MotM: June!

This June's Mani of the Month box is really amazing.  I say that.  ALL THE TIME.  But I mean it!  This month's box has a tropical theme that's perfect for summer.

It contains:

From Heather's Hues

• A Full sized cream polish in Coral Cove
• A mini polish in Seaside
• A baggie of Sea Glass glitter

From Dream Polish

• A mini Smooth Gem base coat in Hawaiian Paradise
• A mini Gem Glam top coat in Hawaiian Paradise
• A full sized cuticle balm in Hawaiian Paradise

From Nails Redesigned

• A sheet of wave vinyls
• A sheet of dolphins (!)
• A sheet of tropical flower masks
• Some little coral gemstones

This month's full sized polish, Coral Cove, is a bright neon.  It's a creamy shade, opaque in two even coats, with glass flecks and maybe a hint of a duochrome shimmer.  Just a wee bit.  It dried almost matte, but shines up lovely with the top coat.  For this mani I used the floral nail guides from Nails Redesigned and sponged on some orange to create the flowers, added the top coat, and placed the included gems before it dried to keep them in place!

I did notice that this polish stained, slightly.  It's something a lot of neons do due to the rich colouration of the pigment.  I've been working on developing a whitening/stain removing soak, though, so it was a great oppertunity to try it out.

The mini, Seaside, is a totally different category of polish.  Sometimes the polishes in the box are complementary, but not this month!  Seaside is a deep blue jelly loaded with glass flecks and a bit of transparent glitter shapes. For this mani I applied two even layers and stamped some waves using silver and applied the Wax Effect top coat from Dream Polish (not in the box).   I've done a mani like this before and thought this was the perfect chance to 'recreate it'.  On the accent nail I placed some of the Sea Glass.

The Dream Polish scent this month is Hawaiian Paradise.  It's an amazing tropical pina colada scent.  It smells so good I want to eat it!  It's not something I would have ever ordered on my own so I'm really glad it was included so that I got to try it out because I love it.

I have a couple more ideas for the kit using the wave vinyls and dolphins that I hope to post this week, so keep an eye out!

Love Animals: A Review

LLrowe recently started carrying the Love Animals line of opaque stamping polishes from Esmaltes da Kelly and I was fortunate enough to order a few.  Ok.  To order a bunch.  I had been saving up to order them from an UK distributor where the prices and shipping are (much) higher so having them available via Llarowe I was really able to splurge!  

I ordered a rainbow of shades along with black, white, and a light grey.

Here I used Flufi, the light BRIGHT pink flamingo.  It's a bit more neon than I am ever able to capture on camera.  As you can see, though, it stamps opaque and with very good detail!  It is full of pigment and dries matte which also means it dries quicker than a regular polish so you need to work fast.  Because of this it was difficult (for me!) to work with on it's own to create a gradient.  Being super opaque, though, this is maybe three dabs of the sponge.

Unlike Mundos these polishes do not smell harsh.  They do have a slightly stronger than average polish smell to them, but none of the chemical mess.  And unlike Mundos they do not separate at ridiculous speeds if you let them sit. 

One of my main concerns about Mundos polishes are that they stain your skin.  They don't just get everywhere because they are so thick, but certain colours stain.  I haven't had that issue with these, although I do mask every time I stamp with a latex product.

They are nicely opaque.  Black covers well and the bright shades cover darker shades easily.  I borrowed this photo from Instagram to show you some swatches.

I had minimal issues with smearing.  Most polishes will smear if you top coat them when they're wet and just like any other stamping polish, it's best to let your design sit a second or two before you fuss.  I use Gem Glam from Dream Polish and it rarely smears anything anyway, so I would recommend that for any nail art you create.

Here I used a base of Join the Party from MDJ Creations and then created a gradient stamped effect using Bee, Cleo, and Chuvisco using the new Bundle Monster Polynesian plate XL-101.  I missed the tip of my nail a bit here, they're getting long to work with.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Are these polishes worth investing in at 8.50$us a bottle?  

I think so.  

They're an easy to work with formula that would be suitable for beginners. Unless Mundos they are not messy or gloopy and don't stink.  They are also seem to be in stock, still, where as Mundos have sold out.  I still recommend the opaques by Just Rica to start with as well, but if you're looking to branch out colour wise these are a good option.

Twos-Day!

Same exact mani, two different colour options. Which do you like best?

• Fangirl Polish Wyldestyle
• Duh Nail Polish Vegas Collection blue and purple

• Noodles Nail Polish Citrus Twist
• Duh Nail Polish Vegas Collection lime

The Logo!

Here it is, what is *probably* the final verion of the logo for Glitter and Gratitude.

I went through several similar versions.  It started with two Gs (one for glitter and one for gratitude) and sort of went from there.  I had to take into consideration how the results would cut out in vinyl, since the logo will be on bottles and jars.  Everything looked nice, but nothing felt right.  That is, until I literally drew it myself.  It's not perfect, but it's exactly right.

The G is tilted some to look like an elephant's massive ear and the tail of the letter turns into a trunk, symbolizing Ganesh, the 'remover of obstacles'.  He's a fitting symbol for my endeavor which I hope to focus on wellness inside and out.

It will be a little while yet until I can get things up and running, I'm working on some certifications and some classes as well as an apprenticeship with a local herbalist.  I'm so excited to show you what's coming, so please check back often and follow me on IG @giavolpe.

Twos-Day (A day late!)

Same exact mani, two different colour options. Which do you like best?

Duh Nail Polish What Happens Here, Stays Here and It's Not Illegal, It's Frowned Upon

Mentality Alarm and Bolt

For the Love of Polish

I was so lucky to have caught one of the April For the Love of Polish boxes!  I loved all the swatches that I'd seen posted so as soon as I could, I ordered!

