Twinsie Tuesday, Skittles

Good morning friends! Happy Tuesday! 

Today's theme is skittles. To me a "skittle" manicure is a manicure with all of your nails being a different color. Sometimes they are solid, but I like to add a coat of the same glitter to each nail to tie them together. So here is what I came up with for today. 

For this mani I used 4 of the Julie G polishes from the summer collection; Rio de Jenero, Tahiti, Santorini, and Old San Juan. I topped all 4 with a discontinued Pipe Dream Polish called She's a Thriller then sealed it all in with topcoat. 

I love skittle nails! It's a great way to mix things up without having to do complex nail art. 

What do you think? Do you like wearing nails that are so colorful or does it drive you nuts? 

Thanks for reading! Be sure to check out the other Twinsie's manis to see what they came up with! (linked below) 

~casey

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Anna at Going to the Showing

Bridget at A Painted Nail

Casey at CaseyLane Loves Polish

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Cordia at Seriously Swatched

Elizabeth at Did My Nails

Erin at Paint Those Piggies

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer

Kelly at Tuxarina

Lakeisha at Refined and Polished

​Lisa at The Polish Playground

​Marisa at Polish Obsession

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Stephanie at A Little Polish

Tiffany at Polished To Precision​

**All polishes in this post were purchased by me for my own personal use.**

Twinsie Tuesday, Favorite Indie Brand

Good morning friends! Happy Twinsie Tuesday! 

Today's theme is near and dear to my heart, our favorite indie brand. For those of you that don't know, an indie polish is a handmade polish. These polishes are becoming more and more common, and there are a lot of fantastic ones on the market so picking a favorite wasn't easy. Especially since I swatch polishes for a few indie makers. 

Then it came to me, the indie polish that started my serious crush on indies is Pipe Dream Polish Pink Elephants and Lemonade. So that has to be one of my top favorite indie brands. 

Here you see 3 dreamy coats of Pink Elephants & Lemonade plus top coat. I haven't worn this one in a while, some of the glitter has floated to the outer edges of the bottle, but it still went on like a dream.

After I bought this polish and got it home and put it on I remember thinking "Oh my..... so THIS is what all the fuss is about!" And that is what started my love of indies. I purchased many of April's polishes and haven't received a bad one. Then last fall she asked me to do some swatching for her, it was like a dream come true! This polish is what made me really want to start swatching in the first place, and the woman who makes it asked me to swatch polish for her! That was an awesome moment for me. And I continue to be blown away by the fantastic Pipe Dream Polish formula and variety. 

So, this is my favorite indie brand. There are many many others out there that are wonderful too, you should check them out if you haven'. I know a lot of people think indie's are too expensive, but they really aren't that much more than traditional salon brands. Especially when you figure in the fact that they are hand crafted. It's pretty awesome stuff. 

I hope you all enjoyed this manicure! April has her shop (www.pipedreampolish.com)closed down for a few days while she works on getting her nail tech license (Go April! You got this!) but be sure to check out her store later this week for this polish and many others.

Be sure to head to the other Twinsie's blogs to read about their favorite indies!

Thanks for reading!

Casey

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Anna at Going to the Showing

Casey at CaseyLane Loves Polish

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Elizabeth at Did My Nails

Erin at Paint Those Piggies

Kelly at Tuxarina

Lakeisha at Refined and Polished

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Stephanie at A Little Polish

Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Traci at DrinkCitra

**The polish in this post was purchased by me for my own personal use.**

Twinsie Tuesday Valentines Inspired Nails

Good morning everyone! Again, I'm sorry I've been a bit absent lately. I feel like a broken record, but life has just been crazy. I'm hoping things will calm down very very soon. :) 

Today's Twinsie Tuesday prompt is Valentine's Day Inspired nails. This type of prompt is easy for me... I love Valentine's Day. Sure, I'm in a happy marriage and am absolutely crazy about my husband. Yes, I'm one of "those" people, I love him more and more each day. I wouldn't sugar coat it though, marriage is hard but it is so worth the work. But we take care of each other, and I love knowing that he's who I'm going to be with for the rest of my life. That's a wonderful feeling. And yes, I'm a sap. But it is all truly how I feel. I wish everyone had what I feel like we have. But, all that being said, I think I would love Valentine's Day either way... because I think love is a great thing to celebrate. All kinds of love in all shapes and sizes. AND hearts! Come on, what's not to love? :) Next to circles/swirls it's my favorite shape.  

