Nail Polish Review: Hey Coral polishes

I have had the pleasure to meet an up and coming polish designer from Hey Coral polishes. In fact, her store has only been open since the 13th of this month! But I tell you, the girl has potential! Her color groupings and formula are A+. Here’s a Q & A to help you get to know her a little better!

GoodWitch: What made you start making polish?
HC: well there's two, two and a half reasons. The first one is just my love for anything creative and colorful. I've been an artist in some form my whole life, whether its drawing, painting, music, sculpting or latte art. I'm a artist at heart. And the second, well I own an embarrassingly extensive nail polish collection(i almost hate that word, i feel like I'm admitting to an addiction) I have everything from the .99cent wet n wild pretties, to the Chanels and Deborah Lippmann and even a couple butter Londons that pulled me in, and of course my sleek and Barry M from across the pond. I love nail polish. But nothing disappoints me more than seeing a gorgeous color getting it home and it not living up. I bought a gorgeous green silver purple color from Sinful Colors about a year ago, it looked like the coolest mood ring. Went to paint it on, and it might as well have been clear. So I like creating what I want to see on a shelf…. and the half reason. I promised my boyfriend that for one year I would only let myself buy 5 more nail polishes. so this was my way to sneak around that promise. He's so supportive of my nail polish frankening, its adorable.

GoodWitch: What inspires you the most?

HC: Everything around me, whether its a pattern I see on a fabric in Michaels, the color pattern of a flower, music, poetry. or something I dream up in my head

GoodWitch: If someone copies one of your polishes, is that flattering or insulting?

HC: We live in a world where almost nothing is original anymore, there's 7 billion of us on this planet, almost every ideas been thought of 5 times before. Ultimately, it's flattering once in awhile, unless its a constant thing, than its a little insulting to my creative process, but I'm not gonna chase the person down by any means.

GoodWitch: What are some of the new polish trends going around that you like and what are some that you cannot stand?

HC: I can not stand those texture polishes...on myself. They look so nice on everyone else. I think because I work with coffee and I've seen the aftermath of coffee grounds jammed into a fresh manicure, that seeing those textures on myself is a little discomforting. I love color blocking, and matte glitters, I love when not every nail is the same, anything that makes it look unique, just like the person who's wearing it.

GoodWitch: Do you have anything awesome in the works for your customers?

HC: I think a lot of etsy sellers focus on chunky glitter, which is awesome I love glitter too, clearly. But what I'm really trying to perfect right now is good creme colors. Getting really solid blues, pinks, greens, oranges and reds. and it's not easy. Also a big bang theory themed collection. I dig that show.

GoodWitch: What do you do outside of the polish world?

HC: I work in a coffee shop, which is the best job for someone like me. I also draw, I'm going to school full time for a marketing degree. I'm a runner and weight lifter. Caregiver to my 88 year old grandma. As well as being the fur mother to my three dogs, Baxter my 12 year old Chihuahua mix, Norman my 7 year old Chihuahua mix, and my brand new 5 month old deaf Australian cattle dog/corgi mix Daisy.

GoodWitch: What type of base coat do you use or suggest? As well as top coat?

HC: I use Orlys bonder base coat, its like rubber, it's so weird but it really grabs the polish and keeps it intact, as well as keeping your nail safe, and I use INM's out the door top coat, I like it because it's super clear, never yellows, and dries fast. And I've never had a bottle dry out on me or get goopy and stringy

GoodWitch: Is there any nail-related ritual you can't skip when you're doing your nails?

HC: My nails are really thick, I swear they get to a certain length than just start growing over themselves, so I always file the surface of my nails lightly, first so they don't snap from the thickness, and that light texture gives the base coat something to grab onto

GoodWitch: Do you have any manicure secrets you'd share with us?

HC: Giving your nails air. My nails are really healthy because after every manicure I give them a couple days to breath, get some moisture and vitamin D back into them, that way they don't peel or crack or thin out.

 

Now… Onto the review!

The first polish I have for you is called Don’t Call Me Honey, Honey. Based on one her favorite epsiodes of the show “Community”, Don’t Call Me Honey, Honey is chock full of gold squares, hexes, and circles, and black bars, squares, circles, and hexes.

It is truly an excellent topper for a number of different polishes.

