Drip Drop Nail Paint Swatches & Review

Greetings & Nailutations,

I am very excited about this review on Drip Drop Nail Paints!   I assisted with naming one of the nail polishes.  Jessica (the indie owner) showed a swatch on instagram before she opened up shop & I commented that it looks like your breath on a cold winter's morning.  She ended up naming it Winter's Breath.  Drip Drop Nail Paint can be purchased here: Drip Drop Nail Paint (IG: dripdropnailpaint)

Her line is filled with crellies, jellies, glitter crellies & jellies & glitter toppers, but today's review will focus on the a few crellies & a jelly.  Drip Drop currently has a variety of crellies, jellies and an Elvis collection.  She is working on another collection currently for another awesome rock band…can't tell you which one though…my lips are sealed!

The first swatch is of a gorgeous deep dark red called Merlot.  This polish is a jelly, so it takes 2-3 coats for perfect opacity (to not see your nail lines).  This would be a perfect jelly to use & make a jelly sandwich (1 coat of jelly, a coat of your favorite glitter, followed by another coat of the jelly).  When I stuck this color on my nails, I felt vampy & like a rock star.  The swatches show without a topcoat, as I wanted to show the high shine this polish has without one.

The next swatch is of my baby….Winter's Breath.  This crisp shimmery white has teeny tiny silver holo bars that twinkle as you move your fingers in the light.  It took roughly 3 coats to get opacity, but this can also be used as a topcoat on a crelly to add dimension to the color.

The third swatch is of one polish from the Elvis collection called Suspicious Minds, which is a beautiful calming grey (or gray if you prefer that spelling) with tiny flecks of shimmer.  The photos show the color on my nails vs what is in the bottle - it almost looks like a blue-gray.  Application was a breeze as the polish was opaque in just 1 coat, but I did 2 for funnies here.  Ring finger has a color gradient of the 3 colors that will be in the giveaway.

Next is Gilberts Grapes, which is a perfect beautiful purple.  Formula was smooth and applied like butter.  I will be using this in the future for nail art….I can see using this to make delicious grapes, flowers and much more.

Lastly is Pink, which needs no explanation as to the color.  Barbie, eat your heart out because this pink is absolute perfection in color & formula.

Pros:  Wow - I love when an indie line perfects a crelly….but Drip Drop, she didn't just nail it - she blew it out of the galaxy.  The colors are spot on and the formula is amazing on them.  Creativity - collections based on music/artists?  ugh - I love it!  In addition, I cannot ignore the adorable labels.  When they arrived I died because I couldn't handle the cuteness overload!
Cons:  No cons - I can't wait to try her other colors & glitter toppers.

Good news folks!  Below is a rafflecoptor for 3 polishes from Drip Drop Nail Paints: Suspicious Minds, Pink & Gilberts Grapes.  Must be 18 or older & US mailing address.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy Polishing!
Kristi aka @beginnails

CDB Lacquer Review

Greetings & Nailutations,

*Blogger Package* Today I bring CDB Lacquer swatches & review!  She is opening up shop in January, but has been a huge part of the nail art community & is known for her detailed art work.  Consider this a sneak preview of some of her glitter toppers which will be available here: CDB Lacquer.  (Instagram: @CDBLACQUER)

The first glitter topper is called Kiss A Fool and it is reminiscent of St. Patrick's Day.  It is a glitter topper in a clear base with small & large neon green hexes as well as medium sized black holo hexes and the best part is that it has clovers (or clubs if you will).  In the photos below I have it over a pink base.  Leaving the polish upside down while applying my base coats made the clovers easily accessible with minimal glitter fishing.  This glitter topper is very festive.

The next glitter topper is Starberry Moonshine!  This was my absolute favorite of the three.  There is an abundance of pink stars & silver holo moons in a very light pink jelly with iridescent glitters.  I placed the glitter topper over grey and white below & topped with a matte topcoat.  The ring finger was glitter placement as it reminded me of the saying about your dreams "shoot for the moon, if you miss…land among the stars."  Aside from the cute glitter shapes and colors, what I loved about this one is that it is versatile.  I also tried it over black (no photo) and it sparkled like the night sky.

