Nails Inc. Old Bond St. - Swatches and Review

I hope you are all having a nice weekend! I have had a super busy day so this will be a quick post. I recently got my very first Nails Inc. polishes thanks to my friend Kim in the UK. Thanks again Kim! They are all so lovely and I was so anxious to try them!

Old Bond St. is a gold/bronze metallic. It is very pretty and had a great formula, absolutely no complaints! The first picture is the most color-accurate, my camera kept wanting to make it darker than it is.

What do you think of this color? I think it will be one of my favorites in the Fall!

World Autism Awareness Day, Monday, April 2, 2012- Let's Wear Blue Polish!!

This coming Monday, April 2nd, is World Autism Awareness Day. This is a special cause for me because I know a VERY special little boy who happens to have autism. Those of us in the polish community have pulled together before for other causes and I fully believe we can do it again. 


On Monday make sure to paint your nails blue! It's as simple as that. Is it going to change anything? Maybe not. But it might just help raise awareness, even if it only opens one person's eyes, it's worth it.  Someone else suggested adding in puzzle pieces with the blue. I think this is a wonderful idea! I will attempt it, even though we all know how I fail at nail art. I want to see YOUR blue manis! If you paint your nails blue on Monday, with or without the puzzle pieces, I want you to upload a picture to my Facebook page. I will share it on Facebook, make sure to link your blog if you have one! 


From Autism Speaks: "Autism statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identify around 1 in 88 American children as on the autism spectrum–a ten-fold increase in prevalence in 40 years. Careful research shows that this increase is only partly explained by improved diagnosis and awareness. Studies also show that autism is three to four times more common among boys than girls. An estimated 1 out of 54 boys and 1 in 252 girls are diagnosed with autism in the United States."


For more information on Autism and Light it up Blue please visit Autism Speaks.

Sinful Colors Dream On with stamping in KleanColor Metallic Fuschia

I am busy tonight but wanted to get this post up for you guys! I was craving something bright and cheery and I think this fits the bill!

I did a base of Sinful Colors Dream On, which applied very well. Two coats for full opacity, it dries to a semi-matte, rubbery finish. Since it had the rubber finish I thought some metallic tone-on-tone stamping would look nice. I had just received KleanColor Metallic Fuschia  from my friend Sheila and couldn't wait to do some stamping with it. I used BM19 for the stamping.

I did not put a top coat on this because I didn't want to change the look of the finishes. My camera actually liked me this time, these are color accurate.

I hope you enjoyed this post!

The Nail Junkie Spring 2012 Complete Collection - Swatches and Review

I have an exciting post for you today!! My friend Aleta over at The Nail Junkie has launched her own line of hand-crafted nail polish and it is pretty darn exciting! This is a set of 5 polishes consisting of 3 matte colors, 1 glitter topper and 1 matte top coat. Indie matte polishes?! YES PLEASE.

These polishes are 3-Free and Cruelty-Free (YAY!!) and Aleta is putting $5 from every set sold towards the charity Women to Women, a charity that helps women in war torn countries!

~SEE THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST FOR PURCHASING INFORMATION, AS WELL AS ALL LINKS PERTAINING TO THIS POLISH LINE~

Aleta has put a lot of thought into the presentation and packaging of these sets, including adding in several extra goodies!

How pretty and Spring-y is this packaging?! This is how it looks when you open the box.

The goodies out of the box. Besides the polish there are felt glitter remover wipes (I used these to remove each polish as I was swatching and had great success and no lint!), the Certificate of Authenticity and rose scented wax candle melts.

 PLEASE NOTE: All sets purchased will include what is pictured plus a homemade hand scrub and a lilac scented oil spray.

I had to get a close-up of the glitter on the wax melts, I love it!

(The polish in the picture is not one of Aleta's, this was my previous mani)

Also included in the sets are numbered Certificates of Authenticity. They are personalized with your name and set number.

Now onto the polish! 

Aren't these bottles pretty!?

The Nail Junkie Violet, Rose, Daffodil, Grass Green Glitter Topper, Matte Topper

I love the jewels on the tops of the bottles!

The formula on these polishes was very nice. The first coat is a bit streaky but that is typical with matte polishes. They are a little on the thick side (again, typical for mattes) but were not hard to work with. All of these pictures are WITHOUT clean-up so you can see was easy to control.

Swatches galore...

~For every picture (both with and without glitter) I have the matte topper on my index and ring fingers and no top coat on my middle and pinky fingers. As you can tell, the matte top coat does not change the color or finish, it just protects the polish. I think this is a WONDERFUL feature. And it DID make the glitter matte, I love this top coat~

First up is Violet, and she is gorgeous. 

Now Violet with the Grass Green Glitter Topper

~The glitter topper is not hungry at all. On the two fingers that have no top coat it is COMPLETELY smooth.~

Next up is Rose.

*Please excuse the dry cuticles*

Now Rose with the Grass Green Glitter Topper

Also, please excuse the orange frosting on my finger, that may or may not be evidence that I was eating a cupcake. ;-) Apparently I missed a spot when washing my hands. LOL 

And last, but not least, is Daffodil. Yellows do not usually look good on me with my pasty white skin but this is a lovely butter yellow and I think it complemented my skin nicely.

The color in the FIRST picture is accurate, the others turned a little too bright.

And Daffodil with the Grass Green Glitter Topper.

These polishes will be sold in sets with all of the extras I have shown you plus the homemade hand scrub and lilac scented oil spray. The sets will be $50 and will include FREE DOMESTIC SHIPPING. International shipping will be $10. They will go up for sale TONIGHT (3/29/12) at midnight.

For more information on purchasing head over to The Nail Junkie. You will also find a giveaway there for set #1 of this collection! Also, be sure to "Like" The Nail Junkie on Facebook to stay up-to-date!

What do you think of this collection? I think Aleta did an amazing job! I can't wait to attempt some Easter nail art with these!

#hashtag Envy

If you saw my nail mail post from earlier today you saw the awesome frankens from my friend Sheila. I mentioned that I had been wearing the green one, Envy, for 2 days (ever since I received it). I really like this polish, Sheila did an amazing job on it.

It is a murky, muddy, olive green with holo sparkles scattered throughout. It's tough and girly all at the same time. This is 2 coats topped off with 1 coat of Nubar Diamont Top Coat.

Isn't is gorgeous?! Thanks Sheila!

Nail Mail!

Is there any better kind of mail? OF COURSE NOT! At least not if you are a polish addict. I have received some lovely polishes the last couple of days.

First up is an amazing swap package from my friend Sheila at Pointless Cafe, she included some extra surprise goodies (because she is awesome like that :-)) that I love! Thank you SO MUCH Sheila! ♥

The Rolos have not survived this blog post. LOL

 First are my surprise polishes. The first is a mossy green with holo bits scattered throughout (I couldn't wait to put this on, I am wearing it now and have been for 2 days) and the other is a SpectraFlair topcoat! She names these #hashtag for me because I use A LOT of hashtags (my friends usually call me Hash or Hashley LOL). I LOVE my surprise frankens!

#hashtag Envy and #hashtag Holo

Nubar Vino, Prize and Sapphire

Hard Candy Beetle, Kleancolor Metallic Fuschia, Julep Sofia, NYX eyeshadow

And now for some random purchases....

butter LONDON Wallis and Bluey

China Glaze Stone Cold, Agro, Fast Track, Riveting, Luxe & Lush, Foie Gras, Harvest Moon, Let's Groove

That's it for my nail mail so far this week! LOL