Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Deathwatch Beetle

Posted on April 23, 2016 by Stacie Wacie

Welcome to Swatch Saturday! For this week’s swatch, we’re looking at Deathwatch Beetle, the second of five polishes from Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer‘s What Wouldn’t I Do Halloween collection. I’m wearing three coats of Deathwatch Beetle with one coat of Seche Vite top coat.

Deathwatch Beetle is a clear-based microglitter polish; the glitter is primarily black, but also contains orange, green, and purple glitters. Application was easy; the product formula, laden with glitter, was thick enough to fan out the brush, but still thin enough to apply smoothly. The first coat went on well; the glitter covered about half the nail, and the second coat brought it to full opacity. Drying times were fast, and the polish dried with a fine textured glitter finish. I added top coat for smoothness and shine.

This polish is the only microglitter in this collection, and easily the most Halloweeny of them all. The hallmark colors are all there, but it’s something I think you’d only notice if you knew it was a Halloween polish. Black is a classic color and works for any part of the year, and the other colors add more sparkle than color, especially from a distance. I feel like I should also mention that I love this collection because there’s as much variety as there is versatility. In addition to the holo and microglitter polishes featured so far, there’s a glitter jelly, a shimmer, and a neon glitter topper, and all of them are Halloween polishes in disguise. I love it.

Here are the outdoor photos! The glitter just lights up out here, and it almost kind of hurt to look at it. You can see the colored glitters best in these photos.

Deathwatch Beetle has been discontinued by Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer; other BEGL polishes are available from their online shop.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: The Polish Bar’s Midnight Kiss

Posted on April 17, 2016 by Stacie Wacie

Welcome back! This Swatch Sunday is all about my first-ever polish from The Polish Bar, Midnight Kiss! Midnight Kiss was an Addicted to Holos box exclusive, and it’s the whole reason I became acquainted with this brand. In these photos, I’m wearing three coats of Midnight Kiss with one coat of Seche Vite top coat. Photos were taken outdoors in mostly cloudy conditions.

The photo on the left was taken outdoors, the photo on the right indoors.

Midnight Kiss is a deep blue holo with blue-to-purple shifting pigment. Application was good; while the product consistency is a good thickness, the first coat went on a bit thin. Opacity and evenness improved with additional coats. The holo effect is subtle in this polish, taking a backseat to the shift. The holo shows up best in the sunlight, and the shift is most intense indoors. The polish dried quickly and with a semi-glossy finish; I used top coat for extra shine and sparkle.

As I mentioned, this is my introduction to The Polish Bar, and I’m super impressed with it. This polish is just so fun to wear. As with any shift, this one is perfect for circling my hands around to watch the colors change. The color is already deep and mysterious, and adding the holo effect just makes it even more stunning.

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The shift looks best indoors, so here are some photos taken under LED lights. This shift is GOOD.

Midnight Kiss was a box-exclusive polish and is no longer made by The Polish Bar. Other Polish Bar polishes are available from their etsy shop.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Blood on the Moon

Posted on April 16, 2016 by Stacie Wacie

Happy Saturday! I’m excited to bring you a weekend swatch again, because I feel guilty for taking so many weekends off from blogging. This Saturday we’re taking a look at Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer‘s Blood on the Moon; I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Seche Vite. Photos this week were taken indoors under LED lighting, because of course it’s cloudy today.

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Blood on the Moon is a red-orange holo polish with purple shimmers. Application was very easy; the product consistency was very smooth and buttery. The first coat was just translucent enough to warrant a second coat. The holo effect is very visible under LED lights. It dried quickly and with a satin finish; I used top coat for shine.

This polish is the first in a BEGL Halloween collection based on the film Practical Magic. BEGL Halloween collections — and holiday collections in general, really — are wonderful because they aren’t obviously tied to the holiday, and I love that. I’m wearing Halloween polish in April, and nobody would know it unless I told them. This polish is a deep and beautiful orange, perfect for any season and not just autumn.

