Jindienails

I follow so many nail fanatics on Facebook and Instagram.  It makes me insane, there are so many cool things out! And with my new interest in indie nail polishes, I've decided to try out a few.  I've only had a couple before, so I don't have a whole lot to go on.

I came across Jindie Nails on Instagram.  I fell in love with the a color called Candy Land (very left on the row of bottles below).  It has large hex glitter and smaller hex glitter in a variety of neon, yet translucent colors, suspended in a white, jelly base.  But once I started looking, I found a few more things I wanted to try.  Since Jindie Nails sells mini bottles, that was the easiest way to try it out.

Colors (Top L-R): Candy Land, Dream In Color,

Barbies Have More Fun and Talk Nerdy To Me

Below, you can see what each coat looks like.  My pinky has Barbies Have More Fun on it.  It layered alright, but I wasn't getting much of the pink glitter (more on that later).  Candy Land is on my ring finger and as you can see, it took a fair amount of work to get some glitter on my nail.  Talk Nerdy To Me is on my middle finger and it applied better than any of the others, despite my low expectations after the first coat.   And last but not least, there's Dream In Color on my index finger.  The first layer looked promising, but when I went to do the second coat, all the glitter got hung up on all of the dried glitter already on my nail.

The trick about these polishes is to remember that you cannot simply brush these coats on smoothly.  You have to use a "dab and blend" kind of method if you want an even distribution of glitter.  I think this is more of a user error rather than a manufacturer error, the glitters in some of these are pretty big.  I did read on another blog that if you turn Candy Land upside down, you may have better luck getting more glitter out.  Another thing was that a lot of glitter in Barbies Have More Fun stayed stuck to the side of the bottle.  I shook it like crazy.  Left it upside down for two days...and even then, very little has changed.  Below you can see the way it's all stuck to the front of the bottle.  There's a definite difference between the front and the back.

I swatched it again today.

I've swatched the polishes, but I've not put them through the rigors of daily life.  I cannot speak for how well they wear just yet.  I did find that Dream In Color popped right off, in one sheet (a friend of mine complained of this but with other colors).  BUT  I didn't use a base coat for the swatch photo, so I have to try that again.

Now, for my biggest gripe.  It is really difficult to buy polishes from Jindie Nails.  There is an Etsy store, but most of the time it is vacant, until the next restock.  And I participated in the last restock and I can tell you one thing...it was not easy.   The store was supposed to be active at 1 PM Central time.  So I made a point to be at my computer.  Messages were being posted on Jindie Nails' Facebook page about how not all items were active yet and to please wait to make your purchases.  So I sat.  I waited.  I added things to my cart.  After a while those things got cartjacked by people who didn't wait.  And somewhere in the debacle, I totally missed the listings for the two new colors she released.  Like I wasn't lame and missed it because I couldn't find it...the listings NEVER showed up.  Refresh, refresh...nothing.  So, I snagged some mini bottles fearing I would miss out on those.  The whole ordering/waiting/refreshing process took me 57 minutes.

There are other outlets for Jindie Nails products.  You can buy them via Llarowe now and via Mei Mei's Signatures.  Please note the prices are slightly higher on these sites, more so on Mei Mei.

I would also like to add that Jen from Jindie Nails is quite nice.  I contacted her about a polish that got cartjacked and she offered to send me a mini one for free.  Yet when my order arrived, it wasn't there.  Feeling like a jerk, I contacted her about it.  She had to have some extra correspondence via Etsy and Facebook to remember who I was, but once she figured it out she asked if I wanted it shipped with my next order.  Well...that was thing.  I didn't know if I wanted to order again or not.  So I sat on it for a day.  I felt like I'd be a real shit to ask for the freebie polish and nothing else, so my choices were to walk away altogether or buy something else.  Against my better judgement, I bought Candy Land Remix (see below, upper-left photo), which has some micro neon glitter in it in addition to the large and medium glitter already in it.  I am really hoping it is nicer than Candy Land.  I REALLY love the idea of this polish, but the application is a massive headache...not to mention trying to fish out a blue piece of glitter...I couldn't do that once!  I also got Live Out Loud which has some cool metallic dot glitters.  You can see it in the photo below, lower-left corner.

