Sassy Cats Lacquer Thermal Duo Swatch, Review and a Giveaway

Greetings and Nailutations!

Today I have 2 polishes I purchased from Sassy Cats Lacquer.  These were my favorite of her recent thermal collection and instead of buying all four, I decided to purchase doubles of my favorite for a giveaway!  Sassy Cats Lacquer has been around for about a year and I have bought from her in the past and the polishes always come with adorable packaging and this recent order included a cat charm!  (As I cat lover and feline mom to 3 ginger-tabbies, I strongly approve with 4 paws up!)

Now let's get to some swatches!

First up is Peach Mango, which is a peach which transitions to pastel yellow when warm.  This polish also contains a golden shimmer, which I tried to pick up in the kitchen light.  Peach Mango is very sensitive and needed no help to show the thermal transition (no hot or cold water!).  Formula was creamy and went on perfect and I will also mention that I love the brushes, they were wide and I was able to use 3 brush strokes to get my nail covered.  Photos show two coats with shiny topcoat.

Next is Raspberry, a lavender which transitions to deep purple when cold.  Raspberry took a little effort to get the transition photos and I did utilize the freezer ice pack to get the deep purple to show.  Raspberry also had some shimmer sparkles to it.  Formula was easy to work with.  Photos show 2 coats with shiny top coat.

One use of thermals that I really love is stamping over them.  I utilized MoYou London The Pro 08 Plate for both of the thermals and loved how it turned out.

Loves:  Formula!  Spot on and easy to apply.  Brushes - application was easy and the brush made it quick!  LOVE Peach Mango - those colors compliment each other so well.  The added shimmer to the thermals made them really pretty as well.  All polishes from Sassy Cats Lacquer are also 3-free and cruelty free, so they don't contain 3 of the nasty chemicals that can be found in polish.

Wishes: I wish Raspberry was as sensitive as Peach Mango, it's always fun to easily show my co-workers the thermal in action.

Stay connection to Sassy Cats Lacquer:
Store: www.sassycatslacquer.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SassyCatsLacquer
Instagram: @sassycatslacquer
Twitter: @Ryizpricelezz

Happy Polishing,
Kristi aka @BeginNails

Good news!  I purchased an extra Peach Mango and Raspberry for a lucky blog reader!
Terms and conditions:

• Must be 18+
• Must be w/in the US (excludes Alaska/Hawaii)
• Must not enter with any giveaway accounts (your Facebook/instagram/twitter should includes more than just giveaways).  I consider you a giveaway if 4 out of the last 6 posts you have posted are related to giveaways.

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Beginnails' Sunday Six Week 30

Greetings and Nailutations!

Another week has passed and I had a lot of fun trying new things!  I had a blast playing with Love, Angeline Nail Shields, matte top coated a lot of polishes AND for the first time tried advanced stamping.  The advanced stamping was a bit of a nail fail - smudging and some bubbles, but not too bad for a first try.  (You'll have to head to my instagram to see it.)

Now onto my favorite 6 manis of the week!

First is using the fish scales Love, Angeline Nail Shield.  I painted on Lady Lindzle from Drip Drop Nail Paint, then did a gradient of black over it and added a quick dry top coat.  Once it dried completely, I stuck the Nail Shield on and painted a matte top coat over it.  Gave a fun textural image.

The next mani was using the polka dot Nail Shield from Love, Angeline.  Base is Pink Ferrari from Drip Drop and dots are Rimmel Black, I Pink I Love You from 365 Days of Color and Lady Lindzle from Drip Drop Nail Paint.  Bow is from Born Pretty Store.

This mani is probably my favorite of this last week.  I used this blazer from a magazine as inspiration and painted on roses with Pink Ferrari, Skin Deep, Lady Lindzle and Got Pink? all from Drip Drop Nail Paint and then used Love, Angeline Nail Shields to create the stripes.

I absolutely love purple nail polish and this neon purple from Candied Apple Polish won me over easily.  Starch and Lilacs looks absolutely beautiful with shiny or matte topcoat too!  Bow is from Born Pretty Store.

My other favorite from Candied Apple Polish is Tangy Berries, a red glitter jelly.  The glitter is perfect and gives the polish so much dimension.  Below shows it in matte version, but it looks stunning with shiny topcoat as well.  Bow from Born Pretty Store.

I absolutely love Cherry Pop from Messy Jessi's Popped Art Collection.  Below is in the matte top coat version, but this light pink and red together gave me such a girly girl feeling - I loved it!

Which was your favorite?

