Review: "Stormy Night" from Above the Curve

Hello Readers:

I hope all my American readers had a safe and happy Thanksgiving Holiday, and I hope that all my Non-American readers had a safe and happy weekend as well. I apologize again for not getting this up before the holiday started. I put too much on my own plate, and didn't have time to finish everything I wanted to do. I'm cutting back on my Christmas plans now in hopes the same thing won't happen, but as Christmas approaches things are definitely getting busy. Luckily I only have one present left to buy and my shopping will be all done. Have you all made a dent in your Christmas shopping? I hope you don't have to deal with the busy shops too much.

Now, onto the BEAUTIFUL polish I have to show you today. I originally wanted to use my Above the Curve 2014 Fall Collection on a sunny day so you can see the beautiful holo in all its glory, but it's just that time of year where the sunny days are few and far between. So I decided to start with this beauty that featured more than just holo glitter.

"Stormy Night" is a blackened blurple polish with multicolored flakies and shimmer throughout.

Showcasing the purple shade

Showcasing the blue shade

 

I used two coats of "Stormy Night" over a clear base coat, and a clear top coat. The first coat barely covered any of the nail so I was afraid this would end up being three or four coats but the second coat fully covered. Unfortunately I didn't showcase the flakies very well but they are there and they are lovely! Being a flaky fan I wanted even more flakies so I added two coats of "Spectrespec" from the Above the Curve Harry Potter inspired collection. Trying to capture the colors of "Spectrespec" was  an epic fail, but here is a blurry picture nonetheless just so you can see how glorious it can be in person (though not so much in the photo haha).

 

"Stormy Night" got a little muted because I went flakie happy with "Spectrespec" and did two coats of it instead of one but I really love both polishes! Stormy Night is such a great name for this dark blurple. It definitely reminds me of stormy weather, the flakies are beautiful and subtle at times, and sometimes the flakies are BAM! in your face like lightning can be. I think you just need to find a way to help clean the polish off the flakies when applying. I know there is a product out there that does this but unfortunately I do not have it in my possession.

 

Again, beautiful polishes! They're gorgeous and they have great wear time! Currently, both these polishes (and all the rest of their pretties) are on sale over at Above the Curve's Etsy Shop, but don't delay the sale will be over soon.

 

Until next time.

-Andi

Double Review: "Gryffindor" and "Hufflepuff" from Above the Curve

Hello Readers:

I think the sunshine is officially a lost cause. I think the overcast weather with just peeks of sunshine is here to stay, which sadly, has made taking good holo shots difficult. I do try to be as fast as I can while the sun sneaks out though.

Today, I have two polishes from Above the Curve's Harry Potter inspired collection. I have the final two houses to show you; "Gryffindor" and "Hufflepuff". You can see my post for "Ravenclaw" and "Slytherin" HERE.

First up is "Gryffindor", which is a maroon holo with red/gold shifting microglitter and fine gold hexes.

 

This is such a great holo! I did take some shade shots so you could get a better look at the mico glitter. Apologies for the water drops in some, I didn't completely get the water off after washing the excess polish remover from my hands.

 

I love this shade of red! Mainly because true reds look awful on me so when I saw that this Gryffindor polish was maroon I was (for a lack of a better phrase) over the moon! HAHA I'm so in love with this collection, I can't say enough good things about it.

 

I used two coats of "Gryffindor" over a clear base coat, and no top coat. I had no application issues, nor any staining issues. "Gryffindor" also has great wear time, no chipping even after four days (with top coat that isn't pictured here).

 

Now,  onto "Hufflepuff", which is soft yellow crelly with different sized black holo hexes and fine shifting glitter.

 

 

 

 

Now I don't often wear yellows as they look awful with my skin tone (with oranges coming in second and reds bringing up the rear), but I still had to have this polish. You just can't leave out Hufflepuff! It is a great polish, though I will admit that I had bad chipping issues with this one. The opacity builds up well, I used two coats of polish over a clear base coat and no top coat.

