Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Contrary Polish: Alexandrite

While working with Contrary Polish on The Color Box polish for the grey box, Carrie mentioned to me that she had made a shifty grey polish that she wanted to send to me, as it didn't fit into her collections.

For this one though she said she was inspired by Alexandrite (green to purple color-shifting stone) and then the polish morphed a bit. What she ended up with was a green to purple duochrome with a dark grey undertone.

xoxoJen's swatch of Contrary Polish: Alexandrite
xoxoJen's swatch of Contrary Polish: Alexandrite
xoxoJen's swatch of Contrary Polish: Alexandrite

The color combo reminded her of my inspiration photo, so she wanted to give it to me! I'm quite humbled by her generosity. I enjoyed working with her and getting to meet her at Polish Con.

xoxoJen's photo of Contrary Polish at Polish Con

Thursday, November 24, 2016

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm grateful for my family and friends and all the love and support I've received through this tough year.

xoxoJen's swatch of Fall Nail Art
xoxoJen's swatch of Fall Nail Art

Inspired by a customer's mani posted on the Vivid Lacquer facebook timeline. Supplies I used for this pond mani: Pipe Dream Polish Lava Lamp stamped with MDU and the leaves from the VL013 plate.

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Lou It Yourself: Holiday Trio

The Holiday Trio from Lou It Yourself will be available November 25th at 10:00am Central. The polishes each have a holo and flakie finish which is simply perfect for the holidays and year round. Take a look!


Jingle McKringleberry
A warm red jelly with green/gold flakies and a dash of holo. Red like a ripe tomato! I can't wait for spring so we can grow tomatoes again!

xoxoJen's swatch of Lou It Yourself Jingle McKringleberry
xoxoJen's swatch of Lou It Yourself Jingle McKringleberry
xoxoJen's swatch of Lou It Yourself Jingle McKringleberry

A Serious Case of Tinsellitis
A silver shimmer full of holo shards, platinum and silver flakies with a dash of holo. I love how bright and sparkly this is! It's one of those silvers that look nearly white.

xoxoJen's swatch of Lou It Yourself A Serious Case of Tinsellitis
xoxoJen's swatch of Lou It Yourself A Serious Case of Tinsellitis
xoxoJen's swatch of Lou It Yourself A Serious Case of Tinsellitis

This also looks great as a topper! Worn on the ring finger over Jingle McKringleberry and the other nails are topped with Oh, Holo There, a holo top coat that Lou also sent!

xoxoJen's swatch of Lou It Yourself A Serious Case of Tinsellitis

Hot Crocolate
A dark emerald with copper shimmer, gold flakies and holo. What a fun name, I love the creativity here!

xoxoJen's swatch of Lou It Yourself Hot Crocolate
xoxoJen's swatch of Lou It Yourself Hot Crocolate
xoxoJen's swatch of Lou It Yourself Hot Crocolate

I wore three thin coats of each polish with Lou It Yourself's To Top It Off topcoat. The formula was fluid and easy to apply for all three polishes and I enjoyed trying Lou's topcoat. It seemed to dry fairly quick and was super shiny! If you're on the hunt to try a new topcoat, I can recommend this one.

I was curious whether these would watermarble and yes, they do! I wore these over A Serious Case of Tinsellitis and I really love how Jingle McKringleberry looks like a shade of rose gold in some areas!

xoxoJen's swatch of Lou It Yourself watermarble
xoxoJen's swatch of Lou It Yourself watermarble

The Holiday Trio and other new releases ship free when ordered between Friday and Monday. Lou It Yourself is also having a storewide 40% off sale (excluding new releases) on Friday and Saturday. Use code: turkey

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Thank you Manna! (a few updates)



The Indie Polish Shop list has been scrubbed of inactive/closed/moved shops!
There are also some additions to the list that weren't on it prior.

Manna checked every link (originally approx 500 links!) to insure the shop url was still current, found new links for those that moved, and removed those that had closed.
Huge thank you to her! If you are not familiar with her blog - go visit!!
She has straight forward reviews and beautiful photos!



I also have the annual holiday sales form and list ready for entries!




Sunday, November 13, 2016

Vapid: Smoke Screen

I recently purchased the limited edition Smoke Screen polish from Vapid and it does not disappoint!

xoxoJen's swatch of Vapid: Smoke Screen

Definitely a mysteriously smokey looking finish - I love how the coppery shimmers show through!

xoxoJen's swatch of Vapid: Smoke Screen

I wore it for seven days and it didn't chip.

xoxoJen's swatch of Vapid: Smoke Screen

The formula was smooth and buttery, love the soft brush too.
Do you have this polish?
What is your favorite Vapid?




Friday, November 11, 2016

The Color Box: Green


The Color Box is a blogger and brand collaborative box lead by Julie from Blue-Eyed Girl, Manna from Manna's Manis and myself. The idea was to have a single color themed box of custom blogger designed polishes. In each box we invite new and well-known brands and bloggers. The fans vote for the color, and the box is a pre-order launch that lasts a full week. Each brand also has the option of listing their polish in their own shop after the box has been shipped.

