Color Club Snow Queen

Good morning pretties!

I've got a better fall color to show you girls today :)  It's a Color Club that I'm pretty sure is called Snow Queen!

Now, I got this in a set at Ross a while ago and I initially had it labeled as Rev'd Up, but after looking at swatches, I know that's not the case as it has no shimmer!  BUT it looks pretty close to Snow Queen--do you have another suggestion?

Anywho, here are the swatches!

Snow Queen is a dark, vampy purple jelly!  The formula was great and went on smooth and opaque in only two coats.  In case you were wondering, this is the polish I put on after removing my Butter London Fail :)  This is definitely more of the fall look I was going for!

It was a bit darker than colors I usually wear, but I still liked it a lot!  The only downside to this mani was that it started chipping the next day!  Like...12 hours later!  I did my normal routine of Rejuvacote + polish + Seche Vite and apparently that still didn't help.  I was disappointed because my mani before this lasted like 9 days with the same routine!  Oh well.

I took it off after a day (and by took it off I mean chipped it all off) and replaced it with ORLY Lucky Duck.  Love!

<3 Whitney

Nail fail? Butter London The Black Knight + Tart with a Heart

Hello girls :) It's been a while!

I've been super busy with wedding planning and traveling back home that I have neglected my blog!  Well hopefully since I'm on a roll with the planning and I've finished up frankening, I'll have more time for it again :D

Today I've got a semi-nail fail to show you!  I fell in love last December when Scrangie blogged about the Holiday Dressing Table collection from Butter London.  I. Had. To. Have. It.

I didn't get around to purchasing until earlier this summer and The Black Knight is just NOT a summer color so I stashed it away.  (I did use Tart with a Heart over some other polishes, though...LOVE).

Anywho, I decided since it's now fall to bust out this combo!  Here are the shots (Sorry I don't have any shots of either polish alone...this is just the combo!):

I do not know what happened between last year and this year, because I loved The Black Knight + Tart with a Heart when I first saw swatches....but after application? Blech.  I took it off right away!

I haven't given up all hope.  I've convinced myself that the combination of the purple undertones of The Black Knight plus the green undertones of Tart with a Heart plus my skintone and longer nails just resulted in me kind of hating it.

Now don't get me wrong, they both applied great!  I used two coats of The Black Knight and one coat of Tart with a Heart topped with Seche Vite--they went on smooth just like all BL polishes!  I think with how long my nails are and how pale my skin is, I just felt like it looked witchy!  If I was going for that Halloween look I would've kept it on :)  But sadly, I'm not.

I think I'll save The Black Knight for shorter nails...or maybe mid-winter, when it'd work better! 

Did you girls pick this combo up when it came out last year?  What'd you think?

<3 Whitney

Elemental Styles Supplies Sale! *Updated 10/21*

Hey beauties.  I was considering just making this a page (like with my blog sale, which has been updated as of 10/21!!), but I'm going to make it a blog entry instead. 

Anywho, here is a list of the supplies I have for sale.  If you didn't see my last post, I'm about done making polish for a while.  I just don't have the time anymore, my polish isn't as popular as it once was and I'd really like to get some of my invested money back so I can put it toward our wedding :/

This isn't all of it, just the stuff I've priced so far.  Shipping will have to be by weight to any country--I'll ship it cheapest possible (USPS First Class unless priority flat rate is cheaper!).  If you request something and I send you a final quote with shipping, you've got 24 hours to send the payment, otherwise it'll be back up :)

If you need pics, I'd suggest checking out the websites of the brand, which I'll link to, but I've also got some pics as well!

Thanks ladies!

UPDATE: My bad! My e-mail address is estyles.ww@gmail.com...