I have it on here over Zoya Purity. My ring finger is two coats by itself. The formula is good, but there is a little settling which she mentions on the listing in her Etsy shop. Since even mainstream polishes like Orly and OPI settle, it’s not that big of a deal. I just rubbed it between my hands a couple times and it was great. Drying time is almost nil and with a tc like Gelous it makes it as smooth as glass.

This polish would honestly sell like hotcakes here. The colors for the high school where my hubs went to school are black and gold. So I can already tell that this will get some use whenever I go to Fredonia!

It doesn’t clump up on the nail like a lot of different glitter toppers do and I really appreciate that. I hate clumpy glitter. Dry time is quite fast. By the time I finished my pinkie, the first nail was dried completely.

The next one I have for you is called Income Tax. She lists Income Tax as a clear base with multi size teal, lavender and white circle, square and hex shaped glitter. The base she uses is just slick as jelly and goes on fantastically.

When you think of the colors of teal, lavender and white together you don’t automatically think it’s going to be the best mix. But this turns out to be a wonderful concoction.

Two coats on my index finger and then one good coat on top of Essence’s Lets Get Lost.

It turns out fantastically. The light blue behind it makes the teal and lavender glitter pop!

Both Don’t Call me Honey, Honey and Income Tax are currently available at Hey Coral’s Etsy store for $10 for a full size bottle. You also get a surprise mini with each order.

The next two I have will be released in 2-3 weeks… And I am super excited for you to see them!

The first up is Bug Bite. A gorgeously sleek purple crème with black square glitter floating through it. It’s stunning!

This is without a topcoat. I really kinda like how it dries somewhat matte. And drying time is almost nil.

But it’s even more pretty with a good thick topcoat on top! She also wanted to stress that the blending of the colors of these two polishes could vary a little as she has been experimenting with different colored bases and she’s no longer getting the base she used in these polishes!

The next is Lagoon-Atic, a gorgeous mint crème with shimmery teal micro glitters.

This has to be my favorite. It’s so sleek and shiny and gah!!!!! Freaking GORGEOUS!!!

It’s demure and flashy all at the same time!

*sigh* soooo pretty. I’m going to be re-wearing this one soon!

So! All in all you see that this gal has some great things going on. Her formula is great, her combinations are terrific and her price isn’t too bad. Like I stated earlier, the cost of a full size bottle is $10 at her Etsy store and you get a free random mini with purchase. Not too shabby, eh? So go, show her some love and buy some of these gorgeous babies!

Polish Review: Limitless Lacquer

I have the extreme delight to offer you the very first review of Limitless Lacquer polishes! I have had the pleasure to get to know the creative genius behind the gorgeous polishes I will be reviewing for you tonight; and I give you a little glimpse into her brain as well!

GoodWitch: What made you start making polish?

Rachel: Last year after moving to central Wisconsin from Minneapolis, I had a lot of free time on my hands. My husband told me that I needed to find a hobby. At the same time, I was researching at-home gel polish systems because I wanted one for Christmas. While researching on various nail related blogs, I came across indie polish and realized that I could make it! It seemed like a really fun, yet different, hobby. I’m so happy I started, but now I can’t stop! Making polish is so much fun!

GoodWitch: What inspires you the most?

Rachel: When I’m making a new polish, I just dig through my glitter and try to come up with a new way to put them together. When buying supplies, I’ve bought tons of sample size glitters and pigments, so I have a lot of choices and possible combinations. I try to make new and interesting mixes, even though I love blue polish and holographic glitter.

GoodWitch: If someone copies one of your polishes, is that flattering or insulting?

Rachel: I haven’t really come across anyone who has copied one of my polishes. I guess I would probably be flattered.

GoodWitch: What are some of the new polish trends going around that you like and what are some that you cannot stand?

Rachel: Personally, I don’t mind the textured nail trend. I like the sand texture, but prefer the glittery ones to the more flat colored ones. I love the look of feather-effect polish, I even bought some microbar glitter so I can make my own. However, I can’t stand the feeling of feather-effect polish without a topcoat.

GoodWitch: Do you have anything awesome in the works for your customers?

Rachel: I try to focus on making one of a kind and custom nail polish. I make all of my polishes individually, so even when I make more than one bottle of the same blend, there are going to be slight variations. For my local, central Wisconsin customers, I recently started offering make-your-own nail polish parties. I’ve had one party so far, and it was a blast! I can’t wait to have more.

