NailsByBG- Gameday Lacquer

I've been thinking about some polish ideas lately, and last night I got to making my first polishes!  I have 5 polishes (all mixed last night) that I LOVE, but only one to reveal on the blog today.  This is Swamp Life, and of course it's a gator blue polish with two different types of bright orange glitter - perfect for game day!

awkward hand pose

Swamp Life - Gameday Lacquers by NailsByBG

I will be posting more colors from the Gameday Lacquers Collection very soon, so stay tuned!
GO GATORS!

love,
B

"Back to School" Theme Mani

This is the first year that I will not be going "back to school" (thank God!).  So, to cure my longing for school supply shopping, I gave myself a back to school mani.  For this mani I used Essie Pretty Edgy and Mod Lacquer Nonpareils (another recent indie polish purchase...I think I'm addicted).  Pretty Edgy is a kelly green; to me it it's the perfect preppy color with a twist.  Nonpareils is a sheer milky polish with multi-colored glitter (read: this makes your nails look like vanilla fro-yo with sprinkles on top!).

the mani line up

I also used Cheeky nail plates in "Top of the Class" for my paper clip and protractor stamps.

This mani was really simple to create, and it was also my first time using Gelous as a top coat for my glitter nails.  It did a fine job of giving me a smooth finish, but Nonpareils is not very chunky, so I quickly realized that this was not a good polish for me to test Gelous out.  I will write another Gelous post when I use a chunkier glitter polish.

After a few hours I didn't really like the look of Nonpareils on top of Pretty Edgy, so I took that off and applied Nonpareils by itself.  It took me three coats to get the coverage I wanted, but the result was great!  I want to redo all my nails right now, but I'm holding back!

this is the fro-yo & sprinkles look that I LOVE

Be sure to check out Mod Lacquer on Etsy.  They have some awesome polishes, and they come in mini size too!  I love the mini size because it allows me to try more lacquers without the commitment or cost of a full size bottle.

Happy Mani Monday!
love,
B

Gomez, my first indie!

How could I not try CrowsToes in Gomez as my first indie nail polish color?!?  It is my last name, plus it's a gorgeous glitter-packed indie!  I used LAQA&Co. Chubs as my base.  This is a simple light gold shimmer polish that I thought would make Gomez really shine.  Just FYI, Chubs is a dream to apply, and is great for a quick mani.  It is not streaky at all.  Gomez is a jam packed glitter polish with blue, black, chrome, and gold multi-size glitter particles.  Gomez would look great alone, or on top of other base colors (aka "undies") like blue or black!  

Gomez & Chubs

 I first applied a base coat, then 2 coats of Chubs.  I followed that with 2 coats of Gomez "dabbed" onto my ring & middle finger.  I followed that with 1 coat of Seche Vite for all my nails, and an extra thick second coat on the Gomez nails just to smooth out the texture and lock in the glitter.

Personally, I don't think the pictures do this mani justice.  It is so sparkly and dynamic in person! I loved it.  Here are some tips for applying a glitter heavy polish like Gomez:

1) Do not brush from top to bottom like you would with other polishes, this will only move all the glitter to the bottom of your nail.
2) I recommend dabbing some polish on different parts of the nail, and dragging the glitter around until you have the whole area covered.
3) Wait a while for that first coat to settle, then add a second coat for more glitter coverage on any spots you think need more glitter.
4) You can never have too much glitter!
5) Have a really great top coat on hand, I recommend Seche Vite, to seal in your glitter and give you a smooth finish.

love,
B

P.S. I got lots of nail mail today, and I will be sharing more soon!!!

Tips & Tieks

It's pretty obvious how much I love nail polish, but another great love of mine is Tieks.  Simply put, these are the best flats I have ever owned.  Now, don't get me wrong, they are pricey, but when I break it down into cost per wear, they are TOTALLY worth it.  In fact, I'll even be wearing Tieks on my wedding day!  Make sure to check them out, and I mean come on, the Tiek blue soles on all the flats are to die for.

Slate Grey Croc Tieks & Julep Mischa

Anyways, onto the nail polish review.  This is Julep Mischa, I got it as part of my Picnic Mystery Box.  It is described by Julep as a cherry scarlet micro-shimmer.  In some lighting I agree with this description, but in other lighting it looks more fire red/orange.  I love that about this color, it really changes depending on the lighting.  Here is another picture:

More posts coming soon!
love,
B  

Indie Polishes

Hey...I've been on the hunt to try some cool indie polishes.  Stay tuned!

love,
B

Navy Stamped Mani

Second try at stamping...much more successful! The secret: patience.

I have really been wanting to try Julep - Char, so I decided to try it today and add some stamping details.  I have barely even had time to go through all the stamping plates that came in the Cheeky Vibrant Collection, so I started going through them and quickly decided on this rosy/rope-looking stamp.  Here are some pictures of the tools I used for this mani, followed by some tips on stamping!

Deborah Lippmann - Turn Back Time is a miracle worker...FYI

Cheeky Vibrant Collection stamping plates and the Konad stamper

Tips (from a beginners perspective):
1) Use a good base coat- if you're putting in all this work for a fancy mani, you want it to last!
2) Complete your base color as usual, but skip the top coat for now; you want to wait until after you are done stamping to add the top coat
3) WAIT...let the two coats of your base nail color dry completely! I waited 30 min before stamping just to be safe
4) Have all your tools ready- I had 100% acetone & a clean-up brush on hand to clean my plate and scraper in between stamps
5) Don't overload the stamping plate with nail polish; that just leaves more for you to clean up
6) Work quickly once you have transferred the pattern onto the stamper so that it transfers onto your nail with ease
7) Wait just a few min before adding your top coat...why? you don't want your nice pattern to smear!

the final product

Hope you enjoy the post! If you have any stamping tips let me know!

love,
B
    

Julep Picnic Mystery Box!!!

