Swatches of It's Fall Thanks To You by Glitter Daze

Hi guys! 

Remember how much I said I loved the It's Fall Thanks To You Mini I got in my Glitter Daze box this month? Well, I couldn't wait to try it on. 

IFTTY is a pink/orange duo chrome with purplish red glass fleck shimmer. I used three coats. I know this doesn't exactly qualify as nail art, but I was uninspired and I had naked nails, and I needed something to put on them between now and my thanksgiving mani (which I'm probably just going to re-create my fall leaves mani). 

I used I <3 Nail Polish's Mutagen for my accent nail, which is a crazy multichrome green/blue/gray/purple that seriously looks radio-active on your nails. Whenever I do an accent nail I always wish I did the whole mani that color, but I really love both of these colors. For this I also used three coats, no undies. 

Here it is with flash...it's a completely different color! 

I <3 Nail Polishes recently re-formulated their multichromes, and now they're all holographic (which kind of makes me wish I didn't buy them at first), but luckily for me I have a holographic top coat, so I don't have to buy four brand new nail polishes. 

I put Rainbow Syrup by Ellagee on each nail, and then topped it with Glisten and Glow HK girl. 

Can't really see it, I was going to take pictures this morning but the sun was nowhere to be found. 

I was REALLY rough on my hands today at work, and I only had some minor tipwear on a few nails, which I touched up. I think I'm going to be using two layers of top coat from now on and reapplying a layer every few days. 

As a side note, I've been using this app to catalogue my nail polishes and to make a note of whether I've tried them or not. I was literally almost done, and I realized that, while I was going for a walk before my phone deleted the app, along with all the data. So mad. I wasted so much time! I'll get over it.

  

I'm still really tempted to get the I <3 NP holographic multichromes. They're for sale right now! They also have some really cool Christmas polishes coming out which I am definitely getting.

xoxo

Belle

Glitter Daze Daze of the Month November 2013 Box

Hi guys! So yesterday I got my Glitter Daze Daze of the Month Ultra Box for November! Yay! 

For some reason I didn't take a full box shot like usual, I think it was because I had so many things to open and I just kind of threw everything all around. 

Here is my full size for this month:

It's called A Pie-ce of My Heart, and it's a glitter topper with various shapes and sizes of maroon, hot pink, orange, red, yellow, and black glitters. I wasn't excited when I first saw it (it's a glitter topper and you see A LOT of purple when you look at it) but it's actually pretty cool and perfect for fall. 

Here's a swatch of it: 

Next is my mini:

This is called Its Fall Thanks To You, and this is probably my favorite color of anything ever. It's a pink to orange duo chrome (my two favorite colors) with purplish red glass fleck shimmer. I really wish this was the full size and the other one was the mini, and I fully intend to pick up a full size when it becomes available. I was wondering what polish to use for my thanksgiving mani, and I don't have to wonder anymore. 

Swatches:

My extras: 

Moisturizing cuticle stick: I can definitely use one of these, my cuticles hate me right now. It's peonie scented, and I really like the way it smells. 

Melting wax: this month Glitter Daze partnered with a Dallas based scented wax subscription company, The Melting Fairy Wax Co. As you can see, I already used one. Basically you need something (I don't know what it's called) that holds the wax on top and you burn a candle on the bottom so the wax melts. Luckily I have these readily available throughout my house: 

The scent was peppermint caramel popcorn, and it smelled really good at first. But after a while, I didn't want my room to smell like it anymore. It's a pretty weird combination. If it was just peppermint or just caramel, I probably would have liked it a lot better. I'll probably still wind up using the other half though. 

Also, anyone who orders in November gets a coupon code for a purchase in December from 3-35% off (it's a surprise so you won't know until you enter it). I definitely plan on using mine to get a full size of Its Fall Thanks To You and the St Pattys Day Duo (apparently I plan holiday manicures very early). 

I love Glitter Daze, and I will probably review my subscription after the holidays are over. Or next week. I havnt decided yet. 

Xoxo

Belle

Lynx Cosmetics Mystery Island Mixes

Hi guys!

Today was like Christmas for me. I got my Ipsy, my Glitterdaze, and my recent order from Lynx Cosmetics, which is what I'm going to show you now!

I am so excited to show you these. Remember when I said that I was going on a no-buy in November? And when I said I broke my no-buy for a fun and exciting reason? These are it!

Recently Lynx Cosmetics has created some really unique nail polishes called Mystery Island Mixes. I first saw them on Instagram. They look mostly clear with a few layers of glitter/pigment, and you can't really tell what they'll look like because you have to shake them. Here is the description from LC:

"The bottom of my bottle is a Mystery Island of beautiful color! You can see a glimpse of what I may look like, but there are layers of surprise glitters and colors all around me. You won't know what beautiful polish I am until I arrive at your doorstep! Add the mixing bead into my bottle to fully mix my colors and see all my beauty."

