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Aly’s Dream Polish Mania!

Apr10

Provided for Honest Review

Hello my lovely readers!  I’m so sorry that I have been so quiet lately, I promise that once I am done with this semester you will be all like “man I wish that Relly over at Boom Shaka Lacquer would shut up about nail polish already,” well hopefully not really but I definitely will be much better about keeping up to date here!

So let me tell you, at one time, Tiffanytea by Aly’s Dream Polishes was one of my top lemmings.  I acquired that polish in November and I was just delighted with it.  So imagine my surprise and delight when I received a lovely package in the mail with some Aly’s polishes to review!  There was definitely some jumping around excitedly and perhaps a squeal or two.  Or five, or ten.  Whatever, don’t judge me!  I have three gorgeous polishes to show you today and I hope you love them as much as me!

First up is Garnet Dreams which is part of her Birthstone collection and it is limited edition, it is still available for order but it’s very limited so you better hurry if you want it!

Garnet Dreams

Garnet Dreams

Now, I bet you’re looking at this and thinking, gosh, garnets are red.  You would be right!  I tried four zillion poses and I absolutely FAILED to capture the burgundy/red-purple interference in this polish.  What Garnet Dreams is a deep charcoal gray (black?  Might be just because of the holo that it appeared gray to me) polish with a burgundy/red-purple interference that is simply mesmerizing.

Garnet Dreams

Garnet Dreams

You can *kinda* see the interference up near the cuticle of my ring finger, but not really like I wanted to share with you folks!  Trust me it’s there and it’s beautiful!  Formula on this was simply amazing.  Two coats to perfection.  Seriously nothing to complain about here!

Polishes used:  Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Aly’s Dream Polish – Garnet Dreams; Glisten & Glow – HK Girl Topcoat

Next up we have Ocean!  Anyone who knows me knows that this polish is right up my alley and I’m already planning what I want to do with it next!

Ocean

Ocean

Oh yes it’s a stunner alright.  This beautiful perfect teal blue/green is just so lovely and perfect for me.  Further I didn’t have a holo polish of this particular shade in my collection.   The holo is definitely present in the polish but it’s more of a scattered holo than linear and it gives the polish a sort of rich and deep look instead of popping off a bunch of rainbows.  It just seems to glow from within.  I am totally in love with this one.

Ocean

Ocean

This beauty, like Garnet Dreams, gave me no problem whatsoever.  Two coats to perfection just like before!  Actually this one and the next one that I’m going to show you were sooo pigmented that I could have gotten away with one coat but I did two out of habit.

Polishes used:  Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Aly’s Dream Polish – Ocean; Glisten & Glow – HK Girl Topcoat

Last but certainly not least is a polish that is not one I would have likely purchased on my own but now that I have it I am so excited that it is part of my collection!  Allow me to introduce you to Spicy Sriracha!

Spicy Sriracha

Spicy Sriracha

Oh hubba hubba.  This polish is sexy.  It’s a beautiful slightly orange-red with a neon pink interference plus a golden holo shimmer.  Oh yeah, it’s simply lovely.  I like the color red, but it is a color that is significantly absent from my collection.  This is mainly because I have a tendency to be both intimidated and also feel that they don’t look that amazing on me.  While I was intitially intimidated by this one I bit the bullet and put it on and nearly fell out of my chair from being blinded by the awesome.  Plus I think it suited me quite well too!

Spicy Sriracha

Spicy Sriracha

Do you see the slight neon pink over the orange-red?  Oh yeah baby.  So, the formula on this is amazing as the others.  Like I mentioned earlier it is SUPER pigmented.  That being said, I noticed that while I was cleaning up the mani that my cuticles were a bit dry and the color really wanted to cling a bit and it took some time.  I highly recommend that you fully moisturize your cuticles prior to using this polish.  You should anyway but you just want to make sure that you do before this one just to make your clean up a little easier!  Two coats out of habit and stunning perfection!

Polishes used:  Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Aly’s Dream Polish – Spicy Sriracha; Glisten & Glow – HK Girl Topcoat

Well that concludes my raving over Aly’s Dream Polish.  I have tried four total polishes from them so far and the formulas on all of them are amazing.  They are easy to apply, super pigmented, and lovely!

