Magic 8 Box Review & Swatches

Hello everyone!

Today I have the Magic 8 Box to share with you! The theme for this box is The 80's Love Song!! 

So here is what you'll get in your Magic 8 Box! It will contain products from 8 brands, 4 permanent brands and 4 guest makers. I will swatches of the four permanent brands first then move on to the guest makers. I will also provide links to all brands! 

The price: This box retails for $59 plus shipping! That's about $7.38 per polish (not including shipping). Not a bad deal at all! Plus I know some people on Facebook are dividing the cost and splitting the polishes! 

Release date: The Magic 8 box will be releasing this Monday 2/8 in the Philly Loves Lacquer shop! For more information make sure to check out @phillyloveslacquer on Instagram! 

Alright lets get started!

Philly Loves Lacquer (permanent maker for the Magic 8 Box) This is "This Much is True-oo", which is an ode to True by Spandau Ballet! It's a luscious grey crelly filled with UCC flakies, gold flakies, and other sparkly goodness. Here you see 3 coats + topcoat!

This is my second ever owned polish from Philly Loves Lacquer and I am very impressed! I loved that the flakies were still very visible within this grey crelly! The gloss to it was also a plus! 

Rica Polish (permanent maker for the Magic 8 Box) This is "Time After Time" a mix of sparkly microglitters (I see gold, and different pinks) This polish dries slightly textured but I used Glossy Glam topcoat to smooth it out. Here you see 3 coats +topcoat 

I love the pop of colors! It's gorgeous! Application takes patience but definitely worth it!

Smokey Mountain Lacquer (permanent maker for the Magic 8 Box) This is "Faithfully" a light grey/blue with subtle holo sparkle. Here's 3 coats +topcoat.

The perks about these types of boxes is that you get to try different polishes and different brands. This is actually a brand I have never tried before and I really liked it! 

My Indie Polish (permanent maker for the Magic 8 Box) This is "Purple Rain" a medium purple with flakies and glitters! Here's 3 coats +topcoat. 

This brand is also new to me and I have actually never seen this brand before. My first thoughts were "who are you?! I want more from you!" 

Delush Polish (Guest maker) This is "Never Gonna Give You Up" a light blue crelly with neon glitters! Here's 3 coats +topcoat. 

Glitters were a bit hard to get out of the bottle but not impossible! These colors make the perfect combination! My favorite picture is the macro because you can really see how the colors peak through.

Pipe Dream Polish (Guest maker) This is "Cherish" a medium blue cream with silver flakies! Here's 3 coats +topcoat

Application was wonderful and the color is ammmazzzinnng!

Aliquid Lacquer

(Guest maker) This is "Can't Fight This Feeling" a deep navy blue jelly with flakies! Here's 3 coat +topcoat.

This box is a whole lot of flakies! Isn't wonderful?! 

This polish is so beautiful!

Native War Paints (Guest Maker) This is "Never Tear Us Apart" a fuchsia with blue shimmer. Here's 3 coats +topcoat. 

Not gonna lie, I was super excited to swatch this one! The shimmer looks amazing under the light!! 

So what are your thoughts on this box? Planning on getting it? I really like that this box has a little of everything! Different colors, different finishes, different glitters! Make sure to follow these brands on instagram and also don't forget this will be releasing Monday 2/8! 

Here's what they all look like together

Until next time, 

Karen (minipolishh)

Press Sample, this review is 100% honest.

Glam Polish: Totally Clueless Trio (LE)

Hi everyone!

I will be trying my best to be a bit more active this coming month because I totally put aside my blog last month. I have so so so much to post and talk about throughout this month! There are a lot of new products and brands I am really excited about! 

Today I have some swatches from Glam Polish new Limited Edition collection! I am really loving how unique these polishes are! This collection was inspired by the movie Clueless! 

Totally Clueless Trio (Limited Edition)

Flashback to the 90’s with this fun trio inspired by Cher’s outfits from the hit movie Clueless.

Release Date Friday February 5th 5pm EST USA,  Shipping to Australia, USA and France - shipping rates to USA are $3.50 USD for the first polish and an extra $1.00 for each additional polish

Shade Descriptions

(shades will dry slightly textured and require 1-2 costs of glossy top coat for a smooth finish. My favorite topcoat can be found here)

AS IF! - Sparkling pink tinted holographic packed with glass flecks and Holographic Microglitter. Only 1 coat of topcoat was needed to get a smooth finish! This pink is very vibrant and totally girly :D

WHATEVER - Bright Red Jelly packed with holographic flakies. I am so in love with the finish of this polish! I like that it looks like I made a jelly sandwich using holographic flakies! A must have! i don't even think I own anything like this.

TOTALLY BUGGIN - Black tinted holographic jelly base packed with a mix of holographic charcoal, black and white glitters. This one is more black than gray. For some odd reason my camera wanted to make this polish gray. This polish does dry textured but the application is sooooo easy!