Jacquard Pearl Ex Pigments:
38 PearlEx Pigments in various colors (3 g ea).  In containers. Most unused, some brand new, paid about $70 - $28 for all

Basic Elements Glitters:
All tested in polish, most fade slightly and tint the base to make a "jelly" polish.  Orange and pink fade the most, no melting.
Shiny Hex Glitters 0.015", all in containers, price as marked or $12 for all 33 containers
   -Silver 0.8 oz in 2 containers - $1.00
   -Gold 1.15 oz in 3 containers - $1.25
   -Black 0.9 oz in 2 containers - $1.00
   -Red 0.85 oz in 2 containers - $1.00
   -Orange 1.75 oz in 4 containers - $1.00
   -Green 1.3 oz in 3 containers - $1.25
   -Teal 1.25 oz in 3 containers - $1.25
   -Blue 1.15 oz in 3 containers - $1.25
   -Lavender 1.65 oz in 3 containers - $1.50
   -Purple 0.3 oz in 1 container - $0.50
   -Pink 1.7 oz in 4 containers - $1.00
   -White  1.25 oz in 3 containers - $1.25
Extrafine Hex Glitters 0.008", all in containers $0.25 each or all for $1.25
   -Silver 0.1 oz
   -Gold 0.08 oz
   -Red 0.1 oz
   -Green 0.1 oz
   -Blue 0.1 oz
   -White 0.1 oz
Glitter Shakers Square Glitter 0.040", all in containers, price as marked or $2.50 for all
   -Lavender 0.15 oz - $0.25
   -Purple 0.10 oz - $0.25
   -Teal 0.20 oz - $0.50
   -Gold 0.2 oz - $0.50
   -Red 0.2 oz - $0.50
   -Pink 0.20 oz - $0.50
   -Green 0.2 oz - $0.50
   -Blue 0.2 oz - $0.50
   -White 0.1 oz - $0.25

Envy Nail Supply: 
The following glitters have not been tested in polish:
Ultrafine Yellow Hex Glitter 0.008" - Small Bag (0.3 oz) - $1.75
Ultrafine Black Hex Glitter 0.008" - Small Bag (0.3 oz) - $1.75
Small Blue Hex Glitter 0.040" - Container (0.4 oz) - $2.00
Medium Green Hex Glitter 0.062" - Bag (0.3 oz) - $1.75
Medium Pink Hex Glitter 0.062" - Container (0.2 oz) - $1.50
Medium Silver Hex Glitter 0.062" - Container (0.3 oz) - $1.75
Large Silver Hex Glitter ~0.085" - Container (0.3 oz) - $1.75
Medium Red Hex Glitter 0.062" - Bag (0.25 oz) - $1.50
Small Yellow Hex Glitter 0.040" - Bag (0.25 oz) - $1.50
Medium Orange Hex Glitter 0.062" - Bag (0.30 oz) - $1.75

INM (Also sold at EZNails):
The following glitters have NOT been tested in polish.
Glitter Dust Shell Pink <0.008" - Container (0.25 oz) - $1.00
Glitter Dust Black Fiber <0.008" - Container (0.25 oz) - $1.00
Glitter Dust Emerald Green <0.008" - Container (0.25 oz) -$1.00

Kit Kraft:
* = Not tested in polish
Ultra-Fine Neon Yellow Hex 0.008" - Container (0.5 oz) x 3 - $4.00 ea
Ultra-Fine Neon Blue Hex 0.008" - Container (0.5 oz) - $4.00
*Ultra Fine Poly Yellow Crystalina Hex 0.008" - Container (0.4 oz) - $2.00
*Extra Fine Poly Black Ice Hex 0.015" - Container (0.4 oz) - $2.00
*Fine Neon Pink Hex 0.040" - Container (0.5 oz) - $1.25
*Fine Neon Orange Hex 0.040" - Container (0.5 oz) - $1.25
*Fine Neon Lemon Lime Hex 0.040" - Container (0.5 oz) - $1.25

LureCraft:
* = Not tested in polish
*Fluorescent Yellow Hex 0.015" - Container (2 oz) - $3.50

TKB Trading:
Radiant Gold Mica Pigment - Bag (1 oz) - $3.50
Coral Reef Blue Mica Pigment - Bag (0.8 oz) - $3.00
Amethyst Mica Pigment  Bag (1 oz) - $3.50
White Shaplies Bar Glitter 0.0125" - Bag (1 oz) - $3.00
Black Shaplies Bar Glitter 0.0125" - Bag (0.85 oz) - $2.75
Blue Shaplies Bar Glitter 0.0125" - Container (0.4 oz) - $2.00

