Above the Curve ... Yes it is!

Hey ladies! Today I am excited to bring you a bit of indie love for Above the Curve nail polish. In my fashion, I really wanted to know more about the husband and wife team that created Above the Curve  and I was excite to get a chance to chat with one half of the duo, Angel Erwin!

Dom:  What made you start making polish?
Angel:  Well, I have always been passionate about raising awareness for Scoliosis and Shriner's Hospitals for the Children. We usually donate to Shriner's once a year but we really wanted to do more. So with my love of polish and frankening we thought it would be great if we made our own polish to help raise awareness and money for our cause! And viola, Above the Curve was born!

Dom:  What inspires you?
Angel:  About four years ago I read an article that said Shriner's Hospitals for Children would have to start charging families for the surgeries and care that they desperately needed. We felt like we needed to do something. We also felt the need to pay it forward for the help that I received from Shriner's many years ago!

Dom:  Are you a collector and if so what is your prized polish and what is your biggest lemming?
Angel:  Oh LORD!!! Yes, I am a "collector"! Hahaha! :) Hmm ... this is a hard one! I guess my most prized polish would have to be my China Glaze OMG collection (well, the ones that I have!). I have them up in my closet so my daughter doesn't break them. LOL! Also, China Glaze Sexagon!!! That is also put up.

Biggest lemming? Geez, that one is even harder!!! Ummm ... it was Dollish Polish Toxic Avenger but I  got lucky and found someone to make me a dupe. So, I guess I would have to say Cult Nails Clairvoyant aka Unicorn Puke.

Dom:  Anything fun coming down the pipeline for ATC?
Angel:  I dunno! You'll have to wait and see ;) wink! wink!

Dom:  Upcoming collections?
Angel:  We are working on a Dr. Seuss Collection right now that we hope to have release in the next month or two! But that is all I can tell you for now!  You already know too much! Hehehe!

Angel was so fun to chat with and I cannot wait to see the Dr. Seuss collection!!! I was lucky enough to get my hands on Above the Curve Fallen Angel and couldn't wait to get it on my nails. Above the Curve describes Fallen Angel as

A holographic polish with blue, pink and purple color shifting shimmer in a black base. 

I love this polish and had NO issues with it at all! I used Beauty Secrets Base Coat with two coats of Fallen Angel and Orly Glosser as a top coat.

I love this polish under inside lights as much as I do in the sun!!

Full Sunlight

I took so may pics of this polish and wanted to show a couple different angles! 

Full Sunlight

I have nothing but good things to say about this polish! It painted well and looked amazing. I had no issues with clean up and wore the polish for several days with no chipping! Take a minute and check out this polish ladies, you will not be disappointed!

You can purchase Above the Curve nail polish at:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/AboveTheCurve?ref=shop_sugg
http://abovethecurve.bigcartel.com

You can also like Above the Curve on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/AboveTheCurveNailPolish?fref=ts

Tell me what you think. If you have any Above the Curves nail polish, let me know. What are your favorites or which ones are must haves on your list?

This is a free sample given to me by Above the Curve. Reviewing this sample in no way impacts my review of the product. My views are my own and are expressed accurately and fairly to best of my ability.

New Indie Love for Chirality

Amanda Duron is a self professed nerd with an amazing husband and a recent diagnosis that changed her life. Starting her new indie line of polish appealed to her creative and intellectual sides as well as filled her time while dealing with life's struggles.  I got a chance to have Amanda answer a few questions about herself and her new line.

Dom: What got you interested in polish and eventually helped you decide to make it? 

Amanda: I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma earlier this year which is a rare form of cancer. I was forced to take a leave of absence from school which pushed any sort of plans of graduation, setting up a practice, or having children back further than I wanted it to. Needless to say, it was a bit depressing. I was also stuck inside a house for many months unable to go anywhere unless it was to get nasty chemo injected into my body.  This sort of unhappy state caused me to revert to some of the hobbies I used to enjoy several years back, particularly nail polish. So much has changed thanks to social networks and the increase in indie nail polish. After awhile, my nerd side kicked in and I found myself intrigued by starting my own indie polish line.  The rest is history!

