Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Literary Lacquers Lake of Shining Waters

Man oh man, do I have a polish for you today!  I think this one is back-up (or two) worthy!  I have tons of photos for you because I wanted to capture the teal holo in all it's glory.

I only recently became aware of Literary Lacquers through a swap group I belong to on Facebook.  It is a birthday group where we each send to the birthday girl during her month.  Due to a drop out (I am SO glad now), I got May even though my birthday is in October.

The mastermind behind Literary Lacquers, Amy, did not even know until today that I had a blog. That is how lacking I have been!  Amy sent three of her polishes to me in the swap and this one has not even been released yet.  It is Lake of Shining Waters from her Green Gables collection.  The collection is inspired by Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery.  More photos and information about Amy and her polishes after the jump.



Monday, May 27, 2013

Paris Sparkles Election Day ~ Perfect for Memorial Day

Surprise!  Did I shock you with my appearance?  

Today, I have brought you a polish perfect for holidays such as Memorial Day.  Paris Sparkles Election Day. This one turned out better than I had anticipated after seeing swatches online!  I am happy to see that I got a reformulated version.  I really like this polish and am so glad I chose it.  I have nothing like it and there are many possibilities with it.
I swatched this three different ways so you could see the variances based on what you decided to do for undies.  I think the thumb is my favorite but I imagine this polish would make a great jelly sandwich, too.

Per the Paris Sparkles etsy store, this is a "white base with beautiful holographic glitter and tiny blue and red hex glitters" and needs no base or top coat or undies.  Take a look at my pictures and judge for yourself.

I used Seche Base on all nails, various undies as noted below, varying layers of Election Day, Out the Door top coat on all nails.  These were all taken outdoors.  Pardon the "claw hand".  I don't like those images and I don't want to do them but when I've done such varying swatches on the same hand, it may be a good idea to do a claw hand so you can see it all at once.
  • Pinkie Finger: no undies, three thin coats of Election Day
  • Ring Finger: same as pinkie finger but attempted to make less jelly sandwich
  • Middle Finger: two thin coats of OPI Don't Touch My Tutu, two thin coats of Election Day
  • Index Finger: three thin coats of OPI Don't Touch My Tutu, one thin coat of Election Day
  • Thumb: two thin coats of a Color Club white stamping polish, one thin coat of Election Day












You can visit Stacy's store, parissparkles, here.  I hope you have enjoyed the post.  Not until last night did I realize other bloggers only swatched one hand for their blogs.  Maybe that was why I felt like it was a tiring process. I thought it would look odd if I ran to the store, for example, and only one hand was complete. I am new to blogging; can you tell?!

Feel free to give me your input, via comment or email.  Should I have jumps for my posts?  Are the photos too large?  Do you prefer to click on them to make them larger?  Are my posts too long?  Should I make the photos smaller and more compact?  Do you like the collages?  Do you think I need less or more photos or are there just enough?  Do you prefer darker backgrounds?  Would you like photos taken indoors with indirect sunlight instead of outdoors?  I have an awesome camera but am a newbie to the features so future posts may be some playing around with different settings, backgrounds, locations.  Hope you all don't mind being guinea pigs!

Have a safe, happy Memorial Day! 

Disclosure: Election Day was sold to me by Paris Sparkles at a discounted price for review. All of the opinions in this review are completely my own.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Free shipping in the blog sale today


If you are able to pay shortly after receiving the invoice, you will get free shipping today only (with a $10 purchase). I will be adding more goodies all day!  Refresh every half hour or so when you visit!



Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Spring Essentials Multi-Blogger Giveaway -- 23 Winners!


Spring Essentials Multi-Blogger Giveaway
Special thanks go out to Destany for putting together this graphic!


Here is the giveaway I told you all about yesterday.  There will be 23 winners!  I want to thank Alexis Leigh for spearheading this and for allowing me to be a part of it.  I feel very privileged to be a part of such a wonderful group of talented bloggers.  I am just getting my toes wet in the blogging world and am excited about this giveaway!  Good luck!

Here are all the prizes!  Aren't they fabulous!?!?  One winner gets one prize, selected randomly.  

From L-R here is a list of the blog names (corresponding to the prizes): XOXO Alexis Leigh, Lipgloss Break, LozLosa, Manicurity, InTruBeauty, Confessions of a Sarcastic Mom, Harajuku Girl FL, Lani Loves, Justina's Gems, (POREfessional) Beauty Info Zone, 10 Fickle Fingers, Polish Etc., The Fabzilla, Manicurator, Rachel's Makeup and Skincare, Sincerely Stephanie, Beyond Beauty Lounge, Lisa's Nail Obsession, Valiantly Varnished, Darling Girl Cosmetics, Midnight Manicures, Beauty and Fashion Tech, Beauty With a Twist.

Here is a photo of what I purchased to give away.  It is all from Cover Girl.  There are two Intense Shadow Blast Primer + Eye Shadow tubes.  One is in Blue Bomb and one is in Extreme Green.  There's also a pack of 3 Makeup Masters Sponge Puffs.  The Cheekers blush shade is in Natural Twinkle and the lipstick is Eternal.  I hope it's a nice selection for the winner!



Here is a breakdown of how you can win one of the great prizes.  Feel free to follow the lovely bloggers in other ways once you visit their blogs!  The more forms of entry you complete, the more chances you'll have. Enter via the Rafflecopter below the chart.

Participants
Forms of Entry
Prize
Sugarpill – Lumi
LVX Cerulean
Covergirl Prize Pack
Sephora+Pantone Universe Precious Metals Shadow Palette
Benefit POREfessional
4 Urban Outfitters polishes
Mac Eyeshadows
Wet n Wild prize pack of palettes and lipsticks
Darling Girl Cosmetics Cute De Grace Set
indie eyeshadow, nail art, makeup brush, small mua palette, UD santa tanita
Revolution Organics Freedom Gloss in Truth
Benefit eyeshadow
$20.00 Voucher to Llarowe
Sally Hansen Salon Effects 2 colors of Sally Hansen Xtreme wear Sally Hansen Xtremewear Hard as Nails
3 polishes from CG Glitz Bitz 'n GlitterColletion
$25.00 Etsy Gift Certificate
Dior Vernis Lime
BL All Hail the Queen, A-England Lady of the Lake, SH Gem Crush Big Money
$25 Gift Card to OverAll Beauty
Nail art supplies (foils, studs, decals, glitter) and 1-2 polishes
Lush Products
Deborah Lippmann Mermaid’s Dream
Stila Lip Glaze Set (3 pcs) + Pashmina-style shawl (teal)
Milani Texture Collection


Before you visit the Rafflecopter widget, please read the rules.  This giveaway is open March 21, 2013 until April 4, 2013 at 12midnight EST.  It is open to US residents only.  You must be 18 years old or older (or have legal guardian's permission).  Must input your email address into the Rafflecopter widget.


a Rafflecopter giveaway