Blood on the Moon has been discontinued by Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer; other BEGL polishes are available in their online shop.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: Polish Addict Nail Color’s Fireflies

Posted on April 3, 2016 by Stacie Wacie

Welcome to this week’s Swatch Sunday! Today’s swatch is a fun one; I’m using an older polish from a new-to-me brand. This is Fireflies from Polish Addict Nail Color; I got it in a destash mystery box, and the only thing I could find out about it on Google was that it came out in 2013. I’m wearing three coats of Fireflies with one coat of Seche Vite top coat.

Fireflies is a pastel yellow crelly with pale yellow hexes, orange bars, pink and purple butterflies, and blue shred glitters. Application was okay; the pale yellow is very streaky on the first coat, almost nonexistent, and did leave some streaks by the third coat. Though the glitters are on the larger side, they were easy to retrieve from the bottle. I did have the glitters pile up in some places. The product consistency was good, though on the thinner side. The polish dries with a glossy finish. The larger glitters, especially those that piled up, did leave a bit of texture, even after top coat was applied.

I’m not really familiar with PANC, even though I’ve seen them around the indie polish internet quite a lot. This is my very first one, and I’m not even its original owner. Despite that, it’s always fun to revisit older polishes and see how far the maker — and indie polish in general — has come. That said, I’m kind of torn on how I feel about this polish. The nostalgia factor is certainly fun, the concept and colors are fun, but I feel like the overall look is a little lacking. I would really love to see a reformulation of this polish in today’s indie style.

In the sun, this polish looks about the same. There’s no shimmers or anything in this polish, there’s nothing really that comes to life in direct sunlight.

Fireflies is probably discontinued by Polish Addict Nail Color; other PANC polishes are sold in their online shop.

I bought this polish myself via mystery box.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Sewing Shadows

Posted on April 2, 2016 by Stacie Wacie

Happy Saturday! Swatch Saturday is back, and today’s polish is a beauty. This is Sewing Shadows from Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer. It was originally part of a 2014 collaboration box with Sweet Heart Polish inspired by characters from Disney’s Peter Pan. I’m wearing three coats of Sewing Shadows with one coat of Seche Vite.

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Sewing Shadows is a sky blue polish with green iridescent shimmer. Application was easy; the product consistency is on the thicker side, and opacity builds with coverage. The shimmer blends into the polish easily, and can sometimes be difficult to see, especially in brighter lighting conditions. The polish dries with a smooth and glossy finish; I added top coat for extra shine.

Sewing Shadows is a really fun polish, and another fine example of the BEGL shimmer. The color is vibrant, the coverage is opaque, and the shimmer is a fun and unexpected pop of color that sets the polish apart from the rest. It’s just beautiful and easy to wear. I also love that it was inspired by Peter Pan, and in particular by Wendy Darling; Peter Pan is my favorite Disney animated film (sometimes it’s The Jungle Book, I can never decide!), and as a child, I basically wanted to be Wendy, so there’s that.

In direct sunlight, the shimmer gets a little overwhelmed, but the blue base is still going strong.

The collaboration box this polish came in has since sold out. Other Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers are sold in their online shop.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: Philly Loves Lacquer’s The Best Day of the Year

Posted on March 20, 2016 by Stacie Wacie

Welcome back, reader! I’m excited to share today’s swatch; it’s my first-ever Philly Loves Lacquer! This polish is a box exclusive from a previous Beauty Quartet Box (now called the Magic 8 box), and you may have some trouble getting your hands on it. This is The Best Day of the Year; I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Seche Vite top coat.

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The Best Day of the Year is a magenta jelly with holographic pink and silver glitters in various shapes and sizes. There are large dots, some medium sized shapes like stars and diamonds, and then lots of fine hexes and shimmers. Application was very easy with this polish; it has a great consistency, and it’s not hard to get a good mix of glitters on each coat. The large dot glitters are common; I got at least one on each nail. Also, as this is a jelly polish, it will take all three coats to achieve this opacity. The polish dries quickly with a shiny and mostly smooth finish; I say mostly because the dots don’t always lie flat on the nail. I added top coat for extra shine and protection.

