Star Light On My Mind

Your nails look yellow and slightly discolored. You have nothing to worry about? What most people do not realize is over fifty percent of all nails discoloration is caused by fungus. If you are taking certain medicines, it is harder to fight off fungal infection. No worries, with a few simple steps you can keep your nails fungus free.

What Are the First Signs of Nail Fungus?

Nail infections normally start out as a small yellow or white spot at the tip of the nail. Over time, the fungus works its way under the nail bed. The moist, dark environment is the ideal breeding ground for fungus. At this stage of the fungus infection, white, yellow, or brown streaks will appear on the infected nail. Also, the infected nail will be thickened, and the nail will show signs of crumbling.

Keeping Your Nails in A Dry Environment

One of the best preventive measures to keep nail fungus away is to keep your feet and hands dry. After bathing or showering, make sure to dry the areas between your toes. Pantyhose, tights, and gloves are great for holding moisture so when possible alternate when you wear gloves, or pantyhose. Use antibacterial foot powder on your feet and in your shoes to prevent moisture. After exercising, make sure and put on fresh, dry socks. You should keep hands and feet as dry as possible always.

Good Preventive Measures to Prevent Nail Fungus

When washing your socks, pantyhose, or tights, add a capful of disinfectant to the final rinse cycle of your wash. The disinfectant will assist in destroying the fungus. If you see the beginning signs of nail fungus such as spots forming, make up a solution of one-part vinegar and five parts waters. This solution forms an acidic environment that fungus cannot survive in.

Shoes that allow for wiggle room for the toe will keep your breathing, and prevent the damp, humid environment that nail fungus loves.

Be careful not to bump your nail, a broken nail gives fungus a passageway to form underneath the nail.

At least once a day, give your nails a through brushing with a soft non-abrasive brush. At least seven hours of sleep a night goes a long way toward your healthy nails. Stress management is essential also.

A good hike, walk, or bike ride will keep your immune system in good order.

A nail coating with famous nail brands such as kiara sky dipping powder, opi gel, sns powder nails will help you have beautiful nails and nail fungus. But keep in mind the right nail tools are safe, avoid spreading the nail fungus from others

Preventive Foot Soaks

A daily foot soak will help with prevention of nail fungus. A solution of two teaspoons of salt per every pint of warm water, soaking your feet for ten minutes. This saltine solution makes for a horrible environment for any fungus growth, decreases excess sweating, and provides deeper effects of antifungal medicines.

Proper Manicure and Pedicure Habits

Soaking your feet and hands in warm water will do wonders for your cuticles. After soaking, a liberal application of cuticle oil on your cuticles. After applying the cuticle oil, gently push the cuticles back with a cuticle pusher.

Summary

Unfortunately, busy nail salons are a breeding ground for fungus.  Chose a salon that only uses a fresh, clean set of tools for their customers. Chose a salon that uses sterilization practices of all its tools and uses a plastic protector for their pedicure tubs always.

Not all individuals consider foot cleanliness as a major aspect of their day by day schedule, yet it ought to be. Since our feet are the establishment of our versatility, we have to tend to them and focus on any issues that emerge; generally, our capacity to walk, work, do errands and take part in recreational exercises might be traded off. Rehearsing great foot hygiene is a foundation for preventive foot wellness.

Foot cleanliness includes more than just washing your feet when you scrub down or shower. Try the following steps.

1. Day by day Foot Care

Always wash and dry up your feet consistently. Make use of gentle cleansers and wash between the toes. Make sure to dry completely, particularly between the toes. Do not use acetone to clean the sns dipping powder on your toenails.

Always put on socks and change them daily—more often if you are dynamic and you sweat intensely. Blends and fibres that are man-made help move (“wick”) dampness far from the feet, lessening the odds of diseases, for example, blisters or athlete’s foot.

Always keep your shoes neat.

Swap shoes—don’t wear one shoe two days in succession. Give your shoes time to dry out, particularly in the event that you are dynamic or sweat intensely.

For ideal foot wellness, wear appropriately chosen and fitted shoes, as a major aspect of a coordinated approach, cushioned socks with shoes with non-slip outsoles and any additions or orthotics endorsed by a specialist or foot wellness professional. Always wear shoes, especially when out in the public; and endeavour to wash your feet afterwards.

