Pure Nail Oil™ 21 Day Update!

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Hello lovelies! Check it out! I'm posting again! I am determined to catch up here today, darn it! I really could use a few more hours in the day at the moment, but I will figure out a good blogging schedule, I swear it! I think it's difficult to blog at the moment since I have so much going on with my house and yard, as well as spending lots of time with my mother. It's a long story, but my mom and I are closer than ever at the moment and I am truly enjoying being with her. I'm over there every day now, and that's something that I don't want to give up. I'm thinking I'm going to have to write my posts in the evenings and schedule them for the next day instead of posting real time.

Anyway, today I have a quick update on my progress with Pure Nail Oil™. Unless you're living under a rock, you already know that I've been using Pure Nail Oil from NailCareHQ.com for just over 3 weeks now. When I first started, my cuticles were mangled and my nails were so dry that they curled like crazy, and were very brittle. You can read my original reveal post here, as well as Ana's fabulous post (which includes emails and conversations between Ana and myself), both tell the story of my compulsive nipping, numerous failed attempts at finding a product that actually worked, and the lengths I went to in order to hide the problem.

Monday marked 21 full days since I started using Pure™, and you might think that my results would have plateaued by now....but you'f be wrong! My eponychiums are still growing in completely, but for the first time in my life my cuticles aren't just unruly and hard. The biggest change in week 3 has to do with those horrible, rough, hard as a rock callouses on the sides of my nails. The skin there has been terribly calloused as long as I can remember. I've used all sorts of products to try and soften those puppies, and nothing made a difference. I figured I was just stuck with them, and ya know....nipped and nipped and nipped.

This past week, those callouses moved out. They started lifting up, much like a hangnail, and then I was able to grab my pumice stone and gently buff the rest off. The skin that is on the sides of my nails now? Smooth, soft, and not a callous that sits up so high that it obscures part of the nail! Woohoo! I know, it sounds kinda gross, but healing from the kind of damage that I had done to my skin and nails is not pretty.

My pinky on my right hand is actually showing some eponychium as well, which is amazing since even my Doctor said it could be months until it grew in due to the damage to the nail underneath, and the need for all that debris to grow out from underneath so that the cuticle and eponychium can re-adhere to the nail plate. My middle finger on my left hand, which is always the last to heal since it's the worst and has some scar tissue going on, is also showing some eponychium as well.

The skin all the way down to my first knuckle is healthier, no longer dry, and looks younger. Those horrible wrinkles keep on fading, which is a huge deal to me. Macro shots made those things look earthquake fault lines!

You can find the original reveal shots here, as well as my 14 day update here. Those have a ton of before and after shots. Here's my before shots, followed by day 21. Please excuse the coconut oil on my hands here. I've been using that wonderful stuff to soothe a sunburn and it did not want to leave my hands! These were actually taken on Monday, so ignore my uneven nails please :)

Left Hand, Before. Ugh. Make it go away!




 Left Hand, Day 21. Much better!

And my Left Hand (this was the really bad one). Looking at this makes me cringe and want to lecture myself on why nipping and buffing is the root of all nail care evil.:

Redemption! Is that really my left hand?

Woohoo!! That's a BIG difference, right? I do wish that I hadn't buffed the ever loving life out of my nails so that I could show you all the difference in my nail growth,  but you'll be seeing that over the next couple of weeks.


Like I said folks, BIG difference. Especially if you check out my Day 7 and Day 14 posts. It's crazy just how much healthier and happier my nails and cuticles are, even with having to go to shorties to get rid of all the damage to my nails. I'm positive that Pure is the only reason that I have been able to keep any sort of length for more than a few days. Paper thin nails don't hold up well to stress, but since my nails are flexible as opposed to brittle, I was able to keep them a bit longer. I cannot wait to get some length back now that all that damage is gone. I'm hoping that I'll be able to keep my length longer than a few weeks for once!

So there ya have it, 21 days of Pure Nail Oil™, and still seeing improvement. That is just remarkable to me. No other product has ever given me results anywhere near this, and I've certainly never seen improvement past the first week or so. You can bet I will never ever be without Pure™ again. And I still wish Ana made it in vat size!

If you are interested in Pure Nail Oil™ (and you really should be - even if you have great cuticles, Pure™ is packed with Jojoba Oil, which is beneficial to anyone, especially for the actual nails. No other oil can penetrate the nail plate and since strong nails are actually flexible nails, using a jojoba based nail oil is key to nails that are strong and flexible as opposed to hard like mine were), you can check it out at http://www.nailcarehq.com/kimberskorner. Starter Kits and Refill Kits both run $22 and will last up to 3 months. While you're there, take a peak at Ana's articles on nail and cuticle care - it's really amazing how much bad information we've all been fed in the name of marketing!

