Sweet & Treats collection available now!

For real swatches, I steal (lovingly and with permission) photos my talented friends have taken of my polishes.

First up we have Pygmy Puff - complete with a little flocking powder Arnold! - courtesy of Jacki from Adventures in Acetone.

Here is Ashley from Ashley Is Polish Addicted showcasing the violet flakies in Sugar Spun Quills.

Cas from The Mani-Logues used Sugar Spun Quills in a stamped mani.

She also posted this awesome shot of Acid Pops in her review on her blog.

Lastly, Sheila from Pointless Cafe captured the flakies in Fizzing Whizbees (and our others) beautifully in her review!

If you're a Harry Potter fan, you'll recognize that the series has inspired a Paint Box Polish collection again! I thought Honeydukes' candy shop and Weasley's Wizard Wheezes joke shop were perfect to draw on for a brightly colored summer collection.

I hope you're a fan! You can find these and all of my other products available here. Paint Box Polish now has cuticle oil and glass nail files as well as polish. Gift sets in a pretty gift bag are also available.

Don't forget you can also stop by the Paint Box Polish booth at the INDIEana Handicraft Exchange show in Indianpolis on June 14th. I think I've bribed my sister-in-law to be my minion in exchange for polish and beer. :) We're nice people and would love to say hello!

Coming Soon - Paint Box Polish Sweets & Treats Collection!

Summer is almost here and so are some bright, new colors! I drew inspiration from all things summer. Flowers, sun, fun, and candy! Here are some quick shots of the new colors. I'll highlight more swatch photos from bloggers after I send out blogger packs and posts start appearing!

The colors in this set are L-R: Acid Pops, Pygmy Puff, Fizzing Whizbees, and Sugar Spun Quills. Yes, fellow Potter nuts. The Harry Potter theme continues! 

Acid Pops is a bright, apple green with green flakies and green/blue shimmer. Pygmy Puff is a matte coral shimmer with gold flakies. Fizzing Whizbees is an orange crelly with tiny rainbow flakies, and Sugar Spun Quills is a deep, berry pink with violet flakies. I. Love. Them. All!

I also have gift sets available now in my Big Cartel store. Your choice of any currently in stock polish, any cuticle oil, and either a cobalt blue or royal purple mini glass nail file for $15. The set comes in a pretty bag, and it is ready for giving.

The Sweets & Treats collection will be available mid-June and gift sets are available now at www.paintboxpolish.bigcartel.com.

Dandy Nails Love Affair

Today I've got my first polish from Dandy Nails! Sandy makes fabulous polishes and is well-established in the indie polish world. She came out with a set of amazing holos (the DandyGraphic collection) in November and I forced myself to buy only one. Because I'm trying to show restraint. :)

Love Affair is a dark pink, burgundy-ish color that is just beautiful. Then throw in that lovely, tightly scattered holo and I'm done. In my cart it went!

Direct sunlight

The formula of this is just perfection! Thick enough to be an easy one coater, but not so thick that it's gloopy and difficult to place. The brush was flat and a bit wide, so there were zero issues. I don't think I did any clean up with this mani at all. 

On a side note, look at that sunshine! Gah, I miss it. The temperature is -20 here in Indiana and I feel like the sun has been hiding for weeks. I love winter, but I'm done with it. :)

Slightly blurred because RAINBOWS!

Dandy Nails are available in her Etsy store here. Love Affair is in stock and available for $10.00. She has several lovely polishes and I'm going to have to indulge in more soon!

Stay warm, folks! Are you in a warm climate? Can I come visit? :)

A Study in Polish I Do Post-Mortems and Not Your Housekeeper

It's just about an hour until the new season of Sherlock airs on PBS (9:58 EST), and in it's honor, I'm back with the newest Sherlock polishes from A Study in Polish.

