decorations. I have to wait until the first of the month. I'm weird that way. My husband isn't a holiday person so he just rolls his eyes when I start covering our house in decorations. I was going to wait until October 1st to start showing Halloween polishes/nail art but Smokey Mountain Lacquers sent me this adorable polish to review. Now I have Halloween on the brain and I don't know how much longer I can contain myself. 

Smokey Mountain Lacquers (SML) is a new indie polish company that just opened shop about a month ago. This is the fifth polish I've tried and I've been impressed! 

This is one of SML's Halloween polishes called Scream Queen (love the name). It's a bright neon green jelly with black hex glitters. Now, neon and bright colors don't get along with my pasty skin but if you're into those shades, I think you'll like this. The formula is a little thick and a little goopy but not enough to make it difficult to apply. I think the thickness helped it build to opacity in just two coats. Putting a tiny bit of thinner may help if it bugs you. It dries quickly and slightly matte. I used a coat of Cult Nails Wicked Fast to make it nice and shiny. 

Now for the good stuff. 

Smokey Mountain Lacquers - Scream Queen

You can find Scream Queen and the rest of the Smokey Mountain Lacquers' Halloween collection from their Etsy shop. I believe the Halloween collection will be available to purchase in the next day or two. If you don't see it, check back soon! 

Thanks for reading!

Please subscribe and visit me on my Facebook page!

I'm also on Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.

-Mira

*The product in this post was provided for my honest review. 

Julie G Frosted Gumdrops Collection

A while back there was a Groupon deal on the Julie G Frosted Gumdrops collection. I can't remember the exact price but it was really cheap. Despite the fact that I already have plenty of textured nail polishes, I couldn't resist the great deal. These are my first Julie G polishes and I was impressed with the quality. I'm curious about how the regular polishes are from this line now. Have you tried Julie G, what do you think about this brand? Any must haves? 

The Frosted Gumdrops Collection has six textured nail polishes. They all have glitter but three have a fine glitter and the other three have larger pieces of glitter mixed in. The formulas were all very easy to work with. I used two regular coats of polish for each color. I took pictures with and without top coat. The top coat I used was Cult Nails Wicked Fast (two coats). It's very important that you allow each coat to dry. Textured polishes take a little more time to dry than regular polish. 

Julie G Hot Cinnamon

Hot Cinnamon is a bright red polish with orange shimmer. 

Top Coat 

Julie G Sugar Rush 

Sugar Rush is a red/orange polish with golden shimmer. 

Top Coat

Julie G Tangerine Dream

Tangerine Dream is an orange polish with golden shimmer.

Top Coat

Julie G Blueberry Fizz

 Blueberry Fizz is a light blue polish with small silver glitter. 

Top Coat

Julie G Rock Candy

Rock Candy is a teal polish with small silver glitter.

Top Coat

Julie G Crushed Candy

Crushed Candy is a light purple/pink polish with small silver glitter. 

Top Coat

It's so hard to pick a favorite from this collection! If I had to it would be Hot Cinnamon or Crushed Candy. Which polishes are your favorite? Did you get this set with the Groupon deal, too? Let me know what you think in the comment section below. Your comments make my day! 

Thanks for reading!

Please subscribe and visit me on my Facebook page.

I'm also on Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.

