Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Simples Weeks 3, 4, and 5


A few posts back
I introduced you to Simples, a nail art group on facebook that's lead by Debbie from The Crumpet blog. Debbie's aim is to teach various simple nail art techniques and help us master them. The group is really laid back and with only one tutorial to try out per week, it's really easy to join in. There's no obligation to do the week's mani every week and you can join in at any time! Debbie's videos are very informative and she even shares her tips and tricks with us! Really, come on over and join - you can lurk if you like, but I would love to see all your creations after a tutorial has been posted!

For the third week the theme was ombre nails. I've seen them done up on other blogs so beautifully, but never tried it myself. For this mani I chose to use the original shade of Sinful Colors called Dream On. My thumb nail is the original color and then moving from index to pinky I made that polish into an ombre by adding more and more drops of white to the polish for each nail. I used tin foil to mix on, but any durable surface will work. So, how'd I do?

xoxoJen's swatch of Simples week 3: Ombre

Afterward I took a cue from Jenna, who added shimmer to her ombre, and topped mine with Pure Ice Busted and then a matte top coat.

xoxoJen's swatch of Simples week 3: Ombre


The fourth week's theme was the saran wrap mani. Depending on the technique you use, this one may have fine marks from a tight crumple or more of a smooshed look from a loose crumple. You can also control the amount of polish picked up off the top layer by how many times you dab the wrap. Alternatively, a plastic bag or bubble wrap can be used or perhaps stiff tissue paper or gift wrap. Anything that crumples fairly easily.

The saran wrap mani was a bit daunting to me at first, but I dove right in. When planning out my mani for this, I cut and crumpled a different piece of wrap for each nail to help minimize clean up but you can use the same piece if you prefer. I used Nfu-Oh 51 for the base color and Dance Legend 12 (Android) for the effect. I was shocked at how much I loved my result and how easy it was to do! I took eleventy billion pictures of the mani, but I'll spare you the load time and just share my favorite three. :)

xoxoJen's swatch of Simples week 4: Saran Wrap
xoxoJen's swatch of Simples week 4: Saran Wrap
xoxoJen's swatch of Simples week 4: Saran Wrap

For the fifth week, which just began Saturday, the tutorial is the dotticure. I had fun following Debbie's video tutorial which was very easy to follow with step by step instructions. She also shows you how to avoid stringy, hollow, and misshapen dots.

For mine, Jason chose (he's my man, and this is also for the "he picks my polish" group!) Elevation's El Cap II as the base color which is light blue with purpley shimmer which makes it look periwinkle, or is it blue..hmmm... and Sinful Colors Unicorn for the dots. I jokingly called this mani "Unicorn on the Mountain" in my post at the group. -snortle-

I love how this turned out, but I'm a little distracted from my results by the Elevation polish. If you don't have it, you need it. If you've not ever tried Elevation, you neeeeeeeed to! The polish goes on like syrup. It's so easy to control that I didn't need to do any clean up - and for me, that's rare! :D

xoxoJen's swatch of Simples week 5: Dotticure

The Simples group is so much fun! I've enjoyed it so far and look forward to learning even more! I'd love it if you join and show me your results!

#hepicksmypolish




xoxo, Jen signature

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Glam Polish: Epic Journey


Glam Polish has created The Epic Journey collection for summer and it's now available for pre-order. The collection is a limited edition and consists of nine magical shades inspired by the Fellowship's Journey Through Middle-earth. Glam Polish ships within Australia and to the USA, and the collection will be available at other international stockists in July.

xoxoJen's collage of Glam Polish The Epic Journey collection

I took photos of the bottles at various angles to show differences, since some of these polishes may appear similar in my photos but they are all different from each other. I have also posted the swatches in the same order in the above collage.

xoxoJen's collage of Glam Polish The Epic Journey collection


Fangorn Forest is made up of oversized blue and green mica particles, which I sometimes call "flecks," in a smokey teal base. Because the particles are larger, settling may occur but a little shaking will blend them up nicely. I didn't notice settling in my bottles, but I haven't had them for very long yet.

xoxoJen's swatch of Glam Polish Fangorn Forest
xoxoJen's swatch of Glam Polish Fangorn Forest
xoxoJen's swatch of Glam Polish Fangorn Forest

Rivendell is made up of blue, green and purple flecks in a smokey green base and appears more blue on the nail due to the purple mica.

xoxoJen's swatch of Glam Polish Rivendell
xoxoJen's swatch of Glam Polish Rivendell
xoxoJen's swatch of Glam Polish Rivendell

Anduin River has a bright cornflower blue to orchid shifting shimmer and holographic particles in a purple leaning grey base. The shift is subtle and only apparent in certain lighting situations. It's my second favorite from this collection.

xoxoJen's swatch of Glam Polish Anduin River
xoxoJen's swatch of Glam Polish Anduin River
xoxoJen's swatch of Glam Polish Anduin River

Helm's Deep is the stand out and is my very favorite of this collection. It has the larger flecks that shift from blue to purple to orchid and holographic particles packed into a purple leaning grey base. It's super sparkly and caught my eye as I was unboxing all of them.

