Nail Honey Bee Day Trio

Today I have swatches of the Bee Day collection by Nail Honey, a trio of polishes celebrating the always fabulous Bee's 27th birthday! I wanted to order these polishes as soon as they were released, but I was in the middle of holiday shopping and hesitant to spend the money on myself. Once I had wrapped things up, I was delighted to see some were still available! Though I've long been a supporter of Nail Honey and have always been blown away by the quality of the polishes, this was my first time ordering glitter based/crelly polishes from Bee, and I was interested to see how they would measure up to her previous releases. Overall, I'm extremely impressed!

First is Crown Jewels, a mixture of silver, magenta, blue, and black glitters in a shimmery purple jelly base. Photos show three thin coats, some with and some without top coat (I will specify!). This is most true "jelly" of the three--the base is very sheer.

The reason I chose to show this polish without topcoat (above) is to show how seamlessly the coats combined, and how smooth the finished products looks on its own. Not that I'm complaining, but it is very common with glitter polishes that up to three layers of top coat are required to achieve a smooth finished look. Though this polish does not contain any especially large or unique shaped glitters that usually require that amount of topcoat, it's remarkable that a smooth look is achievable with absolutely NO top coat. The macro shot below was also before top coat, and shows just how many glitters appear in this stunning polish!

The next photo show three thin coats topped with HK Girl Topcoat. Again, not really necessary, but it does pack a punch of glossy shine, and allowed me to affix this cute rhinestone crown (purchased from Polished by kpt) decal as an accent!

Next up is 27 Candles, a peachy-nude crelly base with multicolored glitters. Photo shows three coats with top coat. I LOVE how many different colors appear in this polish, it really reminds of a birthday cake with rainbow sprinkles! The base was almost too opaque to be considered a crelly, but you can see where glitters from the first two coats barely peek through. The base also has a lovely warm shimmer. I'd really love to see the base for this made into a creme polish without the glitter.

While I definitely could see 27 Candles not being in everyone's regular use rotation, it's an extremely unique polish with a fantastic formula. If you like the overall look, you will definitely be pleased with this one. I added the taped triangles in the photo below to show case just how versatile it can be, and also topped with OPI Matte Topcoat for a different effect!

The last polish in the collection is 11:11, a royal blue crelly with lots of silvery shimmer and holo hex and moon shaped glitters. Photos show two coats with topcoat. Again, the base of this one was quite opaque for a crelly, and you could probably get away with just one coat. Sadly, I didn't swatch this one before a tragic break on my index finger, hence the uneven nub. :( But hopefully that won't detract too much from how gorgeous this polish is!

Again, royal blue isn't necessarily in everyone's wheelhouse, especially those who are restricted by work dress codes. But the color is vibrant and the formula is impeccable. If this is your style, you will love it! I probably wouldn't choose to do a full mani of this again, but I definitely see potential for using it in nail art or as an accent nail.

These polishes are all still available for individual purchase on the Nail Honey site, and 11:11 is on sale! You can also follow @nailhoney on Instagram for future releases and promotions.

a-england Briar Rose & Briarwood + Color4Nails review

I was recently introduced to the glory that is The Polished Perfectionist by my dear friend Rei. I was immediately enamored with every single photo on her blog (if you haven't seen it, forget my blog, go check hers out, NOW!) and physically needed some of the a-england polishes she raved about captured so beautifully.

Unfortunately for this yank, a-england does not ship internationally. But any international polish lover knows that where there's a will, there's a way, and this time, the way was Color4Nails! This was my first time ordering from the site, and since I had such a fantastic customer service experience, I had to share a brief review:

After throwing EVERYTHING on the site into my cart, then filtering significantly, I was ready to check out. I registered, selected the ever so convenient option to pay with Paypal, and bing bang boom, pretties were on my way...until disaster struck. Upon receiving my Paypal receipt, I realized that I had mistakenly left an old address from college as my default shipping address. In a panic, I immediately emailed customer service, explained the situation, and provided my correct shipping address. Then, I thought, it would just be a waiting game. My panic was not relieved.

To my surprise, I received a response within half and hour, assuring me that my polishes would be shipped to my current address. Mind you, this was the Thursday before Christmas, when retailers are bombarded with last minute shoppers and shipping nightmares. On top of this, my order shipped out that night, and arrived by the following Monday, again, amidst the shipping/shopping madness of the holidays. I am very satisfied with my purchasing experience from Color4Nails, and will most definitely be ordering again soon!

Now, on to the good stuff! It was truly a personal dilemma deciding which of these beauties to swatch first. I eventually decided on Briar Rose/Sleeping Beauty, a muted rose packed with holographic shimmer.

I've read other bloggers rave about a-england formulas, and I have to say I agree. This applied in two perfect, smooth coats, and I loved the level of control afforded by the brush shape. The polish was slightly sheer after one coat, but rich and opaque after two. I finished things off with a coat of HK Girl Topcoat.

The bathroom in my office randomly has excellent lighting for capturing holo polishes....I took advantage. 

My second selection was Briarwood, a deep brick red metallic with scattered golden holo shimmer. Formula for this one was also excellent, though a bit brushstroke-y, as is common with metallics. This was more apparent during application than once dry.

Unfortunately, I waited about a week between swatching Briar Rose and this, and some pretty bad chips and breaks happened in between, which is why my nails looks so nubby in these photos compared to the first ones. I blame the Polar Vortex. 

