Guest post for Tuxarina!

Hey everyone! Today on Tuxarinas blog is a guest post I did for her. Go check it out to see the details for the mani below! While you're there check out her blog and Instagram. She's super sweet and posts amazing pics!!! 

www.tuxarina.blogspot.com

IG@tuxarina

Pink Elephants and Lemonade...

Hello everyone! It's Thursday!!!! Which means it's almost the weekend. I'm always excited about that. 

Tonight I am VERY excited to bring you a new to me indie polish, Pipe Dream Polish. Pipe Dream is owned and operated by April, a full time dental assistant and full time polish lover. This is what I love about indie polishes, they are made by polish lovers with love. April is no exception. My interactions with her have been nothing but positive. I emailed her asking about blogger discounts and her response was fast and sweet, my order went through quickly and was shipped to me SUPER fast, (4 days from payment to delivery) and every time I've talked to her on Instagram she's just been an absolute doll. I'm already making a list of the polishes I want to order next, not just because I like her so much, but also because I love her polish. 

So far I have purchased four of these polishes, and the one I'm swatching tonight is called Pink Elephants and Lemonade. April describes this polish as "made up of medium and small hot pink and deep yellow matte glitters in a dusty turquoise crelly base." That is spot on. She has mastered the "squishy" look that we all look for in an indie. It's jelly enough for all of the layers of glitter to show through but opaque enough to give you full coverage. The application was flawless, it flowed on smooth and stayed where I put it. I used 3 coats for full coverage, but you could probably get away with 2. I topped it with 2 coats of my favorite topcoat, Glossy Glam by Just Ricarda. (Glossy Glam can be purchased here. Watch her Instagram for restock updates.)

We have had a ton of rain here lately, but I was able to catch a sliver of sunlight tonight to snap a quick pic. 

The rest of these pics were taken in my light box. 

I love the packaging on these. Little details like polish bottles and labels mean a lot to me, look how cute her logo is! 

Here is a nail macro. You can see some bubbling in this picture, but I can't see those on the nail, just with macro lens.

And a macro shot of the bottle. Look at that squishy goodness!!!

Pipe Dream Polish can be purchased through her Etsy store here. I swatched the other 3 colors that I got on a nail wheel and I can already tell that I'm going to be buying many more of these!!! If you can't tell I absolutely love this polish and highly recommend this one and the others to all of you. Go check her out! 

Stay tuned for more swatches from this little mini haul! 

Thanks for reading!

**the polish in this post was purchased by me for my own personal use at a discounted price in return for an honest and unbiased review**

Zoya Stevie...

Hello everyone! I hope you're all having a good week so far! 

Today I have an awesome polish to share with you. Zoya PixieDusts are by far my favorite of the textured polishes out right now. They got the formula just right in my opinion; the texture is sandy but not too rough and the finish is matte but also incredibly sparkly. I haven't really mastered catching them on camera, but trust me, they are amazing. 

A couple of weeks ago I placed my largest (and most expensive) polish order ever, and of course it was from Zoya.com. I'm just so in love with the Pixies and Zoyas in general lately. So, I ordered Stevie and Miranda from the summer PixieDust collection and the entire fall Pixie Dust Collection. I also ordered Josie, Neely, Storm, and Hope. So prepare yourself to see lots of Zoya over the next few weeks. :) 

So first up is Stevie. Zoya describes Stevie as a violet sparkle with silver sparkle, but I think it's closer to lavender. To me its a nice, light, soft purple. I wore this color for a couple of days and loved it. 

I put this over my usual OPI Nail Envy Matte base coat. Zoya says to use no base coat, but I can't do it. Nail Envy has been so good for my nails, I can't go without it. I've heard they dry faster without base, but I'm okay with waiting. This is 3 thin coats. With PixieDusts make sure you let them dry in between coats, and the full effect doesn't show up until it's totally dry. 

Sorry this post is a little picture heavy. I've got light box and sun pictures for you. 

First the light box pictures. 

