Happy 2nd Anniversary Twinsie Tuesday!

Good morning everyone! Today I have a very special post for 2 special reasons. Firstly this is a special edition Twinsie Tuesday post (which is why it is on a Friday) because it marks the 2nd anniversary of the first Twinsie Tuesday! The second reason that this is a special post is that it is my 100th blog post!!! Can you believe it? I can't believe it. When I started this little blog back in July I wasn't sure what was going to happen. Since then I've become an official swatcher for a couple of wonderful indie polish brands, I've swatched several other indie brands, and I've been asked to join Twinsie Tuesday! I am so thankful for the friends that I've made through this little adventure and I am loving every minute of it. Plus my therapist says that I can not give up the polish thing because it's good for my mental health. Strict doctor's instructions here folks, so I'm not going anywhere. I'm getting closer and closer to 2000 followers on Instagram too, crazy that 2000 people want to see pictures of my nails and randomness.

Now on to today's post. For our special anniversary post the prompt was Inspired by Another Twinsie's First TT Mani. The Twinsies that we were to be inspired by were assigned and I got Marisa from Polish Obsession. Marisa was one of the original Twinsies, how cool is that? Their first theme was International Polish. Head over to see her original post here. Well, I only have one international polish (for now) and it is a lovely bottle of Glam Polish and Aussie brand that I'd been wanting to try for a while. My friend Sarah sent it to me as a gift last month and I hadn't tried it yet, so the timing was perfect. (Go check her out, she's got an awesome online store in the UK selling all kinds of nail charms and goodies, seriously cute stuff. And her Instagram, cutest cats ever and some awesome manis!)

Sarah and I share a serious love for all things Despicable Me. If you haven't seen the movies, you really need to watch them. They are adorable and funny with a nice moral to the story, just like any good cartoon should be. :) So when she went searching for a polish to send me as a sweet little gift she chose Glam Polish and a polish from their Despicable Me themed collection Mayhem & Madness.

This is So Fluffy I'm Gonna Die!!! More details and pictures after the jump! (including macros!)

Luscious Potion Glatiate & Diamond Rain

**press sample**

Good morning friends! Happy Thursday! I hope everyone is having a good week so far. I had to go to court Wednesday for my wreck/ticket. Easy peasy, over and done. $95 later I hope that we can move on to normal life now. :) 

Today I have two more polishes from Luscious Potion to share with you. 

First up is Glaciate.

Glaciate is an aqua blue scattered holo. 

This polish is really pretty on. My bottle was a bit on the thick side, I think maybe I got a thick batch. The application on this one was tricky, but once I got it on it was really lovely. My pointer finger had some bubbling, but I think that was due to the thickness. For this mani I used 3 thin coats and added one coat of Seche Vite. 

Next up is Diamond Rain.

Diamond Rain is a jelly base with white square and hex glitters. 

For this mani I started with 2 coats of OPI Keeping Suzi At Bay and topped it with 2 coats of Diamond Rain. I sealed it in with 1 coat of Seche Vite. The formula on this was really nice; the jelly flowed smoothly and I had to do very little placement. I did do some fishing and placement of squares, but only because I wanted to not because I had to. 

Overall I really liked my polishes from Luscious Potion. A couple of them had thicker formula than I like to use, but the polishes were lovely and it all worked out in the end. 

Luscious Potion can be purchased online in Susan's store here. 

Be sure to follow Luscious Potion on Instagram for updates! 

I hope you enjoyed these polishes! I'll talk to you soon!

~casey

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

Twinsie Tuesday My Nail Care Routine

Good morning polish friends!!! Happy Tuesday! You know what that means don't you? Twinsie Tuesday!!!!

Today's prompt is Your Nail Care Routine... well, I would say for me its Your Nail Care "Routine", because I don't really have a routine. Honestly I'm terrible at routines in general. So when I was trying to write this post mentally I struggled. Then I decided that I would just share my nail care in general. (Please disregard the dog & cat hair in my light box. It's an unavoidable part of life with pets.)

More details after the jump!

I am by no means an expert at this. I'm not an expert at anything... but I have done a lot of research aka trial and error with nail stuff. So I have figured out what works best for me. What works best for me might not be what works best for you, or for anyone else. So this post is just the tips that I've learned that help my nails. 

One of the biggest things I've learned since I started this whole nail painting/blogging/swatching adventure is moisturize moisturizer MOISTURIZE! Hydrate yourself by drinking plenty of water, and use plenty of moisturizer. Good moisturizer. Now I don't know what is considered "good" moisturizer, but I know what works for me. Here are a few things I use to keep my nails and fingers and hands moisturized. 