My favorite thing about this polish is the jelly; it’s a rich, lovely shade. The jelly consistency, too, is just right; it’s perfectly squishy, building opacity but never disguising the glitters. The glitter mix is just the right combination for the jelly, too; everything shines beautifully together. This polish is very well done.

Unfortunately, it rained on the day I took these photos, so there are no sunlight shots, which I really regret, but I know this polish would be a stunner in the sunshine.

The Best Day of the Year was a box exclusive from 2015 and is no longer available. Other Philly Loves Lacquer and the Magic 8 box are available from their website.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Siren Noir

Posted on March 19, 2016 by Stacie Wacie

Welcome back to Swatch Saturday! The polish I’m showing you today is absolutely stunning. This is Siren Noir from Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer; I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Seche Vite top coat.

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Siren Noir is a black polish packed with multicolored shimmers. Application was easy; while BEGL polishes are meant to be somewhat thick, I feel like this one could have used thinning, though I will say the thickness may be due to age, as this polish is already a few years old. In any case, it wasn’t thick enough to impede application, but it did feel a little off. The shimmers are suspended well in the polish, ensuring you get a ton of them when you apply. The polish dries quickly with a slightly grainy finish and a satin finish. I used top coat for extra shine and to help establish the shimmers.

So this is probably the most shimmery BEGL I’ve used yet. There are so many colors; an iridescent blue seems to dominate, but as you can see, there are reds, greens, pinks, and purples as well. Some of the particles are very fine while others are coarse, which gives it a cool look as well. The amount of dimension and color in this polish — while being a black polish, no less — is just astounding. I never cease to be amazed by what BEGL continue to do with their shimmer polishes.

The following photos show Siren Noir in direct sunlight. The black base is a little overwhelmed by the sun’s effect on the shimmers. In person, this was absolutely glorious.

Siren Noir was a limited edition polish from 2013 and is no longer for sale in the BEGL shop. See the BEGL shop for other polishes.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: Peita’s Polish’s Serenity

Posted on March 13, 2016 by Stacie Wacie

Welcome back, reader! I meant to have this post up hours ago, but due to some unforseen events regarding my web host, it’s going up now. The polish I have for this Sunday’s swatch is a fun one: it’s from a new-to-me brand, it’s from Australia, and it’s a charity polish! Serenity from Peita’s Polish is a polish exclusive to the Lighthouse of Hope box that benefits I Need a Lighthouse, a depression and suicide prevention awareness network. I’m wearing three coats of Serenity with one coat of Seche Vite top coat.

Serenity is a sky blue crelly with turquoise holographic glitters in various sizes and a slight green shimmer. Application was very easy; the product consistency is very smooth, even with all the glitter in it. The glitter and polish spread evenly over the nail, leaving no streaks, spots, or excess polish in the cuticle. It dries quickly and with a semi-glossy finish. It also dries with a smooth texture, which surprised me a bit, since there’s a bit of glitter in it. I added top coat anyway for extra shine and smoothness.

The Lighthouse of Hope product listing states Serenity was based on the cool sparkling waters of Australian beaches, as the ocean can be a relaxing, serene place for people. I think they did pretty well with that imagery. The crelly here is the polish, and not merely the vehicle for the glitter; it’s very sheer, and subdues the glitter from previous coats without completely covering it. The glitter twinkles in the same way the sun glints off the water. It’s very pretty.

The following photos were taken in direct sunlight outdoors. The blue crelly seems cooler, and you can see the under-glitters better.

So let’s talk about the Lighthouse of Hope box. Available from Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer, this box contains eight exclusive polishes from eight different indie makers. I’ve already swatched another polish from this collection, Grows Hope from Alter Ego. The box costs $80, but $60 of that goes to I Need a Lighthouse, a favorite charity of Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer. It’s easy to balk at the cost, but in this case, it’s actually a very worthy splurge. See the BEGL store listing for box details, the I Need a Lighthouse website for information about the organization, and the BEGL maker’s blog to learn why the box exists in the first place. The box is still available in limited quantities.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Prototype BBD1.0

Posted on March 12, 2016 by Stacie Wacie

Happy Saturday! It feels so good to be past our third anniversary. I still can’t believe we’ve passed such an important milestone, it’s crazy! For this week’s Saturday swatch, I’m wearing Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Prototype BBD1.0 over Nails Inc.’s Eaton Terrace, China Glaze’s Pelican Gray, and LA Girl’s Black, as well as Seche Vite top coat.

