Rainbow Honey Control with Mrs. P's Nail Potions Pirates Booty

Today I have for you an amazing Rainbow Honey mani using "Control" from Side B of the Summer Mixtape Collection. I received Control as part of an epic blogger review package recently and as soon as I saw it I could barely control myself and had to try it right away. I was immediately drawn to the amazing bright pinky fuchsia with a beautiful shimmer. And of course, if you know me at all, you know that I can't paint all my nails the same colour unless I'm going to be doing some stamping or nail art. Well I did not want to detract from this amazing colour by covering it up with stamping so I just decided to use one of my Mrs. P's Nail Potions as a nice pop for an accent nail. 

Again, I received Control as part of a blogger review package to try out and give my honest opinion on. Honestly, Rainbow Honey is my fave indie brand and I have yet to be disappointed by any lacquer I have tried so far (either purchased myself or received for review). Control was no exception to this and it was even better on my nails than in the bottle!

On the website Control is described as a "cool toned crimson red jelly with sparks of blue iridescence."  I don't know that I would really call this a jelly personally as I found it to be fairly opaque and well pigmented and I only needed 2 coats for full opacity. Even after just one coat it was quite opaque and I toyed with even adding another coat or not. But regardless of whether it is a jelly or not, the formula was great and went on super smooth and beautifully. And even more impressive than the formula was the colour. Again, I don't know that I would fully agree with the website description as the colour seems more pinky fuchsia to me than "red".  But either way you look at it, the colour and pigmentation is phenomenal.  Depending on the angle and the light it was almost difficult to photograph as I think it was just too bright for my camera to focus sometimes. And because of that it was a bit tough to capture the shimmer in this lacquer as well.  Although I think I got a few shots that did capture it decently, especially the macros. 

And just to amp up the mani a bit more I chose Pirate's Booty from my indie brand, Mrs. P's Nail Potions, as an accent nail. Pirate's Booty is a glitter topper of fine and medium sized holo gold hexes, gold micro flakies and a slight golden shimmer in the base. It is actually one of the very first lacquers I created almost 3 years ago when I started making polish just as a hobby.

For this mani I did 2 coats of Control and 3 coats of Pirate's Booty all topped with a coat of my Orange Creamsicle Summer Scented Topcoat (available until August 31, 2014).

As you can see, I also added a couple of gold nail art studs on select nails just to coordinate the gold accent nail a bit more.  Here are the macro shots I took of both lacquers.

Check out the shimmer!!! 

The Summer Mixtape Collection was released on July 18, 2014 and can be purchased on Rainbow Honey's website www.rainbowhoney.com. Use promo code MIXTAPE20 to receive 20% off your next order now thru August 31, 2014. And while you're shopping, don't forget to add the Mystery Bag to your order for just $10 (also available in large for $25) (while supplies last).  Or receive the Mystery Bag FREE with the purchase of $65 or more. "Each Mystery Bag has sneak peeks and previews of new lacquers, unreleased samples of future collections and exciting new products made by the Rainbow Honey Lab."

And for those of you in Canada, like me, who are fans of Rainbow Honey but might be shying away from purchasing a Rainbow Honey Mystery Bag or any other products due to high shipping costs and long transit times (none of that stops me from purchasing though LOL), you're in luck!!!  Rainbow Honey has this to say:

"Many of you have asked us about the high shipping charges and lengthy transit times to Canada. Well, you asked and you shall receive... Starting very soon, Rainbow Honey will be able to ship the mystery bag subscription to all of our fans in Canada from within Canada! No more high shipping charges, taxes and lengthy transit times!

If you are interested in learning more, please send us an email to info@rainbowhoney.com so we can add your name to our list and we'll notify you as soon as this is ready! And for those of you who are wondering, yes, very soon we'll have all of our products available to ship within Canada to all of our Canadian Fans! Stay tuned for more details!"

Pirate's Booty and all other Mrs. P's Nail Potions can be purchased from my etsy shop at www.etsy.com/shop/MrsPsNailPotions. Now thru the remainder of summer (to and including August 31, 2014) you can receive 10% off any $10 minimum purchase with code SIZZLESUMMER10, 20% off any $20 minimum purchase with code SIZZLESUMMER20, and 30% off any $30 minimum purchase with code SIZZLESUMMER30. Also check out the current clearance sale section for select lacquers UP TO 50% OFF. I am making room for new items/collections and once the clearance items are sold out they will no longer be available for purchase. Please note the clearance items are not subject to the sizzling summer sale discounts. 

Pink Sparkles For Baby Ayla - Rainbow Honey & Mrs. P's Nail Potions

Today I share with you a manicure I did recently when I found out the tragic news about one of the nail community's most wonderful and influential ladies.  Selena Ardaiz (Selena's Instagram) was pregnant with a daughter and at 38 weeks she gave birth to Ayla Estelle but she was unfortunately stillborn.  As a mother myself I cannot even image what Selena, her husband Matt, and their family felt, are still feeling, and will feel for the rest of their lives.  A parent should never have to go through the tragedy of losing their own child.  My heart goes out to them and I jumped at the chance to be part of the #SparklesForAyla campaign where the nail community banded together with pink sparkly manis in honour of Selena, Matt, and beautiful little Ayla.  Here is a look at my #SparklesForAyla mani.

I started off with a gradient on my thumb, index and pinky of Mrs. P's Nail Potions I Pink You're Hot and Hubba Mumma.  I topped the gradient with a coat of Mrs. P's Nail Potions Spectraflair 35 Topcoat.  I then did two coats of Hubba Mumma on my middle finger and two coats of I Pink You're Hot on my ring finger and topped them both off with a coat of Rainbow Honey Papillon.  Everything then got topped off with a coat of Glisten & Glow HK Girl Fast Drying & Super Shiny Clear Topcoat.

The Spectraflair 35 Topcoat muted the gradient a little bit and made it more subtle but the idea for the mani was pink and sparkly so I didn't want a non-sparkly gradient.  Spectraflair 35 Topcoat was the perfect solution to that!!!! :)

And now for the super fun part!! My fave indie brand would probably have to be Rainbow Honey!! I was sent a sample of Papillon a little while back to promote Rainbow Honey's Midnight Garden Collection. Papillon is a beautiful mix of shimmering iridescent glitters and holographic butterflies. Super cute, pretty, and girly which was perfect for this mani! Check out these macros:

All photos above were taken in natural light indoors near a window on a sunny day.  I then took the mani out to my backyard in the direct sun to see all the shimmer and glitter really come to life, and it was beautiful, as you can see:

And here are two macros of the gradient with Spectraflair 35 Topcoat in the direct sunlight, one of which is blurred so you can really see the holo flare!

There is a fundraiser In Memory of Baby Ayla to try and help ease the financial burden for Selena and Matt through this difficult time.

And be sure to check out all the amazing tribute manicures done by the nail community by searching #SparklesForAyla on all popular social media and/or Google.

The Mrs. P's Nail Potions used in this mani, as well as all other Mrs. P's Nail Potions can be purchased on etsy.

Papillon and all other Rainbow Honey products can be purchased at Rainbow Honey Cosmetics.

All my best to Selena, Matt and the whole Ardaiz family <3.