At the moment, I am on the fence about if I will order from Jindie Nails again or not.  I love the concept of many of her creations, but that's about it.  I really love the color Swoon, which you can see below, it's the aqua one next to Candy Land.  But if it applies anything like Candy Land, I'm sure I'll be frustrated.  When I get my next order in, I will post an update.

These photos were posted by JindieNails on Instagram

My Wicked-Awesome Nail Art Kit

After looking at so many cool photos of nail art, I decided it's time I put together a collection of supplies to play around with.  And I did so for under $20!  I'm going to tell you how.

First, you have to decide what you want?  What kind of nail art do you like to see?  What's your skill level?  I really fell in love with the Konad stamping sets about 2 years ago, but honestly, I stink when it comes to using them.  This is frustrating since SO many people use them and they look great.  I don't know if I don't have the patience or if I simply don't have the knack for it.  And while I would like to invest in some of the awesome, HUGE plates I've seen, it's just not worth it for me.

I knew I wanted to get some brushes.  Since I tend to complain about a lot about some of the cheapie brushes that come in the lids of some nail polishes, it seemed like a logical choice.  I also picked up some striping brushes.  That seems like something I can do.  I've been coveting the dotting tools that have the acrylic handles with swirly colors in them.

I decided I wanted to get some striping tapes.  I don't know that I'll actually use them for striping, but I like the idea of using them to make patterns, paint over and peel off.   But that didn't stop me from getting them in almost 20 colors!

Then I began to think of other things to stick on nails.  The options are endless.  There's glitter, teeny steel balls, dried flowers, rhinestones, fimo slices, stickers, stencils, you name it!  Anyone who knows me knows I am a sucker for sparkly, so glitter and rhinestones?  Yes, please!  I also picked up some wheels with dried flowers, teeny steel balls (like you see in the "caviar" photos), rhinestones, pearls and some adorable pearl bows!  The glitter I got is AWESOME!  I got two sets.  One has fine glitter, the other one has large, hex glitter.

One thing I learned while shopping on eBay is that there are a LOT of companies that sell these things!  All are from China.  I got MANY items for under $1, including shipping!  I think the most expensive thing I got was the wheel with the pearly bows.  BUT definitely keep an eye on the things on your watch list or in your cart.  I had a couple of sets of glitter go from $1.40 to $25.00 overnight!  Fortunately, it only takes one search to find more listings!

Here are just a couple of photos.  I'm on vacation at the moment, but when I get back home, I will add a photoblog of the rest of my stash!!

Nostalgic Nail Lacquers

There has been a lot of buzz about artisan nail polishes for some time now! Some people call them indie, but since they are hand-blended and do vary, I prefer the word artisan.

I managed to snag a couple of new polishes from Nostalgic Nail Lacquers. I have been wanting to try some matte glitter polishes and I found a couple I really liked from their "Clueless"-inspired collection. I got "Rollin' With The Homies" and "Way Harsh."

RWTH has a clear base with white and blue matte glitter. It applies easily and the glitter distribution is pretty good. I found two coats to be sufficient for good coverage. I played with the color over some sparkly blues, cream colors and even a matte polish. I like the idea of mixing up textures, finishes and colors.

WH has a clear base, with really fine pink and black, matte glitter. This polish took a little more work to get an even distribution of glitter, but it's pretty!  I really love the mix of it and the turquoise nail polish.  Reminds me of the '50s formica countertops.

Both of these polishes dry down to a matte finish.  I had to use a couple of layers of Seche Vite to get a good smooth shine.  

These polishes are fun and creative.  There are not a lot of companies that make polishes with matte glitter.  I have seen quite a few artisans start a business, then get overwhelmed by the high demand for such products, thus creating the need for a hiatus.  It's a shame because once polishes like these do go on sale, they usually get bought up right away!

As for Nostalgic Nail Lacquers, I would definitely use more of their polishes.  The shipping was fast, the items were packed well.  Everything went off without a hitch and you can't beat that!

