Mod Lacquer!

Nothing to Disclose

Hello my lovelies! I want to first thank you for being patient with me and my spotty posting schedule here lately. I’ve been right in the middle of the end of semester, the holidays are here, and I’m going to try to pick up some extra hours at work during my school break. So thank you! Second because of my somewhat spotty posting schedule I’ve had these pictures in the vault waiting for a moment to be released out into the world to inspire wishlists everywhere! I have three delightful polishes from Mod Lacquer today! Let’s get started, I’m ready to roll!

First up I have Waxing Whimsical!

Isn’t this fun?! I adore colors like this. I tend to be very drawn to bright pastels and bright colors in general. This is a bright mint green crelly based polish packed with multi-sized matte hot pink square and hex glitters! It would almost be a jelly base if it were a little more translucent. It does go on a bit sheer but three thin coats and it’s all good.

I didn’t have any problems getting the glitter, even the larger sizes, out onto the nail. The glitter spread nicely and didn’t require any major manipulations. I do recommend doing your first coat especially thin and not to worry about getting too much glitter on in the first coat or two – that could cause the glitter to clump up and need a lot of manipulation if the upper layers of glitter are catching on the glitter that has already dried a bit. Bottom line: I love this polish, the colors are perfect for me, the formula was really nice and I would totally recommend it!

Polishes used: Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Mod Lacquer – Waxing Whimsical; Nail Pattern Boldness – Glitter Food; Glisten & Glow – HK Girl

Next up we have the one that I thought was going to be my favorite from the bunch – I was wrong but I still love this one too! I present to you Radical!

Let me say – this is another polish that is right up my color alley as it were. I ADORE blues, greens and teals. I do wear other colors but I really am drawn to that part of the color spectrum! Radical is a bright blue crelly based polish with tons of tiny matte hot pink hex glitters meandering through the base. Again this is a crelly that could almost be a jelly if it were slightly more translucent. It is sheer like Waxing Whimsical but again this is three thin coats and it shows only the barest amount of VNL. As you know a little VNL never bothers me. I like the squishiness, and I do not like to layer crellies and jellies over solid opaque polishes because they seem to lose that quality to me.

This polish went on like a dream. Seriously, one of the easiest glitter polishes to apply. I really love the color on this one and I’ll definitely be reaching for it to overcome any winter doldrums that I may feel as the season wears on.

Polishes used: Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Mod Lacquer – Radical; Nail Pattern Boldness – Glitter Food; Glisten & Glow – HK Girl

Ok last but certainly not least is my favorite of the three I picked up – Paranormal Paradise!

O.M.G. This is a clear based glitter topper. The amount of holographic glitter in this amazing polish is simply EPIC. Being clear based I did layer it over undies but honestly what you see is one dabbed coat…I think I could have build this one to opacity if I wasn’t hoarding up my bottle like a crazy polish lady! Packed into the clear base is BIG holographic pink, silver, hot pink, and aqua circle glitters, medium metallic red and pink hexes, tiny metallic lime green hexes, and throughout is fine holographic multi-colored micro-glitter.

There is so much glitter my camera really was freaked out and didn’t know where to focus! No digging or fishing was required, but I did turn the bottle upside down for about 20 minutes before I did this swatch. I do this with almost all of my glitter polishes, gravity helps pull the chunky bits up to the top where the brush can catch them more easily. This polish is crazy festive in my opinion and would be great topped over black, gray, or navy for the New Year!

Polishes used: Polishes used: Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Tip Top Nails – Meringue Surprise; Mod Lacquer – Paranormal Paradise; Nail Pattern Boldness – Glitter Food; Glisten & Glow – HK Girl

So…will you be running out to pick up some MOD Lacquer? I know I’ll be getting some more I’ve been really eyeing up her Cryptid Collection! You can of course keep up to date with news and sales by following Mod Lacquer on Facebook and you can buy her polishes in her Etsy shop!

Ruby White Tips – Christmas Balls

Nothing to Disclose

I am so thrilled to have finally got my mitts on a bottle of Ruby White Tips nail polish! I’ve heard good things about them around the blogosphere and I’ve been stalking their website and drooling over the polish. Then something happened that motivated me to push that “add to cart” button like I’d been yearning to do. Laura, the owner of Ruby White Tips, released her Holiday collection which includes the polish I am going to show you. I love every single thing about this polish!

Just look! Now first let me just say, I adore that there are little rhinestones stuck to the cap – I think that’s adorable! It makes it so girly and fun! I’ll give you a moment to collect yourself over the stunning polish. What we have here is a pearly shimmery base packed with tons of glitter, red metallic dots and squares and gold metallic dots. What’s really special about this polish though is that there is a color-shift in the base and so in some lights it looks pink! I tried to capture that pink shift for you! It really is such a lovely sparkly polish, and dare I say it, FESTIVE!

Application was easy breezy, really one of the easier glitter polishes I’ve ever applied. The glitter spread out evenly without manipulation and even though the polish is sheer and takes about three coats it does build up very easily to reach opacity.

