Pinkey Nails - Irish Heart and Dark Skys + an important announcement!

Hey Peeps! How goes it? I am actually doing quite well myself :) I've totally neglected my blog lately, but I had good reason! Soon what is now Polished Dreams and Life Things will be changed to The Devil Wears Polish. My logo is UBER cute too, it's a tat hubs drew of me several years ago. Although I am the first to admit, those boobs & that ass did not come from me....Regardless, he captured my essence very well, right down to my tattoo addiction of recent years. It had to be tweeked, more clothing added, boobs made a tad smaller, etc to make it appropriate for a nail polish label. But, here's the final outcome. I wanted my brand label and name to reflect my own personality, so I hope you all like it!

 I'll switch over to clear stickers rather than printing out my own lame-ass white labels soon if all goes well. I apparently need to tweek the hell out of my printer too. Anywho, stay tuned for updates on my polish launch, giveaways, and stuff like that. You can like Polished Dreams and Life Things on Facebook here for some awesome sneak peeks & such. Now enough rambling about myself. Onward with the review!

The first Pinkey Nails creation is Irish Heart, a gorgeous green holo. Sara was kind enough to send Irish Heart to me in hopes of acquiring some sweet holo shots. I do not intend to disappoint.

My bottle shot leaves a bit to be desired, but my swatches rock ass. Check it out yo....

Let me start by saying, DAMN! Miss Sara, you would definitely please the polish gods with this little creation, if there were polish gods that is. Shimmery green holo, me likey. The formula of Irish Heart is friggin' awesome. Great coverage, 2 thin coats is plenty and dry time was good. Now I shall flash you a closeup. You're welcome.

Only now do I see the blue stain on the side of my finger. I put my damn watermark over it, which makes it that much more noticeable to my judgmental eyes. That really pisses off the obsessive-compulsive side of me. It's still a pretty bangin' closeup of said Irish Heart. Now allow me to rape your eyeballs with a mediocre outdoors shot. *Please note - the photo is cruddy because clouds are bullshit. Regardless, I did TRY to find some sunlight...

I swear every time I swatch a holo it clouds up! WTF?!? Even with all the cloudy overcast junk, that photo still captures the badassery that is Irish Heart, right? *Props to Julie aka Wishes of a Blue Eyed Girl, I totally stole your word chick! I'll probably be using it a lot as a colorful descriptive like shit-tastic from now on. Yeah, I stole that one too. Next up we have some Dark Skys, by Pinkey Nails...

This one is as hard to describe as it is to photograph. I guess it's like a muted, dusty mauve, leaning towards grey or silver? It's super shimmery, I know that. It's chock full of holo micro glitters and some other kind of micro glitter too. Have a look-see at mah swatch...

It's pretty. I didn't bother trying to get sunlight photos. When I swatched this those stupid garbage people that moved in behind me were all piled outside smoking pot and being the disgusting drains on society that they are. I will be moving a bit father south just as soon as my lease is up. Since that tornado took out half of Moore & far south OKC it's a tad bit difficult to find anything around here, so wish me luck! But that's enough bouncing off subject. Here's a closeup of Dark Skys...

My opinion, Dark Skys is prettier in person. I have a horrible time capturing shimmers, just trust me on that. The formula of Dark Skys is just as awesome as Irish Heart. No issues at all with application. And, she's another 2 coater. Sweet. So now I will go over both Pinkey Nails pretties I've reviewed for you today...Irish Heart is definitely my favorite, but I'm diggin the hell outta Dark Skys too. Sara has done a wonderful job creating both of them, and I look forward to seeing what she comes up with next! Check out Pinkey Nails on Etsy by clicking here. Stay up to date on new releases, giveaways and more by liking Pinkey Nails on Facebook here. Now it's your turn! Which swatch is your fave? Do you own any Pinkey Nails creations yet? Have any lemmings? Leave me some comment love so I don't feel like I'm talking to myself. And...don't forget my giveaway ends on Monday. You can share each day for extra entries! Until next time folks, I'm out!