Throughout the day I use lotion whenever I think of it, maybe 2 or 3 times a day. More if I'm washing my hands more at work... which has been the case lately because there's been an outbreak of illness that makes me a little paranoid. Usually when I use lotion I also use my Sweet Baby Cuticle Oil. I love this stuff, no lie, I have one within arms reach at all times. One on my desk, one by my favorite spot in the living room, one in my purse, and most importantly one in my polishing area. It rolls on conveniently and soaks in quickly but still moisturizes. I love it. At night I use cuticle cream or balm, and a heavier lotion like the Bath & Body Works body cream or Neutrogena Norwegian Hand Cream. I'm almost out of my Sweet Baby cuticle balm and will be getting some more, but I have a tin of Burt's Bees that I need to use up. It's good stuff too, I just prefer the Sweet Baby. (Pink Sugar is my favorite scent, in case you're wondering.) I might have to order some soon though because I don't think Donna ships this magical elixir in the warmer months. 

Keeping your hands and cuticles moisturized is good for your nails. The act of massaging the oils and lotions in to your nail beds not only feels good, but it stimulates your nail growth. It also helps keep the skin around your nails soft so that you get fewer of those pesky hang nails. One of the things that got me into researching nail stuff (that lead to my blogging life) was looking for tips to avoid painful hang nails and nail breaks. Moisturizing was one of the biggest things I found, and boy does it work. I am naturally blessed with soft skin and decent nails, and I'm thankful for that. But I use my moisturizers to keep that up. 

Now for nail care products that I have found helpful for my polishing routine and for my nails in general.

 Hair Skin & Nails vitamins, I love these vitamins. Maybe it's all in my head, but I really do believe in them. I've been taking them for around a year now, and they have improved my hair, skin, and nails... just as advertised. I have fewer breaks and splits in my nails, my hair grows longer and stronger, and I feel like my skin is softer. It could all be in my head, I don't know. But even if it is, it works. :) I prefer the Natures Bounty brand you can get at almost any drugstore, they're easier for me to swallow. We buy mine on Amazon.

As far as mani care, base coat makes a huge difference! I use a half and half (approximately) combo of OPI Nail Envy Matte and Essie Grow Stronger. I don't remember where exactly I read about this mixture, but I love it. I actually pour them into the same bottle and paint them on. I know that I need more Nail Envy when the base gets too shiny. Nothing too scientific here.

For remover I swear by Zoya Remove. There are recipes online to make your own version of this, but I've never had much luck with them. I buy this stuff in bulk, and it is worth every penny in my book. It has saved my skin through winters of nail art and swatching. It removes polish well, and it doesn't dry out your skin. It's not as fast as acetone for glitter removal, but with the foil method and about 5-10 minutes soaking time it works. Plus to me it's worth a little extra work to save your skin. I do use acetone for clean up, but I use it very sparingly and moisturize as soon as my mani is dry.

To shorten my nails when they get too long I use straight nail clippers to get the majority of the length off, then I use a glass file to shape them. I would love to say that I follow the "file in one direction" rule, but I don't. I try, I really do... but it's hard to remember for me for some reason. But I have noticed that the glass files are better on my nails, less fraying and splitting from filing. The file is neater and cleaner, and its faster than the other types of files I've tried.

And that's about it. :) I'm sorry if this post was rambly. It's harder for me to share things like this instead of my beloved polish! Let me know if you have any questions!

Thanks for reading! And thank you Twinsie Tuesday girls for the out of the ordinary post! 

~casey

Be sure to go check out the other Twinsie Tuesday bloggers to see what they do to take care of their nails! 

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

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

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

Luscious Potion Purity Lake & Fading Cherry Blossom

**press sample*

Hello everyone! So today I have an evening post for you! I planned to get this queued up for this morning... but last night my body decided that bedtime was a better idea than blogging. :) 

So tonight I have a couple of polishes from a new to me brand, Luscious Potion. These are also my first thermal polishes! So forgive the fact that my nails are wet in all of these pictures... although I kinda dig the wet nail macros... not gonna lie. 

Up first is Purity Lake. 

Warm

Cold

Transitioning

Warm

Cold

Purity Lake is a holo blue thermal that transitions from light blue when warm to dark blue when cold. 

For this mani I applied 3 thin coats of Purity Lake and topped it with 1 coat of Seche Vite. The application on this polish was a bit thick, but it went on pretty well. It's my first thermal but I think the transition is really good. It's very subtle, but sometimes that's a good thing. Plus, it's blue. Who doesn't love blue? 

Next up is Fading Cherry Blossom.

