Day 5 of 31 Day Challenge: Voodoo Lacquer "Mulberry Spice" XOXO Nails "Spring Fling"

I hope you all have been having a great weekend so far. Here I present you with the following indie combination:

Mulberry Spice by Voodoo Lacquer and Spring Fling by XOXO Nails

Mulberry Spice is a described as being between a "cardinal and chestnut red." I would probably describe is as more of a burgundy/maroon-ish color. No matter how you describe it, it's very pretty on the nails. It also contains small silver holographic glitters which gives it that subtle shimmer that always gives a polish that little extra something. It was also opaque after 2 coats:

Spring Fling is a glitter topper containing very pretty pastel glitters in pink, yellow, and green. I'm a sucker for pastel glitters, especially because pastel colored cremes don't really cooperate with my skin tone. Pastel glitters was my compromise. As much as I liked the combination of Spring Fling with Mulberry Spice, this glitter topper was somewhat difficult to work with. In order for me to get a sufficient amount of glitter onto the brush, I needed to tilt the bottle a bit and swish the brush around. That aside, application was fine for the most part, and a thick coat of a good top coat helps to prevent the resulting bumpiness associated with glitter toppers. The following swatch shows Spring Fling over Mulberry Spice:

I used:

Sephora by OPI Base Coat

2 coats Voodoo Lacquer Mulberry Spice

2 coats XOXO Nails Spring Fling

Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

Mulberry Spice is currently in stock at the Voodoo Lacquer Etsy shop, and you can purchase XOXO Nails polishes at Electra's Etsy shop. Spring Fling is not currently in stock, but check out the XOXO Nails Facebook page to stay up to date on restocks and new collections. You can also access the Voodoo lacquer Facebook page for updates, new collections, coupon codes and specials.

NOTE: The polishes discussed in this post were purchased by me. All thoughts and opinions are that of my own.

Day 4 of 31 Day Challenge: Hit Polish "Lily Pad"

Today, I give you a glitter topper from one of my first indie brands: Hit Polish (previously D & R Apothecary):

Lily Pad by Hit Polish

Lily Pad is a glitter topper polish containing a variety of colors intended to mimic that of its name: lily pads. This polish contains ultra fine royal blue glitters, navy blue hexes, small and larger matte white hexes, pastel green hexes, and medium, holographic green glitters. This polish had everything I expected from a good glitter topper.  The glitters spread evenly with little fishing needed for the larger hex glitters. Also, I did not experience the curling that I would normally expect from the larger hexes. It dried somewhat bumpy due to the glitters, but this was easily smoothed out with a thick coat of Seche Vite top coat. 

I used:

Julep Base Coat

2 coats OPI Fly

1 coat Hit Polish Lily Pad

1 coat Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

You can purchase Lily Pad for a limited time at the Hit Polish Etsy shop. Also, you should definitely check out the Hit Polish Facebook page for discount codes and specials! Rachel loves sales and she usually announces them on the Hit Polish Facebook page so definitely check it out before making a purchase. Until tomorrow...

NOTE: The polishes discussed in this post were purchased by me. All thoughts and opinions are that of my own.

Day 3 of 31 Day Challenge: KB Shimmer "Jack" Girly Bits "Howl at the Moon"

Thursday.. the third day (any FRIENDS lovers out there?). Today I decided to "hit 2 birds with one stone" by using these 2 indies:

Jack by KB Shimmer and Howl at the Moon by Girly Bits

Let's start off with Jack. Jack can be described as a black jelly polish containing orange hex glitters in several sizes and micro orange bars. Whenever I have a black jelly, I tend to use it over a black creme base so as to preserve the polish by using fewer coats. I decided to use Jack over China Glaze Smoke & Ashes:

Howl at the Moon is similar to Jack in that the glitters are in a black jelly base, but instead of orange hexes and bars of various sizes, it contains gold hex glitters in various sizes. In a way, this polish's color combination reminds me a little of Deborah Lippmann's Cleopatra in New York. As with Jack, I used Smoke & Ashes as a base:

After using these polishes, I'm very glad I decided to purchase them. Application was flawless, and the glitters spread evenly quite easily. The following swatch shows both polishes over a Smoke & Ashes base:

I used:

Essie Grow Stronger

2 coats China Glaze Smoke & Ashes

2 coats KB Shimmer Jack

2 coats Girly Bits Howl at the Moon (accent nail)

1 coat Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

Jack can be purchased at the KB Shimmer website, Etsy shop, and from Harlow & Co. You can find Howl at the Moon at the Girly Bits Big Cartel shop (which should be back up tomorrow), MeiMeiSignature.com, and Llarowe. 

NOTE: The polishes discussed in this post were purchased by me. All thoughts and opinions are that of my own.

Day 2 of 31 Day Challenge: Rainbow Polish "Taffy"

It's day 2, and I thought I'd try out a glitter/jelly sandwich using an indie glitter topper that I was really excited to buy:

Taffy by Rainbow Polish

This glitter sandwich is what I was most excited about trying. I had been looking out for this polish since I first learned about this indie brand. Taffy is a pastel glitter topper containing a mixture of light blues, aquas, pink, lime green and white hexes and squares. Application was not as great as I would have hoped for a glitter topper seeing as it was difficult for me to get glitter on the brush. I needed to shake the bottle between application, and I still needed to somewhat "fish" for some of the larger pieces of glitter. Application aside, the result was amazing, especially in combination with Nfu-Oh JS-29 as shown below:

I used:

Julep Basecoat

1 coat Nfu-Oh JS-29

1 coat Rainbow Polish Taffy

1 coat Nfu-Oh JS-29

1 coat Rainbow Polish Taffy

1 coat Nfu-Oh JS-29

1 coat Rainbow Polish Taffy

You can purchase Taffy at MeiMeiSignatures.com or the Rainbow Polish Etsy or Big Cartel shop. Be sure to check out the Rainbow Polish Facebook page for updates on restocks and previews of upcoming polishes and specials.

NOTE: The polishes discussed in this post were purchased by me. All thoughts and opinions are that of my own.

Day 1 of 31 Day Challenge: HARE Polish "Dog Day Dream"

So here it is: the first of hopefully many swatches to come this month.

Dog Day Dream by HARE Polish.

Dog Day Dream is a gorgeous red/deep pink/berry colored jelly filled with square and hex glitter in purple, pink and orange. I originally purchased this beauty quite some time ago, and now I'm not sure as to why I waited this long to use it! I decided to pair this with OPI The One That Got Away, which, like DDD, is a gorgeous (and I mean GORGEOUS) berry color, but that's a whole other story. Application was great, and there was no difficulty in the glitter spreading evenly.

I used:
Essie Grow Stronger
2 coats of OPI The One That Got Away 
2 coats of HARE Polish Dog Day Dream
Seche Vite Quick Dry Topcoat

I purchased this from the HARE polish Etsy shop, but you can currently purchase this at Llarowe. Check out their Facebook page for updates on restocks, etc.

NOTE: The polishes discussed in this post were purchased by me. All thoughts and opinions are that of my own.