Hello! And thank you so much for coming back to my blog! I want to thank those of you that have commented, visited, and followed- and a very special person who keeps on me by asking when my next post is!! LOL And as a reward I’m having a GIVEAWAY!!! YAAAAYYY!! It’s going to be HUGE! If any of you follow me on Instagram, and saw my 500 follower giveaway you know I don’t cheap out! LOL Plus, I have some WONDERFUL sponsors!!

So far Glisten and Glow, All Mixed Up Lacquer, LynBDesigns, Sassy Sauce and Savvy and Chic so far have been so wonderful in sponsoring this giveaway! Plus I have bought some things from KB Shimmer, Nicole Diary, and many more wonderful brands!!

Now onto the other fun stuff I have in store! I will come right out and admit that I get these wonderful ideas- like “HEY! why don’t I start a blog?!” because apparently being a single mom of 2 boys and working 2 jobs on top of trying to start my own business doesn’t keep my mind occupied enough! So, when I start something I’m 100% in and get super excited about it. Then somewhere along the line it kind of fizzles out. And upon doing a lot of soul searching, and questioning of therapists, I have found that it is a symptom of my depression. It is also a result of growing up being told that the things I wanted to do I wasn’t good enough to do, or that I shouldn’t bother because there are already enough people out there doing it so I should just give up. And to that person, or rather those people, I now say F YOU!!! (I totally have a potty mouth, but just in case a child is reading…I can’t always promise to shorten the word though, it’s my favorite! LOL.

So for this reason I started the blog, and I started getting my ideas together ahead of time! Yay me! In this post I’ll have the interview I did with Jennalyn Miller of LynBDesigns, some swatches of the giveaway polishes Carrie from Sassy Sauce Polish is providing for the giveaway. NO I will NOT be using the same polishes that are for the giveaway. Carrie, the sweet, wonderful, woman she is gave me my own set, because I absolutely fell in love with this polish! And a review of the nail forms, the GREAT nail forms that I am reviewing for Nicole Diary. With these photos you’ll see why I had to give myself a whole new set of nails! LOL And I want to say thank you for visiting, and I hope that you’ll stick around, because as I learn more about blogging and actually start to know what the hell I’m doing this blog will get better-in appearance and content. So hang in there with me and I promise it’ll be worth it!

So without further ado…..

Interview with Jennalyn of LynBDesigns

Q. Let’s start this off with what is probably a question you’ve been asked a thousand times. What got you involved in nail polish? Not just the making of it, but the love of it?

A. As long as I can remember I’ve loved nail polish. It stems from my mom being an Avon lady when I was a kid. There was always nail polish lurking in the house. I even painted the heels on my dress up shoes with polish to make them more shiny and colorful. When I was in 6^th grade I wore fake nails every day with a new color and even rudimentary nail art, but by the time second recess came around I had popped off all my fake nails.

Q. How long have you been a brand?

A. I created LynBDesigns back in 2011. So, this is my seventh year. I can’t believe it’s been that long.

Q. With it being so hard to start an indie brand and keep it afloat, what would you say have been some of the reasons that you have been able to continue in the indie polish business.

A. This is a tough one, I’ve seen so many brands come and go. Not gonna lie, it takes balls to run an indie business. I just plain refuse to give up, and it helps that my cost of living is pretty low.

Q. Have you ever wanted to give it up? If so, what made you want to? What made you keep going?

A. Honestly, I’ve never given it serious thought. I did run through my mind what would I do if I stopped running my business, and I realized I wouldn’t be me anymore. Creativity and making nail polish are such a part of my personality I can’t see myself ever being without it. I’ve wanted to be an artist my entire life and making nail polish is a way I can fulfill that dream.

Q. What are the pitfalls of being an indie maker (besides the glaringly obvious ones)?

A. My biggest pitfall is that people don’t understand what I do. They either think I buy polish and re-bottle it or that it’s not real nail polish. I feel blessed that there’s a community I can go to where I don’t have to explain my job to everyone I talk to.

Q. What advice would you give to all the people out there who want to go down the indie polish making road? Why?

A. My main advice is don’t give up. If you’re passionate about indie polish you will find your niche. Also, it helps if you find some really great bloggers and swatchers.

Q. As a maker are you able to see a brand and have an idea of whether they’ll succeed as a brand?

A. There’s one brand that launched recently that I knew would be huge. I bought a polish from them back in October and new it was something special. I don’t want to name names, but there’s been a lot of buzz around this brand.

Q. Would you suggest others to get into polish making? If not why?

A. It depends. In some ways the market is over-saturated, and in others under-represented. If you have an idea test it out. See if it works. If it doesn’t, retire it and move onto a new collection.

Q. To someone who may be thinking about going down this road, what is your best advice?

A. Test your products before launching them. I’ve seen so many brands just create something and go, and the results are always less than stellar.

Q. In the indie polish world, and having been to Polish Con, seeing what people are willing to do/pay for certain bottles/colors/brands, etc., what do you think about the lengths people will go to, and the price some consumers are willing to pay for a bottle of polish? Are you one of those people?? haha

A. I’ve seen some people to go crazy lengths to get an indie polish. Back when Lynnderella was the go to for glitter bombs I saw people pay upwards of 100 dollars for one bottle, it blew my mind. It still blows my mind. I’m not one of those people. I like a sale, and to know I got the best deal I could on something. That’s one of the reasons I have sales frequently in my store. I like people to get a good deal and feel like they didn’t break the bank to get something beautiful.

Thank you Jenna for taking the time to answer my questions!

Now for some Pretties!!