Sally Hansen Fuzzy Coats Swatches! - Part 1 of 2

Hey peeps! It's taken me forever, but I've finally got some more Sally Hansen pretties swatched. I decided I needed to try these things after eyef**king Nails inc. Feather Effect pretties. The SH version sells for $5.49 in my area Target stores, so about half the prize of Nails inc. Score. Or it was score, till I got Target's email earlier. Something about Fuzzy Coats priced at $4.75. Damnit, I hate when that happens. Anyway, I'm still kinda glad I got them. They peaked my interest, but I wasn't sure if I would actually like wearing them. They're just short, little bar glitters in a clear base. So, I did what any rational-thinking nail blogger would do...I had hubs drive me around to 4 different Targets just so I could acquire a complete set of Fuzzy Coats. I was stoked to share my photo of what would've been my first purchase of a complete set of polish. Every friggin display I saw only had spots for 6 shades, so that's what I got and yes - we really had to hit 4 Target's to find them all. It didn't take long for a reader and my daughter to point out there are EIGHT Fuzzy Coats shown on Sally Hansen's website. OMFG. Are you KIDDING me?!? Damnit, you have no idea how proud I *was* to have purchased a complete collection of nail polish. Seriously, that never happens. What the hell Sally Hansen? Me no comprende  and that is so NO bueno :( I don't know how to say it's bullshit in Spanish, but if I did I'd throw that in there too. Anywho, enough rambling. Check out mah Fuzzy Coats. I love that they are called Fuzzy Coats btw :D

 Behold Fuzz sea! You know I have to post macros to show the detail. You're welcome :) Teal and yellow bars in a clear base. Now how's about a swatch for your eyeballs? This is an odd color combo, but I dig it...

Interesting, don't you think? Makes me think late 80's & very early 90's. This here swatch is one coat of Fuzz-sea over Sinful Shine All The Rage, a thin layer of top coat too. The Fuzzy Coats take a bit of work to get a decent look. The directions on the bottle say to use 2-3 coats, and to gently shake the bottle. After tons of experimenting I decided to go a different way with them. I've noticed the dab method seems to work better with these, for me anyway. Well, it seems to look better when I dab and lightly drag the brush down the length of my nail. The more bars you can get to face the same direction, the better the look too. And, I think application is easier when I don't shake the bottle first. Yeah it sounds weird, but my personal recommendation - don't shake these up before using, and wipe most of the glitter off the brush first - a little goes a long way. The more tiny bars on your brush, the more likely you are to get a clumpy look :/ These are just my opinions, and how I managed to get the look above. I don't think the folks at Coty or whatever actually meant for them to be used that way, but to each his own right? And, shaking it up just seems to get tons of the hairy little glitters clogged around the neck and up the brush, so it makes for a messy bottle neck and an even messier application :(  One of my biggest pet peeves, glad I figured out how to prevent it for the most part. Remember how I recommended to wipe most of the glitter off the brush before applying it? Less really is more when it comes to these Fuzzy Coats. Allow me to demonstrate...

Eeh, I mattified it. It looks better that way, just trust me. I understand they're meant to look this way but it looks so, ummm, messy? Can you see what I meant when I said less is more? Start adding layers and you get that gross, hairy look. I got creative and decided to add a coat of Wool-lite to my index finger, another coat of Fuzz-sea to my bird finger, 1 coat Peach Fuzz on my ring finger, and 1 coat Wool Knot to my pinky. I've almost satisfied my curiosity on layering different Fuzzy Coats over one another. I'm sure it could be done tastefully, but mine's pretty gross. Here's a swatch of Fuzz sea over Sinful Shine My Kryptonite...

My index and ring fingers have one coat, bird and pinky fingers have two. And I should tell you that swatch was done before I figured out the easiest application technique. One other thing I noticed about the Fuzzy Coats, they don't look too bad layered, as long as you're looking at them from a distance. No kidding! These in-your face swatch photos kinda bring out the ugly side of them, I think? Anywho, ready for another fuzzy shot? Well...

Fuzzy Fantasy is a cute one! I love me some green, especially neon or pastel green.

There's one coat over Sinful Colors Cotton Candy, mattified with NYC Matte me Crazy. I like that combo, it's a Springy look for sure. I had to try Fuzzy Fantasy over another color. So naturally, I chose the last color I should've went for. Check it out y'all...

 Yep. I did that.

source: Tumblr

Ok, so I didn't really need Tyra Banks to tell me what that swatch is. Horrible, it's just horrible. That's Lightening from the SH Insta-dri line. It's not the worst combo ever, just the worst on me. I wish I could rock bright yellow. That swatch kinda makes me think of an uber cold corona with a lemon wedge in the neck, or those big frozen margaritas you can find in any cheesy Shenanigans-style restaurant. You know, the ones that are about the diameter of a human head? mmmm. Alcohol is awesome. Anyway, the point is, this would probably be cute on someone that wasn't the color of mayonnaise. Now let's move on to the third and final Fuzzy Coat of this post. Check out some Wool Knot...

