The Lady Varnishes Pt. 2

The Lady Varnishes Part 2

I have so many polishes from the Lady Varnishes that I had to break them up into two posts. This is the second half of my oh so beloved collection.

From the "How She Sparkles" Collection

Polish: midnight carnival

Scent:  Victorian Rose

This is a crelly grey polish with silver flecks, turquoise glitter, iridescent glitter and iridescent moons. It reminds me A LOT of Sailor Moon. Whenever I look at it the theme song starts in my head: "fighting evil by moonlight..." I will say, I never thought I'd like a grey polish, but this is a nice purple-type grey.

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photo with flash

From the "Where's the Boddy?" collection

Polish:  pernicious peacock

Scent: Sweet Orange

A crelly orange polish with blue and copper glitter of varying sizes and a slight purple shimmer. Up until recently, orange has been my least favorite color. All of a sudden I see the beauty in it, probably because I am a painter. The thing that draws me most to this particular polish is that it consists of complementary colors. The blue and orange are opposites on the color wheel, so naturally they look great together.

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photo with flash

From the "Where's the Boddy?" collection

Polish: mischievous maid

Scent: Jasmine

This polish is a slightly tinted pink polish with an irridescent sheen to it. It has black and white shreds, pink hexes and pink stars. I paired it over OPI's "I think in Pink." I absolutely love shred polishes. This polish is a mix of two of my favorite glitter top coats "Pink Panther" and "Queen of Hearts."

 

Mischievous Maid

Pink Panther

Queen of Hearts

From the "Where's the Boddy?" collection

Polish: mean mustard & promiscuous plum

Scent: Lilac Blossom

Mean Mustard is a purple crelly polish with magenta, yellow and purple glitters with a slight green shimmer.

Promiscuous Plum in the inverse of Mean Mustard. It's a yellow crelly with purple, magenta, and yellow glitter with a slight green shimmer. These polishes compliment each other nicely with their matching glitter. They are also opposites on the color wheel, so of course they are naturally a great pairing.

From the "Because You Listen" collection

polish: Because You Listen

Scent: Lilac Blossom

This is a densely glittered polish of bronze and copper, with a hint of silver. I bought this polish because I love copper. When I say I love copper, I mean I LOVE COPPER. I got my engagement ring custom made in rose gold! I had my bellydance scimitars plated in copper. If I can choose jewelry in copper, I do. I can't explain why, but I am obsessed. Maybe it's in my genes because my mother loves it too. Copper polish is not super common, let along copper glitter polish, so I saw this polish and purchased it right away. I absolutely adore it!

My entire collection: I think I have an addiction....

The Lady Varnishes Pt. 1

ETSY is seriously bursting with amazing freelance nail polishes. I don't remember what I was searching when I came across The Lady Varnishes on ETSY. What I found intriguing about her polishes, and the reason why I continued perusing her stuff, is that she themes her polishes off of shows, movies, and literature. What especially caught my eye was the fact that she had a collection solely dedicated to my favorite childhood movie "Labyrinth." I still have a Ludo doll in my bedroom and one of the door knockers! She also has options to add scent to your nail polish. Seriously! You can leave out the scent, but I opted to have some in there. It's fun, although it does appear odd, to sit at your desk and sniff your nails. Lastly, each polish had a cute little charm adorned with swarovski crystals, that match the polish. It's a cute little touch that I love. 

Recently she released some polishes that spoke to me, so I purchsed a few of them. 

From the Edward Scissor Hands Inspired line "I'm Not Finished."

Polish: "Come Home With Me"

I chose to scent this polish with jasmine. The polish itself is a little more of a dark pinky-purple than I had anticipated, but really, it's pretty either way. It is a jelly polish that has copper shimmer glitter and shredded pink glitter in it. My art instructor actually commented on my nails during class. I find this polish to give your hands a more delicate look, which I like for my small hands.

Griffy socks!

Griffy likes too run to the point of tearing up his pads so, of course, I tried covering them so he couldn't lick off the neosporin that I put on. He didn't like the paw covers...

I love turqouise stone, especially with copper! The color is so tranquil and the black veins are so unique to each stone, like a fingerprint. Gotta love nature!

I saw a tutorial pin on pinterest, for doing turquoise stone nails. This is my attempt at the manicure. It didn't quite work as planned. They came out more marbled than veiny, but they still looked nice. I may not have worked properly because my black nail polish is rather thick. Instead of breaking apart when I sprayed it with alcohol, it just swirled into a marbled formation. Oh well. It's still pretty. I might try it again some day, with a newer black polish.

