Green Nails for the #31DC2018Weekly

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Sorry for the short absence, I was on vacation.  Saw some good friends, saw some good music, broke a bunch of nails.  I feel like I can never make through the airport without breaking a corner off a nail.  Oh well...they grow back fast.  But let's get back to the nail art!  I did a simple 'Matte All the Flakies!' manicure for this week's prompt.  I did this mani with both glossy and matte top coats as per usual, but the matte photos are always better.  In my opinion.  Let's take a look!

Orange Nails for the #31DC2018Weekly

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Happy Daylight Savings!  I, personally, think we should do away with Daylight Savings all together, but I know there are plenty of people that love the longer hours of daylight after work.  Since it is sunny for extra long today, how about some orange nails!  For the second week of the challenge, we are doing orange nails.  Orange is one of my favorite colors.  I love wearing it on my nails.  This time around, I went for a deeper orange base and paired it with some metallic pink and gold.

Takko Tuesday! - 2017 Sample #1

Happy Takko Tuesday!

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I have something a little different to share with you all today.  For the Black Friday sale this year, Takko Lacquer had a limited number of sample bags for sale.  There were three random polishes in each bag that were previous samples or unreleased polishes from the year.  Some of the shades were never before seen polishes and some of the shades for prototypes for polishes that were released with different elements.  The selection was random for each package.  I was able to snag some sample shades and wanted to share them with you all!  "2017 Sample #1" is a shade that was nor previously released.  Hopefully, we will see something similar to this polish in the future!

Inspired by a Tutorial for the #31DC2017Weekly

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It's the last day of the challenge!!  OMG!  I have the last two challenges to share with you today.  I was able to do both of these nail looks while I am visiting Lotte in Germany.  For the 30th prompt, we are doing nails inspired by a tutorial.  I see so many ail tutorials every day, it was hard to choose.  But I was drawn to a manicure that So Nailicious did several weeks ago that also had a tutorial with it.  The tutorial was simple and I didn't really need to follow it, but it was a tutorial!  I really love how these fall tones came together.  Greens and brown are so in!  Let's take a look :)

Inspired by the Supernatural for the #31DC2017Weekly

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I am so sorry I got behind on the challenge this year.  I thought I would be good and finish up the last few challenge prompts before I left for Europe.  But I didn't.  I might be able to sneak in the last few when I am visiting Lotte next week though!  Here is my look for the Supernatural prompt.  I took my inspiration from Celtic Druid runes.  There is all sorts of mystical and magical stories and lore surrounding the Druids.  They are referenced throughout literature and have made their way into our gaming culture, too.  One of my favorite book series is The Iron Druid Chronicles but Kevin Hearne and my favorite class to play in World of Warcraft is a Druid.

Ever After Polish - Flake It Up Jellies

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I have some fun little jelly polish to share with you today.  Ever After Polish has just released a collection of jelly polishes packed with shifting crystal chameleon flakies.  They can be worn alone and as toppers.  And of course, you need to use a matte top coat with theses.  That's what we do with jellies and flakies!  Let's that a look at the Flake It Up Jelly Collection!

Takko Tuesday! - Wooster St.

Happy Takko Tuesday!

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I am still destash hunting looking for those last few polishes to complete my Takko Lacquer collection.  I found a few more.  Today, we are going to take a look at "Wooster St."  I am not exactly sure when Wooster St. first released.  I want to say fall of 2014 but I could be wrong.  It is fun multichrome microflakie with a slightly grayed out base and fine holographic sparkle.  The main colors of these metallic microflakies is teal but will shift from blue to teal to purple to magenta.  You can wear it in one coat over a base color or you can build it up to full opacity on it's own.  Today, I am showing you it in three coats on it's own.  Both with glossy and matte top coats.

Geometric Nails for the #31DC2017Weekly

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It is the 16th week of the weekly version of the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge.  This week's prompt is geometric nail designs.  I am always a fan of this prompt because I find geometric patterns very appealing.  Straight lines and right angles are always pleasing.  I had a lot of different ideas in my head for a nail art look and most of them involved tiny basic shape outlines.  Take a look at my hand drawn geometric shape nails!

Lavish Polish - Squad Goals

Hello again!

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Two posts in one day...what is happening!  Like I said in my previous post, I was quite ill this week and am making up lost time.  Plus, I just had to show you this new collection from Lavish Polish.  the Squad Goals collection is a quad of cool jelly polishes with flakies and holographic microglitter.  They are bright and rich in color which make them perfect for summer.  The collection released tomorrow, so let's take a look!

Polka Dot Nails for the #31DC2017Weekly

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Another late post for the challenge but I have been super sick for the past 4 days and just couldn't drag myself into the polish room to paint.  But I am on the upswing now, so get ready for a bombardment of nails!   This week, we are starting with the design prompts for the challenge.  The first prompt is always the easiest, Polka Dots.  I think dotticures are the first nail art designs that people attempt when they are starting out doing more than just painting their nails.  They can be anything from simple little double side dots to more intricate mosaic patterns.  For me, I like simple.  So I did a gradient of dot sizes down the side of my nails for a fun little skittlette mani.

