The Lacquer Legion: Reinvention

Totally pumped to be sharing my first post for The Lacquer Legion! If you haven't heard about the LL yet, check out my introduction post. Basically, once a month me and my LL pals (Chalkboard Nails, Work/Play/Polish, and The Nailasaurus) put out a theme for a mani challenge for everyone to do! And of course, we do it too.
This month's theme is Reinvention.

The idea I had for reinvention was to finally try the reinvented version of stamping - making decals with stamping images!
A lovely tutorial was recently posted by my girl heartNAT, and once I saw it I had to do it ASAP.
But with bows. Obvi.

It's a little confusing to explain without watching the video, but here's the quick explanation:
1. Pick up an image on your stamper and let it dry.
2. Fill in the parts you want to color while it is still on the stamper. It doesn't have to be neat because you're actually working on the back of the design. But be careful not to bleed outside of the outermost areas. Let that dry.
3. Coat the whole thing in topcoat and let it dry again.
4. Carefully peel the fully-dried decal off of your stamper, trim the edges if need be, and apply to your nail on top of a coat of wet topcoat.
5. Add more topcoat to seal it in. Tada!

I did the base gradient using Lime Crime - Parfait Day and Lime Crime - Once In A Blue Mousse.
For the decal I used Konad Black, and filled it in with China Glaze - That's Shore Bright.
The studs are from Dollar Nail Art.
I'm loving all the components of this manicure and it is very me. Girly, but with studs also. Ha!

I freakin' love this method because it opens up a lot of possibilities. It is definitely a reinvented nail technique! I'm probably going to be obsessed with this now because I just want this bow on everything. Everythingggggg.

Have you guys done a Lacquer Legion manicure yet? It's not too late! Be sure to tag your posts on social media with #LLreinvention so we can see them! And share 'em on our Facebook page.
Hope you liked this post and I'll see you again shortly for the next Lacquer Legion challenge!

Influenster + Sally Hansen Total Knockout VoxBox #CSMTKO

Hey guys! I've got a pretty cool post today for you! I received a VoxBox to review from Influenster, and it just so happened to be a Sally Hansen review box!

However I kinda have quite a few complaints about the box, but I did make one kick ass mani with the polishes. So take what you will from this review.



I was really looking forward to this box but I have to say I was a little disappointed upon opening my box. First of all, the blue polish had leaked all over itself and the other polishes. This seemed to be a common complaint on Instagram from other people posting photos of blue messes. And there was also some complaints about the way the polishes were bubbled wrapped, or the lack thereof. Mine were all together in one small piece of bubble wrap, which wasn't great, but some people had none at all! I think this was a pretty big blunder for a review box being sent to a lot of big polish fanatics like me.

Besides the packaging problems, my other complaint is about the colors they picked for the box. Based on the teaser emails and stuff they were sending, I was expecting greatness! New colors, new collections! Something exciting! But inside my box I found three of the most common colors you'd find in anyone's polish stash. Red jelly and tiffany blue? REALLY?
I know that the Complete Salon Manicure line has some fun colors (especially the new glitters!) and some excellent formulas. But the chosen colors were lackluster and the formulas were completely mediocre.

Jaded, the tiffany blue/turquoise, is extremely sheer. (And looks just like China Glaze's For Audrey, color-wise, not to mention the 4,000 dupes.)
Red My Lips, the red jelly, isn't horrible but it isn't spectacular. (And it's just like every other red jelly ever.)
Pat On The Black, the blackened-purple, is a nice color but it is not as opaque as it should be. Two coats should be enough for a color this dark but that is not so. (And it's just like OPI's Lincoln Park After Dark among many others.)

That being said, I have a couple other CSM polishes that I adore! So I don't wanna just hate on the brand entirely. They have some with amazing formulas and fun colors. Plus I do seriously love their brush and find it super easy to paint with. I think with better color choices, this box could have had far better reception.

