Lynnderella Connect the Dots

Sometimes there are polishes that are just awesome beyond belief.  This is one of those polishes.  

Connect the Dots is a completely unique concoction of black and white opaque glitter in a variety of sizes and shapes.  There's hexagons, squares, bars, and even small round glitter all in a clear base with subtle shimmer.  The clear base makes it necessary for layering, so I'm showing you one(ish) coat of Connect the Dots over Zoya Dove.  I think that may be two coats on my index finger.  Despite the crazy shapes, it's surprisingly easy to work with.  Even easier than Lucky Numbers.  Just a small amount of manipulation was needed to put the glitter where I wanted it, and everything laid almost perfectly flat.  Definitely enlarge these photos to see all that's going on with this polish!

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

Perfection.  This is Lynnderella at her best (though, honestly, when is she not?!)  It may just be the coolest polish I own.  The simple color scheme makes it perfect for layering over just about anything, but I just adore the monochromatic look when its layered over grey.  This was an incredibly popular manicure.  I got a ton of compliments just about anywhere I went!  A lot of people thought I did a splatter-paint technique, and from far away, I can definitely see where they're coming from.  Personally, this look kind of reminds me of those sprinkly garage floors.  Know what I mean?

Connect the Dots is a hands-down MUST HAVE.  Whatever the cost (including your first born), you NEED this!  Lynnderella will be opening shop with a new collection on her blog in the next month or so, so keep your eyes peeled for the opening!  If a five polish minimum is a little too high, you can also check out Lynnderella's polishes on llarowe.  $12 is almost a steal for a polish this awesome.  

Also, don't forget to check out our Finger Paints Special Effects Blogaversary Giveaway, if you haven't already!  :-)

October Julep Maven Box

OK, another month closer to getting caught up on my Julep Maven boxes.  October was actually a pretty awesome box.  The colors aren't revolutionary, but they are beautiful and perfect for when I need some more professional nail polish at work.  I actually did wear Malin when meeting my business unit's President (super exciting!) and just recently wore Gayle.  This month also included Glow On, a hand brightener.

I have to admit, after getting the hand lotion and scrub, I was pretty disappointed to see the hand brightener. I've really got no use for this and it's got the same weird smell.  At least I've got 2 amazing polishes to make up for it.

First up is Gayle, which I wore last week.  This is so beautiful.  I'd call it an eggplant or aubergine.  I think I'm so smitten with this because I'm considering a color like this for one of my wedding colors.  This is bright and vampy at the same time, and unlike any other purple I have.  This was two coats, but I could have easily done one.  And although my pictures show a bump on my ring finger, it was my fault not the polishes.  Gayle is a straight up creme, and she is special. 

Malin is a soft pale pink champagne with some beautiful shimmer in it.  You do get brush strokes with application (this is 2 coats), but I don't even care.  I don't have very many nudes, pale pinks, or "work appropriate colors.  So not only is this something I don't have - but I love it! It's so feminine and soft and pretty.  If you need a pale pink or nude, definitely consider picking Malin up.

These polishes are full of win!  You can pick these up on Julep's website for $14 each.  I highly recommend you check these out.

Speciallità Hits no Olimpo Apolo

Ladies and Gentleman - I present to you - my first holographic love!!!!  When I saw these guys announced on the web, I got SO excited.  First off, they looked gorgeous.  Second, they are named after the Greek Gods.  I am really interested in mythology, so this was particularly exciting.  When it first became available for purchase, I seriously wanted all of them.  There were 13!  I'm supposed to be not buying nail polish at the time, so buying 13 of these from Brazil at $10 a pop with shipping was not possible.  So I waited for them to get onto Llarowe's website and then limited myself to 4.  Then I saw she also had Lynnderellas on the website and I wanted two of those.  So I then limited myself to 3.  Apolo was a definite had to have and I'm so happy I brought her home.

Apolo is a deep bright blue.  It reminds me a little bit of Swimsuit...Nailed It! by OPI.  The color isn't the same, but the vibrancy of the blue is.  This is one happy polish.  The holo in it is very strong and shows in almost any light.  I used 3 coats here, but I could have maybe done 2.  I was happy with the formula overall, easy to work with.  It had a nice wide brush (similar to OPI pro-wide) and I didn't get any with the wonky brush stories I have heard.  The only thing I don't like about this is how small the bottle is!  Only 6ml!!!