Takko Tuesday! - Opalescent

Happy Takko Tuesday!

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I have a gorgeous flakie topper from Takko Lacquer to share with you today!  This is a brand new shade being added to the Curiosities and Exquisites Collection, which is an ongoing collection of cremes and toppers that is continuously added to.  "Opalescent" is a clear based topper that is filled with thin, transparent shifting flakes in a rainbow of colors.  It will not get opaque, so it is best used over a colored base.  In this post, I am showing you it over Takko Lacquer's one coater black creme, "Iconoclast".

Lollipop Posse Lacquer - Kiki Vol. II Collection

Hi!

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I hope you all are having a lovely week so far.  Today, I am sharing with you a cool little quad of matte shades from Lollipop Posse Lacquer.  These four colors are so bright and vibrant that they are sure to be a hit.  As with most shimmery matte shades, they look great with and without a top coat.  Let's take a look!

Glisten and Glow - Oh, The Places You'll Go Collection

Hi friends!

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Today, I  have a fun little collection of cremes and shimmer toppers to share with you all from Glisten and Glow.  This collection is inspired by the Dr. Seuss book 'Oh, The Places You'll Go' which is something many of us got as a graduation gift because it is inspiring and encouraging.  The cremes in this collection match the book's color palette perfectly!  Glisten and Glow is known not only for their amazing top coat but they do amazing cremes and holos as well.  Along with this collection, G&G has released a new matte top coat.  And it is great!  I will be showing you all of the manicures in both glossy and matte versions using Glisten and Glow's top coats.  Let's take a look!

Takko Tuesday! - Queen of Hearts

Happy Takko Tuesday!

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Today, we are taking a look at another new shade from Takko Lacquer.  And when I say we, I mean me and my German polish love, Lotte!  She has been featuring takkitos on her blog all month long and joining me on Takko Tuesdays.  We are showcasing "Queen of Hearts" which is from the most recent fall collection.  This is not a typical Takko Lacquer shimmer shade.  It has a deep cherry red jelly base and is packed with iridescent, shell like microflakes.  I love a nice jelly polish and am very excited whenever Takko Lacquer creates one.  This application was nice a smooth but slightly sheer with the jelly formula.  I used three thinner coats for these swatches to get a nice cherry finish.  I am showing you what it looks like with both a glossy and matte top coat.  Matte macros are so much fun :)

Takko Lacquer will be restocking all of the new fall shades in the beginning of December.  This weekend there is a special treat in store for Small Business Saturday.  They will be holding a sample and inventory sale of old polishes.  Not only will you be able to snag old, coveted takkitos but the prices will be reduced by 30-40%!  Oh my!  Stay tuned to the Takko Lacquer website to preview which colors are going to be available.

Also, don't forget to check out Lotte's review of Queen of Hearts on her blog.  She always has amazing swatch photos.  Much better than mine!


Takko Lacquer shop and restock info

Takko Lacquer Instagram and Twitter

Takko Lacquer stockists: Color4Nails, Mei Mei Signatures, Femme Fatale, Color4Nails


Thanks for stopping by!
 - Amy McPolish McG

*products provided by the maker for honest review*

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Polish My Life - Thank You For Being a Friend Collection

Hello!

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Today, I have the cutest little quad from Polish My Life to share with you all.  Polish My Life is known in the indie nail polish world for their fantastic cremes. They are smooth and opaque and come in interesting colors.  This new quad is not their typical glossy creme formula. They are mattes!  And mattes with a super cool formula.  Usually, matte polishes are thin and dry super fast so streaking and ridges can be an issue.  These mattes are fantastic!  The formula is almost like a crelly but dries down matte. So cool.  Let's take a look at these four classic nail polish shades inspired by the ladies of The Golden Girls.

Click through for more photos!

Takko Tuesday! - Surrealistic

Happy Takko Tuesday!

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Today, I have an older but oh so beautiful Takkito to share with you.  A few summers ago, Takko Lacquer came out with some fantastic shifty flakie polishes.  "Surrealistic" was one of them.  This is a clear based polish that is jam packed full of color shifting ultrachrome metallic flakies.  They are fairly small in size and lay smooth on the nail.  You can wear it as a topper but I prefer it full coverage to get the most flakitastic effect.  I am showing you three coats on its own in these swatches.  Both with a glossy top coat and a matte top coat.  Gotta matte all the flakies, yo!

Using two light sources at different angles, I am able to show off the shift of this polish better for you.  These metallic flakies shift from gold to green to pink to purple.  I would say the overall color effect is a golden green but the pink and purple peak through at an angle.  So pretty!

I do not know when this polish will be restocked but Takko Lacquer does bring back older shades from time to time.  Be sure to follow Takko Lacquer on their social media outlets for all of the most up to date information on restocks and new releases.