Prototype BBD1.0 is a clear-based fine glitter topper; the glitter mix is predominantly purple holo glitters, but also contains holo reds and blues and matte lime green glitters. Application was easy; the glitter brushed on without any problems, and the product consistency was very workable. It dried quickly and with a smooth finish. I added top coat for extra shine and protection.

This a really fun polish to wear. I used neutrals for this look because I wasn’t sure how the glitter would look over other colors, but the glitter is so fine and so varied in color that it would probably look good over anything. I’m actually impressed by how it looks over black; you get the flashes of color without the speckled effect the lighter colors get. I thought it would be boring over black, but I think it’s my favorite of all of them. The lime green satin glitters feel a bit out of place, but I don’t dislike them; I think it breaks up an otherwise monotonous (but still quite pretty) glitter mix.

Here are some sun shots. The glitter looks amazing outside; you can really see the variety of colors in the glitters here. The following photos were taken in direct sunlight.

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Prototype BBD1.0 is a one-off prototype, and I have the only bottle. Other Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer polishes can be purchased from their online shop.

I bought these polishes myself.

Swatch Sunday: P2’s Artful

Posted on March 6, 2016 by Stacie Wacie

Happy Sunday! I’m happy to bring you today’s post, because I get to show you polish from Europe! I’ve worn P2’s Artful on the blog before, but that was ages ago, and you never got to see the polish on its own. Here’s Artful at three coats with one coat of Gelous gel coat.

Artful is a teal creme polish. Application was easy; the polish is rich and very pigmented, giving me an almost-opaque first coat, and complete opacity in two. I remember this polish staining me the last time, so I made sure to use two coats of base coat (I use Orly Bonder) this time around. The product consistency is very good; it’s very easy to control the polish with the brush. It dries quickly and with a glossy finish; I used top coat for extra shine and protection.

Apart from details about the polish itself, I can’t tell you much else about it. The polish was sent to me by someone in Germany, so I don’t know where to tell you to look for it — other than Germany, obviously — but I recommend it. I don’t know if it’s a 3-free formula, or if the EU even has such a thing, but that doesn’t bother me much. Both the color and the formula are so rich and vibrant that I really wish I could get them more easily. The shade itself isn’t hugely special, but I love using polish from another country, and maybe it’s a good thing it’s not so widely found in the US; I probably wouldn’t like it so much.

Both indoors in the studio and outside in cloudy lighting, this polish looks a lot more turquoise than it does in real life. In real life, it’s darker and greener. Also, my cuticles got a bit stained anyway, despite my best efforts, but that tends to happen with blues and greens in general. Also, and this is likely why, I got stuck trying to clean my cuticles up with non-acetone polish remover, because it was the only thing I had in the house. It didn’t work well at all; the polish didn’t come off, it made my brush feel dry and brittle, and it has this weird cherry cough drop smell. If you see any spots that look bubbly or bumpy around the edges, that’s totally not the polish’s fault.

Artful and other P2 polishes have to be available somewhere. If I knew, I’d tell you.

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Tag Archives: swatch

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Deathwatch Beetle

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: The Polish Bar’s Midnight Kiss

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Blood on the Moon

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: Polish Addict Nail Color’s Fireflies

I bought this polish myself via mystery box.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Sewing Shadows

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: Philly Loves Lacquer’s The Best Day of the Year

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Siren Noir

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: Peita’s Polish’s Serenity

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Prototype BBD1.0

I bought these polishes myself.

Swatch Sunday: P2’s Artful

This polish was a gift. It was not sent for review or consideration.