First up is I Do Post-Mortems, which is inspired by the ever lovely Molly Hooper. A soft, neutral pink with a low-key holographic shimmer. This is like Mind Palace's quiet little sister. (see my review of Mind Palace and my other A Study in Polish polishes here). I'm generally not a muted pink lover, but man! This is easily one of my favorites.

Direct artificial lighting

Direct natural light

 Not Your Housekeeper is Mrs. Hudson's polish. It's a super pretty, squishy plum with blue and pink/purple micro glitters. There may be some gold ones hidden in there as well. I used three coats here and it was just lovely.

Direct natural light

A Study in Polish offers Sherlock, The Hobbit, Teen Wolf, and Hannibal inspired polishes in her store.

Zoya Kimber and Zuza - a last nod to summer!

I am cleaning out my drafts folder and I found this mani that I wore at the beginning of the summer. Zoya Kimber with a Zuza accent. I love both of these, shades, they just scream summer and warm weather to me! 

Both shades are shown with two coats and are available at zoya.com.

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

Scofflaw Nail Varnish David Bowie's Bulge

Today I have my latest purchase from the awesome Scofflaw Nail Varnish... David Bowie's Bulge. Ha ha ha!! The color is inspired by David Bowie's Aladdin Sane album. The name? Have you seen Labyrinth? If so, you know what I'm talking about.

The base is a squishy-yet-opaque coral (not quite as bright as it appears here) filled with different sized teal glitter and smaller red and bronze glitters. There is also a smattering of holographic shimmer.

This is a lovely polish that applies like butter and needed no fishing to get that awesome glitter coverage. Wear time was great, and it is a classic color kicked up a bit by the glitter. I see myself reaching for this one often! 

Orly Miss Conduct

Today's beauty is one of my luckiest polish finds yet! Miss Conduct is a highly coveted and hard to find part of Orly's Naughty and Nice Holiday 2012 collection. I'd seen it on a few blogs and looked everywhere... to no avail.

Fast forward nine months and I was in my local TJ Maxx. I always swing through the beauty section because there are occasionally awesome deals (Hello, liter bottles of Dermorganic shampoo and conditioner for $10 each - $60 savings!!). I saw several Orly two-packs and snagged the last one with Miss Conduct and Angel Eyes for $6.99!

Miss Conduct is a squishy but highly pigmented berry with fairly tightly scattered holo particles. It's a bit thin, but there's no need for more than two coats of polish. The rainbow effect isn't super evident in this photo, but trust me. If you see this in the wild, you HAVE to pick it up!!

Tough As Nails Lacquer The Dregs, part 1 - The Redundant Woman and Magdelene's Laundry Service

Today I have two of the four polishes from Tough As Nails Lacquer's Spring Collection, The Dregs. This collection came together as a result of the creator's "recent obsession with drinking tea, the underbelly of Victorian culture, and a desire for a more calming collection." The Tough As Nails line is filled with brights and glitter bombs, so this collection is a bit of a departure from that.

First up is The Redundant Woman. It is a periwinkle purple/blue shade with fine pink shimmer. The shimmer is fairly evident in the bottle, but has to be coaxed out on the nail. The photo below is as sunny as I could manage, so I've also included a shot taken with flash. 

I used three medium coats of The Redundant Woman for this mani. There is a tad bit of nail line in these shots, but it really wasn't visible at all. I purchased shorty bottles, and they have a fairly short, stiff brush. I had to be careful with application because I got a few bald spots. 

3 coats of The Redundant Woman with top coat and flash.

Magdalene's Laundry Service has a milky, pink jelly base with pink dots and hexes and a pearly finish. A very beautiful polish! The above shot is three coats with top coat. No undies - because I'm usually too lazy for that. I normally don't go for polishes that are this sheer, but I really love this one. Application was great. I used two coats of top coat, but it really wasn't necessary. 