MUA Love Hearts Nails

This review looked like it was going to be a "gimme."  I love MUA products from the UK.  I love Love Hearts candy, also from the UK.  And I LOVE nail polish.  I ordered 3 of the Love Hearts colors and they are really pretty!  I got "I Want U", which is an orange.  "U & I" is a lovely buttercup color.  And "Love U 24/7" is a medium purple.  All of these colors are creams.

The first thing I couldn't help but notice was that the brushes are not the best.

As you can see, the purple and orange brushes are spread out with strays coming off the side.  The yellow one has an uneven slant to it.  In any event, all of the brushes are very course, which made for not optimal application.  As you can see, with two coats, there are very visible lines in the polish left by the brush.  Once I saw this, my review of this product was over.

And just to show this is NOT an isolated case, I bought a glitter crackle polish by MUA while I was in England.

Part of me hopes this is just a fluke, part of me wants to demand replacement polishes.  These brushes are unacceptable.  I love the colors, but I doubt I'll use them.  And I have to remember that these only cost 1 pound,, about $1.60 or so.  So I suppose I have to remind myself that you get what you pay for.  I just expected more from MUA since I like their other products so much.  

I'm In Love

I've been on a serious nail polish kick lately.  And I am happy to say that I am in LOVE!  I was recently told about Speciallita nail polishes.  These are from Brazil.  As I scanned their website, guffawing over all of the amazing nail colors, I realized that I HAD to have these in my life.  It was imperative.  (PLEASE NOTE:  These polishes are not 3-Free.  They do contain toluene and formaldehyde.)

Here's the catch:  there aren't many places where you can buy this polish.  The Speciallita website is in Portuguese.  This is daunting to many, but with the help of Google translation, I managed to set up an account.  If you don't have the patience for that, there is a domestic site that has them for sale, look for anything that starts with "HITS".  Here's the difference:  the Brazilian site has the polishes for quite a bit less than the American distributor.  BUT the Brazilian site has CRAZY shipping.  I would recommend it if you want to place a really big order because it does work out less than the American site, but if you only want to try one or two things, save yourself some hassle and order domestically.  (I am contemplating ordering more or even taking orders so I can place one large order at a time, if there is enough interest.  Please let me know if you are interested.)

Now, onto the fun stuff!  (This is a "photo heavy" blog post, sorry!)

I got most of the polishes from the "HITS no Olimpo" collection.  These are gorgeous holographic nail polishes named after the gods of Mount Olympus.  I didn't get all of them because Atena reminded me of another holo I already have.  Hermes and Artemis both have a metallic base with holo and I wasn't too keen on how the swatches I had seen looked.  But I totally snatched up the rest and I am SO glad I did.

  

These polishes have a jelly base and microfine, linear, holographic glitter.  The colors go on smoothly and have good coverage with 2-3 coats.  They dry super-shiny, no topcoat needed.   I can't describe it, but the polish feels good on my nails.  I guess they are so smooth and glossy, it feels different.  I've been coveting Nfu Oh's jelly polishes, but this is my first experience with some and I love them!  I had swatched my nails on a Saturday, with a couple of different brands, but the Speciallita was the only brand to last over a week.  And that is with no base or top coat!

Afrodite is a lovely, warm, medium pink.  

It's unlike a lot of the cooler-toned, silvery-pink holos that are out there.

Apolo is a really gorgeous deep, blue.   I haven't seen anything comparable.

 Dionisio is a royal purple.  

Most of the holos I have or have seen that are purple tend to be muted and silvery.  

I'm starting to sound like a broken record.

But again, I hadn't seen a holo in this color before. 

Now, I HAVE seen light blue holos that are similar to Poseidon.

But since it has such amazing flash to the holo, I decided to get it anyway. 

 I decided to do a side-by-side (L to R) of Techno Teal from China Glaze's "Tronica" collection and Hera and Apolo.

Techno Teal is not a linear holo, like the Speciallita ones, but you get the idea.

