Naild'it Review

Some polishes actually lose their greatness when over-combined with nail art and colors. I have been daydreaming about what to do with two polishes since I got them not long ago, but ultimately, I think the best decision for them is to just leave them alone. KISS...Keep It Simple Stupid.

These two polishes are both chunky glitters from an online Etsy shop called Naild'it, an appropriate name for this reviewer. I'm silently kicking myself for not being more clever in the naming of this blog. I'm not kicking myself for buying these glitters though. In fact, quite the opposite. I'm kicking you in the direction of the shop, urging you to pick up a glitter or two from Naild'it.

Hard knocks aside, let's talk about the glitters. First up is a glitter I purchased on my own: Dragon Scales. I'd seen a swatch over at I'm Feeling Nail-Venturous and decided to pick up a bottle. (Make note of this special event. You'll hardly ever see a one-item shopping cart on my Etsy account.)





It's a fun matte mix of different shapes and colors of glitter. What got me were the bright colors, and particularly, the blue. It just doesn't shine. Not in the sense that it doesn't make me excited, but in the sense that it wouldn't pull in any rescue boats if you were trying to use it to signal for help lost out at sea. It's a true matte.

Most of the pieces in the bottle are the same size, which is nice. No surprise bars to trip you up during application. It's a little on the thick side, so I had to be careful not to let it glop up and pick up the base color (Solar Power - China Glaze). I love it though. I'm wondering now how it would look under some jellies instead of layered over cremes (one layer shown here).

Before Dragon Scales arrived, I got a message from the shop owner asking if I'd like a freebie to review. Who's going to say no to that? She decided to send along a very different glitter, Berryeed Treasure.





This is obviously a much darker glitter, and the sizes in it vary more. It's generally made up of the itty bitty blacks, but sprinkled in are purple, white, teal and larger black bits. I say sprinkled because the ratio of itty bitties to larger pieces is perfect. I can't do polishes that are all huge glitter pieces. Give me itty bitties strewn with bigger pieces any day. You can see on my thumb in the first two pictures that some pieces are ginormous, but I didn't get that on any other fingers, so don't worry if you're not a fan of those. This one seemed a little easier to work with, and I mostly attribute that to the itty bitty to bigger ratio. I layered one layer over Happy Go Lucky (China Glaze).

I think you can understand why I'm not rushing to add nail art to these glitters. They do a lot of the work on their own, and would really just look cluttered with many more additions.

I've got three more colors coming soon that I purchased today: Olympic Rings, Froggy Pond, and Vegas Sands. I definitely owe my Helmer a solid massage for all the weight its indie drawer is carrying now.

Part of these products were sent to me by Naild'it. The reviews are based entirely on my experience with the products and were in no way influenced by anyone.

Born Pretty CK-03 Plate Review

Nailed It's about to undergo a marathon week of reviews and nail art, so buckle up!

Born Pretty kicks things off first, with the CK-03 quadrate stamping template.


 I was giddy to get this stamping plate, but unfortunately, my hopes were let down a bit upon arrival of the template. Comparing the template to a Konad plate, you can see why.

Born Pretty on top, Konad on the bottom.
See that size difference? The stamps on the Born Pretty plate are all too small to fit my fingernails, and I don't necessarily have large or long nails. Here's my thumb up against one of the designs:


Damn. I was really excited about this plate, especially the pattern beside my thumb there. There are several patterns similar to this throughout the plate, but only none are exactly the same. However, looking at the base of the plate, there are actually three repeat patterns.


I'm not sure why they replicated the exact same patterns. They don't even go the other direction. They're just straight up copies of one another. There's a total of 42 designs advertised, but you really only get 39. Bummer.

I do like the designs on the plate though. My favorites are the lace patterns, with inlaid patterns within them. I also really dig the metal grate design right beside the top pattern highlighted in purple in the image above. I have plans for that one, but I'm frustrated that to get an entire nail design, I'll have to carefully place at least 2 designs.

My opinion on this plate is very mixed for the reasons I just listed. For one, I love the designs. They're carved well and transfer easily with the right polish. However, the designs are all too little, and you get repeats on the plate. Ultimately, I don't think I'd recommend it. It's cheap, at only $8.53 (here), so you can decide if you think it's worth it. I just want you to keep in mind what you're getting, and I don't want any of you to be disappointed without the knowledge.

With that in mind, here's my nail art using the plate. I had to do a cutout design because the size of the designs was too little, and I'll admit, I love it anyway.


I used two OPI colors here: My Boyfriend Scales Walls (the white) and stamped with Tasmanian Devil Made Me Do It. The black lines were done with Black (Color Madric). I just added rhinestones to spice it up a little more.

