Darling Diva: Anna

PR Sample

Anna was created for Darling Diva's friend Anna who has a nail blog called Going to the Showing. The polish was created to show Carrie's gratitude to Anna for always being supportive and helping her to make her product better:)

I think it was such a sweet gesture and the polish is a stunner! Have a look:



Carrie from Darling Diva says that this polish is a combination of 3 different blue glitters (in 3 different sizes) both metallic and holographic.



In my photos, Anna is layered in three coats to build opacity and depth. Anna would also be pretty worn over navy, royal blue, indigo or dark purple. Maybe even a hot pink!?



There is nothing more satisfying about polish than seeing it glimmer and twinkle in the sunlight and this polish definitely has that wow factor!



Anna was really easy to apply and control, no dabbing or digging. It dried fast and had a smooth glassy finish.
You can get your bottle of Anna at Darling Diva's Etsy Shop.

And if you haven't followed them on facebook you totally should because she just posted an announcement for a freebie!

“...tomorrow afternoon, we will post a 24 hour SPECIAL of any sized order including either "Home of the Brave" and/or "Rescue Me" will receive a RANDOM FREE bottle of polish in the shop. Offer is limited to one person during this special. Both "Home of the Brave" and "Rescue Me" are $10 each and 100% of its proceeds are donated to the Disabled American Veterans and Basset Buddies Rescue of Minnesota/Wisconsin, respectively. We will post notice when it starts and ends.

Products provided for review.

Vivid Lacquer: St. Patrick's Day Duo

PR Sample

This evening I have two polishes from Vivid Lacquer to share with you! One is a jelly and the other is a holo glitter topper! The duo was created for St. Patrick's day and will be released Monday, March 4th.

Leprechaun Dust is the first polish in the set. Its a medium green jelly packed with iridescent shimmer and hexes.



I wore three thin coats for the photos here, but I think two heavier coats would cover the nail line.



The application of Leprechaun Dust was excellent. I was able to control where I wanted the polish on the nail; very little clean up needed.



I would love this polish even if it didn't have the shimmers and hex glitters in it. Such a pretty shade of green, like a shamrock!



Next, I topped it with Rainbow's End, a gold "coin", small gold glitter and lime green holo glitter topper.



I wore one coat and used a kind of brush/dab technique to apply it. I think its the perfect amount of glitter to allow the base color to show through.



Gah! I just love circle glitter! Pretty clever idea to use it in this polish!



Such a festive fun glitter; I think it suits the occasion really well!



Vivid Lacquer polishes are available on Etsy and you can follow the brand on facebook.

Products provided for review.

One hour to launch!

PR Sample

The xoxojen.com glitter polish is launching in about an hour today at 3pm CST. The polish is limited to 30 bottles and will not be restocked.
Click the banner below to go to her shop! :)

Giveaway Winner!

PR Sample

I will be in touch with you shortly to get your shipping details!

If you didn't win, xoxojen.com polish will be for sale tomorrow Feb. 22, at 3pm CST. Thirty limited edition bottles will be stocked and pricing will be $10 per bottle at Urban Lacquer's Etsy Shop.


Thank you Brenda for such a beautiful collaboration and for everything you do! :)

Big Day!

PR Sample

Today is the big day for the announcement of the giveaway winner! I plan to post it up later this evening so that you all have some more time to get those last minute entries in.

I had such a good response to layering the xoxojen.com polish over black and white that I did a few more to show you. :)



I tried to arch my fingers like a rainbow for a little photo fun!
Each finger has a couple coats of base color and then one coat of the xoxojen.com glitter polish. Its pretty densely packed with glitter!
I hope this helps to show how well this topper can go with a lot of different colors, even though the base is slightly tinted grey.

I was also gifted a cute lil image from a friend of mine on facebook, Zombiemistress Elwell.



Hold tight!! We'll have a winner this evening! :)

Urban Lacquer: xoxojen.com Second take!

PR Sample

You've seen it over grey, so how about over black and white?

Two coats of xoxojen.com over Urban Lacquer's Little Black Undies.

The holos really pop with the contrasting black!


And even though the glitter topper's base is tinted grey, the black polish shows through it really well.


Here, I've layered xoxojen.com over China Glaze Frosty, which is a shimmery white - this is a good showing of how the base is tinted.




xoxoJen.com will be available on February 22, at 3pm CST at the Urban Lacquer Etsy shop.

Don't forget to enter the giveaway for a free bottle - see this post for details!

Urban Lacquer: xoxoJen.com Collaboration Polish and Giveaway

PR Sample

You've been waiting to see what is so special about my next post, right?

Well, I hope this delivers: LE collaboration polish and a giveaway!


Brenda at Urban Lacquer and I worked together for almost a month to create this beautiful limited edition polish.



The polish starts with a barely tinted grey base and is packed with different shapes and sizes of purple and lime green glitters. The flashes of pink or orange you see in the macro and bottle shot are the holo glitters at play! I think Brenda did an outstanding job creating my vision and she has been a doll to work with!

My intent was for the polish to be worn over grey and have the depth of a jelly.
After some testing, we decided to make the base barely tinted so that it can easily be worn over just about any other color.

Two coats on all nails over Revlon Hazy


The rest of these photos have only one coat on my ring finger and two coats on the rest to show the difference in the glitter density and tinted base.
Worn over Revlon Hazy



You can win your very own bottle of xoxojen.com polish from Urban Lacquer before the launch!
Simply leave a comment in this post and we'll have random.org choose a number.
If your post corresponds with that number, you win! Results will be posted on Thursday night, Feb 21.

Please make sure I can get in touch with you! Anonymous comments are not eligible to win because I won't be able to contact you. Contest prize only ships within the continental USA, so you'll need a USA shipping address to win.

The collaboration polish will launch on Friday, Feb 22 and will be a limited quantity.

xoxoJen.com

My blog now has its very own domain!

http://xoxojen.com

I was bursting at the seams with excitement making myself wait (nearly a month!) to post about this! So reset your bookmarks and bounce in your chair with me will ya?

I've also been waiting until this special day to show some nail art with a stamping plate that I bought from Vivid Lacquer, plate #VL001.

When I saw Sarah's stamping with it, I had to have it - plus it goes right along with my blog, don't ya think?

I used OPI Sapphires in the Snow and Nail Fantasies Twist and Shout for base colors and for the stamping. They both stamped really well, and the plate was super easy to use!


I'm so super excited about tomorrow's blog post and I think you will be too! Stay tuned!

Darling Diva: Rescue Me

PR Sample

You may remember the post I did a while back with the Home of the Brave polish from Darling Diva of which she donates 100% of the proceeds to Disabled American Veterans. Well, she's gone and done it again, only this special polish is for doggies, eeee!!

Basset Buddies Rescue (BBR) is an all volunteer group that rescues, fosters and places homeless basset hounds into loving, forever homes. If you want to read more about BBR, their website is http://bassetbuddiesrescue.org/basset/.

She chose this charity because they've helped her find three basset hound doggies to call her own and she has seen first hand how wonderful the BBR group is. Again, she is donating 100% of the proceeds for this polish.

Please show your love this Valentine's day by helping a good cause. :)


Rescue Me is a clear based glitter topper filled with hearts, squares, bars and tiny pink shimmer (love shimmer in polish like this!). I wore this over Revlon First Class which is a Target exclusive in the Top Speed line, however; I think it is very close in color to Superstitious.


Since it has bars, the dabbing method tends to work best for application, however; it can be applied in the usual way it just takes a little more brushing to even it out.


I think she's created a gorgeous polish for an awesome cause! What better way to celebrate Valentine's day?



Rescue Me can be purchased at Darling Diva's Etsy Shop or follow Darling Diva on facebook.
I noticed she is running a facebook special until her new collection launches Saturday - so be sure to use FACEBOOK15 if you're making a purchase at her shop today or Friday.

Products provided for review.

Pinks, oh my!

Color Club's I Believe in Amour is such a pretty shade of pink!

This is three coats plus topcoat. I wore this under The Polish Bar's By Starlight glitter topcoat.


I picked up this Love & Beauty polish at F21 a few weeks ago. The name on the label is Magenta and it has a sticker on the cap that says Raspberry. I didn't really notice whether it was scented because OMGLOOKATTHEPRETTYCOLOR! I fell hard and fast for this one! Two coats, like butter to apply and absolutely gorgeous to look at!
I wore this underneath The Polish Bar's Party Dress.

Urban Lacquer: a few core polishes

I have a few Urban Lacquer polishes (PR Samples) plus an untried mainstream to share with you today.

First is an untried polish called Gem Green from CQ. I picked this up probably a year or more ago. I haven't seen the brand around stores lately and I wonder if its still being made. Anyone know?
Pictured is two Coats; very easy to apply. Its kind of a sparse/scattered holo. It really needs bright sunlight to show the rainbow, but its a pretty shade of green indoors too.


I topped it with NaCl from Urban Lacquer. (italics are the shop's descriptions)
NaCl is a gorgeous, color-changing blend of white and iridescent glitter - 8 different glitters, to be exact. Looks beautiful over any base color! This formula is thick, and almost has a fluffy texture. It glides easily onto the nail, and is a wonderful addition to your winter polish collection!

I just love square glitter and this topper has plenty!

Little Black Undies (LBU) is a basic black polish that can be worn by itself, or under a glitter polish.

Two coats with topcoat and it was perfect!

But wait! How would it look with NaCl on top?

eeee! More squares! :D

Hurry Me Up is a unique blend of micro iridescent pink flakies, neon yellow hex glitter, and black shredded glitter in a clear base. Works best as a glitter topper, although can be worn alone, when applying 3-4 coats. The micro pink flakies will shift from pink to purple, and is a perfect "going out" polish!

Two coats of Hurry Me Up over Loreal Tea and Crumpets. Such a fun polish full of tiny shreds, pink glowy shimmer and teeny matte glitters! :D

Urban Lacquer has a lot of gorgeous polishes! You can follow or get yours at the links below. :)
Facebook || Etsy

Products provided for review.