The For the Love of Polish box is a collaboration between Polished for Days (who I am a faithful customer of) and Illyrian Polish (who is new to me).  The shades in the box seemed to glow. 

 It contained:

1 full size 15ml polish from Polished For Days "Love the Way you Li-Lac"

1 full size 15ml polish from Illyrian Polish "Raindrops"

1 full size 15ml polish from Alchemy Lacquers "Azaleas In Bloom"

1 sheet of pink or white themed vinyls.

Raindrops is a blurple gelly polish that's pretty sheer.  It wasn't all that bad to work with although I can see how layering it it might get gloopy.  This swatch is three layers and a topcoat.  It's so metallic and amazing it's one of those polishes that your camera hates.

Azaleas in Bloom is a pastel pink shimmer with glass flecks and subtle blue shimmer.  It's a smooth even formula and the following swatch is two even layers.  It almost reflects violet, it's very unique.

Love the Way You Li-Lac is a subtle creamy holo that is, of course, lilac.  The swatch is three even layers.  The formula is perfect.

The April box's guest indie was Alchemy Lacquers.  Each month the box is joined by a new indie and has a new theme.  Each box is $27 plus shipping.  May's box is galaxy themed with Starrily as a guest and June's will be beach themed with Cupcake Polish as a guest.

I received the May box today and am looking forward to trying the new polishes!  So far?  They look out of this world.

Shake it up, baby!

After a little bit of research and a little bit of a whim, I ordered a Robart Paint Shaker for my separated polishes.  I read a ton of reviews and there was no consensus, other than that the battery operated model did jack squat.  I looked into the OPI version, the one that's made specifically for nail polishes (gel, actually) and wasn't sure I wanted to drop 100$!

I can't say that it works, though... You get what you pay for.  The Robart Paint Shaker sells on Amazon for around 40$.  It's changed price four times in the last 48 hours.

I was very excited when it arrived.  I had visions of mixing all my separated stamping polishes back up, getting glitter crellies properly distributed, you know, doing that a mixer should do.  Mix!

It doesn't mix.  Basically you use a rubber tie to strap your bottle into the machine and press the button to turn it on.  It then agitates the bottle.  The bottle is strapped in on it's side and the process really doesn't DO anything. 

I tried several separated polishes and well as a few crellies and it literally did nothing for them so I created an experiment.

Taking a bottle of plain polish base I added a few drops of colour concentrate to it and loaded it into the machine and let it do it's thing.

There are no instructions in or on the box, but researching online the company says to use it in short bursts, running it for no longer than 60-90 seconds at a time.

I ran it for a 30 second burst.  Nothing.  I ran it for 60 seconds.  It moved the blob of dye, but hadn't 'mixed' anything.  I ran the machine for three 60 second cycles and then three 30 second cycles.

This was the finished effort of about 6 minutes of combined mixing.  I should mention I also picked the machine up at one point to move the bottle into an upright position and that seemed to have helped slightly.  As designed, though, the bottles to be mixed lay on their sides.

I am completely skeptical of any positive review of this machine.  I get much better results shaking bottles by hand than putting them into this mixer.  In my opinion it was a complete waste of money.

Do you have a Robart Mixer?  Does it work for you?

Custom Hues!

I wanted to share the custom polishes I ordered from Heather's Hues!

First up is Mojito.  Mojito is a mint green crellie base full of iridescent glitters.  I used three thinnish layers for depth and then stamped over it with little green mint leaves!

Next is Bellini.  This creamy peach polish is full of pink flakies and sparkle.  I used three very thin coats.  It's a little patchy, but nothing of consequence!  It's so gorgeous.  It's the perfect peach.

Finally there is Limonata.  I had originally though to call it Pink Lemonade, but Limonata fits the 'theme' much better.  This is a pale pink crellie full, FULL, of matte pink, yellow, and iridescent glitter.  I used three coats here and it's so packed with glitter it's crazy.

Heather was so great to work with.  I described what I had in mind for each 'mixer' and she brought them to life!  The turn around time was quick, although I realize as a mom that it might have taken long.  Honestly, they'd have been worth the wait.  I love them!

NWP: Montly Mailing

Recently, as in less than two weeks ago, Native War Paints started a monthly mystery mailing.  I dutifully set an alert to remind me, being in a completely different time zone, and made sure I was one of the first to sign up.  Luckily so, Mr. Native War Paints gave a running narrative and it was clear that the subscriptions sold out fast.  As in.. about an hour.  Each month is 17.99$ which includes shipping and is paid automatically via Paypal.

I am pretty thankful I got mine!  The box arrived yesterday, so even shipping across the Atlantic, it arrived super quick.  Included in this months Avenger's themed box is:

The First Avenger  (full) - This is the perfect Steve based jelly blue complete with a very slight red shimmer to it as well as a smattering of flakies for depth.  It's nicely opaque in two easy coats.  For this mani I used three thin coats just to build depth with the flakies.

Genius Billionaire Playboy Philanthropist (mini) - I suppose nothing Avengers would be complete without an Iron Man themes something.  This topper is full of red and gold glitters.  It's not a glitter bomb, the glitter is sparse.  Here I layered two coats over a gilded gold polish.

You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry (full) - This polish is a nod to the big green guy.  It's a green jelly base with various shaped purple and green glitters.  One coat is pretty transparent and the green utterly sickly, it's perfect.  For this mani I used four thin coats, again, just for depth with the glitter.  It's not going to be opaque without multiple coats, so two would still get the effect, it gets chunky to work with.

What do you think?  Did you subscribe?