Tag Archives: swatch

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Prototype JJ 1.1

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Swatch Saturday is here again! It’s been a busy week for me; in addition to my usual weekly features, I’ve been working on the Wacie Nail Company launch all week, so I’ve done a mani every day since Monday. Crazy. Today’s swatch is of Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Prototype JJ 1.1. You’ll remember I wore this on Monday as part of my Manicure Monday post, and I liked it so much I wore it a second time. Also because it was next in the queue. I’m wearing one brushed coat of JJ 1.1 over Revlon’s Bare Bones, Deborah Lippmann’s Shape of My Heart, and Ciaté’s Sugar Plum, as well as one coat of Alter Ego‘s She Shines top coat.

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JJ 1.1 is a clear glitter topper with glitters that are primarily purple, bright pink, and deep blue. There are a few other multicolored surprise glitters in red, green, yellow, and aqua. The glitter applies very evenly, leaving a good variety of different glitters on the nail. I did have a little trouble with the glitter sliding into my cuticle, but I’ll say that’s a user error. Drying times were good; the lacquer was not gooey or tacky for very long. It’s very easy to use.

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In the days since I wore this polish the first time, I found out this is a prototype of a custom commissioned by Jackie, who is also in the BEGLove Facebook group. It was made to represent the beauty of Texas wildflowers like bluebonnets and paintbrushes. It’s a really nice image, actually. I haven’t been to Texas yet, but I can’t wait to see the spring flowers there. I can only imagine how gorgeous they are. The flower concept kind of makes my cityscape image seems lame.

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I guess less is more with this polish. Last time I put on two coats because I really wanted a truckload of glitter, but I lost a lot of the finer details. The smaller rainbow glitters are completely invisible. I can’t tell if I got any stars or any other fun shapes. I definitely prefer this look.

As JJ 1.1 is a prototype, I have the only bottle. Other BEGL polishes are available from their shop.

Swatch Sunday: Fantasy Makers’s Night Glow

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I know I said all the unseasonal polishes were over with, but I lied. Swatch Sunday’s subject is a Halloween-themed glow in the dark polish, complete with gravestone-shaped bottle. I’m wearing three coats of Fantasy Makers’s Night Glow with one coat of Alter Ego‘s She Shines top coat.

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Night Glow is a pretty typical glow in the dark polish. It’s very sheer; even at three coats, I can still see my whole nail bed. I’m not sure full opacity could be achieved. The polish did dry quickly and with a gloss. The formula isn’t bad, but I won’t say much about it; my bottle is pretty old — at least five years, if not closer to ten — and it was quite thick when I opened it, so I did have to thin it out. This is probably irrelevant. What really matters is that it glows in the dark. I got one good photo of the effect in action; it glows a vibrant green.

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I love glow in the dark polish. It is so fun and so satisfying to wiggle my fingers around in the dark when I go to bed. My boyfriend think it’s annoying but I love it. It feels a little weird, though, to wear such a sheer color without any glitter or other adornments. I’m wearing practically nothing at all. It’s like wearing a revealing dress, I suppose; when I first put it on, I’m a little insecure, but the longer I wear it, the more it grows on me, and at the end of the night I feel sexy and empowered. The analogy is a bit of a stretch, but I think you get it.

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Final word: the polish isn’t anything special. It’s probably the most available and affordable glow polish out there; I see it everywhere around Halloween. However, the quality is comparable to the glow polishes I’ve tried from China Glaze and American Apparel, so it’s whatever. If you need a glow in the dark polish, this would be a good one, but this particular one isn’t at all a must-have.

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Fantasy Makers is usually available in drugstores during Halloween. I got mine at a costume shop.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Plum Tired of the Cold

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The last winter polish for the season is finally here! This is Plum Tired of the Cold from Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer‘s 2013 winter collection. I’m wearing three coats here with one coat of Alter Ego‘s She Shines top coat.

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The mini-decant is courtesy of Angela at Older Ladies Like Color Too.

The mini-decant is courtesy of Angela at Older Ladies Like Color Too.