Other:
Velvet Glitter (From Michaels) 11 colors (~0.008") with ~0.40 oz each, all in containers - $10 for all
EZFlow Nail Glitter in Quartz (Iridescent) - Container (3.5 g) - $2.50
EZFlow Nail Glitter in Jasper (Chrome) - Container (3.5 g) x 2 - $2.50
EZFlow Nail Glitter in Moonstone (Blue) - Container (3.5 g) - $2.50
EZFlow Nail Glitter in Onyx (Black)- Container (3.5 g) - $2.50
Splash Nail Glitter in Golden Egg (Gold/Chrome) - Container (3 g) - $1.00 
Creatology Shiny Lime Green Hex Glitter - Container (0.42 oz) - $2.00
Creatology Shiny Black Hex Glitter - Container (0.42 oz) -$2.00
Creatology Shiny Violet Hex Glitter - Container (0.6 oz) - $2.00
Creatology Shiny Dark Blue Hex Glitter - Container (0.6 oz) - $2.00
Tree House Studios Bar Glitter Multipack, 6 colors (gold, silver, red, green, blue, lavender) - Containers (3 oz total) - $5.00 for all
FrankenGlitter Ultrafine Turquoise Square - Bag (0.45 oz) - $4.50  
Holographic Gold Hex Glitter from Ebay 0.025" - Bag (1 oz) x 3 - $3.00 ea 
66 Various containers of nail glitter from ebay - Containers x 66 - 25 cents each or all for $15 (see pic)

Franken Supplies
29 shaker tops from TKB, older style (~10 used) - $.25 for all
Various Containers (need cleaned out), 6 for $1.00
Stackable container (5 chambers) $1.00


That's all for now.  Stay tuned for updates, I'll definitely be putting more stuff up here and more polish on my blog sale soon!

<3 Whitney

Hello Ladies! Last chance to get Elemental Styles Polish!

Wowsers, I haven't updated in over a month.

I am a bad blogger.  But also very, very busy! 

I do want to say that it's with some sadness I announce I am going to discontinue making Elemental Styles polishes.  I just do not have the time or interest anymore to keep up with it!  Not to mention interest in at least my products seems to have dwindled, which does not motivate me to keep going in this venture.

So if there is anything you were on the fence about buying, now is your last chance!  I will probably keep my Etsy shop in case I decide on another crafting hobby I want to share with you all, but I will not be buying anymore polish supplies.  Check out my shop here.

As a matter of fact, I plan on selling most of my supplies once I get it all organized, so stay tuned for that.  I'll also be doing a major purge of my polish stash.  I'm not sure if I said so in my previous post, but my fiance and I are paying for our own wedding next July, so I am trying to save all the spare cash I can get :)

That's my only announcement for now, hopefully soon I can post something relevant.

Love you all!

Whitney

PS: I am not leaving the blogging world!  I just happen to be quite busy :) I do have some photos stored for posts I need to write, so don't leave me! 

Elemental Styles' Alkali Metals Collection! NEW!

Helllllllo lovelies!

I've got some SUPER exciting news for you all!  I'm ENGAGED!!!

Mani: Color Club Overboard ;)

Weeee! I'm so freakin' excited :)  It happened last night and it was very sweet!

BUT let's turn our attention to my lack of blogging....

I've been QUITE the busy bee lately getting things ready for my store opening and it occurred to me that I hadn't shown you lovely ladies the rest of my NEW Alkali Metals collection!  I'll get better swatches soon, but for now you'll have to deal with bottle shots and nail wheels :)

First up: I'm So-dium Into You

I'm So-dium Into You is named after the 11th element: sodium.  Sodium is (obviously) the main ingredient in table salt, and I LOVE white layering polishes, so I knew that's what I wanted this one to be.  This polish is just a clear base with various sized white hex glitter along with white bar glitters.  It's pretty dense and the pictures on the nail wheels show 2 coats of I'm So-dium Into You over red and black.

Next: Shake That Pot-ass-ium  

Shake That Pot-ass-ium is a pretty light pink based polish with a kick of some holographic pink and silver glitters along with white hexes.  It's named after the 19th element, potassium!  I don't have any good pictures of this one on, which is unfortunate because it's quite pretty!  There is a nail-wheel shot at the bottom, so scroll down and check this one out!

