Monthly Archives: October 2017

Manicure Monday: Red and Gold Splatter

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Happy Monday! I want to preface this by saying this is probably going to be the last laid-back Manicure Monday for a while. After today, I dive into writing a novel and possibly starting a new job — fingers crossed! In any case, things are going to be busy and I’m nervous and excited. These nails look like I feel. For this look, I used Deborah Lippmann’s Single Ladies and Essie’s Good as Gold.

I wasn’t totally sure what I was going to do with this look when I started it. Single Ladies is a really squishy polish; it look three coats to get rid of all the streaks. I thought about taking advantage of this and doing a pond mani or something similar, but I didn’t want to cover the pretty metallic gold effect of Good As Gold. The classic gold and red was very necessary here.

Index finger, Ring finger

I’m pretty happy with how this turned out. Splatter manis are such a mess, and I kind of wished I had some liquid latex or something. I’ve really got to invest in some, it would make life so much easier.

Single Ladies and other Deborah Lippmann polishes are sold in stores; I got mine from Sephora. Essie is available pretty much everywhere.

I bought these polishes myself.

Swatch Sunday: Colors by Llarowe’s Genofeva of Brabant

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I’m excited about today’s Swatch Sunday. It’s another VIP polish from The Indie Shop Atlanta! Genofeva of Brabant is Colors by Llarowe‘s contribution to the VIP bag. It’s my first CbL, and I’m not sure I’ve ever worn a polish quite like this. I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Seche Vite.

Genofeva of Brabant is a cool-toned rose polish with a strong rosy glow and holo glitter. Actually, this polish has a holo finish that I can’t quite describe. It clearly has glitter in it, but there’s a slight allover holo in it too, like a scattered holo. I’m not sure, but I love it. Application was great; even though there’s a lot happening in this polish, the product consistency is velvety smooth. I had a great first coat, and full opacity at the second. It dries to smooth satin finish. I don’t usually talk about how easy it is to remove a polish, but I was surprised at how easily this one came off. I expected to struggle with the glitter, but it just comes right off.

I failed to capture the holo effect in this polish. It just looks like silver.

This is one of my top five polishes from Indie Shop Atlanta. I was so excited to swatch this because it was probably the first polish that caught my eye, even before the event, and I don’t really have anything like it in my collection. I’m also excited to finally be trying Colors by Llarowe! I got a few others from the event but this is the best one.

Genofeva of Brabant was a VIP exclusive. Other Colors by Llarowe are available on their website.

I got this polish in a VIP bag at an event.

Swatch Saturday: Bliss Polish’s Secret Groves

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Happy Saturday! I’ve got one more Bliss Polish swatch for you! This is the second polish of an exclusive trio sold at The Indie Shop Atlanta. Last week’s Bliss, Fairy Castles, was the first one, and unfortunately, the third was sold out by the time I got there. This is the best of the three, though. This is Secret Groves. I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Seche Vite.

My nail is so long! It’s getting harder to get my thumb into this position.

Secret Groves is a deep green jelly with iridescent flakies. Application was great with this polish; the formula is very smooth and easy to work with. Coverage on the first coat is a little streaky, but it evens out very well. I had a good opacity at two coats. The polish dries with a smooth semi-glossy finish.

One thing I want to note is that when I took these photos, they really don’t do the polish any justice. You see, these flakies are golden in bright direct sunlight. Like, bright glaring golden. It was beautiful, and I’m so bummed the camera didn’t capture it. In fact, I was thinking I should take an indoor set of photos for accuracy. Looks like we’re good on that front. I love this polish, though. I felt super stylish when I was wearing it.

Secret Groves was an Indie Shop Atlanta exclusive. Other Bliss Polishes are available from their website.

I bought this polish myself.

Manicure Monday: Pastel Belle

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Happy Monday!! My Manicure Monday look today is a pastel wonder. This is Lynnderella‘s Custard Candy Cake and Literary Lacquers‘s My Secret Garden. This look is easy and cute.

It’s overcast today, so the photos are a bit dark.