I'll be back with some Flakie Goodness and I have a ton of awesome Indies coming up so stick around!

Do you have problem nails and cuticles? Share with me!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
-Kimber






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ABC Challenge: "U' is for Ulta - stamping with Ulta Soho Skinny and Rockin the Shorties!

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Hello lovelies! Man, do I feel like a slacker! I honestly had every intention of posting this yesterday, but as you all more than likely already know, I haven't been sleeping much over the past few couple of months. On average, I'm getting about 3 hours of sleep a night, and yesterday exhaustion finally caught up with me. I went to nap for a little bit, and just never made it back out of bed until 8 this morning. I suppose I should be okay with that since I really needed it, but I'm desperately trying to catch up here on the blog and I have a ton of swatches that I need to get done. Sleep is for the weak!!!  Kidding! I actually love to sleep. It's just been fleeting for awhile now.

I did manage to spend some time on my nails yesterday, but not in a way that you'd expect. It's no secret that I like having my nails long. It's just a preference since I prefer how my hands look with longer nails. However, my poor nails are so damaged from nipping, scraping, and over buffing that my free edge was paper thin and just not behaving. I made the executive decision to rock some shorties for awhile in order to grow out healthy, pretty nails instead of continuing to worry about breaking a nail or patching, etc. After nubbinizing all the damage from over buffing is gone and my nails are right about where the should be for me to grow them out and baby them back to health. Thanks to Pure Nail Oil™, my nails are actually very healthy below where that damage at the free edge was so I am certain I made the right choice. Also, I really dig shorties! If my fingers didn't look like sausages with shorter nails I might actually keep them shorter.

I do have my 21 day Pure Nail Oil results post coming up for you all, but Wednesday was a challenge day, so I have another ABC Challenge manicure to share. I had this finished and ready to go on time for once too! I really need to learn to post in my sleep.

This week's challenge was the letter "u", and man! This was a tough one for me. I have a couple of polishes that start with U, but I am itching to do more nail art and none of them would really work for nail art. Luckily I remembered that I have some Ulta polishes, and grabbed Soho Skinny, a really pretty dusty blue.

I wanted to do some stamping, so I used OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls as a base, and grabbed Red Angel plate RA-112 and Ulta Soho Skinny and came up with a decent manicure. It looks awesome from a distance, but up close you can see all it's little flaws.

First off, Soho Skinny? Yeah, pretty color, not a great stamping polish. It's very runny and smears easily so getting a clean transfer was near impossible. Frustrating, but since it's not really noticable outside of macro mode, I decided to leave well enough alone. Besides, these days I am going non-stop from the time I wake up until the moment I fall into bed, so no time to re-do this one.

I'm actually fairly okay with how this turned out, although I do wish Soho Skinny was better for stamping. I adore dusty blues for stamping and this one would be perfect if it wasn't thinner than water. I do dig the overall feel of this mani though, and I kept it on for 2 days (Shock and awe!!). I have a thing for blue on white. Reminds me of this beautiful china that my mother used to have. The name is on the tip of my tongue but it's almost midnight and my brain is already checked out for the night. :)

What do you lovelies think? Do you dig blue and white?

I will return in the morning with my 21 day Pure Nail Oil™ update (yes, I am still in love and still seeing improvement!), as well as Flakie Friday! I have a ton of awesome Indies coming up starting Saturday, so make sure to check back. You won't want to miss them.

Don't forget to check out all my awesome Polish Sistahs and their letter "u" manicures!





Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
-Kimber




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Nothing to Disclose

LOADS OF LINES

LACE FOR LAHA MAGAZINE

I painted these bespoke lace nails for a bridal shoot for Laha Magazine - have a look at the pictures from the shoot here.

Simply Smooth Base Coat and SImply Quick Top Coat - review

 Press Sample

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**EDIT** I apologize for any confusion, lovelies. Simply Smooth™ and Simply Quick™ can only be shipped to a U.S. address due to shipping restrictions on flammable materials. It does say this on the order page, but the shopping cart will still allow you to complete your purchase since Ana isn't able to shut down international shipping on specific items only. Ana is looking into alternatives to USPS for shipping those 2 though, so keep your fingers crossed!

