Lilac Dreams – Gothic Gala Lacquers

Jun13

Nothing to Disclose

Helloooo again.   I really am trying to make this blog a  focus for me right now!  Plus I felt bad when I realized that I had gone a WHOLE MONTH without talking with you about nail polish and that is simply UNACCEPTABLE!

So let’s get today’s post started with one that surprised me.  A friend of mine sent this to me and of course I was delighted (gifted lacquer?  Uh hello delighted is an understatement).  So I trotted it off to my office and placed it in my to be swatched basket.  So when I took it out and put it on the first thing I noticed was that it dried matte (which was a small surprise just because I didn’t know) so I thought “well cool I’ll show both the matte look and with topcoat to make it shiny.”  So here it is matte:

Gothic Gala Lacquers - Lilac Dreams (No Topcoat)

Gothic Gala Lacquers – Lilac Dreams (No Topcoat)

Now…Lilac Dreams is a purplish-gray based polish with a strong purple shimmer interference.  When it dries matte it’s just lilac satiny perfection!

So then I said to myself, “Self!  Slap some topcoat on this!”  Well, my topcoat had been sitting near the air conditioner all night long so I start swiping it on and I look down and I’m sure that the look of puzzlement on my face was adorable.  I’m like huh why are my nails getting DARKER at the tips?

Gothic Gala Lacquers - Lilac Dreams (with topcoat)

Gothic Gala Lacquers – Lilac Dreams (with topcoat)

So I finish topcoating all my fingers and I’m still completely baffled.  Then suddenly after a few moments of staring and contemplating I have an epiphany (big words for the win).  So I take my fingers and put them in front of the air conditioner for a few moments and this is what I saw:

Gothic Gala Lacquers - Lilac Dreams (cold)

Gothic Gala Lacquers – Lilac Dreams (cold)

Look at that deep rich purple that it turned!!!  That’s right readers, I’m sure you’ve deduced (much like Sherlock and unlike me) that this is a thermal polish.  My only excuse is that I didn’t know.  But I had quite a bit of fun with an ice cube after I figured it out.

Gothic Gala Lacquers - Lilac Dreams (with topcoat and cold tips)

Gothic Gala Lacquers – Lilac Dreams (with topcoat and cold tips)

The formula on this was lovely.  It went on smoothly in two coats and even in the matte finish didn’t show brushstrokes (which I HATE so I was super happy about that).

Polishes used:  Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Gothic Gala Lacquers – Lilac Dreams; Digital Nails – Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That Topcoat

I’ve definitely been happy with the Gothic Gala Lacquers I’ve gotten so far and it helps that the maker is super nice and easy to approach.  I really like that as well.  Plus she’s a Whovian and so therefore automatically awesome in my book!  She has a new website which you can visit to keep up to date and to buy your own pretties.  You can also keep up with all the news and cool pictures on her Facebook and Instagram.

 

 

Wednesdays We Wear Pink!

Jun11

Some Products Were Provided for Honest Review

Hello my darling readers!  I’m back with a vengeance it seems!  I have my second “Wednesdays We Wear Pink” nail look for you this week!  I decided to use an untried and unloved Julep that was wilting away in my stash waiting for the perfect moment to be used.  I decided to pair it with a deliciously gorgeous lime green holo prototype that I received from Alchemy Lacquers.  So let’s GO:

So for this look I wanted something bright as bright could get and I think I achieved that!  So I started off by painting all my nails with Julep Monica which is a HOT Fuschia pink jelly polish filled with blue iridescent tinsel? shreds?  Not sure what it is it is unlike any other polish “bit” I’ve ever seen but they remind me of tinsel.  Then I got out the Alchemy Lacquers “Lab Sample” prototype which is a lime green holographic polish with a sneaky blue shimmer that went nicely with the blue tinsely stuff in Monica

Julep - Monica with Alchemy Lacquers - "Lab Sample" Prototype

Julep – Monica with Alchemy Lacquers – “Lab Sample” Prototype

On my forefingers I used some YouPolish nail vinyls to create a “lightning bolt” with the lime green.  I reviewed YouPolish nail vinyls right here!

I used a simple dotting tool to create the dots on my middle fingers.

On my ring fingers I did a “waterfall” design (Made popular by the AMAZING Nailasaurus – seriously ya’ll if you don’t follow her you SHOULD) using a striper brush.  I actually bought a brush set off Amazon and it wasn’t expensive but I did find I needed to cut off about half the bristles for it to be thin enough for the things I wanted to use it for.

On my pinkies I just did a simple stripe across the tip with the same striper.

Julep - Monica with Alchemy Lacquers - "Lab Sample" Prototype

Julep – Monica with Alchemy Lacquers – “Lab Sample” Prototype

That’s it – it was not hard at all and I have loved wearing this mani!

Stalker Links!

Julep

Website – Facebook – Instagram

Alchemy Lacquers

Store – Facebook – Instagram

YouPolish

Store – Facebook – Twitter

 

Nail Art for Everyone!

Jun7

Provided for Honest Review

Ok Readers, I know that like me some of you struggle with nail art.  I’m getting better but I still have way more fails than I have wins!  Well today I’m going to show you how to get awesome nail art without a lot of fancy skills!  YouPolish has made it easy for us newbs!

I’m talking about Vinyl Nail Decals naturally!!!

