Pet Peeves

This is one of very few text only posts you’ll ever see on this site. It’s a place to vent about some of your pet peeves in the “nail world.” I touched on one of my big pet peeves in the last entry: overly Photoshopped photos. I have more though… and sometimes I just have to bitch and get it off my chest, haha. Some of these aren’t exactly pet peeves but more like trends I just don’t understand. Here goes…

• Pointed nails. I do NOT understand this phenomenon. Fortunately this trend seems to be on the decline but I still see it in blogs frequently enough to warrant a place on this list. Man, those things must be so impractical. Think about being intimate with anyone else (don’t let your mind wander too far, I’m just talking about everyday contact like hugs, hand-holding, etc.). Also think about small things like trying to use loofahs in the shower without them getting hung up on your nails. I truly understand fashion doesn’t always favor comfortable trends but this is one I’ll never get.
• Overly Photoshopped photos. Yep, I already complained about this one but after my daily blog surfing I was once again reminded of this prolific occurrence in the nail world. I am NOT speaking against tweaking photos in small ways but if your fingers look like they belong on a mannequin because there are no wrinkles or imperfections then you might be Photoshopping your pictures too much.  It really does undermine the entire nail blog world when people do this. A lot of people see these photos and become frustrated because they can’t attain the same exact results. Well, it’s no wonder… Those results aren’t realistic to begin with.
• Anything 3D that sticks out a lot. It always catches on something and falls off within minutes (hours if you’re lucky) and usually ruins the manicure underneath it. Yeah, it looks cute to put a bow on an accent nail but let’s get realistic: It NEVER lasts. It’s not enduring. I understand doing it for a night out but I still don’t get this trend where women put all kinds of stuff all over their nails. Another thing I don’t understand? Nail piercings. What the… I just don’t even have words for that one.

I’ll come back and add more when I’m not so distracted by the TV. I know there’s more, ha. This post makes me sound whiney and that’s fine. There are just certain things I don’t like or will never understand.

What are some of your pet peeves or trends you don’t understand in the nail world?

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Swatches for Strength by Mentality

Strength is a rich brown polish that’s perfect for fall and can be purchased at Mentality’s etsy page for just $8.00.

Mentality-ful

I got my shipment from Mentality polishes finally! It included six bottles of polish and the one I’m reviewing today is called Laura. Naturally I wanted to start with it because not only is it my favorite, it’s also my name. I was not disappointed!

This is the third shipment I’ve gotten from Mentality in the past two months. It definitely won’t be the last. I now have 12 or 13 of her polishes and use them frequently. Quite honestly this indie brand makes one of my all time favorite polishes to date!

 

My collection of Mentality polishes.

The order I got yesterday, minus a bottle of Virginia.

On to the swatches for Laura! This polish is a beautiful and unique silver color with light green undertones (or is it a light green color with silver undertones?). Like all Mentality polishes it applies smoothly in just two coats and dries quickly. This one also has a matte finish which seems to be popular with Mentality as well. It wears well and even withstood a day full of hand washing dishes, wrangling toddlers, and cleaning rooms without a single chip. Usually most polishes end up with at least one chip by the end of my day and it’s almost always because of the dishes. I might as well get rid of our dish washer since I have to pre-wash them by hand and it’s like, what’s the point? But I’m getting off track, haha.

So… I really do recommend this brand to anyone. Click the link above and check out the Mentality etsy page! Below are some swatches.

I’m not sure why the focus is so screwy on this. It looks like I Photoshopped the crap out of it but I really haven’t!

This one is a little better but it got cloudy outside and made the photo darker. I’m against heavily altering nail photos (a.k.a. too lazy and unwilling to pay hundreds of dollars for Photoshop) and I’m pretty sure it shows but at the same time it’s nice to see what polish REALLY looks like in swatches. A lot of times I see photos and think, “This person clearly Photoshopped the crap outta this. Is this even remotely what the polish looks like..?” Does anyone else think this too? Anyway…

I have more swatches prepared for this polish but they have to be added to the computer first! I also have swatches ready for Not For Sale (Mentality). They will be up later today!

 

Spellbound Nails: Jaded for Green

Aaaand here’s the second polish from Spellbound Nails. It’s appropriately named Jaded for Green and it’s a teal holographic  polish. Like Watermelon Seeds this polish applies smoothly in just two coats and dries quickly enough. Photos are shown with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

I see more Spellbound Nails in my future!

Under a little less light:

 

Swatches and a Review for Watermelon Seeds by Spellbound Nails

 

I haven’t done a legitimate review in quite some time! Here to break that trend is Watermelon Seeds by Spellbound Nails. If you didn’t catch the post below, this polish was the only one of three that survived the shipment. I was able to salvage some of the other two but won’t get to them until later. I tried the one that struck me the most: Watermelon Seeds.

This polish is a bright pink creme jelly with teensy tiny black specks of glitter. It’s eye-catching and it’s different, not to mention how great it looks. Application was done in just two coats and it dried fairly quickly. Photos are shown with a topcoat of Seche Vite but it looked fine without. If the other polishes are as good as this one I will definitely be ordering more from Spellbound Nails! I highly recommend this shop and for $8 a bottle it’s well worth it.

 

 

Last photo is a little blurry because I couldn’t get the focus quite right. Hopefully the first two still do a decent job of displaying this gorgeous polish.

Spellbound Nails

Good news: I got three bottles of polish from Spellbound Nails.

Bad news: Two bottles were broken in transit.

Good news: I have spare bottles and was able to salvage a good bit of each bottle.

So, all in all there is more good news than bad. I will be trying these polishes out later on and making a post for them. I will say they were wrapped particularly well so it wasn’t a lack of bubble wrap or tissue paper or peanuts (all three were used!) that caused the breaks. Sometimes crap just happens and it’s no big deal.

 

My Shop is Open!

I just added my first listing! I have finished up about 30 bottles of polish that will all be on sale shortly. So far I have added three bottles of Sun Burst. During the first few weeks everything will be sold at VERY low prices so I can hopefully create some kind of customer base. Each 15ml bottle will be sold for just $4 (most indie polishes go for at least twice that per 15ml).

I still have to tweak the shop a little (create a banner, fill out a profile, etc.) but I just wanted to get at least one item up for now. Please check it out!

Vixen Polish

Below is Sun Burst:

August Haul: Part 2

Today I got the first two orders I placed online a few days ago. First of all, I commend both of these etsy sellers for shipping out my products within one day of receiving the orders! Secondly, I have ordered from youmix before but not pipedreampolish. I can say I will be ordering from them again! I haven’t done a formal review quite yet but I did try their polish out and loved it! I highly recommend both stores if you’re into indie polish or mixing your own polishes.

I’ll put a formal review up soon 🙂 Have a great weekend!

Self Nudes!

Okay, okay… It’s not what the title suggests exactly. I am always curious to see what a nail blogger’s nails look like sans polish so I decided to snap a photo of mine between manicures. They actually don’t look all that bad without polish but the tips have yellowed some over time. Ah well, it’s not like they ever show anyway!

Swatchin’ It Up

First swatches show the matte polish by Revlon. It’s on top of Revlon’s Top Speed color called Essence. I LOVE matte topcoats! They can totally change the look of any polish with the swipe of a brush. It’s almost like having two totally different polishes in one bottle.

 

 

Second polish is my very own. It doesn’t have a name yet but it’s a slightly textured glitter polish. It can be toned down with a top coat or shown in all its textured glory.

 

 

 

 

 

Would you use either of these?