Breedlove Hoops

Twin Floral Nails with Jeanette of @netters_nails

Nail Art March 13, 2015

I honestly don't even know where to begin with this post. I've always loved nail polish, but I never got into the nail art side of things. Sure, I love stamping, but everything else seemed difficult. I started talking with a fellow Reddit polish addict, and we decided that twin nails were a must. I told her that I loved florals and wanted to give them a try. This is what she came up with:

Zoya Bar Zoya Purity Zoya Rue Sinful Colors Exotic Green Sinful Colors Innocent Ulta Wicked OPI Sparrow Me the Drama

The whole thing made me incredibly nervous because I am still learning to paint free hand, but I'm really pleased with how they turned out. It's safe to say that I am no longer afraid of nail art, and I hope to do more of it in the future.

Products used:

Zoya- Bar, Purity, Rue

Sinful Colors- Exotic Green, Innocent

Ulta- Wicked

OPI- Sparrow Me the Drama

Orly- Bonder

Poshe- Top Coat

Check out Jeanette on Instagram and Tumblr for her version of our twin nails, and more lovely manis!

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Pretty & Polish Spring Collection and Humble Beginnings

Indie Polish March 11, 2015

Hey guys! I have a handful of new products to share with you from Pretty & Polished. Some are brand new, while others are a reboot of old favorites. This is a photo heavy post, so I apologize if it takes a little longer to load. We have been enjoying a crazy amount of sunshine recently, so all photos were taken with natural light either in sun, shade or diffused sunlight.

Let's start with the new stuff first.

Pretty & Polished nail butter red lychee tea valencia orange hand scrub

With the Spring Collection, Pretty & Polished will be releasing new body products. I had the chance to try their new nail butter in Red Lychee Tea scent, and the Valencia Orange hand scrub. I've never tried their nail butters before, but they have a whipped texture to them. This means that a little goes a long way. Both products smell so delicious that I had to resist eating them. If anyone wants to bring me a bubble tea (blended with boba) or an Orange Julius I would love you forever!

We Weather Together

We Weather Together is a dark teal holographic polish. It's a lovely rich color with an equally nice name. The formula was just right, and built up to full coverage with three coats. Don't let the glare in the last photo fool you, this is a streak-free formula.

Elvis' Pink Cadillac

Elvis' Pink Cadillac is a re-release of the original classic Pretty & Polished shade. The formula has has some adjustments since the initial release, but it should look just like the old one. I was really happy with how this built up to full coverage with just two coats.

Swing

Swing is another reboot from Pretty & Polished's early days. It's a squishy red jelly that is jam packed with glitter. The formula is smooth and builds up a nice coverage with two coats. As you can see, there's no visible nail line.

The Pretty & Polished Spring Collection, Humble Beginnings, and new body products will be available on March 20th at 10am EDT.

*Products were provided for review

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Sinful Colors Cauldron Couture over Ulta Hocus Pocus & Witchful Thinking

Mainstream Polish March 06, 2015

Sometimes I don't feel like wearing colors that would be considered season appropriate. Other times I realize I have Halloween themed polishes hanging out in my untrieds. Instead of leaving them sit for another year, I figured I would have fun with them.

Sinful Colors Cauldron Couture Ulta Hocus Pocus Ulta Witchful Thinking

Ulta Hocus Pocus and Witchful Thinking are minis from the Ghoul's Best Friend Halloween set. Both had a nice formula and applied smoothly. I topped Hocus Pocus with one coat of Sinful Colors Cauldron Couture. It is a little Halloweenie (is that even a word?), but I would totally rock this mani anytime.

After trying these I went in search of more Ulta brand mattes, but it doesn't look like they exist in full sized bottles.

Discussion: How do you feel about matte polish? Do you think it's a trend or something that will stick around?

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Finger Lickin' Lacquer Custom with Stamping

Indie Polish March 02, 2015

I have a wonderful custom from Finger Lickin' Lacquer to share with you today! This beauty is called Crimson Flakes and is inspired by the WSU Cougs. One of my super sneaky friends had this custom made up for me as a surprise. I can't even begin to tell you how much I love it.

