Friday, June 28, 2013

Jindie Nails: Jindie-PENDENCE, Talk Nerdy 2 Me, Tainted Love Remix, Pretty Penny, & Zomboy


 *Talk Nerdy 2 Me, Tainted Love Remix, Pretty Penny, and Zomboy were all sent to me to review for my honest opinion. Jindie-PENDENCE was purchased by me. All opinions are my own. For more information please see my disclosure policy.

Hello Lacquer Lovers! Today I have five polishes from Jindie Nails to review! This is my first review for Jindie, which makes everything else so much more exciting!


See my review and more after the jump! :]

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Guest Post June~ Nail Art Novice


It has been said that all good things come to an end! With that said today is the last post of Guest Post June. Have no fear; I have plenty of guest posts coming your way every month! Today's post comes from Jenni at Nail Art Novice!



Hello Southern Sparklies, my name is Nail Art Novice and I run the blog nailartnovice.blogspot.com. I’m so happy to be here guest posting today-a big thanks to Samantha for having me! As you may have guessed from my name, I’m a bit of newbie to the nail art world-I only started my blog in January and had never done anything more exciting than putting crackle top coat on. I’m slowly learning lots of new fun nail art techniques and getting better at them-so please forgive me if I’m not the neatest in the world, haha!




We’re finally getting some warmer weather here in the UK and one of my favourite things to do in the sunshine is sit outside in a beer garden with my friends drinking fruity ciders, so this mani is inspired by my favourite flavour-Strawberry and Lime, yum yum!
 



On all but my accent nails I created a gradient of Revlon-Sunshine Sparkle and Rimmel-Sunshine, two lovely yellows to get that summer sun feeling. I added some bright blue dots with Sally Hansen-Himalayan Blue because I felt like the gradients were too boring on their own! I decided to turn one of my accents into a strawberry using Barry M-Passion Fruit, Barry M-Key Lime and added seeds in ‘Sunshine’. The other was made into a lime using Barry M-Spring Green and Key Lime (I’m afraid this is a UK brand but they make some really awesome shades and I’m a bit addicted!) and then added details using a Barry M nail art pen in white. 
 



Overall I love how this mani turned out-it’s really fun and summery and makes me really happy to have it on my nails-especially if they’re wrapped around a glass of ice cold cider-Cheers!

Thanks again to Samantha for having me-hope you enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed creating it. =)

~Nail Art Novice~

Thank you so much! The mani is great!

A big thank you goes out to all that have participated in Guest Post June! Whether you were a guest poster, a reader, or a commenter, I truly appreciate all of you! 
You can find all other Guest Post June posts, HERE.
Don't forget I'm having a giveaway once I reach 500 Followers & Facebook Likes! I'd really like to reach this goal soon, so please share me with your friends!

Have a lovely day!


Sunday, June 23, 2013

Summer Lovin' Giveaway!

Hello Lacquer Lovers! 
I present to you my Summer Lovin' Giveaway!

The prize:
Rimmel London 60 Second Nail Lacquer in Mintilicious, I Lilac You, Pink-A-Boo, Sunny Days, and Hot Chili Pepper

  •  US only, sorry international ladies!
  • 18 or older. If younger, please have parent permission.
  •  All prizes were bought by me.
  •  I will be validating entries, so no cheating!
 The Rafflecopter widget is below! 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

New Indie Alert & Review: Leesha's Lacquer!

*The following products have been sent to me for my honest opinion. For more information please see my disclosure policy.

Hello Lacquer Lovers! I had the opportunity to review a new and unreleased indie: Leesha's Lacquer! Today I have two of the five polishes from the Native American collection!



You can see an in depth review and other information after the jump!

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Superman: Man of Steel Mani!

I went to see Superman: Man of Steel on Tuesday, so you know what that means: I had to do a mani to match!





Guest Post June~ Barb's Nail Art Addiction




Today is the fourth installment of Guest Post June! Barb, from Barb's Nail Art Addiction, has a wonderful post for you below!

