Polished Lifting

I picked up The Black Knight ages ago, and finally got around to wearing it the other day. I think I get what all the hype is about!

The Black Knight is a black cream with pink, blue, gold glitter. Shown above is two coats with no base color. The application of this was fairly smooth. I did have a few issues with the glitter building up on the tip of my nail, but it was easy to correct. I really love how sparkly the polish was overall. I can't say that I would spend this much money on a mainstream polish under normal circumstances, but the color combo was unique to anything else I had seen. 

Polishes used: Butter London- "The Black Knight", Revlon- "Quick Dry Top Coat"

Do you own any Butter London's? Are they worth the extra money?

Hey guys! Today I have three out of five colors from TreNique Nail Lacquer's winter collection. 

Midnight Rendezvous

Midnight Rendezvous is a deep blue jelly with holographic glitter and silver shimmer. Shown above is three coats with no base coat. This definitely needed three coats to achieve even coverage. The first two coats were too streaky to wear alone or as a top coat. Once a third coat is applied it has a really nice layered effect. 

Polishes used: TreNique- "Midnight Rendezvous", Revlon- "Quick Dry Top Coat"

Happy New Year

Happy New Year is a gray jelly with blue and holographic glitter. Shown above is three coats with no base color. As you might have noticed, I had issues with pigment not being properly mixed in the bottle. I shook it for a good 10 minutes but couldn't get the pigment to redistribute. Occasionally, when this happens you can smooth out the pigment on the nail, but unfortunately this wasn't the case. I like the color, but the stray bits of pigment were impossible to avoid. I emailed the maker and will keep you updated when I hear back. 

Polishes used: TreNique- "Happy New Year", Revlon- "Quick Dry Top Coat"

Snowflakes

Snowflakes is a sheer white jelly with holographic glitter and larger silver glitter. Shown above is three coats with no base coat. The consistency of Snowflakes was nice, but I found the opacity too sheer overall. It might look nice over a white, but I don't think I would wear it alone. 

Polishes used: TreNique- "Snowflakes", Revlon- "Quick Dry Top Coat"

Conclusion

I liked two out of three colors I reviewed, but I had issues with the pigmentation of Happy New Year. TreNique Nail Lacquers can only be purchased in a set. I'm such a picky person that I won't buy most nail lacquer sets. If these were available individually I would consider purchasing Midnight Rendezvous. 

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*** All colors were generously provided for review

About a month ago, Sweet Heart Polish held a naming contest for her latest creation. I submitted the name "Cotton Candy Fluff" because it made me think of the fluffy sugar that spins around in the cotton candy machines. With a little luck and some help from my friends, my name was chosen! In addition to being able to name the color, Cassandra sent me a complimentary bottle. 

Cotton Candy Fluff

Cotton Candy Fluff is a bright pink shimmer polish with small blue flakies. The application was smooth and completely opaque with two coats. The blue flakies really pop against the pink polish. I have always loved the formula of Sweet Heart Polish, and this is no different. I highly recommend picking up a bottle of this stunning color! I can guarantee you don't have a pink like this.

Polishes used: Sweet Heart Polish- "Cotton Candy Fluff", Revlon- "Quick Dry Top Coat"

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Happy Friday everyone! I am back with some new pretties from Sue Me Lacquer. The Sweet Tarts Collection is inspired by Valentines Day, and includes something for everyone. 

I had some mixed feelings about some of the polishes, so I really encourage you to read the descriptions in addition to skimming the photos. 

Monkey Love

Monkey Love is a sheer yellow crelly with pink glitter hexagons and red hearts. Shown above is two coats with no base coat. Monkey Love was a bit too thick for me. I found that it was difficult to control the placement of the polish and hearts because of how much polish the brush held on to. That being said, I did enjoy the color and the amount of heart glitter included in the mix. 