This is such a cool and unique idea that I absolutely could not resist. I picked out three, based on the colors/glitters I could see because I figured I would like them. 

Here is the first one. 

This is what it looked like when I took it out of the package (and pretty much how it looks on the website):

This color is called You're Hot Then You're Cold.

This is what it looks like after shaking it vigorously for a few minutes:

This is a really pretty blue base with big red circle glitters, tiny red circle glitters and holographic gold microglitters. This one might be my favorite. It reminds me of Superman/Snow White. The holographic microglitters are what make this polish. 

This one is called A Unicorn Was Born, and it is Limited Edition, and I believe no longer available. It reminds me of The Little Mermaid. I saw this on IG and it said there were only two left, and my brain automatically went "I must have one of them!"

This is what it looks like shaken. It's a very light blue base with small pink circle glitters, pale blue hexes, and tiny gold glitters. I could have sworn it was also supposed to have a mystery scent, but I smelled it a bunch of times and it just smells like nail polish (i stopped smelling it after a while because I didn't want to get high on nail polish fumes ;)

This last one is called Spectra Bomb. I thought it was going to be holographic (spectraflair) and it has a lot of pretty colors. It looks kind of like theres a tiny genie inside :) 

This is a really cool milky white base with glitters in literally every color of the rainbow and large white hexes. This was after minutes of shaking it and I still feel like I didn't mix it enough. 

You really have to shake the hell out of these. Like...my arms were sore after. They give you a little steel mixing ball in a little plastic baggie attached to each polish. 

Here they are swatched on a nail wheel:

From left to right : Specrta Bomb, You're Hot Then You're Cold, and A Unicorn Was Born

What do you guys think of these? I've never seen anything like them. I think that Lynx is making different ones each month, and right now they have two different sized mystery bags with never before seen Mystery Island Mixes! I am SOOO tempted, but I'm still on that no-buy. And these are the only polishes I've bought since I've been on the no-buy (I even said no to the new Julep mystery box) so I'm pretty proud of myself!

Go to http://lynxlacquer.com and get some for yourself!

xoxo, 

Belle

Dance Legend 180 Termo Shine (with glitter)

Hi guys!

So today I wanted to share with you a polish that I recently got that I've been dying for. It's Termo Shine (with glitter) 180 by Dance Legend. If you didn't know, Dance Legend is a Russian company (they ship to the U.S., but big nail polish retailers (like Llarowe and Ninja Polish) also carry them. 

I first saw this polish on Jen, the Polishaholic's blog. I knew immediately that I HAD to have it. This was the first thermo polish I had ever seen, and it changes from black to really light (almost clear) silver, which is probably the most dramatic change I've seen in a thermo. Also, it has glitter! Of course it was out of stock everywhere, and the company's page was down for a while, but I stalked the site as soon as the page was back up and ordered directly from Dance Legend when it was available. 

Here is a "cold" shot, with Shirley Temple by Ellagee for the accent nail. I've already shown this polish before, and I thought i would be cool to have a different color thermo as an accent.

With flash:

Here is a transition photo:

And here is a "warm" photo

This is going to be fun to play with at work. I ordered this on September 3rd, and it just came a few weeks ago. And then a few days ago, they sent me another one! I got excited because I thought it was the multichromes I ordered from them (I ordered the entire collection). I ordered these a few days later, but apparently the shipping was delayed. Hoping I get them by December!

On top I used one coat of HK Girl Top Coat and then a coat of Sally Hansen Insta-dry to help with chipping. 

Now I need to go to sleep so I can be up at 7 for work :(

xoxo

Belle

Broken Glass Manicure

Hi guys! So today I have for you something that I've wanted to do for a very long time, ever since I saw a picture of it on Pintrest. 

It's a broken glass manicure:

I started out with a coat of Julep Nail Therapy (bought it in the secret store as part of the Nail 911 kit). Then over that I put a coat of ORLY Bonder. 

Next for every nail I used Color Club Beyond, a black holo. Color club holos are the best, I don't own any others because I don't need them with this collection. This is how it started out: 

I think it's cool to have the holo peeking out in the background. I tried to capture the effect with flash, because I do my nails at night and the sun has gone MIA around here lately. 

The polish I used for stamping is No Placd Like Chrome by Essie, which actually worked pretty well. 

When I got my new Mash plates I was really excited to see that there are, not one, but two broken glass images. I have no idea why, because they look exactly the same to me. I used both of them just to make my life easier. They're on image plates 57 and 72 from the newest collection. 

