Vapid Lacquer Base Coat and Top Coat Review!!

*Purchased by me*

I've been meaning to write this review for awhile since I am totally in love with my Vapid Lacquer All About That Base and Get Your Shine On! Quick Dry Top Coat. Vapid Lacquer is having a restock this Saturday that includes these two products, so I thought I should post this now! All About That Base is a strengthening base coat that also seems to help prolong my manis. Since I started using the Vapid base coat about 5-6 weeks ago, I have noticed I have fewer peelies on my thumb nails. My thumbs always have peelies because I am a bad nail blogger and use them as tools. But the Vapid base coat is starting to help me get rid of them! I think in a few more weeks, the existing peelies I had will probably grow out and be gone. So I love this base coat just for that. But wait- there's more!!

 When I use the Vapid base coat and the Get Your Shine On! top coat for a mani, my nails still look great 4-5 days later! Above you can see my YSL Peace Green mani after 4 days of wear (including hot showers every day, dish washing, lots of hand washing after touching germy kids at dance class, etc.). There is a bit of tip wear and my right thumb had one small chip. But I have to tell you, most true quick dry top coats and I don't get along. My usual wear time with a QDTC is 1-2 days max. After that it is a hot chippy mess. So for me to get 4-5 days with a real QDTC (dry to the touch in 60 seconds!) is a serious personal victory. I also have to say that this top coat packs SERIOUS shine! The shine also lasts, it doesn't start to look dull on day 3. The Vapid base and top coat get an A+ from me!

Two more awesome Vapid things that will be available this Saturday- Chocolate Body Mousse and Nail Sauce! Chocolate Body Mousse is a delectable body cream that smells like hot chocolate or chocolate pudding. It is really nicely moisturizing, but doesn't feel too heavy or greasy. I am addicted to this now and sometimes I even open the jar just to look at it! I mean, it looks delicious, doesn't it?

Binx wanted to get in on my photo shoot, LOL!

Nail Sauce is a great cuticle product with a gel-creme hybrid consistency. It sinks right in to the nail area and makes my cuticles look so much better instantly. I bought it in two different scents- Unicorn Milk and Birthday Bitch. Unicorn Milk smells like Fruit Loops with a touch of vanilla frosting, while Birthday Bitch smells exactly like German Chocolate Cake, in my opinion. I have been using this product almost daily since purchasing and plan to order at least one more scent this Saturday. I have already nearly used up Unicorn Milk! I love this for cuticle moisturizing that seems enjoyable, rather than a chore.

The Vapid base and top coats have really made a positive difference in my nail health, as well as how often I can wear manis. Now that I can use a QDTC, I find it MUCH easier to just slap on a new mani whenever I want and not have to worry about it chipping a day later. I highly recommend all four of the products in this post.

Restock info: The restock will be at 1pm CT (Central Time) at http://vapid.mybigcommerce.com. For complete details about what will be restocked, please check out the Vapid Lacquer Facebook page.

CrowsToes Mintally Unstable and Abracadabra

*Purchased by me*

Happy Sunday, hope you are having a great weekend! I wanted to show you my mani from most of last week- CrowsToes Mintally Unstable with an accent of CrowsToes Abracadabra. Both of these lovely polishes are Hella Holo Customs and I know I've mentioned it before, but if you aren't a member of the group on Facebook, you are really missing out!! Mintally Unstable is a stunning mint green holo with a very strong pink/gold contrasting shimmer. It was hard to capture the pink shimmer in photos, even though it is so strong in person, but I think you can kind of see it below.

Abracadabra is like an oil slick turned into a glitter polish. The magic of this one though is that it is so smooth and not like a rough glitter at all. It was even easy to remove! I'm not sure what kind of spell was used to create this, but it is worthy of the name Abracadabra! I used two coats of Mintally Unstable and three coats of Abracadabra here. Both were super easy to apply.

Full sun for holo goodness:

These two polishes are not for sale from the maker anymore, but I have seen a few people selling them in the Hella Holo Customs group. You can only purchase them if you are a member, so I strongly suggest you email hellaholocustomercare@gmail.com to join. By the way, the makers for this month are Dreamland Lacquer (formerly Smitten) and Sayuri and the polishes are GORGEOUS!!

Lynnderella Vol. 40, Cyantific Method!

*Sent for review*

I am so late with this post, but technically it's still Friday! Good thing too, because this polish is STUNNING!!! Lynnderella Cyantific Method is my new favorite LE, a gorgeous deep pool blue shimmer with aqua holo microglitter. When I was little, my favorite crayon color was cerulean and this gorgeous polish reminds me of my beloved cerulean crayon! Lynnderella describes this as a "multishimmered cyan shimmerella with aqua holographic microglitter". I love the name shimmerella, so cute!!