Carrie from Sassy Sauce Polish sent me her latest collection and the Custom Polish that she’s recently created and I have to say I praise the Nail Gods that Carrie has allowed me to be one of her regular swatchers! Carrie is an incredibly sweet person with a huge heart! And I have to say, that aside from a couple of crappy people, everyone I’ve met so far has brought something important into my life! Ok enough sap outta me! Here is the new collection from Sassy Sauce Polish set to be released SATURDAY, MARCH 10TH@ 10 AM!!!

I gotta tell you that I cannot wait!! There are 6 polishes being released, including a thermal and a two magnetic polishes!!

First up, I’ll show you my FAVORITE so far is Shadow Storm! Just look at this shift! It is a black to clear thermal jelly. When it changes to clear you can see the pink, copper, and gold shifting flakes. I’ve found some thermals to be kind of thick, but this color goes on like a dream! And the transition was immediate! I was stunned by the color! Shown here is 2 coats plus a quick dry top coat.

This polish is Carrie’s first Group Custom Color, and she KILLED IT!!! This polish is a shifty biotch! The polish formula is fabulous! It goes on like a dream! Although, to be honest I’ve never had an issue with any of Carrie’s polish formulas. I’ve never had to thin it out before I used it or put extra coats to smooth it out. This multichrome polish shifts from blue, green, purple, pink and copper- I got A LOT of compliments on this polish!! Shown here is 2 coats plus a quick dry top coat.

Normally I’m not a pink kind of girl as you’ll see if you follow me on IG at all. You’ll see all sorts of dark colors, and shiny stuff, but not a whole lot of pink- I guess I’m not very girlie but For The Queen is an exception I’m willing to make! This vibrant pink crème is so bright that it makes me long for summer! It’s also a perfect pedi color! Hmmm…..Maybe I’ll wear it on my trip to the Dominican Republic! Shown here is 2 coats plus a quick dry top coat.

This sexy as hell polish is Babymaker- named because someone we all know and love (Eb)says it all the time about these types of reds. And she’s right! This red metallic base has a sprinkling of holo micro glitter and copper flakes that give this polish that VAVAVA-VOOOM that makes me think of tight red dresses and 5 inch high heels. BOTH of which I couldn’t pull off even if I tried!

This polish is right up my alley! (pun intended) This is a dark steel based linear holo that has blue, purple, and green shifting flakes throughout that give this polish an incredible depth!

This is Carrie’s first time launching magnetic polishes, and she’s got two this time! Feline Force (not shown) is a dark plum magnetic polish and both magnetic polishes comes with it’s own small magnet. However, I lost many of my photos pretending I knew what the hell I was doing when I transferred them to my computer- I SUCK AT TECHNICAL STUFF!!!  Anyway, Feline Force will be featured in the next edition (which will be coming out by the weekend- I have a ton of stuff to show you and didn’t want this to be waaay longer than it already is! LOL

 Twisted Alchemy is a bronze magnetic polish with shifty gold to green shimmers. I’m a sucker for bronzes, coppers, and polishes along those lines. This polish too, I used a thicker coat for my first coat of polish, then used my super duper Home Depot magnet, did a second thicker coat and used the magnet again, and hit it again after my topcoat. As you can tell I love to play with magnetic polishes. There are so many designs that you can make with the magnets!

There is so much more that I want to put into this issue of my blog, but I’ll save it for the  next post. In the next one we’ll have my review of Savvy and Chic Polish Base and Top Coat, as well as a luscious red that she sent me. Rina is another beautiful person that I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know recently. She’s also generously offered to donate some of her wonderful product to my giveaway (insert cheers and applause here)!!

Now onto the nitty gritty!! I am a people pleaser! Believe it or not, I love to see people smile and make someone going through a rough time happy-even if it’s with just a single bottle of polish, or a note of support. Either way, when I know someone is struggling I feel their pain and I know how lonely it can feel when you’re going through some painful sh**. And if I was going through it I’d want someone to reach out to me with some honest sympathy-or a SLAMMIN’ bottle of polish lol.

But seriously, it is this people pleaser in me, as well as the fact that I NEVER win anything that has driven me to put together this giveaway! So far, I have had the sweet Jill from Glisten and Glow donate her Chicago Polish Con polishes Shift In Chi and Shiny in Chi, I’ve had the lovely Carrie from Sassy Sauce Polish donate 3 gorgeous polishes. The kind Rina is donating her base and top coat, Jenna has donated 2 gorgeous LynB Design polishes and there will be polish from the wonderful LJ of All-Mixed-Up-Lacquer and much much more!!

Now for the boring stuff like RULES…..BOOOOO I know! But they’re pretty painless and if you’re reading this you’ve already got one out of the way!!

Rules: ( and they may change based on what I learn I have to have as rules lol):

1. You must be following http://www.mentalbreaksandmanis.com (I’ll be checking).

2. You must follow @darkmoonnails on Instagram.

3. It is not absolutely necessary that you follow the following makers, but I strongly suggest it-because they’re awesome and if you win you’ll have their products, and it’s just the nice thing to do:

Glisten and Glow

LynB Designs

All Mixed Up Lacquer

KB Shimmer

Bees Knees

Sassy Sauce

Savvy and Chic

and many, many more to come!!! I hope to see you back for my next exciting post! In the meantime please take care of yourselves.

As a single mom, I find that I tend to come last. But even mom’s with husbands you can forget about yourself while taking care of others, but don’t! In order for you to take care of everyone else you need to STOP FEELING GUILTY AND TAKE CARE OF YOU!!! IT’S OK I PROMISE!! So, take 10-15 minutes to just sit alone and breathe! Or give yourself a mani or a pedi, or stretch.

But PLEASE take care of you, because even though we act like it, moms are not indestructible! We need to take care of us, to be able to care for those we love!

Until next time, take care, and polish on!!