-Mira

Press Release - Girly Bits Fall 2013 Collection

"Fall Season Premiere" Inspired by our favourite TV shows! Our Fall 2013 Collection "Fall Season Premiere" was inspired by some of our favourite TV shows; Bones, Saturday Night Live and Family Guy. They are being released just in time for the fall TV season premieres to start! Available for purchase at www.girlybitscosmetics.com starting Sunday, September 15, 2013 at 12noon EDT Check out Authorized Distributors for availability.   <<< Inspired by Bones: Dancing Phalanges ~ a raspberry pink glass fleck shimmer. Retail: $11.50 King of The Lab ~ a pumpkin orange glass fleck shimmer. Retail: $11.50 Gravedigger ~ Gravedigger is a black jelly with lots of Hallowe'en inspired coloured glitter in orange, green, purple and pink. Retail: $10.00 Inspired by Saturday Night Live: >>> D!ck In a Box ~ a deep charcoal gray tightly scattered holo. Retail: $11.50 More Cowbell ~ a steel blue gray tightly scattered holo with blue iridescent flakies. Retail: $11.50 Well Isn't That Special ~ a medium purple tightly scattered holo with white flakies. Retail: $11.50 <<< Inspired by Family Guy: Bird Is The Word ~ a magenta/purple holo shimmer. Retail: $11.50 What The Deuce? ~ a kelly green holo shimmer. Retail: $11.50 Giggity Giggity Goo ~ a champagne holo shimmer. Retail: $11.50 Also available Sunday, September 15th... OVbunEN and Elelphant Shoe (swatch courtesy of Cosmetic Sanctuary) OVbunEN (aka "Bun in the Oven") is a clear-based glitter bomb filled with soft baby-colour inspired glitters in light blue, matte pink, yellow and green.   OVbunEN was created along with its co-ordinating base colour Elephant Shoe, both of which were inspired by expecting friends. Retail: $10.00 Elephant Shoe is a beautiful smoky gray creme with a lavendar tinge.   Whisper the words "elephant shoe" to someone and it looks as though you are saying "I love you". This shade was created as a base colour for OVbunEN, both of which were inspired by expecting friends. Retail: $10.00 Both OVbunEN and Elephant Shoe can be purchased together as a duo for $18.00 HERE!                      "Each and every shade in the Girly Bits collection is a personal expression, and I am thrilled that you like what I make. I love the feeling of creating something, and sending it out for other people to enjoy." ♥Pam♥   All Girly Bits Nail Lacquer are: Hand blended and poured B3 Free [meaning free of formaldehyde, toluene and dibutyl phthalate (DBP)] Made using the highest quality mica, pigments and glitter In a standard 15mL bottle Kept mixed by two stainless steel beads NEVER tested on animals.   Girly Bits Nail Lacquer is carried all over the world! Please check our Authorized Distributors for your favourite Girly Bits Nail Lacquer. Visit their sites for product availability, release dates, pricing and shipping information. Are you located in or near Essex County (Ontario, Canada)? Click HERE to see where your can buy Girly Bits Cosmetics locally. Copyright © 2013 Girly Bits, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you signed up for our newsletter by opting-in via our online form. You would have accessed this form through our Girly Bits Big Cartel store or from a link on our Facebook page. If you no longer want to receive these newsletters please click on the link provided. Our mailing address is: Girly Bits 95 Queen St Kingsville, On N9Y 2A1 Canada

China Glaze Sunsational Collection - Jellies

I'm back with another partial collection from China Glaze! This time I have The Sunsational Collection - Jellies. I passed on the other half. The other half of the collection are all neon cremes and as you may know, my fair skin doesn't work well with neon. I know, I know. The jelly half is also neon so you're probably wondering why I bought them. Two words: jelly sandwiches. Oh yah. 

After reading several reviews about this collection, I decided to pass. A lot of bloggers had trouble with the formula and I didn't want to deal with that. Despite the problems with some of the formulas, their pictures still looked really good. A few weeks ago I changed my mind and decided that the jellies were cute enough to warrant the extra effort. Let's get to the pictures and I'll talk about my experience with this collection. 

China Glaze Are You Jelly?

Are You Jelly? is a bright purple jelly polish. The first two coats went on streaky and did not self level well. I applied the first two coat on the thin side, letting them dry in between. For the third coat, I applied it thickly and quickly in order to bypass the self leveling problem. It worked well for me and I ended up liking the result. I think this polish is adorable and worth the extra effort. 

China Glaze Heat Index

Sorry, I should have given you a heads up about this. I'll wait while grab a pair of sunglasses. Ready? Ok, here we have the brightest hot pink neon insanity that ever was. Heat Index had the same formula as Are You Jelly? I applied three coats in the same way as well. Is it worth the effort? If you love this color and love it in jelly form I say go for it. This shade is not for me unless my skin learns how to tan someday. Then, I'd totally rock this. 

China Glaze Isle See You Later

Let's just keep this to the point. Beautiful blue jelly. I adore the color in the bottle. You're looking at four coats. I'm throwing in the towel. Maybe if you used seven you could get rid of the VNL (visible nail line). Not worth the extra effort for me. 

China Glaze Keepin' It Teal

Another color adore in the bottle. It's such a cute Teal (it looks a little more green in my photos) but I couldn't get rid of that dreaded VNL. This is four coats. One more may have done the trick. 

China Glaze Shell-O

Coral jelly yumminess in a bottle. The formula was just like the rest, streaky and hard to manipulate. I applied it the same way as the others (Are You Jelly? and Heat Index) with two thin coats and then a thick coat. 

China Glaze You Drive Me Coconuts

Bright barbie pink jelly, You Drive Me Coconuts indeed drove me coconuts with it's finicky formula. With two thin coats and a thick third coat, I made it work. Totally worth it for me! 

Being late in the game in getting these, many of you probably already have them. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this collection! 

Thanks for reading!