You're probably wondering what that hot mess is on my ring finger. That's Crystal by Julep. It's a diamond reflective top coat, and it's just diamond shapes in a clear base. Some if the diamonds don't show up on camera for some reason. I thought this was going to look a lot better than it actually does. Not sure what I could have done to make it look better. It's really thick on my nail so I'm not expecting it to last too long. 

I topped it off with HG Girl Glisten and Glow. I've literally heard nothing but good things about this top coat, and I have yet to find my go-to. Now, you'd think that I would buy a little bottle to try it out, considering that I've never used it before and that I don't know if I'll like it. But no. This is what I bought. 

The biggest, bling-yest bottle I could find. This is on the website for $35.95, and altogether it was about $42 or something with shipping. Really? I paid $42 for a top coat? The funny thing is, I have the Out the Door top coat in the exact same size, and I paid $5.49. 

I mean, the HK girl is supposed to be better, so I'm hoping it helps my mani live for at least a few days. It's thicker than most top coats I've used, but I like that. I'll see how I feel about it in my next couple of mani. 

As always, thanks for reading!

xoxo, 

Belle

Thor 2 Nail Art...Loki Nails!

Okay guys.

So, Thor 2 comes out tomorrow, and I am SO EXCITED! Loki is, without a doubt, my favorite fictional character EVER. I don't know if it's because he is played by the amazing Tom Hiddleston, or because his character is so badass, but I love him. I mayyy or may not have been planning this manicure for months. I'm probably going to see the actual movie on Sunday (my day off), but I could see it before. My boyfriend offered to take me to the midnight showing, but honestly I'm getting to an age where I don't even want to go see a movie at midnight.

I'm working every day until Sunday, so there's a huge risk of my nails chipping before I can actually see the movie, but I had some free time and I figured I could always touch it up. 

As always, I used one coat of ORLY Bonder on all nails. Then I did three thin coats of Fight Like a Girl by PISTOL polish. Lastly I used two thin coats of Ciate Mattnificent Matte Top Coat (it came with a Chalkboard Nails Kit that I got as a gift). I used two coats because there was still some streaky shine after one. The accent nail is Oscar by Julep - three coats. I debated using a gold undie, but the glitter is so dense that by three coats it completely covers the nail. I topped it with my HK Girl Top Coat by Glisten & Glow, that I just got today, but I'll talk about that more in a different post (you can't really tell how shiny the top coat makes it because glitter is shiny anyway).

On a totally unrelated note, I noticed that for some reason on a lot of the pictures I was writing belleandarielle@blogspot.com instead of belleandarielle.blogspot.com. I don't know where the @ came from....maybe I like the way it looks? Who knows.

Also...I broke my no-buy today....but it's for a really cool reason! And I will definitely be showing you guys when I get them :)

That's all for now.

xoxo,
Belle

Lynx Cosmetics November 2013 Mystery Box

Hi guys! 

So a few weeks ago I was on Instagram and I saw that something called Lynx Cosmetics started following me. I looked on their page to see what it was all about and the first picture I saw was a picture of a mystery box advertisement. I bought a lot of Halloween mystery boxes, but this one was more themed toward Christmas. 

Without a second thought, I ordered one. For $25 you got two full sized polishes and two minis, each holiday-themed and limited edition (only sold in the mystery boxes), plus some extra goodies. There was also a smaller option, $10 for two mini polishes and extras. 

Here is what I got: 

My first full sized polish is called Frosty Peed, and it is a really pale yellow base with matte yellow and and white hexes and smaller holographic silver hexes. 

I'm gonna be honest, I think it's a really cute name and idea, but I can't see myself wearing this, like ever. The color literally looks like someone peed on your nails. 

The other full size is called Santa Suit, and it's a nice Christmas-y red filled with holographic microglitters. I wouldn't necessarily consider this polish holographic, because you can't see it unless you shine a bright light (like a flashlight) directly on it. I can definitely see myself using this one! 

My minis:

First one is called Heart of Gold. This color is GORGEOUS. It's a shimmery gold base with red microglitters. This one is my favorite in the bunch, and I wish I had gotten this as a full size and FP as a mini. 

The second one is Holly Berrie, and it's a glitter topper with red, black and silver medium sized hexes, and small green and holographic hexes. Perfect for Christmas. 

My extras:

Gingerbread Cookie Bath Salt Sample:

I generally don't use bath products (as in i shower rather than bathe) but this smells really good. I might try these out. 

Stamping plate: I love stamping so this is definitely welcome in my collection. I did expect some of the images to be holiday-themed, but I already have some holiday images in latest nail plates from Mash so it's all good :)

And finally, some clear rhinestones. 

