Digital Nails – Swatches and Review!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Galaxy Mani with Digital Nails - Curie-ouser and Curiouser as the "stars"

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)

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

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)

Digital Nails, Bitch Plesiosaur (transition)

 

Digital Nails, Bitch Plesiosaur (transition)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Bring on the Bling! New Collection from Gothic Gala Lacquers

Provided for Honest Review

I have an exciting trio of Gothic Gala Lacquers polishes to show you today!  If you love in your face sparkle look no further.  I cannot wait to show you…so I won’t!

First up in this tantalizing trio of sparkletastic beauties we have 24kt Bling!

Gothic Gala Lacquers - 24kt Bling (No Topcoat)

Gothic Gala Lacquers – 24kt Bling (No Topcoat)

Oh yeah baby.  That polish is blingarrific alright.  Some of my friends tease me about my made up words but I still love them anyway.  24kt Bling is a silver textured polish with a LOAD of gold holographic microglitter and some larger silver holographic hexes.

Gothic Gala Lacquers - 24kt Bling (No Topcoat)

Gothic Gala Lacquers – 24kt Bling (No Topcoat)

Application on this was great – there were no issues to report and these two pictures show two coats with no topcoat.  Without topcoat it is definitely a textured polish.  I love glittery textured polishes and I’m definitely not disappointed with these!

Gothic Gala Lacquers - 24kt Bling (With GGL Smooth Me Over and Topcoat)

Gothic Gala Lacquers – 24kt Bling (With GGL Smooth Me Over and Topcoat)

Even though these are textured they will smooth out quite nicely.  I used one generous coat of Gothic Gala Lacquers’ Smooth Me Over and then topped the whole thing off with a shiny quick dry topcoat and it was nice and smooth!

Polishes used:  Tip Top – Toughen Up Basecoat; Gothic Gala Lacquers – 24kt Bling, Smooth Me Over; Digital Nails – Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That Topcoat

Next up we have another gorgeous glittery extravaganza, Pink Ice:

Gothic Gala Lacquers - Pink Ice (No Topcoat)

Gothic Gala Lacquers – Pink Ice (No Topcoat)

While it’s obvious that this and 24kt Bling are in the same family there are some differences (aside from the obvious color difference).  Pink Ice is a dark pink holographic microglitter filled texture polish and instead of holographic hexes this one has small pink metallic dots throughout.

Gothic Gala Lacquers - Pink Ice (No Topcoat)

Gothic Gala Lacquers – Pink Ice (No Topcoat)

This one actually seemed slightly more textured to me than 24kt Bling and it may be slightly.  I still had no problems with application and am delighted with how easily it went on and how easy it was to clean up around the cuticles!  Sometimes polishes like this the glitter wants to cling for dear life but it really wasn’t that bad!

Gothic Gala Lacquers - Pink Ice (With GGL Smooth me Over and Topcoat)

Gothic Gala Lacquers – Pink Ice (With GGL Smooth me Over and Topcoat)

This picture shows Pink Ice with one generous coat of Smooth Me Over and a shiny quick dry topcoat.  I think that once it cured and settled it could have used another swipe of topcoat to make it glass smooth but I found this to be smooth enough for me and someone would have had to come up and actually touch it to notice that it wasn’t glass smooth.

Polishes used:  Polishes used:  Tip Top – Toughen Up Basecoat; Gothic Gala Lacquers – Pink Ice, Smooth Me Over; Digital Nails – Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That Topcoat

Next up is my FAAAAVE-RITE!  Imagine me saying that in an Oprah voice…go on do it!  I love this one!  Sapphire Sizzle:

Gothic Gala Lacquers - Sapphire Sizzle (No Topcoat)

Gothic Gala Lacquers – Sapphire Sizzle (No Topcoat)

Looooook at that!  So, yes it is definitely purple BUT don’t be fooled…Sapphires come in every color of the rainbow and purple sapphires are gorgeous.  This one is a touch sheerer than 24kt Bling and Pink Ice.  Oh and where 24kt Bling has hexes and Pink Ice has dots…Sapphire Sizzle has aqua shreds in among all the glorious purple microglitter.   This is officially my first polish with shreds and I love them!

