NOTD- Go Overboard

....and I stll say throw this thing overboard.  This is the third time I've tried Essie's Go Overboard- with three different top coats.  IT ALWAYS BUBBLES.  I'm in love with the color though, sp I keep trying it, and keep getting disappointed.  Anyways, this is two coats with one coat of gelous on top.  For the tips it's a glitter franken I made.  Hope you like this more than I do!

A MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT! :) :) :)

Cherish Polish is happening, people! Cherish Polish is a line that is a collaboration between myself and my sister.  What makes Cherish different is that we will make donations to different charities for each line.
CHarity PolISH = CHERISH!

We believe in philanthropy, no matter how small.  Philanthropy is defined as "for the love of humanity" and this type of feeling is what drives me every day. Cherish is a brand you can feel good about buying, knowing that we're making this line "for the love of humanity" and not to pad our pockets, as we have all seen with she who will remain unnamed. It's truly a labor of love. Not only will Cherish donate to charity, but you'll be able to help pick which charity we'll do next!

With that being said; I would like to announce that the first line will be in support of Children's Medical Hospital Heart Center, located in Dallas, TX.

My handsome nephew, Ethan, was born with a congenital heart defect and Children's hospital staff have been a huge part of his success so far. With all they've done for my sister, brother-in-law and nephew- it is the perfect way to show my gratitude.

Not only will proceeds of this line go to the Heart Center, if any polishes from this line are popular, proceeds from those polishes will always be set aside for them.  If I bring back a color, even if it's released along with a different collection, you will know that Children's will still get their donation. 

The same will go for all collections, and after this one gets going I'll be polling you guys to see which charity should be next!

The first line isn't quite ready yet but it will be later this year, so keep your eyes peeled for updates!
For now, you can find updates on my facebook page or this blog. My facebook is located at www.facebook.com/inkandpolish.

For more information on Children's Medical Heart Center, you can click the link below:
http://www.childrens.com/specialties/heart-center/

And of course, I couldn't make this post without showing you the whole reason I started this endeavor. My truly inspiring nephew, Ethan. In this picture, he looks like he's a super hero about to take flight. Aaaand away!!!!! Hehehehhehehe.

Our logo is a sparrow and I'd like to give you a bit of a background as to why I chose that. Sparrows symbolize the ending of a long journey.  It seems so fitting for this.

Here's our logos! What do you think?

There you have it guys!  Keep your eyes peeled for updates!

Until then, happy polishing!

<3

Carrie, Lauren and Ethan.



FLOAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

In my mind, the title of this should be said with the excitement of a Brazilian soccer announcer when a team scores a goal....ie: GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!

Yeah, that. Okay, now that we've gotten that out of the way-  I'll start by saying that this was my first and longest lemming. I saw floam, and being a kid of the 80's/90's it immediately brought feelings of nostalgia.  I've been stalking Ninja Polish for months and then when I saw her facebook post for the early morning people I flew over there and ordered it as fast as I could. It's finally mine!
So, I know you've always seen a ton of better swatches, but here's mine and I could not love this polish more.

On the accent nail I used a little of Orly's Mermaid's Tale.  I have seen Floam both with and without top coat and I must say, I'm a huge fan of it with no top coat, completely matte.  Floam is a pain in the whatsits to apply, I must say.  It took three coats to get this kind of coverage and I had to let each coat dry completely before applying the next or it tried to drag around the nail.  Pain? Yes. Worth it. Abso-freaking-loutely. 

I have a really pretty neon green jelly that I want to try this over as a one-coater.  In my mind this will be super fun. I don't know about how that will turn out in reality. I'll keep you updated on that one.

Do you own Floam or any of it's sisters? Pinkerbell, Sunny Floam, or the Humble Bee?. How much do you LOVE them? If the others are as amazing as this one, I know I'll be trying to get my hands on all of them.

You can purchase the Floam line by Nailventurous Lacquers at www.ninjapolish.com

:)

Happy Polishing!

Love you guys!

Carrie.

July Maven Box!!

I sincerely hope you guys caught this month's Maven box. How FUN was this one? Matching lip gloss AND America The Beautiful. Stunning! 

I haven't ever done a makeup review, and to be honest, I don't wear makeup on a daily basis so bear with me on this one. 

First up, the one we've all been waiting for, AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL!

There you have it! America the Beautiful.

Thoughts on this one: I got one of the wonky brushes, so it was hard to apply in addition to it being REALLY thick. It was also extremely gritty as most super glittery polishes are. A coat of Gelous and two of Seche to make this one smooth.

The white one you see here is Kate, which is a soft white pearl. It is so much like several other colors I have. Application on this one was okay, but again, weird brush.  I layered it with Kleancolor's Bluebell to add some pop. 

Here's Chelsea, a purple multi-glitter with magenta, teal, silver and hints of pink. Also really gritty and holy tip wear, batman. Look at the middle finger, this is one day of wear. Brace yourselves for the lip gloss pictures.

  I took pictures first, in artificial incandescent light, then in sunlight. You can see that it can be either light or darker depending on how much you layer it and how bright the lighting is.  The color is called Zinnia.  To me it was sticky, but all lip glosses are. I prefer a colored chap-stick like Tarte.

So, what do you think about Julep's branching out this month? I'm pleasantly surprised.

New Jawbreaker Formula

I know I am going to hear some flack about this and here's why: I don't like it. It has too much glitter, isn't as smooth and my glitters are curling, mainly the red squares. Here's a photo first, then well discuss more.

I miss my old formula. Even with two coats of Seche, this one isn't smooth yet. Not even close. With the older formula, the glitter was more sparse, it was smoother, the white was richer. Now it seems more watery, even though it is thicker. To me, it looks more like a white base with glitter than it does like a jawbreaker. Don't get me wrong, it is pretty and I am sure you guys won't be as picky as me. I have a little of the old formula left and I am sticking with that and will put this one up on my blog sale.
What do you think about the new formula? Do you guys even care that its changed? :-D

Happy polishing! XO,
Carrie

NOTD from my Julep box. SASHA and ROBIN colorblocking!

Colorblocking is everywhere right now...and now it's on my tips! In my latest Maven shipment I got sasha and robin. These are two fun summer colors so I decided to colorblock them on my mani. Here's what I got.... what do you think? Do you think you will be trying a colorblocked mani sometime soon?

I liked the colors a lot. Sasha was the electric melon color and Robin is supposed to be a robbins egg blue but it had a bit too much green in it for me to call it that. Maybe more turquoise.

Is it just me or does anyone really dislike Julep's brushes? They pick up either WAY too much polish, or not enough to make a smooth pass over the nail. NOT a fan of the Julep brushes. Sorry.

Julep always makes really beautiful colors, especially their creams. They're rich, luxe looking.

Do you have any Julep? What is your favorite Julep?

100 Follower Giveaway!

Are you ready for lots of my favorite things?

Everything in this giveaway is a favorite of mine in some respect and I'd love to share them with you!

Giveaway open through Thursday night, June 22 at midnight.

All entries will be verified. Don't disqualify yourself by clicking something you don't intend on doing just to keep it fair for the people who do all of it. I'm so glad you understand :-)

I love you all- to you guys who've been here since the beginning; Thanks for sticking with me! For all of the new likes, I hope you love the community here at ink&polish.

Okay folks, love-fest is over. Get to clicking and enter!

xoxo,
Carrie a Rafflecopter giveaway