My new gig…Lab assistant?

Provided for Honest Review

My lovely readers welcome! I bet you’re thinking, “huh she got a new job, so what, show us polish grr!” But no I have not! I also have no background in science or medicine whatsoever unless you count freshman biology! So what could I possibly be talking about?

I’m talking about nail polish, natch! Recently I became a Lab Assistant for Alchemy Lacquers. The head alchemist over there was recently looking for Lab Assistants to test and swatch polishes, report on how they wear, the formulas, and also to review them! SO you know I had to jump on board for that. I’m going to share three polishes with you today but there will be more in the future as well!

Let’s start with my favorite today…who doesn’t like to shake things up now and then? The reason it’s my favorite is because it is probably one of the most versatile polishes I own and I will be snagging a backup bottle I can tell you that!

Without anymore fanfare…Unicorn Horn!

So now you’re probably saying to yourself…huh that’s one funny looking polish it’s all different colors. But NO what Unicorn Horn brings to the table is amazing! It is a micro glitter topper that will take your mani right over the top! I wanted to show how it will work over a variety of bases. There is an insane amount of multi-colored metallic micro-glitter packed into a clear base…SO MUCH SPARKLE. I cannot express this enough. I have micro glitter top coats…but they are not multi-colored and that really sets this one apart in my opinion!

I showed it over a nude/mauve color (upcoming review look for that!), navy blue (I don’t own a black polish, don’t judge me), white, and an amazing purple (another upcoming review!). You can see that Unicorn Horn works with all of them! You can also see some of the colors in this picture since the sun came out to peek at me through the window!

Here’s another shot. I really wanted to show what kind of sparkle factor you can expect with this polish! I had zero issues with formula and I actually did wear test this polish along with another one so the wear on it is great! This polish also did not dry to the consistency of sandpaper that you might expect…it really was quite nice and a nice topcoat was all that was needed to smooth out the glitter a little. These pictures show ONE coat over undies. Yes, there is that much glitter in ONE coat!

Polishes used: Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Sally Hansen – White On; Essie – Midnight Cami; Carpe Noctem – Sapphire Abyss; Ruby White Tips – Constance; Alchemy Lacquers – Unicorn Horn; Glisten & Glow – HK Girl Top Coat

Next up is the amazing Hydra Venom!

Hydra Venom is a seafoam green shimmery polish with what the maker describes as a blue interference. What that means is that it gives it a slight duochrome effect and in some lights it may look more blue than green. In fact these pictures were taken with indirect sunlight, but when I went into other rooms where the only light source was incandescent lights it looked almost baby blue at some angles.

The polish went on a bit sheer at first, but reached full opacity in two coats. It wore like iron. I wore this mani for almost a week and I had little to no tip wear. For me this is impressive because I type for a living and I’m not exactly the easiest on my hands at all and I often do things like wash dishes…by hand…without gloves *GASP*. Yes that is Unicorn Horn on the middle two fingers…I did a double accent with it to see how that worked and it worked beautifully!

Polishes used: Sally Hansen Complete Care – 4-in-1 Treatment; Alchemy Lacquers – Hydra Venom; Alchemy Lacquers – Unicorn Horn; Glisten & Glow – HK Girl

Last but certainly not least is Quicksilver!

This is a wonderful full coverage (and I really mean full coverage) glitter polish. It’s full of glitz and glam while retaining a sophisticated air and style. I could totally see this one being worn with a spectacular red or black dress for a formal event. I will not let this stop me from wearing it to school with jeans and t-shirt though!

Excuse the weird shadow – I was trying to catch some of the detail of the glitter and well…the polish still looks great that’s what matters! It’s blingy like crazy! It’s different sizes of metallic silver glitter, micro-glitter and small hex glitters. All in a clear base. There is no base color it’s all glitter! The picture shows two coats with NO undies! When it’s on it gives this kind of disco-ball effect and the coverage is amazing! I’ve had full coverage glitters…but they don’t really always live up to the name…this one does!

