Big things are coming in the new year!

While this blog is relatively new it's been a long time in the making. I wanted to create this blog not only to share with you my collection of nail polishes, but also as a way to showcase the nail polish I am making. Many of you probably don't know, but I make polish. It's something that I have been doing for a little over 6 months and I have enjoyed it immensely.

After much debating and a lot of worrying about if I was good enough, I have finally decided to take the plunge into selling my nail polish. It has been a long journey to get to this point, but I finally overcame my self doubt, well that's a lie but I've at least stood up to it. In the next coming weeks I will be sharing polish swatches with you. Think of it as a tease as I get my shop up and running.

And to close out the year, I want to share with you the wonderful logo for my company!

2013 is already looking to be a wonderful year full of newness and excitement. So won't you join me in seeing what 2013 holds? I hope you have a wonderful New Year!

Today I tried for something that I talk about all of the time, but never have actually tried myself. That thing would be a jelly sandwich. I had a few jelly polishes but the mood hadn't stuck me, that is until I got Zoya Frida and Sephora by OPI Hollywood If I Could. For my base I used Cherimoya Blockbuster, which is a silver matte.

I need to get a little better at applying jellies more evenly, but I am happy with how this turned out. It reminds me on tinsel on a tree. Which I hadn't even thought about till I tried it. Yay for acidental holiday manis!

Today I have a beauty that I have been lusting after since seeing swatches for it a few months ago. That polish is Illamasqua's Creator. A new friend of mine was beyond generous and thoughtful and squashed said lust when she sent it to me a few days ago.

Creator is a part of Illamasqua's Generation Q collection. It is a beautiful black creme packed with small silver glitter that is irregular in shape. It's almost like the shape of glass fleck or really tiny flakies. Along with that there is small holo glitter scattered throughout. You don't really notice the holo glitter unless the light hits it just right. It's like a glistening star peaking through the darkness. I love it, because it's not in your face. This polish is like a galaxy in a bottle. On top of that it was perfect with 2 coats and it applied beautifully. It was a little thin, but not in a bad way. It didn't gather in my cuticles and went exactly where I wanted it to. This is easily one of my new favorite polishes and makes me fall even deeper in love with Illamasqua polishes.

I blogged last week about SquareHue which is a monthly subscription box for nail polish.

I also talked about the fact that they were doing a special $14.99 promo that you would be locked into for the life of your subscription. Well that promo ended on the 8th and the price went to $21 (which still isn't an awful deal), but the wonderful people over at SquareHue have given me a promo code that will give you the chance to get your subscription for the $14.99.

So if you want to get the box...but waited too long you're in luck! The promo is good till December 24th. So don't wait too long.

So go now and enter in the code: DECBLOGGER05 (no longer active).

Also...their January collection is called the Arctic Collection. So looking forward to what the colors will be. So if you're interested at all...go sign up now to lock in the awesome promo price!

Today I have a Limited Edition color from Sally Hansen's Complete Salon Manicure line. Gilded Lily was made for Prabal Gurung's Fall 2012 collection.

This polish is what I would call a tarnished gold. It is full of micro flakie glitter. It could also be thought of as a glass fleck. The flakies are trapped in a sheer base. Application wasn't the best, some spots built up on my nails more than other spots. This is 3 coats, with the first coat being thin and easy to see the nail through. I think the large brush that Complete Salon Manicure bottles come with was more a detriment for applying this polish.

It is beautiful on the nail and it sparkles in almost any light.  The flakies really capture the light and throw it back at you. I'm not usually a gold lover, but I am happily wearing and staring at this beauty. While this was a LE polish, I have heard many times that Golden Eye from the OPI Bond collection is a dupe. Though I don't have that polish so I cant confirm it.

Hello! Today I am very excited to share with you a new monthly subscription box called SquareHue. Why am I so excited? Because SquareHue is a nail polish box! Yep...it's like my dream box.

When I first heard about the box it sparked my interest. After looking through their website I knew that I had to try it. You get 3 polishes each month that have been specifically made for that month. The company looks at what is trending in colors for at the time and they create beautiful colors from there. Even better is this:

We are sure you’ll love SquareHue quality. Our colors are developed by the same lab as some of the largest international brands. No cheapy stuff here.