Takko Lacquer shop and restock info

Takko Lacquer Instagram and Twitter

Takko Lacquer stockists: Color4Nails, Mei Mei Signatures, Femme Fatale, Color4Nails


Smooches!
 - Amy McG (McPolish)

*products provided by the maker for honest review*

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Inspired by a Tutorial for the #31DC2016Weekly

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I finally have my nail art look for this past week's #31DC2016Weekly challenge.  This past week, we were doing nail art inspired by a tutorial.  Nail art tutorials are flooding social media over the past year.  With the addition of video to Instagram, there have been an over abundance to tutorials available to everyone.  It used to be just a blog thing and a little bit on YouTube.  But now you can learn how to do any type of nail art technique with the flick of a finger.  I decided to follow an old tutorial by my favorite short nailed lady, The Nailasaurus.  Sammy does great tutorials and is a huge inspiration for me.  Love her.  You can find her quilted nail tutorial here!

For this manicure, I started with a base of Kiko "Pearly Golden Coffee #514" which is a dark brown with golden shimmer.  I applied two coats and a quick dry glossy top coat.  After I let that dry for a few minutes, I added a matte top coat.  Before that dried completely, I used a dental floss pick to create the cross hatch that gives this mani a quilted look.  I tried to make them as uniform as possible but obviously they are not perfectly spaced out.  Oh well!  I still think it looks super neato.  I added tiny gold caviar beads to the intersections with a little bit of top coat.  For a little extra pizzazz, I also added a few accent nails of OPI "What Wizardry is This?" which is a brown/golden textured polish.

Overall, I am pretty happy with this manicure.  I would have liked my lines to be more uniform but in real life, you can't really tell.   I want to try this in a ton of other colors and maybe try it with a glossy top coat instead of matte.  Have you ever done a quilted mani before?  We only have one more prompt left in the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge weekly edition!  Be sure to check out the #31DC2016Weekly tag on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Thanks for stopping by!

 - Amy (McPolish) McG

*products purchased by me*

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Awesome Sauce Indie Box - Are You a Hero or a Villain? feat. Takko Lacquer and Parrot Polish

Hi friends and Happy Takko Tuesday!

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This week's Takko Tuesday post is a little different as I am not just featuring one Takko Lacquer polish but an entire box of indie polishes including Takko Lacquer!  The newest Awesome Sauce Indie Box is out and Takko Lacquer is one of the guest makers.  This box is inspired by super heros which are actually more villainous...but we still root for them.  There are five polishes each from a different indie maker along with lot of fun little goodies to play with.  Ever After Polish, Lavish Polish and Anonymous Lacquer are joined by guest contributors Takko Lacquer and Parrot Polish this time around.  All of the polishes are gorgeous, dark and moody.  Perfect push into fall!  Let's tak a look at all of the goodies included in this quarter's box!

Click through for all of the photos!

Delicate Print Nails for the #31DC2016Weekly

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For this week's prompt, we are doing nail art using delicate print.  Typically, I have always some kind of stamping with a delicate floral design.  But this year, I decided to go more literal.  I used a stamping image from the UberChic Far East 01 plate that was delicate Japanese writing.  So it's the delicate printed word of a pretty language.  I am about 50% sure that the writing on my nails is Japanese.  And I am pretty sure that I stamped them upside down.  So, if it is not Japanese then is must be Chinese.  There are both Japanese and Chinese elements on this plate, so I am unsure.  I'm sorry.   But I think it looks pretty damn cool!

The true star of this mani is the base.  I started with a layer of Essie "Adore-a-ball" which is a sheer off-white jelly.  Then I topped it with two layers of Digital Nails "Crotch Ice" and one layer of Digital Nails "Crush Leaves, Not Dreams".  Both of these are shifty flakie toppers with amazing shifty shimmer.  Crotch Ice is more blue/green and Crush Leaves is more orange/copper.  Both are beautiful and look like magic on the nails.

After stamping over the flakie base with black polish on the UberChic image, I tried both a glossy and then a matte top coat.  You know I have to MATTE ALL THE FLAKIES!  Some of these photos I took under two lights to show off the shiftiness of the flakies.  I also tried to do a black frame around the nail and it just turned out crappy.  But if I had done it correctly, it would have looked bomb.  Oh well!

So what do you think of these nails?  I thoroughly enjoyed them.  Even if the stamp is upside down.  We are just about half way through the #31DC2016Weekly.  The prompts will be getting much more challenging as the weeks go on.  Are you enjoying this series?  Let me know!  And be sure to check out all of the other participants manicures by veiwing the #31DC2106Weekly tag on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.  Join in anytime you would like!

Thanks for stopping by!

*one of the polishes used in this mani was provided for review*

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Native War Paints - Purple Reign Collection

Hi friends!

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Today, I have some gorgeous purple polishes to share with you.  When I look at my nail polish collection, I see a lot of purple polish.  But I don't feel like I grab those purple polishes to wear very often.  Which is silly because they are just beautiful!  Well, Native War Paints has come out with a lovely collection of 6 purple shades all in a different finish.  I really like collections like this.  Usually, you will see the same finish or type of polish all in different colors.  But focusing on a color is very cool.  I hope to see more collections like this from Native War Paints in the future.  (hint hint I like coral and grey, lol).  Let's take a look at these pretties!

Click through for all the photos!