Ecopolo Summer Mani Challenge: Summer Stamping

Thanks for entering the giveaway, everyone!  Verification of the winners will take some time as there are a lot of entries and options to go through.  Please bear with me as I slog my way through the entries.  I'm hoping to have the winners announced by next Monday at the latest.  In the meantime, I'm going to work on catching up on my Ecopolo Summer Mani Challenge before it's officially over.  Tonight's post is Summer Stamping.

*All polishes and plates used in this post were purchased by me for my own use or were RAOK'd to me by a friend.*

First, I put down Sinful Colors 24/7, a matte hot pink creme that I reviewed here.  I then added accent nails of Lynnderella Flower's Fancy Dresses, a light pink based polish with neons, silver holos, butterflies, hearts, and blossoms.  I thought that it would compliment the neon pink well since it has giant neon pink hexes.

I chose the fruity drinks from Cheeky plate CH36 and the swimsuits and sunglasses from Cheeky plate CH37, which are both art of the Cheeky Summer Collection.  I purchased them on Amazon here.

Before I started stamping, I decided I wanted to test a reader tip on how to get the picture to transfer more cleanly from the stamper to my nail - use a coat of Orly Bonder before stamping.  It seemed to work really well.  The intricate design from the swimsuit plate came off the stamp easily.

I used Konad White and Black, but I'm a little bummed with how the drinks came out.  They smeared when stamping.  I think it was due to the design, though, because the white worked perfectly with the swimsuit design. 

I also smeared the sunglasses with my topcoat, Nubar Diamont.  I waited a sufficiently long amount of time, too, but the black still smeared.  The white, however, played well with Diamont.

You can purchase Sinful Colors at Walgreens and Rite Aid.  You can purchase Lynnderellas at their store here.  Follow their fan-run Facebook, Twitter, and IG pages.  Lastly, you can purchase Konad stampers and polishes here.

Jindie Week: Day 1 - Jindie-Pendence

Wow.  The past two weeks were SO busy.  I took some time off the blog to get some much needed organization and cleaning done, but I feel like I'm still sitting on a pile of junk without having made a dent.  Ugh.  I'd hate to take another week off, so here I am!  Better late than never, I suppose, but I hope everyone who celebrates had a nice Fourth of July.  For those that don't, I hope your weekend was nice with better weather than we got here.  This is also going to double as my Ecopolo Summer Mani Challenge - Week 7: Fourth of July.  I'm woefully behind but plan to catch up and post the last couple of weeks that I've missed soon.

This week is all about Jindie Nails!  Today, we're going to take a look at the lovely Jindie-Pendence, the limited edition patriotic 4th of July polish.  I purchased the one with the white crelly base instead of the glitter topper as I prefer colored bases to clear.  I apologize for the lackluster photos and chip on my thumb.

*I was not financially compensated for this post.  All items in this review were purchased by me for my own use.  The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.  For more information, please see my Disclosure Policy in the tab above.*

Color: White base with red, white, and blue glitters in various shapes and sizes.

Finish: Glitter Crème – glitter in a crème base.

Bottle / Brush: Tall round bottles with round cap - the cap is a little awkward to hold because it’s so round but also pretty short. If you have a hard time holding caps, this bottle type might be difficult for you. The wand and brush are long and slender allowing you to grab glitters from deeper within the bottle but making it a little more difficult to get the larger glitter pieces to stay on the brush.

Opacity: Medium – achieves opacity at three to four coats.
Glitter Application: Medium – requires the dab method, but spreads evenly. This polish is so jam packed full of glitters, it's very easy to get a loaded brush every time you dip it into the bottle.

Consistency: Medium – applies easily and doesn’t flood the cuticles.

Overall Ease of Application: Medium – applies well with minimal pooling, dragging, streaking, or balding.  Spreads well without much manipulation.

Stampability: Not designed for stamping.
Dry Time: Medium – dry to the touch with minimal smudging in 3-8 minutes.