Next: Rubidium Cube

Rubidium Cube is a clear polish filled with fine green, yellow, and white hex glitters that all together give it a neon green look!  It's meant as a layering polish, but can be worn alone in 3 coats!  Neon green is so 80's and so are Rubix cubes, which is how I got the name for this polish!  Rubidium is the 37th element.  There is a better nail wheel swatch of Rubidium Cube on it's own down at the bottom!

Next: Ces-ium The Day

Needless to say, Ces-ium the Day is my favorite polish in this collection!  I've already reviewed this one in it's own post here. Ces-ium The Day has fine aqua, green, and blue glitters along with some ultra fine holographic shimmer!  It's meant as a layering polish and in most of the pictures above I've got it over China Glaze For Audrey, a perfect combo if I do say so myself!

Lastly: I see London, I see France-ium

left: 3 coats alone, right: 1 coat over white

I see London, I see France-ium is a muted neon orange glitter!  I don't know if that's an oxymoron or not, hah!  But regardless, this polish has neon orange and iridescent hex glitters that make it a pretty summer polish!  It's better worn as a layering polish, but you can wear it alone in 3-4 coats.  It is named for, francium the 87th element!

Here are some nail wheel swatches of the collection!

Ces-ium the Day alone and over For Audrey, I see London I see France-ium alone and over white, Rubidium Cube, Shake that Pot-ass-ium, and I'm So-dium Into You alone and over red

Rubidium Cube and Shake that Pot-ass-ium!

Wee!  I hope you enjoyed my new collection!   It will be for sale TODAY, Sunday, August 19th at noon EST in my etsy shop!  So don't forget to stop by and check it out!

<3 Whitney

More polka dots!

Sooo after my first polka dot adventure went over so well, I thought I'd try it again!

This time I used teal and yellow, my favorite color combo!

Check this b out:

This time I used China Glaze Happy Go Lucky for my yellow, For Audrey for my teal, and Sinful Colors White!  Along with my dotting tool, of course.

I've seen a lot more polka dots on nails recently, I think they're perfect for summer!

I'll be MIA for a bit after this, too!  Sorry ladiess!  I've got a business trip coming up and potentially a weekend getaway ;)  SO bear with me, I'll be back!

<3 Whitney

Featuring Lime Crime: Les Desserts d'Antoinette Collection!

Hey girls!

I have a whole polish collection from a new-to-me brand called Lime Crime!  They were previously a makeup company, but they decided recently to dabble in nail polish!

The collection is called Les Desserts d'Antoinette, so all the polishes are dessert themed.  Check them out!

First up: Lavendairy

Lavendairy is a pretty pastel lavender polish!  It had a thinner formula--2 thick coats probably would've been okay but I used 3 for these pictures!  Honest to goodness, based on the frosty bottles, I assumed this whole collection would be matte polish (it's not).  The purple, however, is semi-matte and has a kind of streakier formula that you see a lot with mattes.  

The picture below shows Lavendairy by itself on the left and with a top coat on the right.

 Next: Pastelchio

Ignore my bumpy ring finger, I nicked it with a razor!

Pastelchio is a bright neon green!  Even though it says pastel in the name, and appears that way in the pictures, it's so pigmented and bright in person, I'd consider it a neon.  The formula for Pastelchio is thicker than Lavendairy, so I only needed two coats for it to be opaque! 

It's got a slightly matte-finish to it as well.  As you can see in the pic below, by itself on the left, and with top coat on the right.

Next up: Crema de Limón

I'm a sucker for yellows! Crema de Limón is a beautiful yellow pastel polish.  The formula is great, which I haven't found to be the case for other pastel yellows, and is shiny and not matte (horray!).  I used three thin coats for these pictures, but 2 thick probably would've been fine.  This one is probably my favorite!

My only concern with Crema de Limón is that it's a Spanish dessert...not French.  I'm not sure if someone just didn't do their research or what, but the name doesn't fit in with an Antoinette collection...

Next: Milky Ways

Milky Ways is a light pastel nude!  The formula was great, and like the others, 2 thick coats would be fine, but I used 3 thin!  It's not streaky at all, and it's got just enough shine to it.  The pictures are shown without top coats.  And maybe I'm boring, but I really love this color, it's probably my favorite next to Crema de Limón.

