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Today I have a sneak peek of a few colors from SpaRituals upcoming holiday collection, Home. (Home is available for sale now! )

The Born Pretty Store recently sent me some items to review. One of those items was stamp plate QA83. I thought this particular plate would be perfect to try some more leadlight technique with.


I started with a base of OPI Alpine Snow. I stamped with Konad Black. Then I used my OPI Sheer Tints to fill in the design. Finished with Seche Vite. I have to say I really like this Born Pretty Store stamp plate [QA83], the etching is just right and the design stamps perfectly. I can't wait to get some more. :-)




Use Code GPL91 for 10% off!  Always free worldwide shipping!

✯ PR Sample ✯

SquareHue sent me their latest box to review. The Beverly Hills Collection, consists of 3 polishes: Rodeo Drive, Cannon Drive, Wilshire Boulevard. 

SquareHue is a monthly subscription box for $14.99 a month, (plus shipping). What is really neat and a bit different from other subscription boxes, is SquareHue donates a portion of proceeds from each subscription box to a different cause every month. 

I was pleasantly surprised these are full size polishes (.5ml) no mini's here! I wasn't sure what to expect formula wise on these, but Rodeo Drive, and Wilshire Boulevard are definitely one coaters, (though I used 2 coats for all photos below). Cannon Drive is opaque in 2 coats. Now... Wilshire Boulevard & Cannon Drive show brush strokes, *sad face* but that is common with this type of finish. None of the polishes are too thick or too runny. They were nice to work with.

*I used Seche Vite topcoat on all photos below.

I don't think Cannon Drive (pink) goes too well with my skintone. And, don't laugh at my free hand cheetah design, it was my first try! *wink* I used Rodeo Drive (gold) and a Sally Hansen I ❤ nail art pen in black to do the cheetah design. (I wish the pen had a finer tip).


I kind of feel like I was having a "fail" nail art day here, lol. This was the gradient I did with Wilshire Blvd (blue) & Rodeo Drive (gold).

If I had to choose a favorite I would say Rodeo Drive (gold) is my favorite polish out of this box! :-) Have you tried SquareHue? What did you think? If not, would you?

✯ PR Samples Mentioned ✯

Head over to my Instagram to take part in my SpaRitual Fall Giveaway! 

Want to win Oasis & Tapestry from the new Sparitual Wander Collection, along with Multi-Tasker top & base coat? 

(Please note polishes were provided by Sparitual for review, and each polish was swatched on 4 nails).

To see my review on some of the Sparitual Wander colors, click here! 

In addition, there will be a special Q&A session with the woman behind our 300+ color assortment - ZOYA's Creative Director, Rebecca Isa. So get your questions ready!

How it Works:

· Follow @ZoyaNailPolish on Twitter.
· Zoya will release a series of questions marked Q1, Q2, Q3, etc.
· Reply to these questions with the corresponding A1, A2, A3, etc.
· Use the hashtag #FALLingForZoya so Zoya (and everyone else) can find your tweets easily!

Did someone say PRIZES?! Join in on the fun and you could WIN!* Followers that participate and answer questions throughout the Twitter Party will automatically be entered to win special prizes from the Naturel 2 and Entice & Ignite Collection at random.

PLUS - Enter to win a full Fall Zoya Nail Polish Wardrobe! All you have to do is upload a picture of your ZOYA manicure at any time during the Twitter Chat (8-9pm EST) and tell us which shade(s) you're wearing to the party. Don't forget to include #FALLingForZoya. The grand prize winner will be announced at the end of the event following the Q&A session.

*Terms & Conditions: No purchase necessary to participate or win. Promotion begins Wednesday, August 27, 2014 at 8pm EST. Entry via Twitter ONLY - Twitter account must be on public setting and must follow @ZoyaNailPolish to be eligible to win. Giveaway winners will be DM'd codes - codes are not valid in conjunction with other coupons, codes or promotions. Continental US only. Art of Beauty is not responsible for incorrect addresses, credit card entry errors, web related issues or any errors associated with declined credit cards. Returns or exchanges of promotional items not permitted. This Twitter party is in no way sponsored, endorsed, or administered by, or associated with Twitter, Inc.

My Twitter is @tunaynamahal82, if you'd like to follow. :-)

I'm guest posting over at Polish Hound today! Head over and see the glitter placement manicure I did with Zoya Madeline and Zoya Monet!

✯ PR Sample ✯


Today I have a review of the Zoya Entice Collection for you all! Entice delivers six new, glossy, intensely pigmented, full-coverage cream colors.


This is quite picture heavy, so please click to see more after the jump below! 

✯  PR Sample Mentioned ✯

Philly Loves Lacquer recently listed some limited edition polishes in her online shop, that she made for various craft fairs in the area. I had to purchase The Porch! (In reference to The Porch at 30th Street). I have a huge weakness for aqua polishes. The Porch is a bright cream turquoise scattered holographic polish, with gold shimmer. 

The formula was a bit sheer so I did 4 thin coats. You could probably stop at 3 coats though in real life. My lights are bright when I take photos. Four coats worked for me, so I didn't have any visible nail line showing. I used Seche Vite topcoat. I wish the sun had been out the day I swatched this, I wanted to get some holographic sun shots for you all! (Another time maybe.) The color is so divine though... *drools*

✯ Press Release ✯

Inspired by the classic wools, textured brocades and metallic accents of the season, Zoya's new ENTICE & IGNITE collections create a palette of lush, deep color including wines, browns, navies and grays.