So here is what I came up with for today. I have more Valentine's Manis coming this week. 

For this mani I painted 3 thin coats of Pipe Dream Polish McPolish's Awesomesauce on all of my fingers but my ring finger and thumb. Then added 1 coat of Gelous and 1 coat of Glisten & Glow HK Girl topcoat. Awesomesauce is a thermal polish, but I don't think it liked me much. I didn't have much luck getting it out of it's cold state, which is what is see in the pictures. The bottle is a bit lighter, that's more what it should be when warm. To be fair my fingers were freezing all day the day I did these, so that probably didn't help. And I was so anxious to try another mani I didn't leave them on long enough to play. But either way, I love this polish. The formula was fantastic and I'm a total sucker for gray, pink, and black. Perfect combo! Unfortunately this polish isn't currently available but I think April is planning some similar polishes in the near future.

On my ring finger and thumb I used 3 thin coats of OPI Strawberry Margarita. I'm so glad that Elena from ecklipsedbycolor and Kelly from Tuxarina bullied me into buying this one. (hehe... like anyone has to bully me into getting a new polish) It's such a perfect pink! After Strawberry Margarita I applied HK Girl and waited for it to dry completely. Then I used some of my newest Make It Stick Designs decals. April had a giveaway recently and I won! How exciting is that? I love her decals, especially these smaller ones like the key and the heart. I topped those with 1 coat of Gelous and 1 coat of HK Girl as well. They are sturdy decals so you need some thickness to your toppers. I've also ordered some of her decor for my mom and loved it too. You should definitely check her out!

So what do you all think? I loved this mani, even though I only wore it for a day. I have lots of Valentine themed ideas for you so I'm hoping to do several manis this week. 

Be sure to check out my fellow Twinsie's linked below! I can't wait to see what they came up with!

Until next time!

~casey

**The Pipe Dream Polish in this post was provided to me in exchange for a fair and honest review**

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Anna at Going to the Showing

Anne at Grape Fizz Nails

Casey at CaseyLane Loves Polish

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Elizabeth at Did My Nails

Erin at Paint Those Piggies

Heather at Peace, Love, & Polish

Kelly at Tuxarina

Lakeisha at Refined and Polished

Maribeth at Obsessive Cosmetic Hoarders Unite

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Rachel at Top Coat It

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Stephanie at A Little Polish

Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Traci at DrinkCitra

My First Twinsie Tuesday Post!

Good morning everyone! Today I have some very exciting news. A couple of weeks ago I was asked to join the blogger group called Twinsie Tuesday! For those of you that don't know, Twinsie Tuesday is a group of about 20 nail bloggers that post together every Tuesday following prompts.

I've been following this group for a while, and had become friends with some of these lovely ladies already. I can't tell you how excited I was when I saw that email from Marisa asking me if I would be interested in joining. Lately I've been doing so much swatching that I haven't done much (if any) nail art. I love following prompts with a group of people too, seeing all the different interpretations is so much fun.

So, for my first Twinsie Tuesday post the prompt is Favorite Color Combo. I saw this and was immediately stumped..... I have way too many favorite color combos to pick just one! So I decided to go with one that I see a lot but haven't done much of on my nails. And since it's been so long since I've done nail art, I went with a "mix-n-match mani": one of my favorite nail art techniques.

More pics and details after the jump!