Here are some swatches of the polishes: 

From top to bottom: Santa Suit, Frosty Peed, Heart of Gold, and Holly Berry. 

All in all I think this is a pretty cute box. It will probably be one of my only Christmas mystery boxes (because of the no-buy and the fact that I should probably be getting things for other people...and I also ordered a holiday set from Julep). 

Lynx Cosmetics also has these new polishes that you don't know what they are until you shake them up. These look SO cool, and if I wasn't on a no buy I definitely would have ordered a couple. 

www.lynxlacquer.com

xoxo

Belle

Pistol Polish November 2013 Duo

Hi guys! So today I got my PISTOL Polish November duo in the mail. I usually get my PISTOL exactly two days after they send the shipping email, so today I was stalking the mail man and watching him out my window like a crazy serial killer. 

I opened my mail box and was sad for a second because I didn't see it right away, but there it was, all the way in the back :). 

The packaging is a little different this time, it has this instead of the double pistols (I really liked those!) 

And here is the duo: 

The one on the left is called Big Bang, and here is the description: 

"We live color (author's note: I'm not sure if this is a type-o or not), but every once in a while a PISTOL craves a clean slate to clear her mind and prep for the "big bang," - that ahh-ha moment that sparks a dream. Stark while (a/n: pretty sure this is supposed to say white), a prominent nail trend of the season, is amazing alone or as the star of nail art. Or, try it as a base under brights and watch the colors pop." 

I use white pretty much in every other manicure, so this will most likely be my go-to from now on. Everyone can use white, whether you like it by itself, for nail art, as an undie for glitters, or before you sponge on your ombré colors. You can never have enough white polish!

The one on the right is called Bite the Bullet, and here is the description: 

"Inspired by misty fall mornings along the coast, this blue-gray hue, also known as "livid," is subtle yet powerful, just like you. It doesn't scream to be noticed, but wear this icy hue and we guarantee the clouds will clear."

This is a work-safe, almost denim color (it reminds me of jeans). It's a nice wintery hue, and I can see myself using it as an undie for winter nail art (and maybe stamping Big Bang on top!). 

As always, here are the swatches:

Not gonna lie, I'm kind of missing the shimmery colors, like the ones from the last two boxes (although, I can always put on a glitter top coat :). These colors are essential though, and are going to be SO pretty for winter.

I <3 my PISTOL :) 

Get yours at www.pistolpolish.com! 

xoxo,

Belle

The Little Mermaid Ursula Inspired Nails

Hi everyone!

Today I pre-ordered a few of the new nail polishes from I <3 Nail Polish (www.ilnp.com), and I am officially on a no-buy for the month of November. Like, for real. 

So I decided that I would spend this month trying out nail polishes that I haven't gotten a chance to yet. I decided to try out four of them at once:

This kind of reminds me of the little mermaid. My motivation behind it:

Recently Hit Polish (http://www.etsy.com/au/shop/HitPolishNailLacquer) came out with a new collection, and was selling their old collections for discounted prices. I picked up three minis for $1.88 each. One of the ones I picked up was Ursula. It's a REALLY pretty crelly lavender base with TONS of holographic microglitter, small holographic purple hex glitters, matte white lines, grey and black hex's, black squares of various sizes, and purple shards. Pictures will not do this polish justice, it is GORGEOUS in person. As soon as I saw it, I knew it would look amazing over Julep's Joanna, which is a lavender creme base with a pearl finish. I figured since most of my mani was Ursula, I wanted to do an Ariel accent nail. I picked Julep's Angela (which I somehow have two of). It's one of those blueish duochrome colors that pretty much every company has by now. 

On top of that I put on Avon Opal Top Coat. Arielle got this for me for my birthday, and I've been wanting to try it out. It looks like magic in a bottle. For some reason, it reminds me of when Ursula stole Ariel's voice and put it in the locket. I don't know why or how that makes sense. I topped everything with Sally Hansen Insta Dry.

From left to right: Ursula by Hit Polish, Avon Opal Top Coat, Julep Angela, and Julep Joanna.

With flash...I tried to capture some of the microglitters, but it's night time and what you see in the picture is not even close to how sparkly it is in person. 

I really wish I had a full-sized Ursula. But the awesome thing about Hit Polish is that you actually have an option to buy a full-sized discontinued polish under a custom listing (for $8!).

I don't think I'll run out any time soon, considering that I have probably hundreds of polishes I haven't tried yet (and I'm on a no-buy so I can't!) but I will probably eventually get one. 

That's all for now, as always thanks for reading <3

xoxo,

Belle