KB Shimmer Midsummer' Night and Party

Happy Sunday lovely polish people! I don't know about how the weather is where you live, but here the humity is enough to smother you. I've been taking pictures of when I get in my car after work and taking pics of the temperature on my phone. So far I have 107, 108, 111, and 117 degree!! Holy Schnikes!! So, I haven't been spending that much time outside unless I have a pool close by:) I'm working on getting my husband to get us a pool by devising a wonderful win-win situation: I go walking and get all hot (my biggest problem when I work out is cooling off!) So, I go walking and then jump into the cool water and continue my exercise by swimming while simultaniously cooling off! How are you staying cool this summer or warm in the winter?

So, I have a lots of pics to share today. Last week I received my order from K.B. Shimmer, a new indie brand that has just taken off- which has really awesome products besides nail polish. I just figured out how to upload and edit my pictures in Google+, which is the old Picnik.com- my fav photo editing site that closed in April. Well, now I have them saved but not on my hardrive, so my pictures haven't really been consistent lately...or maybe at all, but I'm working on it and getting good advice from those blog pros. I think I have come to the conclusion that I need a better camera, also.

Well, I was lucky enough to get to choose from ANY of KB Shimmer's polishes they had, but unfortunately couldn't spend a lot of money, so I only got 2 for now and a pack of 6 sampler soaps (which I will show later cause they're so cool!) , but as soon as they open up I want more polishes. I got KB Shimmer's Party and Midsummer's Night. I tried to get ones that I hadn't already seen swatches of- like The TraceFacePhiles has like ALL of them, but I really want Vegas Bomb, but she did such a great post on it, I wanted to try something different.

Direct sunlight, no flash

Here is Midsummer's Night, which I had to have when i saw the star glitter in it! I love purple to begin with, but this color is phenomenal. I used Gelous basecoat to give me a good thick start. I expected this to be a very sheer being hard for the brush to grab the glitter, but that wasn't the case, quite the opposite! I first tried it out on a wheel using other a base polish to help add color, but this polish doesn't need it. This was 2 coats along with a thick coat of Seche Vite. This neon jelly-like purple is infused with big hexo blue and silver glitter, blue microglitter, and of course the big silver stars, which give it the perfect name- Midsummer's Night. Love it! I was going to just swatch, remove and swatch my other KB polish, but I loved this so much I kept it on for 2 days (which is what I normally do). It chipped, but not anymore than any other polish. I was VERY pleased with this polish:)

Closeup of KB Shimmer Midsummer's Night

The second polish I swatched is Party, which is a white jelly filled with all colors of square glitter. I'm not big on glitter and I'm not big on white polishes, but this just clicked and I thought I'd try something different...this polish doesn't disappoint!

Direct sunlight, no flash

 Just as with Midsummer's Night, I tried it out with different color base polishes to see what would bring out the best of this polish. I tried a dark blue, bright blue, coral, and white, then by itself. The white looked the best to me. Again, i used Gelous basecoat then I used one coat of Pure Ice Platinum, which is a white kind of sheer, shimmery white. I used 2 coats of Party with Seche Vite, of course. This white jelly like color had so much glitter in it that I actully had to wipe some of it off or back into the bottle. I liked that it wasn't hard to grab the glitter, but it kind of make it goopy and thick and left my manicure kinda clumpy (as you can see on my thumb in the picture below). But, overall I like it. It's unique with all colors and sizes of glitter. Some of the square glitter turned up as you can see on my middle finger, which I didn't like, but overall it's a neat combination- so this polish is like a Party!! Heeeyyy!



Closeup of KB Shimmer Party

Hope everyone has a super week, as we head into the 4th- which is a national holiday we are so blessed is a government holiday, so I will not be working that day:) yay!

 

Valentine's Day Nails- Day 1

Well, after this week of horrible weather, it's finally sunny outside...and we have Kade lol. So, it's kind of hard for me to swatch seeing as I'm constantly chasing a 15 month-old around the house, cleaning and cooking! I did manage to create this Valentine's look last night, though. I really wanted to start out with some non-traditional colors (well anything that wasn't red, pink or white). I will start from yesterday and create Valentine's Day look each day until Tuesday.  I want to see what I can come up with. I'm sure other bloggers are doing something very similar.