Hi everyone!!  First off, I’d like to thank Samantha for allowing me to be a guest poster on her awesome blog!  My name is Barb and I don’t have a blog, but I created a Facebook page just for my nails.  You can find that HERE and feel free to follow me! 
I had a hard time figuring out what I was going to do for the guest post and couldn’t make up my mind.  I did this manicure and when I was finished, I loved it so much I decided to share it with Samantha and her lovely followers.
This is Orly Preamp with Hard Candy So So Sequin on the accent nail.  This manicure is soooo sparkly in the sun!  There is a golden shimmer going through Preamp that is so pretty!!  Preamp was a little patchy the first coat but it evened out nice with the second coat.  So So Sequin was a bit thick but manageable and that is two coats as well.


I purposely blurred this photo in the sunlight and you can really see the shimmer!


Well I hope you guys enjoyed this as much as I did!  You can follow me on Instagram at @barb_mcgregor or like my Facebook page.  Thanks again to Samantha!  Your blog rocks!!


Thanks again Barb! The blurry pic shows the beauty of the glitter! I love it! 
Giveaway News:
Remember that I am having a giveaway once I hit 500 GFC Followers & 500 Facebook Likes! I'll announce the prizes as soon as I reach my goal! Share my blog with your friends and we can get there a lot faster! :]
I'll see you all Sunday with a really cute manicure I'm sure that you'll love!  
 

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Guest Post June~ Manis & Makeovers


  

Hello Lacquer Lovers! It is the third installment of Guest Post June! Check out the awesome nail art from Lothwen of Manis & Makeovers!


Dear followers of Samantha,



I am so honoured to be a guest blogger here today! I am Lothwen from Manis & Makeovers. It is a blog that I share with my friend Akira, my “sister from another mister” and the one that persuaded me to start blogging. We live in The Netherlands and met during our studies. Akira (a.k.a. The Lieutenant) blogs about clothes, hairstyles and DIYs and I blog about nails and nail polish... I love it! We started all this 5 months ago and it has been fantastic. So much love in this wonderful community! And I’m learning loads! So when I was granted this wonderful opportunity to write a guest post, I couldn’t be happier! Such an honour it is!



For this occasion, I wanted to do something I had never done before, that would reflect my excitement about writing my first guest post! I created this summer patchwork design with all colours that make me happy:










My base is Catrice “Play It Blue” from the Candy Shock collection. I used a black and a white striper and a dotting tool for this design, and some tape to create the patches. The rest of the polishes are these and can all be found in drugstores:







So I first applied three coats of “Play It Blue”, that dries fast, due to its matte finish, thank goodness. Then I waited a few hours until it was completely dry, and taped off various parts of my nails and painted the segments different colours. I freehanded the heart with my dotting tool. Then I added some patterns to some colours with my dotting tool and white striper. I used 3 different pinks for the roses and did this with a tiny dotting tool. In the end I traced the borders of the patches with my black striper and added some stitches :) I sealed it all in with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti Chip Top Coat and voilà! A patchwork design!



I hope you guys like it, and thank so much for reading!



Thank you so much Samantha for this lovely opportunity!



xoxoxo

Lothwen

You can find Lothwen at Manis & Makeovers, on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram!
Thanks again!

Remember, I'm having a GIVEAWAY once I reach my goal of 500 GFC Followers & 500 Facebook Likes!
 Have a lovely day!
 


Monday, June 17, 2013

Quick Update for GFC Followers and Giveaway News!

Hello Lacquer Lovers! 
I have a quick update for all of my GFC Followers! As some of you may know, Google Reader will be GONE in 2 weeks! Therefore your entire Google Reader feed will be gone! :[ 
Google Friend Connect will not be gone, but the feed will!
If you don't already, you can follow my blog via Bloglovin'! You'll still get updates every time I post! You can find the Bloglovin' widget to the right of this post! 

