Lumina Lacquer Candy Cane Lane

If candy cane-shaped glitter doesn't put you in a Christmas-y mood, then I don't know what will! With its festive mix of red and white glitter, Lumina Lacquer Candy Cane Lane became one of my all-time favorite Christmas polishes the instant I put it on. From hexes to stars to circles to the aforementioned candy canes, Candy Cane Lane is chock-full of glittery holiday goodness! This is two coats over Milani Holographic HD, a silver scattered holo.

I mean seriously, how can you not smile when you look at this polish? It's just so whimsical, dammit! I have to mention too that Tatiana, the brains behind Lumina Lacquer, included a separate little baggie of candy cane glitters, making it easy to strategically place them or just go candy cane crazy! I love that she thought ahead like that! It's a very nice customer service touch to include the candy canes so you don't have to go fishing for them.

Love, love, love this polish! I believe Lumina will be doing two more restocks before Christmas, so grab this one before it's gone! You can purchase Lumina Lacquer from their website.

Born Pretty Blue Flower Nail Stickers: Review & Swatches

I've got some cute blue flower nail stickers to show you today from my favorite one-stop nail art shop, Born Pretty Store! I love nail stickers but I have such a hard time finding a good selection of them in stores, so I was excited to give these a try!

There are about a dozen variations on this same theme (you can see them all HERE), all with different types of flowers. The design I chose, E138, features cherry blossoms. Cherry blossoms are typically associated with Japan, but we have a lot of them here in Michigan too!

I thought these stickers would make for nice accent nails over a light-colored base. I was going for a china pattern look, so I chose Essie Ballet Slippers, a porcelain nude, as my base. It's one of my very favorite "blank canvas" shades and I think it works beautifully with the stickers.

The stickers themselves are nice quality. They're sturdy enough that they don't tear, but still flexible enough that they wrap around the nail easily. I've worn other designs of Born Pretty's nail stickers with topcoat over them before and had no problems, but I think this particular set would work best without. When I put topcoat on, the decals got stiff and a little crinkly. However, if you use a topcoat that's not as thick as my go-to, Seche Vite, then you might not encounter this issue.

Overall, I enjoyed these decals and for just 99 cents, they are very budget-friendly option! You get a nice variety of designs on the sticker sheet and there are more than enough stickers to do a full manicure with them--or several manicures, if you use them as accents like I did.

If you would like to order anything from Born Pretty, they offer 10% off for Nailed readers:

Disclosure: This product was provided to me for my honest review. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

Zoya Naturel Preview

Once the holidays have come and you're scrubbing off your New Year's glitter mani, that's the perfect time to take a breath and enjoy some downtime with a clean, palette-cleansing neutral on your nails. Zoya's Naturel Collection is launching just in time, comin' atcha on January 1 with six new neutral shades. Take a look!

 

 

I love that Zoya shared some nail art ideas for jhuzzing up (Is that how you spell that? I've decided it is.) these neutrals! The Hunger Games fan in me is excited for Rue and I think Chantal looks nice too. However, this being a Zoya preview, I am obligated to point out that there is STILL. NO. CHELSEA.

Review: Topsie Nail Polish Bottle Opener

It's every polish lover's worst nightmare: that bottle that just WILL. NOT. OPEN. I cannot tell you how many different tricks and tools I've resorted to in an attempt to pry open a bottle of polish: hot water, rubber bands, pliers, you name it. The worst is when you have those bottles that have been virtually welded shut when some polish has dried inside the lid. UGH! Usually my poor boyfriend is the one who has to struggle to open those bottles for me. I know one is really stuck when he asks, "You don't mind if there's bite marks on the cap, do you?"

While I appreciate his efforts to keep me and my polish addiction happy, he's going to be out of the bottle opener job (I'm sure he's crushed) now that I have Topsie! Topsie is a universal rubber bottle opener that helps un-stick even the most stubborn nail polish bottles. It's made of silicon rubber, so it's very grippy and helps you easily pry open the bottle. Topsie's inventor, Rob, makes them in all kinds of colors. Gotta love all that glitter!

As for the product itself, Topsie is extremely simple to use. All you do is slide the bottle cap into the rubber opening, like so:

As you push the cap into the Topsie, the rubber expands around the cap and clamps firmly around it. Once the cap is completely enveloped by the rubber, give it a good twist and presto! Quick, simple and painless.

The opening is stretchy enough that it will easily accommodate different cap sizes. I tried Topsie with a variety of polish brands and all of the caps were able to fit. It works with square bottles like Butter London too:

I've also used it to open beverages with a metal twist-cap top, as well as this one really stubborn bottle of facial serum I hadn't been able to get open for some time now. All you have to do is adjust how far you push the top inside of the rubber and then really, you can open just about anything!

