Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Danglefoot Polish Guardian of the Galaxy Collection

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Hey there!  I hope everyone is having a lovely Tuesday.  Edmonton has decided that it's winter again so I woke up to a ton of snow and cold.  And what better way to avoid that than by staying at work and blogging instead of going home?  Today I have some gorgeous polishes from Danglefoot Polish to share with you.  I first tried this UK-based 5-free indie brand in a My Mani Box and immediately fell in love and pre-ordered part of the Children's Books collection from Beautometry (a USA stockist with great shipping rates to Canada).  They arrived last week along with the brand new Guardian of the Galaxy polishes.  I was so excited to try them that I put one of them on almost immediately...and then wore it for 2 full days!  I should note that I don't have the complete collection but I do have 5 of the 7 to show you and I loved them all.  I'm even wearing another one of them today!


Monday, April 29, 2019

Hit The Bottle Jelly Shots Swatches and Nail Art

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Hey there!  If you're into nail art, I highly suggest getting a set of sheer polishes and I have a great set to share with you today.  I'm a big fan of Hit The Bottle stamping polishes (you can find my giant swatch post of all the Hit The Bottle polishes I had to date here) so I was thrilled when I saw she was releasing a set of "Jelly Shots" - sheer polishes that are perfect for leadlighting and more.  And I was lucky enough to receive a set from Beautometry, a USA-based stockist that ships internationally.  There's a fair bit of time put into this review since I wanted to see how each one looked individually as a leadlighting polish but also tested them out for a couple of other nail art looks as well.  I've purchased sooooo many leadlighting polish sets in the past (OPI, Essie, Nfu Oh, EdK Soap Bubbles and more - I have an entire Helmer drawer just for polishes like this) and I can honestly say these are my favourites.  With jelly polishes, I've found that either they have some pigment in them that makes them still show up over black (which isn't ideal for leadlighting if you stamp in black, as I tend to do) or they're thick and goopy and prone to bubbles.  The Jelly Shots set doesn't have any of those drawbacks.  They're pretty amazing!  Keep reading to see all the details...



Friday, April 19, 2019

The Digit-al Dozen does Albums - The Police's Zenyatta Mondatta

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Hey there!  I have a confession to make.  I honestly hadn't even heard of the album I picked for my final Digit-al Dozen mani this week.  I just had the itch to do a gradient and this album cover starts with a gradient so I went with it.  The Police's Zenyatta Mondatta was released in 1980.  I wasn't even 2 years old and it doesn't have that many big hits on it so I guess it isn't a big shock that I don't know it.  But it did make for some fun nails!



Thursday, April 18, 2019

The Digit-al Dozen does Albums - Kendrick Lamar's Damn

Hey there!  I must apologize for the poor language on today's nails but it just couldn't be helped.  Most of the albums I've done for The Digit-al Dozen's theme this week are older so I wanted to include a more current one.  Lately I mostly listen to hip-hop music (which most people don't expect from me) and I loved Kendrick Lamar's album Damn.  So now I have a curse word on my nails...it just couldn't be helped, haha!



Wednesday, April 17, 2019

The Digit-al Dozen does Albums - Smashing Pumpkins' Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

Hey there!  I'm back today with my third Digit-al Dozen Albums mani.  For today's mani I certainly took my liberties with my interpretation of the album cover.  Smashing Pumpkins are probably my all-time favourite band.  They were the first "alternative" music I listened to back in high school.  Previous to this, it was all about pop and dance music.  My friend had recorded Siamese Dream onto a cassette (yes, a cassette because it was approximately 1993) and I fell in love.  Then a couple years later they released Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and I played it constantly!  I even had the ZERO shirt that Billy Corgan wore for this tour (that I picked up at the concert).  So when I saw Emily de Molly's May Polish Pickup polish, A Piece Of You, was inspired by this album, I had to have it.  So while my nail art might not be anywhere near the album cover, the polish certainly is.



Maniology Mani x Me Subscription Box Review - April 2019

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Hey there!  I'm a bit on the late side with my review of Maniology's Mani x Me box for April.  This month's theme is Fossilized.  As an Albertan, which is a province that essentially lives off of old dinosaurs, I have to admit I loved this box.  Dinosaurs have always been fascinating to me.  This month's offerings have both classic prehistoric dinosaur imagery and some fun 80's/dinosaur combos on the two stamping plates.  In addition to the plates, there's also two polishes (which double as regular polish and stamping polish) and 4 sheets of nail stickers.  Since I had more time to do manis this month, I did a couple more than usual.  If any of my manis inspire you to try out this box, be sure to get your order in this week.  I believe the boxes switch to the next month on the 23rd of the month.  And also be sure to use the coupon code COPY10 to save $5 on your first box, or 10% on any other Maniology order.



Tuesday, April 16, 2019

The Digit-al Dozen does Albums - The Tragically Hip's In Violet Light

Hey there!  When trying to decide on albums to try to do for The Digit-al Dozen's theme this week, I decided I wanted to do an album by The Hip.  For anyone reading this who isn't Canadian, The Tragically Hip was (and is) the quintessential Canadian rock band.  They never really broke through in the US but that was okay.  They sung songs about all sorts of Canadiana and we all loved them for it.  I saw them live a few times which I'm very thankful for.  I'm old enough that I even waited overnight in line for tickets (outdoors!) to my first Hip show (this was before the online ticket sales times).  Sadly, the front man, Gord Downie, died from brain cancer in 2017.  I know I wasn't alone in getting emotional when I heard the news.  This past weekend I came across a documentary which followed their final tour (after his cancer diagnosis - yes, he toured one last time after getting diagnosed).  I had seen it before but I still couldn't turn it off.  It was like getting to spend a little more time with old friends.  Anyway, I wanted to do some Hip nail art but most their album covers didn't lend themselves well to nail art.  But the 2002 album In Violet Light was perfect.  I had to freehand again but I hope I managed to do their artwork justice.



Monday, April 15, 2019

The Digit-al Dozen does Albums - Pink Floyd's The Dark Side Of The Moon

Hey there!  Man, I've been a lazy blogger but there's nothing better to get me back into it than a new Digit-al Dozen week.  This week we're doing Albums.  I found it to be a tough theme (most albums have people's faces on them so I clearly couldn't do those) so I put off doing any of them until just last week.  I'm not usually that last-minute with my Digit-al Dozen manis.  Thankfully I did manage to get them all done...I might not love them all and I certainly took some liberties but at least they're done.  I honestly started by just googling "famous album covers" and, not surprisingly, one of the ones that kept coming up was Pink Floyd's The Dark Side Of The Moon.  I've never even listened to the entire album but it's ended up on my nails anyway.



Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Maniology M035 Clairestelle8 Collaboration Stamping Plate

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Hey there!  I'm back from vacation and hopefully back to a more regular posting schedule.  Today I have a review of a collaboration stamping plate between Maniology and the always lovely @clairestelle8.  Claire is definitely one of my favourite Instagram nail artists.  Her nails are always gorgeous and her captions are always hilarious and she just seems genuinely nice.  I was thrilled when I saw a preview of her new collaboration plate, M035.  It's full of scenic images that are right up my alley.  I've done two manis with it so far but I'm so sure I'll be doing more.  I really should have done a neon one since Claire is famous for her neon manis.  I'll definitely put that one my to-do list when I'm caught up on the stuff I fell behind on while I was away.  If this plate interests you (and it really should) please use the code COPY10 to save yourself 10% on your order.