Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers Release Information

Ok, so tonight's post will be mega-self serving.  If you're not into that, just skip tonight's post and come back tomorrow where it will be back to business as usual.  Tonight, I wanted to give you guys a heads up to the goings-ons over at Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers.  So, let's get down to it!

First, there will be a full restock of all current polishes, the Winter Collection, which you can see here, and the New Year's Duo on 1/1/2014 at 3:00 est.  The New Year's Duo is not a 10 bottle limited edition.  It will be available throughout the entire month of January.  There are still a few discontinued polishes available right now, but there aren't any guarantees that they'll still be there in two weeks!

Second, I will be restocking the final three polishes in the Holiday Limited Edition series tomorrow, 12/18/203, at 9:30 pm est.  The shop will be in maintenance mode until then so I can make sure everything is all cleaned up and ready to go.  Remember, there are only 10 bottles a piece for sale of these polishes, so grab them while you can!  Ok, let's take a look at them!

Guided by Starlight (Christmas)

Guided by Starlight is a white crelly polish packed full of silver and gold metallic and holographic glitters in hexes, squares, dots, diamonds, moons, and stars and a light dusting of iridescent glitters.  This polish is a bit thick by design in order to keep the larger glitters suspended, but you may want or need to add in a little bit of thinner.  This is three coats without undies, a layer of Lynnderella Glitter Tamer, and topped off with KBShimmer's Clearly on Top.  Surprisingly, this polish is a bit of a topcoat eater, so you may need a thicker layer of topcoat or an additional thin layer.  Dry time is average, and the larger glitters did require a bit of fishing.  Granted, my tester bottle is a mini, so the full sized bottles might not have the same issue.

Newborn Solstice Sun (Yule)

Newborn Solstice Sun is a deep ruby red jelly with silver and red holographic micro glitters.  This is two coats without undies, a coat of Lynnderella Glitter Tamer, and finally topped off with KBShimmer's Clearly on Top.  Dry time was average, and, as you can see, it reaches full opacity in two coats.  Reds tend to stain on me, both the skin around my nails and the nail itself, but NSS wasn't a stainer on me.  However, it's a definite topcoat eater, so be aware of that.  Dry time was quick, and the glitters were easy to spread.  I hate mini bottles because of their crap application, so I can't tell you if the base is too thick or not.  You may need to add in some thinner, though.

Matunda Ya Kwanza (Kwanzaa)

Matunda Ya Kwanza is a lightly purple tinted polish with a bright rainbow of glitters in all sorts of shapes and sizes.  You can use the dab method to get a more opaque look, or you can swipe across the nail for a more sparse look.  These photos show MYK as one coat over Color Club Pucci-licious on all fingers except the ring finger, which is three coats of MYK alone.  I added extra topcoat, Glitter Tamer and Clearly on Top, but it's not really necessary for this polish.  Dry time was a bit on the longer side, but that could be because I'm impatient and didn't wait long enough between coats.  Be aware, though, that if you wear it alone, as with most glitters, it will be a giant pain to remove.  

So, there you have it!  What do you think?  Did you guys enjoy this series of polishes?  If you miss out on the chance to purchase these polishes, they are their own prize in my New Year's giveaway!  Make sure you enter here!  Don't forget to follow my Facebook page, Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers Facebook page, and my Instagram, and remember to be over at BEGL headquarters at 9:30 pm est tomorrow night to purchase the remaining Holiday Limited Editions!

Hot pink!

So, I know it's the middle of winter and everyone is doing holiday colors, but I was in the mood to show you guys a gorgeous hot pink.  Let's take a look at my first Limited Edition Lynnderella that I purchased myself instead of receiving it as a gift: Don't Drink this Pink.

*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: Hot pink glitter jelly with hot pink holographic glitters.

Finish: Glitter Jelly – glitter in a colored jelly base.