2. Toenail Care

Trim toenails frequently. Cut them straight over, not on a bend, and file out sharp edges with an emery board.

Use neat scissors or clippers. Disinfect them intermittently by drenching them in alcohol.

Do not try to cut your toenails all by yourself because you will experience difficulty reaching them and can’t see them properly, or in the event that you have diabetes and additional neuropathy (loss of sensation in the feet), fringe vascular ailment or other circulatory issues in the legs and feet. Rather, visit a professional.

Visit a physician for stained toenails, which could suggest a basic medical problem. Sound toenails ought to be pale pink where they are joined to the skin, and the part that grows over the toe ought to be clear where it isn’t clung to the skin.

Do not put nail clean or polish on stained toenails. If you are a fashion designer or you like to decorate your toenails, please use safe and friendly pedicure products as dnd nail polish.

3. Every day Foot Inspection

Check the bottom and top of your toes, as well as your feet, also check in between your toenails and your toes. Check for the following:

Wounds, blisters, lumps and bumps.

Cuts, injuries, or split skin. Indeed, even the smallest split can end up plainly tainted.

Temperature contrasts (one section warm, another chilly). These can flag absence of blood stream.

Pain, shivering, deadness and having no feelings are abnormal and can flag nerve problems.

Ingrown toenails with red, puffy skin along the nail and delicacy or torment.

Hair around the foot falling off is also a serious health issue.

If you experience difficulty seeing the base or different parts of your feet, a mirror can help you do that.

If your feet hurt, try to recognize the source and oversee it adequately.

If you can’t tell where the discomfort is, or if pain does not leave on its own, go see a physician. Bear in mind that minor issues can end up badly if left alone and neglected.

Having fabulous looking nails is easy. You can either go to a salon and have your nails done by a professional nail technician or learn to do it the right way and have it done on your own at home and at your own convenience. Either way, you still have to spend some time to do a perfect manicure or pedicure. Nonetheless, however long-lasting the SNS dipping powder you use on your nails, the day will still come when you need to have your nails done again.

Constantly exposing your nails and your hands to some nail polish products, especially a nail polish remover, may cause your nails to become brittle and weak in the process. So, how do you keep your nails strong while keeping your nails beautiful?

Let us show you how.

1. Keep your hands out of the water

Frequent hand washing and exposing your hands to water will over hydrate and expand your nails with the water that they absorbed. However, the nails will contract as the moisture dries up or evaporates. This leaves your hands and your nails drier with each exposure and causes your nails to chip or break easily.

You can use hand gloves if you would need to wash the dishes, or do things that will require you to use your hands. Make sure, however, that the gloves that you are using are thin and big enough that your hands will not sweat as this will also allow moisture to sink in the pores of the skin and the nail bed.

2. File your nails properly

It is not just how you file your nails, but the kind of nail file that you use to shape your nails will define how your nails will look and feel after you have your nails done. It is best to use a fine grit cushion nail file (grit grade 180 and higher) as this is gentler on the nails. File in one direction and gently instead of back and forth as this will weaken the edges of your nails. It will also cause your nails to rip, break, or tear easily.

3. Use nail paints that are chemical-free

Chemicals that are added to any nail polish formula such as the toxic trio (toluene, phthalates, and formaldehyde) can damage your nails. Fortunately, there are organic nail polish formulas that are made to be vegan, gluten-free, and cruelty-free. These nail polish brands (OPI gel polish, Kiara Sky, SNS) are just a few of the many available in the market that won’t strip your nails and skins of their natural oils.

4. Nourish your cuticles

You don’t need to trim your cuticles. When preparing your nails for a manicure, use a wooden orange stick to gently push the cuticle back. Pampering them with nourishing oils will also them moisturized. You can use natural moisturizers, cuticle creams, and balms to repair the cuticles and the nails. The cuticle is part of your nails so you need to look after its health to keep your nails grow strong and beautiful.

5. Have a nail polish holiday

Your nails also need to rest. Having nail polish on your nails for quite a long time will eventually damage your nails even if you use the safest available nail polish products available. It is not actually the nail paint but the constant exposure to the chemicals that may be used in the removal process that can make your nails to become brittle, thin, and dry. Give your nails some time to rest in between a manicure or a pedicure.

6. Prefer a healthy diet

Eating healthy is a sure way to keep your body (that includes your nails) free from radical damage. Incorporate foods that are rich in magnesium, vitamin D, antioxidants, fish oil and coconut oil.

