Bee Polished

Bad Ass Polish: America's Team

I have something exciting to show you today!! There is a new indie brand on the market and it's one you'll want to check out! The brand is Bad Ass Polish and the little tube above is the way it comes packaged. The tube is pretty sturdy, my cat knocked them off the kitchen counter onto the tile and it held up! If you don't believe me, check out this video of the creator tossing the tubes onto a concrete street. The polish inside was, of course, unharmed as well! When you open the tube there is a little message inside from the creator, Amy.

Nice, no? Not only does it thank you for you purchase but it also let's you know that there is a piece of felt inside the tube that you can use to remove the glittery polish!

Here is the tube from above. You can see the little piece of felt wrapped around the polish. It adds cushion while the polish is in transit and then you can use it later to remove the glitter (if you so choose!)

This is what the whole thing looks like. The polish I'm showing you today is called America's Team and it's from the "Are You Ready For Some Football" collection . It has a few sizes of silver glitter and blue stars inside. Isn't the packaging nice? I don't think I've yet received an indie with such sturdy, professional packaging so I was impressed out the gate. Now onto the fun part!! The swatching!

This is one coat of America's Team over two coats of Zoya Purity. I expected to have issues fishing the large stars out but actually, I didn't with this one. I managed to end up with one star per nail without any maneuvering or fishing. The polish itself is moderately thick. It's not hard to work with and as you can see, it doesn't really seem goopy but it's a bit thicker than a standard polish. I shook mine pretty good before I started, as I always do with glitter but I don't notice any settling of the glitter if it sits so I don't know if it was really necessary. One coat of Seche Vite and it was smooth and shiny. I really loved it over white. But then I decided to try it over silver too!

With this one I decided to try for more stars so I fished a few out and placed them on my nails. This is pretty typical with polishes with large shape glitter. I've even had to do it with main stream brands like OPI, and you might remember with my LynB indie swatch of Zero I had to do some fishing. I don't mind doing it to get the larger glitters out. I think I prefer this over white but the silver was nice as well just the silver glitter got kind of lost on it. This is one coat of America's Team over two coats of Barry M Silver Foil. Which way do you prefer it?

Like this polish? Show your support by checking out Bad Ass Polish's Facebook page!

You can purchase Bad Ass Polish at her Etsy store.

5:04 PM
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November's Eco Emi box

beauty box

Anyone an Eco Emi subscriber? They send eco friendly, vegan, fair trade, natural, organic products every month. Click the picture to see what I got this month!!

1:13 PM
3 Comments

C is for Chuck

abc challenge

Today for the A,B,C challenge we have the gloriousness that is Chuck. Can't you just swoon over him? I don't get much into his namesake. The Gossip Girl books were a super fun fluff read for me but the show is just...well I don't have kind words for it so I'll just leave things at that. But I die for the Essence twins and aside from Edward and Bella (another fun fluff read ruined by the big screen!) I think this one is my favorite. Not only is he a gorgeous, bright blue but he's also opaque in two coats and shiny when he dries. :) I didn't want to do much in the way of art today and matte top coating Chuck made him into a serious mess. :( So here's him with his glittery soul mate, Blair.

Aren't they beautiful?

Don't forget to check out what Emma and Kerrie have for the letter "C".

7:00 AM
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Product Spotlight: CND Cucumber Heel Therapy

cnd

Today I have a product spotlight for you!! I'm trying to work these in among everything else going on. Holidays are hectic, even for blogs!! These are just products that I use and love and recommend. This one in particular is great for colder months but it works all year round and I love it for a few reasons. One is that unlike most moisturizers, this one actually works from WITHIN to help hydrate and repair skin. It's intention is for feet and let me just say, if your feet are callused, dry, or cracked this will work wonders for them. I have clients who have started using it nightly and over a period of time, their feet look brand new. Don't get caught up in the word "pedicure" on the label though! This stuff works wonders on elbows, hands, feet and anywhere else you have dry skin. Another thing I really love about it is that it's very light but it still feels luxe. We tend to have this idea that heavier product means that we're getting a deeper moisture but that's not the case. All that greasiness those products leave behind are product that can't penetrate the skin. Gross, right? And useless to boot. This soaks completely into your skin and starts working right away. You only need a pea sized amount for each foot and I use about the same for my hands. It keeps my cuticles looking amazing all year round.