You can pick up this template at BornPrettyStore.com here. With the coupon code below, you'll get the plate for just over $7.50, which definitely ain't a bad price for 39 nail designs! The choice is yours.

This product was sent to me by Born Pretty. The reviews are based entirely on my experience with the products and were in no way influenced by anyone.

Red Touches Yellow, You're a Dead Fellow

Sometimes you just need glitter. I just needed glitter today. Some really bright glitter. Luckily, Trelly's MISC Polish answered that call with not one, but two glitters.


Reminiscent of Connect the Dots, these two glitters contain different shapes, sizes and colors. Bars, hexagons and itty bitties are in these two polishes, called Love Always Shines and Sunset Boat Ride.

Love Always Shines is the yellow glitter, shown here layered over Tasmanian Devil Made Me Do It (OPI). It's not quite a gold glitter, just a metallic yellow, which is beautiful. Sunset Boat Ride is the red glitter, layered over The "It" Color (OPI).

These inspired colors were both welcome additions to my collection, and their creator, Cassie is a true sweetheart. She mislabeled my Etsy order as shipped before they had actually shipped, and then contacted me not only to alert me of the tiny mistake, but also to offer a coupon code for future purchases. I was so pleased and really surprised! It would have only been a two day discrepancy I would have never noticed, but her honesty was touching and inspirational, especially in the face of bad behavior seen in nail world lately.

Diva Dash Digits

You may have noticed a slight decrease in the number of posts lately, and today I'm here to explain why. I've been gearing up for my first ever 5K and obstacle course, the Diva Dash. This all-women 5K obstacle course race was something me and two of my girlfriends (Bethany and Bree) decided would be an awesome crowning achievement to the hard work we've all been doing to get in shape. No particular reason other than being tired of the way we look out of shape. So we strapped on our tennies and signed up about a month ago. Today, we ran it together, and finished with great times! I pulled in at 127 out of 434 for my age division and 487 out of 1065. Our time was 39:20. Not too shabby for a first timer!

Before the race, waiting in the pits for the horn to blow. (That's me in the blue.)
Balloon and tube obstacle.
Finishing hard...together!

Of course I had to do my nails for this female frenzy, so I chose to write the words "DIVA" and "DASH" on each hand, with the symbol for females on each thumb.





I used two Sation colors: Fan the Flames Fuschia and Track Starlet (how appropriate!). I used two thin Color Madric striping brushes for the designs on my thumbs, and White On (Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear) for the letters.

It was an awesome day and I couldn't be prouder of us!

Hardwired

The need to paint my nails and give some interesting content for my readers to look at is hardwired into my brain. I guess this wiring made its way to the forefront this evening for this monochromatic manicure.


I'll be entering this into Leslie's Monochrome contest (which I encourage all of you to enter into as well!). Here's the color breakdown: Stranger Tides (OPI) is the base, the darkest stripes are Exotic Encounters (China Glaze), the medium teal is Sea Breeze (Avon) and the lightest mint color is Re-Fresh Mint (China Glaze).

Wouldn't you say this is the motherboard load of teals?

Popular Polish Company 'Borrows' Bloggers' Images - Readers Revolt

Updates are live. Continue checking for more.

UPDATE 8:44AM 7/26: Mary and Jeanette have both taken their posts down until the issue is resolved. This is likely a result of the Facebook post made by Revlon.

In the wake of Lynderella and Julep, Sinful Colors comes riding in with a whole new nail controversy to shake up the polished world.

Sinful Colors stole images from bloggers The Swatchaholic and Swatch and Learn without express permission for use in their promotional pamphlets.

I strolled into Walgreens after my workout yesterday to pick up a Gatorade. (I swear that was my only intent.) The draw of the polish aisle was too strong, so I meandered over. I'd read about the 99 cent sale Sinful Colors was having, so I looked at the colors. What caught my eye was a small flyer that read "Nail It" on the front. I couldn't not pick it up, it being so close to this blog's moniker.


The alarm bells started ringing immediately after seeing the first image in the centerfold.


I said to myself "I know those nails!" The shine on the nails, the shape of the nails, and the curve of the fingers are signature The Swatchaholic. But where's her watermark? Where's that curved text that I myself emulate in my own pictures? It's certainly not on the picture, and there's no mention of her in the pamphlet.

I raced home, took some phone pictures and promptly emailed her inquiring about this possible copyright infringement. I calmed down a bit, did my own manicure, and headed to bed.

Waking up the morning revealed that there was indeed a blatant case of copyright infringement. She'd written back and informed me that they had indeed stolen the pictures.

Twitter further fueled the fire lit under all the bloggers butts when Mary at Swatch and Learn alerted us that her image was also lifted without permission. Here's hers:


Now read that text accompanying Mary's picture.

Using a toothpick, gently swirl the colors together to create a fun and unique design.

