Swatches & Review: Smokey Mountain Lacquers - Raging Hormones

Hi guys! Today I have for you a new to me indie brand, based in USA, Smokey Mountain Lacquers. The polish I'll be showing you today from their line is called Raging Hormones. Do I need to tell you what inspired the name? Lol! 

Raging Hormones is described by the creator as a cherry red linear holo polish. I have to say, on me it's not really a deep dark red like cherry. It leans a bit orange-y red. The formula is on the thick side, but I have no issue in application. It dries shiny, but I still use top coat here. I used 3 thin coats for my swatches. 

Smokey Mountain Lacquer Raging Hormones

Smokey Mountain Lacquer Raging Hormones

Smokey Mountain Lacquer Raging Hormones

Smokey Mountain Lacquer Raging Hormones

There's a disclaimer on the listing of this polish, that it might stain. Unfortunately it did  stain. I used 2 coats of Glisten & Glow Stuck on Blu and wore this for no more than 6 hours. When I removed them my whole nail beds are pink stained. So you might have to take an extra precaution before wearing this, or don't plan on wearing sheer polish right after this.

Smokey Mountain Lacquers can be purchased from their website or etsy. Retails for USD 7.95 for a full size 15 ml bottle and USD 3.95 for a 5ml mini bottle. For nail polish lovers outside US, I recommend contacting them prior of placing your order, regarding shipping method and rate, you can do that here. You can also follow Smokey Mountain Lacquers on their social media (facebook, instagram)for updates about new collection, restock, and giveaways! 

**product is provided for my honest review

XO
Novi

Twin Post with PJ's and Polish - Rainbow Mani

Today's post is the first for me. Debbie (from PJ's and Polish) and I planned to do this -twin post a little while ago, and now it's finally live! We're calling this a 'twin post', but instead of doing the exact same mani, we picked a theme and do our own interpretation of it, and the theme is, as the title says, Rainbow Nails! We're both also using chevron minis from Nail Vinyls.

Debbie is one of my close friend in nail polish and blogging world, I'm so stoked to do this twin post with her. She does beautiful swatches, go and see for yourself, and also check out her version of our Rainbow Nails here.

Here's my version. I used a total of 8 colors for this (not including the white base).

I started this mani with a 3 colour gradient over a white base, yellow (Zoya Darcy), blue (Zoya Yummy), and purple (Picture Polish Wisteria), and top coat it before I start with the vinyls. I placed 4 mini chevron vinyls on each nail to create a small zigzag pattern and fit more colours. As the lines are pretty thin, I used a small brush to fill between the vinyls. The shades used are OPI Red My Fortune Cookie, Picture Polish Totes, KB Shimmer Honeydew List, Picture Polish Sky, and OPI Push & Pur-Pull. I just got a fresh new bottle of INM Northern Lights, so I just had to use it! Sparkles make everything 10x better!

Hope you enjoyed the post! 

XO
Novi

Swatches: KB Shimmer Early Summer 2014 - The Textured

Hi guys! Today I have swatches of my recent purchase from Harlow & Co., the textured glitters from KB Shimmer Early Summer 2014 collection. These are bold colours and jam packed with glitter, I didn't have issue with application at all! 

I used three coats of all the polishes for the swatches here. The jelly base is really saturated, two coats would've given you a good opacity. I used three out of habit when using crelly glitter. Dry time is pretty quick, I found Partners In Lime has the quickest drying time followed by She Twerks Out and Too Pop To Handle. 
Even though these are meant to be textured polishes, you can always add top coat for a glossy smooth finish, and change the semi matte original finish. But keep in mind, these are top coat eater glitter. You will need 2 generous coats of good quality top coat to get a smooth finish. 

Partners In Lime, is a bright lime jelly base filled with green, aqua blue, and gold hexes. It's an 'in your face' green, LOVE this a lot! 

KB Shimmer Partners In Lime

KB Shimmer Partners In Lime (with top coat)

Too Pop To Handle, is a bright purple jelly loaded with magenta, pink, aqua, and violet hexes glitter. I've worn this one for a full mani. I like this with top coat, so I only used 1 coat of top coat and I got the glossy look I like and still had the textured finish. 

KB Shimmer Too Pop To Handle

KB Shimmer Too Pop To Handle (with top coat)

She Twerks Out, a turquoise jelly filled with aqua, violet, lime green, and teal hexes glitter. I'm currently wearing this as my pedi colour. It looks fantastic! I just don't think about removal and I'm happy! ;)

KB Shimmer She Twerks Out

KB Shimmer She Twerks Out (with top coat)

Honestly, I can't pick a favorite out of these three. I love them all! Which one(s) is your favorite?
KB Shimmer polishes can be purchased directly at KB Shimmer website (US only) and from Harlow & Co. (worldwide shipping).

XO
Novi

Floral Nails

As summer approaching, I'm seeing more and more of floral nail art. It's not something I'm particularly good at, I seriously have trouble even making a dotted flower. But it doesn't stop me from trying, so please be gentle ;)

I started with KB Shimmer Honeydew List as the base, a dusty light green that's opaque in 3 coats. For the flowers, I used a flat end brush and a combination of these shades: Picture Polish Violet Femme, Flirt, Zoya Thandie, Darcy, Chantal, OPI My Boyfriend Scales The Walls and Jade is The New Black for the green stems. 

I think they came out pretty nice, if you don't pay too much attention to the details..haha. It has a bit of vintage look to it, which I now think matte top coat would be perfect for this. What do you think? :)

XO
Novi

Ants Attack!

Hi guys! Yesterday I received my first Mundo de Unas (MdU) stamping polishes in the mail, 12 of them. So naturally I just had to try them right away. 

I started with a neutral base, using Lime Crime Milky Ways. I used 2 images from Pueen 45 for this mani, the one on top of the plate that looked like a cracked surface and the small ant on the bottom right. I thought those 2 images would be a good match. Just don't try to squish your screen, ok? :p

I used several colors to stamp the larger image. They are MdU #5, 16, 21, 39, and 50, and stamp the ant over it with MdU #2. Finished the design with my favorite top coat, HK Girl from Glisten & Glow. 

From this first try, Mundo de Unas lived up to expectation, the good and the bad. The good, stamps VERY well and very opaque. I tried to use as little as possible as suggested, and it still spread evenly. I have to try them over a dark base next time. 
The only bad is the smell. Although I have to admit, it's not as bad as I thought it would be, but still there's a weird smell. Kinda like gasoline but not as bad, it didn't bother me.