Hello Lovelies! I'm so sorry that I wasn't able to post yesterday - it's been a hectic couple of days around here! I've been landscaping my backyard as well as re-working my front garden, and there was some AC Repair thrown in there as well. Not to mention helping mom out and waiting on news from her doctor's appointments. Lemme tell ya, I am exhausted. I have no idea how I am still upright, especially since my insomnia seems to be getting worse.

I also spent some time taking my nails down to a pretty short length yesterday. My free edge has alot of damage from nipping and using a metal cuticle remover tool, as well as over buffing. This made achieving a decent shape almost impossible, and even though my Pure Nail Oil™ helps strengthen my nails, it can't restore the layers of keratin that were removed by some serious over buffing. My middle nail on my left hand was so buffed out that it was paper thin, and my natural ridges formed points in the nail. All of that combined with a bad allergy season and my complete inability to refrain from gouging myself when I have an itchy spot, meant it was time to nubbinize. Normally I don't voluntarily lose length, no matter how damaged my nails are or how much I make myself bleed froms scratching, but I really want my nails to be healthy and without getting rid of that damaged free edge, I'll just be waiting for that huge break. May as well be pre-emptive! Besides, as much as I love having long nails, I also really like shorties. I don't keep my nails short because shorties tend to make my fingers look short and squat, but I love how they look and how simple they are to care for.

I have to say that after removing the damaged free edge, I was able to shape my nails the way I like them for the first time in months! I'm fairly thrilled about that, and since I;ve been using Pure Nail Oil™ my nail growth is much mor noticeable and consistent. It used to take me a full 6 weeks to get back to my favored length, but this last time (when I chopped off the stilettos) while using Pure™, I had my length back in 2 weeks.

So sorry to all my brands that I have swatches coming up for! I'm channeling my inner LTHP and rockin the shorties since I'd rather see nicely groomed and healthy shorties than damaged and badly shaped longer nails any day!

Today I have another top and base coat review for you all. I know, I know....didn't I just post one of those? Well, yes. Yes I did. But let's face it - we're always looking for the greatest base and top coat of all time, and if you're anything like me, you want something that not only provides excellent results, but doesn't suck the money out of your wallet at an exponential rate.

By now I'm sure you're all familiar with Ana from NailCareHQ.com, the genius behind Pure Nail Oil™. Ana is my most trusted source for nail care information and just a wonderful woman as well. Back when I first started using Pure Nail Oil™ and realized that strong nails aren't born from tons of chemicals and expensive strengtheners, Ana was kind enough to send me her base and top coat, Simply Smooth™ and Simply Quick™ to try out.

Simply Quick™, Simply Smooth™, and the amazing Pure Nail Oil™

 Now I'll be the first to admit that when it comes to base and top coats, I am ultra picky. Over the past 2 years I have tried so many, and almost all of them have failed me. I learned that you get what you pay for, and my go to products were OPI Nail Envy Matte and Seche Vite (along with Seche Restore) for a good 18 months. Then I switched to HK Girl Top Coat, which I still love, but let's face it. I use a ton of top coat. If I can find a cheaper alternative that works just as well? You bet I'm going to use it! Same with my base coats, which I rotate depending on finish. I still use Stuck on Blu for holos and mattes, but with swatching and nail art challenges, I go through alot of base coat.

Let's start out with Simply Smooth™. I expect alot from my base coats. I want them to protect against staining, help my polish last longer, smooth out some fairly good sized ridges and provide a smooth surface for polish application. It's rare that I find a base coat that gives me all of these. OPI Nail Envy Matte came the closest, but I don't need a nail strengthener and at close to $16 a bottle, it's just more than I really want to spend on something that I use so much of. Simply Smooth™ gave me all of the things I want in a base coat, and the finish is amazing. Not only did my polish last through all of the daily tasks that I subject it to, but it minimized staining, even with highly pigmented polish, smoothed out all of my ridges, leaving a perfectly smooth surface for my polish, and the finish looks beautiful to boot! Simply Smooth is just barely tinted, which leaves a gorgeous barely there pinkish sheen to the nails. Honestly, I'm okay with wearing just Simply Smooth™ on occasion. If you're a fan of french manicures, this would make a perfect base! And the best part? Simply Smooth is only $4.99! That's a huge amount of savings for someone like me that spent $16 every 3-4 weeks for base coat.  I've been using Simply Smooth for a couple of weeks now, and have already ordered a full sized bottle. I love this stuff. and I'll be sticking with it for as long as Ana stocks it!