Plum Tired of the Cold is described by BEGL as a “blackened plum shimmer base packed with gold micro hexes, red hexes, diamonds, and circle glitters, wine and burgundy hexes, and black hexes and holo dots”. When they say it’s packed, it’s packed. The glitter is varied but still even; I might not have gotten one of every kind of glitter on every nail, but I got one on each hand, which is often enough that I don’t wonder if they’re really in there. The base color itself is pretty dark, which means I could only get by with one coat if I really wanted to. The coverage is buildable and the color darkens with each coat. The formula applies evenly, even with all the glitters. The consistency was on the thicker side, but that’s expected in a polish like this. Drying times were good; the polish dries to a satin finish. Top coat really brings out the shine in the glitters.

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While I loved this entire collection, the big glitter polishes were my favorites. Tacky Winter Sweater has to be my favorite because it’s pink, but I think this one is second fiddle. It’s a deep and rich color, which I love, and it’s full of shimmer and glitter and shine. It’s a beautiful polish.

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Let me get in one last whine about how much I hate cold weather: I hate cold weather. Lately, it hasn’t been as warm as I’d like it to be; it’s been gray and rainy and hovering around 65 degrees. It sucks, but it isn’t cold. On the bright side, since this is the last winter polish, it means we’ll have BEGL spring polishes to liven up the rainy days. I can’t wait to wear them.

Plum Tired of the Cold has been discontinued by the maker and is no longer available. You can buy other BEGL polishes from their shop.

I did not purchase this polish, but it was not sent for review or evaluation.

Swatch Sunday: Estée Lauder’s Black Plum

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Swatch Sunday!! Today’s swatch is luxurious and glamorous. I feel like such a Fancy Nancy with this on. I’m wearing Estée Lauder’s Black Plum; this is three coats with one coat of Alter Ego‘s She Shines top coat.

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Black Plum is a deep blackened plum (surprise) with a subtle lilac shimmer. The shimmer didn’t translate well to the nail, but it looks gorgeous in the bottle. You can see it somewhat in the sunlight (photos below), but in the studio it’s basically invisible. However, this formula was a joy to work with. I had perfect opacity in two coats, and the consistency was on the thin side, but not to thin as to be watery. My favorite thing about this formula, though, is the high gloss it dries with. This is some wicked shiny nail polish. In fact, I think I dulled it when I put on my top coat. It looks like plastic leather sexiness when it dries. It’s absolutely gorgeous.

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This is my first Estée Lauder polish; in fact, I don’t have much experience with the brand at all, apart from some lipsticks and skincare minis from gifts with purchases. This polish was also in a gift with purchase, probably the only thing from it I’ve actually used. I’m really impressed with it. I’m disappointed the shimmer doesn’t capture well, but I love it anyway, so much so that there’s definitely a trip to the Estée Lauder counter in my future.

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Here are those sunlight photos. You can see the tiny lilac shimmer if you look really hard. Otherwise, it just presents as a rich plum creme. I’m totally fine with this.

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You can get this polish wherever Estée Lauder is sold. I get mine from Belk.

This polish was a gift with purchase. It was not sent for review or evaluation.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Toasty Warm

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It’s another winter polish this Swatch Saturday! This is the next-to-last of the Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer winter collection from 2013. This is Toasty Warm; I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Alter Ego‘s She Shines top coat.

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Toasty Warm is a deep and rich blackened red with red glitters. It applies very easily; it was almost opaque on the first coat, and had perfect coverage on coat two. The glitters are suspended well in the polish; there’s no digging for it or struggling to even it out. The polish consistency was just right, not too thick or thin. It was pretty quick-drying; it reached its dried satin finish in about five minutes. I added a top coat to really bring out the beautiful amber shimmer.

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I have a deep affinity for these dark and vampy colors; they’re so dramatic and striking. They also shine like crazy with top coat on. I love this a ton. I wore these colors a ton when I was younger, because I wasn’t allowed to wear black nail polish. Every time I wear a deep color like this, 13-year-old me is giving almost-30 me a high-five.

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It’s a little weird wearing it this time of the year, though. As I write this, it is 83 degrees outside. It’s sunny, it’s warm, it’s gorgeous. “Toasty warm” doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel right now; right now, I do not have socks on. I do not have on a hoodie or long pants. It did not take my 13 year old LCD monitor 25 minutes to warm up. This is the beginning of the year for me, when I can crawl out of my flannel and wool cocoon and bask in the sunlight. Unfortunately, I understand that a lot of you got snow on the first day of spring. I am so sorry. Hang in there, my northern buddies. This too shall pass.