 Zeus is black with a gorgeous rainbow of colors!

 I had never come across an orange holo until I found Demeter.

The holo isn't as flashy as some of the others, but I still like it a lot.

I almost passed on Ares.  I wasn't entirely sold on a red holo.

But I was pleasantly surprised when I got it.  It's very pretty!

The next collection I got is called "Mari Moon."  These colors are difficult to describe and impossible to photograph.  If you thought duochromes were fab, then you will be speechless when you see these.  They are multichromatic and look VERY 3-D when you wear them.  There are all sorts of color shifts.  I took many photos...inside, outside, direct light, indirect light...but I was really disappointed that I couldn't catch the true brilliance of these colors.    The color swatches in this blog are KINDA close, but I find they still fall short.  My favorite color of this bunch is Cutie Pie.  As you can see here, there is an purple, blue, aqua, pink multichrome action going on!  It is really amazing.  The other colors are beautiful too and there is something for everyone, but the color shifts in this one make it the "stand out" color of the bunch.

Last but not least, I picked up some of the "Powerpuff Girl" collection and some other odds and ends.  The Powerpuff Girl colors are lovely, pretty much what you see is what you get, but the pink has a lovely pink shimmer and the black, Buttercup color has a green shimmer.  Really pretty!!

The Speciallita brushes are the kind that are kinda flat, so that they are wider and cover more surface area of the nail when you apply the polish.  My only gripe is that some of the brushes are sorta frayed, they don't lie flat and together, there are strays sticking out.    And one of my Blossom PPG polishes has a chip in the bottle.  I haven't contacted Speciallita about it, so I am not sure of what their Customer Service is like, but I will keep you posted.

All in all, when I got these polishes, I thought that I could go the rest of my life and ONLY wear this polishes.  And that is a really big deal for me, since I have more polishes than I could ever wear in my lifetime!

Amazingly Lush Shadows

If you follow me on Facebook, then you have seen the "sneak preview" photos I have posted of the eye shadows I am reviewing.  I came across these while I was looking for more of the 88- and 120-colored eye shadow palettes.  What caught my attention were the claims that these eye shadows are better than MAC's and "flight attendants swear by them" (whatever that sort of thing means).  Anyway, I came across a palette that was pretty inexpensive compared to other ones I found online.

The brand is called Miss Rose. It is sold in Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates.  The palette I got is the "Shiny 24-Color Wet Eye Shadow."  The colors look amazing in the photos, but when my package arrived, I was lost for words when I opened the palette.  These shadows have SO much shimmer and sparkle!  The colors are beautiful!   And some of the colors are quite similar, but I don't mind since I got this palette just to dip my toes in the Miss Rose water.  In fact, it gives me a reason to try out other palettes!  For now, I will let the product photos speak for themselves.

When I played with these eye shadows, I found that they are extremely soft.  My gut instinct was to use my fingers to apply them.  But I am a tactile person, if something looks like it has a rich texture, then I have to touch it.  Although, the shadows applied best with fingers, a sponge applicator would be my next choice and lastly, I would use a brush.  Since the shadows are so soft, you would really have to dig into it with a brush to load some shadow onto it.  And while I know fingers and sponge applicators are frowned upon, it's just my two cents.  Feel free to apply your shadows how you wish!

I have also found palettes that look identical to the Miss Rose brand.  Some brand names to keep an eye out for are Miss Beauty, Lijindie, Oumeidie, Angel Cosmetics and Angel London.

Dolly Wink Rainbow Crystals

It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who knows me that I love all things Japanese.   I lurk at my local Asian grocery store and take in all the beauty products they have to offer.  I covet most of the make-up I see in the Taiwanese magazines I pick up.  The packaging is always awesome and many of the products are quite innovative.

The product I recently picked up is a cream eyeshadow by Dolly Wink.  OH, how I lust for more stuff from Dolly Wink.  But for now, this will have to do.  The cream eyeshadow I picked up is called "Rainbow Sparkles."  Doesn't that sound divine??  Don't you want a rainbow of sparkles on your eyelids?  I know I DO!