What’s that you say?  You want to know more about Aly’s Dream Polish…well of course you knew I was going to include stalker links for you!  You can keep up to date with all the news and happenings over on their Facebook page, follow them on Instagram, and you can see all kinds of pictures of Aly’s Dream Polishes on their Pinterest page!  You want to buy some Aly’s?  Well you should definitely get on over to their Shop and get you some!

My First Light It Up Blue Post for April and Autism Awareness Month – Featuring Alchemy Lacquers

Apr1

Provided for Honest Review

Hello my faithful and loyal readers.  I know that I’ve been a little bit behind this week.  I am going through a lot at school right now but hopefully in the next week or so it will slow down a little so that I can concentrate on extracurriculars a little more.

Right now though I’m going to do the first of my Light It Up Blue for Autism Awareness manis!  This month you’ll see a lot of blue polishes and Autism Awareness manis from a lot of bloggers and I’m delighted to be joining in as well.  April is Autism Awareness and I’m down for anything that I can do to draw attention to this issue!  My bestie has a son who is on the Spectrum and he is a wonderful amazing little boy who has to overcome a lot of challenges.  But with her perseverance and strength and him being just amazing they are able to overcome so many obstacles!  So for them I am going to Light It Up Blue!  I love you Becki and Cole! <3

Today I have a beautiful polish to kick off April and Autism Awareness!  Without further ado I present you Alchemy Lacquers – Santa Rita:

Santa Rita

Santa Rita

This is just shinetastic and sparkle city baby!  My pictures can’t even begin to do it justice because when I walked out into the sunlight I was transfixed!  Santa Rita is a beautiful aqua metallic polish filled with tiny metallic and holographic purple glitters.  They just sparkle and shine in the sunlight!  Santa Rita is a variety of prickly pear cactus which has a sort of seafoam/aqua green/blue body flushed with dark pink/purple.  It’s a beautiful plant and this polish does a good job of representing it!

Santa Rita

Santa Rita

The formula on this is exactly what I’ve come to expect from Alchemy Lacquers…luscious!   While it is a sheer polish it is easily buildable and the pictures above show three thin coats.  They went on easily with no streaking or balding or any other issues whatsoever!  Oh and what’s that, you’ve noticed my nubs have you…yeah I had an unfortunate break and I cannot stand for my nails to be uneven lengths on the two hands so I nubbinized!

Santa Rita - With Polymer Clay Bow Slices

Santa Rita – With Polymer Clay Bow Slices

Last but not least, I couldn’t let it go with just a plain mani since I am actually wearing this one right now so I added these adorable little polymer clay bows!  Aren’t they so stinking cute?  I just used tweezers and dipped them in a tiny bit of topcoat and applied to the nail and pressed them until they were set and then applied topcoat all over to seal them in!

Of course you can stalk Alchemy Lacquers for updates on restocks and sneak peeks and such.  You can find them on Instagram, Facebook, their Website.  You can purchase your OWN Alchemy Lacquers polishes in her Etsy Shoppe!   Her shoppe is currently closed right now while she prepares the upcoming Spring release that is going to be a beautiful line of shimmer glitter crelly polishes which I will be reviewing…just WAIT until you see them they are LOVELY!  Santa Rita will be released at the same time as the Spring Ahead collection.  Keep your eye out as they are set to launch in the early part of this month!

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New to me Brand! Emerald & Ash

Mar26

Giveaway Prize

Darling readers, have you noticed?  It’s SPRING.  That’s right it’s starting to get warmer, the flowers are blooming, pollen is wreaking havoc with allergy sufferers everywhere.  Ah, yes one of my favorite times of year!  I’m delighted that my post today is going to fit RIGHT in with this Spring feeling!  I have a beautiful glitter topper duo to share with you!  I recently won a giveaway celebrating the 1 year anniversary of Emerald & Ash.  An indie polish company that clearly thinks about every little detail, I’ll share more about that later.  These are my first Emerald & Ash polishes but I have a sneaky suspicion that they aren’t going to be my last!

First up allow me to introduce you to Deconstructed Daisy.  I was so excited to win because Daisies are HANDS DOWN my favorite flower of all time, as evidenced by my cute little daisy tattoo.

Deconstructed Daisy (over Spellbound Nails - Leave the Brakes On)

Deconstructed Daisy (over Spellbound Nails – Leave the Brakes On)

Look look look!!  It’s like a daisy explosion.  Really, I would have instantly thought of daisies even if I didn’t know what this polish was named.  This clear-based glitter topper is filled to the brim with matte white and emerald hexes and microglitter in various sizes along with yellow microglitter that so perfectly represents pollen!