Onto Simply Quick - Simply Quick™ is a just what it says. It's a fast dry top coat, with no bells and whistles. However, that doesn't mean it isn't a killer top coat. Simply Quick dries FASTER than Seche Vite, and even a few seconds faster than my HK Girl. Dry to the touch in seconds, and entirely dry (no wrinkles or dents) in about 5-6 minutes. Ana has said that she thinks it's slightly less shiny than SV, but I disagree. The shine has a different quality, reminding me more of a gel top coat than your usual quick dry. It's still super shiny, there's just less glare! It also dries hard, like a gel, which I adore since I am so hard on my nails. My manicures have been holding up better than ever before, and I swear the protection from Simply Quick is one of the reasons that I haven't busted off one of my very damaged free edges yet. SImply Quick also has a thinner formula than most quick dry topcoats, which means I'm using less product, and it does not get gloppy or thick - ever! No need to worry about keeping thinner handy or buying pricey restorative chemicals.  Honestly, this stuff is wonderful! As an added bonus, I have had less smearing with stamping, even when using a very smeary blue over white (you'll see that later tonight!). Just like Simply Smooth™, Simply Quick™ sells for $4.99, which saves me even more than Simply Smooth does, since I use a serious amount of topcoat between swatching, layering, and nail art.

I have to tell you guys, these have been my manicure staples for the past 2 weeks. I was skeptical at first, since come on....$4.99?? But I admit that I am in love with both of these and will keep using them for along time to come. My wallet is much happier, and my manicures look fantastic. I haven't compromised a single shred of quality. As a blogger, I'm partial to both saving money and using products that are high quality - these give me both. I highly recommend checking them out. You'll love them!

You can find Simply Smooth and Simply Quick by heading on over to http://www.nailcarehq.com/kimberskorner. You can also check out Pure Nail Oil™ (now available in Summer scent - YUM!), the product that I swear by for nail and cuticle care. Both Simply Smooth and Simply quick sell for $4.99 for full sized bottles, and Pure Nail Oil runs $22 for either a starter kit or refill kit. If you haven't seen my results from using Pure™, you can check them out here! Don't forget to follow Ana and Simple Nail Art Tips on Facebook for updates, new Pure™ scents, nail care information and giveaways! As a reminder, I will be giving away 2 bottles of Pure Nail Oil™ next month, so be sure to check back.

Have you tried Simply Smooth or Simply Quick™? What is important to you in a top and base coat?

I'll be back tonight with an ABC Challenge manicure, as well as my 21 day Pure Nail Oil update!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
-Kimber

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Press Sample

AIMEE'S IBIZA NAILS

SPLODGEY BIRTHDAY NAILS

Geeky Doodles

Allergies have been plaguing my eyes this past week and trying to put makeup on their swollen, irritated lids are totally out of place. Instead I spent my Saturday and Sunday evenings doing something that I haven't done for at least a couple of years; sketching portraits! 

Although I'm a bit rusty it was fun to take up this hobby again, and I guess some geeky sketching is just the perfect way to channel the love you can feel for characters from something that you are completely hooked on. :) 

And since people always ask this when I post art:

What materials did you use? Regular paper and pencils (HB, 4H, 6B and 8B), and cotton buds for shading. 

How long does it take you to do a portrait? Between 1 - 2.5 hours. 

Not makeup-related but I figured I'd show them to you anyway. Hope you've had a great weekend! :)

Faux Flakie Friday! Incredibly late Sunday version, cause I'm a slacker.

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Good Morning Lovelies! I am a slacker! Well, not on purpose, but here it is Sunday morning and I'm just now managing to post my Flakie Friday mani. Maybe I should've called it Slacker Sunday. ;)

I had intended to post this Friday evening, but I ended up at my mom's house, watching my kids soak each other with water balloons and by the time I made it home I had so much else to do that I couldn't get to my post. Yesterday was so sweltering hot that I honestly couldn't accomplish anything. So I took the kiddos over to moms and they played in the pool and kept cool. I am not a hot weather girl, and it's been incredibly hot here lately. I plan on cranking up the AC today since we're finally getting it up and running today (darn thing eats parts like nobodys business). It's also been wonderful to just hang out and spend time with my mom. That last hospital stay really scared us. I'm over there twice a day to give her an anti-coagulant injection anyway, but being there with the kids has been really lovely.