Let me know which one is your favorite! What do you think about this collection?! Don't forget to check out @glampolish_ on Instagram for updates and restocks of their polishes! 

Until next time, 

Karen (minipolishh)

*Press sample all reviews are 100% honest

BornPrettyStore: Product Review

Hello everyone!

I cannot believe it's already 2016! The time is flying by! I'm actually really excited about this post. I wanted to be a little bit more adventurous and try different things. I will explain as I go. 

I have 4 BornPrettyStore items that I will be showing you today! I decided to combine all these items into one because in a way, they are all very similar!

The first item I tried were these AMAZING tweezers! They are GREAT! I am literally so excited that I was able to pick these out because they are so helpful especially if you are really into vinyls! I used these tweezers in every mani I will be posting today.

Under the listing it gives you the option between two different tweezers. I chose pattern #1 because it was the smallest and the other one was appeared a bit larger. The great thing about these tweezers is that they are very sharp which helps with picking up practically any vinyl! I also recommend you are extra careful because they can literally cut into anything haha This is what the packaging looks like. It comes with a little holder to protect the tip of the tweezer. Don't throw it away. It helps a lot with storing.

 Here is a macro of how sharp they are!

Next item is Chevron Nail Striping Tape which I am also sooooooooo in like with! The best thing about this tape is that you can cut it to your nail width or length. I have skinny nail beds and sometimes I get bummed out when the vinyls I purchase are too long because I feel like it's a waste of product. With this striping tape it really is easy to use. You just need to have some scissors in hand to cut them up to your liking. This striping tape is also very inexpensive! They also come in different colors. I chose the color, Laser Gold. 

For this mani I used:

• Chevron Nail Striping Tape (this was used on every finger)
• Tweezers (very useful with this striping tape)
• Azature Jade Diamond
• Essie Jiggle Hi Jiggle Low

Next mani I have is the Mini Floral Water Decals! I have become a huge fan of water decals! They are literally the easiest this ever to use! I have a tutorial on my instagram account (@minipolishh) showing you how to use it. This pack comes with 4 different designs. You can cut them up to the length and width of your nails. Once you cut them up make sure to remove the plastic from the water decals before you throw them in the water. I just get an type of water, kind like those fake tattoos you buy from the 25 cent machine, same rules. I also decided to finally use my lightbox and my camera so  upcoming pictures might be better (quality wise) and hopefully a lot more clear. I will also try to have tutorials up for most of my manis!

For this mani i used:

• Mini Floral Water Decals: C114
• Tweezers 
• Jolie polish 'White Stamping'
• Jolie Polish 'Pink Stamping' (Available at the end of this month)
• HK Girl Topcoat (make sure to wait for the first coat to dry then apply another coat. These decals tend to eat up the first layer of topcoat)!
• Chevron Nail Striping Tape 
• Water, tap water, any type of water.

Last product I received were these super cute Snowflake Transfer Stickers these work the same way as the water decals. I cut each of them separately and applied them onto my nails. I know the whole christmas manis are over but it's been kind of snowing here so snowflake manis are still doable! yay!! I loved these transfer stickers because they mani manicures so easy!! 

For this mani I used:

• Cupcake Polish Blood Hound
• Snowflake Transfer Stickers
• HK Girl Topcoat
• Water, tap water, any type of water.

 Don't forget to use my code for 10% off your next purchase at BornPrettyStore they have a lot of awesome inexpensive nail art stuff! Please let me know which manis you liked and if you have any questions about anything used in this blog post :)

Until next time,

Karen (minipolishh)

This is a press sample sent by BornPrettyStore but all my reviews are honest :) 

BornPrettyStore: Water Decal Review

Hello everyone!

Today I will be sharing something very awesome! Water Decals!!! I always thought water decals were really hard to work with. I thought vinyls and stamping was easy but nope! Nothing is easier than water decals! You basically already have the design you just need some water, tweezers, base color, and top coat!!

This is what the package looked like. These Flower Nail Water Decals came with two different styles. My nails are somewhat thin so I managed to use one row on 4 nails. I suggest you order 2 packs if you have wider nails or long nails since 1 or 2 rows may not be enough. For someone who has never tried water decals the instructions were very easy to follow..and I am not good at following instructions haha

 

I found this mani to be very easy! The decals had a unique scent to them but I loved it! They smelled good!

• I used a white base and applied topcoat before adding the water decals. 
• Once my mani was dry, I followed the directions and got some warm water 
• I then cut out the decals to the shape of my nail. I basically estimated the shape of my nail
• I then threw the cut out piece in the warm water and waited a couple of seconds
• Once I got the decal out the water I carefully lifted the edge with some tweezers. The pointer the tweezers, the better.
• I then applied it on my nail and smoothed it out with my thumb. This might slide the decal around so make sure you don't apply too much pressure.
• Lastly, I cleaned around the excess decal on my skin with some acetone and applied topcoat
• I found that two layers of topcoat make the decal hold better as opposed to one layer.

