Mentality Lisa. Oh, and BIRTHDAY!

Today is my 30th birthday, and I had originally planned on doing a large hex glitter placement manicure. But then, I received my package from Mentality yesterday. Once I pulled Lisa out of it's bubble wrap, it was over. I was head over heels in love.

Mentality Lisa is a purple-red holographic. But wait, there's more! Lisa is part of the Luxe Textured Glass Holo collection, which means it's not only a gorgeous holo, but also a glass fleck (like a glassy/diamond glitter) and slightly textured (it's not as gritty as the Zoya PixieDust collection, but more like a fine sand finish).

Lisa was a little thick to apply (but it's jam packed with goodness), and could almost be a one coat-er with careful application. I always do two coats for good measure, and it was simply stunning when dried.

 Two coats of Mentality Lisa, with Seche Vite top coat.

The shift in colors is absolutely wonderful.

But while Lisa is beautiful on her own, this is my birthday mani, so had to I kick it up a notch. BAM! KandNails CK04 plate with Butter London HRH just spiced up the party. I have begun practicing on my stamping recently (read: this week), so while this may not be perfect, I love the way this turned out.

a-england Ascalon

Let me begin my post with: please forgive my poor, poor hands and nails. With the continuous snowfall and bitter cold, not to mention that "lovely" Polar Freeze we had for a few days, no amount of lotioning or oiling can help my poor mitts. Please forgive my sad nails :(

...but, hey, they're not that sad, because they are sporting the amazing a-england Ascalon. Wowza! Not only is Ascalon a grey scattered holo, but it also has a duochrome with a lilac flash.  It's like everything I love about nail polish all rolled into one bottle. Just take a look:

Two coats of a-england Ascalon, topped with
Glisten & Glow HK Girl.

 Look at all the duochrome flashy/holo-y goodness!
Seriously, I'm going to get into a car accident staring at my nails.

As with the formula on all the a-england's I own, this applied like a dream - great consistency, no pooling, practically applies itself and is completely opaque in one coat (I'm just in the habit of always doing two coats). Words cannot express how much I love the a-englands that I own. If you don't already own one or two, I highly recommend adding them to you collection.

Nom nom nom.

The UK has strong shipping regulations, and cannot ship nail polish internationally, so you will not be able to purchase a-england directly. However, they offer a list of providers here.

Mentality Mirth and my first stamp art.

You know what I love most about birthdays?! Special birthday manis!!! ...and cake, and presents, and balloons, and cake, and friends and pinatas, and cake...

To celebrate the birthdays of Mr. Manicure and Mom Manicure this weekend, I wanted to wear something sparkly and fun. As I was looking over my collection, serendipity took over and the word Mirth popped out at me - and what better word to describe a birthday?

Mentality Mirth was definitely was the sparkly polish I was craving. Mirth has a light purplish/gray base with a stunning linear holo running through it. 

Two coats of Mentality Mirth topped with HK Girl.
As you can see, the holo was not dulled at all with the top coat.

It's like a rainbow got pulverized onto my nails. So pretty!

Mentality's Facebook page is adorned with gorgeous manis featuring stamping art, and inspired me to take the blue film off my Konad M57 plate this afternoon and give stamping a chance. I chose Mentality Offbeat, a dark teal - almost black, to stamp a fishnet pattern.

Clearly, I need to practice. But, look how the beautiful Mirth almost distracts you from that terrible stamping job. Almost.

Mirth and Offbeat are available at Mentality Nail Polish.