Archive | August 2014

Literary Lacquers – A Wrinkle In Time Collection

Provided for Honest Review

I’ve been beyond excited for this collection for a few months now. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle is one of my all time favorite books. I re-read it a couple times a year and each time I get a little something new from it! I actually love the entire series but this collection of amazing polishes is based on just the first book. I may or may not have danced around my office when I found out I would be receiving some of these to review for you all! A combination of books and polish just can’t be beat in my opinion!

A Wrinkle in Time is a grand fantasy adventure where Charles Wallace a precocious 5 year old and his older sister Meg and their new friend Calvin are whisked away to save Charles and Meg’s father, Mr. Murray, from an evil greater than they could have ever imagined. They are led on this adventure by three cosmic beings Mrs. Who, Mrs. Which, and Mrs. Whatsit, an eccentric bunch to be sure!

Let’s dive right in. I’m going to start with Happy Medium. The Happy Medium is a being who Mrs Who, Which, and Whatsit take the children to visit on their way to Camazotz (more about Camazotz later!). The Happy Medium is always jolly and happy but she also actively avoids confronting any dark or unhappy events or places when gazing in her crystal ball. She becomes extremely upset when viewing upsetting scenes from the children’s everyday lives or viewing the “Dark Thing” that is blotting out stars in the universe. Also Meg’s mother tells her that she wishes that Meg knew how to keep her feelings at a “happy medium” because Meg is prone to excess of feeling, both positive and negative feelings.

Literary Lacquers – Happy Medium

Happy Medium is a lovely bright honey mustard yellow linear holographic polish with a strong metallic gold shimmer. It’s more of a creme based holographic polish and has a really lovely glow.

Literary Lacquers – Happy Medium

Unfortunately the light didn’t want to play nice with me so I didn’t get a good shot of the holo in this one but I assure you it’s there though it is a bit lower density than some of the others. It’s still plenty sparkly! The formula is fabulous and this shows two easy coats with topcoat.

Polishes used: Tip Top – Toughen Up Basecoat; Literary Lacquers – Happy Medium; Digital Nails – Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That Topcoat

Next up we have Camazotz. Camazotz is the planet that the children travel to in order to save Mr. Murray. This planet is fully under the control of IT and “The Dark Thing” and all the vitality of the world has been drained.

Literary Lacquers – Camazotz

This is an oil slick of a polish! It’s a black linear holographic polish and it is truly gorgeous. Usually I’m not a huge fan of straight black polish but the holographic pigment in this one slightly grays it so it’s softer and easier for me to wear! Just look at that holo and that’s not even in the SUN or with FLASH!

Literary Lacquers – Camazotz

The formula on this gave me no trouble whatsoever. Clean up was easy peasy as well (I dread clean up on dark highly pigmented colors but this one didn’t give me any trouble). This shows two coats plus topcoat!

How about a flash picture for fun so you can see how very holo’y it is (not a word…don’t care):

Literary Lacquers – Camazotz (flash)

Polishes used: Tip Top – Toughen Up Basecoat; Literary Lacquers – Camazotz; Digital Nails – Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That Topcoat

Next up we have Megatron! Megatron is one of Meg’s nicknames bestowed on her by her scientist parents.

Literary Lacquers – Megatron

Now you’ll notice my nails are a different length here…I did my swatches and somehow lost the bottle shot of this polish unfortunately I didn’t realize that until AFTER I had to cut my nails down due to a break. Soooo new swatch, new length…Sorry about that!

Megatron is GORGEOUS. I love this polish so much. This is a jelly type holo just like Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster and Raspberry Cordial and in fact this is a purple version of those previous two polishes. So it’s a lovely medium purple with strong linear holographic and a smattering of scattered holo sparkles and some dark purple microflakies.

Literary Lacquers – Megatron

The formula on this is just what I’m used to. It is a touch on the sheer side but two coats reached opacity without issue. While all of these polishes are shiny without topcoat I still use it out of habit. Two coats plus topcoat!

Polishes used: Tip Top – Toughen Up Basecoat; Literary Lacquers – Megatron; Digital Nails – Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That Topcoat

My favorite of the ones that I received is up last! Strong Steady Hand. Strong Steady Hand is Calvin’s polish and is a reference to how often he is there for Meg during their adventure and challenges. He is constantly reaching for her hand to steady and support her. There is one point where Meg is the one who reaches for him to offer Calvin support and comfort and you can just feel the amount of emotion that these teenagers have for each other even though they’ve just met. You can really tell that this is going to be a long love story for them!

