MOTM: October!

October already?!  This year seems to be going by fast!

This month's kit contained:

From Heather's Hues:
-Full sized polish in Vampirette
-Mini polish in Witches & Werewolves & Ghosts, Oh My!

From Dream Polish
- Minis of both Gem Glam and Smooth Gem in Zombie Food
- A full sized cuticle balm in Zombie FOod

From Nails Redesigned
-A sheet of dripping blood guides
- A sheet of bat masks
- A sheet of witchy decals
- Assorted gems

Vampirette is stunning.  It's vampy, yes, but also oddly sweet and bright!

It's a deep purple with a gorgeous fuchsia undertone and sparkles of tiny shimmer.  It's opaque in two even coats, even over my wonky ripply damage!  This is something I can see working with year round, not just in the Fall

WWG, Oh My is a black jelly jam packed with little purple, green, and orange glitters.  It's opaque in two shades but with all the glittery polishes I wear, I use three thing coats for depth.

Apparently zombie's eat some pretty good stuff because this month's scent is slightly fruit and very fresh.  Maybe with a hint of apple?  It's really nice and light and easy to wear, it's not overwhelming.

The vinyls this month are so cute!  I wish my nails were not so damaged.  They're not very even and nothing seems to want to lay flat, but I reallllly love the bats.  You can use them not just as a mask, but the little cut outs as decals as well!

MOTM: September!

I'm loving getting these boxes a little earlier.  I usually can't wait to see what's in them! 

This month's box contained:

From Dream Polish

• A 5 ml Gem Smooth Base Coat
• A 5ml Gem Glam Top Coat in Maple Apple
• A 5mlGem Glow cuticle oil in Maple Apple

From Heather's Hues

• A polish mini in Caramel Dipped Granny Smiths
• A full sized polish in Hoodies and Hayrides

From Nails Redesigned

• A sheet of gold vinyl leaves
• A sheet of vinyl leaf maskes
• A sheet of vinyl apples
• An assortment of gems

Hoodies and Hayrides is a rich blue jelly full of generous sized flakies that gleam like little flickers of fire.  It's a little tricky so I used three thin even layers and it looks amazing.

Caramel Dipped Granny Smiths is very unique!  It's a creamy cream crelly with little green and gold glitters.  The colour combination is so pretty and there is a subtle gold shimmer.  I feel like it's somehow very elegant.  I used three layers here, and although I found it a little thick, it wasn't difficult to work with.

Maple Apple may be my fav scent from Dream Polish yet.  And I say that all the time.  It's amazing!  Maple (or apple or caramel or... pumpkin for that matter) isn't a popular scent or flavour at all here in Italy.  It's certainly not readily available or seasonal.  Maple Apple is exactly that, a sweet maple scent with a hint of the fruit underneath.

The vinyls this month are so cute!  My nails are still really damaged and uneven (as you can clearly see) so I couldn't get any of them to lay flat for me!  The apples are a particular favourite and I do have a mani planned for them when things smooth out!

Also included this month were minis from two guest Indies.  Indian Fire from MTK Design is a yellow jelly full of pink/gold shimmer.  It's very pretty and sheer.  I used three thin layers in the mani below.  The second is Corn Maze from Polish TBH.  It's a military green cream with gold glitter and glitter flakes!

The next MotM box goes on sale this week, don't forget to grab yours!

MOTM: August!

This month's theme is very outdoorsy and inspired.  I am so excited to see these every month to see what amazing ideas are in this box!

This month the box contained:

From Dream Polish

•  A 5 ml Gem Smooth Base Coat
• A 5ml Gem Glam Top Coat in Into the Woods
• A full sized cuticle balm in Into the Woods

From Heather's Hues 

• A polish mini in Cuddling by the Campfire
• A full sized polish in Chasing Fireflies

From Nails Redesigned 

• A sheet of vinyl fireflies
• A sheet of vinyl star masks 
• A sheet of vinyl flames
• An assortment of gems 

Chasing Fireflies is an amazing amazing royal purple jelly with several colours of tiny glitters, including glow-in-the-dark so it really does look like tiny glowing fireflies.  It is opaque in two coats and as usual I use three thin layers for glitter depth. 

Oddly, the stand out polish for me this month is actually Cuddling by the Campfire!  This one is a gorgeous dense metallic with micro glitters of copper/rose/gold/orange/pink/etc that just flickers like flame. It's nice and opaque in two careful coats, but again!  I used three thin ones for depth.

 Hey, Heather.  Can I get a BIG bottle of this?!

The scent from Dream Polish this month is so different than anything she's done before.  It's a very manly cologne scent that I am really liking.