Bottle / Brush:  Rectangle bottle – ribbed cap that is a little hard on the hands to open if you have sensitive skin.  The wand is the standard length, but the brush is a little too thin to pick up large / shaped glitter without fishing.  The brush's width is also an issue for spreading.  It doesn't fan out and pretty much requires you to dab polishes that are densely packed with glitter.

Opacity:  Medium – achieves opacity at three coats, but here I've worn one coat over OPI DS Signature which is a bright pink linear holographic.

Glitter Application: Medium – requires the dab method, but glitters are easy to extract and spread evenly.

Consistency: Thick – thick or it can be clumpy, but is easily remedied with some polish thinner.

Overall Ease of Application: Medium – applies well with minimal pooling, dragging, streaking, or balding.  Spreads well with the dab method.

Stampability: Not designed for stamping.

Dry Time: Quick – dry to the touch without smudging in under 3 minutes.

Overall Thoughts: Holy crap you guys.  This polish is just so INSANELY packed full of hot pink glitters that it just gobbed on super easily, but it's definitely one of those polishes that requires the dab method.  I was able to get the larger glitters out easily despite the brush being thin.  I did leave it upside down for a while before applying.  It's a perfect pairing with DS Signature, too.  The base color and the color of the glitters are exactly the same shade of vibrant pink.  The only thing that makes me sad about this mani is the fact that you can't really see the in your face holo of Signature.  This polish is a MASSIVE topcoat eater, so make sure you either use a generous coat of Gelous, Glitter Food, or Glitter Tamer before putting on your topcoat.  

Sadly, this LE has been discontinued, but you may occasionally find one on a blog sale.  If you do, you need to snap it up as quickly as possible.  It's just.  that.  good.  Seriously.  I purchased my OPI DS Signature on a dusty hunt from a local salon that was a treasure trove of amazing old polishes.  You can purchase Lynnderellas at their store here.  Follow their fan-run Facebook, Twitter, and IG pages.

*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.*

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

I had so many plans to do sooooo many things on the blog this week, but last weekend's orders have consumed pretty much all of my down time, which is why I'm writing this while at work...  Shhhh, don't tell.  And no, I'm not billing.  ;)  I wanted to take a moment to wish everyone who celebrates a Happy St. Nicholas Day!  A good friend of mine, Sara (from Born For a Storm), asked me to make a special polish to celebrate St. Nicholas Day, so that's what I did!  Yes, this is the same Sara who is also the inspiration behind the Once More with Feeling Collection.  ;)  Let's take a look at it below!

Here's a little information about St. Nicholas Day from the St. Nicholas Center, 

"In many places, St.  Nicholas is the main gift giver.  His feast day, St. Nicholas Day, is December 6, which falls early in the Advent season.  Some places he arrives in the middle of November and moves about the countryside, visiting schools and homes to find out if children have been good.  Other places he comes in the night and finds carrots and hay for his horse or donkey along with children's wish lists.  Small treats are left in shoes or stockings so the children will know he has come.

Where St. Nicholas is prominent, his day, not Christmas, is the primary gift giving day.  Parties may be held on the eve, December 5th, and shoes or stockings left for St. Nicholas to fill during the night.  Children will find treats of small gifts, fruits or nuts, and special Nicholas candies and cookies.  St. Nicholas gifts are meant to be shared, not hoarded for oneself."

For more information about how countries around the world celebrate St. Nicholas Day, check out the Around the World page from the St. Nicholas Center - Discovering the Truth about Santa Claus.

So, there's my inspiration for St. Nick's Sweet Treats, the next polish in the Holiday Limited Edition collection! Each bottle will be numbered, and only 10 will go up for sale.  A few others will be made for giveaways and gifts, but the majority of them will be up for sale tonight at 9:00 pm est.  

St. Nick's Sweet Treats is a clear based polish with silver micro-flakies, glitters predominantly in gold, red, and white, with extra bits of color splashed in.  The red and white represent St. Nicholas while the gold represents the coins he would leave behind.  The white rectangles, red hearts, and other smaller multi-colored glitters represent gifts and sweets he would leave in children's shoes.  Lastly, the white moon celebrates the fact that he comes over night to leave fun surprises for children who have been good.