7. Keep your nails short (just not too short)

This is the easiest way to keep them from unintended tension from accidental pressure. Shorter nails are also easier to manage.

8. Take Biotin supplements

Biotin is the only natural supplement that has been tested and proven to be effective in strengthening the nails. Though it is non-toxic and has no known side effects, you still need to consult a doctor if you intend to do so.

Starting to see unsightly changes on your nails? This could be the time to do one or more of these tips to bring the life back to your nails.

The good news: your nails look stunning after a manicure or a pedicure. The bad news: they will never last there forever. The good news: you can have them done whenever a fresh coat needs to be applied to them. The bad news: You ran out of nail polish remover. The good news: there are other ways you can do to remove nail polish.

These are common household products that you can also use to remove an old polish. You may have seen or heard some or all of them used for other cleaning and other purposes. This may just be the first time you may have read them to be used as a nail polish remover.

Which of these household products have you used to strip off an old nail polish?

1. Alcohol or alcohol-based products like a hand sanitizer, perfume, deodorant, hair spray, and alcoholic drinks can quickly remove your nail polish. You need to soak your fingers for about 20 minutes before you can rub the old polish off with a cotton pad or cotton balls.

2. White vinegar or vinegar and lemon solution. This natural all-around cleansing solution will also strip away your old sns nails polish quickly. Adding lemon or orange extract to vinegar will enhance its cleansing power. It will also make your nails and hands smell good.

3. Toothpaste and baking soda. These two products are known to have a lot of uses. Did you know that you can also use them to wipe off your nail polish? All you need to do is to apply some toothpaste (or a combination of the two) on your nails. Then, you can easily scrub the polish off with a toothbrush or a paper towel.

4. Hydrogen peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide is a germicidal agent used to clean wounds, treat infection, and foot fungus. It can also be used for personal care. As such, it can be used as a mouthwash, a toothpaste, tooth whitening solution, hair lightening agent, and more. Many have also found it an effective sanitizing and cleaning solution for household surfaces and for the laundry.

It is amazing what such a solution can do. It can actually even be used in food preparations. But did you know that hydrogen peroxide can also be used to remove your old nail polish? Like all other previously mentioned household products, this solution can also be used to strip off your old sns nails polish. You just have to soak your nails for 10 minutes in a mixture of two parts of hydrogen peroxide with a part of hot water before filing off the polish with a nail file.

When done, just wash off your hands with soap and water.

5. Paint thinner. Use this solution only if you cannot find any of the alternatives mentioned above. If you decide to use this, make sure that you are in a well-ventilated area as this chemical does not only smell bad, it can also pose danger to your health.

6. Nail polish. Yes, you can actually use a different or even the same nail polish brand to remove an old nail polish. You can either coat your nails if you just want to change the color of your nails without ever having to put on a primer or a base coat. You can also cover the old polish with a new coat of polish and rub it off with a cotton pad or a paper towel to wipe off the old coat under with the new coat over it.

With all these alternative nail polish removers, you won’t have to wait for someone to bring in a nail polish remover when you don’t have the time to buy it yourself. Any of the solutions mentioned will help you remove an old nail coating easily.

There may be other solutions that you can add to our list. If you can think of or have used other nail polish remover alternatives, let us know.  If you have used a few of them, which worked well? It would help others if you will share your experience with the other readers.

Group customs are pretty popular right now in the indie nail community. There are a lot of them I have admired even though there is no way I could afford to buy them all. When I saw Sara, the maker of Cupcake Polish, announce she was doing a group custom duo I was pretty excited. Cupcake Polish makes some of my favorite holographic polishes and I was even more excited when I saw the inspiration photos for the duo.

Sarah created two awesome and super saturated shades for the Cupcake Polish Lovers Facebook group. Both have incredible formulas lots of depth. I wanted to wait to post this to allow some time for current group members to purchase the customs before I posted about them here. But don’t worry! You still have plenty of time to purchase these.