This month has probably my favourite vinyls to date!  There are clear star masks, silver dragonflies, and amazing flame guides!

Also included are some AB finish coral colured crystal gems to accent.

There was a chance to get one of two different guest indie cuticle oils this month!

The cuticle oil from Got Nail comes in a tiny little doe foot!  I love these things, I tend to refill them because they slip easily into even the smallest pocket so I can take it with me where ever.  This particular scent is in Mountain Rain which is a great crisp green scent, almost grassy.  I like the formula of this oil, it's not overly greasy but does a nice job.

The second option you could have received was a cuticle oil from Northern Star Cosmetics in Summer Nights.  It's a lovely floral, I'm guessing it's based on lily.  This is another nice formula, although this was 'borrowed' by my cousin who loved the scent, I will probably never get it back...

The next box goes on sale Monday, August 3 for the September box, make sure you set an alarm!

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!

Mani of the Month: May

I was super excited to get May's Mani of the Month box yesterday!  It came super early this month, the wait is usually really hard!

This month the box contained:

From Dream Polish

•  An unscented 5 ml Gem Stick Base Coat
• A 5ml Gem Glam Top Coat in Butterfly Garden
• A full sized cuticle pen in Butterfly Garden

From Heather's Hues

• A polish mini in Flowers in Her Hair
• A full sized photosensitive polish in Petales de Fleurs

From Nails Redesigned

• A sheet of pink and a sheet of purple glittery flowers
• A sheet of super cute green grass
• A small sample of large chevrons
• Assorted gems

Butterfly Garden is a soft scent.  It's a floral and that's all I could tell thanks to a wicked case of allergies.  I wanted to say it's on a green floral base, which I tend to love.  I emailed Vanessa for a hint!  She says it's a mix of nectary florals!

New to the kits this month are the oil pens instead of the little tubes of balms.  I love the pens for  ease.  They click just the right amount of oil up and get right into the little curves of your cuticle.  I particularly love them when I've got a rough spot, I can just spot treat it.

This month's main polish from Heather's Hues is like nothing else I've used before!  It's solar activated, photoreactive!  It changes colours in the sunlight (fake light doesn't work) and goes from a clear shimmer to a gorgeous violet shade!

 It's sort of tricky to work with because applying it (indoors) it's hard to tell what's going on because it's basically clear.  I was working with some vinyls from the kit and had to guess if I had it thick enough in spots but it's worth the learning curve!

Also included this month was a mini from Fangirl Polish.  It's called Daisy and it's perfect.

Once again, I am completely thrilled with this box.  June's box went on sale this morning and from the look of things, is already sold out!  I hope you got one in time!

Mani of the Month: April

Even on my supertight budget now, this is one expense I allowed to splurge on.  I would hate to miss a box, they keep getting better.

This month the box contained:

From Dream Polish

•  A 5 ml Gem Smooth Base Coat in Stormy Nights
• A 5ml Gem Glam Top Coat in Stormy Nights
• A full sized cuticle balm in Stormy Nights

From Heather's Hues 

• A polish mini in Rain, Rain, Go Away
• A full sized polish in The Calm Before the Storm (thermal)

From Nails Redesigned 

• A sheet of vinyl umbrellas
• A sheet of vinyl raindrop masks
• An assortment of gems

Once again, Heather has made an amazing and dramatic thermal.  It goes from a beautiful soft clear blue to WHITE.

It changes quite easily and while wearing it the effect is stunning, your mani is never the same twice. 

The formula is nice and pigmented and well blended, you do not need to 'work' the color up for opacity, it was creamy and lovely in only two coats.  Most amazingly, though, is that I discovered that it's great to stamp with.  

 

You might need to be a little practiced, it's thin, but it's totally worth it.

This month's scent from Dream Polish is Stormy Nights, and it's not what I was expecting.  It's more of an ozone scent, fresh with a hint of green to it.  Unfortunately it's almost the exact scent of a popular bathroom cleaner here, although it's not unpleasant in the least.  And as usual, Dream Polish Gem Glam top coat is the only top coat I use!

I loved the raindrop stencils this month from Nails Redesigned.  They were made from a nice clear vinyl that stuck really nicely and wedded easily.  I've ran into some vinyls in the past where the kiss cut isn't clean and you can't remove the negative spaces in the stencil without it distorting or tearing.  I never have that issue with NR vinyls!  I even used the little umbrella this month, it was the perfect blue match to the accent polish, Rain Rain, Go Away.

These boxes are always always amazing and always always worth the wait.  Did you manage to snag May's box before it sold out?!