Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Enchanted January and Lumina Lacquer Dreamlover

I couldn't blog Enchanted's December without doing January next! Its also a perfect base color for Dreamlover from Lumina Lacquer. And so here they are together!

January 2014 was a mystery polish. Chelsea from Enchanted didn't post any photos or descriptions of this polish before it was for sale. A complete mystery! Pretty fun, yet it left me a little unsure of my purchase! I went for it though and I'm glad I did because this one's really pretty!

Its a dark inky blackened teal. It looks navy blue in most lighting - I actually figured out it was teal when I was putting it on and saw the polish running down the inside of the bottle neck with the light shining through. It definitely has a hint of green in it! And where the holo rainbow's color is green, it looks awesome! I did my best to capture it, but really this is one that needs to be seen in person to get the full effect.

Swatches are one coat with topcoat.

xoxoJen: Enchanted Polish January 2014
xoxoJen: Enchanted Polish January 2014
xoxoJen: Enchanted Polish January 2014
xoxoJen: Enchanted Polish January 2014

I LOVE neon pink matte glitter and this polish fulfills a long time lemming of mine for a neon pink chunky glitter topper (with shapes!) and purple shimmer. Its all that and a bag of chips!

Dreamlover has various sized hex glitters, butterflies, stars and hearts! It might contain other shapes that I haven't pulled out of the bottle yet. Having surprise shapes on the brush is one of the things I love about polishes like this!

This glitter topper is absolutely packed to the brim with glitter and shimmer - I didn't fish at all, in fact I had to put some glitter shapes back in the bottle!
The shimmer. Oh man, the purple shimmer in this polish steals my heart! Just look at it. Isn't it amazing and beautiful? I was able to get a really good macro of the shimmer, a butterfly and a heart - take a look!

Swatches are one coat over EP Jan 2014 with Gelous and topcoat to smooth.

xoxoJen: Lumina Lacquer Dreamlover
xoxoJen: Lumina Lacquer Dreamlover
xoxoJen: Lumina Lacquer Dreamlover

What is your long time lemming that just doesn't seem to exist?

Editing in to add: A reader just informed me that Dreamlover is similar to Enchanted Polish's Life in Plastic. I did some google image searching and from what I see they are similar except that Dreamlover has a few more shapes; butterflies, hearts, stars, hexes and squares, where Life in Plastic has hexes, squares and stars. So if you have been wanting the EP this would make a great alternative! Especially if you love more variety in glitter shapes!

xoxo, Jen signature

Monday, February 10, 2014

Enchanted December 2013 and My Ten Friends Carbon Based Life Form

My Enchanted Polishes arrived in the mail today while I was at work and I was so excited about them! Jas sent bottle shots to me and I was even more excited about them! When I got home I noticed that December would make the perfect undies color for My Ten Friends Carbon Based Life Form too, which I had not tried out yet, so I just had to see how they layered together!

December 2013 is a beautiful toffee nude color laden with copper shimmer and holographic particles. This was a one coater! I couldn't believe it because most nude colors in my stash require 2 coats. Gorgeous coloring just like coffee with heaps of creamer added in! I just had to share it with you all right away! Just look at all that copper shimmer in the close up bottle macro!

xoxoJen.com: Enchanted polish December 2013
xoxoJen.com: Enchanted polish December 2013
xoxoJen.com: Enchanted polish December 2013
xoxoJen.com: Enchanted polish December 2013


Carbon Based Life From from My Ten Friends has a beautiful celestial purple shimmer inside it amongst holo gold hexes, shreds and micro holo glitters. Its one of the original colors that My Ten Friends launched back in October of 2012. Its held up really well and was a breeze to apply. (Disclosure: While I paid for this polish, I do want to mention that I blog for the brand on occasion)

xoxoJen.com: My Ten Friends Carbon Based Life Form
xoxoJen.com: My Ten Friends Carbon Based Life Form
xoxoJen.com: My Ten Friends Carbon Based Life Form

What are your favorite Enchanted and My Ten Friends polishes?

xoxo, Jen signature

Friday, February 7, 2014

Tips and Tricks: Glitter Fishing!