Pipe Dream Polish Empyrean

**press sample**

Hello everyone. I saved the best for last, this is Pipe Dream Polish Empyrean.

Just out of pure curiosity I googled empyrean, because I didn't know what the definition was. April named this one so perfectly.

em·py·re·an

emˈpirēən,ˌempəˈrēən

adjective

1. belonging to or deriving from heaven.

synonyms: heavenly, celestial, ethereal

noun

noun: empyrean; noun: empyreal; plural noun: empyreals

1.heaven, in particular the highest part of heaven.

synonyms: heaven, the heavens, the sky, the skies, the upper regions, the stratosphere

For this mani I used 3 thin coats and topped it with 1 coat of Gelous and 1 coat of Glossy Glam. I did end up thinning Empyrean a bit after the first 2 coats, but I didn't mind. It is so completely packed with glitter that its normal for it to get a little bit thick.

I don't know where to begin. Empyrean is a black jelly base polish with holo glitter and other various shapes and sizes of glitter, mostly berries... pinks, purples, a little iridescent.... it's amazing. The pictures really speak for themselves. When I first saw this polish I gasped and knew it would be a favorite. Blacks and grays are my favorites for day to day wear. This one is on my nails right now, and I plan to leave it for a few days. (long time when you've got 6 more polishes waiting to be swatched. :)) 

Remember, The Pipe Dream Polish Glitterandom Collection is launching at noon EST today! April has moved her store, visit www.pipedreampolish.com for a direct link. 

Also follow April on Instagram for more pictures and information on the launch!

Thanks again for reading everyone! I really appreciate it. I hope you all loved this collection as much as I did, and I hope you all go grab a bottle (or 7) today when she launches! They really are must haves!!!!

Have a great Friday!

~casey

**The Pipe Dream Polish in this post was provided to me in exchange for a fair and honest review. For more details please see my disclosure policy.**

Pipe Dream Polish Flushed Pink, Rhythm & Blues, and Born To The Purple

**press sample**

Good morning everyone!!! I hope you're ready for a little Pipe Dream spam today! April is releasing her new Glitterandom Collection TODAY at noon EST. Are you ready??? You better be ready. I think these will sell well, and they are well worth it. Trust me here. 

To save some time I'm combining 3 into this post, then I'm posting my favorite from the collection in a couple of hours. I love them all, but if I had to pick just a few these 3 would make the cut. If you like Green Light, you'll love these. They are Green Light's colorful cousins.

More pics and details after the jump!

Pipe Dream Polish Caribbean Dreaming and Bijou Baccate

**press sample**

Good morning everyone! I want to start with a warning/apology/complaint. This morning I broke my middle nail on my swatch hand and now I have a split on it too. That's my favorite macro finger! So far it looks pretty okay, but if you see some weird dryness or redness that's why. Time to start doubling up on my Sweet Baby cuticle products!!! ASAP!

Today I have 2 more polishes from the upcoming Glitterandom Collection from Pipe Dream Polish. This collection releases this Friday, January 3rd, at noon EST. Set your alarms! 

Today's polishes are Caribbean Dreaming and Bijou Baccate. Details and pics after the jump!

Pipe Dream Polish Sapphire Attire

**press sample**

Good morning friends! Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend. We spent the weekend with my in laws celebrating Christmas. I have been really bless with a very sweet set of in laws, I know not everyone feels that way. But they really are very kind and fun people. (That explains my exceptionally fun and kind hubby huh? :) ) The highlight of the weekend was when a family friend (who is a farmer and farm equipment mechanic) started asking me details about nail blogging. He then wanted to see an example of a "swatch and review", so I showed him my recent review of Red Light. He read it out loud to the room and it was hilarious. Hearing a man that is normally talking to my husband about farm equipment, cars, or the 3 Stooges say "I don't usually like red polish on myself but this is gorgeous" really had me giggling. And on a side note, it's a little embarrassing hearing your posts read out loud. Anyone else feel that way? 