Best part of this polish? This is two flawlessly easy coats, no clean up necessary! It's lovely and opaque in two coats and the consistency was perfect. A++ formula! With one layer of top coat, it's smooth and glossy to the touch.

Lynnderella Cyantific Method is available now on lynnderella.com.

For more Lynnderella news and swatches check out:
http://lynnderella-lynnderella.blogspot.com
https://www.facebook.com/LoveLynnderella1
https://instagram.com/lovelynnderella/
https://twitter.com/lovelynnderella


As always, if you're looking for a specific Lynnderella and can't seem to find it for sale, definitely email lynnderellalacquer@gmail.com and Paul can help you!

OPI SoftShades 2016 Pastels Swatches & Review!

*Sent for review*

It FINALLY feels like spring here in CT, woohoooo!!!! To celebrate, I finally swatched the OPI SoftShades 2016 colors. I just couldn't get in the mood for them earlier, you know? But now I am all about the soft pastel shades, like OPI I Am What I Amethyst. I Am What I Amethyst is a pale lilac, almost like a soft white creme mixed with hints of lavender. Depending on the light, it can look grey or soft purpley-blue too, and just one of those pretty hints of color, rather than a color that hits you in the face. 

This is two coats and the formula was good. I was surprised that it really wasn't streaky and it was nicely opaque. I let the first coat dry before applying the second, as I would recommend with all pastels (to avoid any possible streaks). The consistency of this was perfect, it made it so easy to apply.

OPI It's In the Cloud is an off-white creme, maybe a little crelly-ish. It's a little brighter than an eggshell white, but still soft looking. Definitely not a chalky or stark looking white. 

This is three thin coats for me, and I did still see a bit of streakiness. The coverage was nicely opaque in three coats, I felt two still had a bit of VNL. I have seen others describe this as having a perfect formula though, so it could be just me here!

Now we're getting into my territory here! OPI This Cost Me a Mint is a lovely pale mint creme. This is definitely one of the paler mint cremes I've seen recently and I am loving it. It's like the creamy color of a Shamrock Shake, yum! Or those pastel pillow mints. Mmmmm I'm just making myself want tasty treats now. I like this too because it is a true pale green, it's not too blue-toned.

This is two easy coats. The formula of this one was great- full coverage, no streaks, fabulous consistency. Love!!!

How could you have a really good pastel collection without a baby chicken yellow?!?? Luckily for us, OPI included a great one here, OPI One Chic Chick. One Chic Chick is a super pale lemon custard creme. Reminds me of when I make Alfredo sauce and start mixing the butter and cream! Yum (still hungry!)!

This is two coats again and same lovely formula as This Cost Me a Mint. I am so glad that my two favorite colors in this collection have great formulas! It will make me reach for them more this spring.

OPI Stop I'm Blushing is a very pale pink with hints of peach. It almost has some yellow-y tones to it, kind of like cream with a hint of pink. 

This is three thin coats of Stop I'm Blushing. I thought it was a bit less opaque than the last two, so I did want a third coat. It wasn't really streaky, but it did seem a little thicker and came out a bit lumpy looking.

Another hit from this collection, OPI It's a Boy! is a perfect pale baby blue. It's pastel and soft, but still has a good hit of that nice clear sky blue. In my mind, this looked similar to OPI What's with the Cattitude? (which I do not own), but a quick Google for swatches of that indicates that this is much lighter with more white in the base.

This is two coats. The formula is good, but I think I can see a stray streak on my pinky nail. It's pretty opaque though and the consistency was very nice.

*Sent for review*

Overall, I think OPI did a nice job with these. The formulas range from "excellent for any polish" to "good for a pastel". My favorites are This Cost Me a Mint and One Chic Chick, with It's a Boy! in a solid 3rd place.

The OPI SoftShades 2016 Pastels collection is available now at Ulta, ulta.com, and other fine salons.

Live Swatching & New Video Posted

Great news readers!! I am going to start posting live swatch videos to my new YouTube channel!!! I posted my first video, a quick clip of Lynnderella Morning Glory changing from it's cold state to warm. The next video will be live swatching! Please follow my channel or stay tuned here to see the first video. I will likely swatch and review some makeup collections on this channel as well.

Zoya Earth Day Exchange is Back!!

ZOYA EARTH DAY NAIL POLISH EXCHANGE 2016 – STARTS MONDAY - APRIL 18, 2016!

Let us handle the nail polish recycling for you!

With over 300 long-wearing nail polish shades rooted in a healthy philosophy, it’s no surprise that Zoya is committed to helping you green your beauty routine! That’s why each year we give you the opportunity to exchange any old nail polish bottles that you may have laying around your house collecting dust, or that are not BIG5FREE* formulas, for brand new toxin-free** Zoya Nail Polish shades. You can rest assured that your unwanted polishes will be disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner. Helping the earth is easy… all you have to do to get started is pick out your NEW Zoya colors at zoya.com, follow the promo instructions below and checkout. Let us do the rest!
How the ZOYA EARTH DAY NAIL POLISH EXCHANGE works...