I was unaware of what the name referred to, but there is a nice explanation on the Tough As Nails blog. I've included it here:

"During the 18th-20th centuries, if you were a prostitute, unmarried, too flirtatious, or even too pretty, you may have been sent to a Magdalene Asylum. Magdalene Asylums, or Magdalene Laundries, were institutions for the fallen women of society, located throughout Europe, Canada, and the US. The asylums were originally intended to rehabilitate prostitutes and other women back into society, sustaining themselves by offering laundry services, but became prison-like, where women experienced hard labor, forced periods of silence, and abuse."

A sad thing, to be sure. There have been a few news stories recently about Magdalene Laundries after the Irish Prime Minister issued a formal apology for them. The last one wasn't closed in Ireland until 1996. 

Sorry to end on a sour note, but you have the rest of this collection to look forward to in my next post.

LOFT Methyl Blue and Fuchsia

Happy Sunday! Today I have two of the five polishes my Secret Santa from work gave me. I lucked out. She picked really well! I had no idea LOFT sold polishes. They're not branded at all, so I don't know if they are made another brand and bottled for them. 

Both applied like butter, had excellent wear time (4+ days!), and were super pretty and vibrant. 

Methyl Blue is a perfect cobalt blue foil/metallic shade. The brush on this one was really nice and I only had minimal clean up.

Fuchsia is the, well... fuchsia sister of Methyl Blue. Bright, pink, foil-y goodness. I put this on quickly before heading to the office one morning (hence unevenness near the cuticle) and it wore beautifully. I believe this photo was taken on day three. Fuchsia got a lot of attention from my female patients. Definitely a winner!

I have three others to show you - Teal, Eggplant, and Nightwatch.

Valentine's Day Mani - A Quickie



Revlon Colorstay Nail Color in Ripe Raspberry with a Stiletto accent nail. Accent nail stamped with Color Club Halo Hues Eternal Beauty, other nails stamped with Color Club Halo Hues Kismet.

I can't remember the names and numbers of the stamping plates, so I'll add those later. Accent nail from Cheeky CH15 from the Vibrant Collection, and others are from Vivid Lacquer plate VL001

I wish it were better, but it's only the 2nd or 3rd stamping mani I've done.

Happy Valentine's Day!

SpaRitual Conduit and Rusted Lux - Swatches and Review

I spied the SpaRitual gold-infused polishes at Sephora when I went to Chicago to visit Bestie last year, but didn't want them for $12.50 a piece. However, when a friend on Twitter tweeted that she found them in a store for MUCH cheaper, I jumped on it!

Conduit is a warm, bronze-gold polish that has a beautiful foil finish. It was rather thin and watery, and these swatches are three coats with some visible nail line. I allowed a couple of minutes between each coat, but I think this one may have benefited from layering or a fourth coat.

I was very excited about Rusted Lux. SO excited about Rusted Lux. And so disappointed when I actually wore it. These photos are three coats with a good 2-3 minutes between each, and check out that bald spot on that first finger!

This photo shows the lovely rose-red base with that intense gold glass-fleck shimmer. So stunning in the bottle, but really a poor payoff on the nail. I may try it layered over a color like Zoya Kimber and see how that looks.

Isn't it pretty? *sigh*

Vivid Lacquer The Harlequin's Adoration and Your Princess is in Another Castle Swatches

Have you had the opportunity to look through Vivid Lacquer's Etsy store? Anni has a great selection of awesome glitter polishes, and she designs nail stamping plates. Her first two plates are out of stock right now, but hopefully she gets more stock soon, because they are fabulous. I'm still practicing my stamping skills, but plan a post with the designs soon.

First up to The Harlequin's Adoration. Anni's description is as follows:

"This polish is a dazzling red and bronze flecked polish, rounded out by black and white diamond, red heart, and fine black and white glitter."

The polish is a little thick, but that's necessary to suspend all that lovely glitter. The photo below shows Harlequin over OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls (index and middle finger) and OPI Steady As She Rose (ring and pinky). This is one coat dabbed on. I didn't have to fish out the larger glitters, and check out the bronze flash! Such a fun polish.