Polishes used: Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Alchemy Lacquers – Quicksilver; Glisten & Glow – HK Girl

Overall I am super impressed, Alchemy Lacquers is really showing that she has the chops even though she is still up and coming! I absolutely love that she has a theme and she holds to that theme beautifully, right down to having her tester/swatchers called Lab Assistants!

Unicorn Horn and Quicksilver are both currently available at Alchemy Lacquers’ Etsy store! Hydra Venom will be added to the Alchemical Imaginarium collection in an upcoming release!

You can keep up to date on all things Alchemy Lacquers at the website or their Facebook page! You can also see swatches, works in progress, and other nail goodies on their Instagram feed.

Another Squashed Lemming! Aly’s Dream Polishes

Jan16

Nothing to Disclose

That’s right I’m squashing lemmings and taking names my lovely lacqueristas! For as long as I have been actually collecting polish and using it and not just drooling over blogs for like two years before picking up a nail brush (Let Them Have Polish, I’m looking at you!) I have wanted to acquire a bottle of Aly’s Dream Polish…not just ANY bottle you understand but a bottle of Tiffanytea. Allow me to show you why…

I give you (well not give, it’s MINE, but I’ll show it to you) Tiffanytea:

*sighs happily* Look at it! Isn’t it stunning? I’m so in love with it I can hardly stand it. Tiffanytea is a perfect creamy robin’s egg blue/teal creme base with a sort of golden holo shimmer. Words really can’t do it justice.

Application was just lovely for this polish. It went on as smooth and creamy as it looks. I didn’t have any issues with streakiness or dragging. This is the kind of color that I gravitate to and it did not disappoint! Pictures show two coats plus topcoat.

The scattered holo is very gentle in this polish and I really like the subtlety as it gives it a more delicate feel.

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

Aly generally works on a pre-order basis but you can keep up to date on when the next pre-order will be active so that you can make grabby hands at all of her lovely polishes! Just follow her on Facebook to get all the deets and you can actually place your orders at her shop. She also is on Instagram if you just want to drool over all the pretty polish!

Black Friday Flashback – Part 4 – Spellbound Nails

Jan13

Nothing to Disclose

My dearest readers this post is going to conclude my mini-series on my Black Friday purchases! Today we’re going to probably have some sad and happy feels and there will definitely be pretty polish. Let’s look at some Spellbound Nails shall we?

First up I have Zombie Guts!

I was excited to try this polish. It’s just the sort of thing that I really love, jelly based? CHECK! Glitter? CHECK! Geeky/Nerdy/Zombie references? CHECK! I think that if I was imagining Zombie Guts as a nail polish that this is just the kind of thing I would come up with! This polish is a true green jelly-based glitter polish filled with small metallic red square and dot glitters, medium matte white dots, and iridescent lime (or light) green micro-glitter.

This polish is just as squishy as you would expect from a jelly polish! Application was good, though I did have to fish just a bit for the bigger glitters. I’m no stranger to this however and I didn’t find it to be a problem at all. The polish dries to a satiny finish but I shined it right on up with a glossy topcoat! On these pictures it appears that there is an ever so slight VNL however that was not apparent to me in person. Picture shows three coats plus topcoat!

Polishes used: Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Spellbound Nails – Zombie Guts; Glisten & Glow – HK Girl Topcoat

Next up we have a polish inspired by the 11th Doctor (remember me mentioning the sad feels?) Let’s all take a moment and remember how awkward and wonderful he really was. I can’t wait to see what Capaldi does as the 12th Doctor but I really will truly miss 11 far more than I thought I would back when he was crashing into little girls’ yards and getting them to cook up everything in the kitchen to find out what he wanted to eat.

There’s this moment when the Doctor swoops in to pick up River early on in his travels with Amy and River lands the TARDIS and says “we’ve landed” and 11 is indignant and states that of COURSE they haven’t landed and she proves it and then he becomes distressed and wants to know why it didn’t make the sound. The sound that EVERY Doctor Who fan knows. River’s response is that it’s not supposed to make that sound but that the Doctor…Leaves the Brakes On!