Dom: Where did the name for the line come from and what does it mean?
Amanda: Since I'm an Optometry student, the first year of school is pretty much nothing but science courses. One of the courses that ended up being fun was Organic Chemistry. Because I'm such a nerd, I would continue reading up on the subject outside of class and learn about various other aspects, like Chirality, which usually refers to molecules that are non-superimposable mirror image.  LOL, very nerdy!  Plus, I think it's a very pretty sounding name.

Dom: What made you do holos first?
Amanda: I don't know why but holos really appeal to me. I think they're beautiful, and I really wanted my first line of polish to set the standard for what fans of nail polish can expect from me.

Dom: What are some of your inspirations?
Amanda: This is going to sound corny, but my husband is my inspiration. He pushed me these past six months to fight this cancer. And then, pushed me to start this line. He's been such and inspiration that I now call him my muse. I don't know why but the first couple of times I tried making polish, they were disastrous. But, whenever my husband is around, I wind up making the polish that you now see on my Facebook page and Big Cartel store! Plus, he lets me test them out on his nails, which amuses me.

Now that we know a bit about Amanda, let's move onto the POLISH! The first collection from Chirality Nail Polish consist of four amazing holographic lacquers. When Amanda sent me the set for review I immediately ordered my two favorites! After swatching the collection I realized that I needed them all! For all of my swatches I used Beauty Secrets Base Coat, two coats of polish and Orly Glosser for the top coat.  I was also lucky to get a day of beautiful sunshine so, all the shots were taken outside in full sunlight!

The back story's that Amanda uses to describe her colors are amazing so I will add them for your reading pleasure!

"In the woods, a killer stalks a group of young, nubile women. They've come off as lost, injured, and scared of what goes bump in the night, and the killer could not be happier. Little does he know that these ladies are far from lost, far from injured and very far from scared. Morning is coming quick, but not quick enough, because these ladies are ready to strike. They're ready to turn the tables on this killer and attack just before dawn."

Just Before Dawn is a super pretty fall orange base with a subtle linear holo effect.  I am not generally an orange kinda of girl but this polish is nuts.  It painted like a dream and with two coats I was able to get full opacity.

Just Before Dawn 

Just Before Dawn

"The Symbiote is an alien life-form that came crashing down to Earth in search of female host to ooze over them and bring forth from its newfound owner a devilish and mischievous side she never knew existed. Once the Symbiote takes over, she owns the night."

The Symbiote is an amazing charcoal black holo that I could not stop looking at once I had it on! Again, I had no issues with application.

The Symbiote

The Symbiote

"A lonely scientist is working to compose the ultimate love potion. While working in her laboratory, a freak accident involving copper, or Cu2+, infuses to our heroine to create an electronically charged Siren. Who says elements from the periodic table can't be beautiful?" 

Cu2+ is an ridiculous blue, with a hint of teal, holographic polish. Application was flawless and this one is a favorite for sure!  

Cu2+

Cu2+

"Purified in the waters of Lake Minnetonka, Apollonia is the pure definition of sexuality and beauty. She's a no-nonsense kind of girl who will scratch her way to the top to get what she desires. Her voice is strong and can be heard by everyone, even through the rain."

Apollonia is my favorite of the entire collection. Mostly because I love purple but also, something about wearing a polish with that description makes me feel like a sexy beast! LOL! The application rocked and man oh man, I did not want to take this one off!

Apollonia

Apollonia

Well, there you have it!  Chirality is amazing and I cannot wait to see what Amanda comes up with next!  Tell me what you think.  Which one is your favorite?

You can find Chirality Nail Polish for sale at http://www.chirality.bigcartel.com

You can also like Chirality Facebook Fan Page at https://www.facebook.com/chiralitypolish?fref=ts

Go Pink Wednesday and a self exam tutorial!!!

Good morning ladies!  It is Wednesday again and we have two more Breast Cancer Awareness inspired manicures for you as well as some important information on how to do a self breast exam.

In last week's Go Pink post we stressed the importance of self-breast checks as a front line defense in the early detection of breast cancer. Although breast cancer presents itself more prominently in women over 40, there is still just under 7% of new cases found in younger women. Check your breasts ladies!  Get out your calendars and pick a day each month to follow these steps taken from breastcancer.org.

Step 1: Begin by looking at your breasts in the mirror with your shoulders straight and your arms on your hips.