So I was hoping Custard Candy Cake was just a tad more opaque. In the bottle, you can see it’s a cool pale yellow, but it brushes on very sheer, leaving lots of shimmer but not a lot of color. I’m wearing three coats here, and while the opacity increased a bit, it’s still very sheer and pale. It’s not what I wanted, but it’s still kind of chic, so I like it.

My Secret Garden was one of the first LitLacs I ever bought, and it’s still one of my favorites. It’s a pretty basic topper with lots of color and just a bit of sparkle. The colors are a little too bright for the base, and I feel like that might be washing out whatever color is there, but you don’t want to hear me say negative things about nail polish, do you? No. I’m sorry I focus on the negatives a lot, but I just write about what I see and I should probably try to stop that.

Custard Candy Cake might have been a Lynnderella limited edition because I don’t see it in stock; other Lynnderellas are available on their website and eBay. My Secret Garden isn’t currently stocked, but other Literary Lacquers are for sale on etsy.

I bought these polishes myself.

Swatch Sunday: Chaotic Glitz’s The Dryad

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It’s Swatch Sunday!! Yes, it’s another Indie Shop Atlanta exclusive. I’m sorry. I feel so bad teasing polishes you can’t buy without hunting it down. I’m pretty excited about trying out a new-to-me brand, though! This is The Dryad from Chaotic Glitz. I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Seche Vite.

 

I’ll admit it, I have no idea what color The Dryad is. In the bottle, it looks like a blackened shimmery plum with holo glitter, but on the nail, it’s more of a gunmetal, or just a shimmery black. In any case, I am so into it. The product consistency was lovely; it was super easy to work with and I had complete opacity in two coats. It dries with a satin finish. The brush is also one that delivers a lot of polish on the nail, I’ll let you decide if that’s a plus or not.

There’s a brush-stroke there that didn’t quite level itself out.

The Dryad is a pretty great polish, and I’m happy it’s one of my first CGs. It’s a dark and sultry polish. It has an edge. Unfortunately, it was shady outside when I took these photos, and the glitter isn’t as shiny as it should be, but it’s definitely got some sparkle, too. It’s beautiful.

The Dryad was an Indie Polish Atlanta exclusive. Other Chaotic Glitz products are available from their etsy shop.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Saturday: Bliss Polish’s Fairy Castles

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Welcome back to Swatch Saturday! Today’s polish is another Indie Shop exclusive! It’s a stunner, too. This is Fairy Castles from Bliss Polish; I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Seche Vite.

Fairy Castles is a dark purple holo. Application was very good; the polish is the perfect consistency, and my first coat was nearly opaque. I used three because I like the thickness. The polish dries to a smooth and glossy finish.

It has been a long time since I put on a purple this rich and velvety. I love it! I actually kept this on for a full day and it was so much fun to wear. The holo is so strong, even in indoor lighting, and I kind of hated taking it off. So happy I snagged this one!

Fairy Castles was an Indie Shop Atlanta exclusive. Other Bliss Polishes are available on their website.

I bought this polish myself.

Manicure Monday: Holo Dots

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Happy Monday! This week’s look is pretty simple. After being at a loss over what to put on my nails, I finally settled on a dotticure after realizing I’ve never really done one. This is Ellagee‘s Liliana and A Rhyming Dictionary Polish‘s Heathendom.

Liliana is from a 2015 Ellagee collection. Yeah, I had to scroll way back through my Instagram photos to determine how old it is. Before this (and now, too, I suppose), I had a pretty limited experience with Ellagee, only having polishes from collaborations with other indies. This is the first one I’ve ever used that was independent of any other maker. In a word, wow. Seeing Liliana on my nails reminds me why I bought the whole collection. The holo is so strong, and the iridescent flakies floating in the polish are so super pretty. I wish this one was a little more opaque, but it’s gorgeous regardless. I’ve got some others from this collection I’ll be using pretty soon!

The flakies show up beautifully in the shade.

I used Heathendom as my accent here because it’s also a holo, but you can’t see the holo effect in the dots. I wanted an all-over holo effect, but now that I’ve done it, I should have used a blue creme, something that with more contrast. The dots are a bit more visible in the shade than in the sun. It’s a cute look either way.

