Archive | January 2014

Black Friday Flashback – Part 4 – Spellbound Nails

Jan13

Nothing to Disclose

My dearest readers this post is going to conclude my mini-series on my Black Friday purchases!  Today we’re going to probably have some sad and happy feels and there will definitely be pretty polish.  Let’s look at some Spellbound Nails shall we?

First up I have Zombie Guts!

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I was excited to try this polish.  It’s just the sort of thing that I really love, jelly based?  CHECK!  Glitter? CHECK!  Geeky/Nerdy/Zombie references?  CHECK!   I think that if I was imagining Zombie Guts as a nail polish that this is just the kind of thing I would come up with!  This polish is a true green jelly-based glitter polish filled with small metallic red square and dot glitters, medium matte white dots,  and iridescent lime (or light) green micro-glitter.

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This polish is just as squishy as you would expect from a jelly polish!  Application was good, though I did have to fish just a bit for the bigger glitters.  I’m no stranger to this however and I didn’t find it to be a problem at all.  The polish dries to a satiny finish but I shined it right on up with a glossy topcoat!  On these pictures it appears that there is an ever so slight VNL however that was not apparent to me in person.  Picture shows three coats plus topcoat!

Polishes used:  Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Spellbound Nails – Zombie Guts; Glisten & Glow – HK Girl Topcoat

Next up we have a polish inspired by the 11th Doctor (remember me mentioning the sad feels?)  Let’s all take a moment and remember how awkward and wonderful he really was.  I can’t wait to see what Capaldi does as the 12th Doctor but I really will truly miss 11 far more than I thought I would back when he was crashing into little girls’ yards and getting them to cook up everything in the kitchen to find out what he wanted to eat.

There’s this moment when the Doctor swoops in to pick up River early on in his travels with Amy and River lands the TARDIS and says “we’ve landed” and 11 is indignant and states that of COURSE they haven’t landed and she proves it and then he becomes distressed and wants to know why it didn’t make the sound.  The sound that EVERY Doctor Who fan knows.  River’s response is that it’s not supposed to make that sound but that the Doctor…Leaves the Brakes On!

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I sort of, but not really, feel bad for that lengthy introduction.  But, that’s what you get when you get me going about Doctor Who!  This is Leave the Brakes On, a beautiful TARDIS blue jelly/crelly holo!  This blue may actually be the closest to TARDIS blue that I have in my collection or that I’ve seen in general.  I knew as soon as I saw it that I was going to have to have it.

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I say that it’s a jelly/crelly holo because the base is not a creme base but more in line with a jelly or crelly base.  It has a bit of squishiness that you don’t get from a true creme base.   The holo is evident but not so strong that it blinds you while driving down the road.  Application was lovely and pictures show two coats plus top coat.

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Here’s a picture with flash so you can see the holo effect!  So sparkly!  This is a Limited Edition polish and she’s said that once it’s gone it may not be remade due to a particular pigment that she used being discontinued so I definitely think you should snag it up!

Polishes Used:  Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Spellbound Nails – Leave the Brakes On; Glisten & Glow – HK Girl Topcoat

All in all I’m super pleased with these polishes from Spellbound Nails and I’ll definitely be visiting her shop again!  You can keep up to date on all of the goings-on by visiting their Facebook, Blog, or Instagram.  You can purchase Spellbound Nails in their Etsy and Storenvy shops!  Right now you can pre-order her beautiful Victorian Valentine collection until January 17th!

Black Friday Flashback – Part 3 – Different Dimension

Jan11

Nothing to Disclose

Helloooooo all my lovely readers out there!  Continuing the review of my Black Friday purchases I’m going to be bringing you some new to me brands, one of those is Different Dimensions.  Now, I have been eyeing up the polishes in the Different Dimensions shop for what feels like months but I hadn’t ever taken the leap.  So, I’m really excited to show you what I scored in one of her flash sales over the major shopping weekend!