Buuuuut like I said, I made a great manicure with the polishes!

I chose to do a messy-gradient with Jaded and Red My Lips, and then accent it with some basket weave striping done with Pat On The Black.

I'm actually really in love with the results so overall I am happy with this VoxBox because it allowed me to create a really fun manicure! I've always wanted to try the basket weave look.

I used a medium striper brush to do the detail and I had to go over the lines twice to get them opaque enough. I did the gradient using a sponge but I didn't want to blend them seamlessly, I wanted it to be rough. Not sure why but that is what I was feeling! Haha.

I feel kinda mean to be making so many complaints but hey, that's the nature of honest reviews right?
And it all turned out okay because it made a nice manicure!




Watch the Instagram video I posted with the manicure above!

Hope you guys liked this post! Did you guys get this VoxBox? Lemme know what you thought!

Product provided for honest review.

rebecca likes nails turns 3! + GIVEAWAY!

Hey guys! Get excited! It's time for the...

The time has come for another blogiversary celebration! Three whole years and I still can't thank all you lovely people enough for supporting me all this time! Even when things become a bit... Sporadic. Haha!

I'm feeling great about what the year has in store for RLN, so let's start the year off right with some giveaway goodies!

One lucky winner will receive the following prize package!
- piCture pOlish Siren Song (created by yours truly!)
- OPI Fit to be Tied Gift Set (with Russian Navy & Polka.com + hair tie bracelets!)
- OPI Fingerless Gloves (for warm hands while polishing!)
- Layla Hologram Effect - Coral Glam (super holo goodness!)
- Joe Fresh - Iris (a favorite Canadian polish!)
- GOSH - Ashy Grey (from the adorable Oh My Gosh line!)
- Benefit Bad Gal Lash (cute deluxe travel size for your purse!)
- Pop Beauty Eyeshadow Trio in Smokin Hot (we all love a good smokey eye!)
- Mica Beauty Tinted Lip Balm in Natural (girls need their lip balm!)

I hope you guys like the little prize I put together. I can't wait to send it to one of you!
This giveaway is open internationally and will run through February 6th, 2014.
Entering the giveaway is simple! Use the Rafflecopter below. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Dermablend Cover Creme Foundation Review!

And now for something completely different...
A makeup review!! What the what?!

That's right, I'm branching out. I am somewhat hesitant in this new endeavor because it means posting pictures of my face (gasp) which means taking 4,001 photos before deciding one is decent enough for the internet to see. I truly don't know how you veteran makeup bloggers do it all the time! I feel so self conscious doing it but hey, let's jump in with both feet.
I'm pretty excited about it too because I recently have become a total makeup junkie. Nail polish is a GATEWAY DRUG.

Here's what has prompted this whole thing: I was sent a really cool product to try out: Dermablend Cover Creme Foundation from Nail Polish Canada. (Me and NPC, branching out together! Haha! Watch out, makeup world.)

Read my review after the jump.

sprinkle all the way

Heeeeello! As I sit here trying to locate textbooks for yet another semester of university, I stumbled upon something different: a really old manicure I never posted.
I'm pretty sure it's over a year old. What's funny is that I know exactly why I never posted it - I kept wanting to swatch all of these Sprinkles polishes from Nails Inc before posting a mani but then I just never got around to it! Maybe someday...

For now, a cute mis-matched-mani!

My dear friend Jini sent me three of the Nails Inc Sprinkles ages ago and I wore these right away!
The pink is Nails Inc - Topping Lane and the blue is Nails Inc - Pudding Lane.

One look at these bottles and you know I need them, right?
I've got all four of the full size colors and I really want the little limited edition Ice Cream set with the mint sprinkles polish but it was neverrrrr in stock at Sephora when I was ordering. Boo.

Seeing as it was so long ago, I don't exactly remember the formula on these. But it looks like it was good? Haha!

Makes me want to go put one on right now! That, or eat some ice cream. Or both.