Today's Flakie is one of those polishes where I sat under a lamp and played a rousing game of "Flakie? Not a Flakie?" for a good hour. I settled on glitter, but looks like a very fine flakie so it's going to count today because I really wanted to wear it. See what I did there? Justification. Even if you guys determine that it doesn't count, I'm still counting it since I loved it enough to attempt to cheat!

This beauty is one of my 35 brand new Catrice polishes that the ever so awesome Simona from Light Your Nails was kind enough to pick up for me. Let me tell you - I am so excited about these Catrice polishes! There is a true flakie in the bunch, but this one was really calling to me. It's Calm Call from the Siberian Call Collection and it's a shiny black base with multicolored glitters and what appears to be very fine silver flakes, but could very well be glitter that just looks like flakes. Either way, it's beautiful and one of my favorite twists on black.

I really wanted to play with some of the awesome loose glitters that I received from Born Pretty Store as well, so I added a frame with silver glitters, stamped my accent nail with a honeycomb image from Dashica plate SDP-A, and filled in the honeycombs with glitters. The result is a lot of fun!

I will warn you guys, these were taken early in the morning before I had a chance to moisurize so my hands look a bit dry. I've been horrible about moisturizing my hands the past few days. I never forget my Pure Nail Oil, but my hands? Yeah...I've been bad! I also managed to shape my nails (and finally hit the cuticle remover) after this, so ignore the weird off center shape.

I also wanted to show you all my Moustache. It took me weeks to grow it! ;)

This is 2 coats of The Calm Call with Born Pretty Store silver glitter (which I assure you are all there - the silver glitters have to catch the light just right or they blend into the polish):

Oh how I love black with a little oomph! The Calm Call is definitely a new favorite black polish. The glittery frames really made this for me though, and the accent nail was so blingy that driving was dangerous!

The Calm Call's formula was fabulous, which was a relief since I had read several blog posts stating that the formula was less than stellar. I had no problems at all. Application was lovely as well, even though this girl has one of the fluffy Catrice brushes. Bad brushes I can handle, and since this pretty had no other issues at all, I was totally able to overlook the brush.

The loose glitters from Born Pretty Store were probably the most fun I've had working on a manicure in awhile. Maybe it's just me, but playing with shiny glitter makes me happy. These were easy to use (just place a dot of topcoat where you want the glitter, then use a dotting tool, toothpick or tweezers to place the glitter onto the dot of topcoat. Repeat as desired, seal with topcoat and done!) and looked fabulous! I was very impressed with their staying power as well - I had worried that I would be replacing them all day long, but I only managed to loose 1 glitter, and that was my while doing some gardening. They're also so very versatile - and since I have 12 pots of them, I foresee lots of glittery nail art in my future.

You can check out these loose glitters (or Glequins) by visiting BornPrettyStore.com, and searching for item number 3103 or simply click here. These come in a set of 12 small pots (which is still enough glitter to last a lifetime!) and sell for $6.45. While you're at it, take a look around and check out all that Born Pretty Store has to offer. They have an amazing array of nail art supplies at low prices, with free worldwide shipping. Use the code below to save 10% off your order!

I have alot of awesome polish coming up this week including more from Wingdust, Nail Pattern Boldness, Twenty Seven Polish, Polish TBH and Live life Polished, as well as a fabulous base and top coat, and more Pure Nail Oil updates!

What do you think of The Calm Call? Flakie or glitter that aspires to be a flakie?

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
-Kimber



*Product(s) Featured provided for review. Please see Disclaimer/Legal Page for more information** 

Press Sample

Gothic Glam

The inspiration for this look is the timeless, gothic beauty icon Morticia Addams. There is not very much to be said about it, except that it is an ideal way of looking goth and glamorous in the same time.

It feels a bit strange to wear my hair straight and down like this, but I guess it is kind of convenient to be able to change my hairstyle as I like.

This is probably my favorite lipstick at the moment! It is Wet n Wild's Cherry bomb, which I have been using far too seldom since I got it months ago.

To really enhance the appearance of more elongated, winged out eyes I've added two pairs of false eyelashes; the first one a natural set (Red Cherry #601) and the second one outer corner lashes (Ardell #301).

Face

*Ready Foundation R130 (Bare Minerals)

*Studio Finish Concealer (M.A.C.)

*Mineral Veil (Bare Minerals)

*Eyeshadow Purely naked (Makeup Geek)

*Blush Glow (e.l.f.)