Deconstructed Daisy (over Spellbound Nails - Leave the Brakes On)

Deconstructed Daisy (over Spellbound Nails – Leave the Brakes On)

Formula…let me tell you, I’ve said before that a glitter topper was easy to work with, and I meant it.  Trouble is that I find glitter toppers in general easy to work with because I am experienced with them, I know that novice polishers might have a little trouble here and there.  They would not have trouble with this one.  Picture shows one coat over undies.  ONE COAT.  I did push around some of the larger white hexes (they wanted to hang out together on the nail) but it was not difficult and I just did it with the polish brush.  Honestly, very little manipulation at all was necessary.

Polishes Used:  Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Spellbound Nails – Leave the Brakes On; Emerald & Ash – Deconstructed Daisy; Nail Pattern Boldness – Glitter Food; Glisten & Glow – HK Girl Topcoat

Next up is the fraternal twin of this polish!  It is ALMOST the same polish, exept that it’s been given a little dressing up in order to celebrate Emerald & Ash’s first anniversary!

Deconstructed Daisy - LE Holo Edition

Deconstructed Daisy – LE Holo Edition

Ok rather than blah blah say the same thing about this polish because they are extremely close I’m going to share some thoughts about this.  This version is the same as Deconstructed Daisy but with the added bonus of some holographic shimmer!  It just adds that touch of something special to make it more festive!  Both of them do dry with a glitter texture and need a glitter smoothing top coat to even things out but that’s pretty standard.  Second, if you can get both, get both.  This is probably the only polish I have ever received that once I put it on I realized I was heartily glad that I had a “backup” bottle.  Now for run of the mill manis I can use my Deconstructed Daisy and save my Deconstructed Daisy LE Holo Edition for special stuffs!  I have never felt the urge or need to have a “backup” bottle.  This is one that I do think I need both!

Deconstructed Daisy - LE Holo Edition

Deconstructed Daisy – LE Holo Edition

 

Deconstructed Daisy - LE Holo Edition

Deconstructed Daisy – LE Holo Edition

Look there’s a sneaky peak of my thumb so you can see I used a different undie for every nail.  Look how wonderful it looks over all of them!  I actually tested it over 9 different polishes on a nail wheel before deciding which to use for my skittle mani.  The versatility on this polish is amazing.  I would not have expected a VERY white and green and yellow glitter topper to look good over so many different colors!  I also dressed up my accent nail with some little dot daisies and added some little leaves.

Polishes Used:  Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Julep – Joelle; Barielle – Positive Zen-ergy; Zoya – Odette; Ruby White Tips – Constance; Emerald & Ash – Deconstructed Daisy – LE Holo Edition; Julep – Julianne; Sally Hansen – White On; Barielle – Unknown Green; Bondi NY – Brick Road; Nail Pattern Boldness – Glitter Food; Glisten & Glow – HK Girl Topcoat

I didn’t write down all the names of the polishes I used for my tester wheel but I did want to show you how it looks over a variety of different colors:

Deconstructed Daisy - LE Holo Edition (Over a variety of undies)

Deconstructed Daisy – LE Holo Edition (Over a variety of undies)

Deconstructed Daisy - LE Holo Edition (Over a variety of undies)

Deconstructed Daisy – LE Holo Edition (Over a variety of undies)

Another couple of things before I wrap up and provide you with all the store and stalker links you will ever need to get your own Emerald & Ash goodies.  My prize came with a bottle of Daisy cuticle oil.  This stuff is AMAZING.  I don’t generally rave about or review cuticle oils because, well, to me they are mostly the same.  This one though is different than most I’ve used.  The oil soaks in quickly but is moisturizing and it smells divine!  A lot of oils just sit on my skin and make a mess but this one is just great!  Emerald & Ash have a HUGE library of scents that you can choose from, and I think they will even do unscented if you prefer.

