Seahawk Sunday: Mango Bunny The Twelves

Hey all! Another Seahawks Sunday post... and probably the last one for a little while, because college football starts on Thursday and then I'll be pretty preoccupied with Husky Football (sorry Seahawks-- at least you finally won a preseason game)! Don't worry, I still have some Seahawks themed polishes that I have to share with you so those will make an appearance later on! This week I have another indie polish brand to share with you, Mango Bunny. This is another brand I have been introduced to through my PNW polish addict group and so far it's been a winner (I have some other polishes to show you, coming soon)!

Mango Bunny The Twelves is a white crelly with blue, green, white and silver glitters in it. The first coat was a little sheer, but three coats is perfect to make this polish opaque. Depending how carefully you applied it, you might be able to get away with two coats. The glitters were nicely distributed throughout, though the did want to come to migrate towards my free edge, so I did have dab a bit to make sure I got good placement on the nail.

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I was really happy with this! The glitters don't disappear into the base, though I did need to dab a bit to get the glitters spread across the nail. It does build up nicely and easily. A clearly a winner, because the Seahawks also won this week! 

HBP Presents Neon Stripes!

Hey all! Something new and different with this post! One of the nail polish related Facebook groups I'm a part of, Hobby Polish Bloggers, has a monthly themed link-up and August's theme is neon! As I was pondering my next manicure during the work day (yeah, it was so, and I think about what I'm going to paint my nails) I decided I wanted to try and participate this go 'round!

I decided to go for something simple and decided to use my two Savina neon polishes, Sunset  and Beach Ball. I had picked up some striping tape awhile ago and thought "hey, why not use that?". I was already wearing Beach Ball as a base, so I put down three pieces of striping tape on each nail and then layered Sunset on top of it. The idea was to kind of create a beach towel look. The only teeny tiny problem is that these colors are pretty similar to each other and are so bright that the stripes are a little difficult to distinguish. 

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Hope you enjoyed this manicure and that your retinas aren't too scorched from all the neon! This was my first time using actual striping tape for a mani. It was definitely a little more intense than I expected, but soooooo much easier than trying to free hand or use scotch/painter's tape. This isn't perfect but it's a start!

An InLinkz Link-up

Savina Sunset

Ok, since yesterday's post was kind of a bummer, let's do something fun today!! I have a new-to-me brand to share with you. The polish I have today is Savina Sunset. Savina is a brand I haven't really heard of or seen much of before. The bottles look a little like the China Glaze bottles (although there are really only so many polish bottle shapes) so I'm not sure if they are related. I picked up Sunset at Nordstrom Rack on a whim. It's neon, so why not, right?! Sunset is a neon red orange and it sure is pretty (and neon).

Sunset had a good formula. Nicely pigmented and thin without being watery and sheer; it applied decently and without too many issues. There was a little bit of streaking, though it wasn't enough to really bother me. I am pretty sure I only used two coats, and maybe should have used a third, but... I didn't feel like! Haha. There's also a hint of visible nail line, but it wasn't really noticeable in real life.

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Whew, I hope you had your shades on! Sunset is bright! This is a perfect summer color and while the formula wasn't 100% perfect, it was decent enough and I am sucker for neons. They are an essential part of summer! I wore this on vacation and it was perfect for lying by the pool and soaking up the sunshine. So I think I can say I'm a fan of Savina and of this polish. I'll definitely be picking up a few more on future trips to the Rack.

Sinful Colors VIPeach

Hey all, Happy Monday! Just a quick post today. I have one of the polishes from the new Sinful Colors Fall Collection. There are BUNCH of different polishes, but one part of the collection features all demi-mattes, inspired by classroom chalkboards. Demi-matte is basically the same as a satin finish-- there is a slight shine to the finish, but it is not glossy. VIPeach is, surprisingly, not peach. That's a little funny, right? In any case, VIPeach is pastel yellow.

Aside from the confusing name, I was sadly disappointed with VIPeach. The formula was a bit thick and also streaky. I did try and use a light hand while applying it, but even that didn't fix everything. I also had what looks to be like some bubbling with this, which is highly annoying! I like the color and am a fan of the demi matte finish, but sadly the formula frustrations make this just meh in my book.

