The Fabulous Life of Mrs. P

Wednesday, 17 October 2012

Shattered Manicure

L to R: Witchcraft Rockhard (strengthener & base coat), Sally Hansen - Love Rocks, Mrs. P's Nail Potions - Shattered, Essie - To Dry For (top coat)

Good evening Nail Potion fans! Well both of my kids are in bed so I thought I'd finally take the time to share with you my most recent manicure done with one of my newest Potions, Shattered. Shattered is a glitter polish made up of shredded black and white glitters in a clear base. You can find mini bottles of Shattered in my etsy shop here and full-sized bottles of Shattered here. Mini bottles are $4.00 CAD each plus shipping and full-sized bottles are $8.00 CAD each plus shipping.

This time I switched out my usual base coat/strengthener for Witchcraft's Rockhard. This is also a fabulous strengthener and my next favourite after my usual China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifier.

Next was one coat of Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Love Rocks which is an awesome hot pink and had fabulous coverage in just one coat.

I then put one coat of my Mrs. P's Nail Potions Shattered over the pink and nothing but Shattered on my ring finger. In order to get the best coverage for this polish on my bare ring finger nail I found that dabbing the polish on the nail and then kind of spreading the glitter around with the brush worked best and I got the best coverage.

And of course I topped that all off with one generous coat of Essie To Dry For. I say generous because in all honesty I can tell you that there were some bits of the shredded glitters that stuck up but all was smoothed out with the generous top coat.

The results were as follows:

Indoors, natural light, no flash

Closer up shot. Indoors, natural light, no flash

I am in love with this manicure and would go so far as to say this is one of my very favourites actually! It's got a real awesome edginess to it but is still girly. I think it's kinda rock 'n roll actually. And well one of my all-time favourite colour combinations for anything, be it nail polish, fashion, room decor etc., is black, white and pink!!!

I'd love to hear any comments or feedback anyone may have on this mani. And please if you have purchased and used Shattered, I would love to hear what you thought of it and see pictures of how you used it. You can contact me by leaving a comment below or by messaging me on Facebook here or emailing me at mrspnailpotions@hotmail.com.

Furthermore, for those of you Nail Potion fans living in the Edmonton, Alberta, Canada area, I am pleased to announce that I am getting back into doing manicures out of my home for a mere $10.00. I am starting to get the baby into a routine that I can figure out and he's not strapped to me and dependent on me every waking minute of the day anymore. Appointments on weekdays will need to be during the day though as evenings are simply too busy and hectic as it is by the time the hubby comes home from work and I make and clean up supper and deal with the kids' bedtime routines etc. As for weekends though pretty much any time of day is fine as my husband is here to help with the kidlets. So if you are interested in a good but cheap manicure and possibly a unique manicure with one of my Nail Potions please use the same methods of contact as mentioned above.

Sunday, 30 September 2012

Pink Glitter Fixes Anything

L to R: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifier (strengthener & basecoat), Mrs. P's Nail Potions Pirate's Booty, Essie Luxeffects Shine of the Times, Rainbow Honey A Little Kindness, Essie To Dry For (top coat)

Good afternoon all, today I bring you a manicure that has taken me pretty much all weekend to perfect lol. As usual I started out with a coat of the China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifier which I also use to double as my basecoat. It makes a gorgeously smooth surface and strengthens my nails at the same time. As well, when I just do a french manicure or a gradient tip it has a little bit of a pink hue to it to to even out the colour of my nail bed and hide any staining that I have. I would definitely recommend this product to anyone who is looking for a good strengthener/treatment. You can see my initial review of this product here.

I then did one coat of one of my original frankens Pirate's Booty. This went on very nice and smooth and the glitters disbursed very well and with one generous coat I got more than enough coverage. It was not total opacity but it was very close.

evening, artificial light, no flash

I then wanted to amp it up ever so slightly so I decided to add Essie Shine of the Times. It was a subtle difference but it definitely added some extra depth and interest to the Pirate's Booty. Shine of the Times is a glitter top coat from the Essie Luxeffects line. It is a clear polish packed with shimmery iridescent flakies. You can't actually see much (if any) of the Shine of the Times in the photos below as it is hard to capture on camera over top of all the glitter there already was with Pirate's Booty but in different angles it gave a mottled copper and green finish to the Pirate's Booty and gave it some much dimension and almost made it glow in a way.

indoors, daylight, no flash

After having this manicure for a whole day I was beginning to feel like Mr. T. As gorgeous and pretty and glittery as Pirate's Booty is, I'm not a huge yellow gold person and it was feeling very blatantly yellow gold and I actually wasn't liking it a whole lot with my skin tone. So after testing a few combinations I decided to cut the gold with some pink glitter, and we know pink glitter with improve anything and everything! ;) I added Rainbow Honey A Little Kindness which is "Rose, white, gold, and soft green glitters floating in a delicate and sheer yellow base with an iridescent pink shimmer" (as described on the Rainbow Honey website). The application was lovely and it went on very smooth. I only used one coat as I just wanted to add a little extra to my current mani and just breakup the overall yellow gold feeling that I wasn't entirely digging. It was the perfect match and did exactly what I was looking for it to do and I love how it turned out.

