Nail Honey Swatches & Review!!

Hello all!
Sorry for my MIA-ness lately, I have been swamped with my recent surgery and Christmas.

BUT I have something exciting for you all tonight!! (:
I have, for you, three perfect, new polishes by Nail Honey. And let me tell you are they GORGEOUS! <3

And how cute are these bottles? (:

The first polish is called "Honey Mustars." It is a really pretty mustard/butterscotch yellow color; a creme polish that has red shimmer and is opaque in two coats. It was definitely a hard color for my camera to capture, but I think I got it pretty well.

Indirect artificial light (natural daylight bulbs)

It was insanely hard to capture the red shimmer when it was actually on my nails. It is seen much better in real life or in a photograph of the bottle.

Bottle shot of polish

My apologies for the not clearest of photo, but you can really see the red shimmer in the bottle. (:

The second polish is called "Little Blue Box." It is an amazing pastel blue-mint-y green shimmer.

Direct artificial light (natural daylight bulbs)

This polish is also opaque in two coats. To be honest these pictures do no justice to the polishes and they are really to die for.

Macro of polish to show shimmer

Direct natural light

Indirect natural light. (not the same as the first photo, I swear!)

The shimmer is very hard to capture in photos but quite obvious in real life. Annoying!

Next, and my favorite of the three, is called "Winter Blues." This is a gorgeous frosty blue shimmer polish. Perfect formula.

Direct artificial light (natural daylight bulb)

This gorgeous polish is opaque in two coats and has a steel blue color with a shimmer that would make anyone drool a little bit.

And here is a close-up to facilitate that drooling:

It's so shimmery it's almost a holo...but not quite.

I thought it was just the right amount of cute and wintery, so I added an accent nail.

Yay for snowflakes!! If I can't have a white Christmas outside, you better bet there will be snow on my nails (;

All her polish has an excellent formula. The bottle and brush are pretty good as well. However, I do prefer flat brushes. I'm in love with all of these polishes and can't wait to see what else she comes up with!!!

Anyhow, that's it for tonight. You can find Nail Honey's shop here. Follow her on Instagram for updates and releases!!

Have a very Merry Christmas, all!
<3,
Kaseysaurusrexx

Christmas and Thanksgiving nail art!!

Hello!
I haven't posted in a while, this week is my finals week at my school and I just started training for a promotion at work, so I have been super busy!

So here is a catch-up post of some of the nail art I have done lately!
First, I decided to see how far I had come nail art wise in the past few months. I chose to recreate my first ever gradient mani, a purple/pink gradient. The top photo is the first time I tried a gradient, over 28 weeks ago, and the bottom photo is the recreation I just recently did.

I feel like I have come so far, not only in practice but in other important things like lighting, photography of the art and hand pose as well. (:
Here is the recreation by itself!

Colors used: Disturbed Potions's "Virgin? Ha!" which can be found here, OPI "Planks A Lot" and Sally Hansen XTreme Wear Fuchsia Power.

I also decided to try some Thanksgiving nails to wear for break. I used a tutorial found on YouTube for the cute little turkey, and got some inspiration from The Nailasaurus for the waterfall nails!

Mine aren't too great, but I thought the turkey was pretty adorable! Colors used are Essie "Blanc," Sally Hansen XTreme Wear "Sun Kissed" and "Disco Ball," Zoya "Darcy" and "Louise," and Sinful Colors "Ruby Ruby."

Then after going shopping and spoiling myself a bit with some Zoyas, I decided to do a mani with Maria Luisa and Jem.

I really loved the purple and gold combo and wore these for like, four days!! Jem is the deep shimmering purple and Maria Luisa is an excellent gold flakie/hex glitter topper. I absolutely love these colors!!

And last, but definitely not least, are the nails I have on! After putting up my tree and it now being December, I felt compelled to do red and green nails!! (:

Also, festive watermarks!! (: I was dying to do more gradients (as usual) and so I decided on double gradient chevron nails with red and green gradient nails as well. These kind of remind me of those peppermint flavored taffy candies they make around this time of year, and I absolutely love them!!

Colors used: Essie "Shake Your $$$ Maker," "Blanc," "First Timer," Sinful Colors "Ruby Ruby," and of course, China Glaze "Fairy Dust."

Anyway, that's all for this post! I will be able to post a bit more after the 9th, as that is my last day of finals, and (BONUS!) I have a week off from the 19th through the 26th for a few surgeries I'm having, so I will be able to do my nails a TON then, but I won't be able to do them for the surgery. No nail polish in the OR ):

On another note, I have finally decided on the photos seen here as the hand pose I like, with the little dino too (:

Have a lovely evening!!!
<3
Kaseysaurusrexx

Peel-off Basecoat Test and Holiday Nail Art

Hello lovelies!

So I had been reading everything I could on peel-off basecoats for glitter and glitter polish. I got to the point of being so sick of dealing with glitter removal; acetone soaks just dry out my cuticles like crazy.
I ended up landing on an idea appeared to work well leaving no damage whatsoever to the nail bed. White glue! For my recipe I used three parts washable white glue, such as Elmer's, and one part water, since I prefer a thinner consistency for base coats. I started by cleaning out an old Seche Vite bottle and letting it dry overnight. Then I filled the bottle 2/3 - 3/4 of the way with the glue and filled the rest with water. I shook it to mix and let it sit overnight so it wouldn't bubble.