Polishes used: Sue Me Lacquer- "Monkey Love", Revlon- "Quick Dry Top Coat"

Bloody Valentine

Bloody Valentine is a deep red jelly with red hearts, black hearts and pink glitter. Shown above is two coats with no base color. I found Bloody Valentine to be incredibly thick to the point where I couldn't manipulate the hearts or polish at all. It started to dry before I could even out the polish layer in general. I was also unable to retrieve any black hearts. I'm not sure if it was because of the thickness or if there weren't as many in the mixture. I do like the color, and would like to see more black hearts in the mix. 

Polishes used: Sue Me Lacquer- "Bloody Valentine", Revlon- "Quick Dry Top Coat"

Ruby Kisses

Ruby Kisses is a gorgeous pink jelly holo. Shown above is two coats with no base color. I absolutely love how squishy this looks in person. It's just the right shade of pink that it's not overwhelming. I think this would look great with white stamping in between the layers. I was really pleased with the consistency and pigmentation of this color.

Polishes used: Sue Me Lacquer- "Ruby Kisses", Revlon- "Quick Dry Top Coat"

Forever Alone

Forever Alone is a black crelly with holo micro glitter. Shown above is one coat with no base color. The consistency of Forever Alone is similar to Bloody Valentine in that it is way too thick. I had a really tough time painting my nails with this one. It started to dry while I was trying to even out the first coat. You can see the uneven consistency in the photos despite my attempt to even it out with topcoat. I also noticed that the sparkles weren't noticeable once my nails were painted. I wonder if this had anything to do with the consistency. The polish is gorgeous in the bottle, but it didn't translate well to the nail.

Polishes used: Sue Me Lacquer- "Forever Alone", Revlon- "Quick Dry Top Coat"

Pink Affair

Pink Affair is a stunning dark purple/black jelly thermal that shifts to bright pink when it warms up. Shown above is two coats with no base color. This drastic shift was stunning! I don't have much to say about this because I feel like the photos really speak for themselves. This was definitely my favorite color in the whole collection!

Polishes used: Sue Me Lacquer- "Pink Affair", Revlon- "Quick Dry Top Coat"

Conclusion

I liked all of the colors, but some of the formulas were too thick to be workable. I contacted Susan about this, and she said that she is going to reformulate them. My favorites out of the collection were Ruby Kisses and Pink Affair. Both colors were excellent consistency and had rich pigmentation. Sue Me Lacquer is currently running a deal in her Store Envy shop. Be sure to use the code at the bottom of the page!

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*** All colors were generously provided for review

I'm currently wrapping up the recovery week of my second round of Wendler 5/3/1. I'm kind of in disbelief with of how quickly each cycle seems to go by. Four weeks doesn't seem like a lot of time, but it feels as though I blinked once and ended up at the end. I'm not going to bore you with the details of my cycle, but if you want to hear more, my logs are up on Instagram. After running the second cycle with the same working numbers as I did for the previous cycle, I was able to greatly improve on all four lifts.

What did I do differently this cycle? I added an extra day of upper body accessory work, and did 30 minutes of cardio after each lifting session. Doing cardio immediately after lifting really helped me push my limits. I was really crabby about it at first, but I feel like I can't skip it anymore. In addition to improving my cardio & lifting pr's, I am sleeping like a baby. I can't think of a single negative thing that has come from the extra work I've put in. 

On a totally different topic, I decided to make granola from scratch the other day. It was so delicious that I think I have a new breakfast addiction. 

The original recipe can be found here, but I made my own tweaks because I don't like the taste of vegetable oil. 

Courtney's Delicious Granola

• 3 cups rolled oats (not instant)
• 3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter (melted)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans**

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

1. Mix oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together honey, melted butter and vanilla. Pour liquid mixture over the dry ingredients and mix until thoroughly coated.
2. Spread evenly over a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes. After the first 15 minutes, stir the mixture and add an additional 5-15 minutes to the baking time. Bake until golden. 
3. Place cookie sheet on a wire rack to cool. Add in chopped nuts (or other stir in items) and stir to combine. Stir the granola every few minutes as it cools to keep it from sticking to your cookie sheet. 
4. Once the granola has completely cooled, store in an airtight container. It should keep for about 2 weeks.

** You can add 1/2 cup of whatever you want, and as many mix ins as you want. 

If you make this granola I would love to see how you customize it!