A week in manicures!

Hello, lovelies!
I hope you're all doing well! I think my immune system is on vacation as I seem to catch every bug that happens to come around lately! There's a to-go bowl of pho with my name on it and I just can't bring myself to eat it yet =( (stomach bug this time, hah!)
First up is nail mail from my lovely friend Janie. She sent me these awesome polishes from PopCulture Cosmetics!

Left to right: mini Holographic Top Coat, Midsummer' Night's Dream, mini Lumos glow in the dark polish and Beauty and the Beach.

I was sooooo excited to see that she sent me Beauty and the Beach as it's been on my want list since I first laid eyes on it! 

Beauty and the Beach and Midsummer Night's Dream

This is Beauty and the Beach layered on top of Hello Kitty by Sephora's Minty. B&B has a very subtle gold shimmer base that didn't pick up in any of my pics. It also has small gold star confetti (there's one hiding on my pointer finger!) that required some fishing to get out of the bottle. It's pretty in pictures but it's a stunner in real life!

This is Minty....I can't stand how cute the bottle is!

 I finally got around to trying the striping tape Janie sent me last month and this mani was the product of that experiment! For the base color I layered OPI Breathe Life and Essie Shine of the Times. My accent nail is composed of Sally Hansen Mermaid's Tale with Ticklish Teal by Lush Lacquer on top. I used the striping tape to make the triangles from my cuticles and used two coats of Ticklish Teal alone. I love how this mani turned out! I'll definitely be using the striping tape more often-I got a much cleaner line than I do when free-handing.

Alright, we're finally up to what's on my nails now! I haven't played around with gradient manis in awhile, so I grabbed three of my favorite blues by OPI and got to sponging! I used Teal the Cows Come Home as a base for my gradient.

Ta-da! Gradient manicure!

 From lightest to darkest: Teal the Cows Come Home, Sea, I Told You! and

 Swimsuit...Nailed It!

Well my lovelies, that's all I have for you now! Have you ever tried striping tape? What about gradient manicures? What's on your nails?

Until next time,

xoKandy

Oh April, you sure are flying by!

Hello lovelies!

I have a few pics for you today! This month seems to be flying by even faster than the previous months this year! I am on a countdown for a vacation in May, so you think the time would be crawling, but no!

First up is a quick mani I did for Autuism Awareness month.

April is Autism Awareness month and the lovely nail ladies on Instagram have been turning out some gorgeous blue manis! For this I used three coats of Essie's Barbados Blue with a coat of Sation's Tall, Dark & Has Some and top coat.

Next up is this awesome nail mail package from my fellow lacquer addict, Lisa over at http://lacquervixen.blogspot.com/. You should check out her blog if you haven't already!

She sent me so many goodies I don't even know where to start! I think just about everyone is aware of my Hello Kitty obsession...just look at those lovely HK pastel colors! She also sent me my first Hard Candy and Ruby Wing polishes. Ruby Wing is a color changing polish and I can't wait to try it out! I am in love with the cute earrings she sent me as well...just look at those adorable gray roses!

It's jelly sandwich time! For this mani I used OPI's My Pointe Exactly for the base/jelly color. It looks like a pale gray creme in the bottle but turns out to be a light, sheer jelly! For my sparkle, I used Pure Ice look My Way (the smaller blue and purple glitter) and Hard Candy Mermaid Magic (teal microglitter with small purple hex glitter) both of which are from the lovely Lisa! <3

I have been on a no-buy these past few weeks so nail mail is the highlight of the month for sure!

(For those of you that don't know, a no-buy is a period of time where you don't buy yourself any nail/makeup products!)

How is your April going, loves? Any new manis or polish you're raving about?

Hoppy almost-Easter and my first nail mail package

Hello lovelies =) 

I got my very first nail mail from my nail mail buddy Monday and a couple of the colors she sent me inspired this Easter mani.

For the base color I used Orly Gumdrop. My nail mail buddy sent me this one and I fell in love with it as soon as I unwrapped it! It's a beautiful minty turquoise, though it comes across as more of a blue with the layer of matte top coat. It was fully opaque with two coats though it would've been passable with one! She also sent me Orly Lollipop (which I used for some of the eggs) and my very first Julep polish, Fiona (which I used for the grass).

This is Gumdrop without the matte topcoat...this pic is a little more true to color.

For those of you that have never hear of nail mail, there are two types. The first type of nail mail is when you order polish and it comes via the mail. The second type of nail mail is when you exchange packages of nail polish, nail art supplies, candy and other cute little things with someone through the mail. Not only is nail mail a way to try new polishes and goodies you may not have access to locally, you get to know some really cool people that share some common interests with you. Below is a pic of the very first nail mail package I've gotten and I was so excited! My buddy sent me some great polishes, including 2 brand firsts and 2 others that I've had my eyes on for awhile! She even sent me some candy (the boy quickly tried to confiscate the Starbursts) and treats for my pups and they LOVE them =)

What's on your nails for the Easter weekend?

xoKandy

Support a Pit Bull rescue and sport some sparkly goodness on your nails!