Your Princess is in Another Castle... 

"Jelly nail polish featuring a pink, jelly base loaded with holographic glitter, multiple sizes and colors of pink glitter, and black glitter."

YPIIAC is so packed with glitter, and is fairly smooth. These swatches show one coat applied over (ring - pinky) OPI MBSW, Sally Hansen Black Out, OPI SASR, and OPI MBSW. No difficulties with application with this polish. I'm excited to try the Elmer's-Glue-As-Peel-Off-Basecoat thing with this one on its own.

Also, how stinking cute are Anni's bottle labels?? Have you tried Vivid Lacquer's polishes or stamping plates? I definitely recommend them. Anni and her products are a joy to deal with.

Holy Duochrome! Swatches & Review: Limited Edition Sally Hansen lustre shine Lava *Pic Heavy*

Swatches! Ahh! This is a pic heavy post, and it's well deserved. Promo pics of Sally Hansen's lustre shine collection have been all over the place, but I was rather stunned when I saw what was left of a picked-over display at Meijer today. There were only four colors left, and only one bottle of Lava. I didn't really pay attention to the others (the ever-present Chanel Peridot dupe, the Deborah Lippmann Sugar Daddy dupe, and a teal/blue that wasn't very duochrome-y) and the next thing I knew, Lava was in my hand!

All shots are three thin coats over a coat of Elmer's Glue (I'm experimenting) and under one coat of Poshe Super-fast Drying Topcoat. The first coat had me a little worried as it looked very thin and patchy, but the second coat had near-complete coverage. The final coat added a nice depth to the color. My brush was a little wonky, but workable. The long, thin cap was very comfortable to hold.

Here you can see the pink near the tips, and yellow/gold over the bed of the nail. The photo is a little blurry, so please excuse that.

This photo has a very nice representation of both colors across the nail.

Okay, these are just because it's so freaking pretty!

Go. Buy. Now.

(I've also built a light box in an effort to bring you better pictures. I think it makes an improvement!)

Manglaze F*** Off & Dye!

I have such a fun polish for you guys today! I've eyed Manglaze polishes for a long time, but never actually "checked out" with one. Manglaze specializes in matte polishes, and does them fabulously.

In the interest of not offending any of my readers, I will post bottle pictures after a jump. It depicts violence and has a swear word. It is very cool, comic-book style art work. I would encourage you to check it out if it sounds like something you may appreciate.

Below is a shot of my nails only. I did use butter LONDON Nail Foundation for this manicure, but I gave it a good long time to dry. The brush was nice and full with a rounded edge and was nicely flexible. The formula was very smooth and super opaque. I used two thin coats and the polish dried very quickly.

Bottle shot after the jump...

Black Label OPI: St Louis Sorbet

My friend Gail sent me a box of OPI Black Label wonderfulness a few months ago, and there were some beautiful polishes in there! This one is such a pretty polish. St. Louis Sorbet was released in 1997's Route 66 collection.

This color is a deep, dusty, rose pink with gold shimmer. The shimmer is obvious in the bottle and in the sun, and doesn't completely disappear on the nail, even in the shade.

Bottle shot in the sun

The lovely, chemical-laden formula was a joy to work with. St Louis Sorbet is a very opaque polish and though I had very good coverage at one coat, I added a second for some depth. The brush isn't OPI's Pro-Wide brush, but it's long, skinny, floppy original one. Still, application was a cinch and the only clean-up I needed was due to a sneezing fit. :)

P.S. Thanks for the name, Gail!

Zoya Kimber

Zoya Kimber is from the Surf half Zoya's fabulous Summer 2012 collection, Beach & Surf. Surf is full of bright, sparkly colors. Kimber is a bright pink with small, irregular gold and silver flecks. It's a very warm color and is very summery.

This is 2 coats of Kimber over butter LONDON Nail Foundation and Seche Vite.

