Lynnderella Fiddle Dee Dee Swatches and a dedication

 So today is going to be a mixed feeling post. I'm excited to show you swatches of Lynnderella's Fiddle Dee Dee.  This is a Limited Edition polish that is available in her Ebay store  I'd like to thank Lynn personally for sending me this polish because it has really helped me have a little sunshine in a dark part of the year for me. It's really stunning!

 I want to share with you guys a little about why it means so much to me before we get to the swatches.

Today marks the 4 year anniversary of my grandmother Madeline's passing.  It's still hard for me to talk about sometimes, although it's a little easier than before, so pardon me if I ramble a little bit. So many emotions hit me and I might lose focus lol, that and I'm probably a bit of an over-sharer.

 It was a rather traumatic time for me, as I was the only one of our direct family with her in her final moments. She had tripped on some stairs the night before while she was out at a Christmas party, gone to the ER, they had scheduled her to check in for surgery the next morning for a broken arm, and sent her home.

 I had to work and couldn't get off because we were short handed, so I was going to help her get ready to go to the hospital, and stop by on my way home, since my Dad and Aunt were going to be with her during the surgery. It was snowing and sleeting outside so they had left to be on their way to where we lived a little while before.

  She collapsed onto the floor when we were putting her jacket on before she was left. My previous career was in the medical field, so I switched into crisis mode. She had stopped breathing and had no pulse, so I called 911 and started CPR.  The EMTs came, but I pretty much knew they weren't going to be able to save her.

 It was pretty rough for me, because it was my job to help save people and take care of them.   I'd done CPR before and had someone not survive, but it's a different ballgame when it's your family. I felt like a failure.  That I had stopped CPR to call 911 and that had somehow caused it to not save her. Basically I blamed myself. I've accepted now it wasn't my fault, but for a long time I didn't. I had severe anxiety that I would compare to PTSD and couldn't sleep because I'd replay those moments over and over, to the point I wasn't sleeping and was having a hard time getting through the day without feeling like I couldn't breathe.
My Grandma Madeline taught me to never let anyone push me around and to always try to do what's right even when someone else thinks it's wrong. She taught me to always be strong and to try to be a lady unless the situation called for other avenues. She spoke her mind and she always tried to help others. I miss her terribly and think about her every day.

She loved her husband, her children, her grandchildren, and great-grandchildren and did everything she could to make us feel that we were important and special. She loved to dance. She made the best cheeseburgers . She loved to laugh. She loved Jack Daniels and Malibu Rum. She gave the best hugs. She was so proud of all of us no matter what. She helped give us opportunities that she didn't have herself as the oldest of 9 children. She loved red nail polish and she told me she always wanted a red rose tattoo. She was an awesome lady, who had great taste in clothes, and she was comfortable in a snazzy dressy outfit done up to the nines, or padding around her house in her front pocketed smock shirts. 

She was and always will be a driving force behind me and the way I live my life. So in her honor, today I wear Essie Scarlett O'Hara and my new LE Lynnderella Fiddle Dee Dee. I really feel like it's appropriate since this whole mani is made with polishes inspired by strong women, because that's what my Grandma was. I don't know where I'd be without her.  My story should show you that we all need hug and kiss our loved ones way more than we do, and always say what you feel, you don't know when those chances will be gone. Don't hold it in, we're not promised tomorrow, only today.  Treat others with kindness

It means a lot to me that this polish was sent to me, so thank you once again Lynn for making this day a little more tolerable and creating a beautiful polish.

My Grandma- check out her nails! Always some shade of red or pale pink!

  Fiddle Dee Dee  

multi-colored glitter polish with large squares, bars, butterflies, bars, diamonds, hexes, hearts, and stars.  There are metallic and holographic glitters. It's really beautiful if you can't tell by this bottle shot.

One coat of Fiddle Dee Dee and a little dabbing for glitter placement. Two coats of Seche Vite were used. I got a little crazy with the brush and ended up dragging some of the Essie on top of my pretty butterfly glitter :( 

I was just going to leave it as an accent nail but I had to have prettiness on ALL THE THINGS! Amazing right?!?

If you'd like to try and snag one of these lovelies please check out Lynn's Ebay store located here.

Happy Holidays

Too Cute-Icle Grand Opening Swatches and Review

So I have some great swatches for you today! My fellow Blogger Jess @ Too Cute-icle has opened her own shop located here! She was gracious enough to send me three of her polishes to swatch and review! She has really outdone herself and I'm so proud to say I know her!!!

Let's get on to the pretties shall we?!

