Happy Halloween

*Some products were sent to me for testing and review, completely complimentary, from OPI, Preen.me, and Barielle.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Hello lovelies!! I know I'm not around much anymore, and I definitely recommend following me on Instagram (@spellbound_nails) to keep more up to date than following my blog. Buuuttt Halloween is my favorite holiday so I did two nail art designs to celebrate, and I thought I'd post them here too.

The first I want to show you is actually the second design I did and what is on my nails right now. I started with a base of white and used the fingerprint stamp on Vivid Lacquer's VL009. I added lots of blood drops to my accent nail and a few to my index and thumb. A few highlights and shadows on the blood drops and this design was done. Easy peasy.

The second design I want to share is so fun! I started with a base of OPI Cosmo with a Twist and added blobs of Barielle Hawaiian Sunset. I painted my accent nail with Barielle Hawaiian Sunset and painted the jack-o-lantern in white and then went over that with a yellow tinted glow pigment mixed with clear polish. I loved how it had the lit pumpkin look in the day and really lit up at night! Like I said, so fun!!! 

This wasn't done for Halloween but it reminded me of something very Halloween before cleanup ... like frost bite gone bad or the fingertips of some evil witch so enjoy. ;) Colors used are OPI Colors of the You-niverse and OPI By the Light of the Moon.

Happy Halloween,
Ashley

*Some products were sent to me for testing and review, completely complimentary, from OPI, Preen.me, and Barielle.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A-Z Weekly Challenge - L is for Lines

*Some products were sent to me for testing and review, completely complimentary, from Barielle. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A post? A real post? I know it's been forever, and I really apologize. I hate saying it, but I always thought a little badly about bloggers who started making nail polish and suddenly disappeared from the blogging community, but I totally get it now. Running a business is insanely hard. Having a life while running a business is next to impossible. Blogging (a job in itself) while juggling getting a new business on its feet and real life? Impossible, or simply so much extra, stressful work that most never even try after the initial rush.

But things are finally settling into place for me. I'm still super busy, but I finally feel like Spellbound Nails the business is easing into a rhythm and life is slotting into the open areas of this. After a year of the only polish on my nails being something that got there accidentally while mixing I'm finally finding time to do my nails at least once a week. They usually don't last more than a day ... a few hours depending on how many orders I have to get mixed and shipped, but that's more than I thought would ever happen this time last year. So I'm going to try my best to share my nails with you again. I'm not going to promise quality pictures every time. Sometimes the best you'll get is a quick picture snapped on my phone, but I hope you'll enjoy them all the same.

Barielle Jetsetter Collection | ZigZag Gradient Nail Art

*Some products were sent to me for testing and review, completely complimentary, from Barielle. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Hello lovelies!! Some of you may have seen the black & white sneak peek of this mani on my Instagram account (@spellbound_nails) - now see it in full color! I was sent some really gorgeous fall colored polishes by Barielle from their fall/winter Jetsetter Collection. I'm not a great swatcher, but I pride myself on my nail art. With this in mind, I set myself the challenge of using them all in one mani. 6 polishes in one mani? It was a little challenging, but I love the final product!!

I started by painting my index and my pinky nails with my all time new favorite brown Autumn in Seoul. This is seriously the most gorgeous brown. It's a little bit red and a little bit gold with a light shimmer and a metallic-y finish that does streak a little but a good layer of top coat took care of that. This color leaves me wanting to paint my nails and just leave them that color all fall long so you know it's an amazing color!! While the brown was drying I took a sponge and created a gradient using (from cuticle down) Irish Eyes, Gondola Ride, Rain in Spain, and lastly Kiss Me Kate. There's not a huge difference between the green shades of Irish Eyes and Gondola Ride but the fade between greens is actually more visible in person than in pictures so I was pleased! I added some Born Pretty 2mm round gold studs to help it compete with the pattern I knew I was adding to the gradient. And lastly I did the pattern with Midnight in Paris.

I found this really awesome pattern while browsing for zigzag patterns to use. I was going to do a simple zigzag but then this one popped up in my search so I ran it through my Silhouette software and printed/cut it with my Silhouette vinyl cutter. It was tricky because the pattern was nowhere close to the simple peel and stick patterns I've been using but thankfully I had some vinyl transfer paper on hand and after 4 trials and errors before this I managed to get the pattern on my nails nearly perfectly. After that it was the simple paint over and peel off of regular vinyls. :)

L-R: Autumn in Seoul, Kiss Me Kate, Irish Eyes, Gondola Ride, Midnight in Paris, Rain in Spain

Here are the shades I used in case you were wondering. And I'm very sure I'll be finding all kinds of fun things to do with these all fall and winter long ... and probably longer because most of these are such great basic shades that can be used all year long and ones that everyone should have in their collection.

And I leave you with one last mani pic. ;)

What do you think? Do you have a favorite color from the Jetsetter Collection? As always, let me know in the comments.

Until next time,
Ashley

*Some products were sent to me for testing and review, completely complimentary, from Barielle. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Barielle Nail Polish Remover Towelettes Review and Video

*Some products were sent to me for testing and review, completely complimentary, from Barielle. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Hello lovelies! This post has been a while in coming - almost a month to be exact. Some of you will remember the maple leaf nails I did with the Barielle polishes I received from the company. Well, I also received a tub of their Love Your Nails Acetone-Free Nail Polish Remover Towelettes to try. I actually used them to remove said maple leaf nails but my phone ran out of space while I was trying to record it.

Retail Price: $10.00

It took me a while but I finally gave it another try with some candy corn gradient nails I've been wearing since vacation ... almost 2 weeks ago. I'm a horrible, horrible nail artist.