Anywho, lets move on to the polish and start this Monday off with some GLITTAH! 

Today I have Pipe Dream Polish Sapphire Attire. 

For this mani I started with 2 coats of Orly In the Navy on my pointer and middle finger, and 2 coats of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls on my ring and pinkie finger. I put 2 coats of Sapphire Attire on top of those. Then I topped it all off with Just Ricarda Glossy Glam. (Shout out to my sweet friend Elena from ecklipsed by color for giving me Orly In the Navy for Christmas. It is INCREDIBLE! And I never buy Orly so I wouldn't have gotten my hands on it if it wasn't for her. Thank you sweet friend! You should all be following her Instagram and blog, she's the sweetest and most fabulous fashionista I know. :) )

Sapphire Attire is a clear based polish filled with bright blue, black holo, and silver holo glitters. 

You guys, this blue. I can't even describe it... the best thing I can compare it to is blue LED Christmas lights. You know how they almost hurt to look at? Like your eyes can't register their awesomeness? It's kind of like that. They look like they are lit up. It's incredible. My birthstone is sapphire, and I have a weakness for them. This polish looks like it has little glowing sapphires in it, it's amazing. Then you add not only silver but black holo to it too?!? Insane genius! 

Sapphire Attire is part of Pipe Dream's upcoming Glitterandom Collection, releasing this Friday January 3rd at 12 pm EST.

Pipe Dream Polish can be purchased through their Etsy store here. 

Glossy Glam can be purchased through their Etsy store here. 

Be sure to follow April on Instagram for updates and more pictures. I've got the remaining 6 polishes from this collection coming to you this week... trust me, you are going to want them. :) That's all I'll say for now. 

I hope you all have a lovely day! Thanks for reading! 

See you tomorrow!!!

~casey

**The Pipe Dream Polishes in this post were provided to me in exchange for a fair and honest review. Please see my disclosure policy for more details.**

Pipe Dream Polish All These Diamonds

**press sample**

Good morning polish friends! Look at me, two days in row! :) Life is already starting to feel a bit more normal. Yay!

Today I have a beautiful glitter topper from Pipe Dream Polish called All These Diamonds. 

For this mani I started with 2 coats of OPI Black Onyx on my index and middle fingers and 2 coats of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls on my ring finger and pinky. Then I added 1 coat (yes ONE coat) of All These Diamonds. I sealed it all in with Just Ricarda's Glossy Glam. 

All These Diamonds is made up of various shapes and sizes of silver holo glitters and holo dust. I like to say that this polish is like China Glaze's Fairy Dust, multiplied, and on steroids. It is absolutely sparkly and amazing. So so pretty. I love that there is dust and also bigger pieces, makes it so much more interesting. But none of the pieces are so big that they take away from your base color. I can't wait to try this as a base for a galaxy manicure, can you imagine!?!?

Pipe Dream Polish is available through their Etsy store here. Be sure to follow her on Instagram for updates and sales! She's got some great polishes on clearance right now, and a new collection releasing very soon!!!

Glossy Glam is available through their Etsy store here. 

I hope you all enjoyed this post! You should definitely go grab a bottle of this polish, it's incredible! 

Thanks for reading!

Talk to you soon.

~casey

**The Pipe Dream Polish in this post was provided to me in exchange for a fair and honest review. For more details please see my full disclosure policy.**

Pipe Dream Polish Red Light

**press sample**

Hi everyone! I'm sorry it's been so long. I had minor surgery on 12/11; everything went fine but even with minor stuff you're out of commission for a little bit. I was up and around in a few days thankfully, and my hubby was a great nurse. But, just when I started to feel better I got in a fender bender. It was a pretty minor accident, but it did a LOT of damage to my little car. It was my fault, I glanced at my clock for a half a second and when I looked up there was a truck stopped in front of me. His trailer hitch hit my car in just the right spot, going through lots of important parts. It was my first accident and my first ticket all rolled into one. But, 2 weeks and $4000 later I should get my car and life back to normal. :)

So the first step in getting back to normal was painting my nails, second step is blogging about painting my nails. This morning I have a BEAUTIFUL polish for you from April at Pipe Dream Polish. This is Red Light, part of April's Lorde Gatsby Collection.

