Guest Post Series; with xoxo Jen

 Good afternoon lovelies!!! Can you believe that August is half way over?!!? I am still waiting for summer to start here. It's been a crazy year here at the Girly Bits Headquarters and I just don't know where the time goes, but as they say; time flies when you're having fun!!

Today I am happy to share with you a guest post by Jen, of xoxoJen, showing a gorgeous collection of blue polishes, which is one of my favourite shades by the way. Never too much bloooooooo!

Jen's blog always has a wide array of swatches from many different indie brands, and she also has a LIST on her blog that she regularly updates with links to the zillion different indie shops.

Anyhoo... on with the pretty!! Thank you so much Jen!! xoxo ( see what I did there? hehe)

Hi there! I'm excited to be Pam's guest today and I was honored when she invited me to share some of my swatches! If xoxo, Jen is new to you then you should know that I enjoy both indie and mainstream polishes. Polish is my passion, and everything I do, I do with love which is why I chose my email signature as my blog name! I also love the color purple, lime green and Giant Pandas! Its my dream to some day get to see a Giant Panda in person. Wouldn't that be awesome? Anywho - let's talk polish, shall we? Spring to Winter or day to night, there is one color that I always reach for but in different shades - and that is blue. It goes with just about everything and has a happy calming effect. Zoya Blu is a barely blue pastel, just like a bright springtime sky. My friend Connie introduced me to this color during our recent meetup and I had to have my own bottle. For the following swatches I wore two coats with topcoat. The formula for this polish is pretty amazing for a pastel blue. Most of the time, a blue like this is streaky and globby/thick. Zoya Blu is none of that - perfectly smooth and easy to work with. Sugar Rush!! Just what we get in the midst of summer with all the goodies like ice cream, popcicles, lemonade and a bluer sky! This Sinful Colors polish is also a favorite of mine for this shade of blue. Its fairly easy to apply (not as awesome as the zoya!), not too streaky but I did need that third coat to even it out just right. This would look great with little clouds painted or stamped on, don't ya think? Most Sinful is a very vibrant blue which is not a sky shade but is absolutely stunning! I don't think there is anything in nature this color but its a great summer polish and would work nicely for fall as well! Most Sinful from the Sinful Shine collection is nothing short of an amazing polish. It glides on all by itself! Minimal clean up and its opaque in one coat, although I'm a little bit of a sperg and did two coats. It doesn't have to be top coated because it shines like crazy, but again - I am a creature of habit so I used a top coat! What would a day full of polish be without the night? One of my favorite dark vampy blues is Illamasqua Phallic. Its a one coater, but I used two. Its a top coat eater which I didn't realize until after I shot the photos and the polish had cured a little longer. Phallic really has depth to it and the tiny shimmers are so pretty, like little stars twinkling. Its got the "glowy middle/dark edge" thing going on too, which I love! If you enjoyed this entry please come and visit me over at xoxojen.com

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Lynnderella Connect the Dots over OPI Shorts Story

A mere few months ago, I was a Lynnderella virgin. I am now a die hard fan. Every polish she comes out with is seriously gorgeous, and usually even more gorgeous in real life than in the (millions of) swatches you will find on line. The complexity of each polish, while it may seem random, is actually very well thought out, and in my opinion shows Lynn's deep understanding of the use of colour.

We seem to be in a glitter trend at the moment, and I will admit, I was never a huge fan of glitter until fairly recently. I always loved it on everyone else, but was often not thrilled with it on myself. Part of the reason may have been the pain in the rumpus removal. If you find yourself struggling with removal, you must give the foil method a try. I promise you, you will look at glitters through different eyes. You can find my information on glitter removal with the foil method by clicking here. Trust me, you will thank me =)
Part of the beauty of glitter, other than the obvious, is that most can be worn over lots of different colours, for different effects.
Another favourite use of mine for glitters, is making a jelly sandwich. I particularly like this because it gives you a less in your face glitter. If you are not familiar with a jelly sandwich, it uses a glitter and a jelly polish -which is a rather sheer creme, with a deep sort of translucent finish to it. Similar to Jello. It has colour, but is sort of see though, and looks deep and sort of squishy. You  want to layer the glitter in between two layers of the jelly polish. Hence the name Jelly Sandwich.  Start with your favourite base coat, treatment or ridge filler, then the idea is to lay down a base coat of the jelly polish (which for the record, is not actually labeled as a 'jelly', but rather identified as a jelly finish by lacquer enthusiasts. Good examples are the pinks and oranges from the OPI Texas collection) On top of your first coat of polish, you add a coat of a glitter. I find the chunkier glitters work the best, and especially silver ones. After that has dried for a few minutes, you add another coat of the jelly polish, which is sheer enough that you can see the glitter through it, but because the polish is sheer, it gives the effect of the glitter swimming in a pool of colour, rather than being right on top and in your face. Click here to see a good example of a jelly sandwich on Noelie's Nails.
Of course you want to use a nice shiny top coat for even more jelly squishy goodness. 