Happy Polishing,
Kristi aka @BeginNails

Messy Jessi Popped Art Collection Swatch and Review

Greetings and Nailutations,

Today I bring you the Popped Art Collection from Messy Jessi.  The collection takes inspiration from Jessi's favorite flavors of popular frosted breakfast pastries.  This collection is fun and fruity!  The owner, Jessi is local as well and a sweetheart - she offered to deliver them in person (too bad I was stuck working over the weekend).

Now lets get to some swatches!

First up is Cherry Pop, a beautiful bubble gum pink crelly with tiny red glitters in it. It is very girly and bright.  It also bends the rules of "pink and red can't go together".....oh, but yes they can!  Formula was creamy and easy to apply.  Photos show 2 coats with shiny topcoat (1st and 2nd photo) and matte topcoat (3rd photo). 

Next is Strawberry Pop, a white glitter crelly-jelly.  Strawberry Pop contains red squares, pink, yellow small hexes an also teal, and yellow larger hexes.  It is a bit on the sheer side, so photos show 2 coats over a white undie.  There was no glitter fishing and formula was smooth.  Photos show shiny topcoat (1st photo) and matte topcoat (2nd photo).

Wild Strawberry Pop is next, which is a magenta-pink glitter jelly.  Wild Strawberry Pop contains green hexes and black and red small hexes.  This was reminded me of a strawberry, the seeds, the green top was all captured in the polish!  Photos show 2 coats with shiny topcoat (1st and 2nd photo) and matte topcoat (3rd photo).

Blueberry Pop is that last of the Popped Art Collection.  This white glitter jelly-crelly contains blue and red squares, small blue hexes, yellow, red and pink medium hexes and bus, teal and yellow large hexes.  Photos show 2 coats over a white undie with shiny topcoat (1st photo) and matte top coat (2nd photo).

Loves:  I love that Messy Jessi formulas are jelly-like.  They look amazing shiny and also with matte topcoat, which gives these polishes more versatility.  They are fun, bright and creative.  Plus it is always great to have the owner offer to personally deliver your order!  Messy Jessi polishes are 3-free (some are 5-free) so they don't contain 3 of the nasty chemicals that can be in nail polish.  Also, there was no glitter fishing with the larger hexes.

Wishes: Fun collection, I wouldn't wish to change anything!

Stay connected to Messy Jessi!
Store: http://messyjessi.storenvy.com
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/messy.jessi.lacquer
IG: @_messy_jessi_

Shiny Topcoat: Gem Glam Top Coat from My Dream Polish in the scent of pink sugar

Matte Topcoat: O.P.I

Bows: Born Pretty Store (don't forget to use code DGJ61 for 10% off

Happy Polishing,

Kristi aka @BeginNails

Candied Apple Polish Swatch and Review

Greetings and Nailutations!

Today I have four Candied Apple Polishes that I purchased because I had heard great things about this brand.  When I hear an indie has amazing formula and I see color combos that look fun and original, I am drawn towards it!  Candied Apple Polish is run by Alison and she makes her products 5-free, so it does not contain 5 of the nasties that can be in nail polish.

Now let's get to some swatches!

First up is Dreams of the Dragon, which is a lovely green mint glitter crelly.  Dreams of the Dragon contains coral, blue, navy, light pink, purple, hexes along with pink, green, micro glitters in a lovely mint green creme.  The formula was amazing and went on easily.  Photos show 2 coats with shiny topcoat.

Next is Starch And Lilacs, one of my favorites from her shop.  It is part of the Starchies Collection.  Starch And Lilacs is a beautiful neon purple glitter crelly.  This gorgeous polish contains black hexes in 2 sizes (medium and very small) and white large hexes.  Formula was great and made application a breeze.  Photos show 2 coats with shiny topcoat and also matte to coat with bow from Born Pretty Store.

Starch And Sunbeams is another member of the Starchies Collection.  Starch And Sunbeams is a neon peach glitter crelly.  The photos did not capture the brightness of this polish, but think NEON peach....like grab your sunglasses bright.  Starch and Sunbeams contains black hexes in small and micro sizes and large white hexes.  The white hexes were stuck to one side of the polish even after being left upside down overnight.  I will say I actually liked the look of it with just black glitter though.  Photos show 2 coats with shiny topcoat.

The last polish is Tangy Berries, another favorite.  Tangy Berries is a lovely red glitter jelly.  It contains a mix of pink, red, gold small flakes.  I tried to capture an official macro photo to show the glitters.  Photos show 2 coats with both shiny topcoat and matte topcoat with bow from Born Pretty Store.

Loves: FORMULA - creamy, easy to apply!  Let's not forget 5-free, so this polish doesn't contain 5 of the nasty chemicals that can be found in polish.  And....LOVE Starch and Lilacs and Tangy Berries, which look amazing with shiny topcoat and matte topcoat.  They are beautiful polishes that I am happy to own.  I am excited to see what else Alison has up her sleeves.