#Skwad

#Skwad is a super saturated cool toned fuchsia. It leans cooler toned than my photos show but my macro photo is closer to the actual color. The formula does lean a bit on the thicker side which is pretty typical for Cupcake Polish. However, it is still very easy to work with and is fully opaque in two coats. Top coat helps to bring out the holographic in #Skwad as well as the hint of gold shimmer. The gold shimmer looks a lot stronger in the bottle than it does on the nail and even though I’m a big shimmer fan I’m okay with this. I feel like a strong shimmer would take away from the beautiful bright color in this case. I do want to give a heads up that you’ll want to wear a good basecoat with this. My nails are a bit porous right now due to a bad experience with a sticky basecoat (That’s a story for another post.) I had a bit of temporary staining on the skin and nail with #Skwad so just take your usual stain blocking precautions and you should be fine.

Supersonique

Supersonique is a super vivid cool toned purple. It reminds me of a slightly darker and more saturated version of Lilac You Mean It.  If you have Lilac You Mean It you will still be fine having Supersonique because they are different enough to not be dupes. Supersonique leans more on the indigo side than Lilac You Mean It does but is still very purple. This has a pretty similar formula to #Skwad and was opaque in two coats. The holographic in Supersonique is more intense than #Skwad and it has turquoise blue holographic sparks in it that stand out especially when you topcoat it. Again, you’ll want to watch out for staining with this one, especially if you have porous nails. I had purple tips for a few days, but ags I said, my tips are a bit damaged due to that crummy sticky basecoat incident. Basecoat is your friend! Just might want to avoid the sticky variety for these because the pigment doesn’t need any help sticking.

Overall Impression

I really love these two polishes a lot. Oddly, I think I slightly prefer #Skwad which is funny because I was positive Supersonique would be the obvious favorite for me. Since I’m a terrible enabler I think you should really get both. I really love it when Cupcake Polish does these bright colors and it’s nice to have a bright that isn’t a neon. Both polishes benefit from having a glossy topcoat worn over them but  topcoat also intensifies the color. I don’t mind that topcoat does this but it’s something to be aware of.

You can only purchase these polishes through the Cupcake Nail Polish Lovers facebook group. They are available until July 14^th so hope to it if you want them. I highly recommend them especially if you are a fan of bright, super saturated, nail polish like me. If you could only pick one which do you think you would choose? Or are you like me have no self control when it comes to polishes like this?

CrowsToes is a not a new indie brand by any means but is simply new to me. Shimmers are starting to come back which makes me very happy and I love that CrowsToes has some offerings for folks like me who still love multichromes. I have bought a handful of polishes from them s I will be showing them off gradually instead of doing one big post.

First up is, arguably, one of CrowsToes most popular multichromes, Indian Summer. At first I didn’t really think I needed Indian Summer because it looked a lot like ILNP’s Cygnus Loop. The two polishes have the same color shift and do look pretty similar. I think Indian Summer may be slightly more saturated. The biggest difference I found is Indian Summer has a much stronger magenta shift between the royal purple and red. It still has that royal purple, magenta, red, to copper shift to it that Cygnus Loop does. If you have Cygnus Loop you may be able to skip this one, unless you are a multichrome nut like me. If you wan more of that magenta shift between the purple and red you’ll want Indian Summer.

Indian Summer had a smooth, easy to use, formula that dried fairly quickly. There are a bit of brush strokes when you first apply the polish but most of them disappeared once the polish was fully dried. Topcoat will also help to smooth out those remaining brush strokes. Just for reference’s sake, my photos were taken without topcoat so you could see the polish in its natural state.

It took 3 coats for Indian Summer to be fully opaque on its own. Like with other multichromes you will be able to get it opaque in one coat. Sometimes I find adding the black base is more work unless you have a really nice one coat black polish. Some people say black base makes the color shift in multichromes stronger. I have not noticed that personally but it’s worth a shot if you want to save on polish.

This was the first time I have really been happy with my photos of a multichrome polish. I’ve found multichromes to be in the top three polish finishes to photograph because it’s not easy to capture the color shift and to capture the full spectrum of color shift takes some serious acrobatics with your posing and lighting. I’m disappointed I wasn’t able to capture the copper shift. It’s definitely there in person if you angle your fingers the right way. You are going to mostly see the royal purple, magenta, and red shifts.

I have been really pleased with the turn around time and customer service from CrowsToes. I have made two purchases from their website so far and both times my orders shipped in a timely manner, I received shipping notices and tracking. Everything arrived well packed and I liked that rubber bands that matched he caps were included for each polish. The smooth, short, caps were a bit difficult to open. However, CrowsToes is switching over to matte caps which I’m pretty happy about since they will be easier to grip.