Back to the original post topic- Lynnderella Connect the Dots. This is the most unique colour in her collections, in my opinion. There is nothing else like it on the market. It's not your typical blingy sparkly glitter, but rather simply black and white, in a sparkling base. It looks best over creams, and almost gives the illusion of nail art. If you are a Lynnderella virgin, and are contemplating getting some but aren't sure which to get- I would highly recommend Connect the Dots. It's an easy application, and easy removal. And always stunning.

This time, I layered it over pink- OPI Shorts Story, which is one of my favourite pink cremes.

 

I will admit, that when I first saw Connect the Dots a few years ago, I did not see the appeal. I bought it, and NOW I get it. I am going to go out on a limb here and say that this is one of the few, that I think actually look better to the eye, at a normal distance rather than a macro shot.  The macro shots of most Lynnderellas are mesmerizing, and while I appreciate this one as well, I like the look in real life, better than pictures. Just get it. You won't regret it.

 

And the obligatory bottle shot.

Lynnderellas are now available exclusively on Llarowe

I do want to add, that while Lynnderella sales on Llarowe may be run in short spurts, to allow for timely shipping, there is no need to panic. She will be very well stocked with them, and if you miss out on one sale, there will be other opportunities to buy. I can assure you that Leah Ann is the most dedicated person I know, and she is doing everything in her power to please everyone. Good things come to those who wait, I promise.

Thanks for looking!

♥Pam♥

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Lynnderella- I Can Afford It! Over ORLY Lucky Duck

Gosh I love a good green, and today I have two of them to share with you. Lynnderella- I can afford it! And ORLY Lucky Duck- which is actually more of a teal.
Lucky Duck is a gorgeous teal cream, with great application and nearly a one coater. It dries with a satin finish, but it actually looks great that way.

Then I topped that with Lynnderella I Can Afford It! which is a bright green jelly base, with a few different sizes and shapes of green glitter, and a random purple glitter in there as well. It's very sparkly, and gorgeous!

Ooooh I love close ups of Lynnderellas~ Look! there is even a copper glitter in there. Love it.

This is one from this collection that I would say is a must have, especially if you love greens.

Lynnderellas will be available very soon at Llarowe.

Llarowe also carries a wide variety of highly sought after polishes from all over the world, and she ships internationally. So now all those polishes you could never get, can now be in your hands. 

Leah Ann Larowe has amazing customer service as well, and I highly recommend checking out her site.

Thanks for looking!

♥Pam♥

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Joe Fresh Khaki and nail stamping

Hello lovelies!

I have another Joe Fresh to show you today. I just picked this one up, and I *think it's fairly new. I hadn't seen it before, but that doesn't mean anything. Sometimes I look with my eyes closed. Once again Joe Fresh has impressed me. I am never let down by these polishes. This one is a dusty med-light khaki green, and I just loooove colours like this.

Outside, full sun

Inside, no flash

I added a stamp in RBL recycle. Not quite the shade I was going for, but it'll do. 

Thanks for looking! Have a great weekend everyone. I am going to Niagara Falls for the weekend.

♥Pam♥

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Showdown! The battle of the greens.

The fall collections this year are full of beautiful colours, and army green seems to be a trend among a lot of different brands. The first two I picked up were from China Glaze-Westside Warrior, and OPI- Uh Oh Roll down the Window. I have often heard the question asking how these two compare to each other. So today, I have compared them for you, along with two other greens from my collection.

The four we will be comparing today are-

OPI Uh Oh Roll down the window

China Glaze Westside Warrior

Orly Enchanted Forest

Joe Fresh Moss ( this is a dupe for Zoya Shawn)

On with the show!

First up is the comparison most requested. This is OPI and China Glaze.

