Anchor & Heart Lacquer First Group Customs

Hello Lovelies!  I am super honored and very lucky to have been randomly selected to guest swatch Anchor & Heart Lacquer Facebook Fan Group, Anchored Hearts, first group custom! The group voted on their favorite inspiration pictures and because Taryn loves making polish so much she decided to make polishes for the top two picks. 

After some group discussion the two group custom polishes evolved into four polishes.  What I like to consider the warmer and the cooler shade for each polish. 

Please be warned that this is a very photo heavy post. I wanted to show the polishes in different lighting sources so you could see the real beauty in them.   

Group Custom #1

This is the warmer of the two purple shades. It's a nice medium shade with a lovely linear holo sparkle along with gold flakies. The holo really sparkles in the sunlight!

A closer look at the holo and gold flakies. Because this is a warmer purple the gold flakies almost appear coppery. 

Group Custom #2

Similar to the first, being a shade of purple, having a holo shine and gold flakies. This one, however, has a cooler tone, giving it a blue-ish almost periwinkle shade. 

A closer look at #2 reveals the holo and gold flakies. Because of the cooler tone the flakies take on an almost silver appearance. 

Here is a direct comparison of the first two customs. In a side by side view you can see they are significantly different. 

Group Custom #3

Inspired by the pastel meadow picture, Taryn created this phenomenal crelly. I'll be perfectly honest, I am not a huge crelly fan mostly because I haven't had great experiences with them. Both of Taryn's crellies in this custom group are amazing! They are incredibly smooth and have the perfect amount of glitter in them. I didn't have to fish for the glitter, nor was there so much glitter that it wouldn't apply evenly. These are absolutely perfect!

#3 is the warmer of the two crellies with a peachy nude base. For me it's very similar to my skin tone, so it gave the interesting illusion of naked nails covered in glitter. 

As you can see in this macro there is a slight holo shimmer along with varying sizes of bright pastel glitter pieces. 

Group Custom #4

This is the cooler toned crelly, that has an off-white slightly pinkish base. 

Again all the same lovely glitter pieces and pretty holo shimmer but in a cooler base. 

A side by side comparison of the two crellies. Even though they are similar you can see they are still quite different. 

The swatches above are each done with a two coat application and have a glossy topcoat over them. The formulas of each of these are absolutely perfect. Each coat  applied so smoothly and was streak free. 

If you haven't tried Anchor & Heart Lacquer you should, if you're already a fan, these are a must have for your collection. 

In order to be able to purchase these you must be a member of the Anchored Hearts Facebook Fan Group. For more information on the pre-order date and how to purchase these polishes head over to the group page and become a member. It's a great group with a passion for one of the best indie brands I have come across yet. 

I hope you enjoyed these swatches, and I hope to see you in the group forum soon. Thanks for stopping by, see you next time. 

Your Fellow Plebe,

Dry Marble Vertical Stripes

Hi Lovelies! This week's Nail Art Nation prompt is Dry Marble. To be honest, I am very intimidated by this technique. I have failed at it several times in the past, and am probably more comfortable with actual watermarble (which I'm no good at, at all). After many attempts I came up with something I thought was presentable:

Polishes and tools;

Base coat: IACCC "Cement"

Sally Hansen X-treme Wear "White On"

Sweet & Sour Lacquer "¡Ay Caramba!" & "Hey-Diddlly-Ho!"

Medium brush

Uber Mat

Topcoat: Glisten & Glow "HK Girl"

Originally, I tried doing a drag on my nails. After many failed attempts I finally decided to try and create decals instead. Using my Uber Mat, I painted three stripes next to each other. Using a medium sized brush, I pulled the polishes in a zigzag pattern across the stripes, as if I was watermarbling. I choose to use a brush, but a pin, tiny dotting tool, toothpick, or watermarbling tool could also be used. I then set this aside to dry. 

While my decals were drying I applied one coat of white polish. As you can se it's a bit sloppy because it will all ended up covered. 