YouPolish - Vinyl Nail Decals

YouPolish – Vinyl Nail Decals

As you can see they come in a wide variety of colors, shapes, and designs.  Before I spam you with some cute nail art looks I’ll tell you about how I feel about them!  I LOVE THEM.  That is all.  Ok no really they are awesomesauce.  They are super easy to apply, the designs and colors are great and even the the newest nail  polisher can get some super cute nail art without having to try too hard!  I recommend using a pair of needle nose tweezers to apply so you don’t touch the adhesive which could inhibit the decals from sticking firmly to your nails.  You don’t NEED to add topcoat if you don’t want to but I would recommend it in order to keep them on longer!  Now onto the spam!

Dollish Polish - It's So Fluffy, I'm Gonna Die with YouPolish Decal

Dollish Polish – It’s So Fluffy, I’m Gonna Die with YouPolish Decal

Alchemy Lacquers - Kelpie Seaweed with YouPolish Decal

Alchemy Lacquers – Kelpie Seaweed with YouPolish Decal

 

Alchemy Lacquers - Naiad of the Spring with YouPolish decals

Alchemy Lacquers – Naiad of the Spring with YouPolish decals

This last one is my favorite and I actually show BOTH of my hands.  It’s a Festivus Miracle…wait…wrong time of year right?  So anyway this one I got a little creative with so that you could see that there are also a lot of possibilities outside of just peeling and sticking them on your nails!

Knockout Lacquers - Gogoplata with YouPolish Decals (Left hand)

Knockout Lacquers – Gogoplata with YouPolish Decals (Left hand)

and now for the deliberately different right hand…

Knockout Lacquers - Gogoplata with YouPolish Decals (right hand)

Knockout Lacquers – Gogoplata with YouPolish Decals (right hand)

I mean I was totally in love with this mani!  It’s so elegant and feminine!  It also is the exact same three decals, I just cut them and placed them differently!  The possiblities are really excellent and I can’t wait to play around with more!

So it’s a little outside my normal style of posting but I really wanted you to see some things that could be done easily and quickly with these wonderful nail decals.  You can get your own vinyl nail decals at YouPolish’s Site.  You can also keep up to date on all the happenings and new designs and also find out about YouPolish’s Subscription box on Facebook and Twitter!

 

 

 

 

New Indie Brand Alert!! Hint: You’ll be Fighting to Get These!

Jun5

Provided for Honest Review

So Readers, I know you’re shocked – two posts TWO days in a row!  But, I just HAD to let you know about these lovely polishes.  This is a BRAND NEW Indie and I think that she is on the right track!  The Brand is Knockout Lacquers and they are all Mixed Martial Arts fighting themed!  I don’t pretend to know anything about fighting but I do know about nail polish!  She very kindly sent me a couple of polishes to review and that means I am going to share them with you!

The first of these two lovely polishes is V.I.  I’m not sure what that stands for, perhaps you fight enthusiasts will know.  All I know is that this is a stuntastic polish!  Holo that will knock you out!  (See what I did there?  Hehehe)  Anyway pictures!  I apologize in advance that the lighting does not do the holo justice but I tried to capture some of it so that you have some idea of how amazing it is!

Knockout Lacquers - V.I. (Over Scofflaw - Love Letter from Scofflaw)

Knockout Lacquers – V.I. (Over Scofflaw – Love Letter from Scofflaw)

I love this as a topper.  The maker says that it can be built up to full coverage and I did start that however because the fine holographic bits are in a clear base my natural nail color showed through and it was sort of yellowy (#nailbloggerproblems am I right?) from some staining I am growing out and I didn’t like the effect.  But the maker said she hadn’t used it as a topper so I decided to give it a go.  I really like the effect it had over a dark base!  As I mentioned it is fine holographic pigment/glitter in a clear base and it gives a tightly scattered (ALMOST linear) holographic effect that just explodes in sunlight.

Knockout Lacquers - V.I. - Intentionally blurred (over Scofflaw - Love letter from Scofflaw)

Knockout Lacquers – V.I. – Intentionally blurred (over Scofflaw – Love letter from Scofflaw)

This is one coat and you can see how heavily glittered (if that is what the holo sparkles are, they seem far finer than glitter to me but coarser than pigment, all in all they are just awesome) it is with one thin coat so it will easily build to opacity!  Sparkletastic I’m telling you!

Polishes used:  Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Scofflaw – Love Letter From Scofflaw; Knockout Lacquers – V.I.; Digital Nails – Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That

Next up we have my surprise favorite.  It hits the mark for me and I am unquestionably in love with it!  Gogoplata!

Knockout Lacquers - Gogoplata

Knockout Lacquers – Gogoplata

You can see that this is a lovely pink leaning lavender shimmer just filled with the same holo sparkle that is in V.I.  These pictures showed off the holo a lot better as well which I’m pleased about.  This is just a flattering color and is so elegant and feminine while being a blinding sparkletastic holo polish!

Knockout Lacquers - Gogoplata

Knockout Lacquers – Gogoplata

This shows two coats, but honestly, I probably could have gotten away with one coat but I wanted to make sure that it was fully opaque for pictures.   The formula on this and V.I. were really stellar and I’m so impressed by the quality.  I ended up wearing this color as my mani for the first part of the week and I only sustained a small amount of chipping after some heavy housework after 5 days.  So it wears fantastic as well!

Polishes used:  Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Knockout Lacquers – Gogoplata; Digital Nails – Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That

Overall I’m thrilled to add a new indie to my roster of brands that I would purchase from personally and I look forward to snagging Gogoplata in a full-size as soon as my no-buy is over not to mention the red one that is also in this collection.  Definitely some stunners.  Oh what’s that you want to know how to get them?  Well they are on Pre-Order TODAY!  That means you can use the stalker links below to go find out about and order your own pretties and then you too can be a KNOCKOUT!

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