Sonia Kashuk Tauped

Sometimes you need a good, clean creme polish. DH had training to do at work (an hour away) and I tagged along to squeeze a nice dinner out of him. While he was training, I killed time at Target. The one in my town closed more than ten years ago and I miss it dearly. So, yes dear. I CAN kill two hours in Target!

I cruised through the beauty section and decided to get a Sonia Kashuk polish as I can't pick them up at home. While poking through, I realized I don't have a mushroom creme, and there was Tauped staring me in the face.

Application was absolutely wonderful. In fact, I don't think I had to do any clean up on this mani. The brush was great and the formula buttery. I finished with Digital Nails Ain't Nobody Got Time For That and got 3-4 days wear out of this one. 

OMG Nail Strips Review

*Press Sample*

Today I've reviewed OMG Nail Strips in Crow. In this kit, you get the standard 16 polish strips in the standard varied sizes. These strips are thicker than Sally Hansen's polish strips, but not quite as thick as China Glaze's. They claim up to ten days wear, but I took them off after just a couple of days. I get bored too easily.

Application was pretty standard. Pick the proper size, and off you go. The instructions did recommend trimming the strips with scissors if you needed to make them more narrow, but I used an orange stick like I do with other strips. They also recommended swiping with polish remover after placing the strip to allow the strip to "melt to your nails" and promote longer wear, and finish with top coat.

I was a bit worried that using remover would blur the image on the strip, but it didn't at all. Again, I can't attest to the wear time as I had them off in two days. You can choose from fifty designs available for $6.89/set on the OMG Nail Strips website.

6 Harts Polish Blow Me... A Raspberry!

Readers, today I've got a beauty for you! This is my first (And not last... Lookin' at you, Bat Crap Crazy!) 6 Harts Polish, and it is a bright berry stunner packed with mildly linear holo particles. It is fairly reminiscent of Orly Miss Conduct, but I absolutely love the formula on this one, so I may have to let Miss Conduct go. Blow me (heh, heh) is shown here with two easy coats and a splash of top coat. 

Indoors with flash

Direct sunlight

Ninja Polish Hydra

Today I've got a polish that I swatched ages ago, but have left in the "to be blogged" box since Ninja Polish hasn't restocked it. Today, I decided I didn't want to leave it hidden anymore!

When Ninja Polish released their Dragon Collection, I snatched up several and gifted all but this one. Kinda accidentally, but hey. I've got lots of polish. The Dragon Collection is made up of fabulous duochrome glitter polishes that can be built up on their own, or used as a topper. Here, I've layered two coats over one coat of black creme. The second coat of Hydra didn't make a huge difference.

Hydra is made up of small hex glitters that shift between blue, green, purple, and pink suspended in a clear base.

Outdoors, indirect lighting

Outdoors, indirect lighting, different angle. :)

Indoors, artificial direct lighting

Hydra is made by Ninja Polish, which is a great site for hard-to-find or international polishes. I don't know if/when she'll be restocking the Dragon collection, but you can find it here.

Digital Nails Spells! Pt 1 - Stupify, Colovaria, Nox

Pic heavy post... Not sorry! 

I saw teases of Digital Nails' HP Spells collection on her Facebook page a few days before the release and set an alarm on my phone so that I'd remember to be ON ETSY when they released. :) It was one of those furious, get-it-in-the-cart-and-get-out-and-oh-please-don't-let-me-get-cart-jacked moments. I managed to get everything I wanted. Yes!!

First up is Stupify! Wow. Stupify. Super beautiful blurple stunner with linear holo particles and blue/pink duochrome flakies. Yes, I know. It really is as awesome as it sounds. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

2 coats plus top coat in direct sun

direct sun, blurred to appreciate the rainbows!

2 coats in indirect sun. Better to see the flakies, my dear.

And the thermals... Oh, the thermals. I haven't been quick to jump on the thermal bandwagon because I wasn't sure if it would be one of those blink-and-you-miss-it trends. It also seemed a bit gimmick-y. But man, Raph's swatches drew me in! I love the thermals from this collection because they are bright, bold, and obvious. No pale pink to pale lavender shifting here! Both also have the color shifting flakies that are found in Stupify.

First, we have Colovaria. It changes from pale pink when warm to bright magenta when cold. The flakies in it have a yellow-green-blue shift.

hot on top, transitioning, and cold on bottom

(Imagine an awesome video of the color shift here. Grrr....)

Nox is a navy blue/purple to pale blue thermal with blue-pink shifting flakies. This polish is still very noticeable even when it is cold. The shift is so dramatic with this one!

warm to cold transition

Nox in it's cold state

I picked up three more from Digital Nails' last restock, so look for that post in a few days. If you're interested in any of Raph's awesome creations, visit her Etsy store here. She is on vacation until next week, but favorite the shop and visit later!