 

Overall I adore this collection! Maybe even more than I adore their Doctor Who inspired collection (*gasp*) lol Which has been your favorite polish from Above the Curve's HP inspired collection? Is there one they haven't done yet that you'd like to see in part 2 of the HP collection?

 

If you'd like to see Above the Curve's Harry Potter inspired collection, or any of their other fabulous polishes you can check out their Etsy Shop.

 

Until next time.

-Andi



Cemetary Scene Nail Art

Hello Readers:

During my recent giveaway I took a small survey of what kind of nail art you'd be interested in seeing more of. First, thank you all for your feedback I really appreciate it! ^_^ Second, I may not get to all of them but I will definitely try to. I noticed that many asked to see more freehand art, my most dreaded of nail arts hahaha as I have very low artistic abilities, but I thought I'd give it another go anyway. As my skills in freehand are minimal I decided to stick to simple forms.

Today, I'll be showing you a very simple cemetery scene that I did entirely freehand using Above the Curve's "Hufflepuff" and a BMC black stamping polish (for some reason I couldn't find my go to black polish).

 

I used two coats of Above the Curve's "Hufflepuff" over a clear base coat, freehanded the ground, tree, bats, gravestone, and fence with black, then added a clear top coat. In hindsight I wish I had used a matte topcoat instead because I think that would've looked cool, but oh well next time.

 

Overall I think it turned out well, but boy do my tree skills need work haha. Certain forms didn't turn out so well with my shaky hands but I think you can tell what each picture is supposed to be. So all in all a success.

 

Any tips for freehanding trees? I can never seem to get the delicate tiny branches. I keep getting stuck with thick knarly ones.

 

Until next time,

-Andi



Double Review: "Ravenclaw" & "Slytherin" from Above the Curve

Hello Readers:

I have two polishes to show to you today. Both are from Above the Curve's Harry Potter inspired collection, and as a huge Harry Potter fan we know I'm over the moon for this collection. I honestly love that Shawn and Angel have put their own spin on things rather than the straight out obvious color choices seen in the movies, not that I mind collections like that (I own some like that) its just nice to see a new take on things.

First up is the house polish for Ravenclaw.

"Ravenclaw" is deep blue polish with green-blue-purple-pink color shifting micro glitter and navy micro glitter and a linear holo.

Another cloudy day



The sun peeked out for a minute finally

 

I think the overcast weather is here to stay, but at least I get little intervals of sunlight. I had some trouble capturing the awesome colorshifting glitter but I think the more shaded photos at least give you a glimpse of it. The holo is definitely intense. Everything about this polish is a win! I love love love it! I had no application issues, I used two coats of polish over a clear base coat, no top coat.

 

 

Next up is the house polish for Slytherin.

 

"Slytherin" is an olive green to gold duochrome with green shimmer and scattered holo.

 

Full sunlight



In the shade

 

At first I wasn't sure I would like "Slytherin" because I'm usually not a fan of chrome polishes, but this one is just fabulous! I REALLY didn't want to take it off! I found that the gold duochrome seemed to be more of bronzy gold but I still love it, and I'm a huge fan of scattered holos. I had no application issues either, two coats of polish over a clear base coat and no top coat. Also, apologies for the water droplets in the photos I thought I had dried off my hands entirely before photos but apparently not.

 

Seriously everything about these polishes are fabulous and I could never stop staring at my nails with either color! Whether your an Harry Potter fan or not I think this colors definitely need to be on your "must have" lists.

If you'd like to check out Above the Curve's Harry Potter inspired collection or just their wonderful polishes in general you can check out their Etsy Shop. Also, don't forget that not only do they have great polishes they also donate $1 of every bottle to charity. ^_^

 

Until next time.

-Andi

 

PS. Today is the LAST day to enter my giveaway which you can do: HERE