Cute blue and white bars. Shall we check it out swatched over a light blue polish perhaps?

There it is... It's a delicate, subtle look right? Makes me think of dumbass wedding traditions. You know, like something borrowed, something blue? I actually like it though. So far I'm more impressed with this one and Fuzz sea than any of them. I think it's adorable :) On my ring finger I again decided to experiment and added a coat of the pink fuzzy- Wool Lite. I used a coat of OTD, but ended up adding an extra coat on my ring finger to completely smooth it out because I obsess and pick at the slightest little bump on my talons. Talons. Wow. It feels nice to be able to say that again. And it's much more fun to paint these things than my grotesque little nubby nubs I carved up a few months back. No matter, here's a shot of them coated in fuzzies - closeup...

So...my opinion on these fuzzy things - I like 'em when they're applied a certain way. I like some of them more than others. I'm thinking they'd be fun to franken with. I'm still not sure why they intrigue me so. Now shall I ask your thoughts and feelings on Sally Hansen's Fuzzy Coats? Love 'em, hate 'em, or are you on the fence like me? I mean, I like them, I think? There's still several things I don't like about them. For me, application is a tedious pain in the ass. BUT - I've still got some experiments to do before I make a final decision. Well folks, I hope you've enjoyed today's ramblings. That about does it for now. Look out for the other Fuzzy Coats review soon, and don't forget the giveaway - mmmkay? There's 2 weeks left, and there's an international prize too! Click here to get to it. Good luck :)

Sally Hansen Sugar Coats textured polish swatches and review

Hey Peeps! It's taken me some time to get this post up, I keep getting sidetracked by random life things. Alas, I bring you 3 shades from Sally Hansen's new textured polish line, Sugar Coats. Arg, still not diggin' the textured trend. Regardless of my thoughts, I know that most of you like 'em so here we go! Btw, I purchased these myself to give you guys a bit more insight on the Pinkey Nails textured prototypes from my last review. Since I had yet to try textured polish, SC seemed to be the way to go. They're $5.49 a piece at Target, I've yet to see anything cheaper. Not sure how much JulieG Frosted Gumdrops are, but there aren't any Rite Aids in Oklahoma- so those are unobtainable for me. Check out these Sugar Coats though...

Meet Razzleberry. I was disappointed with this one. It's a gorgeous color with a runny formula. Caused me to make a mess on my cuticles, so the relationship was doomed from that point on. Compared to the other textured polishes I've tried so far, this one seems way too thin. Dry time wasn't too bad though. My swatches for all the Sugar Coats in this review show 2 coats btw. Here's a closeup shot of Razzleberry...

It does look like a bunch of sugar was poured into a bottle of polish. I hate the texture, reminds me of those crappy metal nail files. You know the ones I'm talking about right? Those grotesque, dangerous-looking things our moms and grandmas always carried around in their purses. Ugh. Maybe I'll use the Sugar Coats for some nail art, who knows. Next up is Cotton Candies...

Another awesome shade that, unfortunately to me, looks like someone ruined it by pouring a bunch of sugar or fine grade sand in the bottle :/ This one's formula was easier to work with though, it wasn't as thin as Razzleberry. Dry time seemed pretty good. Here's a closeup...

Hmmm, still not sold on the textured polish but it is a pretty color. Anywho, Let's have a look-see at the third Sugar Coat. Here's my personal favorite, if I had to choose a favorite that is...It is Sour Apple!

It's not too terrible looking, right? Sour Apple didn't give me any issues, the formula seemed good to me. It was just like Cotton Candies. I hate removal of these things though, I get sand or whatever that stuff is everywhere. Here's another closeup for ya...

 I love the color, but as with the others - I doubt I will wear it, might implement it into some nail art or something. So, my opinions on the three Sally Hansen's Sugar Coats I've reviewed for ya today...It's pretty obvious, I don't like them. But at $5.49 a piece at Target, it seemed like these were the smartest choice for me. I didn't want to waste too much money on something I was already convinced I didn't care for. But like I said earlier, nail art- maybe. Look...