Polishes used in this manicure: Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Ruby White Tips – Christmas Balls; Nail Pattern Boldness – Glitter Food; Glisten & Glow – HK Girl Topcoat

I would definitely recommend this polish and since this I have scored a couple more bottles that I’ll be showing you in the near future! You can keep up to date with Ruby White Tips on their facebook page and website (definitely follow them on facebook so that you will be kept in the loop for her contests and giveaways!) and you can buy Ruby White Tips in their Etsy shop!

Ellagee Review!

Discount Provided for Honest Review

My dearest readers let me just tell you now – I have some great things in store for you today! These are the first Ellagee polishes that I’ve ever gotten but I can tell you right now these will NOT be my last!! Furthermore you’re going to start to see me branch out into colors and finishes and effects that I haven’t touched on yet!

First up is Not the Droids You Are Looking For.

Look how fun! NtDYALF is a clear based glitter topper. There are just tons and tons of gold, silver, and blue dots inspired by C-3PO and R2D2! The glitter spread was very nice and I didn’t have to manipulate it much if at all.

These pictures show one coat over undies!

Polishes used in this manicure: Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu Basecoat; Tip Top Nails – Cherry’s in the Snow; Ellagee – Not the Droids You Are Looking For; Nail Pattern Boldness – Glitter Food; Glisten & Glow – HK Girl Topcoat

Next we have one that I was really really excited about. The only disappointment is that I am not able to do this polish justice in my pictures. I give you La Fée Verte. Well actually I’m not giving it to you this one is MINE!

Look at that lovely green fairy! This polish comes from Ellagee’s Cocktail Hour collection and this is a thermal polish inspired by Absinthe. When it’s warm it is a lovely silvery gray with just the barest hint of green. When it is cool it is a deeper green. Also sprinkled throughout is a smattering of holographic micro-glitters. Application was easy breezy and the thermal effect is really very neat I just couldn’t seem to capture it very effectively, it was pretty cold in my office and I would get my nails warmed up as best as I could but these pictures show it closer to the cool (temperature) shade.

This polish actually dries to a very lovely satiny finish, not really matte, but not super blinding shiny either. These pictures show two coats with topcoat.

Polishes used in this manicure: Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu Basecoat; Ellagee – La Fée Verte; Glisten & Glow – HK Girl Topcoat

Last but NOT least in any way shape or form is a BEAUTIFUL polish from Ellagee’s Holiday collection. This is Everyone Wishes for Silver and Gold

Really, I could faint over this. It’s so gorgeous. I know that this kind of color is a real departure for me. I am not one to go in for a bunch of neutral shades. This however is so amazingly classy, classic, and just lovely. Everyone Wishes for Silver and Gold is an ivory crelly packed with multi-sized gold, silver, and white metallic and holographic circle glitters! You know I am a complete sucker for circle or dot glitter. The overall effect is just so delicate and lovely. I will probably be reaching for this one more than once this Holiday season! You’ll have to act quick for this one though it is a limited edition for the Holidays only!

Picture shows two coats and the glitter spread was very nice and easy and didn’t require any major placement or manipulation. I do like that I seemed to get a good mix of all the glitters on my nails, even the larger dots were no problem at all. I did use glitter food, although I probably could have gotten away with not using it and just opted for an extra thick coat of HK Girl.

Polishes used in this manicure: Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu Basecoat; Ellagee – Everyone Wishes for Silver and Gold; Nail Pattern Boldness – Glitter Food; Glisten & Glow – HK Girl Topcoat

I am thrilled with these polishes and I foresee many more bottles of Ellagee polishes making their way to nest here at my house. You can buy Ellagee polish here and keep up to date on all the news, sales, and contests on the Ellagee Facebook page!

Tip Top Nails

Provided for Honest Review

This is a bit different for me I know. I recently reached out to Tip Top Nails, a nail polish company in South Africa because I had read some wonderful things about their polishes from international bloggers and I was interested in seeing if these were polishes I could get in the states. They very kindly emailed me back and offered to send me a package of their products for me to try out.

I got four delicious polishes, three cremes and one metallic/shimmer finish polish and they also sent me their Toughen Up Maxi Growth Base and Top Coat. I cannot begin to tell you how great these polishes are. As a blogger and a nail polish aficionado it is necessary that I have great polishes to use for nail art and stamping and undies! Who wants to put on two coats of undies on before a glitter topper? Not this girl. With these Tip Top Nail lacquers there will be no need to put on two coats!

The formula is the same across the board. Every single one of the colors they sent were ONE COAT WONDERS!!! That’s right my lovelies sound the alarms! Furthermore the creams had no balding, no streaking, and they were beautifully SELF-LEVELING! I took a picture of the light pink color, Meringue Surprise, on its own because it is pastel and pastel cremes can be notoriously tricky to apply. Not this one…just look!!