Last glitter topper is 80's Flashback, which contains yellow and green medium sized hexes, pink squares, black large hexes, silver holo circles and yellow stars.  When I placed this glitter topper over a yellow base I was hearing Madonna & Cyndi Lauper.  The 2 middle fingers below is dabbed on, the outside fingers is more of a gradient effect.

Pros: glitter filled with minimal to no glitter fishing, fun concepts and visuals on these first polishes, great distribution of glitters within the polish - none of the heavier shapes sank (stars/moons/clovers).
Cons: I can't think of any cons, with glitter toppers the main important factors are no sinking, no fishing and interesting color combinations & CDB Lacquer was able to hit on all of these with her first release.

I am looking forward to her future releases.

Happy Polishing,
Kristi aka @beginnails

Beginnails' Sunday Six Week 4

Greetings & Nailutations,

Another week has passed & I hope that everyone had a safe & enjoyable holiday spent with friends and family.  For me, it was pretty low-key with just my husband and the kitties.  Here are my six favorite manis this last week - not as much nail art due to swatching for a few indie brands & overall spending time with my loved ones.

This first one isn't nail art, but I am a fan of black jellies that have glitter in them.  This one is from Dark Matter Lacquer called Stellar & I added a matte topcoat to it.

Next favorite is glittery goodness of Butter London Rosie Lee and a Sephora Formula X accent nail.

 Who doesn't love mix & match?  Here I used two new colors I got from Christmas from my cats (yes, they get me gifts).  Horizontal strips on my thumb, pointer finger is a distressed look, middle finger has dots, ring finger is free-hand french tip and pink has vertical stripes.

 This next one was for a theme of Rockin' New Years Eve.  I painted a piano, the sparkly ball that drops, music notes & champagne glasses.

 This was my Christmas mani….more of a Pinkmas mani.  I went with white to dark pink in varying shades, which is called ombre nails.

 Lastly is the glitter mani I did for Super Nails.  I loved the glitter gradient & bow charm with tape mani.

And that is it for this week.  Hope you enjoyed the re-cap.
Happy Polishing,
Kristi aka @beginnails

Super Nails Review

Greetings & Nailutations!

*Press Sample* Today I am doing a super gittery post, reviewing Super Nails, a 4-free, Cruelty free, vegan indie company.  Super Nails is a new indie line, founded in October of 2013.  Super Nails prides itself in "made to order, which means I hand blend each of the glitters after a customer orders.  Adds that extra quality care and individuality to every bottle."

Super Nails can be bought on Etsy here: Super Nails

I received a wonderful surprise from Super Nails containing 6 glitter toppers she is currently working on.

Birthday Party is a rainbow in a bottle.  With hexes, shards, and squares this polish is truly a birthday party!  This is a perfect addition to any addict’s collection to have that 1 glitter topper that can go over pretty much ANY color.

Dark Horse is a spirited glitter topper with silver holo mini bars, medium and small silver & black hexes, medium and small silver squares & black shards.  Dark Horse is jam packed full of glitter so that in just 3 coats I was able to get full coverage.

Punk’d totally looks like its name.  It is strictly red & black; red stars, hearts, bars, shards, medium & small hexes and black circles, bars, medium and small hexes.  All glitters were available easily so that even a mini bottle does not require any glitter fishing!

January Garnet is a beautiful glitter topper containing the two colors you see in a garnet: red & purple.  The combination of red & purple is festive for the holidays, great for January babies & lovely for a special Valentine’s mani.  The warmth in the colors adds a sparkle to any finger adorned by the January Garnet. 

Wanna Have Fun is a colorful combination of squares, hexes & circles.  I am a sucker for circle glitters.  The best thing is no glitter fishing even in a mini-bottle.  There were circles available in each pull of the brush.