Warm 

Cold

Warm

Cold

Transitioning

Fading Cherry Blossom is a holo thermal that goes from silver when warm to a lovely pink when cold. 

For this mani I used 3 thin coats of Fading Cherry Blossom and 1 coat of Seche Vite. The formula on this one was like Purity Lake, a bit thick but workable. Topcoat smoothed it out nicely and the transition was good. I love the contrast in this polish, there's a very noticeable difference between warm and cold. I won't tell you how long I sat in my kitchen dipping my finger tips in cold and warm water. :) 

Luscious Potion is available on their website here. 

So what do you think of these polishes? How do you feel about thermals? I know that they have a shelf life, but I do enjoy it. I think I'll have to try a few more. 

I hope you all had a great Monday! And have an even better Monday Night!

~casey

**The polishes in this post were provided to me in exchange for a fair and honest review. For more details please my full disclosure policy.**

Royal Polish Ocean Potion and Soft Sands

**press sample**

Good morning everyone! Happy Friday! I'm really glad the weekend is here... I have a LOT of swatching to do, and I wouldn't have it any other way. :) 

Today I have the last 2 polishes from the Sea Dreams Collection, Ocean Potion and Soft Sands. 

First up, Ocean Potion.

  

Ocean Potion is a shimmery blue jelly with various sizes of blue, green, and iridescent hex glitters and a few blue squares mixed in there. 

For this mani I applied 3 thin coats and topped it with 1 coat of Glossy Glam. Just like all of the other Royal Polishes I've tried, this one applied smooth and easy. I did do a little placement with the larger hexes, but that was just because I wanted to not because I had to. 

I love that this is a jelly base but that it has a healthy amount of iridescence in it. It's really pretty! 

And last but certainly not least, Soft Sands. 

Soft Sands is a nude/beige polish with holographic shimmer throughout. I would call this a scattered holo, not a linear holo. 

For this mani I used 3 coats of Soft Sands and topped it with 1 coat of Glossy Glam. Soft Sands went on like a dream, I can still see a little bit of nail line, which I don't normally like. Bu with this polish it worked ok for me. And Violet made a nude that's actually nude on me. ON ME! Usually only white polishes look remotely nude on me, but this one actually does. lol I really like it. And the hint of holo sparkle takes it up a notch and makes it a little glitzy. Very nice!

I'm kinda sad to be finished swatching my first collection from Royal Polish. I hope I get to swatch more very soon! 

All of these polishes are currently available on the Royal Polish website here. 

Glossy Glam topcoat is available on Just Ricarda's Etsy store here. 

So what do you think about this collection? I loved it. Tidal Glow was definitely my #1 pick of all of the bunch, but I really liked them all. The application and formula on these is fantastic. Royal Polish is a relatively new brand, but I think we're gonna see some great things from Violet! Thank you dear for letting me swatch for you! I hope to work with you again sometime very soon!

I'll talk to you all soon! I have lots of swatches and nail art coming your way very soon!

~casey

**The polishes in this post were sent to me in exchange for a fair and honest review. For more details please see my disclosure policy.**

Royal Polish Tidal Glow & Please Kelp Me!

**press sample**

Good morning everyone! Happy Thursday! It is Thursday right? Last week I went through 3/4 of the day Wednesday before I realized that is wasn't Thursday. Don't you hate it when that happens? 

So, today I have 2 more polishes from the Royal Polish Sea Dreams Collection for you to enjoy. I really love this collection folks, I hope my pictures do it justice! 

First up is Tidal Glow.

Tidal Glow is a blue polish packed with all different colors of flakies, a whole rainbow of them. 

Oh my goodness this polish.... it's like a bright blue opal on your fingers. I think out of all 6 it is my very favorite. For this mani I used 3 coats of Tidal Glow and added 1 coat of Glossy Glam. Application was smooth and the flakies are evenly and densely packed. LOVE. 

Next up is Please Kelp Me!

Please Kelp Me! is available in 2 formulas, either a clear base or a shimmery green base. I went with the green base, because I really do love polishes that build on their own. Its got a gorgeous shimmery green base, filled with green and gold hex glitters. 

For this mani I used 3 coats of Please Kelp Me! and topped it with 1 coat of Glossy Glam. The formula on this polish was really great too. Honestly Violet is doing such a fantastic job on her formulas and colors. I don't have anything bad to say about any of these! I'm thinking this one will be AMAZING for St. Patricks Day.

Both of these Royal Polishes are available on their store here. I really do recommend Violet's brand. She's been super sweet through the swatching process and her polish backs it up. Good job girly! 

Glossy Glam topcoat is available in Just Ricarda's Esty store here. 