And here it is in the sun

I highly HIGHLY recommend the Zoya PixieDusts. Stevie is the 4th one I've tried and I've loved every single one. They apply like a dream and wear incredibly well. If you're a fan of textured polish and sparkle, you need at least one of them in your life. 

Let me know what you think of this polish. Do you have any PixieDusts? Are they your favorite too???

Happy polishing!

~casey

Rad Cloud...

Hello polish friends! I hope everyone is having a great Sunday! It is stormy and dreary here, but that is perfectly ok with me. I actually really like dreary weather, as long as it doesn't last for days and days at a time.

I'm trying to get into a routine with blog posting, it's trickier than I thought it would be; coming up with a schedule, deciding what to paint, what to post, getting pics, etc etc. So bare with me while I get into a routine.

Today I have a swatch and review for you. I'm going to go ahead and admit it, I'm addicted to indie polishes. I've only got a few right now, with a few more on the way, but I love them. Something about having something that you know was created by hand by someone with the same love of polish as you... I don't know, I just love it. Plus indies for the most part have a very different look than mainstream brands. Maybe because they are created for polish lovers by polish lovers? Who knows.

This lovely polish is by Hare Polish, it's called Rad Cloud. I bought this at the recommendation of my friend Alysia. You should really check out her Instagram, she posts AMAZING manis and macros. This isn't a color I would have normally picked on my own, so I'm glad she recommended it to me. This is 2 coats over 2 coats of OPI Pedal Faster Suzi and topped with one coat of Glossy Glam. I love the finish on this polish. It's got a milky candy pink base filled with an awesome mix of glitters: green and purple squares with pink and orange hexes of all sizes.

What do you think of this polish? I love the fun mix of shapes, sizes, and colors. 

HAREpolish can be purchased from their etsy store. Follow them on their Instagram to stay up to date on restocks and sales.

Thanks for reading! Happy polishing!

~casey

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

OPI Bond Girls, Pussy Galore

Happy Friday everyone! Fridays really are the best aren't they? Even if you don't have plans, there's just something about knowing it's Friday that makes the day a little better. I think this weekend my Mikey and I are going to the local county fair. We always go to stroll the midway, mainly to people watch. And we look at all of the exibits because we're dorky and it's air conditioned in there. But this year we are also going to the tractor pulls! I am a total geeky redneck and love that stuff. Before Mike and I started dating (14 years ago this Sunday... aproximately...) I never liked anything like that. I liked car shows, but mostly because I'm a sucker for pretty colors. But now I'm kind of a car girl, mostly MOPARs because that is what my hubby loves and it's rubbed off on me. We go to the local dirt track a couple of times a year, watch NASCAR every week, and watch shows like Fast n Loud and Auto Auctions. And tractor pulls rank right up there with my favorites. 

Tonights post is a swatch of OPI's Pussy Galore. The OPI Liquid Sand polishes are my second favorite textures, right behind Zoya PixieDust. When they released the Bond Girls collection I was intrigued, but not head over heels for any of them. But after seeing a few swatches I knew I had to have Solitaire and Pussy Galore. I don't know that I'd ever wear this as a full mani because it looks a little too frosty to me, but it's pretty and I can see myself reaching for it for accent nail art. Plus, lets just be honest. If someone asks me what polish I'm wearing answering with "Oh this is Pussy Galore" would feel a little strange... even though it's named after a Bond Girl.

Pussy Galore is a nice, soft, pearly pink. It's almost a matte frost if that makes any sense. What I couldn't pick up in the pictures is the fabulous hot pink glitter that is in here. No matter how hard I tried, my camera just couldn't handle it. If you're in a beauty store and see this, check out the bottle and the swatch nail. It's really much prettier in person. Overall I really liked the polish, the formula is fantastic and opaque in 2 coats. But I don't think I'll wear it much. It's not my kind of color to wear. 

Let me know what you all think! Do you like this polish? Are you loving the texture trend as much as I am? 

Happy polishing!

~casey

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