Speciallità Hits no Olimpo Apolo

Speciallità Hits no Olimpo Apolo

Speciallità Hits no Olimpo Apolo 

Speciallità Hits no Olimpo Apolo
Regular indoor lighting

Speciallità Hits no Olimpo Apolo
Outside in the sunshine 

Speciallità Hits no Olimpo Apolo
Outside in the sunshine 

These pictures turned out pretty great, but I do find the holos hard to capture.  I do think this is more holo in real life.  I am totally smitten with this and it's going to be hard to take off :).  And now I want more.  I'll probably try to snatch up a few other from the collection when I order from Llarowe again.  You can order these direct from Brazil for pretty cheap, around $5 each (not including shipping) too!

September Julep Maven Box

You read that right... September.  I have been getting Julep Maven boxes since I signed up and they have literally been piling up.  The only thing I have used since September from any of these kits are the cuticle oil.  I grabbed it out of my "box" and took it to Germany with us.

So this month's box is still delivered in a huge retail bag (don't worry - Julep fixes this soon).

Awful packaging :)

In September, I got Amy, a fun blue, the cuticle oil, and SPF Hand Cream.

September Box

You'll see more about Amy in a minute.  Lets start with the bad.  I do not like Julep's base hand products.  In my intro box, I got the Glycolic scrub, and while it made my hands soft, I was totally turned off by the smell.  And just like the sample of the hand lotion, this smells just the same.  Oh well!

The cuticle oil on the other hand - :)!!!!!!!!  I LOVE this stuff.  One, its super moisturizing.  Two, it smells good.  Three, it soaks in quickly.  Four, it has a freaking roller ball applicator!!  It makes it perfect for travel or putting in your purse.  I will repurchase this one-hundred times over.

Amy, Hand Cream, and Cuticle Oil

As a bonus for being one of the first Julep Maven's I got a glass file (which I admittedly have no used yet) and a mirror/lint brush.  This is a nice extra.  Maybe one day I can give up my traditional file and try a glass file.  They are supposed to be better for your nails right?

September Freebies!

So now to what we all care about - the polish!  Amy is an awesome turquoise that reminds me a lot of butter LONDON Artful Dodger.  I did a quick search and it appears they are dupes.  Check out squared nails post here.  I agree with her assessment.  It isn't as shiny and the formula isn't as good as some of my other Julep polishes.  You can tell from my pictures below I had some application issues, but I think that most of that is due to my inability to wait between coats.  Oh well.

Julep Amy

Julep Amy

Julep Amy

It's been a while since I wore Artful Dodger, but since they are both $14, I'd pick butter LONDON.  If you prefer, you can pick up Amy at Julep.com.

My New Year's Eve Mani - GLITTAH!

So for NYE I had one of two ideas in mind for my mani - glitter and either silver or black.  I ended up pulling 5 or so silver and black polishes in varying levels of glitter, shimmer and holo.  I asked both Chris (my Chris, not Courtney's :) ) and Courtney which polish.  Courtney picked butter LONDON's the Black Night, which is totally awesome, but I think that's just because she never saw this beauty.  Deborah Lippmann's Dancing in the Streets, which came out this holiday trio for Nordstrom this year called Dance Music.  Chris saw this one and immediately pointed to it.  I was all like "are you sure???" and he was very adamant in his yes.  So I decided to swatch all of them and he was right.  How about that! First time ever ;) hehe just kidding.

So what is it that makes Dancing in the Streets so awesome?  It's a dark grey jelly base PACKED with grey glitter and larger hexagonal holographic glitter.  It is literally a part on my nails and these pictures do not do it justice.  It is really really really fun and just sparkles all day long.  It is, however, top coat hungry. This means that after 3!!!!!!!! coats of top coat, it was still bumpy.  Oh well...  Also it's a little matte without the top coat, kind of reminded me of the Tony Moly Galaxy Glitter Polishes.  

Dancing in the Streets lasted remarkably long for a glitter.  I did get one small chip, but I wore it for 5 days.  usually glitters peel off the nails in sheet for me by then.  It was a BISH to remove!!! GRRRR.  Next time I will use the foil method.  Oh and the first two pictures are a little blurry.  I had to use my right hand due to cuticle issues on my left.  The massive amount of glitter didn't help with the focus either :).

Deborah Lippmann Dancing in the Streets

Deborah Lippmann Dancing in the Streets

Deborah Lippmann Dancing in the Streets

Close up of Deborah Lippmann Dancing in the Streets

Currently, Dancing in the Streets is only available as part of the Dance Music Holiday Trio at Nordstroms.com for $29.  I believe in the past her holiday set polishes always come out as part of the permanent collection down the line, so if you want just this one you'll have to wait.  The other two look just as fun though, and I'll show you those soon.

Finger Paints Special Effects Swatches and Giveaway!!!