I've been wanting to write this article for awhile. To share my own tips and hints, and useful links that I've accumulated since I started this blog back in 2008. These may be helpful to an already established blog, or a newbie.

Okay, so you want to start a blog. Or maybe you already have one. What platform is best? For me personally, Blogger is best. It's extremely customize-able, and already integrated with a lot of Google's web tools. Wordpress is more limited in design. Tumblr is best if you like blogging photos, more than writing. (Most of these links and tips will be for the Blogger platform, but WordPress users may find them helpful too).

This is going to be a very in-depth article, so please see more after the jump below! 

I've been wanting to attempt leadlight stamping for awhile. Leadlight stamping is a technique that was created by Julia from Messy Mansion. (Yes she makes those awesome stamping plates!) Leadlighting is basically just filling in a stamped design with sheer jelly polishes for a colorful artistic effect.

So for my first ever leadlight design I used Winstonia Store W216.I started with OPI Alpine Snow, stamped with Konad black, and then filled in the blank spots with my mini set of OPI Sheer Tints. I didn't use any special brushes. And of course a little China Glaze Fairy Dust! (Can never have enough of that!) I also used Seche Vite topcoat. I really like how colorful these turned out! I can't wait to try some other designs with this technique. My husband said they could hypnotize you! :-p

Edited to add: Speaking of honest blogging! I forgot to mention, the aqua OPI Sheer Tint- STAINS your skin. So be careful when using it. 

I thought I would share with you all, some of my favorite indie shops to buy nail polish from. These are shops I have own two or more nail polishes from, who I would purchase from again, and also have fabulous customer service.

Indie polishes are more unique, because of the fact they are made in such small batches. There's often limited editions. There's better quality control, and better quality over ingredients used in products, compared to a larger company. Plus you are supporting an independent small businesses when you purchase an indie polish!

1. ILNP Boutique

Really unique duo chromes, and vibrant holographics. Birefringence is my #1 favorite nail polish hands down from this shop. I always get plenty of compliments when I wear it. Also Barbra is a sweetheart and interacts often with her fans. Their customer service is awesome too, I once checked out with the wrong polish and they corrected it right away for me.

















2. Painted Polish

Lexi's Drunk on Holo is another one of my all time favorite polishes. I've used it in countless manicures. Lot's of unique crelly and jelly polishes, and blinged out glitter polish. Lexi's packaging is always adorable too, little custom bags for the polish with her logo, she sometimes throws in nail decals or nail studs. She's also really interactive with her fans on Facebook and Instagram.


















3. Indigo Bananas

Andrea comes up with the most unique finishes. Her duo chromes always have a soft finish to them. Her flakie jellies are out of this world (and I need to buy them!) Gorgeous holographics, and her cuticle balm is the bomb. I'm actually really addicted to her cuticle balms, and I like that she carries it in full size and mini's (as well as her polishes). She often tucks some interesting foreign Japanese, Chinese candies into your packages which is a fun touch!

















4. Ellagee Polish

Whoo! Any lady that thinks of putting dolphin glitter, or penguin glitter into polish is freaking amazing! And Laura definitely is. She has really unique glitter jelly polishes, and holographics, and she recently stocked her shop with mini nail polish bottles keychains that you can fill with different custom charms! (Need!) My two favorite polishes from her are Life is de Bubbles and Dolphins of the Caribbean!

















5. KB Shimmer

I recently got addicted to KB Shimmer last year. The fact that she also sells homemade soaps, scrubs, lotions, etc doesn't help. I am addicted to homemade soaps. One of my favorites is her relaxation soap, which has a nice musky scent like a man's really nice cologne, but light enough that it can be unisex. I also love the sugar scrub in that scent, and Lilac! The lilac sugar scrub is amazing! And don't get me started on the cuticle oil pens! Last time I made sure to buy two of the lemongrass cuticle pens. Her customer service is also fantastic, I was accidentally sent the wrong item once, and they responded the same day and mailed the correct item out. Her polishes are gorgeous too, love the crellies, and holo's!

















6. Ice Polish

Erin has fantastic holographic polishes, with a great formula too. I just recently tried her polish, and I love it! Especially Jafar (berry holo), and Maleficent which is a gorgeous duo chrome.












7. Nire's Desire

Another Erin- and if you didn't notice her store's name is 'Erin' flipped backwards. ;-) Nire's Desire has some really gorgeous cream shimmers, and duo chromes, and holographics. I own Anam Cara and Jezebel. They are one coaters and have a really unique shimmer to them.













So those are some of my favorite indies! What are some of your favorites? I'd love to hear in the comments!

✯ PR Sample ✯

✯ PR Sample ✯

I'm up late on this Saturday evening because I suddenly had the inspiration to do some nail art, with some of the colors from the Zoya Naturel Deux Collection!

I used Emilia, Spencer, Aubrey, and Madeline for this cloud design. (I was inspired by this cloud tutorial). It kind of reminds me Neapolitan ice cream, or creamy chocolate covered candies. Mmmm. I absolutely love how these turned out! The colors in the Naturel Deux collection really compliment each other. What do you think? :-)