Here is a macro of the decal. Doesn't it look great?! The best part is that they are so inexpensive, very affordable! 

 Don't forget to use my code for 10% off your next purchase at BornPrettyStore they have a lot of awesome nail art stuff!

Until next time,

Karen (minipolishh)

This is a press sample sent by BornPrettyStore but all my reviews are honest :) 

Simply Makeup Review

Hello everyone!

Today I will be introducing you to a new website that literally has so many products for beginning nail artists or nail artists in general! 

The website is called: SimplyMakeup! This website has a wide range of affordable products. From nail polishes to makeup! 

More info about Simply Makeup

Their mission is to make makeup simple by providing a curate collection of reasonably priced, cruelty free products along with how to guides and honest reviews. You can also receive free shipping with a purchase of $19 or more! They also wrapped their products so well that I had no issues with any of the polishes breaking!

I received a wonderful package full of Gel nail polish, nail polish, and stripers. I have also found many clever ways to use these polishes! I decided since christmas is coming up that I would do christmas themed designs. 

First up is the L.A.Colors Art Decor stripers, Red Glitter. This glitter is beautiful! 

For this mani I used: 

Snow Flake decals I had laying around from last christmas

L.A.Colors Art Decor, Red Glitter(main color)

L.A.Colors Knockout, as my base

I honestly never thought about using a striper as a nail polish but it worked out great and I really like the end result!

For this next mani I decided to do some icicle looking nail art. 

For this mani I used:

Extreme Shine Gel Polish, Flurry

Extreme Shine Gel Polish, Ice Princess

Extreme Shine Gel Polish, Frosting (the index and pinky fingers)

WhatsUpNails, Dripping Stencils

Next is a mani I did using a lot of polishes!

For this mani I used:
Twinkled T, Aztec Vinyls
Extreme Gell Polish, Flurry 
L.A.Colors Art Decor, Forest Green
L.A.Colors Art Decor stripers, Red Glitter

I also did some candy cane glitter mani using striping polishes!
For this mani I used:
L.A. Colors Art Decor, Red
L.A. Colors Art Decor, White
Rica Polish, Thanks For Being A Friend

Make sure to check them out and browse around their wide range of make up products! Everything is so affordable and the nail polishes are great quality! I found that everything the Gel polishes had a great drying time and they were shiny!

I have many more manicures in mind so I will be updating them here :)

Until next time,

Karen (minipolishh)

Instagram 5k Giveaway!!! **CLOSED**

Hello everyone!

I have a very exciting giveaway for you all! Earlier last month I reached 5,000 followers! Last year around this time I think I had 300-400 followers! How crazy is that? I also wanted to make someones Christmas a little bit special by sending this package. I am not the type of person to do giveaways mainly because i'm scared no one will participate but I really hope you do! The theme I chose for this giveaway is STAMPING! 

This giveaway will close December 18th at 12:00am EST! I will count all the votes and have an answer ready for you all that day so I can ship the stuff out to the winner on Saturday December 19th!

There will be ONE winner for this giveaway which will be chosen using random.org (seems fair). This is my first giveaway so please be kind! 

RULES:

1. One entry per person!

2.U.S. ONLY! This is my first giveaway so I want to make it easy. 

3.You MUST be following me.

4.You must repost the picture above^^ using this hashtag #MiniXmas15

5. Please do NOT tag me in your caption or the picture, please just use the hashtag!

6. Make sure your account is not on private if you are entering the giveaway!!

7. You must be 18 years or older to participate 

8. No giveaway only accounts and no drama!

I really hope I'm not forgetting anything important.

Once the package leaves my hands  I will no longer be responsible for it. 

The winner will receive a tracking number and a message letting them know I have sent the package. 

The prize:

One HK Girl Topcoat! One of my favorite topcoats!

Two Rica Polish Stamping Polishes, Whiteout & Blackout

Two Jolie Polish (mini) stamping polishes, Light Gold & Silver Up

One Bliss Polish, Mystery Holo #7

This one is a limited edition polish!

One Stardust Polish, Oops

It is called Oops and there is nothing wrong with the polish :)

Lastly, you will receive ONE stamper and 

TWO Bundle Monster Stamping plates, BM-S108 & BM-S106

Please make sure you read the rules carefully! I want to make this a fun and easy giveaway that everyone can enjoy! 

Until next time,

Karen(Minipolishh)

If you have gotten this far you can receive 1 extra entry to the contest by commenting on this blog who your favorite indie brand is and what you like about them!

Remember this giveaway ends soon :D