First up is Aurora Snow! Aurora Snow is a white and teal duochrome base with turquoise and silver glitters.  In this photo is one coat of Aurora Snow over Orly Decades of Dysfunction and on my ringer finger is Orly Shockwave, with one coat of Seche Vite on all nails.  This polish applied beautifully and I love the teal flash! I played with this polish after swatching and I can tell you it looks awesome over a variety of colors. China Glaze Bizarre Blurple was among one of my favorite combos.

Next I have a funny little polish called Butthurt Banana!  This polish was made as a joke about the drama we all come across in the Nail Polish Community. Jess describes this polish as "a shocking, in your face yellow with red, brown, and black glitters. This shimmery yellow base and odd color combination may LOOK intimidating, but just like those people who get offended so easily (that this polish was named after), it's all bark and no bite."  
I did two different swatches of this polish, my index and ring fingers are 2 coats of Butthurt Banana alone, and my middle and pinkie are 2 coats over Sinful Colors Snow me White. All 4 fingers are topped with a coat of Seche Vite. You can see the difference between the two, when BB is layered over white it makes the yellow really pop, and if it's just used alone it appears more of a golden yellow.

I saved the BEST for last. This was my favorite polish out of the bunch I was sent. Frosty the Penguin! A mix of blue and white glitters in a clear base, and also some White holo glitters thrown in.  I used Verity Hot Blue for my base color, 2 coats of Frosty The Penguin and topped it all with a coat of Seche Vite. You can see in some parts of the photo the white holo glitters kind of disappear but when the light hits them WOW! Applied like a dream. I can't wait to use this polish again for a few winter mani ideas I have floating around in my head!

 

Too Cute-icle's debut collection boasts seven unique shades, so be sure to go check them all out! Full-Size polishes are $7.00 and minis are $3.00 each. she is also offering a 4 pack of minis for $10.00! Which makes these polishes an affordable way to get your indie fix without breaking the bank! Make sure you "like" the Too-Cuteicle Facebook Page to make sure you get all the latest shop updates! 

*Products in this post were provided for an honest review.  All opinions are my own*

Drama Llama Ding Dong

 
I have tried to stay pretty quiet on this whole issue that  some wonderful people have been dealing with in Facebook polish groups.  I chose not to participate in the "No H8" day also because of this same reason.   To talk about it in my space just seemed like fueling the fire, or bringing said person/s more attention than I felt they deserved.  

I will NOT be bullied, not now, not ever.  It makes me sad that someone wants to try and go trashing people and spreading lies to save their own face.  It bothers me that I'm even having to make this post.

I was sent polishes from a shop, which has since closed,  the owner of that shop was also the owner of a Facebook group that I participated in. She wanted someone to take photos of her polishes for her shop after she had seen my review of her polishes, which was one of my first posts on this blog.

That group has since imploded and re-spawned under another namesake because of high-school aged theatrics, bad time management, and questions about peoples' funds in a group buy. I will not watch grown women behaving like teenage girls.  I left the group without a word, since sometimes I'm kind of hot-headed and speak before I think.  There have since been numerous other "incidents", but I will not get into that here.

What bothers me about the whole thing, is this person has gone throughout Facebook groups calling me a "bad blogger" and a "thief" for not reviewing her polishes after I chose to leave.  I and I alone, choose the content placed on this blog, and if I feel something is something I choose to rave about and review, I do. I will not endorse things that I don't believe in, and it's stated as such in my disclosure statement, located at the top of my blog. It has been in place since my blog first started.

I will also not help to defraud people by helping to advertise shoddy product. When you message a maker and let them know problems with their product/s, it's nice to receive some kind of reassurance that the problem has been noted and possibly fixed. None was received other than a one word response when my question about the overwhelming sheerness of "full coverage" polishes.  I did swatch them for her store like she'd asked, and I have screen shots of those messages being sent.

This is a "full coverage blue holo polish" called Deep Blue Something that I received. This is 4, yes FOUR coats. I still have VNL obviously, and would have expected as much from a polish labeled as a "jelly", which this was not. 

 When I messaged the maker, I was told "layer" in response to my question if this was meant to be a jelly instead of a full coverage. So I did, 2 coats over SH Pacific Blue. It was pretty when layered, but I have an issue with saying something is one thing and it's obviously something altogether different. Definitely wasn't as holo as people were led to believe.

This is the usage of said polish after my first swatch, before layering. At this rate of usage if you're not layering, you'd maybe get 6 full manis out of the bottle. 

 This was a glitter mix called Kittylicious I was sent. You can see the big pink hearts, look almost thick...I had put 2 coats of top coat on and the heart glitters still stick up considerably off the nail.

This was another "full coverage polish" called Indian Summer at 5 coats, that even with fast drying top coat took AGES to dry. Again "layer" was the only advice given to my questioning.