Giveaway News!
I still haven't heard back from the verifier of the enteries from the Spring Fling Giveaway! :[ If I do not hear from her before 6/20 I will have a giveaway post for you all to enter to win the prize I was offering! :]
I this happens the 500 Follower/Facebook Likes Giveaway will be moved to a 1000 Followers/500 Facebook Likes! It will go live once I reach that goal!

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Summer Floral & Gradient


Today I have a cute summer floral and gradient design for you! It's super cute and very easy to do if you have the right tools! You'll find more information after the jump! :]







 Winstonia Stamping Plate W110
I only used the middle flower image for this design. It really was a hit or miss stamp. It worked well on my middle and pinkie fingers and on the rest of the fingers there are errors. The image may have gotten smudged, it didn't lay down right, or parts of the image was missing.
*The problems stated above could have been user error.









 I started off with one coat of Wet n Wild French White Creme. I then, using a triangle makeup sponge, sponged on a gradient. I went over it twice for a nice, bright coverage. I stamped over the gradient with Sinful Colors Black on Black. I then topped it off with top coat.






Essie Smooth Sailing 
 Smooth Sailing is the first color of my gradient. Essie usually has the issue of seeing the shimmer in the bottle, but not on the nail. I am proud to say that I did not have any issue with that. The same shimmer that was in the bottle, is the same shimmer on my nail, even though I sponged it on.
Smooth Sailing is a very pretty blueish-purple polish with a shimmer finish.











Essie Super Bossa Nova
Super Bossa Nova is the next color of my gradient. Like Smooth Sailing, the shimmer transferred very well. I would definitely use this for another mani!
Super Bossa Nova is a hot pink polish with a shimmer finish.













Essie Braziliant
Braziliant is the last color of the gradient. The shimmer also transferred very well.
Braziliant is an orange polish with a shimmer finish.











Overall, I really like the look of this mani. It is very summery and shimmery!

Don't forget I'm having a giveaway once I reach 500 Followers & Facebook Likes!
I'll see you all on Tuesday with another installment of Guest Post June!



Friday, June 14, 2013

Post Swap with Lit From Within!

Today I've swapped posts with the lovely Nidia from Lit From Within! She has the cutest nail art tutorial for you guys! I'm definitely going to try it out myself one of these days!

Hello!  I'm Nidia, and I run a little blog called Lit From Within.  Thanks, Samantha, for doing this blog swap with me!  I'd like to show you one of my fave things to do - nail art, especially flowers.  Because, no matter how jacked up my flowers are, no one can tell me that something like it doesn't exist in nature.  Somewhere. I have nary a creative bone in my body, so I am always looking at blogs and Pinterest, etc for inspiration.  Usually, I do my version of something I've seen - switching up the colors, or the pattern - but this time, I so loved the look on Maria's Nail Art and Polish Blog that I tried to do a closer likeness. Above The Curve Caty Perrywinkle.  I am a big fan of ATC.  So, it pains me to say that this polish is not all I wanted it to be.  Great color, but where's the holo?  It's so subtle.  Too subtle, really. 


I used Girly Bits Twitterpated to add a dash of holo - not all over the nail, but just to highlight the nail art that was coming.  Twitterpated is a beautiful, sheer, purple-blue-pink holo.  It didn't obscure the periwinkle at all, just put a gorgeous spin on it. 


A black nail art striper for the branches and leaves. 


And then a white nail art striper with accents of black for the flowers. 


I loved it so much, I did both hands, which is pretty unusual for me.  This pattern is even cute on the tiniest of my nubbins! 


If you'd like to keep up with my blog, please check me out on Facebook or Twitter.  I would love to see if you also try this look!  Maria's Nail Art also does micro paintings on non-traditional materials.  If you'd like more information about her shop, she's on FacebookAbove the Curve can also be found on Facebook and their BigCartel webstore.  And, please, make sure you stop by my blog to check out Samantha's post.  She did some wicked cool tie-dye nails you shouldn't miss!  

Thanks again Nidia! Your post was awesome!
 