These pictures show ONE COAT of Meringue Surprise with the Tip Top Topcoat (say that three times fast). *Squeeee!* it’s so shiny and just perfect!!

When I realized how beautifully they applied on the nail I thought to myself, “Self, stop watching re-runs of the Emeril Lagasse show and try these polishes for stamping looks…” I was completely and utterly blown away. These polishes are perfect for stamping and I believe they would be perfect for nail art looks as well! I’m going to show you a few different stamped looks:

Welcome to the Zoo:

Don’t Houndstooth Me:

Random Pattern Skittle:

Polishes used in these manicures: Tip Top – Maxi Growth Basecoat, Meringue Surprise, Purple Reign, Cherry’s in the Snow, Cha-Cha-Cha, and Maxi Growth Topcoat.

Seriously – even the pink stamped cleanly and clearly. I am so excited about these. I emailed Tip Top Nails and while there is not currently a retailer in the US or that exports to the US if you contact them directly they would be happy to sell them to you and ship them out. You can view there product lineup on their site!! You can also visit them on facebook!

Big Spoon Lacquers – Holiday Collection

Provided for Honest Review

Hello my lovelies! I have three AH-Mazing polishes from Big Spoon Lacquer’s Holiday collection to share with you. I am super excited to show them to you! Big Spoon Lacquers is a brand new indie polish line and so far I have been uber-delighted with Pauline’s lacquers! I could not pick a favorite from these three!

I’m going to cut right to the chase and show you these pretty polishes! First up we have Meet Me Under the Mistletoe!

Meet Me Under the Mistletoe is a delightfully delicate and feminine polish. It made me feel all kinds of girly! The polish is a sheer white crelly with a sprinkling of metallic magenta hexes and metallic lime green dots. It does go on sheer as I mentioned but it does build up nicely or it could be paired with undies. I do not tend to like using undies for jelly or crelly polishes as it causes them to lose some of their squishiness (which is the reason I love them).

Picture shows four thin coats with topcoat. As with the other Big Spoon Lacquers I reviewed here there was no need for glitter food and the glitter spread is very nice and required no manipulation or fishing.

Polishes used in manicure: Glisten & Glow Stuck on Blu, Big Spoon Lacquers Meet Me Under the Mistletoe, Glisten & Glow HK Girl Quick Dry Topcoat.

Next up we have a BEAUTIFUL jelly based polish. I have to tell you I knew when I saw the pictures of it that I would need to own it. Kiss Me at Midnight is a lovely polish that I can see working for the Holidays or all year long!

As with all jelly polishes this one is another sheer polish but it does build up to opacity or it can be paired with undies. Kiss Me at Midnight is a squishy denim blue jelly polish and it is packed with aqua and magenta micro glitter. I LOVE it!

I actually would have done just two coats but there would have been a little more VNL which I would have been ok with but I did three which shows only the tiniest bit of VNL and four coats would have reached full opacity. It was a dream to apply.

Polishes used in this manicure: Glisten & Glow Stuck on Blu, Big Spoon Lacquers Kiss Me at Midnight, Glisten & Glow HK Girl Quick Dry Topcoat.

Finally, my favorite of the three that I received. It is simply to die for.

This lovely polish is Christmas Tree In a Bottle. It literally LOOKS like a Christmas Tree in a Bottle. I was giddy with excitement that I received this polish in my review package. It is a real stunner of a polish and one that I foresee being one of my all time favorite Holiday polishes.

Christmas Tree In a Bottle is lovely green jelly based polish with tiny matte yellow and medium sized matte blue hexes, tiny metallic magenta hexes, teensie tiny holographic dots, and holographic gold bars. It catches the light so beautifully and just sparkles and glitters like crazy!

It is a jelly based polish but builds up to opacity in TWO coats – all of the squishiness that you could dream of in a jelly based polish and as with all of Pauline’s glitter polishes is it packed to the brim with all kinds of glittery goodness, no fishing, digging, manipulating, or otherwise messing around just easy breezy application!

Polishes used in this manicure: Glisten & Glow Stuck on Blu, Big Spoon Lacquers Christmas Tree In a Bottle, Glisten & Glow HK Girl Quick Dry Topcoat.

Now, Big Spoon Lacquers is having a PRE-Black Friday sale so that you can get amazing prices without having to schedule it in with all of your other Black Friday shopping! The sale starts TOMORROW November 22, 2013 at 6PM EST.

Here are the sale details: All polishes are $5.50 alone or priced at $5 if they are bought in a set. It’s site wide. There will be grab bags of 3 minis for $6. And any orders of $15 or more will receive a free mini of a shade that is only available through this offer which is a dark green with light green and darker green shimmers throughout called Shop Til You Drop. Also, 20% of all sales (not just profit) will be donated to a former SEAL whose dog was hit by a car yesterday to help pay for vet costs that are estimated to reach upwards of $10,000.

You can find out all about this and other news about Big Spoon Lacquers on their facebook page and you can pick up all of your favorite lacquers at their shop!