GoodWitch: What do you do outside of the polish world?

Rachel: Summer is over, which means I’m heading back to school. I teach 8th grade science, and I’m looking forward to getting to know the new batch of students. It was actually some of my students last year who encouraged me to start selling my polish. Without their constant requests to buy my polish, I probably wouldn't have started my Etsy site.

GoodWitch: What type of base coat do you use or suggest? As well as top coat?

Rachel: If I want my manicure to last longer than a couple days, I actually use my Gelish base coat and top coat with the polish I've made sandwiched in the middle. Using this method, I can usually get about five days out of my polish, just enough to get me through the school week. When I know I’ll have time to change my polish more often, I use Seche Clear as a base and Seche Vite for the top coat. When I use Seche, my polish does tend to peel off the nail after a day or two, but that means I don’t have to use polish remover. I just peel it off in sheets.

GoodWitch: Is there any nail-related ritual you can't skip when you're doing your nails?

Rachel: I don’t really have any rituals, other than I do my nails on either Saturday or Sunday, and I try to make that manicure last through the whole week.

GoodWitch: Do you have any manicure secrets you'd share with us?

Rachel: I HATE to file my nails. I've tried all types of files, and I just can’t stand how it feels. I stick to using a clipper to shape my nails.

Alrighty! Now on to the pawlishes!

The first polish I have for you is her blue matte glitter top coat. It’s chock full of all sizes of square, hex and bar matte glitter. I have to say, I love matte glitter. They just add something that the shiny doesn’t. And Rachel’s a gem and put micro bar glitter in instead of the larger bar glitter that I don’t really care for.

All the glitters are swimming in a smooth as butter base. Dry time is relatively nil.

Here it is in full sunlight. The first nail is with no undies, two coats. The other nails are the polish over an Essence pink creme and the pair together just POP insanely.

Here’s a closer shot of the glitter. I love how it lays. It doesn’t curl or pop up or be annoying any other way.

Here’s the same nail in the shade. Just as pretty!

The next one she describes as: deep blue jelly base and different sizes of black hex holographic glitter. She also says it pops in the sun. What she doesn’t say is that it dries to a near mirror finish with one coat of Gelous and you just want to sit there and stare at it.

I mean, it’s kinda unassuming in the bottle. You look at it and you’re like… Hmm… I dunno…

Then you put it on and BAM! Wowzas. I am in complete and total love with this polish. This is two coats with a thin coat of Gelous. I was so excited to take a picture of it that no, I didn’t do my cleanup like I usually do. Don’t hate me!!!

Here’s a closer picture of the gorgeous gem, complete with a sun starburst for some unexpected visual effect lol. I am a huge fan of blue polishes. It can be a crème, shimmer, but I have a hard time finding a really good jelly polish like this. Now that I have it, I am super happy!

I mean, how can you not like it? It’s even pretty in the shade! I like how it takes on a slight teal-y color in the shade. Very unassuming and demure!

Rachel’s polishes can be bought at her Etsy store in either mini size for $3.50 or full size for $8. She currently only ships to the United States and has an amazingly fast turnaround time of around a week or so. She makes and pours each bottle to order, so differences might be present.

And she’s awesome enough to offer a coupon code for my wonderful readers! Enter GOODWITCHMW for 15% off your order at Limitless Lacquers! How freaking cool is that?! So! Go out there and buy up her gorgeous polish!!!

Recipe Time! Garlic Bread-Wrapped Meatballs.

You say what?! Garlic bread wrapped meatballs?! What kind of sorcery is this?

Well you’ve probably seen the recipe on Facebook. My mom tagged me in it and once I saw it I had to try it. I try every recipe once the way it’s written in the instructions, and then the second time (if there is a second time- sometimes my recipes fail to impress and we can’t find any way to make them better).

So I figured I’d try this one the way it said to the first time.

This is a pretty easy recipe and I suggest it for a side- unlike an entrée that we made it. Wasn’t filling enough… So I might have to make me and bubs some fried Eggplant later lol.

Here’s what you’ll need (full recipe at the end of the post): Shredded parmesan cheese, Grands flaky layer biscuits, oregano (or Italian seasoning like it calls for, but I didn’t have) Garlic powder or garlic salt, premade Italian style meatballs and string cheese.

Cut four pieces of string cheese into five smaller pieces. You’ll need 20 chunks of string cheese when you’re done.