Red Light is a red jelly base packed with holographic pink, silver, and purple glitter. Do you remember the beauty that is Green Light? This is it's red cousin. And it is so incredible. Look at that holo sparkle!

For this mani I applied 3 thin coats of Red Light and topped it with 1 coat of Glisten & Glow HK Girl Topcoat. I wore this mani for several days and loved it the whole time. I don't really care much for red polish on myself, but this one is just gorgeous. It's got so much depth and squishiness and sparkle... all the things you want in a good jelly sandwich in a bottle. 

I can honestly say that I have never been disappointed by a Pipe Dream Polish, and I mean that whole heartily. April has become a great friend over the last few months, and her polishes are just as great as she is. If you're looking for an indie to try for the first time, or if you're already a collector and looking for a brand to add to your collection, get your hands on some of these. You won't be sorry.

Red Light can be purchased in April's Etsy store here. 

HK Girl topcoat can be purchased here. 

I hope you all enjoyed this post! I hope to be back to regular posting after the holidays. 

Thanks for hanging in there with me, even though I haven't been posting much! Follow me on Instagram if you want to see more pictures of polish and my day to day life. (like my dog Sammie's Christmas mani. :) ) 

Talk to you soon!

~casey

**The polishes in this post were provided to me in exchange for a fair and honest review.**

Pipe Dream Polish Twigs and Berries

Good morning friends! Happy Monday to you! I say that with the hopes that I will make it be a good Monday. We have slick roads here, I'm still fighting a cold, and I'm supposed to have surgery in 2 days.... So I'm a little strung out. I'm sure that everything will be fine, I just have so much I want to do before then. Even though I'm supposed to be back up and around in just a few days, I'm panicky trying to get everything all planned out. And they may not even want to do it since I've had this cold, who knows. 

So what is the cure for all that ails you? Or, for all that ails me? Polish. If there's glitter in that polish, even better. If its a Pipe Dream polish that was made in collaboration with one of my favorite nail gals Amy (@indie500nails) AND $4 from every bottle goes to the Movember Foundation, my day is made. Plus, the name really gives me a case of the giggles. 

This is Twigs and Berries. 

Pipe Dream Polish Interference

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! We stayed home and laid low all day, just the way we like it. Although I did do a little swatching for you, of course. :)

Today I have another Pipe Dream Polish. 

This beauty is Interference, part of the Lorde Gatsby collection. 

Interference is made up of a rainbow of iridescent glitter in a darkened plum jelly base.

For this mani I used 3 thin coats of Interference and topped it with 2 coats of Glisten & Glow HK Girl topcoat. 

The formula for this one is a little bit tricky. It's not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a bit thick. I think that is because it is packed with so much glitter. Adding a few drops of thinner will straighten it right out. 

The application on this was a dream, even though it was a bit thick. The glitter is so evenly and densely packed in here, it distritbutes itself. And you can see down through all the layers, you know how I love that. 

The color was hard to capture, but I would call it a deep, vampy, plum. It some lights it's nearly black, but the jelly consistency shows the true plum/purple undertones. It's so pretty. 

This polish, along with all of April's other polishes, are available in her store here. She's having some Black Friday sales for a couple more hours, go check it out! Be sure to follow her on Instagram for updates on her restocks and sales!

I have another special Pipe Dream coming up for you very soon. Stay tuned!