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And that's all from me today! I feel a bit bad for starting the week out on a downer-- VIPeach is a nice color, but the formula frustrations didn't impress me. I bought the whole collection of demi-mattes (and am searching for the black, white, and pink Walgreens exclusive ones) so I hope the others are better!

Seahawks Sunday: Fairytale Finish Can't Stop Won't Stop

Time for another Seahawks Sunday post! Once again, they played this past Friday and once again, we lost. What gives, guys? Anyway... there's always next week! This week we played the Kansas City Chiefs, which always brings back memories for me. 10 years ago this August, a very close friend and his wife were killed in a horrific car crash while driving through Wyoming. He was the youth director for my church (in fact, several churches in the area) and they were great mentors and support during those tumultuous teen years.They were from Kansas and accordingly, their favorite football team was Kansas City. One of the most memorable moments I have of him is from the second to last Seahawks game in the Kingdome, where they played the Kansas City Chiefs. I was a junior in high school, and my band had been invited to do the halftime show, which happened to be the day after Christmas. My friend showed up in a Santa Claus outfit, shirtless, to cheer on his team. All my schoolmates couldn't believe I knew a crazy, shirtless guy in a Santa outfit but it is a memory that makes me smile-- his enthusiasm was always infectious and I still miss him even after ten years. So I'm sad the Seahawks lost, but I also know my friend is smiling somewhere.

Let's get on to the polish! This week I broke out another Fairytale Finish polish, Can't Stop Won't Stop. This is a crelly glitter with a grey base and blue and neon green glitters in different sizes. The first coat went on very sheer. So sheer that I was a little worried it wouldn't build up. Luckily, I didn't have to worry too much! With the second coat, I had pretty good coverage and I added a third coat just to make sure it was completely opaque. That was all I needed! It dried down quickly and had a slightly textured finish, as glitters tend to-- so you definitely need a top coat to smooth it out. But otherwise, absolutely no complaints (aside from being slightly worried about the first coat)! This polish just needs a first coat to cling to, though I also used slightly thicker coats given my large nail beds. The glitter distribution is good and I didn't have any issues there.

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I really like this! The Seahawks have used grey as a part of their uniform scheme in the past, which I don't necessarily love, but I think this works and captures it perfectly! So far I have yet to be disappointed by a Fairytale Finish polish, so I really need to get my hands on this year's Seahawk's duo! Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Different Dimension Lyra

Today I have a pretty amazing polish to share with you, and introduce a new-to-me brand! (Technically there has been a Different Dimension polish on the blog before, but only as an accent nail-- this is my first real, proper post featuring the brand!) Today I have Different Dimension Lyra. This polish is part of Different Dimension's Shooting Stars series, which is a series of limited edition polishes that are released on Friday evenings and listed until they sell out. And as the title of the series suggests, they are named after stars! Lyra is beautiful silver holographic with multi-chrome flakies and silver flakies! You'd think that could be overwhelming, all the different elements harmonize beautifully to create an epic polish! 

I was not disappointed with Lyra at all. The formula was great and I had no issues at all while I applied it. Of course, I have no notes, but I'm pretty sure I only needed two coats. Because of all that's going on, I do have a lot of photos-- it was hard to choose! 

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Natural light:

This is my first Different Dimension polish and I think it's official: I'm in love! Lyra is totally stunning. This polish has so much going on and it's irresistible! I couldn't stop staring at it-- every lighting situation brings out another aspect of this polish and it's never boring. I didn't want to take this off. Unfotunately, Lyra is long sold out now, but Different Dimension has a lot of other stunning polishes for sale.

Two-fer Tuesday: Wet n Wild Stream of Consciousness and A Latte Love

I figured it was time for another Two-fer Tuesday post! This week I have two polishes from the Wet nn Wild Silver Lake collection, which was released this spring. I am a sucker for these Wet n Wild Megalast polishes-- the colors are not necessarily ground breaking, but they are usually nice capsule collections and even better, have a great price point at $1.99! The quality is generally decent as well, which makes these even more of a deal! In fact, I already reviewed another polish from this collection, Warm Filter! Out of six total polishes, there were two more neutral polishes: Stream of Consciousness and A Latte Love. And these are the two I have to share with you today!

