Fluffy Pumpkin

*Made by me

I love fall, and can't believe it's finally here.  At least for the time being. I've created a color that will be perfect for fall.  It's a stunning pumpkin orange with linear holo and scattered orange holo glitter.  I've called it Fluffy Pumpkin and it's a limited edition polish.  What does limited edition mean? There are only 25 bottles of Fluffy Pumpkin ever made. My release date in September 13th 2013. Yep, tomorrow!

Look at that sexy holographic macro shot.  This color is Falltastic.

Fluffy Pumpkin reaches full opacity in three coats and dries to a slightly textured finish. I've added a coat of top coat for extra shine and sparkle.  When it's listed it will be 10 dollars a bottle, and won't be going on sale.  I plan on listing tomorrow at noon EST. 

If money is a little tight you can enter two giveaway for a chance to win a bottle of Fluffy Pumpkin.

My 2000 likes giveaway: http://bit.ly/U1gbwj

The Good Witch of the Midwest's 500 likes giveaway: http://bit.ly/18MmY00

Gothic Gala Lacquers Welcome to the Ball

*Won in a Giveaway

Today I have a review of a rather new polish maker called Gothic Gala Lacquers.  I was lucky enough to be the 100th like on her Facebook page and won a complete set of her first collection. I hadn't seen very much about her first collection.  When I received these they were pretty much a surprise, and what a surprise they were...

Welcome to the Ball is a dark base with all sorts of holographic glitters and even some linear holographic awesomeness. It was hard to capture the linear holo on my camera. Partly because I didn't see it right away and partly because it was extremely cloudy when I photographed Welcome to the Ball. Application was great and only took 2 coats for full opacity, and was surprisingly smooth even without top coat.

Sinderella's Slipper is a glitter topper that really pops over grey. I was searching for a color to use it over and grey just popped into my head.  I then saw Accio Lacquer's post and saw she did the same thing.  Great minds think alike and all.  Sinderella's Slipper has red holo hearts, black hearts, and a myriad of smaller red and black glitters.  I used three coats over China Glaze's Immortal.  I know Immortal has some shimmer, but overall it didn't even show up.  Application was a bit sparse and took three coats to get any hearts on my nails.

Lolita's Gown is a gorgeous shimmery purple with added glittery pops.  I saw this polish and immediately fell in love with it. Sadly, application wasn't as great as I thought it would be.  It was a bit sheer and took three coats for full coverage, but the glitters were sparse.  I wish there had been more glitter and more pigment, if that had been the case, you have have to tie me down to get this color off my nails. 

Overall, all three polishes were great and I can't wait to see what else she has in store.  I've been seeing more of her posts on Facebook and there seems to be a Star Trek themed collection in the works.  I'm pretty excited about that as well.  I just hope it's around after my no buy is over. 

You can find Gothic Gala Lacquers on Facebook and Etsy. 

Disclaimer: I won these by being the 100th like on Gothic Gala's Facebook page.  I am honored to review these and all opinions are my own.

The Lady Varnishes Bigger on the Inside

*Swapped for the purpose of review.

A few weeks ago I contacted Kristen over at The Lady Varnishes and asked her if she would want to do a swap.  Happily she agreed, and I got five of her lovely polishes.  The first of which is Bigger on the Inside. Gee, I wonder what this is inspired by? Yeah, I'm a dork, I know.   Bigger on the Inside  is a gorgeous bright TARDIS blue with flakies and scattered holo shimmer.  This was the major surprise of the bunch I knew I was getting colors from two of her other collections, but when I opened the box there was this beauty.

There are no words for how excited I was to get this polish. Not only am I a Whovian,  but I'm also a major blue lover.  I've never met a blue I didn't like.

Application was great and I got full coverage in three thin coats.  I added top coat for that extra shine.  I fell in love with this color, and can't wait to wear it again.  Bigger on the Inside is a must for any Whovian polish lover, and I'm proud to say that I own it.