So, honest opinions. These wipes aren't horrible! YAY!! The small size really does make it easy to tuck them into a purse or suitcase with no risk of a cap coming off and spilling nail polish remover all over your clothes or god forbid your electronics during a trip. It's a horror story we either tell or hear about all the time so this more than anything else gets my thumbs up! 

I haven't counted but the tub states it has 25 towelettes. I found one wipe removed my polish from all 10 nails but I needed a second wipe to do a thorough clean up of stubborn polish and even more stubborn base coat ... so each tub is good for about 12 manis for me.

And on the subject of cleanup it was seriously a breeze! I haven't tried these wipes with chunky glitter yet but it removed shimmer polishes and dark polishes really well and quickly too. You'll see this in the video. What you won't be able to know from the video is the scent of these wipes. So much better than nail polish remover! Their website says it's a citrus scent and I was a little scared because I'm not a fan of citrus scents. I usually find citrus too cloying, but all I get from these is a light citrus/berry scent that's actually really nice.

Let's all ignore the fact that my nails need filed and shaped.
That comes after this post. ;)

The above picture was taken after wipe one but before the thorough clean of wipe two. You can see my index finger has some stubborn base coat and my middle finger has some stubborn polish clinging to the tip. That said, this would be fine if I was rushing out the door. Quick and easy and nearly completely clean ... you really can't ask for much more in a hurry!

And any worry about drying out my nails was put to rest as soon as I started removing the polish. These towelettes have an almost lotion-like residue that you can see in the picture. Honesty again ... I wasn't sure I liked it at first. It felt really different to liquid nail polish remover and different is always met with resistance lol. But after using the wipes I noticed that my fingers were amazingly soft with no dried out feeling that liquid removers (even the best non-acetone remover I've tried) give me and best of all it did wonderful things for my cuticles! It really reminds me of the Essie cuticle oil pen I have and love but with the Barielle towelettes it gets all over your hands without any extra work. It was like skipping a step in my nail care routine without giving up any of the benefits!

The only downside I can find is the price tag. $10.00 is a little out of my price range for everyday use, but these are definitely a must have for any lengthy trip. That said, Barielle has a 4oz bottle of a liquid acetone-free remover for the same price. I might splurge and buy myself some for my birthday on the 3rd to see if it's just as good as the wipes. If I do, I'll definitely let you know!

Check out the video and see the magic in action for yourself. Remember that I've been wearing this polish for almost 2 weeks so if you're squeamish about chips and nail polish growing out it's best to turn away and not watch. *cringe*

So, what do you think? Let me know your thoughts and comments in the box below. ;)

Until next time,

Ashley

*Some products were sent to me for testing and review, completely complimentary, from Barielle. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Fall is Here with Maple Leaf Nail Art

*Some products were sent to me for testing and review, completely complimentary, from Barielle. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Hello lovelies!! More nail art? Yes, I'm really trying to get back into doing my nails and how can you possibly paint nails without doing some pretty nail art?

I bring you maple leaf art for fall. I actually did these on the first day of fall but things have been busy so this post got pushed back.

I was given the opportunity to test and review a few Barielle products. At the time, I had this idea in my head for a fall mani so I requested Dinner at 8 (red), Hawaiian Sunset (orange), and Lemondrops (yellow). All perfectly beautiful fall shades!

I started out with 2 coats of Lemondrops and used some cheap Dollar Store bought eyeshadow applicators to lightly sponge on some Hawaiian Sunset, Dinner at 8, and some green China Glaze Holly-Day. Build lightest to darkest as you don't see the lighter colors as well over dark as you do the other way around! In some places I sponged and then used a clean side to sponge over it again - especially the green as this gives it a slightly watercolor smudged look that works perfectly on the maple leaf idea. A little clean up and you have a perfect base for this mani.

I applied top coat over this and waited for it to dry completely.

While I waited (and being extra careful not to ruin my mani) I used my Silhouette cutter and some handy sticker vinyl to cut out some maple leaf shapes in various sizes for my nails.

Once my nails were completely dry - I repeat completely dry - I applied my homemade maple leaf vinyls. I positioned them much like choosing the swirl in a watermarble ... over the best sponging. ;) Once I had them where I wanted them I painted over the entire nail with China Glaze Holly-Day. If you aren't comfortable painting over the entire nail you can simply sponge the green over the entire nail and clean up any mess. Just be sure to get in good around your maple leaves. You want nice, sharp lines. Also, if you really don't feel comfortable doing peel off vinyls you could totally leave the vinyls on and simply add top coat over them.

It was much simpler than I thought to use a pair of super sharp tweezer while the green was still slightly tacky, grab a leafy corner, and peel the vinyl right off leaving behind a perfectly fall colored maple leaf on each nail.

Add a layer of top coat and you are set. ;)

A note about wear - it was excellent! I did this mani Tuesday and loved it so much I wanted it to last until Saturday so I could wear it to the local potato festival. I honestly didn't hold much hope because polish just doesn't wear well for me anymore. Mixing polish and running Spellbound Nails opens up a ton of chances for me to get splattered with polish or chip a brand new mani. BUT! This mani lasted not just until Saturday but with only minimal tip wear (and one minor splatter on a thumb). And I reallllyyy didn't go easy on them either. I mixed polish as usual, put together a new entertainment center, did some major fall cleaning, and went about my business. Seriously, forgive the phone pic (taken this morning before heading to the festival) but just look at those tips. A little touch up and another layer of top coat and I could wear these for at least another few days if not longer! Many thanks to Barielle for letting me try their must be magic polishes.

Links to Barielle

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Instagram (because what is life without Instagram?)

Until next time,

Ashley

*Some products were sent to me for testing and review, completely complimentary, from Barielle. All thoughts and opinions are my own.