I also picked up Zuza, so expect that post next. And, coming soon... Nail-venturous Floam and Max Factor Fantasy Fire!

SpaRitual Sun Salutation

We stopped by Sephora during our trip to Orlando, and I decided that I wanted to get a polish from a brand I haven't tried before. This color caught my eye, and I chose it in part because it was only $10 and I had already went a little crazy with polish buying via the internet during my conference.

I am interrupting quickly to say that I really, really, really don't like the nail bar at Sephora. It's a little dark in the store anyway, and the bright lights under the polish itself makes it very difficult to see what you're getting. I didn't think to get a picture of it, but there are pics floating around the internet. Cool aesthetic, but not very practical. 

Below are three very thin coats of SpaRitual Sun Salutation over American Classics Bridge the Gap Ridge Filling Base Coat. The rose-gold foil color caught my eye, and the name sealed the deal for me. Sun Salutation is one of my favorite yoga poses. (See an example here) It's actually a series of moves that stretches your back and feels really wonderful. 

Because the foil finish will highlight any imperfections on the nail, a ridge filling base coat is key. Unless you have perfect nail beds. :) The formula was thin and really, really nice. SpaRitual's brush is rather short, but wide and very flexible. The cap is rubber coated and substantial. Between the cap and the brush, I feel you have very good control with application of this polish.

All in all, I'm very happy with this one, and plan to pick up more SpaRitual polishes in the future.

Zoya Bela Swatches and Review

I got this polish about a year ago or so ago. It was after Black Swan came out and there was some hullabaloo because it had a cameo in the film. Last time I wore it, I had issues with visible nail line (VBL), so I piled on coats until it was pretty much opaque. I’ve made peace with VNL since, and decided to wear it again as a palate cleanser after all the neons, holos, and foils I’ve been wearing.

This formula isn't horrible, but my brush seemed a little… Solid? I was able to work with it. The above shots are in sunlight with 2 coats. Bela looked a little streaky before a coat of Seche Vite, but good ol’ SV leveled it out nicely. I noticed the dings after I took the picture. Sorry! That’s what happens when one does a mani in the morning before work. J

GlitterDaze Minty Mojito, Flirtini, and April Rain

I finally jumped on the Indie Polish bandwagon. Well, at least I'm just now on the Indie Polish Buying bandwagon. I do have my own Etsy shop set up (www.etsy.com/shop/PaintBoxPolish if you're interested!) but these three GlitterDaze polishes are the first I've bought. They are beautiful, aren't they? They are part of the Simply Spring Collection.

Minty Mojito first caught my eye because my friend is getting married in a few weeks, and I'm a bridesmaid. It's pretty much expected of me to have crazy nails, and this color matches her green perfectly. Plus it has green and gold sparkles. How can you go wrong? The above is 3 thin coats of color topped with Seche Vite and it dried very smooth and shiny. It also wore like iron.

Flirtini reminds me of cartoon cupcakes. You know, the ones with pink icing and sprinkles? It's such a cute polish! This photo is 3 thin coats (but I think I forgot the third on my index finger) with Seche Vite. It was still smooth, but not as smooth as Minty Mojito. Wear time wasn't quite as good either, but I got about 2 days before my first chip, which is pretty decent for the amount of hand washing I do.

The last of the polishes I got from GlitterDaze is April Rain. It's rather poetic in that I wore it on a very rainy, gross day in April. It is a beautiful blue that was not as opaque as the others. If I were to use it again, I think I would layer it over a light blue to preserve polish. The above photo is 4 coats with Seche Vite. It really didn't last that long, but I find that always happens with me when I use more than 3 coats of color.

Overall, I'm very happy with Sana's polishes. All of the Simply Spring polishes are named after cocktails, and she has thoughtfully included recipes in each polish description. :) The GlitterDaze shop is here, and her full sized polishes are $8.50 and minis are $4.50. She also sells her polishes in sets.