1.     Visit www.zoya.com and add a minimum of 6 bottles of Zoya Nail Polish (no more than 24 bottles) to your cart. Minimum 12, maximum 48 for professional accounts.
 

2.     Apply Code: ZGREEN and a 50% credit will be added to your exchange order - free shipping included!
 

3.     Complete checkout and you're all set! If you need further instructions (including info for our professional program) on sending back your unwanted polish clickHERE.

The exchange runs on the honor system, which means you are not obligated to send in your unwanted polish - we assume you're going to do the right thing! Many people donate the polish to a local cause instead, which we fully support. If you choose to send back your polishes, please check with your carrier of choice for shipping guidelines and restrictions for nail polish. For full promotion terms & conditions and instructions on how to send in your polish, click HERE.

USE CODE: ZGREEN
Offer valid 4/18/16 - 4/30/16 (11:59pm EST)

* **BIG5FREE, TOXIN FREE: Zoya Nail Polish Formula contains no formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin,
dibutyl phthalate, toluene or camphor.

Lynnderella Friday, Vol. 39- Finally Spring!!

*Sent for review*

I feel like it's finally spring here!!! Wohooo!! The last 2 days have been sunny and got up into the 50s, so it's refreshing for sure! I have some spring-y, refreshing Lynnderellas for your viewing pleasure today, starting with Lynnderella Morning Glory. Lynnderella describes this beauty as a "multishimmered thermochromic vivid periwinkle that shifts to pale blue violet. It also contains iridescent blue flakes with a sprinkle of rainbow dust". The cold shade is just like the color of Morning Glory flowers and the warm shade is a beautiful powdery blue. The warm state really shows off those iridescent blue flakes nicely (you can see one on my ring finger).

This is two coats of Morning Glory. The formula was a little thicker than most Lynnderellas. I had to apply a very thin first coat, and then allow it to dry completely before adding a second coat. It's pretty smooth with one layer of top coat.

Lynnderella Honeydew Froth is another new LE that is perfect for spring. It is the exact color of a juicy honeydew melon, with minty green and pink shimmer. Makes me want to eat a yummy summer fruit salad!

This is three thin coats of Honeydew Melon. It was a little sheer on the first coat, but built up with the second and third. The formula was good otherwise, nice consistency.

*Purchased by me*

Lynnderella April Dreams of May is an older LE that I just got fairly recently. It's my favorite kind of Lynnderella- a chunky glitter topper with all sorts of different glitters thrown in. It has nice red flowers, metallic green hex glitters, silver holo diamonds, and small silver glitter woven in throughout. The base of this one a fresh green tint with silvery shimmer.

This is two coats of April Dreams of May over OPI This Cost Me a Mint (from the SoftShades collection- review coming soon!!). It was easy to apply with the dabbing method. This is with layer of top coat, but if you want it to be totally glassy, you might need two layers.

April Dreams of May is not currently listed on lynnderella.com, but it was there just sometime last week, so keep an eye out! The other two are available now! You can also always email Paul at lynnderellalacquer@gmail.com to see if something is available.

Mermaid Scales with Blue-Eyed Girl Mermaid Tails & Drunken Sails

 *Purchased by me*

In the hopes the someday warmth might come to my area, I did a sort of summer-y mermaid tail mani today!! Nail vinyls are my new obsession and these mermaid tail scale vinyls are from What's Up Nails. To start, I used two coats of OPI Amazon... Amazon. When that was completely dry, I peeled my vinyls of the sheet and pressed them down over my nails. I then dabbed on a good layer of Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Mermaid Tails & Drunken Sails and peeled each vinyl off while the polish was still wet. Tadaaaaa- mermaid tail nails!!

Now, it's a travesty that there was no sun for me to really capture the true holo goodness of Mermaid Tails & Drunken Sails. This beauty was a Hella Holo Customs exclusive for February 2016, and it is a stunning green holo with tons of pink shimmer and other goodies. I tried to capture the holo effect a little below, but I really need sunshine to show you properly!! If you are not a member of HHC on Facebook, I really suggest you get yourself in there ASAP! I have not been disappointed with the polishes each month since I joined back in the fall. This month's (made by Dreamland Lacquer and Sayuri) are STUNNING, so try to join before those go on sale in a week or so. To join, just email hellaholocustomercare@gmail.com.

Have you tried nail vinyls yet? I find them to be pretty easy to use and lots of fun! They provide great nail art options for those of us who stink at stamping!!