Lacquer or Leave Her: multi

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!

I know you've probably seen a million posts about KBShimmer's special anniversary releases, The Grape Beyond and Would Jubliee It?, but I wanted to throw my review into the ring, too. And since it's KBShimmer week on the blog this week, what better polishes to start with than this amazing duo! KBShimmer has been around for five years and have made amazing strides in growing their business and making their products more easily available. I remember when I first started collecting indie polishes, KBShimmers were some of the first I coveted. I didn't receive any until a few months after I started collecting, and I really liked the formula on them - and still do! Tonight, let's take a look at their special releases, shall we? Oh, and try to ignore the thickness of my nails... I'm working on growing them out, so they're currently being fortified with soak off gels and some Nail Rescue patches... I just couldn't wait to share these polishes with you guys, though, so you get thick nails, lol. Better than ultranubs, am I right?!

(Source)

*I was not financially compensated for this post. I received a sample of both polishes for review purposes. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience. For more information, please see my Disclosure Policy in the tab above.*

The Grape Beyond

Color: Dark purple with blue shimmer.

Finish: Matte – flat finish, no shine.

Bottle / Brush: Round bottle – the wand is the standard length, but the brush is much thicker. This made the polish easier to control and manipulate than even the normal brushes for this bottle type.

Opacity: Medium – achieves opacity at three coats. Despite being mostly opaque at 2 coats, there were still some bald spots, so I used three coats here.

Glitter Application: N/A

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

Overall Ease of Application: Hard – applies with some pooling, dragging, and balding. Spreads well with manipulation. Requires quick work to get a smooth result. You can see a few of the brush strokes in the photos, unfortunately, but they aren't as noticeable in person.

Stampability: Stamps well, but the image is not completely saturated. Here, I have stamped The Grape Beyond over KBShimmer Totally Tubular.

Dry Time: Medium – dry to the touch with minimal smudging in 3-8 minutes.

Overall Thoughts: There are several purple polishes with teal shimmer, but this is probably the only one I own with blue shimmer. The shimmer is so bright in the bottle, but was dulled a little on the nail, which is a little disappointing but not surprising since this is a matte polish. The blue shimmer was much more evident once I added a shiny topcoat. The application was tricky for me, but I always have some problems with mattes. I think I just move too slowly. Once it was on, though, it was just so pretty. I got several unsolicited compliments on it, as well. Overall, it's a very pretty purple that pulls blurple with a gorgeous shimmer and looks awesome both matte or shiny.

Would Jubilee It?

Color: Clear base with fuchsia, blue, silver, and teal hexes, micro bars, and dots.

Finish: Glitter Top Coat – glitter in a clear base to be worn as a top coat.

Opacity: Glitter topcoat – not designed for full opacity.

Glitter Application: Medium – requires the dab method, but spreads evenly.

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 with the dab method.

Stampability: Not designed for stamping.

Dry Time: Medium – dry to the touch with minimal smudging in 3-8 minutes.

Overall Thoughts: This polish is so packed full of glitter that it was impossible to get a scarce look. Instead, this baby is designed for maximum bling and glitter bombage. I know some people will be turned off by the tiny bars, but they really weren't that noticeable. This polish is packed full of so many other glitters that the micro bars were easy to ignore. Otherwise, this polish is just so in your face that it was hard to take my eyes off of it.

You can purchase KBShimmers at their online store for US customers and Harlow and Co for international customers. Follow the KBShimmer gang on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. They're going to have a MASSIVE giveaway once they hit 10,000 FB followers, so get to liking! :D

*I was not financially compensated for this post. I received a sample of both polishes for review purposes. 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!

Happy birthday, KBShimmer!