Stream of Consciousness is a pretty, sheer pinky-white polish with a golden shimmer running throughout it. In my photos I used three coats and you can see there is still visible nail line. So if you don't love sheers, this probably isn't for you! You might be able to make it opaque with more coats, but man, that's so much work! This is a type of polish I struggle with because it's not quite sheer enough to leave at just one coat, but requires too many coats to make it opaque and tends to be a little streaky. That said, it does have a very pretty, delicate feel to it and I really love the shimmer. 

A Latte Love is a sort of putty beige creme-- it leans a little grey, which may or may not make it more wearable for some. This had a great formula and applied very easily! My note-taking is pretty nonexistant right now, so I probably used three coats just to make sure everything was even. You could probably get away with two, though! I definitely don't recall having any issues with this polish while I was applying, other than trying to use a light hand during application.

Stream of Consciousness:

A Latte Love:

Hopefully you enjoyes this more 'neutral' edition of Two-fer Tuesday! These are both pretty polishes and great palette cleansers for all those bright and neons that pop during the spring and summer months! Hmmm, maybe I should try to layer Stream of Consciousness over A Latte Love! That could be pretty. 

Illamasqua Nurture

 Let's kick off the week with a Matte Monday post! Remember when I went on an Illamasqua kick? I haven't forgotten about them! Today I have another polish from the Rubber Brights collection to share with you, Nurture. Nuture is described as a "candy apple green" with a rubber finish, which is not quite a flat matte-- there is a slight shine to it, but not the high gloss you would get from a creme. I find "candy apple green" to be a slightly amusing descriptor-- Nuture IS reminiscent of those green apple Jolly Ranchers. Traditionally not one of my favorite candies, but this is still a fun color!

Nuture had a decent formula. Mattes tend to be thick, and it was a bit on the thicker side, though not unworkable in any way. All this hot weather hasn't helped either! I did find Nuture to just the teensiest bit streaky and I ultimately used three coats to make sure I had completely even coverage. And really, that's not a probably, though these polishes do tend to get thicker as you use them, which can sometimes be frustrating. This wasn't terrible, but next time I might try to use two more careful coats to avoid a third one! The drying time is pretty typical of these mattes-- quickly, but not too quickly (which is a very important distinction when applying nail polish, hah).

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Bright is right! My photos make this seem almost neon-- Nuture is definitely borderline neon, though not what I would call a true neon green. I don't wear a lot of greens, so this is a little outside my wheelhouse, but I did like wearing this! I love brights for summer, no matter the color.

Hope you all have a good Monday! I can't believe we are already halfway through August!

Seahawks Sunday: Fairytale Finish Beast Mode

Time for a new feature! As of this past last week, the NFL preseason has kicked off so football season is upon us! Technically the Seahawks played Friday (and lost, womp womp) but I've picked up some Seahawks polishes in the past year so I thought it would be fun to showcase some of them on a weekly (or something) basis. At least, it makes sense to me as a football fan! Plus, the college season hasn't started yet so that gives me a little more incentive. The first Seahawks themed polish I have to share with you is from a local maker, Fairytale Finish! This is Beast Mode, inspired by powerhouse running back Marshawn Lynch. I actually used this in my Super Bowl manicure this past year.

Beast Mode has a deep teal jelly base with some shimmer and then different sized neon green matte glitter. In my Super Bowl Manicure I actually layered Beast Mode over LVX Azzurum but for this mani I just wore it alone. Given the fact that this is a jelly, having a base color does change it a little bit, but I like it both ways! Here I used three coats of Beast Mode over the Sally Hansen Glitter Off base coat. Because this had been sitting for awhile in my Alex unit, the first coat was a little glitter sparse, but it got much better after I rolled it around and turned it upside down. I didn't have to do a lot of fishing! The first coat was a little sheer and even at three coats there is a little hint of visible nail line, but it's not bad in real life. Layering over a dark blue or teal base would definitely deepen the teal hue and make the glitters pop even more.