Second, the packaging.  Again, something I don’t really talk a lot about.  I checked with a friend of mine who is familiar with Emerald & Ash and she confirmed that this level of care with packaging is the standard and not the exception.  I really felt like I was opening a high end present!  Everything was packaged with so much care and attention to detail.  They even include a little stack of felt squares for polish removal (So cool!  How have I missed the boat on felt for removal?  I may be a convert!).   Not to mention the bottles are heavy and I really like the cap and brushes as well and they really lend to that high-end feel, even the logo on the bottles is perfectly suited.  I think it really shows the level of care that these makers put into their product and their business!  I really appreciated the feeling of opening a gift and there are only a few indies out there that I know of who make me feel that way and E&A is one of them!

Super Cute Packaging!

Super Cute Packaging!

 

Super Cute Packaging!

Super Cute Packaging!

So by now you’re biting at the bit and ready to go and stock up on a bunch of wonderful smelling cuticle oil and pretty polishes right?  I know I’m right!  So you can find Emerald & Ash for sale at their online shop.  You can also follow them on Facebook and Instagram to keep up to date on all the news and happenings.  It looks like they are also on Twitter and Google + If you prefer those social media formats!  I already have my eye on the next Emerald & Ash polishes that are going to be making their way to my doorstep!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elevation Polish Excitement!

Mar22

Nothing to Disclose

My dearest readers!  I’m so delighted to be able to share these two polishes with you!  One is a super versatile holographic flakie topper and the other is a beautiful linear holo!  I bet you would just like me to get right onto the review…but are you sure you don’t want to chat a bit about the weather or work or…ok ok ok!  Polish it is!

First up let’s start with that super versatile topper I mentioned.  Aguja St. Exupery:

Aguja St. Exupery (over LynBDesigns - Happy Wallabies)

Aguja St. Exupery (over LynBDesigns – Happy Wallabies)

For this swatch I paired Aguja St. Exupery with LynBDesigns – Happy Wallabies (a pale pink with white flakies.  Happy Wallabies did stain my nails bright red so if you have this polish and haven’t used it yet please be aware.  It is discontinued).  Aguja St. Exupery gives not only that linear holo effect that is so well loved in the indie polish community but also is packed with a golden shimmer and taupe flakies.

Aguja St. Exupery (over LynBDesigns - Happy Wallabies)

Aguja St. Exupery (over LynBDesigns – Happy Wallabies)

In this picture you can see the flakies and shimmer but not as much of the holo.  Trust me though it may be shy on camera you get this topper out into the sunlight and it is as effervescent and outgoing as you could want!  Picture shows ONE coat over undies.

BONUS:

Aguja St. Exupery (over various undies)

Aguja St. Exupery (over various undies)

I was playing around with my swatch wheel and some blues and an off-white with this topper and look at how nifty it looks on other colors!  I don’t remember which polishes I used here, I believe it’s a Wet n’ Wild and the blues are Julep polishes.

Polishes used:  Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; LynBDesigns – Happy Wallabies; Elevation Polish – Aguja St. Exupery; Glisten & Glow – HK Girl Topcoat

Next up is my favorite holo of all time.  Anyone who knows me KNOWS that I have a passion for blue polishes.  Specifically dark teal-leaning navy blues.  Without further set up let’s just get on to the awesome.  Here’s Darkest Storm:

The Darkest Storm (with an accent of Alchemy Lacquers - Borage prototype)

The Darkest Storm (with an accent of Alchemy Lacquers – Borage prototype)

Oh.Em.Gee.  I am so in love with this polish and I’m not even a huge holo fan (*gasp* I know, but I’m such a sucker for the glitter!)  This polish is just AH-mazing!  (The accent nail is a prototype of an upcoming polish, it has been tweaked for final release so it will look slightly different from this picture, I will have pics of the final polish as well).

The Darkest Storm (with an accent of Alchemy Lacquers - Borage prototype)

The Darkest Storm (with an accent of Alchemy Lacquers – Borage prototype)

Just look at that beautiful holo!!  This pic shows two coats to full opacity.  The formula is really nice and didn’t give me any troubles at all.  It’s highly pigmented without being crazy thick or hard to work with!

Polishes used:  Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Elevation Polish – Darkest Storm; Alchemy Lacquers – Borage Prototype; Glisten & Glow – HK Girl Topcoat

These two polishes were some of my first from Elevation.  I have been so impressed with the formulas and the colors thus far.  I think I’m a convert and I have already started stacking up my collection with a few discontinued ones.  Trust me though as I get more that are still available I’ll be sharing them with you!  Elevation restocks twice per month (the 7th and 22nd) and you can find out all about it at their website as well as keep up to date on all the news!