indoors, sunlight, no flash

indoors, daylight, no flash

I am very pleased with the finish of this manicure finally. Took a little experimenting to get satisfaction but it was well worth it. You can find Pirate's Booty in my etsy shop here. Currently there are only mini bottles available and they are $4.00 CAD each plus shipping. If you would like another look at Pirate's Booty you can check out my first blog post on it here.

indoors, daylight, no flash

You can purchase Rainbow Honey polishes at http://www.rainbowhoney.com/. A Little Kindness is part of the Equestria Collection which I purchased the entire mini set of for $35.00 USD plus shipping (8 7 mL bottles of gorgeous glitteriness!). The Equestria Collection is inspired by My Little Pony :) You can also check out more about the Equestria Collection and other Rainbow Honey news and products on their Facebook page here.

Thursday, 20 September 2012

Fall Colors

L to R: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifier, Zoya Lotus, Butter London Knackered, Mrs. P's Nail Potions Blue/Green Shifty, Essie To Dry For

Good morning all :) Today I will share with you my first fall mani of the year. With the weather changing and getting cooler and the leaves changing colours etc. I thought I'd opt for a darker look for my nails. Also, there has been a ton of deals I've seen online and on Instagram for Butter London polishes and it made me revisit my collection (albeit only small) of Butter London polishes.

After swatching and testing combinations I made my final decision on polishes as depicted above. And as usual I used the China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifier as my base coat and Essie's To Dry For as my top coat. You can see my review of the China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifier here.

After completing my base coat, I painted one coat of Zoya Lotus on my pinkie, index fingers and thumbs and one coat of Mrs. P's Nail Potions Blue/Green Shifty on my ring and middle fingers. Zoya Lotus is a deep purple colour with gorgeous pink micro shimmer. Unfortunately, my camera did not pick up the shimmer in the bottle in the photo below but trust me it is there and it is fabulous! The formula is a little runny and if you don't have enough on the brush you get balding/streaking but if you have too much it runs all over the place. You just need to find the right amount on the brush and it will apply flawlessly in a few strokes and you should only need one coat.

Mrs. P's Nail Potions Blue/Green Shifty part of my Shifties Collection which consists of four colour shifting polishes. This one shifts from a deep jewel toned blue to a teal, peacock green. This applied nice and smooth with very minimal brush strokes which can be a problem with metallic-type finishes (not that this polish is a metallic). Fantastic opaque coverage was achieved also in one coat. Blue/Green Shifty dried with a somewhat matte finish but that is nothing a good top coat can't fix.

Once the first coats of colour were dry I then layered one coat of Butter London Knackered over the Zoya Lotus. Unfortunately, although Knackered is sheer, because of its duochrome effect it completely hid and muted the pink shimmer of Lotus. However it gained a nice deep purple hue and made the Lotus a fantastic duochrome colour that shifts from several shades of purple to several shades of blue/green/teal/turquoise. And the disappearance of the pink shimmer of Lotus was not really missed as Knackered is full of holographic micro shimmer that sparkles and shines in pretty much any light. However, as always with holos and duochromes, it is almost impossible to pick up in photos so trust me when I say the photos do not do these nails any justice. Knackered was one of my first Butter London polish purchases and Butter London was actually the first "luxury" polish I ever purchased. You can see my very first reviews of Knackered here and here.

I'm very pleased with the final jewel-toned darker look of this mani and it is perfect for moving into the fall season. I also love the combination of the overall colours and the duochrome, colour shifting and shimmery finishes.

artificial lighting, indoors during evening, no flash

indoors in natural lighting during daylight, no flash

I purchased my bottle of Zoya Lotus from Nail Polish Canada and you can purchase Mrs. P's Nail Potions Blue/Green Shifty from my Etsy shop here. It comes as part of a three piece mini trio of my Shifties Collection for $13.50 CAD.

Monday, 17 September 2012

LIEBSTER AWARD!

Hello all!

I am thrilled!!! I was nominated for my first blog award by Casey Danton of Saving the World One Nail at a Time who says she loves my Potions! The Liebster Award is given to up and coming blogs with under 200 followers.

Again I am thrilled and honoured and this is quite an accomplishment to me as I'm just starting out in all of this and don't have a lot of time on my hands to keep up with things right now due to being a new mommy with a baby and a toddler.