Once, my drag decals were dry, I carefully peeled them off the mat. Some people recommend applying a quick drying topcoat over the decals while they're still on the mat to help them dry quicker and give them so rigidity. I opted not to apply the topcoat because I don't like the rigidity, I feel it makes the decals more challenging to apply. If you opt to not use a quick drying topcoat give the decals extra time to dry, and take a bit more extra caution whe removing them from the mat.  Next apply another thin coat of white polish, and gently press the decal to the wet nail polish. Use a orange stick, cuticle scissors, or like me a cuticle pusher to trim off the excess decal. Then use gentle acetone and a brush to give a good cleanup and help seal the decal to the nail. 

For this nail art design. I applied to drag marble decals on my ring and mid finger. I painted the remaining nails with coordinating colors. Lastly, I finished off with a high gloss quick drying topcoat. 

Even though this took me a few tries I'm excited about how these turned out. Just like any new technique it takes some practice to perfect it. 

The nice thing about dry marbling is that you can use absolutely any polish you want. You don't have to worry about how it spreads in the water. 

I hope you enjoyed this bright faux watermarble design. Thanks for stopping by, see you next time. 

Your Fellow Plebe,

        

Coloring Book Nails - Nicole Diary Water Decal Review

Hello Lovelies! Today, I have another set of Nicole Diary water decals to share with you. This time I've added a fun little twist that will help you customize your water decals so you can create a look all your own. I created my look with these water decals that are a black outline floral design over a clear background.

The nice thing about these decals is that because they are relatively simple (black and clear) you can do so many different things to make them look unique. You can place them over a gradient, a smoosh, any shade of polish you like, really the possibilities are endless. I started with a simple white base. 

I then applied the water decals to all my nails. If you would like a pictorial on how to apply these water check out my previous review Black, White, & a Pop of Color

As usual perform any necessary cleanup and apply your favorite topcoat. 

And there you have a beautiful black and white design with little effort. Now you could leave it at that, there is always a time and a place for a black and white manicure. But maybe you're looking for something different...

Apply a matte topcoat, and allow to dry completely. I only let my topcoat dry for about 30 minutes and I should have waited longer. Of course, different matte topcoats will have different drying times. Just be sure that the topcoat isn't soft, if you can touch it and not leave a fingerprint you should be safe to proceed. 

Then bust out your favorite markers and start coloring. I personally prefer my fine tip Sharpies, which are perfect for this small print. I recommend a stippling motion for coloring in the design. 

When your done you can apply a glossy topcoat. I left mine matte because I wanted this to look like the pages of a coloring book. 

This is a great way to personalize a water decal design and it is very easy to do. 

You could also wear the black and white design for a little while and then add the color later. 

You can find these and othe Nicole Diary water decals through their Amazon or Aliexpress stores. They offer a wide range of unique water decals and other nail art supplies. You can use my code TAL2016 to get a free gift with you purchase. I hope you enjoyed this personalized water decal design and found the tutorial useful. Thanks for stopping by, see you next time.

Your Fellow Plebe,

Studded Bow

Hello Lovelies! I have another mani recreation this evening for this week's "All in the Family" Nail Art Nation prompt. This one features another very talented artist,  Jessica Guilbe, aka @lolitajess. Jessica's designs always have a very feminine flair to them. I particularly like the way she uses charms and studs in her designs.  Here is my recreation of one of her designs:

Products/tools:

Basecoat

Gothic Gala Lacquer "Gigglemug"

Pueen image plate 25

Mundo de Unas "Silver" stamping polish 

Fab Ur Nails Stamper

Studs

Glossy topcoat Glisten and Glow "HK Girl"

Here is Jessica's original design:

I started off with "Gigglemug" as my base color. 

Than using a similar but not as pretty image from Pueen image plate 25 along with silver (instead of gold) stamping polish stamped the image on three nails. 

Then just as Jessica did a created a bow on my accent nail using studs. I too added another single stud to my mid finger. 

As always I finished up with a bit of clean up and a glossy topcoat. 

Checkout Jessica and all her lovely designs either on her Google+ page or on her Instagram @lolitajess. You won't be disappointed. I hope you enjoyed this recreation. Thanks for stopping by, see you next time. 

Your Fellow Plebe,