Mish Mash Challenge, Week 7 (I think!), Least expensive polish

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Hello again lovelies. I've been struggling to post the past few days since I am sick as all get out. Just my luck - I finally take a much needed break, come back to the blog and wham! Evil cold germs invade. I am very, very miserable, let me tell ya.

However, I feel horrible if I don't post for long, so here I am with my Mish Mash Challenge post for this week, even if it is 2 days late.

This week's challenge is to post our least expensive polish, meaning the polish that we actually shelled out the least amount of money for. Mine just happens to be one of the new Maybelline Color Show Vintage Leather polishes, which I snagged for nothing due to a BOGO sale, a $1.50 coupon and some CVS extra bucks. Pretty cool since I paid almost $4 each for the 2 I grabbed at Target.

This one is called Vintage Violet, and is a really beautiful deep Plum color with some lighter flakies. It has a matte finish, and is designed to streak and leave a somewhat distressed looking surface to mimic old leather. The effect is fairly cool, too. This one, unfortunately, is one from this collection that doesn't show the flakies all too well, but they *are* there.  The only ones that really show the flakies well are the lighter pinks/purples, which I'll be showing soon (I hope)

This is 2 coats of Vintage Violet, no top coat:

Ya know, I wasn't sure I would like these sans top coat, but I really do! And the color is definitely up my alley (although a complete pain to photograph, I tell ya!)

I did decide to try this one out with top coat as well. And I wasn't as impressed. This is the same polish with a single coat of HK Girl Top Coat:

Okay, so it's still pretty with top coat, and look at the shine from my HK Girl! I think I'm kinda let down with the shiny version since it seems to really cover up the flakies as opposed to bringing them out more.....some of these polishes really show their flakies when you add some top coat. Some, not so much. At least the color is still fabulous though! And it still looks somewhat distressed.

Vintage Violet's formula is a bit tricky to work with since it is a matte, but it is not supposed to be level or perfect and this really threw me. I kept trying to get it all even, when it's just not meant to be. It's thick, dries almost instantly and the flakies will leave some balding if you don't float the polish. Application was tricky for the same reasons - opacity was decent with full opacity at 2 coats. Wear, however, was a real let down. I had lots of tip wear and some serious chips before I was even able to photograph this (about 2 hours). I spent a lot of time doing touch ups. At 24 hours my nails looked like I hadn't changed polish in a week.

As much as I love the concept behind these, the wear really puts me off. I have 5 of these, and even though I want to wear them since  love the effect, I'm shying away due to the crappy wear time. Maybe the others won't be as bad.

What do you think of the Vintage Leathers? Are you planning on grabbing any?

I'm working on posting a review of some polish strips tonight. Otherwise, with this evil cold on board, I make no guarantees. I'm hoping to be back in the swing of things tomorrow. I have a literal ton of Indie awesomeness coming up ASAP.

In the meantime, head on over and check out all my polish sistah's and their Week 7 manis!

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Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
-Kimber


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Mish Mash Challenge Week 5: Music!

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Hello again lovelies! Since it is Wednesday, I owe you a Mish Mash Challenge mani! This week just snuck up on me. Hell, I'm still trying to leave comments for last week! I really need a clone. Anyone know where I can get a clone?

This week's challenge is Music, and lemme tell ya - I was simultaneously inspired and uninspired. For me, music is synonymous with Daft Punk, yet Daft Punk is incredibly hard to translate into nail art without spending a few hours free-handing. Needless to say, I didn't have several hours to work on nail art, so I had to come up with something Daft Punk related that wouldn't take all night.

After several hours of thought and a few instances of "well hell! I'll just do something generic and call it done!", I finally stumbled across something that just might work.....Although you have to be a Daft Punk fun to really get it.

My inspiration? A Helmet. A golden, robotic, helmet of shiny awesomeness that adorns the head of one Guy-Manuel de Homem Christo. Or, as he is more commonly known, Guy-Man (or the Gold Robot). I do dig Thomas Bangalter as well (Silver Helmet), but Guy-Man will always be the sex bomb in my book. If you've seen pics of him unmasked, you may get what I'm sayin. But since I don't want to ruin the fun, here's Guy-Man in his  2013 Gloriousness:

Oh Hai, Robot Overlord! I for one, am ready to accept your 120 BPM rule!