Finger Lickin' Lacquer custom Crimson Flakes

Finger Lickin' Lacquer custom Crimson Flakes Zoya Chantelle Sinful Colors Snow Me White

I'm on this crazy mission to get through my untrieds, so I have been rocking a lot of accent nails recently. It's tough to notice in the close up, but Crimson Flakes actually has tiny gray flecks in the sea of crimson holo. They are most noticeable on my index finger in both swatches.

This mani features:

Finger Lickin' Lacquer Crimson Flakes
Zoya Chantelle
Sinful Colors Snow Me White
Vivid Lacquer VL 030

I am so lucky to have such sneaky and wonderful friends! If you would like to have a custom made by Finger Lickin' Lacquer you can find her here:

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Cascade Head Trail

Lifestyle February 24, 2015

Oregon's first hint of spring happened late January. The forecast was predicting sunshine, so we decided to take our chances and head out to the coast. As soon as we started to head west, we ended up in dense fog.

Luckily, as we approached our final destination for the day, the fog lifted. Our plan was to hike the Cascade Head Trial from the lower trail head. By the time we got there it was absolutely packed!

If you start at the lower trail head, you have to cross the street and follow a path that runs back and forth along a side road before reaching the sign below.

Cascade Head Natural Area Hiking Trail Lincoln City Oregon

The hike starts with a steep climb and continues climbing for the entire way in. There are a few brief points where it levels out for a few hundred feet, but not enough to call this an "easy" hike. Oregon Hikers calls this trail moderate, but I would place it at the upper end of moderate unless you are a seasoned, year-round hiker.

The first major view point happens about two miles into the hike. According to my Fitbit One stats we had climbed the equivalent of 81 floors.

At this point we decided to turn around because I was (and am) still breaking in my hiking shoes. If we had pushed on the hike would have been another four miles or so.

On the way back I spotted this interesting flower. I asked some of my "plant friends" and they suggested that it was probably Lysichiton americanus or "Skunk Cabbage".

Cascade Head Natural Area Hiking Trail Lincoln City Oregon Lysichiton americanus skunk cabbage

I don't think I've ever hiked in January, so it's no surprise that I wasn't prepared. I had packed extra socks and shoes, but didn't even think to grab a spare pair of jeans.

Despite the dirty jeans, we headed into Lincoln City to have lunch and get our McMenamins passports stamped. Shortly after that we headed home to relax.

I was pretty happy with my Fitbit One stats for the day:

It was a wonderful treat to be able to hike in the rare, January sunshine.

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Enchanted Polish La La Land

Indie Polish February 17, 2015

It's certainly been a while! I hope you are all well.

I decided to step back from the blog a little bit to enjoy life more. Each blog post containing two or more colors takes several hours (or more) to prepare. After a year of publishing at least three times a week the blog felt like less of a hobby and more of a job. I will continue to swatch for any brand that contacts me, but my personal swatches/nail art will be spaced out more.

Today's post is nothing fancy, but I wanted to share this gorgeous Enchanted Polish I won on Instagram last month. Winning polish is fun, but it was even more special because we had chosen La La Land as one of our wedding colors.

La La Land is a gorgeous blue/aqua holo. The formula was a bit thick for me, so I will definitely be thinning out my bottle before I use it again. At its normal consistency, it reaches full coverage with two coats. While this may be a simple aqua holo, I feel like photos can't quite do it justice. It may be the fact that I won this, or that it's our wedding color, but it seems to have a certain "glow" to it.

I know that Enchanted Polish can resell for crazy markups, but if you have the opportunity to snag this at a decent price, I highly recommend it!

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*La La Land was free from a giveaway, all opinions are my own.

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Ice Polish Valentine's Day Duo & Meow-di Gras

Indie Polish February 04, 2015

Hey guys! I hope you are having a great week so far. I have three brand new colors to share with you from Ice Polish. Before you get too deep into the swatches and review, I would like to point out how cute the new Ice Polish labels are!

Do Ya Love Me?

Do Ya Love Me is a pink holo with pink to purple bits. The effect is fairly subtle, but really neat when it catches your eye. The formula is a little thick, but nothing out of the ordinary. For best results, I recommend allowing each coat to dry for about five minutes before applying an additional coat. My swatches show two coats with a top coat.