This month's box color is green! My second favorite color, as purple will always be my number one. ;)

Beautiful polishes, yes?

xoxoJen's photo of The Color Box Green

After having met Adrienne & Sarah at Polish Con Chicago, it was an amazing pleasure to work with Fair Maiden to create a Color Box polish. I was very impressed with their skill in creating what I had envisioned on the very first try! These ladies are super talented - if you haven't tried their polishes yet, you definitely should!

xoxoJen's swatch of Fair Maiden Hidden Lair
xoxoJen's swatch of Fair Maiden Hidden Lair
xoxoJen's swatch of Fair Maiden Hidden Lair

xoxo, Jen & Fair Maiden - Hidden Lair - A medium shade of a lime leaning olive green with a super holo flame. Varied lighting brings out a lime glow from within. This is a one coater! I always swatch with two though, so this is two coats with topcoat. I wore this polish for more than a week, and it never chipped.

Swatch photos are all taken under the same lamp, just at different distances and angles so you can see the many faces of this polish.
The first three swatch images are my usual positioning from the light source. I hope you love Hidden Lair, I certainly do.

xoxoJen's swatch of Fair Maiden Hidden Lair
xoxoJen's swatch of Fair Maiden Hidden Lair
xoxoJen's swatch of Fair Maiden Hidden Lair
xoxoJen's swatch of Fair Maiden Hidden Lair
xoxoJen's swatch of Fair Maiden Hidden Lair
xoxoJen's swatch of Fair Maiden Hidden Lair
xoxoJen's swatch of Fair Maiden Hidden Lair
xoxoJen's swatch of Fair Maiden Hidden Lair
xoxoJen's swatch of Fair Maiden Hidden Lair

Manna’s Manis & Great Lakes Lacquer - Manna's Magical Masterpiece - Sea Green with blue to green shifting shimmer, purple shimmer, and a dash of scattered holo.
I wore three coats of this shimmery goodness along with topcoat. The formula was fluid and super easy to apply. I use a heavy hand when I paint, so I wanted to mention this is a bit sheer and may need more coats if you paint with a lighter touch/thinner coats than I do.

xoxoJen's swatch of Great Lakes Lacquer Manna's Magical Masterpiece
xoxoJen's swatch of Great Lakes Lacquer Manna's Magical Masterpiece
xoxoJen's swatch of Great Lakes Lacquer Manna's Magical Masterpiece

Ida Nails It & LE Polish - Succulent Stargazer - a light jade green crelly with silver and pink shimmer and pink microflakes and platinum mega flakes.
Loving this calming soft shade of green with a bit of glam. I wore two coats with topcoat. Formula was smooth and easy.

xoxoJen's swatch of LE Polish Succulent Stargazer
xoxoJen's swatch of LE Polish Succulent Stargazer
xoxoJen's swatch of LE Polish Succulent Stargazer

Just The Polished Tip & Nevermind - Princess Ozma - Shimmery emerald green with holo micro flakies.
Fairly new to the Indie scene, Nevermind launched their brand at Polish Con in September. I think that they and Karina from Just the Polished Tip did a wonderful job with their polish. It's such a vibrant, rich shade of green packed with holo sparks! I wore two coats, love the brush and the bottle cap (unique!) and the fancy labels. Formula was fantastic, I look forward to seeing what the future holds for Nevermind.

xoxoJen's swatch of Nevermind Princess Ozma
xoxoJen's swatch of Nevermind Princess Ozma
xoxoJen's swatch of Nevermind Princess Ozma

The Polished Hippy & Blue-Eyed Girl - Green's Alexandrite With Me! - Deep green holographic with two types of green to purple shift, green-blue-purple UCC flakes, and aqua to green Shifting flakes.
Loving the shiftiness of this, totally nailed the gemstone it's inspired by! I wore two coats of this glimmery mystical polish with a coat of topcoat. Formula was fantastic!

xoxoJen's swatch of Blue-Eyed Girl Green's Alexandrite With Me
xoxoJen's swatch of Blue-Eyed Girl Green's Alexandrite With Me
xoxoJen's swatch of Blue-Eyed Girl Green's Alexandrite With Me

The box pre-order starts on November 25 and runs through December 2 at The Color Box shop. We also have a facebook group and an Instagram account - come join us!



RULES:
1. Open worldwide.
2. NO giveaway accounts, spam, or empty accounts. Winning entries will be checked and those will be disqualified.
3. You must be 18 years or older.
4. You will have 48 hours to respond to email to claim your prize. After 48 hours another winner will be chosen.
5. The Color Box hold no responsibility once the package has been dropped off at the post office.
6. The only required entry is your email address, all others will then be unlocked and are optional.
7. If you are already following someone, be sure to still put your info. That's basically a free entry!
8. Giveaway runs from November 11th until 11:59 pm EDT November 20th.
a Rafflecopter giveaway