Obviously I initially thought of something black, with black glequins. However that's pretty hard to see, so I opted for a different route. I combined the image on teh side of Guy-Man's helmet with the iconic Daft Punk pyramid.

Helmet. Really cool helmet. I'm fairly sure this leaves Guy-Man's glorious mane in Helmet Hair condition.

Super awesome Pyramid. All lit up in blue. Pretty!

Since both the sound wave on Guy's Helmet and the Pyramid are blue here, I opted to use A-England Camelot as my base color and add the details using bright blue glequins. I had originally planned this as a tape mani, but since The Robots are sporting sequined jackets these days, I decided this was a good time to use some of my giant hoard. This mani is by no means Epic, but it works in a pinch. The glequins make the design hard to see unless you're right on top of it, so use your imagination to fill in the blanks. :)

Again, not exactly Epic, but it looks fairly cool in person. Plus, it's Daft Punk. You can't really make Daft punk uncool. Unless you were to unmask them and stick them in Lederhosen. Then they may not be as cool.

Don't forget to check out all my girls and their Music inspired manicures!

An InLinkz Link-up

I'll be back tomorrow with more from the Polish TBH Diagon Alley Collection, so check back soon!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
-Kimber



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Sinful Colors Leather Luxe Collection : Leather Loose! A late TIOT mani

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Hello Lovelies! Happy Wednesday! I am running a day behind because, let's be honest, I was a slacker yesterday. For the first time in weeks I didn't have to spend all day running around or working, so I did some much needed relaxing and allowed my ADD to run free.

Yesterday was also Try It On Tuesday, and I had my mani all planned out and ready to go, when I ran into the new Leather Luxe polishes from Sinful Colors. I had to bring a couple home with me (the rest will be coming home on Friday), and one of them was insisting that I use her right away for TIOT. I managed to do the mani, but underestimated the power of my slacking and did not manage to actually crop and watermark the photos until very late last night. And in true slacker fashion, I fell asleep as soon as that was done. So now I am a day late, since I obviously did not manage to work on my Mish Mash Challenge mani for today. I regret nothing. Don't Judge Me. :)

At least I have a gorgeous polish to share with you today! This beauty is Leather Loose (I feel like that should be Loose Leather, but ok) from Sinful Colors' new Leather Luxe Collection. In my opinion, this is *THE* stand-out and must have polish from this collection. LL is a deep brown with a multitude of golden flecks. This girl is also a matte polish, giving the effect of leather (or it's supposed to anyway...it kinda lacks the wrinkly texture, but I'm okay with that) on the nail.

I chose to show this beauty with the Matter finish, as opposed to adding top coat, but I  should mention that with topcoat this polish is still amazing. Tons of depth and gorgeous color and shimmer.

This is 2 coats of Leather Loose, no top coat:

Dear god, I love this polish! And I'm not a big fan of browns. This one is just....I don't know. It's beyond words. It 's deliciously dark and vampy, and a great shade of brown. Like an espresso bean with shimmery gold flecks. I love this so much that I still haven't removed it to start on my Mish Mash Mani. Told ya I was slacking!

You may notice there is an additional watermark on my ring finger....I'm a bit tired of my photos popping up on random "nail" accounts (i.e. someone with all stolen pics taking credit for bloggers' hard work), so I added that ring finger watermark to make it a bit harder to steal. I hate having to do that, but I put a lot into my pics. I hate messing with photos in photoshop or gimp, so I shoot a ton of photos to capture the color correctly. I also agonize over which photos to use, then crop and watermark them which takes forever since I have a toddler that will not let me do more than 3 minutes worth at a time.

But back to le polish!