Please subscribe and visit me on my Facebook page! 

-Mira

China Glaze Autumn Nights Collection Part One

It's been a while since I've blogged about China Glaze. I recently ordered the entire Autumn Nights collection and the jellies from the Sunsational Collection from Transdesign.com. Somehow I ordered two of the Gossip Over Gimlets half of the Autumn Nights collection so I'll be having a giveaway soon! The second part of the collection should get here on Monday so it will be a while before I have that post up. 

Autumn Nights is China Glaze's Fall 2013 collection. Like I said above, I'm showing you half of the collection today. This half is called Gossip Over Gimlets and consists of two cremes, two foils, and two frosts. 

China Glaze Charmed, I'm Sure

Charmed, I'm Sure is a deep purple creme. The formula was easy to work with. I used two coats but could have gotten away with one. 

China Glaze Gossip Over Gimlets

Gossip Over Gimlets is a silver foil with small gold flakes. The gold flakes give the silver foil a dirty look (not in a bad way). It has a nice formula that applies easily. I used two coats. 

China Glaze Kiss My Glass

Kiss My Glass is a blue toned grey frost. I'm not a fan of frosts as they tend to show brushstrokes. The formula is difficult. The consistency is a bit thick and goopy. I used two coats.

China Glaze Public Relations

Public Relations looks almost just like Kiss My Glass. When you put them side by side, Public Relations looks a little more purple and Kiss My Glass more blue. My picture doesn't show the color accurately unfortunately. The formula is also difficult just like Kiss My Glass. I used two coats.

China Glaze Queen B

Queen B is a blurple creme. I know, my photos make the polish look blue. It looks different depending on the lighting and I couldn't capture the purple tones in this. 

China Glaze Rendezvous With You

Rendezvous With You is a deep purple foil. This is tied with Queen B for my favorite from this part of the collection. The formula is great, I almost only needed one coat but used two. 

I'm anxious for the second part of this collection to arrive so I can see how it rounds the entire collection out. I like them all so far with the exception of Kiss My Glass and Public Relations. What do you think?

Thanks for reading!

Please subscribe and visit me on my Facebook page!

-Mira

Nail Art Society August 2013 Kit

Welcome back to the Nail Art Society (NAS)! Most of you who have subscribed in time for the August nail art kit have probably received your new goodies. For those of you who haven't received it yet, here is a sneak peak! For everyone else, this post should give you an idea of what an NAS kit is like. 

I have mentioned before that I am a Nail Art Society Guru. That means that I am on a panel of people who provide feedback, ideas, etc for NAS in terms of their kits. I receive these products before the kits go out to test them out. Basically, I play with them and send pictures of my nail art. It has been a lot of fun to be a part of this amazing group of women (even though I feel completely under qualified). 

Ok, let's talk about the August kit! 

The August kit came with two packets of water decals (silver and colorful butterflies). The packet of silver butterflies also has roses and hearts. Each packet has one sheet of decals. It also comes with four Orly Instant Artists. The colors you get from left to right are Platinum, Jet Black, Crisp White, and True Blue.

Now I'm going to show you three manis that I did using these products. 

Orly Instant Artists Nail Art

Products Used: Cult Nails Get It On base coat, Cult Nails Tempest (white creme), all four Orly Instant Artists, and Cult Nails Wicked Fast top coat.

Orly Instant Artists are not regular nail polish. They are water based paint, like acrylic paint. They don't work very well if you apply them to your bare nail so it's important to put on a coat of polish first. Another thing that's important to note is that they do not have regular polish brushes. They have striper brushes making them ideal for endless nail art designs. They wash off with just water so seal in your design with a coat of top coat when your done. 

I don't have very much experience with striper brushes. In fact, I think this is my third try with them. I also painted with my non dominant hand making this task even more difficult. I decided to make alternating lines with each color that overlapped and curved a little. The nice thing about this kind of paint is that you have plenty of time to work with it until you're satisfied with the results. I  liked this abstract look and it's something you can do even if you don't have very much experience with using a striper brush. 

Cala Water Decal Designs

 Products Used: Cult Nails Get It On base coat, China Glaze You Drive Me Coconuts, Cala water decal, and Cult Nails Wicked Fast top coat.

 Products Used: Duri Rejuvacote base coat, Smokey Mountain Lacquers Her Majesty, Cala water decal, and Seche Vite top coat. 

You can find out more about the Nail Art Society on their website, here. Subscriptions are $9.95 a month plus shipping. 

Thanks for reading!

Please subscribe to my blog and "like" my Facebook page!

-Mira

*The products in this post were provided for my honest review.