What do you think? Are you happy to see makers still making multichromes?

Here are the June 2016 releases from Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer. Julie, the maker of Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer had to push the release of these polishes back to July. However, I doubt any of us mind because these polishes are well worth the wait.

This release will consist of a mix of preorder and “first come, first serve” polishes. Today I have the new Siren and the BEGL in the Destination Duo with 6Harts. These will release on Thursday, July 7^th at 3:30pm EDT. Excited to see them? Here we go!

Siren’s Poolside Daiquiri

This lovely addition to the BEGL’s Sirens is a bright strawberry pink with rose gold flakies, neon pink to blue shifting flakies, and silver ultra holographic glitters. This polish was opaque for me in two coats and application was a breeze despite how much stuff is in the polish. The polish does dry a bit textured so you will want to topcoat it. I didn’t notice any bumpiness or anything out of the ordinary, just typical micro glitter texture. Topcoat will also help the glitters and flakies stand out better and really sparkle. This is a warmer pink with just a drop of coral to it. I really love the name because the polish reminds me of drinking fruity frozen adult beverages in the shade.

This polish will be available on the BEGL website for preorder on Thursday, July 7^th at 3:30pm EDT and will sell for $12.00 USD. If there any overpours they will be available for sale at the end of the month.

Pining for the Pass

This polish is part of this month’s Destination Duo with 6Harts. I really love these Destination polishes because they are inspired by a photo and place. For this month’s the inspiration photo for the duo was taken by Courtney at Lolo Pass in Montana I really dig it. It’s not a picture you would typically pick for a polish inspiration and I really love how creatively it was interpreted.

I received the BEGL in my press release package. For those of you who love those olive type greens this will absolutely be up your alley. Pining for the Pass is a pine green polish with red to gold shifting flakies, bright gold flakies, and clear ultra holographic flakies. I really liked this one and it’s a color combination we don’t always see. It makes me think of sunlight sparkling through the spaces in between leaves on a tree. The red to gold shifting flakies create a strong shimmer effect in the polish with flecks of gold and holographic. It’s nice to have something different and this really does make me think of a hike through the woods.

The formula on this was a bit sheerer and like a true jelly. This will be a 2-3 coat polish depending on application. Honestly, even if you have a slight bit of visible nail line you will really have to strain to see it because there’s so many flakies in this polish. Like the Siren, this dried slightly textured and needed a topcoat.

Pining for the Pass will release with a polish from 6Harts called Rock of Ages. I didn’t receive that polish but Rock of Ages is described as a medium gray polish with green, color shifting, and dark gray micro flakies along with a small amount of micro glitter. You’ll want to check out the BEGL Website as well as the 6Harts website for photos. The duo will also come with bonus glitter packet full of coordinating glitters in various colors and shapes. They are meant to be worn with the polish for nail art purposes but not meant to be mixed in with them.

You will be able to purchase this month’s destination duo from both BEGL and 6Harts websites. However, be aware that 6Harts does not ship internationally. The duo will cost $20 shipped domestically and $20 shipped with a prorated fee for international customers.

Overall Impression

Both of these polishes are really lovely and have excellent formulas. It’s important to note that bEGL’s polishes do run a bit on the thicker side and you may need to add a couple drops of thinner if you prefer your polishes to be thinner. I have never had a bad polish from BEGL and they are well worth having. Which of the two polishes draw your eye the most?

I took the week off to deal with some personal stuff and to recover from illness. I’m still recovering but I feel a lot better with each day. Alright, I’ll confess I have been procrastinating by playing Pokémon Go as well. I decided to give the game a try since so many of my friends were having a great deal of fun with it.. As if I needed another distraction from blogging, right? I have a bit of a backlog of polishes I purchased to review but I can always fit them in as time allows. I figure no one minds seeing pretty polish.

Today I have another beautiful polish from Baroness X as well as  a new hand care product. I really enjoy this indie brand a great deal bot for the quality hand care products and their unique polishes. I purchased the reformulated version of La Luz, appropriately named La Luz 2.0. The new version is supposed to have a slightly cooler toned purple. I don’t own the original formula of La Luz to compare. To me, it looks like a light orchid purple. It could almost pass for pink leaning lavender as well. I do love the color a great deal.