Leather Loose's formula is good, but not without issues. This girl thickened up on me rather fast, however it was nothing that couldn't be remedied by a little shake between hands. I also have to ask you to keep in mind that I live in the desert and it's hot as hell (literally) here in the summer, so certain finishes will thicken up on me fast. Mattes tend to be one. Application was easy peasy (as long as I shook the bottle gently in between hands and coats) and dry time was fast, fast, fast. Like Porsche 911 Carrera on the Autobahn fast (yeah, yeah, there are faster cars, but Porsche will always be my fave). Finish is smooth and the color is vibrant and saturated. With top coat, this color really pops, bringing out the gold fleck.

I love this. I just love it. If you pick up just one polish from the Leather Luxe Collection, it should be Leather Loose. The rest of the collection is quite beautiful as well, but this one really stands out in the crowd.

What do you think of Leather Loose? Have you grabbed any of the Leather Luxe polishes?

I will have my Mish Mash Challenge post up tomorrow morning. I'm starting on it in a few minutes since slacker time is officially over. Not that I'm motivated. Slacking is a vicious cycle! Time to make some coffee, right?

Also keep an eye out for some really awesome new and new to me Indie Brands coming to KLK over the next week or so. I have Some holo goodness from Squishyface polish, Mint Polish, Elixir Lacquers, Cinema Swatch Lacquers and Gothic Gala coming up. I'll also have swatches from the upcoming Polish TBH Diagon Alley Collection this week! You do not want to miss those!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
-Kimber



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Flakie Friday! Zoya Chloe

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Hello Lovelies! Happy Friday!!!!!!!!! Not a payday Friday here, so it's not as exciting as it could be (especially with the ILNP Ultra-Chromes pre-order going live today. Ahhhh I want those so badly!!!), but with Friday comes Flakies, and Flakies always make things awesome.

Today's Flakie is Zoya Chloe, a mix of orange/red/gold/yellow and some green/blue duochrome mylar flakies in a barely pink tinted base. I've been in love with this since the day it was released and am seriously wondering if I am insane since I am just now wearing this pretty. Poor Chloe...she's been neglected.

I've seen Chloe paired with a number of awesome base colors, my favorite being purple, but I really wanted to try her over a dark, but not quite black color. I chose Essie Devil's Advocate, a deep plummy oxblood color.

This is 1 coat of Chloe over 2 coats of Devil's Advocate, topped with Glossy Glam. I apologize for my pinkness here - I'm working hard to moisturize and baby my hands since I'm healing from the evil blistering allergic reaction, which always seem to give me a bit of a pink flush.

Okay, I have to admit it,  I was kind of hoping the darker, plummy base would bring out a little more pink in the flakies, but I was wrong. However, this is still a beautiful combination and I'm quite happy with it. The color shift is truly amazing! How about a macro shot of those colorful flakes?

Gorgeous!!! I particularly love the Green/Blue in this one. That shift to cobalt blue just makes my heart skip. You can see a bit of the pink in the center as well, but with such a deep base color, they end up fairly washed out.

Chloe's formula is fabulous, although she does have a lot of base vs. flakies, which can make holding onto those flakies at the tip of your nails a bit of a pain. Application was wonderful, save for the aforementioned base vs. flakies issue. Dry time was average, and wear is excellent with no signs of wear at around 20 hours. These are Mylar flakies, and a bit thinner than the usual flakes, which means that they lie very flat on the nail. No need for glitter food or Gelous with Chloe. I used a single coat of Glossy Glam here and my mani is smooth as glass. I do need to mention that the tint in the base color does not have any effect on base color at all. It's so barely there that it's essentially clear.

I really wish that I had worn this flakie much sooner. I mean, look at those colors!! I must try this again over a purple so I can really see that pink shine.

What do you think of Chloe? Do you have this beauty of a Flakie in your stash?

I'll return tomorrow with some Indie awesomeness! I have a ton of Indies to share with you, including some new to me brands that will blow you away, so be sure to check back.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
-Kimber



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Mish Mash Challenge, Week 3 - Metallic!