For the next issue, the maker stated she used TKB Stainless steel balls in her polishes. Below is a photo of some of the mixing balls I removed from polishes that I had purchased. The third and four mixing balls were removed from an Essie polish I had sitting next to my little frankening pot. They have obvious pits, and some are discoloring and blackening in spots. They are very light, and after being rinsed in acetone, then water, you could roll them around in your hand and it would leave almost a "sweaty handful of pennies" smell on your skin. Could be BB's, could not be, who knows I didn't do a scientific test on them.  But it sure is curious eh?

This post is not meant as a bashing, merely as a testament, that I'm not a scared individual, and I will stand behind what I think. These polishes had not been featured on my blog, as they were not something I felt giving face time to in light of the whole situation and I felt they were misleading and dishonest to her customers.

I do not appreciate being labeled a thief, because I chose not to honestly review these after I'd done the swatching I'd promised to do, in order to not be looked at as a "hater", since I left her group and blocked her because of her views on how inappropriate behavior was appropriate, and my opinions on these polishes obviously weren't favorable.  I know how nasty people can be, as evidenced by attacks of other  people in groups and Facebook messaging, and postings made on other friend's blogs.

What I chose to do was save myself, my blog, as well as my Facebook page for this blog from being bombarded with the things some of the people I am closely associated with have had to deal with. I won't be silent anymore. Everything I have said here is the truth, and in no way defaming.

I consider this a pretty civilized post. So ANY and ALL hateful, rude, or insulting comments made to this post will be removed. I don't like to be censored either, but this is MY space, and I don't go around leaving hateful nasty comments so I'd expect the same courtesy.






 

Different Dimension Santa Baby Collection and Bonus shade

With Christmas right around the corner, you know there's sure to be holiday collections rolling out from our wonderful Indie girls. I have for you today a beautiful collection from Missi at Different Dimension! A collection of 8 shades based on the cute holiday song "Santa Baby" and a bonus holiday shade!

"Think of all the fellas I haven't kissed." 

A really pretty 2 coat glitter with blue/teal, and purple holographic glitters. This is two coats over Beauty Secrets base coat and one coat Seche Vite. Applied very well, not clumpy or thick at all like I'd expected with how tiny some of the glitters are.

"Santa Baby"

One coat was used over Borghese Pistacchio. A pretty mix of Red, White, and pastel pink hexes, red and white microglitters and tiny holo glitters 

Out of focus shot to show the sparklies!!! So pretty!

"I've been an angel all year".  

A pale ice blue base with white, silver and light blue holographic microglitters,  This is two thin coats over FingerPaints Paper Mâchè and Seche Vite topcoat.

"I've been an awful good girl"

Easily one of my favorites out of this collection. Pale pinky white base, with a pink shimmer and small holo pink hex glitters, light purple holo glitter, and holo microglitters in the same light purple and pink color scheme.

"Hurry down the chimney tonight"

Clear base with metallic red and pearly white shreds with matching red and white bar glitters. This is one coat and a little dabbing for shred placement over FingerPaints Black Expressionism. I'm not generally a fan of shred glitter, but I do like this polish for it's versatility. You could use this one for Christmas manis, Valentine's Day or Independence day also.  I experienced no curling of the glitters , and other than me being OCD about some of the shred's locations, it applied beautifully!

"Out of space convertible"

Black jelly base with tiny blue, pink and purple holo glitters. To the untrained eye, could pass as a Butter London Black Knight Dupe. Again, no clumps with application even though it's chock full of     these little beauties. Two different shots one shaded, and one full on out of focus sun to showcase the holo effect.  This is a buildable jelly opaque at 3 coats, but for this photo is only one over FP Black Expressionism. 

**Sparkle Shot!!!!**

"Sign your 'x' on the line"

Clear base with large silver and smaller gold shreds. This is another pretty versatile polish. Could be used over just about anything to liven it up with some classy bling. One coat and some dabbing of the bigger silver shreds over Wet N Wild Saved By the Blue.

" I'll wait up for you dear"

Clear base with metallic green and red glitters. Very Christmas-y, applied like a dream. One coat over Ulta Salon Formula High Rollr and then matted. I love the simplicity of this one. I will be wearing this combo to Holiday functions for sure!

And now for the bonus shade!!

"Christmahanakwanzika"

Named for  three major winter holidays, Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanza. Christmahanakwanzika is a glitter bomb, with green, yellow-gold, red, black, and blue hex glitters with red and green microglitters. A LOT going on in this polish! I chose to just wear it on it's own over Beauty Secrets basecoat. This is two coats and one coat of Seche Vite. 