We've all done it, and it can be quite frustrating right?
I am here to help! With my list of tips and tricks, you're bound to be successful at glitter fishing!

I've spent a lot of time with glitter toppers this past year and some of them have glitters that are difficult to get out of the bottle and that's when I decided to start taking notes on what worked and what didn't. I asked my facebook friends for their favorite tips and tricks as well!

Glitter should be suspended in the base, if all the glitter in the bottle is at the bottom then the formulation is bad. Heavier chunkier glitter may end up closer to the bottom because sometimes the suspension base just cannot hold those up, but the rest should still be suspended. Heavy glitters also slip off the brush faster, so these tips are for that. Lynderella glitter polishes are good example of correct suspension of glitters. If all your glitters are sunk in the bottle, that is a whole other issue and should be corrected by the maker.

Some of the methods work better for certain toppers than others, so I compiled a complete list of successful methods to share with you today!

But first a few tips from my friends over at facebook!
Sheila says - The main way I do it is before I use a glitter polish, I do my "toothpick method" - scrape a toothpick quickly down the sides and across the bottom all the way around the bottle - it sort of "floats" the glitters so you can get them on the brush.

Mel says - If i wish i don't pick up a large glitter, it never fails that what i get, so i use reverse psychology.
And there's usually lots of cussing.

Karel says - I turn the bottle upside down for several minutes to a half hour before use to bring the heavier glitters to the top then I swoosh my brush around instead of dipping straight in.

Caterina says - I quickly dive straight in and out fast! To catch big glitters before they have time to swim away!

Brittany says - I turn the bottle upside down for a few min then just keep dipping the brush in the polish til I get what I'm looking for lol

And now for my detailed list!
After reading, feel free to take and share the quick reference guide image located at the bottom of the entry.

Lets get started!

1. Shake and then set the bottle upside down on its cap for about ten minutes before you polish and then do so every few nails. This lets the heavier glitter pieces float to the top of the bottle.

2. Sometimes the glitter gets on the brush but then slides right off before you have a chance. When that happens, watch the inside neck of the bottle and catch the glitters with the brush before they fall back into the polish.

3. Use a dotting tool or toothpick to grab them off the plastic stick part of the polish brush. Sometimes the big glitters are way up near the top after having followed tip #1.

4. I find that the more I use a polish the more those big pieces tend to stick to the brush. So my thought is that the brush gets sticky from being out in the air and causes the glitter to stick to the brush when its dipped. So I either blow on the brush to make it sticky/dry, or when doing the usual two coat mani, instead of capping the bottle after the first layer, keep going and do the second layer. This will sometimes dry the brush enough to make it sticky because its been exposed to the air a while.

5. Decant the polish onto a glass, silicone, metal or other safe for polish surface; one you don't mind being ruined. Sometimes the large pieces will pour out of the bottle and then you can use a sponge, dotting tool or toothpick to put them on the nail. You can also pour into another bottle and watch for the big pieces and catch them with a dotting tool as you pour.

6. Magnets. If the polish has mixing balls in it, find a strong magnet and place it on the outside of the bottle moving it around a little until you hear or see those mixing balls cling to it. With the balls in tow, rub the magnet over the surface of the bottle to loosen the stuck glitter. This doesn't always work but it does most of the time. Just take care not to damage the label, as the black colored magnets sometimes leave smudges behind. For those just pop the polish in a ziploc or other thin plastic before rubbing the magnet over it or stick a piece of clear tape over the magnet's surface.



Below is the quick reference guide that you can pin to pinterest, share on your facebook page, or blog or anywhere else you'd like!

glitter fishing banner

What is your favorite way to glitter fish?