I love how complex this shade is. It's vampy, but not too dark, and the holo effect is really unique. 

Overall, I am a very satisfied customer with this purchase. Color4Nails was great, and I will continue to use the site as a resource for the international indie must-haves. And I'm obviously addicted to a-england polishes now, as I've ordered two more from a blog sale since making this purchase. The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem, right?!

My 2014 Blogging Goals

Since starting my blog in September, I've been through a roller coaster of emotions about exactly what I'm doing here. Some weeks I love taking a break from my other responsibilities to write up a post, while others it feels pointless and overwhelming. But, at the heart of it, I know blogging is a creative outlet that I want to maintain and grow with. I love to write, swatch, and and create nail art designs, and all too often I let life's craziness get in the way of that. So, to keep my eye on the prize, I'm setting some goals for 2014!

Maintain a regular posting schedule.

I care a lot about cultivating a successful career and maintaining my 4.0 GPA in grad school, and those two things will *always* be my priority over my nails. However, I make time to do my nails a few times a week regardless of what else I have going on, I'm just not consistent with blogging about what I'm up to. I'm going to start with setting the goal of at least one swatch and one nail art post per week.

Become more active in the blogging community.
I follow a lot of blogs, love reading them, and love how much I've learned from branching out from just posting and following nail giants on Instagram. However, I'm not the best about commenting and letting my appreciation be heard. I don't want to set an "x number of comments per week" goal because that just seems insincere. Instead, I'm going to make it a goal to check my dashboard daily, and to comment on any post that truly excites or impresses me.

Physically revamp and upgrade my blog's layout and features.

When I first started my blog, I spent a lot of time scratching my head and cursing at my computer because I couldn't get my blog to look the way I wanted to. When I finally found a layout that was marginally close to my original vision, I called it quits. Over the next few months, I plan on really improving the visual aspect of my blog, and making it more appealing and user friendly.

Master my new camera.

This one isn't so much a goal as a necessity. :) I impulsively bought myself a fancy new digital camera (for blogging and for life happenings!) and I want to use it effectively and correctly. 

Feature at least six indie makers with swatches and an indie maker spotlight.

So far I have had the great pleasure of featuring four talented and fascinating indie makers, and those posts were by far the most fun to prepare. I hope to keep this as a regular feature of my blog. And to any indie makers reading this that would be interested, definitely contact me! I have previously featured Michelle of Laquerlicious, Jacquelynn of Mermaid Lacquer, Rachel of Cinema Swatch Lacquers, and Bee of Nail Honey.

Host a challenge and a contest.

Just because it sounds fun! Keep your eyes peeled for announcements about this!

What are your goals, blogging or otherwise, for 2014?

Juice Box Lacquer - Whoops, It's Christmas!

Happy New Year, everyone! Today I have three polishes to share with you that I chose from the Juice Box Lacquer Christmas collection, hilariously titled "Whoops, It's Christmas!"

First up is Tree Balls, Hold the Tree, a glitter topper in a clear base consisting solely of glorious multicolored circle glitters. Be still my heart!

In these photos, I have two dabbed layers over OPI - Don't Touch My Tutu, topped with Seche Vite to smooth everything out. It was very easy to get a good variety of glitters with each swipe/dab, but I did find the clear base to be a bit thick. You can see where bubbles appeared, especially over my middle and ring fingers. Because of this, in the future I will probably place glitters individually rather than dabbing, or use a sponge to soak up some of the base. 

Here I sandwiched Tree Balls, Hold the Tree between layers of Don't Touch My Tutu and topped with OPI Matte topcoat. I absolutely love how soft and whimsical this looks! Also, the layering and matte top coat made those pesky bubbles less visible.

This beauty is Golden Candy Canes, which contains yellow/gold and red matte hex and small dot glitters in a shimmering white crelly base. Photos show three thin coats with top coat, with minimal placement of larger glitters on the top layer. 

This one is so delicate and gorgeous, I only wish I had better captured the shimmer of the base! Application was perfect and even, and the base is the perfect balance of opacity to mute the layers below while still letting the glitters peek through. 

Though this is certainly the most obviously Christmas-y polish that I bought from the collection, I could see this incorporated into manis year round. It's really so pretty in person!

Last is my favorite of the three, Stairway to Holo Heaven, or as I've lovingly abbreviated it, S2HH. It is a glitter topper in a clear base with tons of small holo hexes, and larger holo dots and stars. Here I have two dabbed layers over Smokey Mountains Lacquer - Showstopper.

Hellooooo holo!! How could this one not be my favorite? It combines holo and circle glitters, and it really doesn't get much better than that.

As with Tree Balls, Hold the Tree, the base for S2HH was on the thick side, but still workable, and so worth the effort! While this one certainly lends itself to the holidays, I can't imagine limiting its use year-round, it's just too sparkly and magical!!

S2HH was also featured in my New Year's Eve mani! As I suspected, the thickness of the base was made much easier to work with by applying with a make up sponge. I applied S2HH on the tips of my index and pinky finger (over a black by Sinful Colors and a white by Wet'n'Wild) and used OPI - My Favorite Ornament as the accent, and over a taped "x" pattern on my middle finger.

One more shot of my NYE mani in the sun! I really loved this one!

These polishes aren't currently available from the Juice Box Lacquer's Storenvy shop, but be sure to keep checking there and on Instagram for updates, as Bre has hinted that they will appear either on clearance or in mystery boxes in the near future!