Liliana was discontinued by Ellagee; other polishes are for sale at ellagee.com. Heathendom was a limited polish made for a collaboration with Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer; other Rhyming Dictionary Polishes are for sale in their etsy shop (though it appears they’re on a break).

I bought these polishes myself.

Swatch Sunday Doubleheader, Part Two: Blush Lacquers’s Blue a Fuse

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Welcome back to Swatch Sunday! I have one more swatch for you this weekend. Remember earlier in the year, when The Color Box went blue? I got to buy one at the Indie Shop in Atlanta, and I’m so sad I can’t buy this box on the regular; every polish in the blue box was a masterpiece and I got to try a few new brands. Blush Lacquers is one of those brands. This is Blue a Fuse; I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Seche Vite.

Blue a Fuse is a royal blue jelly with fine silver holo and matte black shard glitters. Actually, I’m unsure if this is technically a jelly; it gets really good coverage, I’m not seeing any visible nail lines or anything, but the glitters show through like it’s a jelly. Application was good; the consistency is on the thicker side, but is still smooth and easy to work with. It’s got that extra funk that some deep blue polishes tend to have. Probably the only downside is the shard glitters; this isn’t a problem a lot of the time, but if you’re not careful, you can get some that will stick up on the nail and are impossible to smooth out with top coat. The polish dries to a satin finish.

So, I like this. This is a pretty unique polish in my collection. The glitter mix is easy but exciting, and the color is a bold but popular choice. I am definitely looking into more Blush Lacquers, because this one is awesome.

Unfortunately, Blue a Fuse is no longer in stock, but other Blush Lacquers are available in their etsy shop.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday Doubleheader, Part One: Bluebird Lacquer’s Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

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It’s Swatch Sunday! Same rules as last time, we get two today because we had none last week. Lucky for you, they’re two of my acquisitions from The Indie Shop Atlanta! This first swatch is Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil from Bluebird Lacquer. I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Seche Vite.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is a dark polish — I can’t tell if it’s a black or a navy — with blue-to-purple shifting shimmer, holo, and flakies. This polish has everything. Application was good; as you might expect, it was a little thin and streaky on the first coat, but everything evened out nicely. It dries with a somewhat glossy finish; I added top coat for shine and protection.

This is a polish I cannot help but love because there’s so much going on in it. Dark and moody? Check. Icy blue shimmer? Check? Holo? Yes! Flakies? Okay sure! It’s like a buffet of everything that makes nail polish amazing. I loved wearing this and cannot wait to put it on again.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil was an Indie Shop Atlanta exclusive and may not be for sale. Lucky for you, though, I happen to have an extra bottle! There was a mini in my VIP bag but I knew I wanted a full-size when I saw it, so I’ve got one of both. I’m thinking of doing a giveaway with it and some of the other dupes I got; should I give them away one bottle at a time, or do the whole lot?

Other Bluebird Lacquers are sold on their website, though as of this writing, their shop is temporarily closed.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Saturday Doubleheader, Part Two: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Queen Lime Rose Zinnia

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Here comes part two of the Swatch Saturday Doubleheader! It’s another BEGL, of course. This one is Queen Lime Rose Zinnia; I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Seche Vite.

Queen Lime Rose Zinnia is a lime green polish with a strong pink shimmer. Application was good; the consistency was a little thinner than I expect from a BEGL, but I still got good coverage with only two coats. It dries with a satiny finish; I added top coat because the polish improves with shine.

So it was difficult to capture the shimmer in midday sun. It’s definitely a stronger pink than the photos show here, and the green is a darker, more sherbety color. The macro here is probably the most color-accurate of them all. This is probably one of my all-time favorite BEGLs because of the shimmer; it’s complementary without clashing and being over the top. The shimmer is strong but doesn’t take over the polish. It’s beautiful.

Queen Lime Rose Zinnia has been discontinued by Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer; other BEGL polishes can be found in their online shop.

I bought this polish myself.