So, I noticed 2 of the Sugar Coats and one of the Pinkey Nails prototypes matched my yoga pants pretty good. FYI - I don't do yoga, but I've recently noticed another thing...I wear more yoga pants than anything :/ Well, what the hell? When I do work, I work from home so why not be comfy right? Besides, those are friggin CUTE. Anywho, I actually had fun creating that mani. And it didn't look too bad, think I managed to wear it like a whole day & a half before I removed it. Seems like the Sugar Coats didn't feel quite as rough by that point either. I'm hoping to find some nail art contests soon so I can make use of these things, they really did surprise me at how fun they were to play with. Something retarded that I noticed though...I've shopped at 4 different area Targets over the past couple weeks. ALL of the Sugar Coats Displays only have 4 different colors. WTF is up with that? I got all but Bubble Plum, I didn't like that color enough to justify it's purchase. Another weird thing, these area Targets all have the same 6 shade SH Fuzzy Coats displays! DAMNIT! I actually liked those things, so I bought all of them. Or so I thought. Till one of my readers on FB and my daughter both pointed out there's 8 shades on the site! I am annoyed that these other shades aren't currently available around me. I would most likely pick up a few more Sugar Coats, and I would definitely snatch up the other two Fuzzies :/ So....what's your opinions about Sally Hansen Sugar Coats and the textured polish trend in general? Have you tried any yet? Like 'em, love 'em, hate 'em? Let me know what you think in the comments folks, I enjoy hearing from ya! Oh, don't forget to enter my giveaway. I just added an international prize too, wooo! Click here to enter, good luck! Type at ya later peeps!

Pinkey Nails Textured Polish Prototypes swatches and review

Hey Peeps! Things have been a bit hectic around here for a couple weeks, so I haven't been able to post as much as I would like. Today, I must show you these two textured polishes created by Pinkey Nails aka my polish buddy Sara. These aren't for sale in store as of yet, she's waiting to get some input from fellow polish peeps before they'll be available to the public. If you've ever had a convo with me, you know I HATE textured polish! I think I might kinda like OPI Pussy Galore, but honestly I think it's mainly 'cause of the name. I also think I need Scofflaw's David Bowie's Bulge, and now I also need Jindie Nails Princess Consuela Banana Hammock, thank you Cynthia. Anywho, since I had been adamant not to buy any textured polish I decided I should probably get some just to have something to compare Sara's concoctions to. So I got Sally Hansen's Sugar Coat, and continued my Target polish excursions till I found 2 other shades. Agh, my Target still isn't opened back up yet, I'm not even sure how much of it's still there. Sadly, they had the BEST polish selection ever. Enough pissing and moaning, back to the review. Check out the first of two textured prototypes, I call it Protoblue...

I love that color, btw. There's tons of glitter in there too, I think I even saw a few small blue bar glitters. The formula was on the thicker side, so I decided to add a tiny bit of thinner which made it easier to spread. Check out out...

Being so loaded with glitter, it's understandable why it's a bit thicker. It really is gorgeous though, kinda reminds me of Zoya Pixie Dust. Here's a macro just 'cause I can...

Did I mention I love that color? Now let's check out the second Pinkey Nails Textured polish. I introduce you to Prototype number two...

 

 So, it's kinda gun metal grey with purple-blue shimmer. There's loads of holo micro glitter among other glitters mixed in too. The formula of this one was awesome, no issues at all with application. Dry time wasn't bad either. How's about a closeup?

So there ya have it folks...Pinkey Nails textured prototypes. I like the colors, actually I love the blue color especially. Since I'm not a fan of textured polish, I'll probably try wearing the blue shade with a couple coats of top coat. Compared to the Sally Hansen Sugar Coats I've tried, these seem a bit thicker BUT - they are chock FULL of glitter so that's understandable. Prototype #2 is the perfect formula however, very easy to work with. I found the formula of SH Razzleberry to be a bit too thin, I made a mess on my cuticles which was very irritating. If you've ever noticed my swatches, I never paint close to my cuticles. That's because I'm lazy & hate the cleanup, and I'm very OCD-ish about my nails. I find it much easier to make clean polish lines when I start a bit away from the cuticle too, and that is an extremely important factor in my obsessive tendencies. Check out Pinkey Nails on Etsy here. Head's up, she's got her polishes listed at $6 a pop. Pretty sweet. Like Pinkey Nails on Facebook here for shop news, updates, giveaways, etc.  Soooo...whatcha think? Are you diggin' the textured trend or do you hate it? Do you think Sara should work on the textures a bit more & sell them in the shop? Leave me some comment love folks, comments make me happy :) Well, spam and rude, snide comments piss me off but the rest of that stuff is awesome! Don't forget to get your daily entries in for the giveaway. I'm even nice enough to save you some time, click here to head to the giveaway post. Till next time folks...