Or...ya know...buy a stamp to get it perfect, like Mary did. 

So not only has Sinful Colors pilfered images without permission and removed watermarks, they've flat out lied to their readers, claiming that the technique used in Mary's stolen picture can be accomplished with a toothpick. That's clearly a stamp, which they'd known if they'd read Mary's post.

Let's go back to Jeanette's picture. What's up with that bottle Sinful Colors? Did you change your branding since publishing this picture? Oh that's right, it's a COLOR CLUB bottle. In fact, both of the images use no Sinful Colors polishes. Wow. 

The kickback from readers has already been uproarious and angry. Check out Sinful Colors's Facebook page and their community page for just a bit of it. 

So what can you do? Share this info with your friends and reconsider your purchases of Sinful Colors. This is outright theft and copyright infringement.

If you have additional updates you'd like to share, leave a comment and I'll edit this post accordingly. If you know who the owner of the following image is, please let me know so we can contact her in case her work was also stolen:

 
Also for your reference are some helpful links:


Updates
  • Reddit (I'm the author of this post)
The Swatchaholic Links
Swatch and Learn Links

 Sinful Colors Links
Revlon Links (purchased Sinful Colors)
Walgreens Links
change.org Links

Kalahari Cactus

Before I danced my butt off Saturday night at Global Dance, I danced my butt off at my front door when the mailman knocked with two fantastic packages. One contained the entire On Safari collection from China Glaze. I'd snagged that on Amazon a while ago, and waited like a kid on Christmas morning every single day for it to arrive. Saturday was truly a beautiful day.

One of the colors I was looking forward to most was Kalahari Kiss. While I was trying to come up with ideas for the nail art, I knew I wanted to use that color first. It wasn't until I reread the color's name that I decided on the art. It also helps that it has been annoyingly warm hot sweltering around here lately. Cacti!


I'm a huge fan of the black outlines lately (can you tell?), so I outlined my little cactus blobs in Just In Lime! (Sally Hansen Insta-Dri) with Black (Color Madric) again. Cute right?

The China Glaze On Safari collection is unreal. I love every color and am super surprised by that. I never thought I'd buy up a whole collection of vampy colors and neutrals, but I regret nothing!

Global Dance Nails

I'll be at the Global Dance Festival all day today at Red Rocks. Here's a link with info. I'm beyond excited to be in such a beautiful venue, listening to some amazing DJs like Wolfgang Gartner and Above and Beyond. It's going to be unreal!

I had to do some bright nails, so I chose a gradient using two Color Clubs Jackie OH! (I think) and Almost Famous. I got a set of 7 colors from Ross, and they never come with names, so I may be wrong about Jackie OH!.


That gorgeous black and white glitter mix on top is a new addition to the collection from Black Cat Lacquer called Static Age.

I hope everyone has an awesome night! Keep up with my day's adventures on Instagram (follow blognailedit) if you're interested in what's going on!

Batmanicure

EDIT 07/20: Please take a moment of silence to pay respects to those lost in the shooting that took place in Aurora (~30 miles away from Boulder) last night during one of the premieres. A man entered a theater and released a tear gas canister into the auditorium, then began shooting. As of this morning, 12 have been reported dead and many others have been left injured. Read more at MSNBC. If you would like to offer donations to those affected, please visit the American Red Cross Mile High Chapter to offer aid in light of this disaster.

My thoughts are with those families today.


Na na na na na na na na, na na na na na na na na, na na na na na na na na NAILED IT!

If you've been living under a rock or for some odd reason don't like movies, then you're unaware of what this post may be about. Let me enlighten you.

Tonight in select theaters there will be midnight showings of the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises.

It's going to be action packed, thrill-seeking, Anne-Hathaway-in-a-cat-suit-awesome! So I couldn't not do a Batmanicure.

batman manicure batmanicure

batman manicure batmanicure

I can't contain myself. I originally felt some excitement for the movie, but wasn't overwhelmed with anticipation, but now I'm itching to get in that theater.

Though the Batmanicure isn't really with the theme of The Dark Knight Rises (he doesn't really sport the bright yellow of his predecessors), I couldn't say no to a yellow. This one's Need Sunglasses? (OPI). Each little Batman symbol was done freehand with my favorite striping brush, Black, from Color Madric.

Just for fun here's quite possibly the best promo I've seen for The Dark Knight Rises.

Source: http://rorydean.wordpress.com/2012/07/17/the-dark-knight-2011-blu-ray/

Holy Holo Summer Batman!

That title is deceiving. Batman won't make an appearance on this manicure.

This manicure is all about the holo. It's really difficult for me to steer my polish choices for nail art away from creme finishes, but it's pretty easy to dip into the holographic spectrum...especially with the Spectraflair top coat I got from Pretty Polish n' Things.