xoxoJen's swatch of Glam Polish Helm's Deep
xoxoJen's swatch of Glam Polish Helm's Deep
xoxoJen's swatch of Glam Polish Helm's Deep


Isengard is a beautiful violet shimmer polish with holographic particles which kind of gives it the illusion of shifting color in its grey base.

xoxoJen's swatch of Glam Polish Isengard
xoxoJen's swatch of Glam Polish Isengard
xoxoJen's swatch of Glam Polish Isengard


Mount Doom has a base of grey with orchid shimmers and holographic particles. These colors together make it appear as a shifty polish! You can see where areas on the nail look navy blue, which is actually a blue leaning purple (camera fail), and other areas of the nail look more orchid.

xoxoJen's swatch of Glam Polish Mount Doom
xoxoJen's swatch of Glam Polish Mount Doom
xoxoJen's swatch of Glam Polish Mount Doom

Mines of Moria has a blackberry colored base with purple, blue and coppery flecks and holographic particles. I really like this one and it'd be my third pick from this set.

xoxoJen's swatch of Glam Polish Mines of Moria
xoxoJen's swatch of Glam Polish Mines of Moria
xoxoJen's swatch of Glam Polish Mines of Moria


Fires of Mordor
has mostly rose leaning pink flecks, a few scattered purple and gold flecks and a lot of holographic particles in a charcoal colored base which really darkens the overall look on the nail.

xoxoJen's swatch of Glam Polish Fires of Mordor
xoxoJen's swatch of Glam Polish Fires of Mordor
xoxoJen's swatch of Glam Polish Fires of Mordor


Eye of Sauron
has the same rose leaning pink flecks, more of the purple and gold flecks than FoM(above) and a pinked up lightish grey base color which allows this polish to be quite bright.

xoxoJen's swatch of Glam Polish Eye Of Sauron
xoxoJen's swatch of Glam Polish Eye Of Sauron
xoxoJen's swatch of Glam Polish Eye Of Sauron

I really enjoyed having the opportunity to review Glam Polish for Rachel, this is my first experience with the brand. All of these polishes are beautiful, have a wonderfully smooth formula and most were opaque in one coat but I used two coats in all the photos. If you can't get the whole collection, you won't want to miss Helm's Deep, Anduin River, and Mount Doom.

Be sure to visit the Glam Polish web store to pre-order these polishes and see all the other beautiful polishes available. As mentioned above, Rachel does ship to the USA which is $7.95 for one bottle of polish and $1.00 for each additional bottle. The official release date is June 26th.

And if you're not able to pre-order, show us both some lovin on facebook - Glam Polish and xoxo, Jen and keep an eye out for the international stockists to sell the set in July.

xoxo, Jen signature

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Ethereal Lacquer: Lilac Haze


Ethereal Lacquer's polish for the Limited Edition Summer Cocktails Duo arrived today and all I can say is OMHOLO! It has crazy strong holo and is a gorgeous shade. I'd describe it as a lavender but almost periwinkle, like right on the very edge - maybe hydrangea is a better color to compare it to than lavender. It's quite an unusual shade and I want to say it's got some rose gold shimmer in it. Whatever it is, it's absolutely magical and I love it a lot! I stamped a dandelion from plate VL024, I think it's the perfect accent!

xoxoJen's swatch of Ethereal Lacquer Lilac Haze

xoxoJen's swatch of Ethereal Lacquer Lilac Haze

xoxoJen's swatch of Ethereal Lacquer Lilac Haze


If you've not heard of the Lilac Haze cocktail, have a peep at this recipe for it. Definitely a pretty drink and a beautiful polish. The polish formula is very fluid and easy to apply, opaque in two coats. My first experience with Ethereal Lacquer has left me wanting more, I'm sure lemmings will be born when I start surfing around looking at swatches. Do you have a favorite EL to suggest?

The Summer Cocktail duo is available for preorder now until 6/14 1am central at the Literary Lacquers shop for $22 plus shipping worldwide.
xoxo, Jen signature

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Literary Lacquers: Tequila Mockingbird


Literary Lacquers and Ethereal Lacquer are planning to release a collaborative Limited Edition duo, called Summer Cocktails, and I had the chance to swatch the Literary Lacquers polish in the duo called Tequila Mockingbird.

It's a very bright, almost neon, linear holographic pink. In the bottle it leans a bluer shade and on the nail its more of a straight up bright neonish pink. And for my camera, some shades of pink are very challenging to get color accurate and this is one of them. I did my best, but I think this representation leans a hair too blue.

xoxoJen's swatch of Literary Lacquers Tequila Mockingbird
xoxoJen's swatch of Literary Lacquers Tequila Mockingbird
xoxoJen's swatch of Literary Lacquers Tequila Mockingbird

The formula was smooth and easy as with all other Literary Lacquers polishes I've tried. I wore three coats and topcoat for the photos.

Be sure to visit the Literary Lacquers Facebook page for updates on the Limited Edition duo which will be available for preorder June 6 at 1pm central time to 6/13 1am central at the Literary Lacquers shop for $24.50 shipped in the US or $22 plus relevant shipping worldwide.

xoxo, Jen signature