Literary Lacquers – Strong Steady Hand

This beauty is a coral leaning orange scattered holographic polish. There is so much depth and sparkle in this polish that it quickly catapulted to one of my favorite polishes ever! Not only that I found it extremely flattering on me so that didn’t hurt my feelings any at all!

Literary Lacquers – Strong Steady Hand

No formula issues on this one either! I am always really quick to support indie makers who take the time to really make sure that their polishes are on point and Amy is definitely one of those. These wonderful makers put a lot of time and energy and effort into bringing us these wonderful creations. I know every time I reach for a “LitLaq” that it’s going to be just awesome and I don’t even hesitate. Two coats plus topcoat!

Polishes used: Tip Top – Toughen Up Basecoat; Literary Lacquers – Strong Steady Hand; Digital Nails – Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That Topcoat

What’s that, you want to know how to get your own Literary Lacquers? Well, wait no longer I have the necessary links below!

Store – Facebook – Instagram

Crows Toes – Swatches and Review!

Aug26

Nothing to Disclose

Now, I’ve had some Crows Toes in the past and currently have some but somehow I haven’t managed to get them on the blog. Why?? What is wrong with me? Crows Toes are awesome! Today I bring you what I consider a perfect pair of Crows Toes polishes!

First up: Lil’ Miss Cyanide

Crows Toes – Lil’ Miss Cyanide

Aaaaah I love this one so much! This is a sheer but very buildable lavender polish with an acid green duochrome shimmer. It’s a stunning yet unexpected color combination! It was so flattering on my skin tone and I’m sure that I’ll be wearing it a lot!

Crows Toes – Lil’ Miss Cyanide

I actually really liked the formula on this – you could use it over a base color or you can build it up to full opacity. These pictures show three coats with topcoat. I love how pronounced the shimmer is in this polish. It can be slightly brushstroky (word? No definitely not but it’s staying) so you will want to use a careful hand when applying but the payoff is so worth it.

Polishes used: Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Crows Toes – Lil’ Miss Cyanide; Digital Nails – Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That Topcoat

Next up is a glitter topper that must have been made for Lil’ Miss Cyanide because it is a perfect match. I can’t imagine using this topper on anything else (though my polish bestie – The Glamour Granny, says I need to acquire Lil’ Miss Sunshine as that one makes awesome undies for this topper as well). Without further ado here is Boat Drinks:

Crows Toes – Boat Drinks

Boat drinks is a lavender and gold glitter topper. There are also some green glitters in there as well. It’s an amalgam of awesome dots, micro glitters, and other goodness and it’s all in a metallic or holographic finish (my favorite!) so it’s super sparkly! I layered the full nail on my ring finger and did a reverse gradient on the other three nails and you can see how it is so perfectly awesome with Lil’ Miss Cyanide!

Crows Toes – Boat Drinks

This is a chunky glitter topper but I did not have to fish even for the big gorgeous dots. It does need a glitter smoothing topcoat if you want a glass smooth finish. Again to me the payoff is so worth it!

Polishes used: Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Crows Toes – Lil’ Miss Cyanide, Boat Drinks; Nail Pattern Boldness – Glitter Food; Digital Nails – Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That Topcoat

Crows Toes is available at several online stockists around the world. You can get your own Crows Toes at Overall Beauty or Llarowe as well as some other fine stockists. You can follow Crows Toes on Facebook or Instagram to get all the news and updates on new collections!

Digital Nails – Swatches and Review!

Aug24

Provided for Honest Review

Dearest Readers, nothing could have prepared me for what happened a few weeks ago. Digital Nails released her new Scientist inspired line and it is AMAZING. I snagged one that I wanted the most and quickly added the rest to my wishlist. Then, Raphaelle messaged me and asked if she could add some extras for me to review on the blog. Once I picked myself up off the floor and stopped flailing around the room (Oh, yes! There were flails) over the fact that the maker of my FIRST ever and FAVORITE indie brand asked me to review well I said yes…of course! I mean really, we could blame Digital Nails for my love and obsession with indie polish.

Now a little bit about this collection. Aside from being full of all sorts of wonderment it’s also a really cohesive themed collection all based on famous scientists. Not ONLY are the names perfect but the actual polish itself manages to make you think of the scientist that the polish is inspired by.