DIY: Glitter Nails

This post is my attempt at an at home glitter manicure per a pin I found on Pinterest. It looked easy enough and fairly cute, not to mention sparkly.

I started with my glitter and base coat. I put on a thick layer of base coat and dipped my wet nail into the glitter. It coated my nail fairly well. I let that dry, then added a top coat. The glitter will come of onto the brush and get into your top coat, so you will have random glitter in your polish after this. The first layer of top coat merely absorbed into the glitter, so I added another layer. It STILL sucked up the top coat, so I added a third layer, which absorbed AGAIN! So I added a fourth layer, which also go sucked up. At that point I said screw it. I never did end up with a smooth look.

Below are photos of the final product.

 

 

This manicure started chipping right away. It got too chipped for me to leave it on, by day 2, so I removed it. Removal is awful! Not only is it the normal pain of taking glitter polish off, but my hands were covered in red paint from the glitter, which took another round of acetone to get off.

I will honestly never do this manicure again. It's such a pain to do and take off, and did not even come out looking like it was supposed to.

My hopping dog

I swear my dog holds a world record for jumping...

copper nails

Let me start of by saying that copper is my favorite metal. I love it so much that we had a custom engagement ring made for me in rose gold, before rose gold started becoming popular. When we made my engagement ring, there were NO rose gold engagement rings on the market. Now they are everywhere (of course.) 

With that is mind, it would make sense that I would love copper nail polish. My mom posted a photo of a copper polish she had found at the drug store. Of course I had to get myself a bottle. Below is what I did with it.

Why do dogs love beer??

I have no idea why dogs love beer so much, but it seems they all do. Something they share in common with their daddies, I guess. Butters doesn't get any, but he begs for beer anytime we have some. He is not a silent beggar at all. He'll let you know what he wants!

Butters, my little booze hound:

Mood nail polish

Spring has sprung! After months of freezing cold days and nights, the weather is starting to warm up. Granted, it's still cold, but not frigid. I discovered the perfect nail polish while browsing ETSY. Mood Color-Changing Nail Polish by CocoAllurePolish!

This polish is really neat. It is a purple jelly polish, which changes to a light pink when warm, with small magenta glitter and med and large blue hexagonal glitter. When I first put the polish on, my hands were freezing, as they usually are, so I turned on my wall heater and started warming them up. Below you can see the color change transitions. 

 

Spring Nails

The other day I was looking at the trees and commented on the little buds appearing. The next morning, I looked out my window to find the trees were covered in flowers. Such a dramatic difference, overnight! Spring is here!

In the spirit of the season, I would like to show you some nail polish I have been playing with, that goes well with spring.

collars and harnesses

Last year, my fiancee and I consulted a dog trainer over various behavioral issues we were having with the pups, including separation anxiety, chewing, and what I refer to as "little man syndrome." In addition to some training techniques to implement, she recommended an item decrease their pulling on the leash.

The first thing she recommended was a no pull leash. This leash was essentially a thin long leash with an extra loop on it in the front. It went under their armpits and across their back (behind their shoulders.) If they pulled, the leash would tighten and it would push their shoulders forward, initiating their backwards "breaks."

I noticed that when I used it, Butters would scream because his armpit would get pinched between the clasp and the leash. After a short period of using it, I noticed both dogs had raw scabbed over skin under their armpits. Immediately I got to thinking of ways I could alleviate this from happening, so I put a soft tube over the leash under their arms. It helped a little, but not fully, so I discontinued the use of the leash. 

Brrrrr!

So, my apartment has been between 59 degrees Fahrenheit and 65 degrees without heat. That's not THAT cold, but it's not pleasant. I leave the heat off when I am at work and I come home to:

Pink and red!

When my mom and sister came to visit me, I decided to make them do their nails, seeing as how they NEVER do! Of course I had to do mine as well. I had some glitter polish that I hadn't tried yet, so I decided to try it out. The glitter polish is "Bejeweled" by KBShimmer. I paired it with Sinful Colors "Dream On." The result was really pretty. The camera was unable to capture the brilliance of the polish, but it was very bright!

sweet potato and squash lasagne (vegan & gluten-free)

My cooking method consists of seeing something, or thinking of something, seeing what ingredients I have and making variations of the dish based on what I have. That is how this recipe came about. I pieced together several different recipes while adding my own flare to it, based on what I had to cook with.

I've fed this lasagne to several people, and every person who has had it has loved it. My mother sat there going "mmmmmmm." I took that as a good sign! 

