piCture pOlish Fool's Gold Swatch & Review!

Hey everyone! Today I have a swatch and review of the gorgeous piCture pOlish Fool's Gold to share!

I'm still on my reading break and loving it! It's going to be so hard to go back to school with all the labs and midterms and assignments and stuff. I especially don't want to have less free time considering all of the indie polishes I've purchased lately! I picked up 8 piCture pOlish polishes as you can see below as well as 12 KB Shimmer polishes! Because of tutoring my cousin recently, I actually had some money to spend so I was able to go crazy for two indie brands I've been drooling over for over a year!

Here is a picture of my whole Nail Polish Canada order of piCture pOlishes! Let me know if there's a particular one you'd like to see soon!

Onto the nails!

This base of this polish is kind of hard for me to describe. I'd say it's between turquoise and aqua, but closer to aqua. Either way it's freaking vibrant and gorgeous! As you'll see more clearly later in the macro shot, this polish has small gold hexes and silvery flakies tossed in!

Application and formula-wise this polish was a dream! I love the bottle and brush, they remind me of butter LONDON polishes. The brush is definitely smaller than an OPI one (and like I said, similar to a bL one), making it easy to control and small enough to paint my pinkies with and not require a bunch of cleanup! It was a perfect consistency to avoid flooding the cuticles and wasn't so thick that it was hard to work with!

The polish seemed to dry quite quickly and when I did my thick second coat, I didn't have any problems with balding. I am still wearing this right now, and before I reshaped my nails with this on there wasn't even much tip wear! I haven't noticed and chips whatsoever either. I've been wearing it for three days so far and it's doing amazing!

What you see here is one normal coat and one thick coat plus a coat of top coat (Essie Good to Go as always)! It's not quite opaque everywhere on every nail but I really don't mind. Three normal coats would get you a completely opaque look if you're more into that!

What do you guys think of this polish or piCture pOlishes in general? I suspect I'm going to love every one I picked up!

Thanks so much for reading guys! Again, I'm not sure what I'll be back with on Monday but it will either involve a new indie polish, nail art or both! Hope you guys are having a good week! Happy Thursday! =)

Glittery Aqua to Purple Gradient Nails Featuring B Squared Lacquer Polishes!

Hey everyone! Today I have some gradient nail art to share!

I've been doing better motivation-wise lately and by tomorrow afternoon I'll have written my first midterm in each of my classes. I've felt really good about the other ones I've written and unlike last semester I think I'll do well on all of my first midterms! I've also been tutoring my second cousin in math recently and I'm so happy that it has been going well! He's really understanding things and I'm so glad that I can help with that! What have you guys been up to lately? In nail-related news I got a proper soft box and these are the first pictures I've taken with it. What do you guys think of the pictures? Do they look any different?

Onto the nails!

I started off with three coats of OPI My Vampire is Buff and a coat of top coat (Essie Good to Go). I love MViB for the colour but I really dislike the formula. Even three average to slightly thick and careful coats won't get this polish opaque on all of my nails. I wanted to use it as a base for nail art in a way that would let it show through, but then I just ended up sponging over it and covering it completely :P.

A day or two later was when I did the gradient. I painted a thick stripe of B Squared Lacquer All Aboard and one of Purple Unicorns beside that on a dampened sponge. I sponged on three layers of the colours, making sure to paint more polish onto the sponge between each nail.

I then decided it was missing something so I slapped on a coat of OPI Pirouette My Whistle followed by a coat of top coat. I did a whole lot of cleanup and I was done!

What do you guys think of these nails? I thought they came out a little too subtle and pale but now that I look at the pictures I don't think so as much. Let me know!

Thanks so much for having a look everyone! I think this will be the week that I start posting twice a week, so I'll be back with some green viney/brainish nails on Thursday! Happy Monday! =)

Dark Green Glittery Nails Featuring Hex Nail Jewelry Charms and Star Candy Polish Orion!

Hey everybody! Today I have some nails featuring some Hex Nail Jewelry and some Star Candy Polish to share!

I'm currently in my busiest week of the semester, which in a way I'm happy about because I'm getting it over with fairly early. I have lab write-ups, pre-labs, midterms and lots of tutoring to do! I'm still struggling with having the motivation to work on those things (apart from tutoring) but I'm trying to make myself work on it because I really have to. Do you guys have a lot of stuff to do this week too? Anyway, onto the nails!

I started off with two easy coats of Revlon Rain Forest, a gorgeous dark green polish with gold shimmer throughout. Then, on all of my nails except the ones I planned to put charms on, I applied one coat of Star Candy Polish Orion (I posted about it previously, here). I adhered the charms to my nails with a glob of top coat, and I applied one coat of top coat to most of my nails and two to the ones with charms (as always, Essie Good to Go).