Toasty Warm is long discontinued and is no longer for sale from the maker. Other Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers are available from their shop.

This polish was a gift. It was not sent by the maker, nor was it sent for review or evaluation.

Swatch Sunday: Emerald & Ash’s California Stop

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Swatch Sunday comes to you in a more timely manner today. I’m excited to show you California Stop from Emerald & Ash. It’s from their textured Road Trip collection. I’m wearing three coats without top coat.

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California Stop is a brick red jelly with shimmer and reflective silica beads; the silica beads are what gives this polish its texture. The texture is fine and still pretty smooth to the touch. I thought the drying times were good; my nails were bathroom dry in about fifteen minutes. Applying it was tricky; with all the beads and reflective goodness in it, the brush widened quite a bit, and was wider than my smaller nails. This made application on my thumb really nice, but made a mess on my pinky. I don’t blame this on the polish, just on my small hands. I got perfect opacity in three coats, though those who use lighter coats may need more.

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Inspired by the ever-present red stop sign, this color is the exact shade of sun-aged red found in signs all over my neighborhood. To me, it evokes childhood memories of being in the car with my mother, driving around in my grandparents’ suburb, seeing the faded signs, the palm trees in every yard, and the sun in my eyes. Now that I think about it, that car was the same color as those signs.

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The polishes in the Road Trip collection were the first textured indie polishes I’d ever seen, and I just thought they were really cool. They aren’t as coarse as mass-market textures, and they are beautiful in their shimmery monochrome simplicity. Also, at the time, I was getting ready to embark on a two week long road trip with a friend, so I was all about road tripping. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get any of the polishes until recently, and by then, three of the seven were out of stock. It’s a shame, because there really isn’t anything else like them in my collection.

The reflective effect works best in dimmer, direct light, so in bright midday sunshine, it’s not as obvious. Out here, you get the shimmer and color of the polish, but not the reflective effect.

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California Stop, as well as three of the other Road Trip collection polishes, are still in stock on the Emerald & Ash website. They are clearance priced, so it’s likely quantities are limited.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Snowfall at Dusk

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Hello! Swatch Saturday is late today due to website maintenance. If you were here earlier and the site was down, I apologize. That said, Swatch Saturday is digging into the rest of Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer‘s 2013 winter collection. Yeah, I know. It was 80 and sunny and springtime now, but here we are. This polish is called Snowfall at Dusk; I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Alter Ego’s She Shines top coat. Also, that’s lotion stuck in my cuticles. Sorry.

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Snowfall at Dusk is a cornflower blue jelly with various shades of blue glitter in hexes, dots, and squares. There are also white snowflakes in the bottle, though I didn’t get any on my nails. The formula was fantastic; the glitters and the color apply easily and evenly over the nail. It dried quickly. It dried completely smooth, even before top coat. The jelly is a great translucence; you can see all the glitter through all the coats. It’s a fun and easy polish to put on and wear.

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I really like this polish. I love the blue winter motif, because it’s seasonal without being holiday festive. Blue is also a pretty cheerful color to me; sometimes winter is just so gray and dreadful and any pop of color, even one this soft, is a welcome sight. This polish says to me “Hey, it’s cold and wet and you’re miserable, but we’re gonna get through it”. That said, winter in Florida is over and I could not be happier.

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I even got some pics in the sunshine! This polish almost looks like it wants to melt out here. The jelly is beautiful; you can see right through it. The glitters shine so well. Glitter in direct sunlight in the best thing in the universe.

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Snowfall at Dusk has been discontinued, but BEGL‘s most recent winter collection is still available in their shop.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: Essie’s Marathin

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Swatch Sunday’s polish this week is Essie’s Marathin. I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Alter Ego’s She Shines top coat.

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Marathin is a dusty mauve creme polish. Applying it was easy; the formula is pretty even, so the first coat was almost opaque; a little streaky, but filled out with another coat. I had full opacity in two coats. It dried well; I didn’t notice any long drying times, and it was still pretty glossy and smooth before top coat. It’s a good quality polish.

