Gothic couture and my favorite Fangirl

A little while back I got the sweetest, unexpected gift

in the mail from my #1 Fangirl and very dear friend Lynn. Wanna see?

Isn't it gorgeous!

I was drooling over this ring (OK I drool over all of Mykas art and jewelry)

But this one I just love and my sweetie Lynn was obviously stalking paying attention and she spoiled me.

You can see more of  Myka Jelinas fantasy art here she is one of my favorite fantasy artists.

 Gothic couture is the painting this is from, I just love Belladonnas face.

and well I had to do my nails to compliment her so I made these two polishes to suit Belladonna.

The purple is a wine base with teal shift which makes it look purple on the nail and the teal has a sweet pink shift which I did not get a decent picture of either shift.

Both almost came off as holos in certain light

and pretty shimmery goodness in other

I'm thinking I should name them

You can see a bit of the base better

Sparkly

and then the blue/teal shift...almost metallic

see the blue flecks in the teal

 macro to show the pretties

one more peek and Belladonna and huge hugs and kisses to Lynn...I love you doll!

Honk if you love OPI - DS Original

Honk if you love OPI is from the Touring America collection

A gorgeous blackened berry

I free handed some sadly misshapen v french tips and my ring finger with DS Origional

I love blackened shades like this where you can easily in any light tell the color but it's so very deep and vampy still

I used 2 coats of Honk if you <3 OPI and one of DS Original

Vampy and holo is a favorite combo for it they just compliment the best parts of each other

I feel silly saying every single time that the formula is great so with OPI I will just let you know if I ever get one that sucks. (^o^)

This is a busy season for me so I'll do my best to post and update as much as possible.

Just remember that I adore you all and miss you much and you can always DM me on Twitter or FaceBook.

*Smooches*

Duochrome Franken pretties

I needed a purple with a blue/aqua shift so I made one with pigment and tkb's crappy base

and I made a layering shifty shimmer thing color too which I used just on my ring fingers

Love, love, love the color but the base is such a mess that it was really hard to get even coverage

See the pretty shift

On my ring finger you can see the pink and aqua shimmer

Not loving the ring finger but the rest is a happy color

I might start carrying some franken pigments on my site for those who want to play without the extreme error factor. Still thinking about it.

Duochrome loves

LCN Magnetic Polish fun

I was given the opportunity to try LCN Magnetic polishes and they are so fun!

This is the kit I was sent...

The magnets are great! One is the star and the other stripes

I used Fuschia Attraction and Green Temptation and both magnets

I alternated the magnets because well I like it that way

These polishes are straight one coat colors, no layering needed. I love that!

This was my first try using these so I'm sure I'll get better with them as I play

I have other magnetic polish but these work so much better

The polish is $9.50 a bottle (a bit high but the results are worth it imo)

And the colors are so good and unique. I will be playing a lot more with these!

You can get them Here The entire set is $115 and you get both magnets and all 8 colors so not a bad deal.

What do you think of the magnetic polish?

Dark Angel and her Stardust

I received the sweetest RAOK (random act of kindness)

a couple of weeks ago from Jennifer of  The Polished Pirate Blog, she sent me a little pretty that's been on my wishlist for a while....MAC's Dark Angel! YAY I know the color isn't anything all that unique and I'm not big on MAC's formula but I NEEDED this one because of the name....it was meant to be mine! Thank you so much Jennifer, I love it and it sits in a place of honor in my polish closet.

What you thought I would do a normal manicure? Not happening!

I added Best Nail Treatments Stardust glitter to the very tips and my ring finger

I love this! The dark blackened purple of Dark Angel contrasts perfect with BNT teal glitter of Stardust

This is the most color accurate picture

MAC's formula still blows, it's streaky, drags and shrinks weird at the cuticle but the color is beautiful.

BNT Stardust is nearly full coverage in one coat and it dries so fast and the glitter is very fine so it's not bumpy once you put top coat on. (It also is a pita to remove therefore wears like teflon coated iron wearing a bullet-proof vest)

I could stare at this all day!