I've had this top coat laying around for a while, and never used it. I ordered two mini bottles, but one of them was a complete dud. If you paint it over a color, it just makes it grey...not holographic. I was so disappointed with that that both bottles just found their way to the back of my drawers collecting dust. Then yesterday when I was trying to come up with a design idea, I grabbed a green holographic from China Glaze (Laser Lime) and decided I wanted to give it another try. I'm glad I did.

The Spectraflair top coat is used over Petal Pusher (Sally Hansen Insta-Dri). I don't know what it was about last night, but I wanted to bust out some unused and old polishes. Petal Pusher is one of the first polishes I bought before this blog began, back in at least 2010. It's still working too, even after being half-way used. I'm not sure what voodoo is keeping it alive, but I hope it sticks around for some of the glitters in my drawer.

The trigger fingers were both stamped with Silver Sweep (Sally Hansen Insta-Dri) and BM-221. It was so sparkly and fantastic that I waited until daylight broke out again to take pictures. (All my other pictures are light-tent-taken.) It looked great over the grass too!

Lime Crime Les Desserts d'Antoinette Nail Polish Collection Swatches and Review


The Nailed It cafe is officially open for business. In the heat of the summer, we don't want you melting away, so dip your fingers into our delicious menu.


Tonight's menu features Les Desserts d'Antoinette from Lime Crime.

Click to Expand
As you can see, we've imported some of this season's most scrumptious treats from Miss Antoinette's table straight to our cafe's treat case. We've prepared these tasty teaser shots to incite the salivation flood on your tongue.

 

Now that we have whet your appetite, as your humble maître d', let me guide you through our first dessert selection.


Our first option is Parfait Day. A soothing parfait on a hot day will surely cool you down, but also bring warmth and comfort to hungry tummies on cold, rainy days. Everybody loves parfait!


Don't miss out on the ripe picking of the season, Peaches ♥ Cream. If a juicy peach isn't enough to pucker those lips, then top it with a huge dollop of lightly whipped cream. Resistance is futile.


The summer menu peaks with this next goodie, Crema De Limón. A sour tickle on the tip of your tongue both refreshes and excites, but the cream finish levels each bite perfectly.


Difficult to sell, but impossible to resist is Pastelchio. Subtle flavor, sophisticated taste.


Once In a Blue Mousse look like the sky and feels like the clouds. You'll float through each bite into euphoric exaltation.


Floral scents dance across your palette when you dip into Lavendairy, but the taste is unmistakeably delicious.


All good things must come to an end, but ending in the creamy, sweet Milky Ways won't leave you wanting more, it will leave you needing more.

Do tell your friends to visit us sometime. Our delicacy's our unrivaled!

Review

Are you drooling yet? I haven't stopped since I opened up the package I received from Lime Crime yesterday. I literally have nothing bad to say about these polishes.

I had personally never heard of Lime Crime before, but I'm thrilled I now know. They specialize in makeup products, but on June 20th of this year, they dipped into the world of nail polish, and I have a feeling that once word gets out, they'll be scrambling to keep up with the demand for these colors. Seriously...grab them while you can!

Every single color from Les Desserts d'Antoinette, the collection featured here, is absolutely stunning. These bright pastels are decidedly easy to apply, and after two effortless coats, you get the opacity you see above. I applied a third coat to Milky Ways, Crema De Limón and Peaches ♥ Cream to ensure the pictures were looking their best. It's damn near impossible to find creme finishes in pastels that make such a bright yet soft impact, but Lime Crime nailed it!

Like I said, you won't here a bad thing from me about these polishes.

I've been wearing a few layers of these colors for a day now, using the sometimes problematic Seche Vite as the top coat, and there's no damage. None. And I lifted weights today.

I also have to rave about the packaging and advertising Lime Crime has for the line. The first picture is lifted straight off of their site (available as a background in several resolutions here) and is what inspired me to give you a menu to drool over rather than some hum-drum swatch info I normally deliver. You can also see that each polish comes in it's own, perfectly sized box, with the color's name on top and the bottle peaking through a punch out in the front. My inner hoarder hates the idea of throwing these away yet. I loved the packaging so much, it inspired the dripping color design seen in the first picture and below.


The application was aided by the brush's design. It's the perfect size for what it is. These cuties are only 0.3 oz (sadly), so they're squatty when sitting next to most of the other bottles in my collection. I prefer that though, as it seems the brush will reach the polish longer. That's a huge relief because I'll cry the day these run out.

You can pick up all seven of these polishes individually for $5.99 each at Lime Crime's website, or as a set for $39.99.

These products were sent to me by Lime Crime. The reviews are based entirely on my experience with the products and were in no way influenced by anyone.