Faerie is a glitter topper with different shaped iridescent glitter.  What I like best about iridescent glitter is that it is very versatile & can be worn over any color to add extra dimension.  Over a dark color the different colored iridescent glitters sparkle, while over a light color (like white) it gives the effect of frozen snow.  The best thing about this polish is that it glows a bright green on light colors. 

Pros: What I love most about Super Nails Polish glitters is the fact that each are made to order & the bottle is packed full of glitter.  I had previously bought the December Birthstone (my birthstone) and even the full bottles are full.  Each glitter topper has its own personality which is seen in the name & glitter combinations.  The current collection just announced is on comic book characters!  Who doesn't love a collection with an original theme?  

Cons: Wow….I am trying to think of some area for improvement, but I can't.  I am truly excited about this brand and looking forward to seeing the new glitter combinations!

Happy Polishing,

Kristi aka @beginnails

Beginnails' Sunday Six Week 3

Greetings & Nailutations,

Another week has passed & most of my nail art was focused on holiday themes.  Enjoy!

First mani was a simple dot-icure using my new Island Girl polish which I got for my birthday which was Dec 14th.  This turned out a lot cuter than I expected!  Sometimes less is more.

 Next I decided to do a Christmas colored leopard print….because those two things go together….right?  Sometimes you just need to do something weird.

 Next I was challenged to do a mani inspired by a holiday movie, so I decided to select my favorite play which is on TV during the holidays, The Nutcracker.

 The Santa & penguins were part of a theme of Santa & Elves & Penguins Oh My!

 This one I used a stamping plate with snowflakes on it & a snowflake charm.

 And the last is a quick tape mani making Christmas trees on a skittle background.

Hope you enjoyed viewing them, as much as I did creating them!  Feel free to ask any questions on technique, tools or what polishes were used.

Happy Polishing,
Kristi aka @beginnails

Two Gypsies Nail Lacquer Winter Collection Review

Greetings & Nailutations!

I have a treat today!  The winter collection from Two Gypsies Nail Lacquer.  Still new to the indie world, Two Gypsies Lacquer was founded in October of 2013.  Their unique use of color and glitter will have them around for the long run.  Two Gypsies Lacquer can be found on etsy here: Two Gypsies Nail Lacquer

First up from the winter collection is Spruce, which is a sea green-teal polish with holo glitters that twinkle of blue, green and red.  This one might be my favorite because I haven’t seen this shade of lacquer as a holo, in my obsession to own all holos in every color.  Formula was great & made application a breeze.  Photos outside the light box show the starkly holo (sparkle + star = starkly).

Next up is Sugar Plum.  It is a purple glitter jelly, but opaque in 3 coats.  It is sprinkled with silver, blue, red medium and small hexes as well as micro glitters.  The glitters pop in this rich, vibrant purple.   

Magical Night of Lights is a black jelly that is opaque in 2 coats.  This polish looks like its name – a night with lights as the lacquer is filled with multi colored holo glitters.  Glitters were spread throughout so no need to fish.  This may be my second favorite as the black with micro glitters looks amazing.

Ribbon Candy is a white glitter crelly filled to the brim with large pink hexes, medium purple, light & royal blue hexes as well as coral, royal blue, orange small hexes, little red squares and turquoise micro glitters.  This polish was a bit on the thick side so all the glitter was spread evenly throughout the bottle with no glitter fishing needed.  When applying a glitter crelly, you typically dab it on, however with Ribbon Candy dabbing made the polish very thick on my nail, so long even brush strokes amazingly made the polish go on better & the glitter to spread even – which I have NEVER seen before.  This polish may have magic inside it.  I do recommend a peel base coat worn with this polish, as it will make removal much easier (I speak from experience since I had this puppy on for 2 days).  

Pros: Colors are vibrant, no glitter fishing, beautiful unique colors and combinations.  I also love the fact all the winter colors can be warn anytime of year - and the fall collection has this same versitility.

Cons: No cons with this polish.  Yes, Ribbon Candy was a bit thick, but once I figured out how to apply it, no issue.

I am looking forward to see what else Two Gypsies Lacquer has in store.

Happy Polishing,
Kristi aka @beginnails