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Hello Lovelies! Check it out! I managed to post before midnight!! Wahoo!!!!! I know, I know..you're all falling over in shock! ;)

Today brings us to Week 3 of the Mish Mash Challenge! Today's theme is Metallic, and boy! I had a hard time deciding what to do for this one. Normally I use metallic polish for stamping, so I decided to go in a different direction since this is a challenge after all! I think I'm supposed to step outside of my comfort zone, right?

I eventually decided on a simple ruffian manicure, using A-England Camelot as my base color and Essie No Place Like Chrome as my metallic polish. No Place Like Chrome is the silver polish from Essie's Mirror Metallics, and let me tell ya - it's a complete PITA! Beautiful though. I used french tip guides to tape off the bottom of my nail and used No Place Like Chrome over Camelot. If NPLC is finicky on her own, she's ten times more so over a highly pigmented black. I had to use 2 coats, which meant that my lines were going to be rough from the start, and you know how my OCD flares over wonky lines!  But I'll get into that  application stuff later...

Although this mani is cute, and for the most part I'm satisfied,  do wish those curved tip guides had a more pronounced curve. My ruffian falls kind of flat since they were much straighter than they appear. I think next time I'll just freehand it and call it a day!

See? The ruffian could be more pronounced, but it still looks cool, so I'll take it.

I do love No Place Like Chrome since it's shiny and very much chrome-like, however.....OMG what a PITA! The formula isn't bad at all, but application is very finicky. Lots of dragging and balding, and streaks galore. I've heard that if you use a matte topcoat over 2 coats, then another coat over that the streaks go away, but I'm way too lazy to try that with a ruffian. I've also heard sponging on the final coat works as well, but again....too lazy with this one. I'm sure I'll try those in the future, when I feel like dealing with another Chrome polish. This polish also did not like my top coat. I had to go over the silver once more after my initial coat of TC since it indented out of nowhere in several places. Even though the shiny chrome look is fabulous, it's just too much of a pest for me. Thankfully they stamp perfectly, so I do have a use for the 3 I bought.

What do you think of The Mirror Metallics? Have you had the same issues?


Don't forget to check out all my awesome polish sistah's and their Metallic manis!

An InLinkz Link-up

I'll return tomorrow with some goodness from Luscious Potion. I also have more Love, Angeling Polish, Polish TBH and Fandom Cosmetics coming your way!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
-Kimber



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Try It On Tuesday - Sally Hansen Sugar Coat in Sour Apple

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Hello Lovelies! Well, it seems that I totally underestimated just how busy I would be today, so I have another late night post for you. I'm really hoping that I'm able to post during daylight hours tomorrow, but the way things are going, I'm not convinced. Every day several surprise errands keep popping up, and they're not small errands either. I'm starting to think I need a clone.

Also, I want to warn you all the my poor fingers are a bit inflamed. I had a bad reaction to some cuticle balm (I'm out of my beloved Pure since I managed to lose the bottle. Thankfully a new on is on its way!!!) so the skin around my nails is still a bit swollen. I was a genius and tried it out again last night to see if it really is the balm, or if it's something else I've been using, and lo and behold! it's the balm. Ugh. My poor cuticles and skin are already so dry and grumpy without Pure, this is just insult to injury!

For this week's Try It On Tuesday, I just had to wear one of my textured polishes. Darn it, I love these polishes, and I have a ton, yet I rarely get to wear them. TIOT is the perfect excuse to give these babies some love!

Today's pretty is Sour Apple from Sally Hansen's Sugar Coat line of textured polish. I honestly could not decide which one of these to wear, so I asked IG, and this color actually won out. I'm pretty pleased with that since Sour Apple is a beautiful Mint texture - the perfect shade of mint green I do believe.

This is 2 thin coats, no top coat:

Yeah, I think I dig this polish. I DO NOT dig this stupid swelling and dry cuticles and skin! Again, let me tell you how much I love my Pure Nail Oil and am so happy that it's on the way. Being without it sucks!!!!!!