Gothic Gala Lacquers - Sapphire Sizzle (No Topcoat)

Gothic Gala Lacquers – Sapphire Sizzle (No Topcoat)

I did mention that this one was a bit sheerer than the other two but I didn’t find that problematic.  This is still just two coats and no topcoat.  I love all the sparkly texture on these and I will be playing with them a little bit more later in a nail art application!

Gothic Gala Lacquers - Sapphire Sizzle (With GGL Smooth Me Over and Topcoat)

Gothic Gala Lacquers – Sapphire Sizzle (With GGL Smooth Me Over and Topcoat)

Look how pretty with topcoats too!  I didn’t find any issues with smoothing this one out with a generous coat of Smooth Me Over and Topcoat.

Polishes used:  Polishes used:  Tip Top – Toughen Up Basecoat; Gothic Gala Lacquers – Sapphire Sizzle, Smooth Me Over; Digital Nails – Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That Topcoat

I think that these will be perfect in the coming winter months and they are universal enough to be used any time of year.   Bring the Bling is going to be available after this blog post goes up!

You can purchase Gothic Gala Lacquers on their Website.  Don’t forget to follow along on Facebook and Instagram for sneak peaks, sales, and other special things!

 

 

 

 

Throwback Thursday – Jindie Nails

Nothing to disclose

Ok reader I thought I would do something fun!  I like to go back to the beginning of my blog and see just how far that I’ve come.  Not only in actual application of polish but also in my photography and writing style.  While I really enjoy writing in this conversational style I think that it was much more stiff and a little forced at the beginning!  So since Jindie Nails recently had their two year anniversary and I’m coming up on my one year blogaversary (Just a couple of months can you believe it?!) I thought I would take my blast from the past and show you new swatches of two polishes that I reviewed WAY back in October of last year!

Let’s start with Anniversary Seaquins:

October 2013:

Jindie Nails - Anniversary Seaquins (original swatch)

Jindie Nails – Anniversary Seaquins (original swatch)

July 2014:

Jindie Nails - Anniversary Seaquins (Updated Swatch)

Jindie Nails – Anniversary Seaquins (Updated Swatch)

While I didn’t have any troubles with the polish the first time but I feel like I have come a long way with pictures and lighting!  I definitely recommend reading my review from before because I don’t have anything different to say about this one.  Love it!

Jindie Nails - Anniversary Seaquins

Jindie Nails – Anniversary Seaquins

Another thing I started doing was adding this non-bottle shot to give a different perspective.  I didn’t do this originally and I think that now these two shots (the bottle and the non-bottle) are part of my own personal style!

Polishes used:  Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Jindie Nails – Anniversary Seaquins; Nail Pattern Boldness – Glitter Food; Digital Nails – Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That Topcoat.

Next up let me show you Purple Universary!

October 2013:

Jindie Nails - Purple Universary (Original Swatch)

Jindie Nails – Purple Universary (Original Swatch)

July 2014:

Jindie Nails - Purple Universary (Updated Swatch)

Jindie Nails – Purple Universary (Updated Swatch)

Night and Day am I right?  Seriously I loved this polish before (but hated the old minis so glad she’s changed her minis to a different bottle shape!)  But, my game is so improved now and I also picked up a trick to these mini bottles.  I’ve seen some of these old minis out there on the secondary market and I always want to rescue them but I remembered my frustration with the bottle.  Then I saw someone recommend using a brush from another polish (cleaned of course, I used an old topcoat brush) with these bottles and lo and behold application was SO MUCH easier!!  Secondly while lack of full opacity doesn’t bother me overmuch personally I have also come to appreciate when polish is applied to its full potential!  So while my initial swatch showed 2 coats that were inexpertly applied this one is 2.5 coats with a much more even and practiced application style.

Jindie Nails - Purple Universary (Updated Swatch)

Jindie Nails – Purple Universary (Updated Swatch)

Polishes used:  Polishes used:  Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Jindie Nails – Purple Universary; Nail Pattern Boldness – Glitter Food; Digital Nails – Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That Topcoat.

I believe that these polishes are not discontinued so you should still be able to get them!  You can find Jindie Nails here and on facebook and she is also on instagram!  You’ll definitely want to follow on Facebook so that you will know when restocks are happening as her polishes tend to go very fast.  Jindie Nails is also available at Llarowe and Harlow and Co as well as other fine stockists around the world.