Shot Through the Heart

Shot Through the Heart is a pink, black, red and white glitter bomb consisting of various shapes and sizes. The formula was a great consistency, and I had no issues getting hearts or stars out of the bottle. The swatches show one coat of Shot Through the Heart over Do Ya Love Me, with a second coat on the ring finger.

Meow-di Gras

Meow-di Gras is a Mardi Gras inspired glitter bomb featuring cat shaped glitter. This was my absolute favorite of the three. I cracked up big time when I read the bottom of the bottle.

The formula was a great consistency, and I was able to get plenty of cats without effort. My swatches show one coat of Meow-di Gras over Essie School of Hard Rocks with a second coat on the ring finger. If you have a cat lover in your life, you MUST get them this polish!

All three colors are currently available in the Ice Polish Etsy store.

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*Colors were provided for review

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Conjured Polish 30th Century Polish part 2

Indie Polish February 03, 2015

Here's part two as promised:

Love & Rockets

Love & Rockets is a pink glow in the dark crelly. The formula was a smidge thick, but definitely workable. Crellies and glow in the dark colors tend to be thicker in general, so when they are combined they make a thicker consistency. The glow on this is incredible! I was walking down my hallway (which isn't very dark) and my fingers were glowing intensely. I used three coats for the swatches, and only charged the pigment for a minute under a lamp.

Death By Snu-Snu

Death By Snu-Snu is a gorgeous purple to blue to green multi-chrome. The blue and green are more prevalent, but you can see purple at the right angle. This was my favorite color out of the whole collection. Swatches show three coats under a diffused daylight bulb.

Sham-Paggin'- (It's Champagne!)

Sham-Paggin' (It's Champagne!) is a gold flake topcoat. I'm not usually a gold fan, but I like how small the flakes are in this. The swatches show one coat over Death By Snu-Snu with a second coat on the ring finger.

The whole 30th Century Polish collection is currently available.

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Are any of you Futurama fans? If so, what is your favorite episode?

*Colors were provided for review

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Conjured Polish 30th Century Polish part 1

Indie Polish February 02, 2015

Conjured Polish is back with another awesome collection. The 30th Century Polish collection could loosely be considered a Valentine's collection that was inspired by Futurama.

Toe Tappingly Tragic

Toe Tappingly Tragic is a blue multi chrome jelly that shifts between blue, green, and purple. The formula was a nice consistency that reached nearly full coverage with three coats. The shift is rather subtle, but definitely noticeable in person.

The Flowers, and the Romance, and the Lies Upon Lies

The Flowers, and the Romance, and the Lies Upon Lies is a pink glitter bomb that consists of various shapes and sizes of glitter. The formula and distribution was what I had hoped for. I did not have to fish for hearts, and actually put a few of them back in the bottle. My swatches show one coat over Toe Tappingly Tragic with a second coat on the ring finger.

You're Abnormal!

You're Abnormal is a pink holo jelly with a subtle blue shift. The holo really stands out under diffused light, which makes me think it will be extra sparkly in the the sunlight. I used three coats in my swatches.

The 30th Century Polish collection is currently available online.

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*Colors were provided for review

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Breedlove Hoops

Twin Floral Nails with Jeanette of @netters_nails

Pretty & Polish Spring Collection and Humble Beginnings

We Weather Together

Elvis' Pink Cadillac

Swing

Sinful Colors Cauldron Couture over Ulta Hocus Pocus & Witchful Thinking

Finger Lickin' Lacquer Custom with Stamping

Cascade Head Trail

Enchanted Polish La La Land

Ice Polish Valentine's Day Duo & Meow-di Gras

Do Ya Love Me?

Shot Through the Heart

Meow-di Gras

Conjured Polish 30th Century Polish part 2

Love & Rockets

Death By Snu-Snu

Sham-Paggin'- (It's Champagne!)

Conjured Polish 30th Century Polish part 1

Toe Tappingly Tragic

The Flowers, and the Romance, and the Lies Upon Lies

You're Abnormal!

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