Here's how it works:

The recipient must post 11 fun facts about themselves
The recipient must also answer 11 questions created by the award giver
The recipient must give the award to 11 new bloggers with less than 200 followers and post 11 questions for them to answer
These 11 bloggers must be told they have been given the award
They will in turn pass the award to 11 new bloggers of their choice (no tagging back the award giver.

11 Fun Facts About Me:

I never got any of my wisdom teeth
I got married, became a step-mommy and got pregnant all in the same year <3
I wore gel nails for over 10 years and have only been working on my real nails and become a nail polish addict since January of this year
My first polish that got me hooked was from the OPI Muppet collection and it was "Gone Gonzo"
I've never broken a bone in my body or had stitches (not counting after childbirth LOL :S)
All the guys I have ever had serious relationships with were always 1 of 3 siblings, always all boys. No idea why it kept on happening or how I found only guys with no sisters LOL
I have a West Highland White Terrier named Chloe. Her full registered name is Chloe Kyleah of Dunsbairn
When I moved in with my husband (then just boyfriend) and his son almost 2 years ago I "acquired" a French Bulldog by the name of Karl LOL
I've tried my hand at selling both PartyLite and Arbonne all in an attempt to be able to work from home and be my own boss. Neither worked LOL.
My first name has the same letters as BEER. Coincidence? I think not! LOL
My first name is not short for anything. It is just Bree. The story goes, my parents were going to name me Breanne (a combination of their names - Brian & Jo-Ann) but figured everyone would just end up calling me Bree anyway so they left it at that.

11 Questions for me:

What is your all time, hands down, favorite nail polish? I love a fabulous glitter but also a glitter that is versatile and yet unique. It's got to be Essie's Shine of the Times from their Luxeffects collection. It's multicolored flakes so not just your typical glitter and it can be worn over top of any polish to give it a different look and it looks different over every polish.
What is your earliest nail polish memory? Trying to remove that "Gone Gonzo" before I knew about the acetone and tin foil trick LOL. It was three coats and fully opaque. It had stayed on for weeks but I gave up with the conventional polish remover and cotton balls (after quite a mess of cotton shreds and not much removal of the glitter itself) and ended up filing and picking most of it off! Totally wretched my nails and wouldn't touch glitter for a long time until I learned about the acetone and tin foil trick.
In all honesty it would be my Grammy Helen's. I've done her nails many times before and miss doing them. But she always lets me do whatever I want and doesn't just limit herself to the typical "older lady" colors. And it's always a fantastic conversation and afternoon of tea/coffee and "girl talk" <3
I've been into nails and nail art for longer than I can actually remember but majority of my nail experiences have been with getting gel nails done. I always had stickers applied or designs painted on depending on where I would go and always had different colored tips done. It's only been since January of this year that I've been into doing the nail thing myself and had my natural nails. But since January of this year my natural nails have never been stronger or better looking and I'm thrilled. I got into gel nails in the first place cuz I loved having long nails but my natural nails were ugly and super weak no matter what I did.
If zombie apocalypse began right now, would you take any nail supplies? Which? Definitely!! I'd take my China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifier (that's what I attribute my now super strong natural nails to), a quick dry top coat, my glass nail file and my entire portable drawer set of all my polishes. If I'm running away from hoards of zombies I won't have time to decide which polishes to take so why not do the quick and easy thing and take the hole drawer unit?!?! (then I'd also have more polishes LOL)
Have you ever used nail polish for a non-paint-your-nails activity? Actually yes, and it was before I was into polish. It was in Jr. High School. I used a glitter polish of some description (probably Sally Hansen) to paint my locker lock to make it all nice and sparkly LOL
Which bottle of polish is most sentimental to you and why? I don't really have a sentimental polish. Although, if I had to choose one I would probably say my bottle of "Gone Gonzo". It was the first polish I actually purchased when getting into the nail polish thing and I bought it because I fell in love with it after getting it done on my toes during the best pedicure of my life at the Rimrock Hotel and Resort in Banff, AB when I was there last December between Xmas and New Year's for my honeymoon with my husband. It makes me think of my honeymoon and being with my husband :) <3
How do you store all of your nail polish? I have a plastic drawer storage container. It's got three drawers and I have my polishes organized by drawer into the categories of: Glitter, Shimmer/Metallic, Other.
Who is the person you end up doing your nails around the most? My baby boy LOL. I do it when he is napping so I have his chair or swing near my desk so I can keep an eye on him and I do my manis as fast as I can. Sometimes I'm lucky and able to finish a whole mani in one nap. But most times it takes a few naps or even a few days to finish the whole thing :)
What brand do you own the most of? I can't say for absolute certain without counting bottles right now but I'm pretty sure it's China Glaze.
What is your favorite non polish but, nail related product? My glass nail file. Works like a charm and can be sanitized. And it's PINK! LOL :)