First up is Cannon’s Balls of Fire:

This one is probably the most straightforward of them all. This polish was inspired by Annie Jump Cannon who classified over 500,000 stars! I seriously love the names on these polishes…stars are of course just balls of fire (over simplification for the win!)

Digital Nails – Cannon’s Balls of Fire

Now look at that – it’s like a Galaxy Mani in a bottle! This is a deep black jelly based polish filled with orange, teal, white, and lavender glitters in holographic, metallic, and matte finishes. There are hexes, STARS, and some holographic microglitter thrown in as well.

Digital Nails – Cannon’s Balls of Fire

This was a fantastic formula. I didn’t fish and as you can see I did get several stars. The glitter went on smoothly and I didn’t have any other problems with polish application. This is two coats plus topcoat.

Polishes used: Tip Top – Toughen Up Basecoat; Digital Nails – Cannon’s Balls of Fire; Digital Nails – Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That Topcoat.

Next up is Curie-ouser and Curiouser. This is a glitter topper that CAN be built to opacity. Let’s take a look shall we…

Digital Nails Curie-ouser and Curiouser

This is a fun glitter topper and while I never ever thought I’d need a glitter topper like this I have used it no less than three times since I got it. That’s like a record for me! In fact I’m wearing some nail art right now where I used this topper. Clearly this was a serious hole in my collection and I may need to pick up a backup bottle sometime. I rarely say that! This can also be built up to opacity with three thin coats. This is a black and white glitter topper with some color shifting microglitter that shifts from teal to purple (gorgeous!) Of course Marie Curie is famous for her work and research in radiation so this polish glows of course!

Digital Nails – Curie-ouser and Curiouser

These two pictures show three thin coats plus topcoat. I didn’t need a glitter smoother it seemed to really smooth out on its own with topcoat. No fishing, the glitter spread is really nice as well I didn’t have to mess around with it to get it to spread evenly. I’m also going to show you two manicures that have it used as part of nail art so you can see how it looks over some other bases!

Holo gradient with Stamping and Digital Nails – Curie-ouser and Curiouser

Galaxy Mani with Digital Nails – Curie-ouser and Curiouser as the “stars”

Products used: Polishes used: Tip Top – Toughen Up Basecoat; Digital Nails – Curie-ouser and Curiouser; Aly’s Dream Polish – Hottest Pink; Polish Pet – Ivora; Blue Eyed Girl Lacquer – Ocean Warmed by the Sun; Literary Lacquers – Camazotz, Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster, Raspberry Cordial; Sally Hansen – White On, Black Out; YouPolish – TARDIS nail decal; Digital Nails – Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That Topcoat.

Next up is one that I found totally a surprise. In fact it has now got the distinction of the first and only “brown” polish I own. I also know what I’ve been missing now! Let me show you Bitch, Plesiosaur!

Digital Nails -Bitch, Plesiosaur (cold)

Bitch, Plesiosaur is a sheer taupe to chocolate brown thermal polish packed with gold flakies and palest gray satin hexes and squares (looks like bones in the dirt!). This polish is inspired by Mary Anning who discovered the first full skeleton of a Plesiosaur!

Digital Nails – Bitch, Plesiosaur (cold)

I had so much fun wearing this polish – getting ice for my drinks was an adventure! Sitting in front of the Air Conditioner? Way more fun than it ought to have been. For days I went around checking the transition on my nail polish. Application was fabulous. Seriously no issues at all. I did do three thin coats so that when it was fully warm it wasn’t too sheer. In transition it looks as if you’ve been digging in the dirt…and what to paleontologists do? DIG IN THE DIRT! Have I mentioned how much I love how central the whole theme in this collection is? Oh I have…whatever I’ll probably say it again.

Digital Nails, Bitch Plesiosaur (transition)

Oh and while I don’t normally mention wear because I change polish every 2-3 days, I did happen to wear this polish for like five days with minimal tip wear. No chips and it looked beautiful all the way through.

Polishes used: Tip Top – Toughen Up Basecoat; Digital Nails – Bitch, Plesiosaur; Digital Nails – Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That Topcoat.

Up last is my favorite of the group that I got (and the one that I ordered myself) Pale Blue Dots. Pale Blue Dots is inspired by a quote from Carl Sagan. Get ready for a whopping punch of feels because I’m going to share the story/quote with you:

Upon finishing the job it had to do in our solar system, Carl Sagan convinced NASA to turn the Voyager spacecraft around and have it photograph planet earth as it was leaving.

“Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar,” every “supreme leader,” every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.” Carl Sagan

Doesn’t that quote just give you the chills? Talk about powerful stuff right there! Raph did a perfect job capturing this story/quote in a polish.

Digital Nails – Pale Blue Dots

Pale Blue Dots is a denim blue scattered holographic jelly polish with gold holographic microglitter and pale blue satin dots in various sizes throughout. This is another one that looks sort of like a Galaxy Mani in a bottle. It’s a really lovely balance of all the components and looks elegant and knowing the inspiration I get all feely when I see it!

Digital Nails – Pale Blue Dots

One thing that I have to say about Digital Nails is that the formulas have absolutely kept getting better and better as time has gone on. I’ve got polishes in similar finishes from last year that, while they are amazing and I love them, have been improved on formula-wise this year. The application on this was flawless and I didn’t have any problem getting glitter out of the bottle or spread evenly over my nails. It’s perfectly smooth with a nice coat of topcoat despite being packed with glitter not to mention utterly gorgeous and depthy.

Polishes used: Tip Top – Toughen Up Basecoat; Digital Nails – Pale Blue Dots; Digital Nails – Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That Topcoat.

Now – Digital Nails’ shop has been on Vacation but she is going to be opening back up at the beginning of this week for a short time and then she will be back on vacation again. NOW is the time to prepare to snag these and SO MANY OTHER awesome polishes from her shop. In order to keep up to date on when and what time the shop will be re-opened you can follow her on Facebook and Instagram. Oh and don’t forget you can get your Digital Nails fix by purchasing them in her Shop.

My FIRST Chaos & Crocodiles! Swatches and Review

Aug21

Nothing to disclose

Dearest readers have I got a treat for you. If you haven’t taken the leap into the Chaos & Crocodile unknown well then allow me to help you take the plunge! I have a pair of polishes to show you that will certainly help you make that final decision!

First up is a long time lemming of mine, Narwhals are Unicorns Too! Now you might be saying “what IS a narwhal anyway?” If you are then I say you haven’t been on the internet for very long! Narwhals are a type of whale that live up near Iceland and Greenland and they have a long spiraled tusk not UNLIKE what we visualize Unicorns have! Narwhals have the extra coolness of not being mythical!

Chaos & Crocodiles – Narwhals are Unicorns Too

Narwhals is a beautiful tiffany blue creme polish with some subtle glitter thrown into the mix for some extra sparkle and panache. There are teal, golden, and aqua holographic and metallic glitters.

Chaos & Crocodiles – Narwhals are Unicorns Too

I thought that the formula was really good. I have to admit that I was expecting a crelly based polish that went on in sheerer layers that shows off the glitter better but this is definitely leaning more to the creme end of the spectrum, I think next time I use it I might swipe a brush dipped in acetone lightly over the top to reveal the glitters a little more. I found it very self-leveling and I had no problem with the glitter being textured and these pictures show two coats with a layer of topcoat.

Polishes Used: Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Chaos & Crocodiles – Narwhals are Unicorns Too!; Digital Nails – Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That Topcoat.

During the restock that I purchased this polish there were some delays and so Chaos & Crocodiles sent out an extra little goodie to those who had to wait and it’s from an upcoming collection. I’m telling you now that I will probably need all three of the colors in a full size when they are released. This is Echoes:

Chaos & Crocodiles – Echoes

Oh.Em.Gee. While my pictures read red it is actually slightly more magenta in person. It is definitely a very dark pink and nearly red though so that’s probably why it appears much more of a berry red in the pictures. This is a magenta jelly based scattered holographic polish. It is so sparkly and decadent and I think it’s a lovely holiday polish!

Chaos & Crocodiles – Echoes

The formula on this is just gorgeous. Pictures show two coats plus topcoat. I had no problems with the application and it went on smoothly and looks so squishy when it’s finished!

Polishes Used: Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Chaos & Crocodiles – Echoes; Digital Nails – Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That Topcoat.

I highly recommend following Chaos & Crocodiles on Facebook, Instagram and their Blog to keep up with all the news and updates about pre-orders and restocks. You can order Chaos & Crocodiles polishes and other swag items (files, mirrors, etc.) in their shop.

Boom Shaka Lacquer

For Indie Nail Polish Addicts, by an Indie Nail Polish Addict

Archive | August 2014

Literary Lacquers – A Wrinkle In Time Collection

Crows Toes – Swatches and Review!

Digital Nails – Swatches and Review!

My FIRST Chaos & Crocodiles! Swatches and Review