Holy cheese and crackers with guacamole!!  Can you believe it's been ONE YEAR already since this blog was born?!  Man, time flies when you're having fun.  So much has happened this year, and it's been so fun to share all the fun with you guys!  I wanted to do something super fun and epic for the Blogaversary, so I stalked my local Sally's (No, really, guys.  I'm pretty sure the sales associates there think I'm a complete psycho) for the Finger Paints Special Effects collection to show you guys!

The Special Effects collection is a set of five flakie polishes in a clear base which are intended for layering to bring out their special colors.  They look good over just about anything, but I think they really shine best over black.  I apologize in advance that these are probably the WORST photos on the web of these polishes, but hopefully they'll do.  You can find photos a MILLION times better here from the PolishAholic.  :-)

So, here we go!  All of these are one coat of flakie over one coat of Finger Paints Black Expressionism.

Asylum - A combination of orange and blue flakies with an ever so slight hint of a green flash.  This one seems dupey to the new Deborah Lippmann "3D Holographic" Edge of Glory.  Maybe slightly less dense, but you can always use a few more layers to achieve the same look for a heck of a lot less.

Flecked - This one has some of the largest flakes of the collection, and while they show as mostly green for me, they've definitely got a blue duochrome to them around the edges.  Duochrome flakies!  *dies a ded*

Flashy - Orange-y reddish green flakies.  This is probably the worst photo of the bunch, but I promise you it looks stunning in person.  This is your Hidden Treasure/Nubar 2010 dupe!  Woo-hoo!  

Twisted - At first glance, this one seems similar to Asylum, but the flakes are much larger and there's also some green flakes!  There's a whole lot going on to this polish, and it's fabulous.  Probably the star of the bunch for most folks.

Motley - The star of the bunch in my eyes!  This one has green and blue flakies.  It's not a duochrome flakie like Flecked.  This one actually has flakies in two different colors.  The blue on this one is much more softened, almost purple-y blue as well.  It's GORGEOUS.

Each of these flakies is amazing on its own, and you can get so many different looks from layering them over different colors.  But the REAL fun starts when you layer the flakies over each other!  This is all five of the above, one on top of the other!  Thanks to the lovely Ali from Ali's Nail News for the idea!  (Also, sorry for the awkward hand positioning.  These Finger Paints bottles are hard to hold!  lol)

If that's not Blogaversary-worthy, I don't know what is!  It's a party on my nails, and I don't want it to stop!  Finger Paints really outdid themselves.  Every one of these flakies is awesome!  These types of polishes certainly aren't super popular in the "muggle" world, but you know I LOVE me some flakies!  Totally over the moon with this collection!  SO much that to celebrate our 1-Year Blogaversary, I made myself look like even more of a psycho at my local Sally's by snagging another whole set for YOU!

That's right, we're giving away one set of all five Finger Paints flakies!!  Here are all the beauties!

Contest rules and information:

1. You must be a public follower using Google Friend Connect (GFC).  New followers always welcome!
2. To be a contestant of this giveaway you must fill out the form below.  One form per person. Required information is your GFC name and email address (for contact purposes only).
3. One entry is automatic for all contestants.  A second entry can be earned by linking to this contest on your blog/Twitter/Facebook, etc. 
4. The giveaway will close on Thursday 1/19/12 at 10:00PM E.S.T.
5. The winner will be selected using random.org.
6. The winner will be contacted by email and will have 48 hours to respond.  If the winner does not respond a new winner will be selected.
7. The contest is open internationally.

The giveaway is now closed.  Thanks to everyone who entered, and GOOD LUCK!!  :-)

Another Look: OPI Merry Midnight

So last week I was surfing nail polish forums and found someone had posted pictures of my long lost love, OPI's Merry Midnight.  This was the first polish I ever sought out after seeing swatches online.  It was released for the 2009 Holiday Wishes Collection and is now discontinued, so if you want it, you have to go dustying for it.  This is where you go to nail salons that sell polish and look for old polishes, covered in dust.  That's where you find the gold, and where Courtney and I both found Merry Midnight.  Courtney and I pretty much thought the same thing here.  THIS IS AWESOME.  I hadn't worn Merry Midnight in almost a year, and it had been almost that long since Courtney has (if you click on her name above that's the active link you'll see her swatches).

Merry Midnight is a deep berry/plum jelly base with flakies and glitter and shimmer (oh my!).  There is gold and blue and red.  Pretty sure there are opalescent color changing flakes.  It's mesmerizing.  I really need to wear this one more often.  I just wish the pictures did this polish justice.

OPI Merry Midnight

OPI Merry Midnight

Close up of Merry Midnight

If you like jellies, flakies, purple, or unique polishes - you need this.  And while Merry Midnight may be hard to find, Orly just released Fowl Play recently and is a pretty good dupe.  You can find it at many a beauty supply and online retailers like Soap.com for $7.50.