Giveaway News:
  Remember that I'm having a giveaway as soon as I reach 500 GFC Followers and 500 Facebook Likes! I'll announce the prizes as soon as I reach that goal!
Some unsuspected things happened, therefore I still do not know the winner of the Spring Fling Giveaway (as I am not the person verifying entries). Have no fear! I should know by the end of the week and I will announce it on Facebook and here, on the blog, after I email the winner.

 Have a great weekend! I'll see you all Monday! I'll have a very cute nail art post!

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Guest Post June ~ Lovely In Lacquer



Hello Lacquer Lovers! Today is the second installment of Guest Post June! Abby from Lovely In Lacquer has a wonderful post for you all today! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. :]


Hello lovely readers of Samantha's blog! It's so nice to be talking to you. I'm Abby, owner of Lovely In Lacquer, and I have the privilege of being a guest poster here on Southern Sparkle for the day! This is my first time ever guest posting for another blog so I wanted to start off with a bang and throw some nail art at you guys. 

Something I profess to my readers frequently (perhaps too frequently) is my absolute love of polka dots. I figured that nothing would be more representative of my blog and style than a manicure all decked out in brights and spots! 

 OPI Strawberry Margarita, Essie Play Date, and Color Club Age of Aquarius provided three vibrant colors for my index, middle, and pinky nails. Each color required two coats, but none posed any issues with application. I wanted to keep the base color of my ring finger fairly simple so I used two coats of OPI You Callin' Me A Lyre? and then added various dot sizes in the three aforementioned polishes. I topped everything off with a coat of NYC Grand Central Station. 


Well, I hope that my first guest post kept you guys from missing Samantha for at least a few minutes, and maybe provided you with an idea or some inspiration. I want to thank Samantha again for this lovely opportunity and all of you for any comments you leave. 

So what's your favorite pattern readers? Do you share my love of all things polka dots, or are you a chevron or stripes girl? Let me know in the comments, and thanks for reading!


Thank you again Abby! Your post was great! 

Giveaway News:
  Remember that I'm having a giveaway as soon as I reach 500 GFC Followers and 500 Facebook Likes! I'll announce the prizes as soon as I reach that goal!
Some unsuspected things happened, therefore I still do not know the winner of the Spring Fling Giveaway (as I am not the person verifying entries). Have no fear! I should know by the end of the week and I will announce it on Facebook and here, on the blog, after I email the winner.

 I cannot wait until Friday as I have a very special post for you guys!
Have a lovely day!



Saturday, June 8, 2013

Summer Glitter Franken!

Hello Lacquer Lovers! Today I have a very cool post for you! I've sorta ventured into frankening! It is super exciting and I can't wait to make more frankens! Check out the end of this post for news and such! :]


Here is a macro shot of my franken, Party Time


 Check out more after the jump! :]

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Guest Post June~ Lacquer: The Best Medicine - No Worries Polish: Hand-Crafted by a US Army Wife!

  The first guest post of Guest Post June comes from Ariel from Lacquer: The Best Medicine!
Hi all! It's Ariel from over at Lacquer: The Best Medicine! I have a really really special post for you today; it's a review of a polish I received from a girl I met on Etsy while I was browsing for new indie brands.  It turns out Nicci of No Worries Polish (the name of the shop is reallly interesting - read more about it at the end of the post!) is living out in Saudi Arabia right now, as her husband is station there for the US Army. Hats off to both of them, and a big thank you for keeping our great country safe and free!

At the bottom of this post I am going to share with you Nicci's story of how she started her nail polish craze. It's amazing and heart warming and I really encourage you to read it and then head over to her Etsy shop to show your support for her and for our troops! Go Team USA! :-)

Here is a beauty of a polish: It's called Coral Reef and it is made up of a aqua blue/turquoise creme base, and two sizes of coral glitter.  This is my favorite polish from her store, and get this: I only needed ONE COAT! That's my kinda' polish! The application was SOO smooth and easy, and there was no streakiness or bald areas. Just the perfect formula!