Pure Ice Kissy Kiss, butter LONDON Knackered,
 Konad Special Polish in Black with RA120

I used Orly Bonder- I like using a bonding basecoat even if I know I'm not going to keep the mani very long- it does what it says and the polish adheres easier to my nails. I used one coat of Pure Ice Kissy Kiss, which is a sheer jelly periwinkle color (shown in the first picture below) that I thought would bring out the lavender in butter LONDON's Knackered, which I swatched a few weeks ago with butter's Spring 2012 Collection. I love this color because it's so versatile! It's a beautiful duochrome with multi-colored micro glitter and looks different everytime I use it. I love how it shimmers and changes colors in the sun. I can take a million pictures this polish on!

I only used one coat since I knew I was going to stamp. Using Konad Special Polish in black I used Red Angel stamp RA120, as shown left.  I'm not a hearts kinda gal, but since this look is for the holiday dedicated to love, I thought I'd branch out.  Again, on the Konad special polish, I love it even though some say it's not necessary and to use regular polish, which I've been doing, but find that I like Konad better and don't mind spending the few extra bucks. I love the easy pick up and application. I never doubt it's ability to do what it was created to do and all I have to worry about is my ability to apply it well lol. I still need quite a bit of practice on my stamping, but I'm getting there.  Finally, I topped that off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat. I absolutely LOVE this stuff and will never use anything different! I will have to get a bottle to include in my giveaway (it's $10 at most retailers).

I wasn't quite thinking it through when I was stamping and should've put the hearts facing the other way so I wouldn't have to turn my hands upside down, but oh well. And my middle finger (of course) has a heart that looks a bit smudged, so please just keep in mind that this is the holiday for love:) I stopped with this simple look, because I didn't want to start a project that I literally couldn't finish. I need more practice before I start doing more complicated looks.  If left to play, I will work on my nails for 2 hours!

I will try to post another look for today (this is actually Friday's look) sometime tonight if I can get a chance to swatch.  Right now I'm cooking peanut butter brownies, washing dishes and clothes, so I'm a busy body today, but I'm sure I will make the time to do another look:)

Bootie Babe Polishes

 After I saw this post about the Bootie Babe Cometics brand- that consists of about 12 colors of nail polish- on Follow the Yellow Polish Road's blog, I knew I had to have a bottle! So, I ordered Electric Lemon and Bossy Mossy. I thought they would be a bit darker, but about 5 days later I received a bright yellow, that looks a bit sheer and will probably need a white coat underneath, and a lime green color that is nice for spring. I couldn't wait to try these cute lil polish bottles shaped like booties!

Bootie Polish in Electric Lemon and Bossy Mossy

First of all, I have to say, when I picked up my package, it was sent with "SUPERBOOTY LLC" as their return address. I think it's hilarious, but a little embarrassing, and had the post office been opened I would have explained what I bought ha!
   I first started out with Color Club Stuck on You basecoat then as I applied Bossy Mossy I realized this is a very thick one coater jelly. I take my time and use the least amount of strokes I can. Realizing the quality of this polish, if I know how to apply, it turns out beautifully.

I used one coat of Seche Vite top coat to finish off the shine, and I was very pleased with my results.  I haven't tried Electric Lemon yet, but will add swatches once I do. Please try to forgive me for the poor suckish lighting...I had to take these early in the morning when their was no sun and it was still overcast, then I took my pictures for polishes at night on my kitchen table.  I am working on making better lighting, but this is all I have for now.

 Well, this is all I have for now. This new job is keeping me really busy, and Valentine's Day is coming up, Addie's 9th Birthday party is coming up and ahhhh...just a bit overwhelmed! I still want to giveaway my stuff, but need more followers!!!! Please pass my blog on if you like it!!!!! Peace!