Lacquer Chic Powder Perfect Duo

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Today I have a cute little duo created by Powder Perfect exclusively for Lacquer Chic.  Powder Perfect is an Australian 5 free nail polish brand.  Lacquer Chic is a U.S. Indie and boutique brand stock list. They opened their shop in April.  They currently only ship with in the United States but I believe International shipping will be available late July.  Tiffany from Lacquer Chic contacted me about swatching this summer duo.  I was really excited!  I have never owned or swatched any non US based polishes and its always fun to try new things!  I forgot to take a picture, of course, but Tiffany had this little duo well protected in bubble wrap and wrapped up cute in tissue paper.  It always feels like opening presents when new nail mail comes in cute packaging, am I right ladies?

First up I have a lovely pink polish with a purple shimmer throughout called Bikini in a Bottle.  How cute is that name!  I am afraid I could not capture the shimmer as it looked on the nails.  You can see it in my macro but its not coming up shiny at all.  This is three coats of Bikini in a Bottle topped with a glossy top coat, Gem Glam from Dream Polish.  The first two coats were a little bit sheer, as with any light pink polish but the third coat made it perfect.  The macro shot is more color accurate than the full shot.  I am not sure if it would considered a neon or not but it is very vibrant.  I love a pink polish and this one has the added purple shimmer.

The second half of this Lacquer Chic exclusive is called Beach to the Bar, another fun name!  This is a purple jelly polish with some blue and purple hex glitters some little white dots I believe and some silver squares to!  It is a bit hard for me to tell what all is in there though the pretty purple squishy jelly.  This is shown in three coats with the same glossy topcoat.  The glitters came out on their own and everything flowed well on the nail. On the middle coat I did do a little dabbing to place a couple where I wanted them but nothing major.  I love the color purple but I am not drawn to it in polish for some reason but I do really enjoy a purple jelly and we all know how I love my glitter!!!

I have never worked with or ordered from a stock list company before so this was a new experience for me and I will have to say it was a good one.  Tiffany was very nice to work with and seems to really take pride in her business.  I really liked this duo and I am interested to see what comes to the Lacquer Chic site next!!  This Duo will be available for purchase on June 30th at 12 pm PST.  My set is a mini but the full size set will be $22 or $11.50 each.  I have a 15% off discount code for you to use if you choose to place an order with Lacquer Chic TPB15.  You can visit Lacquer Chic HERE and she can be found on Instagram HERE.  Thanks for coming by and Happy Polishing!  xoxo Jaime

Dream Polish Review

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Hello friends!  Today I have a review that I am extremely excited about!  Vanessa is the creator of Dream Polish, which is a nail and skin care line.  The start to any pretty manicure is having healthy well cared for nails.  My nails are far from perfect but I do try to take care of them and I am so happy Vanessa had a vision to bring her ideas to life.  All of Dream Polish's current products are 5 free, Vegan and cruelty free.  Her cuticle balms are also bee free meaning they do not use bees wax. She has a few more items in her store than you will see here and more products in there testing phase for future release.  As of now she will only be shipping within the US with hopes to expand to International shipping.

This post is going to very picture heavy so lets get started!  First lets talk about the Gem Glow Cuticle oil. I have it in bottle form which you apply with a brush.  This is also available in a roller ball form. Fragrance is optional and Vanessa has several yummy scents to choose from.  The cuticle oil I have been testing is in peach scent and it smells amazing! The scent is just right in my opinion.  Cuticle oils are a product I feel need to be used  over time to really see long term results so this will be more of a first impression review with follow up blog posts to come.  Gem Glow Cuticle is oil has been working great for me so far. I have been applying it mostly at night.  I have been putting it on and letting it sit for 10 minutes or so and then rubbing it in.  I also like to use it after using acetone for clean up.   I have also used this after a fresh manicure is complete and dry.  The oils seem very nice and moisturizing so far.  Keep an eye out for follow ups on this product, but so far I am happy with it.

Next up is the Dream Polish Cuticle balm in her stick form.  The cuticle balm is also available in a slide tin and a larger screw top tin.  Again this is an item I feel needs more time to fully review so this will be a first impression review.  I have the cuticle balm is the scent Pink Sugar.  Again another amazing scent.  I personally love sweet smells.  I have been keeping the balm in my purse and using it a couple time throughout the day for added moisture.  I find it very convenient for on the go easy application.  I rub a little on and rub it in to my cuticles which promotes growth and increases circulation to your nail beds.  The tube is very cute and I plan on purchasing another one of these and I also want to pick up the slide tin as well.  So far so good!!!

This next product I am very excited about because I  have been on the hunt for a nice glass file for sometime now. I picked one up from Sallys but was not impressed with it at all and pitched it after just two uses. The Dream Polish glass file on the other hand has been wonderful!  I love it! The filing surface is created during the molding process and not a coating type surface.  Of course I will do an update to let you all know how this file holds up over time.  I also love the velvet sleeve this file comes in.