Eyebrows

*Brow powder Dark brown (Anastasia Beverly Hills)

*#391 (Inglot)

Eyes

*Shadow Insurance (original) (Too Faced)

*#351 (Inglot) 

*#339 (Inglot)

*#391 (Inglot)

*Jumbo Pencil Milk (NYX)

*Pigment New Years Eve (Makeup Geek)

*Gel liner Immortal (Makeup Geek)

*False eyelashes #301(Ardell)

*False eyelashes #601(Red Cherry)

Lips

*Lipstick Cherry Bomb (Wet N Wild)

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The past couple of weeks I have been spending some time preparing posts for the Red and Black week at Sophistique Noir. After participating last year I've been looking forward to do so again and soon the first week of June are upon us! I'm very excited about this!

Thank you for reading and hope you enjoyed the look! :) 

Candied Lustre Thermal Nail Polish - Cafe Au Lait and Blacquer The Berry

Press Sample


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Hello Lovelies! Happy Friday!!! I will have a Flakie Friday post up for you later this evening, but right now I want to share some awesome thermal polish with you.

Awhile back I showed you an awesome Black Based Thermal Polish called "Get Figgy With It" from Candied Lustre. Unfortunately my swatching was set off course afterwards with everything that has happened with my mother and the Cancer, and I wasn't able to share the other 2 thermals with you as soon as I wanted.  I know several of you were looking forward to checking them out, and I thank you all for your patience. Im starting to get back into the swing of things, although this weekend is a crazy busy time for the pet care industry, and I have to go to my mom's twice a day to give her a shot in the stomach. I am a former EMT so I get to do the needle pokes. Not fun, but at least I know that the medication is going where it's supposed to, and she says it doesn't hurt at all when I administer them. Yay!

I have 2 gorgeous thermals for you today, so let's get to it!

First up is Candied Lustre Cafe Au Lait, a beautiful Gold to Bronze black based thermal with light, scattered holo. This is the color that really stole my heart! There is just something about this color init's cold state that really took my breath away. The holo was hard to capture, but you can see the sparkle.

This is 3 coats of Cafe Au Lait in it's "warm" state, with top coat:

Beautiful! I love the vibrant gold, and that subtle, scattered holo shimmer is just beautiful.

But here's the real kicker....

Cafe Au Lait, in her "cold" state:

*Falls over* I am so incredibly in love with this color! Both shades are just stunning, and the color change is quick, maybe 10-15 seconds once your hands hit something cool. Love!

Next up is Candied Lustre "Blacquer The Berry". When I first saw this name, I chuckled out loud - great play on words! And the polish? Blacquer The Berry is a beautiful soft, lavender with scattered holo that changes to a deep, Berry Purple. This girl is a crazy beauty too!

This is 3 coats of Blacquer The Berry in her "warm" state, with top coat:

*Swoon!* Oh, how gorgeous is that purple?!?! This color is already stuning, but add that color change? *sighs*..you have to see it!

This is Blacqer The Berry in her "cold" state:

Love, Love, Love!!!! This girl reminds me a bit of Catrice Dirty Berry here. I adore the berry purples the begin with, but add a little sparkle and I fall head over heels in love.

Both Cafe Au Lait and Blacquer The Berry are black based thermal, which means that the color change will be darker and more vampy as opposed to bright, which is right up my alley. I love bright thermals, but these black based lovelies are just killer. I see backups of these beauties in my future!

Cafe Au Lait and Blacquer The Berry have similar formulas, although BLB seems a little thicker. Neither was problematic though, and I had no issues with thickening or gooping. Application was stellar for both, although I did have a tiny bit of balding at the cuticle line with BLB, but that evened out perfectly with the second coat. BLB is also on the sheer side, and if you're not a fan od some slight VNL, you'll want to use all 3 coats. These particular thermals also have a very awesome almost suede finish without topcoat, which makes them even cooler in my book. Ive shown them both with top coat here, but without they look equally fantastic.

If you are a fan of thermal polishes you NEED these. Especially those of you that dig thermals, but don't want a shocking color change or alot of glitter. I am just madly in love with these!

You can check out these beauties as well as a ton of other awesome polish at Candied Lustre Nail Polish on Etsy. These thermals run $7.50 each (a steal!!) for full sized bottles. Be sure to take a look around, Candied Luster has a bunch of amazing polish available. You can also follow Candied Lustre on Facebook for new relases, re-stock indo, and swatches.

What do you think of these Black Based Thermals?

I'll be back this evening with a really fun Flakie Friday!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
-Kimber


*Product(s) Featured provided for review. Please see Disclaimer/Legal Page for more information** 

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