The new color is supposed to help the turquoise shimmer stand out better. The shimmer in La Luz 2.0 is very strong and stands out nicely. I love these polishes with contrasting shimmer that really stands out. In addition to being a beautiful shimmer polish there is a soft scattered holographic added to it as well as a few larger silver holographic particles. I like how the holographic adds a little something extra but doesn’t take away from the beauty of the shimmer.

La Luz 2.0 dries to a smooth satin finish and doesn’t have a textured feel at all. This is actually one of the easiest shimmers to use that I currently have in my collection. Shimmers can be notorious for being very sheer and needing several coats to be fully opaque. Indie shimmers tend to have a lot better formulas and La Luz 2.0 really blew me away. It was almost fully opaque on the first coat and a second deepened the color to match what was in the bottle and made it even and fully opaque. As I have mentioned before, I enjoy the wide brushed with the rounded tips that Baroness X uses. The tip fits the curve of my cuticle pretty well and almost covers my nail in a single swipe so I don’t ever overwork the polish.

I did not use any topcoat for my photos so you could see what the polish looks like in its natural state. However, I’m sure La Luz 2.0 would look even better with a glossy topcoat and the shimmer is so strong that I doubt it would be lost with one.

You can purchase La Luz 2.0 now from the Baroness X website. I highly recommend this polish if you are a fan of contrasting shimmer polishes or just a fan of purple polish. What do you think? Is this a polish you would want to try?

As I promised here is my full review of all the polishes that will come in the teal edition of The Color Box. I can say with full certainty that all five polishes are different and are different shades of teal. There is a nice range of shades from light to dark and a variety of finishes. I will start from lightest to darkest.

Happy Birthday Teal Me

First up is the collaboration between Amanda of Amanda Loves Polish and Carrie of Darling Diva Polish. This is the lightest polish in the box and is packed with pink, purple, and light blue subtle shimmers, purple, pink to gold shifting flakies as well as some holographic shimmer and glitters. Even though there is a whole lot going on in this polish it was still easy to apply and was fully opaque in two coats. The base color is a very light teal and is really gorgeous. Carrie, the maker of Darling Diva, made this in honor of Amanda’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Amanda!

Manna’s Marvelous Masterpiece

This is Manna of Manna’s Manis collaboration with Taryn of Anchor & Heart Lacquer. Keeping with our founder’s MMM theme, Manna’s Marvelous Masterpiece is the second lightest, and the brightest, of all the teal shades featured in this quarter’s box. Taryn, the maker of Anchor & Heart Lacquer, did a really beautiful job with the color of this polish. In addition to being a beautiful bright teal the polish features a strong blue shimmer, gold flakies, and a soft linear holographic. This was two buttery smooth coats for me.

Merman, Pops, MerMAN

Right in the middle of the teal shades is my polish I created with Julie of Blue Eyed Girl Lacquer. I did a full post on my polish and you can view it here for full details. To give a quick refresher this is a bright mid toned teal with a strong gold to copper shifting shimmer and flakies that shift from blue, violet, to aqua. There is no holographic in this polish because we wanted to allow the shimmer and flakies to be as color shifting as possible. This was two easy coats, but you may need three coats if you do really thin coats.

For those curious how similar my polish is to Happy Birthday Teal Me they are pretty different. My polish is darker and doesn’t have any holographic while Happy Birthday Teal Me is a holographic lover’s dream polish. The color shift in our flakies is also different. You will absolutely want both polishes and can easily justify having both. Trust me, you’ll be very sad if you miss out on them.

Steal the One

This gorgeous darker teal polish is the creation of Jen of XOXOJen along with Christy, the maker ofKBShimmer and is inspired by the Orlean’s song “Still the One.” This is a rich, darker, teal with gold to copper shifting flakies and a blue inner flame. The linear holographic in this polish is very strong and is visible even in indoor lighting. The formula is excellent, no issues, and took two coats to be fully opaque. I love super linear holographics like this.

Teal the End of Time

This beauty is by Lisa of Cosmetic Sanctuary and Kendahl of Firecracker Lacquer and is the darkest of the teal polishes and even though it looks bluer in the photos it really is teal in person. This gorgeous dark teal has a strong pink shimmer in it with a dusting of scattered holographic. You guys know me and how I’m a huge fan of shimmer polishes and this one is stunning. The scattered holographic is a really nice touch as well. This was another two coaters with a nice formula. If you do thinner coats you might need three coats for full opacity but most will be just fine with two. I love that this polish has a strong blue lean to it and the shimmer is very visible and gorgeous.