It was REALLY hard for me not to put this bowl in the microwave and melt it and eat it with bread. REALLY hard.

Take your biscuits out and get them ready.

Get your meatballs ready.

Take your flaky layer biscuits and separate them into two separate layers. I suggest, actually, that you should buy two things of biscuits because no where have I found a package of biscuits that hold 10 biscuits. Only 8. So I don’t know what they were thinking when they came up with this recipe.

Take and place a piece of cheese in the middle of your stretched out biscuit.

Put a meatball in your biscuit pouch. Please excuse my chipped mani. I haven’t gotten the chance to redo my nails. Continue this until you have all your cheese pieces used up.

And there you have your little meat and cheese pouches.

Take your trusty garlic powder and sprinkle thusly….

Not really sure how much I used…. I just sprinkled… No measurements needed.

Do the same with the Oregano or Itallian seasoning….

If you do all this whilst using Julia Child’s accent, then you’re doing it right. Do everything whilst using Julia Child’s accent.

Take your parmesan cheese (don’t sniff it right now, cause it smells like butt) and sprinkle it over your rolly thingies.

This is when it starts smelling like pizza…… Bake for about 25 minutes….

And THIS is what you get. NUM YUMMY!!!!

Serve with marinara sauce and your favorite Italian accoutrements and you have a scrumptious dinner!!!

Garlic Bread-Wrapped Meatballs

1 can Pillsbury Grands Jr. Golden Layers refrigerated buttermilk or flaky biscuits

20 frozen cooked Italian-style meatballs (about 5 oz), thawed

4 sticks (1 oz each) string cheese, each cut into 5 pieces

grated Parmesan cheese
teaspoon Italian seasoning
teaspoon garlic powder or garlic salt
1 cup marinara sauce, heated

Directions:
1 Heat oven to 375°F. Separate dough into 10 biscuits. Separate each biscuit into 2 layers. Press each biscuit layer into 3-inch round.

2 Place 1 meatball and 1 string cheese piece in center of each dough round. Wrap dough around meatball and cheese, pressing edges to seal. In ungreased 8- or 9-inch round cake pan, (or a 9x13 rectangular pan) place seam side down in single layer.

3 Sprinkle evenly with Parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning and garlic powder.

4 Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and biscuits are no longer doughy in center. Serve warm biscuits with warm marinara sauce for dipping.

A Glimpse into the Life of the Witch

Things have been busy leading up to this weekend, so I haven’t been posting much other than a couple of tutorials and what not. We’ve been getting a TON of rain, and I mean a ton. We’ve got around 13-15 inches in the last week and a half. That makes people around here in Southeast Kansas a little skittish after the flood of 2007.

This is a slightly skewed view of the Verdigris River, one of the major rivers that flows here in SEK. It’s wayyyyy out of its banks, as you can tell.

This is a view from the back side of our park that juts up to the Verdigris. There is a road that runs paralell to the river, and it’s completely covered.

This is a view of where the goats live in the zoo. It’s pretty much completely under water and seems to just be getting worse.

This is the Elk River, another major river that flows through Southeast Kansas.

It too is out of its banks. It’s pretty safe to say that any river or any creek around here is going to be out of its banks right now.

But that’s not all that’s going on!

My eggplant is starting to turn purple!!!!!!!!!

Biscuit had to enjoy the rain, of course.

She played a little too rough and fell down in the puddle at the end of the sidewalk lol.

We decided to go ahead and dig up our potato plant, because we figured there wasn’t anything growing. Much to my surprise- we found these little gems! I’ll be boiling these up tomorrow! Just a handful, that’s all. But it’s more than we thought we were getting!

No bigger than blueberries, these little gems are just so freaking cute!!!

I found slugs in the bottom of our potato pot. I HATE SLUGS. Serisly lol They are so freaking nasty and icky. So I showed Cubs and Biscuit what happens if you introduce the to table salt. And this is what happens, as you well know. They found it both disgusting and fascinating. Made me proud lol.

Today wasn’t all slugs and floods… While we were driving around the park, we spotted some gorgeous naked lady lilies standing proudly on the side of the road. I am going to have to blow a couple of these up!

I’m going to be getting all my batteries charged and ready for the weekend. If I have anything new to report, I’ll be posting again; but I wouldn’t expect to see me before Sunday . Have a great weekend, all!