I absolutely LOVE getting packages in the mail, so I when I heard about Julep's Mystery Boxes, I knew I had to get one.  They have options for a regular mystery box ($24.99) and a big mystery box ($39.99).  I figured, go big or go home...obviously.  This box was called the Picnic Mystery Box, and all of the picnic boxes include a limited edition color (Evie).  Another great perk is that one lucky box has a $1,000 visa gift card!  I didn't win the $1,000, but I am really satisfied with my box!

my big picnic mystery box!

I got seven Julep polishes and an adorable set of three mini lipsticks.  Here is a description of all the polishes:
Layne: sheer french pink
Clara: opaque peach
Lauren: hot tropical pink cream
Evie: raspberry micro-shimmer cream
Mischa: cherry micro-shimmer
Dianna: mint green cream
Fina: sky blue metallic

yay! new polishes, and no repeats

I tried Evie first, so here are some pictures in different lighting.  It is a beautiful raspberry color and is great for the end of summer and transition into fall!

Overall, I am really satisfied with my mystery box, and can't wait to try the other new colors.  I will certainly try a mystery box from Julep again in the future.

love,
B    

pineapple mani

hi! I got my first set of stamping plates in the mail yesterday, and of course had to try them today! I got my set from Amazon and I used the Konad stamper.  I didn't have much time, so I decided to go with something simple.  Plain mani, with a single stamp randomly placed on each nail.

I used Julep - Bette for the mani, and Savina - You're My Sunshine for the pineapple stamp.  You're My Sunshine is a light yellow, and once it gets transfered from the plate to the stamper it is a bit faded.  I know the pineapples are hard to see in the pictures.  Next time, I will try and stamp with a darker color.  I will do another post about the stamping plates and the stamper soon!  Hopefully my second try at stamping will come out better than the first.  

love,
B

Nude Mani with a Twist!

"work appropriate mani"...I always try to consider this when choosing what I will do next with my manicure.  Luckily, I work with kids and the environment is a little more casual.  Regardless, most of the time I can't just do a neutral and be excited about it (unless it is essie Marshmallow, my all time favorite).  Enter, the nude manicure with a little bling!

it was hard to capture the sparkle with my iPhone, but it really does sparkle in the sun!       

For this look I used essie Sand Tropez (an opaque nude cream) and Deborah Lippmann (DL) Diamonds and Pearls (iridescent fresh water pearl shimmer).  I started with the DL Rehydrating base coat, followed by two thin coats of Sand Tropez, then one coat of Diamonds and Pearls, and ended with Julep Freedom Polymer Top Coat.  Really easy mani, and great results!  If you want to add even more sparkle, another coat of the Diamonds and Pearls is a good idea.

Now...for a little info on the Julep Freedom Polymer top coat:

AMAZING.

It dries FAST, and I mean really fast.  It has a high gloss finish and it definitely masks any imperfections you might have before the top coat.  It also claims to make your mani last longer.  This is my first time trying it, so I will have to keep you posted on that.  It is a rather thick formula, so I hope that it does not get too unmanageable the more that I use it, only time will tell. 

happy hump day!

love,

B    

Summer Ocean Mani

Pearl & Turquoise.
These two colors pair so well together in my book.  The pearly white with the bright turquoise reminds me of the beach in the summer time.  I created this look with Julep Isla (pearl) and Kai (turquoise with sea salt finish).

Isla is a gorgeous color, but it is a bit difficult to paint.  It requires some skill to avoid brush marks with this metallic pearly color.  I found the polish to be thick as well, making it challenging to work with.  Kai is a beautiful bright turquoise with a rough sea salt finish.  It is easy to paint and dries very quickly. I decided to leave the sea salt finish as is and not add a top coat.  If you want some extra shine, add a top coat.

I used Deborah Lippmann Gel Lab for this mani.  I will review this set in a future post, but for now I will state that I love the shiny gel-like finish of it but haven't experienced a longer wear time than with other base/top coat sets.  I recommend checking it out for yourself though!

   
More mani posts coming soon!

love,
B

The Inventory

I have finally gotten around to doing a detailed inventory of all my lacquers (see link below). They are separated by brand (tabs on the spreadsheet) and then alphabetically organized. I've also included a description of each polish, either from the manufacturer website, or just my opinion.  You can see I am quite a big essie and butter LONDON fan, but Deborah Lippmann and Julep aren't far behind.  Check out the inventory below:

The Inventory

some of my polishes waiting to be added to the inventory

Where I buy my polish:
I tend to buy online at Amazon or Sephora. I also buy in store sometimes at Nordstrom (specifically butter LONDON and Deb Lippmann) when they have "buy 2 get 1 free" specials. They just had one this weekend actually (ends today at midnight, in store and online).

Happy Shopping!

love,
B

Hello

Hi! I am starting this blog because I love nail polish, and I love nail polish blogs.  I've been obsessed with nail polish for a few years now, so I figured I would share my experience and opinions on different polishes and nail trends.

butter LONDON - Lady Muck

I am starting off the blog by posting an inventory of my polish collection.  I will try to update it and keep it current.  Stay tuned!!!

love,
B