Absolutely GORGEOUS!

Please head over to Nicci's Esty shop and check out her Facebook page, as well.

Here is Nicci's story. PLEASE read it and support her and our troops overseas!

I met Bob, the man that is now my husband 3 years ago. He came into the small town store that I worked at to help his 8 months pregnant sister-in-law get balloons for her brother's 30th birthday. I was the girl that inflated the balloons.

If you would have told me that 3 months later he and I would be dating (thanks in large part to our sister-in-law), and that a year after that we would be married, and planning a move to a duty station in the Middle East, I would have told you, you were crazy.

But, that's what happened. And the funny thing is, my parents, grandparents, and his parents, knew it as soon as they saw us together.

My husband is my hero, and I would follow him to the ends of the Earth. He's something I had honestly believed I would never have in a spouse. I didn't think men like him existed, but I know now that they do. He supports me, he's proud of me, and he's my biggest fan. He's also one of the strongest people I've ever met. 

He's a 2 time cancer survivor, and he found out he had cancer when he was deployed in Iraq, of all places. He had known there was something wrong before he left, but he didn't want to abandon his team, so, he ignored the warning signs and went anyway. 

After they found the tumor he went through treatment at Walter Reed, not knowing if he was going to be diagnosed as terminal, and not knowing if he was going to suffer permanent damage. After his first tumor was resected, and he was given a clean bill of health, he put his uniform back on, and went back to work. 

The second time was 6 months after we started dating. He went in for his checkup, and they found a tumor. I was with him, and we were both shocked. He had shown no symptoms, but there it was on film, clear as day. I promised him I would be there for him, because the last time he was largely alone because he didn't have a significant other, and he didn't want his family to see him in such a state, and told them not to come even though they wanted to. He can be stubborn, to say the least.

The day after he had his second tumor resected, he went back to work. He didn't even consider taking a day or two of leave, even though his bosses, and I told him it would be ok.

Most people don't even know he went through all of that. Because despite it, he was and is a happy person. 

Before I met him I was a little neurotic, to say the least. I was maxed out on credit hours a semester at my university. I had to get out in 4 years or else my scholarship would run out, and I couldn't afford that. That mixed with some other things I'd rather not talk about affected me in a not so great way. I put a lot of pressure on myself, and I was a big worrier. 

After we got together I noticed I started to mellow. Things didn't stick to me like they used to, and the biggest sign something had changed was, I had stopped biting my nails.

This was huge for me. It had been a habit ever since I could remember. Something I had tried countless times to stop, and failed. Then I just stopped. It took me a while to notice, by the time I did, my nails were long enough for me to paint them. I couldn't believe it.

I was so proud to have nails, and I started painting them a new color every 3-5 days. My husband let me buy whatever nail polish I wanted, because in his words I could be addicted to worse things, like crack, haha.

My nails and my polish collection got pretty famous here in our village in Saudi Arabia. Girls started to want to borrow pieces from my collection, and even started asking me if I would paint their nails because I was so good at painting mine.

Finally, one of my friends voiced something I had been thinking about for a while. "Nicci, why don't you make nail polish? You love it so much, you should."

I talked to my husband about it, and being the wonderful man he is, he told me to go for it. I read up on the process, got advice from a fellow nail polish creator, bought all the supplies, and soon I had my first collection started.

Nail polish for me represents something more than what it is. It represents a part of my change, my metamorphosis from a neurotic girl, to a calm and collected woman.

That's why I call it, "No Worries Polish." That's what my husband, and my happy, lucky life makes me feel. No worries.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I apologize for the length, but I hope now you know me a little better.



And thank you, Samantha, for letting me guest post! Enjoy, everybody! :-)




Thank you so much Ariel for the guest post! The polish is GORGEOUS and the story was so inspiring!
You can find Ariel in various places such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram!

I hope you all enjoyed today's post! The next installment of Guest Post June will be up next week!