Anyway, I love Sour Apple. The color is fabulous, even if it does bring out my olive undertones! Formula was a bit on the thick side, so I added a few drops of thinner and voila! Much better! Application was a bit tricky until I added the thinner- lots of dragging and balding and very hard to get the polish to spread out to the sides of the nail. Once I added the thinner though, I had no problems. The texture can be a bit finicky - I had to re-do my ring and pinky since the texture didn't really show on the first try. I had to shake the bottle really well and swirl my brush around in the polish to make sure I had alot of those little texture beads in order to ensure that those two nails would dry as textured as the rest.  Dry time is fairly fast, and wear is excellent, considering this is supposed to be worn sans top coat.  I do feel the need to mention that despite being a pastel, this baby is a stainer. I tend to polish close to my cuticles, which means that when I clean up, my brush will usually smear some polish along my cuticle and I'll have to go over it again to clean that off. In those few moments between swipes, the green managed to settle into my cuticles and leave a slight green cast. Those little texture beads are a bit of a pain as well - spreading all over during clean up and really sticking into cuticles.

Despite the semi-tricky application and initially thick formula, I really love these. I have a good 12 of them, so I'm sure you'll be seeing these pop up often on TIOT. Of course, that means that I have to pick a color, which is near impossible for me. If you have a Sugar Coat that you'd like to see, by all means let me know.

What do you think of Sour Apple? Are you a fan of textured polish?

I'll be back tomorrow (before midnight, lol!) with week 3 of the Mish Mash Challenge! I also have some Luscious Potion, Polish TBH, Fandom Cosmetics and Love, Angeline coming up!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
-Kimber


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Try It Out Tuesday (Slacker Wednesday Edition!): Smitten Polish Hocus Pocus!!

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Hello Lovelies! Well, obviously I am a big weenie and never managed to post my Try It Out Tuesday post yesterday. Since it was Chemo Day for mom on Monday, I stopped by to check on her yesterday, and ended up staying and chatting for awhile. I also had some last minute clients on top of my usual Tuesday clients, and a 3 year old that's potty training. Fun day! But...here I am now, attempting to make it up to you all. I think this polish oughta do it!

Today's TIOT polish is Smitten Polish in Hocus Pocus. I've had this in my stash for awhile now, and have been itching to wear it. I mean, this polish is fairly legendary for its squishy purple jelly base and purple, blue, and magenta holo glitters. It's seriously just fabulous. I actually considered bypassing swatching last night since it's *that* awesome.

This is 3 coats of Hocus Pocus with top coat. Some photos are intentionally slightly blurred to show holo colors.

First of all, check out how my skin tone changes with different lighting angles. Drives me mad, I tell you! I'm naturally pale with strong Olive undertones, so getting my skintone exact is near impossible. Gotta love it.

But back to Hocus Pocus.....Ain't she a beaut?? Funny thing is - I had seen swatches of this polish before, but the holo wasn't evident at all. I thought that HP was a purple jelly with purple glitter! Even then, it looked amazing, but add the holo and BAM! Instant fabulous! I wish I had some sunlight to capture this polish (it's crazy in sunlight), but  routinely photograph around 1am and the sun is loooong gone by then. ;)

Hocus Pocus has an excellent formula with no thickening during use and excellent dry time. Application was entirely problem free (no dragging, balding or clumping) and opaque in 2 coats, although I used 3 for these photos. Hocus Pocus does not dry very textured at all - your regular topcoat with smooth it out perfectly, however she does have a slightly satin finish, so you definitely want to use that topcoat! I used HK Girl for these swatches since it does not dull holos. In fact, it seemed to really bring out the colors in HP!

So far HP is my one and only Smitten Polish, but that is going to change. I'm so impressed and in love with this beauty that I must try more! If you don't have Hocus Pocus, you can find it by heading over to SmittenPolish.com or Llarowe.

What do you think of this Glittery, Holo beauty?

I'll be back sometime later today with a gorgeous polish from Love, Angeline, so check back soon! Also, I have the Daft Punk Collection from Fandom Cosmetics and some new Polish TBH coming up starting this week!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy polishing!
-Kimber


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