Since it was a hit, I figured I would share it with everyone! I hope you like it as well! It is vegan and can be gluten-free, if you use gluten-free lasagne noodles. 

winey nails

My nail polish addiction continues. I've been on a purpley kick all of a sudden. I guess it's a nice change from my normal red and, pink right? 

While perusing etsy, like I do, I stumbled across Shimmer Polish, more specifically, her Taylor polish. I about died of excitement (well, not literally, but you know.) It is a jelly wine-purple, with many colors of glitter in it. It is a very dense glitter polish, but that nice added touch of jelly purple makes it AMAZING. I instantly ordered it, and I'm on love.

"No Whine Left", by KBShimmer is what started my glitter polish addiction. I had NEVER seen glitter polish with large glitter pieces in it. I freaked with excitement over this concept, and instantly placed an order. "No Whine Left" is a cream jelly, or "crelly" polish, so it is opaque, but semi transparent at the same time. I now, it sounds weird, but it's beautiful! It contains large hexagonal blue glitter, medium iridescent hexagonal green glitter, and medium/small magenta hexagonal glitter. This polish triggered my massive glitter polish collection, and I couldn't be happier. I got so many compliments on this polish, with reason! It's so gorgeous.

Toothbrush stealer!

My mom is visiting for the week, so naturally her things are around the house. Well, she and I were on the couch chatting when we look up to see this:

Butters, the little booger, had taken her toothbrush. I was saying his breath was getting a little nasty.

Of course, I went to take it away from him, but he decided it would be more fun to play "chase me..."

Cheezy Potato Soup (vegan, gluten free, soy free)

I love potatoes. I always have and always will. I cannot resist anything potato, whether it's french fries, potato chips, hash browns, roasted, or fried. MMMMMM.

Winter has hit, therefore soup is on the menu. My apartment has been getting down to 59 degrees Fahrenheit at times. It's chilly! Combining my love for potatoes and my need for soup. Like, I've mentioned before, cooking is posing to be a challenge as of lately since I am on some dietary restrictions for a few months. Despite all of this, I managed to find a soup that I could tweak and adapt to my dietary restrictions. I've fallen in love with what I've come up with. I eat it almost every week! My fiancee even likes it!

Pink and Purple!

Glitter polish has become an addiction. There are so many options out there! So, while I was exploring etsy, I happened across LushLaquer, in particular Pink Panther. Its a clear polish with various sizes of pink, white, and black glitter. The pink glitters actually have subtle white spots on them. So far I have tried this polish with a light pink and a darker pink. Both look amazing, but have very different effects.

Harnesses, anxiety wraps, and doggles (oh my!)

Last year, my fiancee and I consulted a dog trainer over various behavioral issues we were having with the pups, including separation anxiety, CHEWING, and what I refer to as "little man syndrome."

This was the last straw!!!!

In addition to some training techniques to implement, she recommended a few items to help a) ease their anxiety and b) to decrease their sensory overload when out.

Vegan Bigos Recipe

Many years ago, my fiancee spent a few years in Poland  While there, bigos became one of his favorite Polish dishes. For years he'd tell me how much he wanted it. One day I browsed the internet, found several recipes, and pieced them together to make the finished product for him. He loved it!

Currently, I am trying to eat a more vegan diet, while eliminating harmful substances from my diet. On top of this, I am not supposed to eat soy, garlic, and gluten, among other things, which makes meal planning difficult.

I had a head of cabbage in my refrigerator and figured I'd try adapting the recipe to make vegan bigos. At first, it tasted okay, but not as good at the original, so I let it sit in the refrigerator for a few days. I tried it again and it is so much better! It's definitely gets better with age. I'm here to share the recipe with you in the hopes that you can enjoy it too!

SHOES!!!

I  love shoes! I love shoes so much it's verges on an obsession and/or fetish. They are just so much fun! I recently stumbled upon lolashoetique. OMG! It's like heaven! I sat there for hours looking at all the amazing shoes. I wanted soooo many. Alas, I had to narrow it down to a few pairs. They ran a sale over the holiday season, which I had to jump on! I ended up purchasing 3 pairs of heels and 1 pair of boots. I cannot be more thrilled.

New Years Nails!

So in the spirit of New Years, I decided to do my nails with confetti glitter nail polish! I used 3 different polishes I purchased recently. The first is China Glaze "Luxe and Lush" from the Hunger Games collection. It is a very chunky glitter, so it required 2 coats of top coat.