This is a glitter bomb to the max.  It definitely required the dab method and some extra topcoat to smooth it down.  Here, I've used one heavy coat on top of KBShimmer's Every Nook and Cranberry with a coat of Lynnderella Glitter Tamer and a coat of KBShimmer Clearly on Top.

Dry time was pretty quick, but I attribute that to wearing a matte polish as undies.  The shaped glitters can be a little difficult to get out of the bottle, so I suggest flipping it upside down for a bit before you use it.

Above, I've worn it over a bright red, but I think it looks better over darker colors.  Check out this gorgeous swatch by Amy from atlcatsmeow.  She's used St. Nick's Sweet Treats over OCC Isherwood.

St. Nick's Sweet Treats will be out tonight at my store here at 9 pm est.  I promise I won't be late this time!!!  :)  Grab one while you can!  Happy St. Nicholas Day!!  Also, stay tuned this weekend for a LONG overdue giveaway announcement...  I promise, though, it'll be worth the wait!

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Hanukkah!

I'm currently spending time with my family, but I wanted to show you my Thanksgiving and Hanukkah manis!  I'm not Jewish and don't celebrate Hanukkah, but I wanted to do a mani to say Happy Hanukkah to all who celebrate it!  Get ready for a crap ton of pictures!

First, for my Thanksgiving mani, I did a jelly sandwich using one of Lynnderella's Thanksgiving Twinset polishes Punkkin Pie in between layers of Colors by Llarowe Coconut.  Then, I attempted a pond mani using stamps from Red Angel plate 121 sandwiched in CbL Coconut and Elevation Polish Cascade.  For stamping, I used Essie Good as Gold, Essie Penny Talk, and China Glaze Passion.

The idea in my head was lacking in execution.  Coconut is technically a jelly, but it's a bit too opaque for jelly sandwiches and pond manis, unless you're using super beyond sheer layers, which I even attempted to do. Cascade was a perfect polish to work with as it wasn't too thick, streaky, or hard to handle.  It also handled the pond mani quite well!  

All of the polishes I used for stamping are metallics, so they stamped really well with great image pickup and transfer.  The Essie Mirror Metallic collection is my go-to non-Konad special polish for stamping.

Punkkin was a bit of a surprise because it has a bit of a yellowish tint to the base, which comes out strongly since I used it over and under white.  Like most Lynns it's a thick glitterbomb packed to the gills with all sorts of colors, sizes, and shapes of glitters including some really sweet hearts!  It definitely requires the dab method, but almost all of her gorgeous polishes do, so I'm used to it.  You can get Colors by Llarowe at Llarowe's shop, Elevation at her store, Lynnderella at her store, Essie and China Glaze at Beauty Supply stores and drug stores, and Red Angel plates on Amazon.

Next is my Hanukkah mani!  Let's take a look at Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Ma'oz Tzur by Candlelight, which is a black polish with a purple flash and a rainbow of micro-flakies.  I wanted to go with a nontraditional color combination that wasn't the normal silver and blue you usually see for Hanukkah.  Ma'oz Tzur is a liturgical poem traditionally sung during Hanukkah after lighting the festival of lights.  The thought behind this color scheme is to capture the flickering of lights in the darkness.  This is two coats with one coat of Gelous and one coat of KBShimmer's Clearly on Top.

Dry time is typical, and it goes on smoothly without clumping despite being packed full of pigments.  Ma'oz Tzur by Candlelight is a limited edition from my Holiday Limited Edition Collection and is currently up on my store right now.  Don't forget, I'm having sales all weekend, and Ma'oz Tzur will be a part of that sale!

So, what do you have on your nails for Thanksgiving and Hanukkah?  I hope everyone who celebrates has  happy and safe holiday!