• “3-Free” Clean formula – Does not contain (1)DBP, (2)Formaldehyde, (3)Toluene.
• We like our formula extra clean… so no Camphor either.
• Not tested on animals.
• Proudly Made in the USA.

Here's what really hooked me. Their bottles are the "normal" .50 oz bottles. None of this tiny bottle for a high price crap (I'm looking at you Julep). That and it's their own brand. So if you're like me and have a huge collection you don't have to worry that they might send you an OPI you already have. 

I was actually lucky enough to get their very first box, which was December's, sent to me for review and I have to say that not only am I honored, it was an absolute pleasure talking with Laura at SquareHue. She was nothing but helpful and answered all of my questions. 

So after a little wait (wrong zipcode issue) I finally got my box yesterday. I have to say, it's an adorable little box. It's so small, but perfect for the polishes. Once opened I was greeted with a welcome card that was signed by everyone from SquareHue. It was a simple, but sweet extra. 

Getting past the welcome note, the polishes were packed with crinkle cut paper. Both pretty and great padding for the polish.

Each polish was held in it's own space with a divider. Also super smart for shipping the polishes safely. 

The bottles are a great square shape with a good weight behind them. They don't feel like they are going to fall over at all. One side has a large white square printed on it with hue written inside of the square. The opposite side has their website, size of the bottle and Made in USA printed on it. All of the printing is nicely done and allows you to see the polish through all sides.

On the bottom of the bottle are stickers with the company name, name of the polish and the date of when the polish was sent out. I actually love that they put the date on the bottles. So I always know which collection they were a part of. Seriously...it's brilliant. This month was all about the holidays and the names reflected that as well. 

Now for the swatches! I started with Champagne Toast, which is a great light gold foil. There are some flashes of silver in it as well. It really does have a Champagne feel to it. This went on to be opaque with two coats. The first coat started out a little streaky, but I find that to be true with a lot of foils that I have used. After the second coat everything evened out and looked great. It didn't show much in the way of brush strokes either. It dried fairly quickly to the touch and is shown here without a top coat.

Next is Sugar Plum. It's a great deep purple metallic with a little shimmer in it. I honestly don't own enough purples, so I was haver happy to add this to my collection. The first coat started out very streaky, but was easily fixed with a second coat. I did do a thin third coat for peace of mind, but probably would have been fine with only two coats. The formula was really nice, not too thin that it flooded my cuticles and not to thick that it was hard to work with.

Last, but not least is Holly Berry. It's a great red metallic with gold shimmer. Maybe not the most original red, but lets face it there is no such thing as an original red at this point. I do really like that it's a metallic with the shimmer, because it makes it look lit from within. I will apologize now, because the sun went off and hit by the time I was ready for pictures, so you can't see the gold as much, but it's there. After applying the purple I decided to try 3 thin coats with this color, which worked perfectly. Again, streaky at first, but smooth and wonderful after the second coat.

So overall what do I think? 

Well I'm impressed. The colors are perfect for the holidays. And while I would have loved a green (I adore green and have a huge desire for a green polish with silver shimmer), it's just a personal wish and nothing to do with SquareHue. Really the purple was perfect in this set. It took it away from the basic green and red of the holidays. 

Now for the details. Right now they have a deal where you can get the subscription for $14.99 per month with free shipping, but that does end on the 8th of this month. Then the price jumps to $21. 

I personally feel like it's a great deal and will be jumping on it, because getting polish each month that has been picked out based on trends is right up my alley. I really look forward to seeing what their next colors will look like and I hope that their formula is just as wonderful down the line. 

Disclaimer: This was sent to me to review, but all thoughts and views on the products are my own. 

Let's get this blog kicked off with my first Nail of the Day!

Today I have on Hollywood Life from Jessica Custom Nail Color. I picked up this color as part of a 5 pack that came with 4 colors and a top coat. I can't find anything about this specific color other than a listing on eBay, which is sad, because it's a rather lovely color.

Shade

Shade

Sun

Sun

I would call this color a fairly true purple with a magenta flash. It also has pink micro glitter in it. The glitter is super noticeable in the bottle, but hides a bit once on the nail. I was able to get this polish opaque in two coats. The formula was nice, not too thick or thin and I had no issues with flooding. If the glitter would show on the nails better, I would say that this is a unique polish. Even without the glitter showing through I do still enjoy the color.