These nails turned out a little more fancy and glamorous than I'm used to, but I found them so pretty that I didn't mind.

The studs stayed on for the duration I wore these nails for (at least two days, I'm not sure how long exactly) and weren't threatening to fall off. I really love Hex Nail Jewelry for that, their charms stay on very well!

How cool is this Sun charm? I know my right hand can't pose without looking ridiculous, I'm sorry!

What do you guys think of these nails or these charms? I'd love to know! I'll be back with some pastel gradient nails in a week that you would have seen if you follow me on Instagram! Happy Monday! :)

Snowy Nail Art Featuring Born Pretty Store Snowflake Decorations!

Hey everyone! Today I have some wintery nails featuring some Born Pretty Store snowflake charms to share!

Look at this, I'm posting for the second week in a row and keeping up with my proposed schedule! Say what? I'm even thinking of trying to get two posts in on weeks where I'm not so busy and eventually maybe two posts a week regardless. I think getting back into blogging has helped me motivation-wise already. Taking a break from here and not doing my nails wasn't taking a break, it was not doing the things I enjoy and doing things I don't enjoy like procrastinating at school and stressing myself out. Anyways! Onto the nails!

I started off with one coat of the base coat I've been using recently (Orly Bonder) and then to most of my nails I applied two coats of a lovely texture polish, OPI Solitaire. For my snow-capped nails I just used a small detailing brush (Winstonia Kolinsky Sable Brush in #000) for the white part (done with OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls) and Black Sheep Lacquer Blink straight from the bottle for the duochrome topper. For my remaining nails I applied two coats of MBSW and while the second one was still wet I applied the snowflake charms (number 8 of these, though I seemed to have a 9 thrown in as you can see in these pictures).

I ended up tripling up on top coat for the snowflake nails (as well as pushing the edges down while they dried into the white base) and the corners still came up and got caught on everything. If that doesn't bother you then these charms would work for you, but in my opinion they're only really good for pictures and not practical to wear. They are super pretty though!

I'm getting a proper soft box/light box in the mail soon and I'm really excited about it! Lighting and white balance is something I'm constantly trying to improve on and I think it will really help!

Thanks so much for taking a look everyone! What do you guys think of this look or these charms? Does it snow around this time of year where you live? Let me know in the comments!

If you guys decide to pick up some nail art stuff from BPS be sure to use my coupon, SKBQ10, for 10% off!

I hope you guys are having a good week so far! I'll be back with some dark green glittery nails featuring some Hex Nail Jewelry charms soon! Happy Monday!

Rainbow Honey Sapphire Weapon Swatch & Review!

Hello everyone! Today I have another gorgeous Rainbow Honey polish to share!

I think the cold I have is on its last legs and I'm pretty excited about it! The cold and flu season seemed to start before the weather cooled down this year, as today was the first weekday it rained since I've been back at school. I have this massive backpack that I carry too much stuff in, so a week or two ago I took my rain jacket out from the bottom of it. Of course, I forgot to check the weather or repack it now that it would have been very useful :P. Anyway, I'm very happy that the weather is cooling down and happy to walk around school in the rain! Onto the nails!

Rainbow Honey Sapphire Weapon is a beautiful dark blue jelly polish with gold and green shimmer. The base either has a hint of green in it or the shimmer makes it appear that way, which makes the polish almost appear duochromatic!

Application-wise this polish was a dream! The RH mini polishes have really nice brushes contrary to most mini polishes. I found the consistency really perfect as well, so it was a lot easier to paint my nails in a neater fashion and I didn't have to clean up as much as usual!

What you see here is two thickish coats of polish and three thin coats would have worked as well if you're into that! It dried nice and quick and I topped it off with one coat of top coat (Essie Good to Go)!

EDIT: This polish did stain my nails a bit so definitely double up on base coat!

I've been wearing this polish for three days now and I have a bit more wear than I usually do at the three day mark. I did my base coat (OPI Matte Nail Envy) a day or two before and I could have had some oil, balm or lotion residue on top of that base. I don't really think it was the polish's fault as I usually wash my hands better or apply another coat of base coat before polishing days after doing a coat of base coat!

What do you guys think of this polish or Rainbow Honey in general? Also, should I make macro shots a thing on my blog from now on? I really love them!

Thanks so much for reading everyone! Again, I'm not sure what nails I'll have for you next time but I'll probably repaint them tonight and post them on my Instagram! Happy Tuesday! =)

Butter London All Hail The Queen Swatch & Review!