From left to right I have China Glaze WsW on my index and ring fingers, and OPI UORDTW on my middle and pinky fingers.

While they both have smooth application with no streaking or drag, Westside is noticeably more opaque and perhaps a little thicker. It's actually a one coater, where as Uh Oh definitely requires two, or even three coats.

Westside is darker, and a little less murky and less yellow. 

I can't say that I necessarily prefer one colour over the other, and I would say they are different enough to own both.

Here are the same polishes, just another view.

Please ignore the little cotton fuzz that was hitchin' a ride.

Here we have Westside on the index and ring fingers still, and ORLY Enchanted Forest on the middle and pinky fingers.

The Orly is darker and pulls more blue than Westside Warrior. Definitely a two coater. The first coat looks a little streaky but it evens out easily with the second coat.

Same polish placement again, different angle.

This one is Joe Fresh Moss on the index and ring fingers, and OPI Uh Oh on the middle and pinky fingers. Moss is a deeper darker colour, with yellow undertones like Uh Oh, but dark like Enchanted Forest. Moss has great application, very smooth, very pigmented. Not at opaque as the China Glaze, but with careful application you could get away with one coat.

The following three photos are all four polishes side by side.

Index Finger-OPI UhOh roll down the window

Middle Finger-China Glaze Westside Warrior

Ring Finger-Orly Enchanted Forest

Pinky Joe Fresh Moss

I hope this helps you out some, and doesn't confuse you further.

They are all gorgeous polishes, and any of them will have you right on trend for fall.

Thanks for looking!

♥pam♥

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Blog Gadgets

OPI Uh Oh Roll Down the Window. Touring America Collection

 I seem to be particularly drawn to most fall collections-with their usual classy dark shades, and vampy sexy blackened colours. This years fall collection by OPI-Touring America falls right into the category of classy and dark. There are several murky earthy colours, and a few with some zing.
Today I am showing you the one that I was most drawn to- Uh Oh Roll Down the Window. It's a murky army green, that leans a little more on the yellow/gray side than it's cousin Westside Warrior by China Glaze which is just a tad darker. Both are gorgeous, with great application.

And a little simple nail art using a gold nail art pen from Icing.

Thanks for looking!

♥pam♥

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Nail art- Blue and white scalloped lace + a tutorial

Welcome Back!

I hope you had the chance to check out my guest post at Polish Fixation yesterday!

Sometimes when I sit down to do some nail art I have a vision. Some times I just start painting and hope for the best. Both of these methods have produced some mani's that I am proud of, and some that I am afraid to show my dog. This time I am liking it. Perhaps because the base is a lovely cheery vibrant blue, and perhaps because I just let my creative side lead the way. And my dog approves :)

This started off with Orly Snowcone. It is an amazing, smooth highly pigmented blue that is sure to cheer up the most dreary of days. It just makes me feel great!

And here is the finished look.

 If you scroll down there is a picture tutorial on how to achieve this look. And it's easier than you think. 

(just don't tell my dog because he think's I am the bee's knees)

After applying Snowcone, and waiting a few minutes for it to dry,

 I applied a diagonal swipe of Sinful Snow me White.

After the white, I used my largest dotting tool to apply dots in Snowcone right along the line where the white and blue meet, so it creates a scalloped effect. You can see the texture of the blue dots a little, but after you seal it all with top coat, it smooths out and you can't tell at all.

I also used a very thin striping brush and applied a thin line of snowcone right next to ( but not touching)  the blue dots I just did.

Next I applied a thin silver stripe next to the blue one. For this I used Claire's Two Way nail art pen. It has a striper brush when you unscrew the cap, and if you pull off the very tip of the cap instead, its a fine tip tool that created a dot with a little squeeze of the tube. 2 in 1. Pretty cool right?

Next I placed a row of dots using a smaller dotting tool and snowcone.

And finally I used the larger dotting tool again, but with less paint loaded on it and placed medium sized silver dots directly in top of the original blue ones so that some blue still shows around the curved edge. For this I used the silver from the Claire's nail art pen. I simply dabbed a little onto my palette that I use for nail art, and dipped my dotting tool in it.

Seal with your favourite top coat, and you're all done!

I used Seche Vite. It's my favourite because it's very fast drying and very shiny.

How do you like my superawesomemultibottleholding skills? 

haha

Thanks for looking!

♥pam♥

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