~caseylane

**Polishes in this post were purchased by me for my own personal use at a discounted rate in exchange for an honest review. Please see my full disclosure policy for more details.**

Pipe Dream Polish Green Light

Good morning everyone! I'm sorry I've been slacking on the posts lately, someday I will get back in a regular schedule of posting. The next month will be a little hectic with the holidays and I am having minor surgery in a couple of weeks. Nothing major, but it will put me out of commission for a few days at least. Can you believe they don't want me to have polish on when I have the surgery?!? Ugh, the nerve. ;) 

Ok so on to the best part of everything... always... polish. Whats better than polish? Pipe Dream Polish. It's no secret that I love April and her polishes, and no she doesn't pay me to say that. I really do love these polishes. And today's is no exception. Plus I've made a very sweet friend in the process, win win for me. 

This my friends is Green Light from her new Lorde Gatsby collection.

Bottle Macro

Green Light is made up of holographic teal and silver glitter in a dark teal green jelly base. That's the official description... but really it's just OMG GREEN HOLO-Y GLITTER BOMB in a bottle. 

This mani is 3 thin coats of Green Lights topped with 1 coat of Glisten & Glow HK Girl topcoat. 

I just don't even know what to say about this polish, the pictures really say it all. Look at the macro, look at all of the layers. See the glitter all through every single layer? THAT is what I love about Pipe Dream. She's got that down like nobody else does. I love the depth so much, it's like you could swim in it. 

If you don't follow me on Instagram head over there to check out this video I posted of this polish as soon as I put it on. So much sparkle. I am still wearing this one and I really hope the sun comes out today so I can fully enjoy it. Although I think this is one of many Pipe Dream Polishes that should come with a warning, "Do not operate heavy machinery while the sun is shining, sparkle will cause distraction when in direct sunlight." :) 

What do you all think of this polish? Do you love it? If you do you should head over to the Pipe Dream shop on Etsy and check out all of her beauties. There is a red version of this one that I'm itching to get my hands on. Word on the street is that she is going to be doing some sales this weekend for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but you might not want to wait that long just in case she sells out. Seriously, you have to have this polish in your collection if you are a fan of holo sparkle and green. 

Glisten & Glow HK Girl Fast Drying Topcoat can be purchased here. I have to say that I am really impressed with this one so far. The shine is ridiculous, the dry time is super speedy fast, (and has therefore saved a few manis from my clutziness) and I haven't had any issues with shrinkage or bubbling. Perfect! I think a big refill bottle might have to go on my Christmas list! We are all always trying to find that Holy Grail topcoat. With this I have a couple, never hurts to have more than one... Just in case.

I hope you all have a great Tuesday! 

Talk to you soon. 

~caseylane

**The polishes in this post were purchased by me for my own personal use. I did receive a discounted price on the Pipe Dream Polish in exchange for an honest review. Please see my disclosure policy for more details.**

Halloween Nails

Good morning and happy Halloween everyone!!!!!

Today I have a quick post with this years Halloween mani. I'm not really all that into Halloween, so this is as "dressed up" as I get. 

After seeing my friend Bridget's Halloween gradient I knew what I wanted to do. These are inspired by hers. (painted-nail.blogspot.com) 

I started with 2 coats of Ulta Sun-Sational and let that dry completely. Then using the sponge technique, I sponged on OPI A Good Mandarin Is Hard To Find. After that dried I added one coat of Pipe Dream Polish She's A Thriller (The best black & white glitter out there in my opinion, circles AND hexes!!!! ) and then sealed it in with a coat of Glossy Glam topcoat. 

I'm really happy with how these turned out! They're festive without being too much for me to wear for a few days. 

Pipe Dream Polish can be purchased in their etsy store at etsy.com/shop/pipedreampolish . 

Glossy Glam can be purchased in their etsy store at etsy.com/shop/justricarda . 

I hope you all like this mani! I love it.

Have a safe and Happy Halloween!!!!

~casey

*All polishes in this post were purchased by me for my own personal use. Some polishes were purchased at a discounted rate in exchange for honest reviews.*