Here's what you should look for:

• Breasts that are their usual size, shape, and color
• Breasts that are evenly shaped without visible distortion or swelling

If you see any of the following changes, bring them to your doctor's attention:

• Dimpling, puckering, or bulging of the skin
• A nipple that has changed position or an inverted nipple (pushed inward instead of sticking out)
• Redness, soreness, rash, or swelling

Step 2: Now, raise your arms and look for the same changes.

Step 3: While you're at the mirror, look for any signs of fluid coming out of one or both nipples (this could be a watery, milky, or yellow fluid or blood).

Step 4: Next, feel your breasts while lying down, using your right hand to feel your left breast and then your left hand to feel your right breast. Use a firm, smooth touch with the first few finger pads of your hand, keeping the fingers flat and together. Use a circular motion, about the size of a quarter.

Cover the entire breast from top to bottom, side to side — from your collarbone to the top of your abdomen, and from your armpit to your cleavage.

Follow a pattern to be sure that you cover the whole breast. You can begin at the nipple, moving in larger and larger circles until you reach the outer edge of the breast. You can also move your fingers up and down vertically, in rows, as if you were mowing a lawn. This up-and-down approach seems to work best for most women. Be sure to feel all the tissue from the front to the back of your breasts: for the skin and tissue just beneath, use light pressure; use medium pressure for tissue in the middle of your breasts; use firm pressure for the deep tissue in the back. When you've reached the deep tissue, you should be able to feel down to your ribcage.

Step 5: Finally, feel your breasts while you are standing or sitting. Many women find that the easiest way to feel their breasts is when their skin is wet and slippery, so they like to do this step in the shower. Cover your entire breast, using the same hand movements described in Step 4.

Image taken from http://drugline.org/ail/pathography/793/

Image taken from http://drugline.org/ail/pathography/793/

Now that we have all the fun out of the way let's see some nails, shall we?  For Dom's mani this week she used Orly Artificial Sweetener and did a mermaid tail accent nail.  The polishes Dom used for the accent nail were W'n'W  Candy-licious, Sally Hansen Hard to Get, W'n'W Sparked and China Glaze Strawberry Fields. Lastly, Northern Lights holographic top coat was applied to all nails.  

w/ flash

w/o flash

SUNSHINE!!!!

Since we're fast approaching the best holiday of the year, E wanted her pink wednesday mani to be tinted with the holiday... the best idea? DRIP NAILS!!!!

For this mani E used Essie Cascade Cool as the base and butter LONDON Primrose Hill Picnic for the drips. This mani was easier to do than it appears, so check back soon for a tutorial!!

outside in natural, overcast, light

outside in the shade

inside under an Ottlite

We hope you enjoyed the second week in our Breast Cancer Awareness, Go Pink Wednesday mani series!

xo,

 & 

Drool Worthy Ozotic Layer

I have fallen in love!!!  Yes that's right... I have been having an affair with polish and I do believe that I have met my match!  I can honestly say that I pride myself on the fact that I don't lust after much!  But, boy oh boy, when I first went on the web and saw some swatches of the Ozotic 500 series polishes I think I actually drooled!  Yes... I totally drooled and now that I have a couple in my collection, I know exactly why!!!

As I am sure that you know, the Ozotic 500 series polishes are being discontinued!  Grrrrrrrr... If I could buy multiples of each color, I totally would!  I am confident that I have at least purchased my personal must haves!  There is still some stock out there, so if these have yet to find their way into your collection, get online and grab a few while you can.  I purchased mine at OverallBeauty.com and the owner operator, Kim, was awesome and I had my choices within a week of ordering them.

This past weekend most of my Sunday was spent swatching. Although I love polish and painting my nails, I must admit that swatching is not my favorite thing in the world to do!  I have a hard time with the removal!  LOL!  Let's keep it real, I buy polish that I like.  I buy polish that I really want to wear out.  I buy polish with the goal of sharing it not only with the readers but people on the street.  So, for some reason I just feel bad polishing, taking shots, removing and then moving onto the next one!  E always laughs at me!  The entire time I was swatching, I knew in the back of my mind that the last mani I did was going to be the one for the night.  I was going out and I am always mindful of what I have on my nails.  People see it and like it, then I network my little butt off!  Hahahahahahaha!
Here is what I chose...

