Aly's Dream Polish ~ Swatches & Review

I received three colors from Aly's Dream Polish in these adorable bottles. I don't have anything like this in my collection. All of her polishes are 4-free and are tested for quality for one month to reduce the possibility of issues that may arise. All lacquers are made with high-quality craft or cosmetic grade pigments, micas, glitters, polish-friendly ball bearings and 4 free - they're also made from cruelty-free materials!

Sweet Dreams - This is a grayish, dusty pale lilac. I felt work, interview appropriate with a bit of sparkle. This is three coats, nice brush to work with, went on smooth and dried quickly. I probably could have gotten away with two coats if I had loaded the brush up more. 

 Indirect Sunlight

Sweet Orange - This beauty has an almost neon coral jelly base with the holo. I used two coats. This photo seriously doesn't do the polish justice. It's like a bright burnt coral. These types of colors look wonderful with my skin tone.

Vivid Violet - This pretty violet purple looked a lot darker in the bottle than it was on the nail. This is two coats, it reached opacity nicely, felt like more of the holo showed up on my nails with this one. For some reason this makes me think of grape soda.

 Indirect Sunlight

I didn't use a base or topcoat for any of these swatches. Each bottle retails for $12 each and be purchased here.

All of these colors are unique to my collection but Sweet Orange is the most unique addition and one I look forward to wearing as the summer months come around the corner!

Leadlight Easter Eggs

I'm always so amazed by all the new techniques that the awesomely creative nail art community seems to come up with including the newest, leadlight. I have a few sheer jelly polishes in my stash and thought a first attempt would be great for an Easter mani.

This is one coat of Sinful Snow Me White stamped with Sinful Black on Black and BMH09 egg image. I then filled them in with Sally Hansen VIP Pink, Teal-y cool and an unnamed orange I picked up a few years ago at Walgreens during Halloween.

I then used VIP Pink, two coats, as the base of my bunny ears stamped with Snow Me White and BMH10. The technique is pretty easy and has very pretty results. Have you tried it yet?

Enchanted Polish March 2014

Back in February I took the EP plunge and made my first purchase. I haven't used February's mauve/pink release yet. I then did the pre-order for March and April's mystery colors. March is a grassy green that felt Easter to me. I have to admit at first I was like hype=crazy for Enchanted Polish?

Once coating my itty bitty nail beds with that holo, I understood. That linear blast of deliciousness burst when it hit the sunlight. I planned on doing some stamping decals but the carrot easter egg design I wanted to use from Bundle Monster didn't allow for any decal work. I went with it anyway.

This is two coats of Enchanted Polish March 2014. It has a fantastic consistency for an indie. For the accent nails I used two coats of Icing Mint 2 Be and stamped with Avon Saturn from BMH09.

Do you own an EP's? Do you think the price and cult following are warranted? If you'd like to receive notifications about pre-orders, sign up here.

GlamGlaze Nude Holo

Being new to the world of Instagram nail art (I welcome any new followers @PolishFreshie =D) I have also been exposed to so many more indie brands that I was previously unaware of (gulp!). I came across some polishes by GlamGlaze and was taken with her thermal holo polishes as well as some with wonderfully unique glitters.

I made an order and it happened that her Nude holo was just the ticket for an important meeting this week. This weekend, I did the mani with some BlueSea floral water decals. Sunday night I removed them as not to be distracting and just did a full plain mani with the polish.

Both manis used two coats. It covered nicely and was pretty easy to work with. I did have a rough time smoothing it out at my cuticles, not sure if my skills just weren't at the top of their game the last few days. This color is a grayish nude and is a great neutral with a bit of sparkle - perfect for work or an interview if they are sensitive to bright colors or eccentric art.

She has a great range of colors and textures and can I just say the fact that she has just released a Jem-themed collection makes my heart skip a beat! All you 80's kids feel me?

You can find our more and view her polishes here.

Pastel Camo

I'm finally seeing microscopic little buds on some of our plants and trees - hooray! Of course this means pastels a plenty. I decided I'd try some pastel camouflage.

I started with two coats of Hello Kitty Sephora Bubble Gum before starting my camo. I've grown to love the versatility of my dotting tools - I seem to be able to maneuver them better than art brushes.

I used Sinful Song of Summer and Skylark to create the rest of the look. For the middle fingers I used one coat of OPI My Boyfriends Scales Walls followed by two coats of Hard Candy Mom & Pop - one of the polishes from their new collection.

I wasn't too horrified with the result, but Mom & Pop was pretty tricky to remove. 

Ellagee Plum Gee-nius

Howdy folks! Another Saturday - let's just say having the day off by myself is never safe. That whole I'm just gonna walk in this store for this one thing ends up putting me on a ramen diet for a week *sigh* the memoirs of a shopaholic. Well let's just say this polish, and mani, make me forget about my buyer's remorse.

One of the awesome enablers ladies in one of my swap groups told me about a dedicated I Love Ellagee FB page. I had never even heard of the polish. Once I saw Laura's beauty she created just for this group, Plum Gee-nius - I had to have it! It arrived pretty quickly. While I have a lot of indies making their way into the stash, I haven't played with any of the holos so I'm still trying to figure out how to master the thicker consistencies. This is two coats.

The first coat was very hard to work with and kind of clumpy. The second coat really smoothed things out and gave me that luster I had been lusting after in the photos. There were some bald patches and I wasn't sure if I should go for a third coat so I left it as is.

This baby has an undeniable holo, even inside. I then created a cheetah decal with first stamping Plum Gee-nius from Messy Mansion 2012 and filling it with Sinful Song of Summer and China Glaze Sunshine Pop. This pretty is no longer available but don't let that stop you from perusing Laura's wonderful creations!  She has quite the selection and is always offering fun giveaways and special edition items. 

Glam Nail Studio Book Review & Ombre French Dotticure

As I mentioned in my previous book review, it seems like there are so many options for physical tutorial books and great info. on our little art base, the nail! I recently poured over Glam Nail Studio: Tips to create salon-perfect nails by Amber-Elizabeth Stores, also known as the "Queen of Shellac". Not only does it have tips and tricks, but 50 fairly intricate nail design tutorials.

The hardcover is great quality and has thick pages with bright colors and even more interesting content. Starting with the anatomy of the nail, a great timeline on how nailart all began and some deets on how Amber-Elizabeth rode her painting skills to fame.

There are also detailed lists on all the tools of the trade and how to ease and clean each of them. One of my favorite grabs from the book? Use conditioner on your cuticles while in the shower - brilliant! I decided to recreate one of Amber-Elizabeth's looks from the book with some of my flare.

I free-handed the tips with Color Club Peace Out Purple. I then used my largest dotting tool and started with China Glaze Lemon Fizz. I added more and more Sinful Snow Me White to create the ombre look until I just used the white.

I'm so happy with the final result! Whether Easter eggs or just some funky dots, I can live with this mani for awhile.

Glam Nail Studio retails for $25 and can be purchased at www.RacePointPub.com, Amazon or wherever books and ebooks are sold.

I also entered this look on Instagram under the hashtag #rulethataccentnailcontest - please vote No. 8 on the original voting photo. I'd love you forever =x.