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Too bad the Seahawks lost on Friday, but Beast Mode is an awesome polish, isn't it?! In fact, it's cool whether or not you are a Hawks fan-- I love the neon green glitter in the teal base. It's a really fun combo. Unfortunately, Beast Mode isn't available any longer, but there is another duo of Seahawks inspired polishes available from Fairytale Finish, in addition to a Sounders (our local MLS team) duo.

Cirque Colors Thicker Than Water

Taking a break from the mattes and textures of late, I have a gorgeous polish to share with you-- Cirque Colors Thicker Than Water. This was originally released as part of the Kontiki Collection in 2014 and then re-released as part of a Nordstrom Pop-In collection this year. I missed out on it the first time around, so I didn't delay this time around. Thicker Than Water is a stunning teal green jelly with a strong green-gold shimmer to it.

As this is a jelly, it is a little on the sheer side and you can see some visible nail line (though honestly, the camera picked it up more than it was truly visible). This just have a slightly thicker formula, but goes on easily and smoothly. I used three coats just to make sure I had good coverage.

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I thought Dear Dahlia was exquisite, but Thicker Than Water is just as gorgeous. The shimmer is incredible-- it really does give the appearance of tropical waters. All I wanted to do was stare at my nails. Thicker Than Water is truly stunning-- the shimmer is what elevates this polish. My pictures don't do this justice!

Julep Marcy

Today I have a polish that I love to share with you, Julep Marcy. This polish was originally released in the March Maven boxes, but I received it as an extra in one of my recent boxes when I bought 3+ add-ons. Marcy is described a "prosecco silk with a semi-matte opalescent" finish. This is a pretty good description-- to me Marcy is very reminiscent of ivory silk and has a very bridal feel to it; it also has a gorgeous pink/blue opalescent shimmer to it.

At first, I was afraid this polish was going to give me flashbacks to Deborah Lippman Pseudo Silk Kimono. They share similar characteristics-- silk matte finish and a light color. I was afraid it was going to be the same mess all over again. Despite my fears, I was rewarded with a much better experience with Marcy. Because of the light color, I did use a lighter hand to try and prevent streaking. And yes, this did want to streak. I used three carefully applied coats to even out the coverage. This is a matte, er, silk, finish, so it does dry down more quickly than most polishes, though not so quickly as to make it difficult to work with.

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No apologies here, I love this polish! I think it would have been perfect for my wedding day and was very wearable and chic. I felt very elegant while wearing this. So Marcy is definitely a winner in my book and I'm glad it snuck into my Maven box when I passed on it the first time around.

Zoya Miranda

Let's do another Texture Tuesday because it's easy and I have swatches! Today I have Zoya Miranda, which was originally released in the summer of 2013 with five other Pixie Dust polishes. Miranda is described as a "rose sparkle" and I would say that it is muted pinky red with a silver sparkle.

Like most textured polishes, this applied easily. Miranda was a bit on the thin side and had more jellyish feel so I did need to use three coats to make sure I had opaque coverage. But it was very easy to apply and I had no issues there! As per usual with textured polishes, this also dried down fairly quickly.

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Oddly, I felt like Miranda was hard to remove for a texture-- usually they come off fairly easily and this one seemed a bit more stubborn. So far, Miranda, while pretty, is not my favorite of the Pixie Dusts I have tried so far. It's hard to put into words, but Miranda just didn't strike the right chord with me, I guess! It's nothing specific-- we can't like everything, right? This is a nice polish, but I'm just not in love with it.

Julep Corinne

Let's do another installment of Texture Tuesday! Today I have another stardust texture from Julep. This is Corinne, which was one of the polishes available in the July Maven box. I am a sucker for these textured polishes, so of course I had to get this. Corinne is described as a "sandcastle stardust." I guess by 'sandcastle' they mean a tan beige color, which yes, looks a lot like sand.

Corinne applied pretty well. It's a light color but was decently pigmented and applied pretty easily. I think I applied three coats here, just to make sure that I got complete coverage. It dried down quickly, as most textures do. Also, this did get a bit thick as I applied it, but that also seems to be normal of these types of polishes.

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 I didn't love this on me. There is a subtle sparkle there but I feel it gets lost on the nail. Corinne is an ok neutral but didn't really light my fire. And that's another Texture Tuesday in the books!