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Marathin was my first Essie polish that wasn’t from the LuxEffects line. You can be sure I bought all of those first. I just happened to spot Marathin in a sale in at Walgreens, and even though it’s not my style, I bought it anyway. I don’t have a lot of enthusiasm for this one, you can probably tell. This color just reminds me of that dreadful time when the only nail polish colors I had access to were my mother’s, and the only colors she had were variants of dusty mauve. It’s not a bad color, I’m just still burnt out on it after all these years.

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I don’t see Marathin on the Essie website, so it might be discontinued. I get my Essie polishes from Walgreens.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Saturday: Alter Ego’s Grows Hope

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For today’s Swatch Saturday, I’m wearing a brand that’s very new to me. I had not heard of Alter Ego until Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer launched the Lighthouse of Hope Box last October. I didn’t have any of their polishes until I purchased said box. I’m wearing three coats of Grows Hope with two coats of Alter Ego’s She Shines top coat.

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Grows Hope is a frosty metallic green polish. The formula is definitely on the thicker side, but I believe this is by design; to thin the consistency would be to change the intended foil effect. Despite the viscosity, I had no problems at all applying it. It dried quickly with a satin/matte finish, likely due to all of the pigments and magic that comprise the formula. Top coat went a long way in bringing out the metallic look. I ended up using two coats of top coat because the first one soaked right in and didn’t give me as much shine as I wanted. Despite that, I enjoyed working with this polish.

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Grows Hope and the Lighthouse of Hope Box were created to raise awareness for depression. Each polish in the box was made in the spirit of perserverance, optimism, and support. The maker has this to say about it, taken from the BEGL Lighthouse of Hope Box item page:

“While this woman doesn’t suffer from depression she knows lots of people who do. She Grows Hope for those she know who suffer, trying to make others more aware of how personal these issues can be, and by standing quietly by the side of these people she loves so much, without judgement, to help in whatever way she can.”

Grows Hope is like nothing else in my collection. I can’t get over this finish. I don’t have a single polish like this one. I really am impressed with it.

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Also, a quick word about the Alter Ego top coat. I’ve actually used it for a couple of manis so far, but I thought this would be the best time to talk about it. It’s really nice. After applying, my hands are bathroom-dry in five minutes. I have had no problems with shrinking or cracking, even with multiple coats. I didn’t know what to expect with it, but I’m really happy with it.

Grows Hope is a Lighthouse of Hope Box exclusive, which you can purchase from the BEGL shop. The box contains seven other polishes, as well as the She Shines top coat. The price is $80, $60 of which is donated to I Need a LightHouse, an organization that works with people who suffer from depression and their loved ones. Polish for a cause!

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: Enchanted Polish’s March 2014

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What’s this? Two holos in a row? Yes! This is another swatch I am totally thrilled to bring you, because it’s a polish I thought I would never own. This is March 2014 from Enchanted Polish; I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Alter Ego‘s She Shines top coat. All photos are taken outdoors in partly cloudy/overcast lighting.

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March 2014 is a spring green linear holo with baby blue shimmers. I loved putting this on; the holo effect is very powerful right from the first coat. I reached perfect opacity in two coats. The formula was a little thin for me, but it went on evenly. Drying time was good. I’m really impressed by the holo effect in this polish; the rainbow really pops out in nearly every kind of lighting. Only when a room is really dim does it fail to show up.

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I mentioned that I never thought I’d have my own bottle of March 2014. I hadn’t heard of Enchanted Polish until about March 2014, when I started seeing this exact color all over the nail blogosphere. It was beautiful, and when I found out it wasn’t for sale for very long, I just admired it from afar. I forget when exactly it was, probably the summer or early autumn, I happened to see it for sale in another blogger’s destash sale. I bought it for 24 dollars. At that time, it was the most money I’d ever spent on a bottle of nail polish. I felt guilty for days after.

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I had really hoped for more sunshine, because I wanted to see just how big and crazy these linear rainbows get. I feel like this is a really good show for just overcast skies. I bet this is crazy stunning on a clear day.

Like I said, March 2014 is only available if you’re lucky enough to find someone selling their bottle. Subscribe to the Enchanted Polish newsletter to find out when the next restock is, so you don’t miss this year’s March polish.

I bought this polish myself.