This collection gets an A++ from me. I love how all the polishes really look like considerable thought was put into the glitters used in each one. The quality of each polish is outstanding, and I had no application issues other than just placing a few of the shredded glitters. Each shade retails for $8.50 or you can pick up the entire Santa Baby Collection for $60.00 at Different Dimension's Etsy shop here, . The shop also offers cuticle balms and lotion bars to help keep your lovelies lookin' lovely. Make sure to check out the DD Facebook Page to get the latest updates on sales and new collections!

This collection was sent to me in return for an honest review.

Joby Nail Art Stickers Review!

I LOVE NAIL ART! Who doesn't right?

What I don't love is how sometimes it's sooo hard to do! I'm all about trying new things, but sometimes an idea or something I've seen elsewhere in the Nail-iverse that looks really easy, it ends up being a b#$%^ to replicate in real life.
I'm sure most of us have some sort of nail decals and/or stickers in our arsenals, and I have some that looked really pretty in the packaging, only to get them out, and they just don't work that great.  Pretty sure 99% of it was user error or impatience in combination with quality issues (since most of the stickers I bought came from Dollar Tree and some weird little store close to the BF's house). But I've had a lot more free time being as though I'm still looking for a job after graduating from my Business and Computer Tech class this past May to practice. 
So when an awesome girl named Erika from Joby Nail Art reached out to me a while back and asked me to give a review on some of their products, I was stoked! 

Joby Nail Art is not a newcomer to the nail art trend.  They have been around since 2003, JOBY Nail Art is a place where you will find a variety of nail art products for your nail design needs. At JOBY nail art, they strive to offer quality service and quality products for both the nail professional and the general consumer. Whether your preference is fun and funky with glitter nail art, gold nail art or flower nail art or a bit more modest, we are sure to have something for your style. Try out the latest trends with lace nails or do something new with 3D nail art supplies. Whatever your nail style may be, JOBY nail art gives you the freedom to make your statement. They offer how-to videos make applying the decals simple and hassle free so you will have beautiful nails in no time. Visit their nail art gallery for ideas on creating your own designs.

They offer free shipping on all domestic orders.  They ship international by USPS Priority Mail and qualifying orders receive free shipping. 

Check their Facebook page or follow them on twitter to keep up to date on new products, promotions and nail designs.

I received 2 packs of JOBY Nail Art Stickers. One with cute glittery flowers, and the other with a musical theme. The musical stickers will be included in my surprise prize pack for our Santa's Secret Stash Holiday Giveaway! 

I really loved these stickers. They were really easy to use.

Instructions

1. Clean the surface where the design is to be placed.

2. Select a design and peel off by you nails.

3.  Place the design on nail, then gently rub down. 

4. Apply top coat for best results.

Easy right? 

This is after application and before top coat. They do look ok just like this, but I did want to see the difference a top coat made.

The only problem I encountered with use was that since my nail beds are not that wide I needed to trim off a small piece of a design in order for it to not stick on the side of my itty bitty pinkie finger. If you have wider nail beds you should be fine, and if not, it was a quick and easy fix!

This is after one coat of Seche Vite. The lines that were in the first picture are almost completely GONE. You'd have to be VERY close to tell where the actual sticker edge was. It's like the edges of the stickers kind of "melt away",with top coat. 

I would definitely buy these stickers and also recommend them to people. They were very easy to use, had great detail on all the designs. I loved how thin and "non-stickerish" they were, and how flatly they laid on the nail. Overall, I'd give these stickers an A+. Be sure to check them out!

Thanks again Erika for letting me review these for you and JOBY Nail Art! 

 

Santa's Secret Stash Holiday Giveaway!!!!

So I haven't posted in a looooong time! I've been busy job searching, kid raising, and starting an awesome group on Facebook with some lovely girls I met in polish-related groups. I will get back on track with the posts I promise, I've got some awesome stuff to show you!!!

That being said, I've joined in with some of these lovely ladies to bring you an EPIC holiday giveaway!!!!! 

Since this is a holiday giveaway, we wanted to keep most of the prizes a secret, but I can tell you there will be lots of indies, HTF's, customs, candy, and other glittery goodies that are sure to knock your stockings off!

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200 FB Likes Giveaway!!!!!!!

Hey!!! So I hit 200 FB likes yesterday and have started a giveaway to say thank you to all my followers! One lucky person is going to win an Ulta Carnivale Mini set and an EOS Cucumber Hand lotion. It's one of my faves to keep my hands SUPER soft! So come on already go enter!!! This is what you could win!!!


The giveaway is open to the US only :( sorry to my international ladies. Hopefully in the future I can do some for you too!!!

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