Hello my lovely readers! Today I have a swatch of a gorgeous neutral polish called Butter London All Hail The Queen to share!

I know it has been forever and a day since I posted but now that I'm back at school (and therefore back into a routine) I'll be back to posting every two or three days! I find my posting is more frequent and less sporadic when I'm in school despite the decrease in free time, probably because I already have a bit of a schedule going on so I'm kind of in planning mode. Anyways, onto the nails!

I ordered this polish quite a while ago when Butter London had a sale going on as well as a free shipping over blank dollars promotion. I've come to realize I have a mad love for brown polishes but I still sometimes worry that they're a bit boring. That's definitely not the case with this mid-toned holographic beauty!

Hidden in this polish is also a very fine pink shimmer, so when you're out in the Sun and you look at the glare on your nails it's more pink than white! I really love the added shimmer because it makes the polish even more interesting and it was a lovely surprise to notice!

What you see here is two coats and a coat of top coat, which isn't fully opaque when you hold your nails up to the Sun. That's okay with me because I was in a hurry and it's opaque enough for my light box!

This polish applied like the first half of the brand's name, butter! It was so easy to work with and so fast-drying, and even though I used the same top coat I always use (Essie Good to Go) this polish looked even shinier than most!

What do you guys think of this polish or Butter London polishes in general? I'd love to know in the comments!

Thanks so much for reading everyone! I'm actually still wearing this polish as I type this so I'm not sure what kind of nails I'll have for you next! Happy Thursday! =)

Rainbow Honey Summer Mixtape Collection: Elevate, Control & Shark Attack!

Hello my lovely readers! Today I have a review of some gorgeous Rainbow Honey polishes from their new Summer Mixtape collection to share!

I seriously think that Rainbow Honey has been putting out polishes unique to other indie brands from day one and I have not once been disappointed in their products. No offense intended whatsoever but these guys are my favourite! Other indie brands wouldn't have added the shimmer to Elevate, used two very different colours of shimmer in Control, or thrown some red glitters into Shark Attack, so I really appreciate and love the extra thought and creativity that goes into their polishes.

That said, I would (obviously) completely recommend you guys picking up some of their lovely polishes, using the code MIXTAPE20 for 20% off your order, and taking part in some of their free shipping or free polish/mystery bag (see my review of the July one here) deals by spending a certain amount of money! I am very tempted myself and I'm wondering if my parents would fund a little RH shopping spree in celebration of being awarded a transfer scholarship to the university I'll be attending in the fall! Onto the polishes!

First up we have Elevate, a clear-based glitter topper with a whole lotta matte glitter and even some of Rainbow Honey's signature blue to pink multichrome shimmer flakies! I swear the flakies are also iridescent, they are seriously amazing!

The formula was lovely and I was able to spread the glitters out evenly with just a few extra swipes of the brush! I didn't end up with any green glitters on my nails so I purposefully placed one on my middle finger to show that they're in there! I probably should have let the polish sit upside down longer before polishing so I could have got some green glitters out without fishing.

What you see here is only one coat of Elevate over two coats of Quo by Orly Lilac Lust, plus a coat of top coat!

Next we have Control, a neon pink crelly with gold and those same blue to pink multichrome shimmer flakies as other gorgeous RH polishes! I could have sworn there was another colour of shimmer in there but I don't have the bottle on me to check. Perhaps I saw two different colours of the multichrome shimmer? I included the picture above so you guys could get an idea of how bright this polish is. Picture that but even brighter!

The formula was flawless, self-leveling, quick-drying and a perfect consistency. Like many neon polishes, this baby dried to a satin finish which is always a fun surprise!

This polish was close to a one-coater but I went for two coats for full opacity. I also added a coat of top coat for consistency and so you could see this polish all shiny-ed up!

Finally we have Shark Attack, a medium blue jelly with tons of sizes and shapes of metallic blue glitter, green microglitter and small red hexagon glitter!

Another wonderful formula here, slightly thick due to all the glitter but that gave me a lot of control. It's hard to clean up glitter polishes if you get any glitter where you don't want it, so the added control was greatly appreciated!

What you see here is two easy coats and a coat of top coat! There is a little bit of VNL but that doesn't bother me and I loved the depth and look of this polish at two coats too much to add another coat!

What do you guys think of these polishes or Rainbow Honey in general? I'd love to know in the comments! I love when you guys leave me comments!

Thanks so much for taking a look everyone! I hope you're having a good start to your weekend! I'll be back with some simple nail art on a pretty green base very soon! Happy Friday! =)

Rainbow Honey July Mystery Bag Review & Swatches!