I’m sure that you know my passion for crelly-based glitter polishes by now…if not allow me to enlighten you…I LOVE crelly-based glitter polishes.  To quote Buddy the Elf, “it’s my FAVORITE!!”  Also by now you might have noticed my predilection for blues, teals and greens.  This polish embodies ALL the things I love about polish.  Here’s Different Dimension Money:

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Just looking at the pictures makes me happy!  I’ve actually worn this again since I swatched it (shocker!) because I love it so so much.  Money is a white crelly base filled to the brim with so much glittery goodness I don’t know if I’ll be able to identify it all but I’ll try!

I see small and medium matte neon lime green hexes, small metallic teal dots, OMG big metallic teal dots, OMG big matte black dots, small holographic gold and lime green glitters, OMG big holographic white?silver? dots (it’s hard to tell the color of these because the holographic effect is so rainbowy (just go along with me making up words because it’s not gonna stop!) that it’s hard to see what the actual color of the glitter is!

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BOOM another shot of that gorgeousness!  Application was actually quite good.    I didn’t have to fish for the larger glitters though I did manipulate them a little bit once they were on the nail so that they weren’t clumped together as big glitters are wont to do at times.

I expect to have to work a little harder with crelly-based (and jelly-based) glitter polishes and to me it’s worth it but it does take a little getting used to – I generally start with a thin coat and I don’t worry about getting the larger glitters on at that point, just whatever gets on the nail is good, then after letting that dry a little bit I do the second coat which is usually a slightly thicker coat and sometimes I dab the glitters where I want them.  The first coat with whatever glitter got on the nail the first time helps grab the glitters in the second coat and hold them there.  Picture shows two coats plus Glitter Food and HK Girl topcoat.

Polishes used:  Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Different Dimension – Money; Nail Pattern Boldness – Glitter Food; Glisten & Glow – HK Girl Topcoat

I highly recommend this polish and I can’t wait to try some more Different Dimension polishes!  You can keep up to date on all the happenings over at Different Dimension by following them on Facebook and Instagram and you can buy your OWN bottle of Money because as per usual this one is MINE at her Etsy Shop!

Black Friday Flashback – Part 2 – Lucky 13 Lacquer

Jan7

Nothing to Disclose

Hiya!  Welcome back to my corner of the world.  In my corner of the world we all love nail polish, isn’t that right?  As I mentioned in my previous post I’m doing a little mini series of some lovely polishes I picked up during the Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday weekend!

I don’t think it’s any secret but I love Lucky 13 Lacquer.  Seriously, I could become addicted very easily to her polishes.   Her glitter jellies are just amazing and her crellies are pretty awesome too!  So today I have three beautiful crelly polishes to show you from Lucky 13 so settle in, grab a drink, and get ready for the awesomeness!

First up we have Fool of a Took from her Lord of the Rings Collection!

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This beauty is a what I creamy green crelly base filled with small metallic purple glitters in a variety of shapes and sizes.  This is a great color combination and is definitely perfect for Hallowe’en manis!

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The formula on this was perfect.  I have never been disappointed yet with a Lucky 13 crelly and this is no exception.  The base is creamy and applies without any problems with application but allows the glitter to shine through.  Pics show two coats plus top coat!

Polishes used:  Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Lucky 13 Lacquer – Fool of a Took; Glisten & Glow – HK Girl Topcoat

Next up we have one that I have been lemming a long time.  It also almost makes me all feely whenever I think about the inspiration behind the polish.  At the end of Firefly when Wash becomes the most amazing hero he says that he is a leaf on the wind!  Try to contain yourselves…A Leaf on the Wind

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This creamy concoction is a sky blue crelly filled with metallic leaf green hexes and little silver glitters.  It’s a lovely combination and while the inspiration was full of sad feels you can’t help but feel a little triumphant and happy when looking at these colors.

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Seriously how gorgeous is that blue?  Stunning.  Formula was perfection, natch!  Pictures show two coats plus topcoat.  One thing I noticed with all three of the lovelies that I have today is that the base is so creamy and smooth and the glitters are so well suspended that I didn’t need Glitter Food for any of them.

Polishes used:  Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Lucky 13 Lacquer – A Leaf on the Wind; Glisten & Glow – HK Girl Topcoat

Last but not least we have a stunning polish based on the amazing and strange River Tam (again from Firefly!).  This is:  No Power in the ‘Verse Can Stop Me!