Wishes:  I wouldn't change anything, the fact that the white hexes were shy in Starch and Sunbeams, was fine with me.

Stay Connected with Candied Apple Polish
Store: www.etsy.com/shop/candiedapplepolish
Instagram: @candiedapplepolish

Other product used in this post:
Shiny Top Coat --> Gem Glam Top Coat from My Dream Polish
Matte Top Coat --> O.P.I. Matte
Bows --> Born Pretty Store (use code DGJ61 for 10% off)

Happy Polishing,
Kristi aka BeginNails

Love, Angeline Stuck On Love Nail Shields Review

Greetings and Nailutations!

*Press Sample*
Love, Angeline has added some new products to her store in the last few months - Stuck On Love Nail Shields.  What are Nail Shields?  The best way to explain them is to describe them as a stencil that goes over your nail and you can paint on polish to create a design.  I used one before which was shown in my first photo in my blog post of my Sunday Six.  In my last order, Natosha (owner of Love, Angeline) was so kind to include her newest set of Stuck On Love Nail Shields to review.

Let's get to some nail art!

The first was a Nail Shield of flying sparrows.  I painted white on my nail, sponged on blue (Ava from Daily Hues Nail Lacquer) and added a quick dry topcoat and let dry.  I easily peeled the Nail Shield off and the cutouts of the sparrows stayed on the backing strip (great, because I can use the birds as stickers in a different mani!).  I placed the Nail Shield over my nail, pressing firmly down on all edges and painted on black.  I let sit for 30-45 seconds and peeled off and SPARROWS!  I also stamped a bird cage on my index finger to give the appearance of the birds escaping!

Next I used a Nail Shield that had polka dots on them.  I painted a light pink (Pink Ferrari from Drip Drop Nail Paint), a quick dry topcoat and let dry.  I easily peeled the Nail Shield off and the cutouts of the circles stayed on the backing strip (now I have circle stickers to use in a separate mani).  I placed the Nail Shield on my nail, pressed firmly and used 3 different colors (Rimmel Black, Lady Lindzle from Drip Drop Nail Paint, I Pink I Love You from 365 Days of Color) to paint over the circle cut outs.  I added a topcoat and bow (from Born Pretty Store) to complete the look.

I wanted to use a Nail Shield with a matte topcoat, so I used Lady Lindzle from Drip Drop Nail Paint and Rimmel Black to create a gradient with a shiny topcoat on top.  I peeled the Nail Shield off that had the fish scale pattern (some of the scales I had to manually poke out) and used a matte topcoat to create almost a fish scale appearance.

Next I used the honeycomb pattern Nail Shield.  I painted my nails black, used a fast dry topcoat.  I then peeled the Nail Shield off the backing strip (a few hexagons did stay in the cutout, so I had to manually remove them)  and then used Star Kiss from Drip Drop Nail Paint to create the yellow hexagons.  I decided to add some purple bee water decals from La Vita E Bella and topped with a shiny topcoat.

The Dreamcatcher Nail Shield was absolutely breath taking.  It is circular in shape and has a lot of detail.  I decided I would cut it in half and use it as a design on the end of my nails.  I painted Emily de Molly Inevitable (silver holo) and Indigo Flow (blue holo) on my nails.  I pulled the Nail Shield off the backing strip and most of the cutouts stayed with the shield.  After removing all the bits the Nail Shield had lost most of adhesiveness.  It took 3 attempts to get one to finally cooperate (decided not to do all my nails), but the pay off was amazing.

The last Nail Shield was stripes.  I had been wanting to re-create a mani based off a blazer I had seen in a magazine and this was the perfect opportunity.  I drew on roses using Drip Drop Nail Paint Got Pink?, accenting with Lady Lindzle and Pink Ferrari and leaves with Skin Deep.  I added a quick dry topcoat and then after it dried peeled the striped Nail Shield off and placed it on my nails and painted black on.  I was really happy with how it turned out.

Loves:  I love that these Stuck on Love Nail Shields add an extra special touch to any mani with nail art.  They are easy to use and quick.  I recommend them for any nail art enthusiast, newbie and expert.

Wishes:  Although I loved the small details of the dreamcatcher Nail Shield, it was a bit time consuming to invidiually remove every little piece of cutout (and some pieces stayed on).  I wish it came already weeded out.  Is that how it's termed?

Stay connected to Love, Angeline for sales, restocks and new released:
Store:  http://www.loveangeline.bigcartel.com
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/LoveAngelinePolish
Pinterest:  http://www.pinterest.com/loveangeline/
Instagram:  @loveangelinepolish

Quick Dry Topcoat --> Seche Vite
Shiny Topcoat --> My Dream Polish

Happy Polishing,
Kristi aka @beginnails