You can find Kristen on Facebook and Etsy. You can find Bigger on the Inside here on etsy.  I thought a direct link was a nice touch for this post. 

Disclaimer: I was sent this polish in a swap for the purpose of review.  While I am a huge Doctor Who fan I am not being sponsored by them.

2000 Likes Giveaway!

I've hit 2000 likes on Facebook and to celebrate I've got a pretty awesome giveaway for you.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

OPI Alcatraz Rocks

*Purchased with my own money

What can I say? I gave in. I bought my first ever Liquid Sand polish by OPI.  I wasn't planning on it.  It happened completely by chance.  I think I might chalk this one up to Ulta made me do it, and I got three times the points for doing it too.  I had seen pictures of all San Francisco polishes and wasn't that impressed and I had heard that Ulta wasn't carrying the liquid sand colors.  I went into Ulta not expecting to find the gorgeousness of this polish.  I walked up to a display and to my surprise there were all three liquid sand colors.  My first thought was they're great fall colors, but upon picking up the swatches I was blown away by this color.

I'm a sucker for a vampy color and this does not disappoint.  It's a deep cool toned plummy purple loaded with silver, gold, and maybe even a little green shimmery goodness.  Is that enough gushing for you?  Nope, I didn't think so.  I'm not usually one for textured nails.  I like the look, but I never thought I would be able to pull it off.  I tend to obsessively feel my nails if there's an imperfection and pick it until my polish ruined, and I thought this was going to be one of those polishes that ruined my nails.  I'm more than happy to say that I was wrong.  I'm even considering getting a couple more textured polishes when my No Buy is over.

Application was perfect with this only needing two coats for full coverage.  There is a little note on the bottle that says not to use the top coat, but I feel naked without some sort of top coat on.  So I added a coat and it did nothing, it just soaked right in.  But at least at that point I felt better about the polish's staying power.  

OPI can be found in salons and Ulta's across the nation, and I've seen the San Francisco collection in three different stores.  I think it's safe to say it's landed.  Fairly recently OPI raised the price of their polish to around 9 dollars a bottle, but I've never met an OPI that wasn't worth the price.

Anne Kathleen Fern and Dahlia

*Provided for the purpose of review.

Anne Kathleen is a new brand that I heard about on Facebook in one of my many nail groups.  Leanne the owner had just created a blogger form and wanted people to test it for her, and I obliged.  A couple weeks later she contacted me about reviewing a couple of her polishes.  I was more than excited. There's something special about getting polishes from a newly minted maker.  She sent me two colors from her first collection, which is based on plants and flowers and it's called Blossoms.

Fern-

I love a good spring green color and Fern is just that. It's a shimmery sheer green base with holographic and iridescent glitters.  On it's own, I'm not sure it could be full coverage.  So I layered it over a bright greenish yellow cream, and I love it.  It's sunny and bright and Fern brightens it even more and adds some much needed sparkle.  Application was good, but it took a longer time to dry than most other polishes.  I don't know if that's because it's five free or not since these are my first ever five free nail polishes.

Dahlia-

Dahlia is a sheer shimmery kind of pinky base with red and silver glitters. Again, I didn't think this would be full coverage so I layered it over a light pink.  I really like the way it looks over the pink, it's subtle and very girly.  Application was great with this one as well, and again it took longer to dry just like Fern did.

Overall, I love the ideas behind the polishes and would love to try more. I also like that polishes can be so versatile.  I can picture both Fern and Dahlia over any number of colors.  I think putting over black would make the light bases really pop.


These polishes are yet to be released, but you can find more info about Anne Kathleen on Facebook, Twitter, Etsy, and they're website.

Lorac Pro Palette

*Purchased with My Own Money

So, where have I been?  I'll give you the very short version. The month of August has been super busy and there just wasn't time for blogging. At the beginning of the month I had a relief sale that I volunteer for, and then shortly after that I had a funeral to go to.  When I got back from the funeral my truck broke down and left us with one car, then for some reason we went on a small vacation.  That brings me pretty much up to now.