I've got two more of these babies for you tomorrow! 

Talk to you then! 

~casey

**The polishes in this post were provided for me in exchange for a fair and honest review. For more details please see my disclosure policy.**

Royal Polish Shark Love and Beyond the Horizon

**press sample**

Good morning everyone! Happy Wednesday! 

I'm excited to be bringing you a newer indie polish, Royal Polish. Violet's polish are brand new to me so I am really excited to be trying them out. (I get excited about new indie polish... and new mainstream polish... and polish in general. :) )

I had the privilege of swatching The Sea Dreams Collection, and today I'm going to show you Shark Love and Beyond the Horizon.

First up is Shark Love.

Right out of the box I knew Shark Love would be one of my favorites, and it really is. It is a soft gray crelly base with holographic dust and glitter scattered throughout.

For this mani I used 3 thin coats of Shark Love and topped it off with Glossy Glam. The application was silky smooth. The first 2 coats were a bit streaky but that is to be expected with any gray that is this light. The 3rd coat evened it out nicely.

I really love gray polishes, I'm always drawn to them. This one is very soft and the holo is subtle, which I prefer. (Don't get me wrong, in your face holo is pretty, but it's not for me.)

Next up, Beyond the Horizon.

Beyond the Horizon is what I would describe as a soft orange with red and gold flakes. I call it soft because it's orange not ORANGE!, if that makes sense. Plus it's an orange that I actually like on my nails, which never happens. 

For this mani I painted 3 thin coats of Beyond the Horizon topped with 1 coat of Glossy Glam. Violet says that this polish was inspired by a breathtaking ocean sunset, I think she hit the nail on the head. Isn't it pretty? You can see the shimmer and flakies all the way through. Just like Shark Love this one applied silky smooth. 

I loved the formula on both of these babies and can't wait to show you some more. 

Royal Polish is available for purchase in Violet's store here. This collection is already available for purchase so go check them out! 

Glossy Glam topcoat is available in Just Ricarda's Etsy shop here. 

So what do you think of these polishes? I can't wait to bring you the rest of the collection, so stay tuned! 

Have a great day!

Talk to you soon!

~casey

**The polishes in this post were provided to me in exchange for a fair and honest review. For more details see my full disclosure policy.**

Twinsie Tuesday, Seasonal Gradient

Good morning friends! I hope everyone is having a good week so far. I've been so busy at work lately that I haven't had much energy to do any blogging. BUT, this is Twinsie Tuesday, and I will always make time/energy for that! 

Today's prompt is Seasonal Gradient. This could be interpreted a lot of ways... but after seeing The Base Coat's Instagram post of a gradient using Zoya Carter and Arabella, I KNEW I had to do something similar. But I needed seasonal... automatically my mind went to wintry blues and silvers. 

For this manicure I started with 2 coats of Zoya Pixie Dust in Nyx, a lovely light silvery blue. Then I sponged on Zoya Pixie Dust in Sunshine, the most amazing deep navy blue Pixie you've ever seen, at the base of my nail. On some of the nails I got more Sunshine than I wanted, so I just sponged on more Nyx until I was happy. Gradients with Pixie Dusts are SO MUCH MORE FORGIVING than gradients with cream polish. Oh my goodness. Especially with these two, because they both have the same silvery glitter base... they just blend together seamlessly. 

Of course I had to throw some topcoat on there just to see what happened. Holy sparkles batman! 

Pixie Dust's can be kind of hard to get smooth and glossy. Any textured polish is for that matter, probably because they are designed to be textured. But if you use the right stuff you get amazing payout. For this ultra shiny and sparkly look I added 2 coats of ACI Gelous from Sally's and 1 coat of HK Girl Topcoat by Glisten and Glow. Wowza! They look like they're set in resin or something. Isn't it incredible? I've been wearing these since Sunday night and I love them. I am being very careful while driving though, it's been sunny and we all know how distracting glitter can be in the sun. No more car accidents for this girl for a long long LONG time please. 

So what do you think? Have you tried a gradient with Zoya Pixie Dust? Trust me, you really should! Find 2 that have a similar base glitter color and go for it. Do you like the matte or glossy finish better? I love them both, but my heart has to choose the glossy if I had to pick one.

Zoya nail polish can be purchased at Ulta, www.zoya.com, and many salons across the US. I get most of mine from the website, and I'm not ashamed to say that I own almost all of the Pixie Dusts. They are by far my favorite textured polishes out there today.  

I hope you all enjoyed this mani as much as I did! Be sure to check out the other Twinsie Tuesday Bloggers! Links to their blogs are below! 

Talk to you soon! 

~casey

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

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