Hey-o!

Today's manicure was a happy accident in terms of the pairing. I had just received both of these polishes in the mail that week and noticed how lovely they were sitting next to each other while I input them into my spreadsheet.

Matsuda from Elevation Polish was a "aww crap it's being discontinued" purchase. It had sat eyeballing me till I finally pulled the panicked trigger on it. Which I am so glad I did. It's a beautiful deep red, borderline jelly, with a slight shimmer that dances in the sun. It's one of those colors that smacked me upside the head and called me a dummy for waiting for so long to own it. The HARE Polish, Atolla, is one I have wanted since her Illuminated Life Collection came out in the fall of 2012. It's a very pink leaning red jelly that is full of blue glitter and glass flecks, which almost change to a purple in various lighting.  Together they created this lovely combination I am about to show you.

{Outdoors: setting sun}

{Outdoors: shade}

Brands: Elevation Polish & HARE Polish
Availability: Matsuda from Elevation Polish was retired; possibly found on blog sales. Atolla from HARE Polish can be found in stock on her site and is is usually restocked.
Coats: 3 coats Elevation Polish and 2 coats HARE Polish

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I think today calls for some bright polish. Cause I said so. Good thing I have the perfect pairing. 

The main color I am wearing is Cupcake Ninja from Chaos & Crocodiles, with an accent of Strip from Urban Decay. Cupcake Ninja is a bright, eye searing neon pink. It's amazing. Then to top off the already amazingness there's a pop of silver shimmer in there as well. And I promise it really is noticeable in real life, once the pink quits searing your eyes. The brightness from the pink was also an issue for the camera as well. Seeing as there is this amazing silver shimmer in Cupcake Ninja it just made perfect sense to pair it with Strip, a pure silver foil. Strip is a vintage color from Urban Decay's old polish line that they quit making many years ago. For how old it is, it applied like butter. Alright, enough talk, let's jump into this awesomeness!

{Outdoors: full sun}

Brand: Chaos & Crocodiles and Urban Decay
Availability: Cupcake Ninja was a limited edition polish and is no longer sold; Strip is no longer made. Possible to find them on blog sales.
Coats: 2 coats Cupcake Ninja and 2 coats Strip

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Welcome, welcome!

Today I have a beauty from the indie maker Pahlish. Valley of Ashes was a part of her The Great Gatsby Collection from a year or so ago. It's easy to say that this one polish was the pivotal turning point where I went from a Pahlish enjoyer to a Pahlish hoarder. Pahlish is now my largest indie brand collection that stretches well into the triple digits. 

This stunner is a cool toned grey crelly that is filled with a duochrome shimmer that flashes between green and a pink/purple. The pink can be hard to capture on camera, but is very visible on the nail. I just simply adore this polish. It's one of those that calls to me whenever I am wanting a grey polish. 

{Outdoors: full sun}

{Indoors: natural light}

Brand: Pahlish
Availability: Discontinued; can occasionally be found on blog sales
Coats: 3 coats

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Today I have an absolute beauty to share with you! I'm excited to get a chance to share a new Christian Louboutin polish, which I was lucky enough to receive as a birthday gift from my wonderful husband.

Farida, which is part of the Noir collection, is described as a shimmer bronze brown and I'd say that's pretty spot on. It leans more brown in indoor lighting, with the bronze really coming alive in the sun. I will say right off the bat that I know the pricing is a bit insane for some people and I totally get that. For me though, this is more than just polish. It's a work of art. The bottle is weighty and substantial. The handle is sleek and well proportioned. This is easily something that can be sat out on display as an art piece. But that's probably not what you want to know. You want to know about the formula. 

Flawless.

Seriously it's been ages since I have had a formula that was so nice that it surprised me. It felt like butter going onto the nail. The brush put the color right where I wanted it and glided along the nail beautifully. It wasn't too thick or thin, just perfect. Had I been prepared for how well it applied it would have been a one coat wonder. Instead I went with two thinner coats, which also worked perfectly. I'm just really impressed. Now that's not to say that other colors won't have issues, but this one was just perfect.

Along with that, I applied this mani four days ago and all I have is minimal tip wear and very slight chipping on the edge of my left pointer finger. Which is the finger I use for pretty much everything. Very impressed.

{Outdoors: full to setting sun}

Brand: Christian Louboutin
Availability: Christin Louboutin, Sephora, Nordstorm, Saks Fifth, Neiman Marcus
Coats: 2 coats

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Popping in with a quick post with a simple OPI mani I wore earlier this year. 

Red Lights Ahead...Where? is a color I always liked on other people but never picked up myself. Red is one of those colors that I really enjoy, but never seem to reach for to wear. I have no idea what the hang up in my head is, but I have one. So odd. But when I found this bottle on sale I grabbed it up. It was originally a part of their Spring 2012 Holland collection. I wore it on a snowy day and it still looked bright and brilliant, even when seeing it in the cloudy snow covered outdoors. It's a very orange leaning red, it almost feels neon in a way.

There are bubbles in the polish, but that's due to my top coat disliking me going from the warmth of the house to the cold of the outdoors to take the photo. 

{Outdoors: snowy cloud cover}

Brand: OPI 
Availability: Can be found on Amazon
Coats: 3 coats

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Time to share a polish I made last year in support of cancer research!

This Emerald & Ash polish is called Eff Cancer, for so many reasons. It's a purple jelly that is filled with various colors of purple flakies. This was never released by us, but is still something I wore to show support of cancer research. Along with that I did an accent nail in Tangerine Tango Shimmer from Sephora + Pantone Universe. Tangerine Tango was the color of the year a few years back and it was the first time we saw Sephora and Pantone partner to put out a makeup collection base on the color of the year. I personally chose orange as an accent as it is the ribbon color used to show support for kidney cancer. Something I lost my mother to years ago. 

I will note that Eff Cancer is a true grape purple, but purples are very hard to capture properly on camera.

{Outdoors: full sun}

 {Outdoors: shade}

Brand: Emerald & Ash and Sephora + Pantone Universe 
Availability: Eff cancer was never released; Tangerine Tango Sparkle was discontinued
Coats: 2 coats Eff Cancer; 3 coats Tangerine Tango Sparkle

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Hello and welcome!

Up on deck today is a brand that I don't own a lot of, but always enjoy when I see swatches of their various colors. I have gotten my hands on a wapping TWO Contrary Polish's thanks to a friend and a blog sale. Hopefully I can add more to my collection in the future, as the ones I do have, I very much enjoy.

The Way I Am is a dusty sage green creme that has a fuchsia shimmer and matching glitter mixed in. It's an odd color, but odd in a great way. It's a combo of colors that I actually really love together. I distinctly remember wearing green khaki pants and a magenta top when I was fresh out of high school. So it's like my outfit was put into a bottle and now I can wear it on my nails whenever I want!

{Outdoors: full sun}

Brand: Contrary Polish
Availability: Looks to be discontinued; possible to find on blog sales
Coats: 3 coats

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