Hello my lovely readers! Today I have a review of the Rainbow Honey Mini July Mystery Bag (link here) to share!

I am officially back from Switzerland! I'm very happy to be back to my light box and sister's nice camera so I can get back to blogging! The trip was really amazing and it was so great to hang out with our friend Anna for a month. Surprisingly, I only picked up two polishes while I was away (both by the brand Kiko) which I'll be blogging about soon!

The night we got back I was super excited to learn that I'd come home to a package from Rainbow Honey! In addition to the mystery bag I got three new polishes to review, so keep an eye out for another Rainbow Honey post very soon! Above you can see the adorable packaging their mystery bags come in!

Everything came packaged very well so there's no need to worry about of ending up with broken bottles or product explosions.

As you can see, everything is also packaged close together so there's no way for any products to bang into each other with any considerable force!

Did I mention you get a whole lot of stuff for a small amount of money? These mini mystery bags retail for just 10 American dollars plus shipping! Shipping is free if you spend 50 dollars or more for America and 75 dollars or more for Canada, and you better believe I made sure to spend at least 75 dollars last time I ordered haha! Also, if you spend 65 dollars or more you can get this mini mystery bag as a free gift which is awesome!

This month's mystery bag came with three mini (5mL) polishes, a 4mL eau de parfum rollerball, a 29mL cooling gel and a 4.25g scented cuticle balm. All three body products are in the scent midori; a fresh melon scent! 

The rollerball perfume goes on easily and dries quickly for a nice light summery scent! The cooling gel is very effective, if you don't fully rub it in it stays wet and continues to cool you off for quite a while! It has some really pretty and subtle blurple and green shimmer flakies that makes it extra summery, as well as the same delicious scent as the perfume!

Finally, the cuticle balm is thinner than most, (which I absolutely love!) non-greasy, and fast absorbing! It does that thing where most of if sinks in but you're left with a layer of protection from moisture-loss which I really love! You can see above and below how nails and cuticles freshly swiped with pure acetone look with (thumb, middle finger and pinkie) and without (index and ring finger) the cuticle balm on top!

This cuticle balm adds hardly any shine to pictures even when it's freshly applied so I think it's going to be my new go to cuticle product before I take pictures! I also really love the formula so I'll probably by using it all the time!

Now, onto the polishes! Each mini Rainbow Honey polish comes in a tall skinny bottle with a long and skinny brush that picks up globs of polish full of glitter really well!

First up we have Viridis, a clear-based glitter topper stuffed with shimmer, microglitter and full-on glitter in various shapes, finishes, colours and sizes! Some of the glitters are partially transparent so this beauty will look different over different base colours! Here I've layered one coat of Viridis over two coats of Revlon Espresso, no top coat.

Like I said, what you see here is only one coat of this polish because the glitter is so densely-packed! This is also the result of hardly any dabbing, mostly just applying the glitter topper as if it was a normal polish!

The dry time seemed really awesome and the glitters were so smooth and flat that I didn't even see a need to use top coat for these swatches!

Next up we have Chemical Plant, a very densely-packed clear-based shimmer polish. Despite the clear base I was able to reach opacity in just two easy coats! The shimmer in this baby consists of rose gold/copper coloured flakies, much smaller pink shimmer and even a small amount of blurple shimmer! When the light hits this polish its shimmer mix gives it a duochromey look which is pretty freaking cool!

What you see here is two easy coats and a coat of top coat!

Again, dry time was good and application was awesome!

Finally we have Deep Heart Sea, a slightly green-tinted medium blue jelly with intense pink to blue multichrome shimmer and a whole bunch of matte and pearl finish glitters! The base is a little more green and a little more dark in the bottle than in these pictures, mostly because with all of the glitters you don't need the base to be opaque for the whole polish to be opaque... know what I mean? There are even some white heart glitters thrown in as you can see on my pinky nail, so cute!

The formula on this one was a little thicker than the other two but still entirely manageable! The added thickness gave me more control and it didn't dry so fast that trying to cover your whole nail turned the polish into a gloopy mess. Basically it was a really good consistency for something so packed with glitter!

What you see here is two coats and a coat of top coat!

Whew! You've made it to the end of this massive photo-heavy post! Rainbow Honey included a 20% off coupon code for me to share with you guys to use on your next order! Enter MIXTAPE20 at the checkout before August 31st to get 20% off your order!

Thanks so much for taking a look everyone! What do you think of these polishes or products or Rainbow Honey stuff in general? I love it all and I really think they make polishes unique to other indie brands! I'll be back with one more Born Pretty Store review and one more Rainbow Honey review soon so stay tuned! Happy Sunday! =)