Today I have an awesome lacquer to show you that is not only a bottle of sparkly goodness, it helps support a great cause! For those of you that don't know, I have two amazing Pit Bull Terrier rescues that are my four-legged children. These dogs are the sweetest pups I could ever ask for and they mean the world to me so this cause is near and dear to my heart. Laquerlicious is an amazing indie brand by Michelle Neasbitt. Among her many beautiful lacquers are two that she created specifically to help support the Fresno Bully rescue. They retail for $15 per lacquer with $10 from each bottle sold going to FBR. The color I chose was Kiss-A-Bull. I couldn't say no to this polish for two reasons: one, it supports a great cause and two, it is a gorgeous blue glitter that I cannot get enough of!

 This was taken indoors with artificial light.

This pic was taken before clean-up but it was in sunlight! So please excuse my messy cuticles and focus on this beautiful blue!

The other polish created to support the Fresno Bully Rescue is called Hug-A-Bull and is a beautiful purple glitter. Next on my to-buy list!

Here's the address to Laquerlicous' Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/LaquerliciousUnity

take a look around and make one of these beauties yours!

<3 Kandy

Hello lovelies =)
It's been a crazy couple of weeks! I had to go out of town for work for a bit and I've had a couple of ongoing migraines that refused to go away for days, yuck!
The boy and I elected to stay home for this St.Patrick's day. We took his motorcycle downtown Saturday night and did get to see all the pub-crawlers garbed in green, though.

My St.Paddy's NOTD: I used Lush Lacquer's Minty Chip on my ring finger and also as the ice cream scoop on the ice cream cone on my middle finger. The formula for Minty Chip was perfect-applied and dried smooth and evenly. The white base is Essie's Marshmallow. I used a dotting tool with Essie's Turquoise and Caicos on my pinky nail. 

My Ipsy Glam Bag arrived! I was so excited when I got the email saying I had been taken off of the waiting list! After the email it only took around three or four days to arrive.

I love the cute little nautical-themed bag. I can never have enough bags! Inside was a
 glam rx magnetic palette. It's the perfect size to slip in your pocket or your bag. The palette is magnetic and the little shadow pans feel pretty secure. The lid of the palette also has magnetic closure so you don't have to worry about it coming open. The two shadows shades are Yaby Seashell (left) and Azalea Petal (right). Next up in the bag are the L.A. Fresh Makeup Remover Wipes. The package says the wipes will dissolve makeup from the eyes, lips and face while moisturizing with vitamin e. I'm midway through a package if remover wipes, so I'll report back on these once I open them. Last but not least is the Juice Beauty Hydrating Mist. The Hydrating Mist is said to tone, refresh and hydrate and can be used on the face and hair. It contains yland ylang, rosehip and grapeseed oil. It has a light, refreshing scent and absorbs into the skin quickly.
That's it for my Ipsy bag review! Have any of you joined Ipsy or any other monthly beauty box subscriptions? What are your thoughts?
xoxoKandy

my first indies!

Hello lovelies...happy Friday =)

I purchased my first indie polishes this week from Amy's Nail Boutique and Lush Lacquer and I am in looooooove! 

First up is Over the Rainbow by Amy's Nail Boutique. It's a "crelly" polish with a white base, blue and black star glitter and multi color and size round glitter.

This is two coats of Over the Rainbow with two coats of Opi's Funny Bunny for the undies =)

These little cuties are from Lush Lacquer's Etsy shop.

Left to right: Sugar Daddy, Ticklish Teal, Minty Chip

Sugar Daddy is a white based crelly with multi-colored round and bar glitter. Ticklish Teal is a black-based jelly with teal glitter. Minty Chip is my definite favorite of the three. It is a mint ice cream-based crelly with black, silver and white glitter.

These are first, though definitely not my last indie polishes! There are so many awesome and creative brands out there! 

Have you bought any indie polishes lately? What are your favorite brands?

It's March!

Wow, did February fly by or what? It's March 1st and I must admit I feel like I've been slacking when it comes to blogging these last couple of weeks. I am a chronic migraine sufferer and I haven't had the energy to do much of anything except work lately, but that is going to change! (whether my brain likes it or not, haha!)
I am a natural-nails enthusiast and Shellac is something I've been itching to try for while, but I just didn't want to make the monetary commitment. I got an awesome deal on a CND lamp and am excited to finally try the Shellac manicure! Have any of you worked with Shellac or had a Shellac manicure done? I don't know how effective one would be on my hands considering I change my manis so frequently...I have a bit of polish-ADD...but it would be fantastic for my toes! I'll be posting my pics and reviews as soon as I try it out! I've got my top and base coats but I am waiting for the actual colors I ordered to come in. 
Something else new and exciting to look forward to in March...Ipsy! I joined Ipsy in January and was placed on the waitlist. I got an email yesterday stating I should receive my first box mid-March and I cannot wait! For those of you that heaven't heard of it, Ipsy is a monthy subscription program like Birchbox and many others out there where you pay a flat monthly subscription fee and each month you receive a box with a cute bag and anywhere from three to six full or sample size products to try. The value of the products in the box usually way exceeds the price of the subscription and you get to try products you may never have tried before due to price, availability, etc. One thing that is cool about Ipsy is that it was actually started by a beauty blogger, so the products in it are supposed to be things you would actually want to use and not something you'll stick in a drawer and forget about! I can't wait to get my first box!
Happy March, lacquer lovelies! What's new and exciting for you this month?

This is my foster-dog, Buddy. He loves to sit next to anyone with a computer, nose inching closer and closer to the screen until he's trying to eat the cursor. <3 Blog-Buddy