This is what it looks like. Really, it has the consistency and look of pistachio pudding! It's whipped and light. It has a yummy fresh scent too! And since it works from the inside OUT instead of the other way around, you'll start to see results ASAP and the more consistent you are with use, the better the results will be. You can pick this up at most nail retailers who carry the CND brand. I get mine at CosmoProf. One jar will last you around three months with regular use. :)

Have any of you tried this product? Did you love it or leave it?

3:54 PM
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Dupes Up: butter LONDON Scuppered vs. Barry M Copper

barry m copper

It's time for another edition of Dupes Up! Today I have a set which I already KNOW are not dupes. I know this because one contains glitter and the other does not. However, the purpose of today's dupes post is not to confirm or deny the dupiness of the two, rather, it's to determine if having both is needed. One thing I'll point out to start is that this bottle shot is making the bL seem MUCH redder than it really is. On with the post...

Contenders for today:

butter LONDON Scuppered from the 2012 Holiday Collection

Retail cost: $14

vs.

Barry M Copper

Retail cost: £2.99

Here's a close up shot of the two. Again the butter London is photographing much more warm toned than it is in reality. It does seem to have a lot more red/pink shimmery bits in it than the Barry M which I think is what caused the problem. Both have an overall copper tone to them and then green and pink bits throughout which catch the light for a super sparkly look. They are nearly indistinguishable in person, even with the tiny green glitter bits in the butter London. You can see them in this picture (it's on the right). Despite them though, it's hard to tell the difference from a distance.

Here's a picture of them on the nail. We have the Barry M on my middle and pinkie finger and the butter LONDON on the others. You can see in this picture that the base on these is basically exactly the same and the difference lies instead in the green glitter in Scuppered. Honestly, while it's fairly obvious in this picture, even in bright lights it was hard for me to tell them apart in person on my nails. In low lights...it IS impossible. I avoided getting Scuppered for awhile because I already have both this Barry M, and his dupe-y USA counterpart, OPI's Warm & Fozzie. But they're still both stunning polishes!

Here's a close-up sun shot for you. You can see that the polish bases are sort of different. The Barry M has larger flake type shimmer which is mostly coppery and gold. The butter LONDON on the Other hand, has finer glitter and has a smoother appearance close up. That said, with your naked eye: the effect is the same.

Verdict: Close enough that you only need one!! These are not dupes but you definitely don't need them both. That is...unless you're a crazy polish hoarder like me! :P

Availability: butterLONDON is a Seattle, WA based brand which can be purchased in high end retailers and at Ulta Beauty stores. Snag them online at Nordstrom.com or butterLONDON.com. Barry M is a London based polish brand which can be purchased at Superdrug, Boots and BarryM.com.

11:55 AM
4 Comments

Black Friday is here...

black friday

Black Friday is here! That magical day when people trample all over each other for a pair of shoes at half price. *sigh* Before I started working Black Friday's I never ever shopped on them and now that I've been on the other side of it I have vowed I will never spend a single dime on that day. If any of you have ever worked in retail, even ONE time during the holiday season you know what I mean. People get SO rude about things that honestly, aren't that important in the scheme of things. And let's face it guys, these people are there at the crack of dawn (or overnight) and working on holidays when YOU get to be home with your familys just to provide YOU with the OPTION to shop. So if you're an early deal shopper...remember to have a little compassion for others today. Whether they're fellow shoppers or associates at your favorite store. We're all human and it's easily forgotten this time of year. :) Here are my Black Friday nails. I used Zoya Storm for the base and then added a SKU with GOSH Holographic Hero. Happy Shopping!! (or sleeping in!)

4:03 AM
10 Comments

Happy Thanksgiving!!

So if you live in the US then you know that today is Thanksgiving!! Last year I must have had a lot of free time on my hands cause I did a turkey nail design which I loved! This year...well...time is tight! But I wanted to rock some festive nails for the day anyway so I perused the web for quick but eye catching designs I could whip up in a hurry. And I found this one! Better still...I have ALL the polishes she used!! Bonus! :) Her photograph is SO SO much nicer than mine and this does not begin to capture the immense sparkle of these nails. You literally CANNOT miss them because they're blindingly sparkly even in low lights. I think it's the Electrify polish cause last time I used it I got the same crazy result. It's one of my favorite polishes of all time. :) Anyway enough with the chatter!! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and eat LOTS of food!! Here are a few things I'm thankful for this year: