Yarnbox Design Feature

So back on New Year's Eve my nails and I modeled some knitwear designs for a company called Yarnbox. I could not be more excited to be sharing this feature with my readers!

It was a day of cold but stunning snowy shots that turned out beautifully thanks to the talented photographer and creative director. All the photographs were shot by Queenleaf Productions out of Des Moines, Iowa.

If any of you knit or crochet, I encourage you to click through to the post featuring all the gorgeous knitted garments, along with information on the yarns used. Go ahead, check it out!

The nail polish in the photo is Nails Inc. Trafalgar Crescent.

Lucky for me I got to keep the stunning hand-knitted cowl that was featured in the shoot, so I can always remember my blog's first real feature!

OPI I Have A Herring Problem

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The OPI Holland collection is one that I was especially drawn to when the first batch of press release blogger swatches made the rounds, but I never got around to actually purchasing the shimmers that I wanted. Lucky for me I heard about a half off sale through Nouveau Cheap and picked up I Have A Herring Problem and Dutch 'Ya Just Love OPI?. This brought my polishes from this collection up to three, so maybe one day I'll finally acquire all the ones I want!

I Have A Herring Problem is a dusty, medium denim blue with very fine, cool toned gold microshimmer. My swatch is three coats with base and top coat. The formula on this color left something to be desired, namely pigmentation. The formula was on the thin side and I had issues getting the tips of my nails opaque. That being said, it's a very pretty muted blue and was worth the little bit of extra effort.

What are some of your favorite OPI shimmers? What colors did you like from the Holland Collection? Let me know in the comments and thanks for reading!

2014 Oscars Fingertip Fashion + Get The Look

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Ever since E! introduced the now famous Mani-Cam, nail bloggers have been thrilled over no longer having to zoom in and hunt for the stars' manicures, and instead been provided high quality close ups of the polished digits of celebrities at awards shows. This Sunday's Oscars red carpet was no exception. We saw many a fingertip walk the little red carpet, and there were two common trends and themes to the night's finger fashions.

Despite spring being right around the corner for most of the country (and it already having arrived in sunny LA) dark nails were a frequent recurrence throughout the night. A dark red was especially popular, gracing the fingernails of big stars like Jennifer Garner, Emma Watson, Anna Kendrick, and Kerry Washington.

Get the Look: Try Sinful Colors Mirror Mirror ($1.99), Zoya Sasha ($9.00), Julep Coco ($14.00), Deborah Lippmann Single Ladies ($18.00).

While many manicures went over to the dark side on Sunday night, many more stayed light and airy with soft pinks, sheers, and "my nails but better" types of shades.

Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o kept it classic with oval nails painted in a soft baby pink that perfectly complimented her gorgeous pastel blue Prada gown. Both Lupita and Jennifer Lawrence's nails were done by nail veteran Deborah Lippmann and thanks to Style Bistro you can create the exact look by layering shades. Anne Hathaway and Lady Gaga were among many other stars who rocked a softer nail look, while Julia Roberts added a twist with a still-subtle gray.

Get the Look: Try Sinful Colors Easy Going ($1.99), Revlon Angelic ($4.99) , Zoya Kristen ($9.00), Julep Jennifer ($6.99 on sale!), Deborah Lippmann Tiny Dancer ($18.00).

Only two stars stood out as the "Must Have" manicures for me; Kelly Osbourne flashed glittery tips to the cameras in a sparkling precious metal shade, and Sandra Bullock dazzled both the fashion and nail communities with her stunning navy blue ensemble.

Get Sandra's Look: Try Sinful Colors Cold Leather ($1.99), Essie After School Boy Blazer ($8.50), OPI Russian Navy ($9.00), Deborah Lippmann Rolling In The Deep ($18.00).

Get Kelly's Look: Try a sheer pink (like the ones mentioned above) and add gold tips with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Golden-I ($2.99), Essie Good As Gold ($8.50), OPI Love Angel Music Baby ($9.00), or Julep Oscar, Margot, or Sienna ($14.00).

While the rich and famous didn't bedazzle or paint their tips for the Oscars in quite the exciting and diverse selection that they did for past award shows, it goes to show that some shades will always resonate as elegant and refined enough for any formal occasion.

What did you think of the 2014 Oscar Manicures? Would you recreate any of the looks you saw? Let me know in the comments and thanks for reading!

Sources: Images featured in compilations are credit to Eonline and BellaSugar.

Common Polish Problems and How To Fix Them [video]

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Hello lovely readers! Today I'm posting about a new video I just put up on my youtube channel. It's three common problems you may encounter while polishing, and how to fix them. I know it's all old hat to myself and my fellow bloggers, but I want to get a few videos in that cover the basics.

So for today you can become my lovely viewers instead of readers, and check it out!

I'm thinking about doing a second installment with three more problems, so let me know if you'd like to see that! Or if you have any ideas for more problems, please let me know in the comments.

Do you make videos for your blog? Do you like watching nail related videos? Let me know in the comments and thanks for reading!

KBShimmer Snow Much Fun

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A hot topic of small talk conversation at work has been how much winter has overstayed it's welcome this year, and we're all ready for warmer temperatures and sunshine. With spring on the way I figured it was a good time to wear the last of my truly winter polishes, KBShimmer's Snow Much Fun.

Snow Much Fun was part of the 2013 Winter Collection which was a blogger and brand collaboration. This particular shade was designed by Victoria of The Manicurator, and turned out to be one of the most popular shades from the collection. Kudos, Victoria!

Snow Much Fun is a blend of medium white circles, small white hexes, medium blue holographic hexes, small holographic glitter, large snowflake glitter, and more that all mix together beautifully to create a winter wonderland effect on your nails. Suspended in a light blue jelly base, this is a truly stunning glitter blend that has had every detail accounted for.

My swatch is three coats of Snow Much Fun layered over two coats of OPI's What's with the Cattitude?. My swatch also includes base coat and top coat.

The formula on Snow Much Fun was what I would truly consider ideal for this kind of glitter nail polish. The base was filled with glitter but not so packed that I couldn't get enough of a base color layer down evenly. It allowed me to do one thin coat of just the jelly blue and small glitters, which I really liked. I then dabbed on two coats and placed the glitters individually with the bottle's brush. The large snowflakes didn't require much fishing at first, but the longer the bottle sat upright the harder it was to get the snowflakes.

KBShimmer instructs to turn the bottle upside down for a few minutes because the snowflakes are heavy, and that helped immensely. Although if you're looking for a snowflake on every single nail I would advise to do one hand completely, turn the bottle back upside down for a few minutes, and then do the second hand. Another tip is that the base is a fairly pigmented jelly, so if you really want to be able to see the snowflakes you should only place them at most one layer below your final coat.

KBShimmer polishes retail for $8.75 and can be purchased on the KBShimmer website. Frankly I think they're one of the most reasonably priced indies for the quality and experience you get with their brand!

What polishes are you looking to use before winter is over? What do you think of KBShimmer's Snow Much Fun? Let me know in the comments and thanks for reading!

Wingdust Muskoka Sunset

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I've accumulated quite a few gorgeous indie glitters, but being that I (like most of nail polish wearers) loathe glitter removal I've mostly resigned them to being pretty colors that I gaze at in the bottle. Well, no more! I've decided that if I'm spending money on polish it should be worn, so I'm starting a marathon of indie glitters until all of my colors have been used at least once.

Starting off this journey is Wingdust Collection's Muskoka Sunset. This is a stunning purple based polish that is loaded with various sizes, colors, and finishes of glitters. It's all suspended in a jelly base with some slight blue micro-shimmer. My swatch is two coats of Muskoka Sunset layered over two coats of OPI's Funkey Dunkey.

Unlike other polishes I've purchased, this one actually delivers on glitter payoff for the larger sizes. I managed to get five of the largest holographic circle glitters on five of my nails without any major fishing. This polish is seriously packed with glitter, so you don't have to worry about not having enough on your nails. If I have to say a downside though it's definitely that sometimes I was frustrated that there was too much glitter and not enough base. I'm glad I layered this polish or else it could have looked very lumpy very quickly.

I'm so happy to be swatching again! I had a very bad break on my swatching hand pinky nail, and it seriously discouraged me from posting. Luckily it's grown out enough to have a decent shape again so I'm back at it. I'm sure all my fellow bloggers can understand how devastating a bad swatch-hand nail break can be.

What indie glitters are in your collection that remain untried, even though you love them? Let me know in the comments and thanks for reading!

China Glaze Wish on a Starfish

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It's kind of impossible to avoid painting your nails either red or pink at least once in February, especially when all of your fellow bloggers are uploading manicures covered in hearts, x's, and o's. The Valentine's bug has officially bit the nail community again this year and I'm not immune. Even though this holiday manicure is pretty simple, it's still enough to get me in the spirit.

China Glaze's Wish on a Starfish reminds me of one of my all time favorite polishes, Sally Hansen's Strawberry Icing. Wish on a Starfish is a much more intense version of the pink-with-gold-shimmer, being so sparkly that you feel like you've dipped your nail in straight up glitter.

Speaking of glitter, I somehow missed the part where this was a textured polish collection and thus was slightly bummed after I bought them and found out. I have no clue how I missed that tidbit being that I read several blog reviews before I bought this color, but it's so pretty I'll have to give it a pass.

My swatch is two coats of Wish on a Starfish with base and top coat. Even with a coat of Gelous and NYC Grand Central Station this was still a little gritty, so if you want it perfectly glass smooth be prepared to do at least two coats of a thick quick dry.

Wearing this color on it's own simply intensified my need for a good bubblegum pink polish in my collection. This doesn't have much depth on it's own and I feel like it would look much better layered. Right now I've got my eye on OPI Pink Friday as a top contender, so we'll see how I feel come payday!

Have you picked up any from this China Glaze Collection? What's on your nails for Valentine's Day? Let me know in the comments and thanks for reading!