I sort of, but not really, feel bad for that lengthy introduction. But, that’s what you get when you get me going about Doctor Who! This is Leave the Brakes On, a beautiful TARDIS blue jelly/crelly holo! This blue may actually be the closest to TARDIS blue that I have in my collection or that I’ve seen in general. I knew as soon as I saw it that I was going to have to have it.

I say that it’s a jelly/crelly holo because the base is not a creme base but more in line with a jelly or crelly base. It has a bit of squishiness that you don’t get from a true creme base. The holo is evident but not so strong that it blinds you while driving down the road. Application was lovely and pictures show two coats plus top coat.

Here’s a picture with flash so you can see the holo effect! So sparkly! This is a Limited Edition polish and she’s said that once it’s gone it may not be remade due to a particular pigment that she used being discontinued so I definitely think you should snag it up!

Polishes Used: Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Spellbound Nails – Leave the Brakes On; Glisten & Glow – HK Girl Topcoat

All in all I’m super pleased with these polishes from Spellbound Nails and I’ll definitely be visiting her shop again! You can keep up to date on all of the goings-on by visiting their Facebook, Blog, or Instagram. You can purchase Spellbound Nails in their Etsy and Storenvy shops! Right now you can pre-order her beautiful Victorian Valentine collection until January 17th!

Black Friday Flashback – Part 3 – Different Dimension

Jan11

Nothing to Disclose

Helloooooo all my lovely readers out there! Continuing the review of my Black Friday purchases I’m going to be bringing you some new to me brands, one of those is Different Dimensions. Now, I have been eyeing up the polishes in the Different Dimensions shop for what feels like months but I hadn’t ever taken the leap. So, I’m really excited to show you what I scored in one of her flash sales over the major shopping weekend!

I’m sure that you know my passion for crelly-based glitter polishes by now…if not allow me to enlighten you…I LOVE crelly-based glitter polishes. To quote Buddy the Elf, “it’s my FAVORITE!!” Also by now you might have noticed my predilection for blues, teals and greens. This polish embodies ALL the things I love about polish. Here’s Different Dimension Money:

Just looking at the pictures makes me happy! I’ve actually worn this again since I swatched it (shocker!) because I love it so so much. Money is a white crelly base filled to the brim with so much glittery goodness I don’t know if I’ll be able to identify it all but I’ll try!

I see small and medium matte neon lime green hexes, small metallic teal dots, OMG big metallic teal dots, OMG big matte black dots, small holographic gold and lime green glitters, OMG big holographic white?silver? dots (it’s hard to tell the color of these because the holographic effect is so rainbowy (just go along with me making up words because it’s not gonna stop!) that it’s hard to see what the actual color of the glitter is!

BOOM another shot of that gorgeousness! Application was actually quite good. I didn’t have to fish for the larger glitters though I did manipulate them a little bit once they were on the nail so that they weren’t clumped together as big glitters are wont to do at times.

I expect to have to work a little harder with crelly-based (and jelly-based) glitter polishes and to me it’s worth it but it does take a little getting used to – I generally start with a thin coat and I don’t worry about getting the larger glitters on at that point, just whatever gets on the nail is good, then after letting that dry a little bit I do the second coat which is usually a slightly thicker coat and sometimes I dab the glitters where I want them. The first coat with whatever glitter got on the nail the first time helps grab the glitters in the second coat and hold them there. Picture shows two coats plus Glitter Food and HK Girl topcoat.

Polishes used: Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Different Dimension – Money; Nail Pattern Boldness – Glitter Food; Glisten & Glow – HK Girl Topcoat

I highly recommend this polish and I can’t wait to try some more Different Dimension polishes! You can keep up to date on all the happenings over at Different Dimension by following them on Facebook and Instagram and you can buy your OWN bottle of Money because as per usual this one is MINE at her Etsy Shop!

Boom Shaka Lacquer

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

My new gig…Lab assistant?

Another Squashed Lemming! Aly’s Dream Polishes

Black Friday Flashback – Part 4 – Spellbound Nails

Black Friday Flashback – Part 3 – Different Dimension