 First things first, the packaging is very nice.  The small compact is held onto a card by a small, clear box.  The card folds out and has a lot of tips and info from Dolly Wink creator, Tsubasa Masuwaka.  She's a cutie too.

Upon opening the eyeshadow, it looks like a basic white shimmer at first.  Then when you look closer, you can see tons of tiny flashes of multicolored reflections (which, sadly, don't really show in the photos).  Rainbow sparkle action.  Oh yeah!
 

The photo below, with the product blended out on my arm, shows the best rainbow-sparkly-goodness I could capture with my camera.  It's a really pretty effect.

This is a product I would recommend as a highlighter, whether on the brow or the face or as a stand-alone color for the eyelids.  It stays creamy.  There is some creasing, but it doesn't really bother me with light-colored cream shadows because it just takes a swipe of a finger to smooth it out.  I am thinking this would be great for those summer days when you don't want to fuss with your make-up since you're going to the beach or the pool.  It's quick, easy and very pretty.

You will have to shop around if you are interested in Dolly Wink.  There are quite a few online stores that carry it.  You will find some products on eBay.  This particular product will be around $17 and $19.

Victorian Disco Cosmetics Glitters And Shines

Be forewarned, this post is going to have many photos!

It's been a while since I came across an indie mineral make-up company that I really wanted to try.  But I came across a post on Beautylish.com and submitted my info to test some new products for a new line called Victorian Disco Cosmetics.  I like the name, it sounds lush and sparkly.  Then I started to see some sneak peek photos on their Facebook fan page and the colors looked fabulous!  I was seeing color combinations I had not seen before with other indie brands.  And Victorian Disco Cosmetics has mixed glitters!  So many people sell glitters and they are exactly what arrives from the wholesale company, but these have multiple colors mixed together and they are gorgeous.  These would be perfect if you're wanting to try out the new glittery eyebrows trend!

Cute Packaging!

 My sample package arrived yesterday and everything was so professionally presented.  The samples were all in a cute cellophane bag with a brand sticker sealing it shut.  The envelope was quite large for samples alone, but it ensured that they arrived to me safely and I can completely appreciate that.

Pigment Swatches (top to bottom):
Powdered Wig, Baroque, Revolutionary Ball, Sailor Saturn, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Pluto, Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Uranus

 The pigments are so very pretty.  They are bright and what you see is what you get. I love that.  The only color that did not perform 100% is Revolutionary Ball, the more you try to blend it, the more it rubs down and loses intensity.  It sounds logical, but it doesn't just blend out, it disappears some.  And for the record, I used Too Faced's Shadow Insurance and NYX's pearly white eyeshadow base and it only disappeared when I swatched it on my arm.  It performed perfectly when I used it on my eye.  I find the Sailor colors very appealing.  The collection is actually quite large and I simply love the colors.  There is also a really fabulous Star Wars-inspired collection too!

Now, onto those glitters!

Bling Pro is a lovely deep pink/magenta color.  I used LA Splash's eye primer/sealer to set these.  Simply apply the base and tap the glitter onto it.













Predator is stunning.  It's not just another metallic gold or bronze.  There is a subtle mix of both colors and it creates a rich finish.

ACR is my favorite glitter out of what I received.  It's a great mix of a medium-purple glitter, silver glitter and I believe a touch of gold glitter.  It's a beautiful, multidimensional color that provides a subtle, yet very glamorous pop of color.











Riot Shield is a straight purple glitter.  It's almost a royal purple.  A must for fans of deep, twinkling colors.

After swatching the products, I was more than ready to play!

Here is the first look I created with Victorian Disco Cosmetics:

Colors Used:  Powdered Wig, Sailor Uranus, Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Mercury

My next look was a more dramatic, smoky look:

Products Used:  Powdered Wig, Sailor Saturn, Revolutionary Ball, Baroque and it's all topped off with ACR glitter.

All in all, I'm pleased with the samples I got from Victorian Disco Cosmetics.  And I mustn't forget that they label all of the samples with the ingredients and if the products are lip safe or not.  I look forward to trying out more!