Overall Impression

I have to say I was very impressed with all the polishes in the teal box. I really commend all my fellow bloggers and makers who participated in this edition of The Color Box because teal is not an easy color to do simply because people have a variety of opinions as to what constitutes a teal shade. It can also be really difficult to not dupe each other so the fact this box features five totally different polishes is really impressive.

I had such an incredible time working with the makers and bloggers on this box and it was easily one of my favorite experiences as a blogger so far. Through this experience I learned that I really do enjoy collaborations a great deal and I certainly look forward to opportunities to do more collaborations with other bloggers and makers in the future.

The teal edition of The Color Box, “Teal All the Things” will be available for preorder starting June 27 inThe Color Box shop. The preorder will end on July 4^th. The box will sell for $45.00 in addition to a flat rate shipping fee. If you’re a fan of teal polish, or blue green shades in general, I highly recommend the entire box. I, personally, don’t have a favorite from this box because all five polishes are equally amazing. Do you plan on purchasing the teal edition of The Color Box?

If you have read my blog for any length of time you know I love collections and polishes with a sense of humor. Needless to say, the Foux Du Fafa collection by Blue Eyed Girl lacquer was right up my alley. This collection is inspired by Flight of the Conchords so I will start out this review with the catchy tune this collection is named after. Feel free to jam out while you read this post.

I have to give full disclosure that I am still a beginner at stamping and various other nail art techniques so you will have to forgive my lack of intricate designs. I will say that this collection works really well for beginner and expert nail artists alike. This is why I was so excited for the challenge of doing this review and why I jumped for joy when Julie offered me the chance to review this collection for her. There are so many super talented nail artists out there and I love looking at their gorgeous work. However, I know I, personally, can get really discouraged at the lack of ideas for those of us who are still learning the basics.

The Foux Du Fafa collection consists of five crème polishes that are designed to stamp as well as water marble. The polishes also work really well with vinyls because they are opaque in 1-2 coats. First off I will show you a swatch of each polish with any pertinent details and show you a nail art look to help get you inspired to give these a try, or give you inspiration on how you can use these if you already own the Foux Du Fafa collection.

One thing I want to note right off the bat is these crèmes look much darker on the nail when you use them as a regular crème polish for a full manicure. A few of the colors will look almost black on the nail when worn this way. However, when you use them for stamping those colors look much brighter. I will point out which colors this occurs with in the individual polish’s details.

We’re Vincible

Hopefully rappers won’t have hurt feelings over this gorgeous mustard yellow crème. We’re Vincible is inspired by the song “Hurt Feelings” and is a true mustard color.

I found this color a bit harder to stamp with than some of the darker ones but it still definitely stamps. I found the design transferred better when I used my squishy sticky stamper versus my firmer one. I ended up doing a nail art design with vinyls to show how great this polish worked with vinyls. I used Zoya’s Fei Fei because the gold glitter in it matched We’re Vincible perfectly. For my accent nail I used Zoya’s Ciara underneath We’re Vincible for a little punch of color.

Robo Aggression

All the humans are dead! Not really, but I’m sure the robots would love this pretty mid toned gray crème if robots had nails. Robo Aggression had one of the thicker formulas of the five polishes and I was able to get it fully opaque in one coat but used two for the photo. Because of the thicker formula Robo Aggression is one of the easiest polishes in the collection to stamp with. I was able to lift the design from the stamping plate on the first try with this one. I, personally, prefer Robo Aggression as a stamping and nail art polish than one I would wear on its own as a full manicure because the formula leans a bit thick for my tastes to be used as a regular nail polish. But if you’re looking for a medium gray that will cover quickly then Robo Aggression will get the job done.

Grays like this really look fantastic with the neon and bright colors that are so popular during the summer season. For this reason I chose to use Robo Aggression to show how it looks with neon polish. I think this gray would also look really nice with the bleached neons that are so popular this summer.