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This color combination does scream a little more spring than winter to me, but do I care?  No.  Do I conform to seasonal standards when I find polishes?  No.  Will I show you polishes suited to whatever mood you may be having?  Yes!  This is a lovely shimmery spring green crelly base filled with small matte white hexes and small metallic pink hexes and tiny pink and silver glitters.  Totally in love with the color combination!

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Application was deliciously perfect and this polish went on like a dream.  One thing I didn’t mention because I didn’t want to sound repetitive is that the glitter in these polishes spreads very nicely I don’t have to play hide and seek with the glitter I don’t have to do a bunch of manipulation, I paint it on and it gets where it needs to go.  I love that in a polish!

Polishes used:  Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Lucky 13 Lacquer – No Power in the ‘Verse Can Stop Me; Glisten & Glow – HK Girl Topcoat

As always you can keep up to date on all the wonderful things going on at Lucky 13 by following her on facebook and checking out her blog!  In fact she is releasing a new line based on Game of Thrones and I’m sure that I will need a few of those for my growing Lucky 13 collection!   You can buy Lucky 13 polishes at her online store!  Go on and get ya some!

Black Friday Flashback – Part 1 – Ruby White Tips!

Jan4

Nothing to Disclose

Many hellos to you!  Hola, Konnichiwa, Guten Tag, Hi, Hello, Hey there, How YOU doin’?

Sorry I got sidetracked AS usual!  This is going to be a small series of posts regarding some of the pretties that I picked up during the EPIC Black Friday sales that many makers had!

Today I’m going to show you the pretties that I got from Ruby White Tips.  I’ve reviewed one of her polishes before and was totally in love with it so I decided to pick up a couple more while she was having her Black Friday sales!  I foresee my collection of RWT will be growing more and more as time goes on!

Without further ado allow me to show you:  Elise’s Pink Hair

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This is a fun polish because it is actually based on the hair of a friend of mine.  Elise really DOES have pink hair (and it’s adorable).  This polish is literally the exact shade of pink that her hair is!  Elise’s Pink Hair is a lovely pink frost polish.  The formula was excellent and even though it is a frost it does not show every brushstroke the way that some frosts can.  The brushstroky (word?  No I don’t think so…let’s pretend) frosts tend to be dated looking and this one is NOT.  Picture shows two coats plus top coat.

Polishes used:  Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Ruby White Tips – Elise’s Pink Hair;  Glisten & Glow – HK Girl Topcoat

Next up I decided that I was going to glitter up that lovely pink polish so I added Ruby White Tips – It’s the Bomb, YO!  So BOOM here ya go!

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Anyone who knows me knows that this polish is right up my alley.  Tons of glitter in a pleasing color!   It’s the Bomb, YO! is a mix of small metallic teal hexes and dots, small iridescent teal hexes, and is all suspended in a clear but shimmery base.  But wait…you see giant iridescent teal dots don’t you?  More about that in a moment…

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Let’s talk formula…it’s amazing.  I really didn’t expect anything else, but it’s always nice to be proven right.  This picture shows ONE coat over undies.  Now back to those giant dots…Laura really did something awesome with this in my opinion, her vision of this polish had large dots.  But,  some folks struggle with getting these giant dots out of the bottle or placed in a way that pleases them so instead of mixing them in she includes a small bag of loose dots (easily enough for several manicures with the amount of dots I used).  This allows you can hand place them yourself as you please or leave them off if you’re not feeling the giant dot love (it’s true there are people out there who don’t love giant dots…I know it’s hard to believe but you’ll have to accept it)!  Truly brilliant in my opinion!

Polishes Used:   Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Ruby White Tips – Elise’s Pink Hair;  Ruby White Tips – It’s the Bomb, YO!; Nail Pattern Boldness – Glitter Food; Glisten & Glow – HK Girl Topcoat

As I expected I loved everything about these two polishes!  I love that I was able to buy a polish based on a friend of mine and I love these two together, they just work!  As usual you can keep up to date by checking out  the Ruby White Tips website and facebook page, she even has a newsletter so sign up for that!  There is a new collection coming up that I’m sure you won’t want to miss!  You can purchase Ruby White Tips on her Etsy store!