Overall Thoughts: I really love this polish. If you're looking for a white crelly glitter, Jindie makes the best in town. They're easy to apply without streaks and build up easily in three to four coats. The only problem I had here, however, are the large glitters poking up on my nail after I top coated it. Sadly, a few poked up so much that they would get snagged on my clothes, hair, or whatever and either make the poking worse or pull it off altogether. The worst offenders were the diamonds and giant squares/rectangles. I should have used my glitter food before my top coat, but I was in a rush and didn't have time. Either way, I do love the jelly sandwich effect you get when layered over itself.

Sadly, Jindie-Pendence was a limited edition. However, you can purchase other Jindies at her store here. You can also purchase Jindies from her stockists Llarowe, Mei Mei's Signatures, Ninja Polish, Harlow & Co, and Femme Fatale. Follow Jen from Jindie on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

I have one more 4th of July mani to show you guys. The undies are a jelly sandwich of Cult Tempest, Lynnderella Shape Shifter, and OPI Don't Touch my Tutu. I used some stars I cut out of painters tape and some striping tape to create the cut outs and topped them with Cult Time Traveler and OPI Mat-adore Red. Hope everyone had a very happy 4th of July!

*I was not financially compensated for this post. All items in this review were purchased by me for my own use. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience. For more information, please see my Disclosure Policy in the tab above.*

ECOPOLO Summer Mani Challenge: Summer Glitter

I'm so late with this YET AGAIN.  Ugh.  I promise to be more prompt with this week's entry!  Here are the list of weekly challenges:

Last week's challenge was to create a mani using a summer glitter.  I just got some new neons glitters that I really wanted to play with, so I decided to make my own summer glitter!  Let's take a look.

The glitter I created is called Watch the Walls.  It consists of a clear base with blue to pink shimmer neon blue, yellow, green, peach, and purple hexes and squares, purple, red, and blue holo hexes, large metallic red dots, hot pink butterflies, and small orange stars.

I used one layer over Cult Nails Tempest, which is probably my new favorite white polish.  Goes on easily in two coats.  Although, as you can see, I definitely had some bubbles, but I think that's more from the heat than the thickness of application.

So, what do you think?



What's your favorite or go-to summer glitter?

ECOPOLO Summer Mani Challenge

Better late than never, I say!  Tonight's special post is for a challenge I have accepted through one of my polish groups.  Here is the list of the weekly challenges:

I'm really no good at nail art, but I thought I'd think outside of the box for this one.  I could've done something that was well within my comfort level, like a yellow mani with polka dots, but I had this ridiculous idea immediately pop into my mind.  And because I don't usually want to do nail art, I thought I had to give it a shot, at least!  So, tonight's attempt at nail art is a beach scene at sunset with an abandoned yellow polka dot bikini.  I've also included a palm tree and an umbrella.  Sorry if it's hard to tell what I attempted, but I thought I'd post it anyway despite it not being the best job.  Also, note that I'm showing you my right hand.  For some reason, it came out better than my left hand, which is weird because I'm a righty.

I used a ridiculous amount of polishes to create this look: OPI WWTC, Czechbook, Jinx, The Spy Who Loved Me, You Don't Know Jacques, Opening Night Gold; Girly Bits Arctic Sunrise, Glo Worm, Banana Hammock, and Jelly Shoes; Revlon Powder Puff; Barry M Indigo, Max Factor Fantasy Fire; Zoya Yana; and Color Club Almost Famous.

First, I striped on Czechbook, Opening Night Gold, and Arctic Sunrise.  I let it dry for a minute, then, I sponged on Banana Hammock, Jinx, The Spy Who Loved Me, Jelly Shoes, Indigo, and Fantasy Fire to create a sunset look.  Next, I painted on the sun, bikini, trees, and umbrella.

Then, I finished up with sponging on WWTC and Powder Puff onto Czechbook and Opening Night Gold to create a wave crashing on the ocean look.  Lastly, I added KBShimmer's Clearly on Top, which smeared the details just a tad, but not horribly.  Here are macros of each finger.  You'll need to click on it to enlarge if you want to see the details a little better.

There you have it!  My take on the Yellow Polka Dot Bikini!




So, was this a nail fail, or do you like it?

*I was not financially compensated for this post.  All items in this review were purchased by me for my own use.  The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.  For more information, please see my Disclosure Policy in the tab above.*