I have comparison photos for you of the free edge after using the dream polish file compared to a traditional non glass file.  When using a non glass file I always get an uneven edge with little frayed bits of nail!  As you can see in the photos below there is no fraying with the Dream Polish file at all and the edge is perfectly flush and even!!  I am so happy with this file!!!

 Can you see the frayed bits!  

Clean perfect edge  

Now to the products I feel I can give a full review of.  I have been using the Smooth Gem Base Coat and I can honestly say this is going to be my base coat from here on out!  I am always trying different base coats ans until now I have never been happy with them.  I was sent the unscented version.  This base coat is supposed to smooth out imperfections in the nail and it works wonderfully for me!  My nails are not in bad shape but I do have a few ridges and imperfections.  Smooth Gem Base Coat smoothed them right out.  My nails feels so smooth and slick using this base coat.  I found that my polish just glides on over this base coat. The dry time on this base coat is pretty quick as well.  I'm very impressed!!!

 Clearly I have some verticle ridges going on

 Nice and smooth with one coat of base coat

Last but certainly not least lets talk about The Dream Polish Gem Glam Top coat.  This is another winner for me and I have lots of pictures of manicures using this top coat.  All these manicure were also done using the shown base coat.  I was sent the Gem Glam Top Coat in the scent Jasmine.  It smells exactly like Jasmine and its not over powering at all. I was so surprised that the scent was still there 48 hours after application.

My First test was to see how well a manicure would wear over 48 hours, which is my general manicure wearing time.  I am very hard on my nails. Lots of gardening and cleaning on a daily basis. I did not wrap the tips on this pink manicure as I wanted to see if the top coat would shrink the polish.  Generally I do recommend wrapping the tips with your top coat to help prevent tip wear. 

As you can see there was no polish shrinking at all and even without wrapping the tips there was very little tip wear.  

Gem Glam adds a beautiful glass like shine to your manicure.  I really was happy with the shine and lack of shrinking of polish.  This is something I always struggle with Seche Vite.  

Another thing I look for in a top coat is will it drag and smear nail art?  Well lets take a look and see what my results were.

No smeared polka dots

Another manicure using Dream Polish base and top coats

Yep no nail art smearing at all!  I always let my polish dry on its own for maybe 3-5 minutes before adding any topcoat.  Gem Glam topcoat passed all my tests and I really like it.  It is very fast drying and in combination with the Smooth Gem base coat my nails feel and look so smooth and shiny!! I love the scented versions of this topcoat and plan to buy more!!  

So to wrap things up I am a HUGE fan of Vanessa and what she is doing at Dream Polish!  The quality is excellent and the products are solid.  It is clear to me that a lot of time and energy was put into perfecting these products.  Vanessa tests all her products before she releases them.  Her website is very detailed giving all the information for each product.  I highly recommend you trying out Dream Polish.  I am so excited to see what products and scents will be coming to Dream Polish.  Today June 21st at 10 am Pacific time is the grand opening of Dream Polish and I cant wait to head over and order a few things!  You can visit Dream polish at www.dreampolish.com or HERE. Check out her FAQ section for any questions you may have.   Dream polish is also on Instagram HERE.  Thanks for coming by and Happy Polishing!  xoxo Jaime

Luxe Lacquers Subscription box review

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Hello polish junkies!  Today I have swatches and a review of a new subscription service from Luxe Lacquers.  This subscription service offers four 17 ml polishes a month for $29.99.  Each month the colors are the same for everyone.  I am reviewing Junes box and the polishes are Celeste, Kate, Millie and Bonnie. I have some packaging photos to share as well.  Lets get started!!

 I have taken this from the Luxe Lacquers website from their about me section:

Luxe is a brand of quality, environmentally responsible nail lacquers. For your convenience, we deliver premium, cruelty free, 5-free lacquers in the latest shades, guaranteed brighten anyones day! Indulge and treat yourself to a great monthly gift, or better yet, treat a friend!

When you choose Luxe, a portion of your subscription is donated to the Malala fund- an organization dedicated to educating and empowering adolescent girls in developing countries around the world. By becoming a member of Luxe, you not only get to enjoy great lacquers delivered to your door each month, you also help young women around the world realize their full potential.

How cute is that packaging!! It all feels really high quality and almost luxury.  It feels very professional.  I forgot to take a picture but each bottle is contained in a nice little plastic bag that "zips" across the top. I like that. If there were to be some sort of shipping incident the mess would be contained to just that one polish in the bag.

 First up is Bonnie.  She is a lovely muted blue.  My pictures show her a bit color off. She is a little more subtle than I could capture.  Bonnie is lovely!  I love any tone of blue polish.  The swatch show three thin coats with topcoat.

 Our next pretty girl is Kate. She is a beautiful shade of grey and went on in two absolutely perfect coats followed with topcoat.  I think Kate is my favorite from the June box.