Too Many Misters

This sexy deep green is inspired by “Too Many Dicks (On The Dance Floor)” Too Many Misters had a formula consistency very similar to We’re Vincible. This one defiantly needed two coats to be fully opaque. I was able to stamp with Too many Misters but it took a few extra tries for me to figure out that sweet spot because I’m still learning. A more experienced stamper won’t have that issue though. I really dig how the color underneath impacts how dark the green looks on top. Granted, that could also be due to my amateur stamping skills. It’s a really nice green to have for nail art. And if you like wearing really dark greens this may be up your alley.

I took me awhile to decide what polishes to pair with Too Many Misters because I had a bunch that it would look really nice with. I ended up going for a few of the bleached neons from the Baroness X Southland Sunsets collection.

Freaky Dream

Inspired by “I Told You I was Freaky.” This deep blackened purple crème reminds me a lot of a crème version of OPI’s Lincoln Park after Dark as a full manicure. However, this is one of the polishes that looks much lighter and vibrant when you use it for stamping. Freaky Dream stamps incredibly well and I was able to get a good design transfer with it on the first try.

I stamped Freaky Dream over a gradient of a few more shades from the Baroness X Southland Sunsets collection  just to show again how cool these look over shades that are on trend for the summer. Yeah, I am a bit obsessed with bleached neons this year. You really don’t have to wait for the fall to break out the Foux Du Fafa collection.

Rent Boy

It would have been totally wrong if the polish inspired by “You Don’t Have To Be a Prostitute” was any other color but red. Rent Boy is extremely versatile because it works well as both a regular nail polish and as a stamping and water marbling polish. This was another polish I was able to get a successful design transfer from my stamping plate on the first try. But just like Freaky Dream and Too Many Misters Rent Boy looks much more saturated and vibrant when used with stamping and water marbling. On the nail as a regular polish Rent Boy looks like a blackened burgundy but when used for stamping and water marbling it looks much more like a vibrant berry color.

I was dying to try Rent Boy over Oh My Majesty from OPI’s Alice through the Looking Glass collection. I really like stamping over shimmer polishes and Rent boy both complimented the shimmer in Oh My Majesty but also stood out really well against it.

Overall Impression

I really enjoyed this collection and I’m pretty sure I will be using the polishes quite a bit. What I really liked about this collection besides the fun inspiration is how versatile it is. Robo Aggression, Freaky Dream, and Rent Boy are standard colors anyone should have in a stamping polish. But then we also have some more unique colors like We’re Vincible and Too Many Misters.

As I said in the beginning of this post I’m, by no means, super experienced with stamping. I’m still very much a beginner so the fact that I was able to stamp successfully with the polishes from this collection speaks highly of their quality. I’m even less experienced with water marbling. So if I can get some designs going on the first try with these polishes you can as well. Someone who is more experienced with water marbling will have a great deal of success with these and find them easy to work with. All five of the colors spread out nicely.

The Foux Du Fafa collection is not a new collection from Blue Eyed Girl lacquer but it is still available for purchase. We are getting a lot of neon and bright colors right now since it’s the summer season and as I showed in this post you can easily mix and match some of those brighter colors with those from this collection to achieve some interesting nail art looks.

If you are new to stamping I really recommend you purchase Robo Aggression, Rent Boy, and Freaky Dream. Those stamp every bit as well as the Sally Hansen Insta Dri polishes but you won’t have to work lightning fast with these polishes so it gives you a little bit of extra time to line up your design on your nail or on a decaling surface. You will want to be sure to allow these to dry completely before applying topcoat because I noticed a bit of pigment transfer if I wasn’t patient enough.

I really liked We’re Vincible as a regular polish in addition to using it for nail art. I enjoy these funky mustard yellow colors, especially in a crème form. If you’re not so interested in nail art I highly recommend you get We’re Vincible because we don’t see colors like this very often and the formula is excellent. Yellow polishes don’t always have such nice, opaque, formulas so it’s nice to have one that is so easy to use. If you plan to wear any of these as regular polish you should be fine in regards to staining. I didn’t notice any issues with staining but you’ll want to wear a basecoat under these for sure.

If water marbling is your thing you should really get all five polishes because they are great colors to mix in with a wide variety of shades and seasonal colors. You’ll get a lot of mileage out of these and they will work consistently well for you.

The Foux Du Fafa polishes retail for $8.50 individually or $42.50 for the entire set. You can purchase them on the Blue Eyed Girl Lacquer website. Which ones are you favorite? What kind of nail art would you like to use these for?