If you need an extra firm grip on something, Rob suggested using two Topsies at once: one on the top and one on the bottle, the rationale being that the more surface contact you have, the easier something is to open. I was able to open every bottle I tried using just one Topsie though--like I said, it's super grippy! (Totally a word.)

Overall, this is a really nifty little tool. I am seriously impressed with how well Topsie works and I think just about any nail addict would rejoice over finally having an easy solution to stuck bottles!  It's a pretty ingenious product and I can't believe someone hadn't thought of it sooner!

Rob is in the process of setting up a website for Topsie and he hopes to launch a Kickstarter campaign in early January to raise funds for mass production of the Topsie. The anticipated retail price would be between $5 and $10. You can check out Topsie on Twitter if you'd like to learn more!


Disclosure: This product was sent to me for my honest review. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

Twinsie Tuesday: Holiday Gift

Nothing says "holiday season" like torturing your friends with nail art challenges. At least, that was our rationale for this week's Twinsie Tuesday theme, holiday gift. This week, we were paired up with a fellow Twinsie and gave each other "gifts" of assignments that would stretch their talents and challenge them. My partner was Lakeisha, who had me do a gradient mani. (Be sure to head over to Lakeisha's blog to see what I challenged her to do. Warning: I was pretty evil. Muahahahaha... Sorry, Lakeisha!)

I've never tried a gradient before, so I kept mine pretty simple with two colors. I love the way textured gradients in particular look and I thought that might be fun to try. So my two polishes were OPI Solitaire and Julie G Blueberry Fizz. I think they look nice and winter-y together!

I wasn't sure if I'd be any good at a gradient (with me and nail art, complete and utter failure is always a potential outcome) but I'm actually really proud of how this mani turned out! I've dubbed them my "ice princess" nails. :)

I had accidentally posted this manicure a week early, so whether this is your first or second time seeing it, I hope you like it! Be sure to check out what my other Twinsies have gifted each other this week!

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Anna at Going to the Showing

Anne at Grape Fizz Nails

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Cordia at Seriously Swatched

Elizabeth at Did My Nails

Heather at Peace, Love, & Polish

Kelly at Tuxarina

Lakeisha at Refined and Polished

Maribeth at Obsessive Cosmetic Hoarders Unite

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Meredith at Polish and Charms

Rachel at Top Coat It

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Traci at DrinkCitra

Butter London Fairy Lights

Butter London Fairy Lights is a rosy pink chrome. It's a rather unique color, although I'm not convinced it's the most flattering shade on me in particular. But objectively, I think it's very pretty and you gotta love the mirror-like shine it gives off!

Like most chromes, Fairy Lights has a tendency to draw attention to any bumps or imperfections on the surface of the nail, so I did experience some little dents and bubbles here and there. It's annoying but as I mentioned, it's more of an issue with chromes in general than something unique to Fairy Lights. Application was extremely smooth, with no dragging or streaking. This is two coats.

I would be curious to see if application is better or worse with a basecoat. I find some chromes, like Essie's Mirror Metallics, generally work better without, while others need that extra layer between the nail and the polish itself to help minimize bumps and dents.

Do you have a favorite basecoat to use with chromes? I'd love to hear your suggestions in the comments!

Review: Lush Almond & Coconut Smoothie

Lush's shower smoothies are like a body wash and body lotion all in one. They not only cleanse your skin, but moisturize and tone it with blends of natural butters and essential oils. I'd been curious to try one for a while and the Almond & Coconut Smoothie sounded too yummy to pass up!

Before I get to anything else I have to talk about the smell...oh my God, the smell! It's like bathing in frosting, with a heavenly mix of vanilla and coconut, topped off with a hint of almond. The smell is sweet, but not overly so. I love "foodie" scents, so this is one of my favorite Lush aromas. I wish it lingered a bit longer after showering, just because I am so crazy about it!

In keeping with the scrumptious desserts the smell brings to mind, the texture feels almost like fresh whipped cream to me. It's very soft and rich, but doesn't leave behind a heavy or greasy residue. A little bit goes a pretty long way, so all you need is a tiny scoop. If you prefer something with a lot of lather, you're probably better off sticking with a shower gel, because the shower smoothies don't really create any bubbles--but they do make your skin feel smooth, hydrated and cleansed.

Although it's a shower smoothie, this also works fabulously in the tub, where all of those wonderful oils and butters can soak into your skin then seep into the hot water afterwards for some extra skin TLC. The salesgirl at Lush said she also uses the shower smoothies for shaving, so I have tried that a couple times and it makes for an amazing shaving cream! The consistency of the smoothies is thick enough to create a protective cushion but not so thick that it'll clog your razor.

Overall, I love the Almond & Coconut Smoothie! It cleans you and makes you smell like a batch of warm, gooey frosted cookies. Honestly, what more could you want?