Next we have Millie.  Millie is the only polish this month with shimmer. She is a lovely orange coral with a silver shimmer throughout.  This is two coats followed with topcoat.  I don't wear a lot of orange leaning polish but I really like this one!

Last but certainly not least we have Celeste which is a very soft pink.  A little more pink than my picture shows but very soft still.  This is three thin coats and topcoat.  I really like Celeste...she is very girly!

Here is a little nail art using Kate and Celeste!

So my verdict on the Luxe Lacquers subscription box? I really like this box.  The polishes are high quality and very easy to apply.  The bottles are beautiful, which to me is an important part of the whole package. Everything is very professional and arrived in perfect condition!  Roxy from Luxe Lacquers is very sweet and helpful.  Right now you can save 15% on your first months box by visiting Luxe Lacquers Here.  You can also find them on Instagram Here.  Thank you for coming by and Happy Polishing!!!

Sassy Polish & Scrubs Part 2

Hello Loves today I have three more Sassy Polishes & Scrubs to show you.  These three are all glitter toppers.  I have no sun shots this time because it is grey and rainy and is supposed to stay that way all week!  You still can see the pretty glitters.

First I will start by talking about the three things that apply to all three polishes.  They are all glitter toppers.  The formula is good on all three.  It is a bit thinner that I am used to but it is nice and I had no trouble applying them at all.  With all glitter polishes that have any larger pieces in them I find it helpful to turn your bottle upside down while I paint my base color.  All photos are with a glossy topcoat unless state under the picture.

First up we have White Wedding which is a clear/a little milky based polish.  It has small shiny glitters and white dots.  There is much more of the small glitter than dots.  The dots did come out easily with just a little bit of fishing to add two dots to the nail.  Each time I did get one dot on its own.  I put White wedding over a sheer white base and added a bow.  I think it looks very girly and delicate.

 Indoors

 Indoors

White wedding also glows in the dark!  How fun!

Next up we have Welcome to Wonderland.  This one is so cute.  I love blue glitter as much as I love blue polish!  This one is similar to white wedding in formula having lots of pretty small glitters and some blue dots.  I did have a tiny bit of trouble getting the blue dot out for the last nail.  It was not bad and only took less than a minute to fish out that last circle.  I swatched this over a equally vibrant blue and it really sparkled.  This would be awesome over a dark polish as well.

 Indoors

Indoors

The last topper to show you today is my favorite of the three I think.  It is called I'm Always Angry.  This is from her Avengers collection which is one reason I had to have it.  I love the Hulk and this is so him!!  Not to mention that right now green on the nails suck me right in.  This is a clear based polish with both tiny and larger green hexs, gold glitters, purple squares and an interesting rectangle black glitter.  I love it and paired it over green that has a tiny shimmer to it.

 Indoors

Indoors with a matte topcoat for fun

These are all cute glitter toppers so 6 polishes in I am still loving Sass& scrubs.  I forgot to mention yesterday that when my package came all the the polishes were secure and shipped well.  I encourage you to get to know Danielle and welcome her into the polish community. Right now you can get 15% off your purchase by using the code POLISHEDBUTTERFLY You can visit her shop HERE.  Thank you for coming by and Happy Polishing!

Sassy Polish & Scrubs Part 1

Hello!  I was recently contacted by Danielle from Sassy Polish & Scrubs.  I am always into helping a new Indie brand get their name out there so I decided to take advantage of her blogger discount program and placed an order!  I tried to pick a variety of her different polishes.  She does not have any swatcher photos but does have photos she has taken.   Danielle is a mother of two cute little boys and she told me she has a passion for creating beautiful polishes.  I have decided to break my posts up into sets of three.

First today I am going to show you Teal We Meet Again.  This is a beautiful teal polish with scattered holographic glitters throughout.  The photos shown are three thin coats, this was the first polish I tried so I was being cautious but you could easily apply this in two regular coats.  I added a glossy topcoat.  The formula is lovely...to trouble at all with application!

Please note that I am new to working with Holographic polishes for the most part so this is a learning experience for me.

 Indoor Lightbox

Outdoor full sun

Next up we have a really pretty polish called Retail Therapy.  I love the name!  This is a blue holographic polish.  The formula was perfect.  The photos shown are two coats and a glossy topcoat.

 Outdoor full sun

 Indoor light box

Outdoor full sun

Last but certainly not least for today we have Purple Squishy which is a purple jelly polish with scattered holographic glitter throughout.  I was amazed with this one.  This jelly applied like a dream and this is two yes just two coats!!  The beauty of this one was sooo hard to capture!  It is stunning!

 Indoor Light box

 Indoor Light box

Outdoor full sun

Outdoor full sun

My first impressions of Danielle's polishes are that they have very nice formulas!  They are very pretty and I think she has the right combo to make is in the saturated Indie polish world!  I know it takes time to for Indie makers to build their business and earn the trust of the nail community.  I believe she is one to watch and I look forward to ordering more of her polishes!  I have several more of her lovely creations to bring you throughout the week! Thanks for coming by and happy polishing!