Finger Paints Inkblot Blue & Ozotic 515

I picked up Finger Paints Inkblot Blue last week and was inspired when I saw it next to the Ozotic 515.  I started with the Finger Paints Base Coat and one coat of Inkblot Blue.  I only used one coat because I knew I was going to do the layering.  I am sure that with two coats of this polish you will have full opacity.  Inkblot Blue painted really well and dried pretty fast.  Love it!

Finger Paints Base Coat w/ 1coat of Inkblot Blue 

Finger Paints Base Coat w/ 1coat of Inkblot Blue

With one coat of Ozotic 515, I had the most awesome mani ever!  Ozotic 515 polished like a dream and, unlike some of the other holos that I have, it gave great coverage with one coat.  It dried really nicely and did not need a top coat.  I still have this mani on and have no tip wear or chipping!  And yes, it made me drool again! I may have even danced around the house a bit!  

1Coat of Ozotic 515 w/ flash

w/ flash

This polish is nuts!!!  Under the club lights it glowed and just like I thought, people loved it!  Tell me what do you think?  Do you have any of the 500 series in your collection?  Which ones are your favorites?

Techo... am I Raving Again?

I will admit that I was a rave girl once upon a time and boy were those days fun!  Seems so long ago now that I think about it, but one thing that I will never forget is how they made me feel.  Depending on the party planner, the overall feeling that I would usually leave with would be one of shock and awe.  Had I really just partied the night away inside a disco ball?  All the lights and pounding music was such a rush. People dressed in crazy clothes, waving glow sticks around and dancing so hard that it hurt the next day!

Please excuse my rant about my youth but it does have a point, I promise!   All of those excited feelings that I used to have getting ready for a rave hit me all at once one day at the local Ulta.  Sounds silly I know, but stay with me here and hopefully it'll all make sense.

While shopping around and looking for a good deal I suddenly stopped in my tracks.  In my peripheral vision I had spotted something sparkly and my ADHD kicked in big time.  I had a feeling that once I turned my head I was going to fall in love and boy was I right!  Just like all those old excited feelings that I used to have getting ready for a night of ridiculous dancing and eye catching flashiness, I was hooked on my new love, China Glaze - Techno.  However, I managed to leave the store without my new best-friend!  :(  Unfortunately I already had a bag full of polish that had reached my max budget for the trip.  Booooooo!  I know!  But, I try my hardest to be a responsible spender even when it comes to polish!  I was so sad that I had to leave Techno at the store especially since she was the last one.  A couple days later when I called to see if she was still at Ulta, I was not surprised to find out that Techno had been sold.  I then began calling the Sally's in and out of my area but it was the same story each time.  Techno was sold out!

Fast forward a couple of weeks and some serious Amazon.com consideration later, I still had not bought Techno.  Here is where the story gets happy... on a shopping trip with my husband one of the stops that we needed to make was to a Sally's to pick up some raincheck items on hold.  I also warned him that I would most likely find a few more polishes to add to the collection, so he was prepared.

My first stop in the store was the China Glaze display shelf.  On a previous shopping trip I had picked up a few of the new Prismatic Collection and loved them, so I decided to try and complete the collection.  I noticed a polish on the display that I had not seen the last time I was in the store so I was really intrigued.  When I picked it up and looked closely I almost had a heart attack!  Could it be?  Had the polish gods picked that day to smile down on little old me!  I looked at the bottom again... low and behold... it was Techno!  I took that as a sign of course and added it to my basket for the day!

China Glaze had done it again and Techno is just how they did it!  Techno is part of the Electropop Collection release for Spring 2012.  I had seen the collection at Sally's several times but was not really excited by any of the colors on display (Techno was obviously missing!).

In the bottle, Techno looks like a million little disco balls.  A beautiful collection of round holographic glitter mixed with a bit of micro glitter.  I couldn't wait to try it out and I hope you enjoy what I came up with!

The Magic Duo... Rimmel London Steel Grey & China Glaze TECHNO!!!!

With flash

Close up with flash

After two coats of Steel Grey and two coats of Techno, I am giving this polish an amazing A+!  I love it! For some crazy reason I feel like I should be holding some glow sticks, flailing my arms around creating trails with these magnificent nails!  (all you former ravers know exactly what I am talking about)