Next: Once in a Blue Mousse

Once in a Blue Mousse is a pretty Tiffany blue pastel not unlike China Glaze's For Audrey.  As a matter of fact, I swatched them side by side and For Audrey is only one shade darker than Once in a Blue Mousse.  The formula is great, though, and I only used 2 coats for full opacity!

Next: Parfait Day

Weee I love pinks, too!  Parfait Day is an opaque pastel pink!  It reminds me of Easter, actually.  It's not super shiny, but I wouldn't even get close to calling it semi-matte.  Only 2 coats were needed for full opacity. 

Last and not least: Peaches <3 Cream

Seriously, there's an actual heart in the name, hah!  Peaches <3 Cream is a beautiful peach pastel that applies opaque in 2 coats.  It was very pigmented, but I don't know how I feel about this one with my skin tone!  Overall, a pretty easy-to-use polish!

Okay so overall, I really liked this collection!  But here are some pros and cons!

Pros: Very pretty colors and the formulas on most of them are nice and go on opaque in just 2 coats!  They're also all 3-free!  I forgot to mention that the brush is flat and wide, which is a plus.  The brush was awesome! And the bottles are cute :)

Cons:  This collection is bizarre overall.  I feel like with the two semi-mattes and the green being more neon than pastel they just didn't all fit together.  Especially with the Spanish Crema de Limón name with the rest of them being French based?  This is also a collection I'd see better selling in the spring rather than mid-summer.  I probably would only wear one or two of these colors this time of year.  They also retail for $5.99 each and they're only 9 mL.

Bam!  So there you have it.  Pretty pastels and great formula, but maybe released the wrong time of year!  I'd definitely be willing to try more of Lime Crime polishes in the future based on the formula and the brush!

Have you ladies tried out Lime Crime yet?  Check them out here!

Let me know!

Whitney

New from Conair: ExtremeSteam!

So you all should know I love me some Conair products!  Most of my haircare stuff is all Conair, so when they asked me to try their garment steamer, I happily obliged!

I've tried a few steamers here and there for weddings I've participated in, but I'd never used one for my everyday clothes.  However, one of my friends is completely obsessed, so I figured I'd try it for myself.

Here's what arrived:

Awesome! Totally handheld and has a super long cord to plug into the wall.

It's got two settings, high and low which you use depending on the type of fabric you're trying to unwrinkle!  It also has a LOCK button!  That means you just put it in lock mode for continuous steam instead of holding the button the whole time.  Genius idea!  It also heats up and is ready to go in 60 seconds, which is way better than our old school iron.

It also came with three attachments:

A soft cushion brush, an attachment that makes creases, and a brush attachment!  I used the brush to get rid of some white fuzzies all over my black shirt.  The cushion brush is for your more delicate fabrics where you don't want the steam directly on the clothes.  And the creaser attachment...obviously makes creases in your slacks or shirts! 

Here are some before and after pics of the clothes I tried the ExtremeSteam with:

It worked the best on this 97% cotton blouse I had!  It wasn't super wrinkled before, but it had been washed and laid flat to dry.  Love!

This mostly cotton blouse had also been washed and laid flat to dry.  It was very, very wrinkled before and got most of the wrinkles out, and it took forevverrr to steam this and just didn't work as well as I'd hoped.  For a normal shirt this wrinkled in the future, I probably will stick with my normal iron.  It was hard to get the bottom of the shirt because I was holding on to it to pull it taut and I didn't want to burn myself with the steam.

This is an outfit that the ExtremeSteam was made for, I think!  It's a ladies suit and obviously I'm not going to take a normal iron to it since it's got intended creases on the skirt.  A normal iron just wouldn't work with all the folds of the fabric!  I wore this outfit to a job interview and I got the job!  Horray!  I start my new position 9/1 :)

So overall...great product!  I am psyched to use it to steam my curtains and tablecloths because I'm not wasting my time ironing those things! And it says on the website that it can kill dust mites and bedbugs, which is a plus (the site also has a great instructional video)!

I am really glad to have this for dresses and suits and such, but for my normal blouses that are super wrinkly, I'll stick with an iron.  I'll definitely be using this again for my silky non-ironable shirts :) Horray!

Have you ladies tried this product before?  Or ever used a steamer?  I'd recommend it!  Conair retails this product for $49.99 in stores and online!

Happy steaming,

Whitney