Best Nail Treatment - Review and swatches

I was contacted a while back by Lynn, the lovely owner of  BNT

about trying her line of nail products and after my drooling and wavering due to the beautiful selection of nail colors I finally picked a couple and I have been testing these in a serious way!

You can check out the shades here

Left to right: Air Cure system Base coat, Grape Crush, French Twist and Air Cure System fast dry Top Coat

Now I am going to let you in on a tiny bit of info that prompted my need for thorough testing...

Lynn worked for the original Poshe company and was a part of the creation of the beloved Poshe top coat that so many love. Unfortunately the company was sold to a competitor (which I'd bet is why Poshe TC formula changed) Lynn opened Best Nail Treatments using her own formulas. So BNT is a Woman owned company that has an environment conscience. Read more about them here. I personally am impressed and love the mission statement.

(Day 1)

This is 2 coats of Grape Crush with one coat of French twist on the tips of index and ring fingers and over entire nail on middle and pinky, because I can do it like that! :o)

(Day 3)

Grape Crush is a beautiful neon fuchsia purple jelly...but it's so well pigmented that there is (as you can see) no visible nail line with 2 coats. How wonderful is that!

(Day 5)

French twist is along the lines of the cnd effects in that it is a sheer pink sparkling shimmer intended for layering.

I did notice that (at least for me) this applied much more evenly and stronger than my cnd's

(Day 5)

Super Macro shows the gorgeous sparkle of French Twist and the opacity yet jelly squish of Grape Crush

Now the full review-

Base coat- Dries very fast slightly sticky finish (for adhesion), application was very nice, not runny or goopy.

Colors- Very nice formula, the brush is the normal round fan brush, spreads well, very even coverage, great pigmentation, smooth and very easy to work with.

Top Coat- This was the big test with me as I have 2 bottles of the old (original good) Poshe top coat and 1 bottle of the sucktastick newer formula and one of what Poshe said was their return to the old formula. Personally the 2 later formulas, to me, are about the same. I do not like them, they don't dry fast at all!

So I tested the BNT Top coat against the original Poshe top coat. Application is about the same, both apply smoothly and evenly, the brushes are identical for all I can tell. Now here is I was surprised and rather pleased the BNT Top Coat was dry...I mean I can go wash my hair, fold laundry dry in 5 minutes flat....I tested this 6 times on different brands of polish! Original Poshe was dry to the touch in about 6 minutes but not "solid" dry for another 7-10 minutes which is still fast but not as fast. So this prompted me to test it against my forever beloved Seche Vite.....needless to say Seche it's been a lovely many years but I'm leaving you for a new love! I have broken up with Seche and Best Nail Treatments is my new HG fast dry top coat!

I kid you not!

Now the last part I'm not sure which to credit but the above manicure, note the "day" notes below each picture...see anything unusual? 5 days of perfect no budge wear, not a chip, no tip wear....as perfect on day 5 as on day 1! I washed dishes, mixed colors, filled orders, labeled, packed orders, cleaned house, showered, did laundry, went swimming 4 times, took 3 bubble baths, worked out and chased 3 kids.

Color me impressed, very impressed! I'm not sure if it's due to the adhesion of the base coat, the quality of the colored polish or the strength of the top coat or all of the above, but whatever the magic is....I need more!

I have another color from Best that I will show you later but it is so pretty, you will love it too!

*Products in this post were provided by the company/pr for my review

All opinions are my own, based on my experience and personal knowledge.

Dark Princess with Dragon's Wing

This was a request from my Tweeter girls.

We were talking lipstick and combo's and I mentioned how pretty

Evil Shades Dark Princess is when you top it with ES Hardcore lips Dragon's Wing and as the saying goes...It doesn't exist unless there are pictures! lol

In shade you can just see a bit of the teal shimmer and a bluer tone to Dark Princess

Indoor lighting it looks more blurple

In direct sunlight you get a beautiful aqua shift floating over the purple base

I just kept turning in different angles of the sunlight so you can see it change

I dabbed Dragon's Wing on top of Dark Princess with my finger...a little Dragon's Wing goes a long way....ask any wizard!

Magically a flash of green over the purple!

I think this is one of my favorite lip combo's because I can match it to my nails! hehe