I cut a shipping label sticker (left) to fit the bottom of the bottle to cover the SV sticker, then I found a cute sticker my sister got from PETA to doll up the bottle (right).

I wanted a Tigger sticker, but the one I had was too big and I didn't have the heart to cut it to fit ):


I then decided to test my new basecoat with the most glittery indie I own - My Ten Friends "Elsewhen."

I layered three coats of this gorgeous, glitter-laden, mermaid-esque polish over two coats of my basecoat with one coat of Seche Vite. I wore this all day to school and had no problems with unwanted peeling or chipping.
To take it off, all I had to do was push the polish at the cuticle towards the tip gently with an orange stick. Then I loosened the polish around the edges and gently pulled off the polish in single sheets.

As you can see, they came off in one piece. Also, they did no damage to my nailbeds whatsoever!! It was just like peeling craft glue off of skin or a nail.

Anyway, after finding that this basecoat works miracles and saves me time - polish removal - and skin moisture (yay!). Knowing this, I got excited and wanted to use one of my OPI Liquid Sand polishes for nail art, since I was feeling in a festive mood.

I used OPI Solitaire (3 coats) and an red mini of which I do not know the name. I did this art over a base of two coats of my glitter base and one coat of OPI nail envy over that.

Ta-Daaah! I put snowflakes over my red base with a dotting tool and Solitaire, and stripes over my white base with the red and a striping brush. I really really like these! They are getting me excited for the Colorado snow and putting up my Christmas tree. <3

Anyhow, that's all I have for you tonight. I'd definitely recommend this peel-off base recipe to anyone!!

**found the idea to use PVA glue as a basecoat here**

Have a great night!
<3
Kaseysaurusrexx

Glitter Placement Attempt #1 + Watermarble

Hello there! (:

Tonight I have something new for you all tonight! After lurking polishallthenails's IG, I was motivated to try a glitter placement. Especially since I just picked up OPI I Snow You Love Me. (: Apologies for the bubbles, my slow-dry topcoat I use likes to bubble like crazy.

Polishes used: Essie Blanc(base for water marble), Sunday Funday, Naughty Nautical, Boom Boom Room, and First Timer. Glitter from OPI I Snow You Love Me.

I think my nails look like Fabrege Eggs, don't you?

That's all for tonight. (:

♥,

Kaseysaurusrexx

Mermaid Fin Watermarble inspired by Corynn Musser

Hello lovelies!
After writing three papers in one night, I figured I deserve to post on here :3

I have for you my nail art from last night. I haven't been on lately, I have three weeks left in this semester, so I've been pretty busy as you can imagine. Anyway, there is an amazing blogger and nail artist named Corynn. She is on instagram and also has a blog! She is probably the best water marbleist in the universe and she was the one who inspired me to do my first water marble at the beginning of August.

Here it is! This was my second attempt at the Mermaid Fin nails and I think they came out *alright.* But just alright. This is my right hand, and I must say, I'm only honestly happy with my ring finger and thumb (not pictured) on this hand.

I am much happier with my right hand! Excuse the nubbins on this hand, but after some practice on my left, I finally tweaked it just right for my right hand. (:
The colors I used were Essie First Timer (mint), OPI Ski Teal We Drop, Pamplona Purple, and Lincoln Park After Dark; marbled over one coat of Essie Blanc. Just add Seche Vite and that's all there is to it!

For only my third truly successful water marble, I must say I am very very very pleased with these!! (:

And here is a throwback to the first watermarble I ever did, which was only successful to countless YouTube videos and Corynn's tutorials on her blog (:

Well that is all I have for you tonight, I hope to be posting more within the next coming week as school winds down and I prepare for a few surgeries this winter.

<3,
Kaseysaurusrexx

Horizontal Rainbow Gradient Nail Art

Hello there!
This week has been pretty exciting - I tried a new look that I had been wanting to try for eons, and I got a ... wait for it ... CURVED WATERMARK! :D

Today I have for you a mani that I have been wanting to try since I started nail art back in May-ish.
This horizontal rainbow gradient was inspired by Darcy Sparrow (@sparrownails on IG).

This is a shot with the thumb to show the full rainbow. I absolutely adore this look! I have not yet done a skittlette mani before, so this is weird to me, having all my nails different colors.
The colors I used were Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby, Sally Hansen XTreme Wear Sun Kissed and Fuschia Power, Zoya Darcy, and Essie Shake Your $$ Maker and Bouncer, It's Me. I sponged this gradient on over Essie Blanc, and I finished off the gradient with China Glaze Fairy Dust and one coat of Seche Vite.

Here is a more normal bottle shot.

Anyway, that's all I have for tonight. Hope this inspires someone to try this as well!! (:

<3,
Kaseysaurusrexx

Fall Watermarble Nails

Good evening!

I was feeling fall today, so I decided to go for a watermarble again to get some more practice. IN FALL COLORS YAY! (:

I apologize for my less-than-perfect water marble skills, plus this one was a bit hard to work with. As you can see I did not really get any brown on my ring finger. I used Zoya Darcy and Zoya Louise along with Sally Hansen XTreme Wear Sun Kissed. I really love fall colors so I figured, "hey, lets put them on my nails!" (:

Also I had a break today, so that's why my index is soooo short. :/

Anyway, hope you like this look!

<3,
Kaseysaurusrexx