I got my first ever 20% off Ulta coupon a few weeks ago, and I was so excited.  I'm new to the wonder that is Ulta. It wasn't until this year that there was one anywhere near where I lived.  Since discovering them, I've spent way too much money on makeup.

The thing I wanted was the Lorac Pro palette. I love neutrals and this is a really great neutral palette.  I've even heard that it's better than the Naked palettes and it's a bit cheaper.  I do love a good deal, and I love it even more when I can get free stuff in addition to my great deal.  The "free stuff" in question was a set of samples in a makeup bag worth 75 dollars that I got for free when I spent 50. But wait, there's more. I didn't spend 50 dollars, I only had to spend the 42 that the palette cost, plus I got it for 20% off, and the cherry on top was free shipping.  I did a happy dance around my house after I purchased it.

Let's get down to the review.  I'm very picky about my eyeshadows and don't like it when I pay good money for something that doesn't perform.  I'm pleased to say the Pro palette doesn't disappoint. This palette came with a sample or travel size of eyeshadow primer which was pretty cool, but it's not my favorite primer. I much prefer my Urban Decay Primer Potion, I have very oily lids and this one started creasing after a few hours.

One thing that got me besides the price is that there are 16 shades and that 8 of them are matte.  I'm a shimmery shadow lover, and I can't wait to see if I love mattes as such as I do shimmer. I think everything looks better with a little shimmer or sparkle.

From left to right we have White, Cream, and Taupe.  Within these swatches is the only color in the palette I'm not happy with.  I'm not a fan of the cream, it's not very pigmented.  I use Wet n Wild's Brulee pretty much every time I do my makeup and it has excellent pigmentation for a 2 dollar shadow.  I just expected more from a high end one.

From left to right we have Light Pink, Mauve, and Sable. At first I wasn't excited about these colors but the more I looked at them the more I fell for them, especially Mauve.  It's a great shade, and I can't wait to use it more.

Finally for the mattes we have Espresso and Black.  Overall, they're okay as dark mattes, but I'm not a big black or super dark brown user.  I don't think these will be getting much use unless I use them as liners.

On to the shimmers! From left to right we have Nude, Champagne, and Gold.  Let me tell you, that gold is stunning it's like you smeared liquid gold all over your lids.  So creamy and gorgeous.  The other two swatches are great shadows, but to me they're a little too similar to each other.  I think they're both great highlight shades, but I think they could have been fine with one of the two.

Sorry about the slightly blurry picture. From left to right Light Bronze, Pewter, and Garnet.  Three of my favorite colors in the whole palette, I've used all three in different looks, and I think Pewter might be my favorite from the whole palette.

Finally we have Deep Purple and Slate. I do love a good gunmetal color and as well as a deep purple color, but this purple is almost black.  I think it would look great as a liner just like Espresso and Black.

I've done s few looks using a wide variety of colors and all of them seem creamy and not at all flaky.  The one disappointment is Cream and that's simply because I''m used to a little more pigment. I have to say that I'm very pleased with this palette and given the chance I would totally buy it again over either of the Naked palettes.  

You can find this palette at Ulta, Sephora, and from Lorac Cosmetics.

Now for the free stuff.  I go so many samples it's crazy.  They range from hair oil and deep conditioner to three perfume samples.  I've been testing and testing, the most memorable of which is the dry shampoo incident I mentioned on Facebook.  I've used dry shampoos before and liked them, so I was excited to try a new one.  I smelled it before I sprayed it and it seemed fine.  A little sweet and little musky.  When the weather is nice I prefer to use my dry shampoo outside, I just don't want my entire house to stink.  It wasn't until I got in the house and went about getting ready that I started to notice just how strong this smell was.  It was insane. To make a long story short it gave me the worst headache I've had in months and took three hair washings to get all the smell out.

I've been a bit scarred after that dry shampoo, and haven't done much else with the samples I got.  August has been super busy and I just haven't had the time. I've been grabbing my to go makeup since I know it's going to work well on me.