Coming Black Friday! Paint Box Polish Winter Collection!

I'm excited for today's post, readers!! I've got swatches of my new late fall/winter collection which is inspired by the women of Harry Potter! I've been working on this set for a long time and I'm glad to finally bring them to you.

More photos after the jump!

Digital Nails Obliviate!

I can't believe I haven't posted this one! Obliviate is from Digital Nails' Harry Potter Spells collection and is all sorts of fabulous. In the first two photos I layered one coat over a black creme (gotta conserve this beautiful polish!) and you can see the green/gold duochrome effect. Oh.  And the holo. Holy smokes that linear holo goodness.

The formula was great. I used CND Stickey as a base coat and Digital Nails Ain't Nobody Got Time For That quick dry top coat and the holo wasn't dulled at all. In fact, I think it looked even better after the top coat.

Blurred to show the holo.

Here I've shown two thin coats on its own. I prefer the look layered, but I think a third coat would brighten this one up a lot.

Did you pick up any of the Spells polishes? They can be found at the Digital Nails Etsy store here.

Ninja Polish Hydra

Today I've got a polish that I swatched ages ago, but have left in the "to be blogged" box since Ninja Polish hasn't restocked it. Today, I decided I didn't want to leave it hidden anymore!

When Ninja Polish released their Dragon Collection, I snatched up several and gifted all but this one. Kinda accidentally, but hey. I've got lots of polish. The Dragon Collection is made up of fabulous duochrome glitter polishes that can be built up on their own, or used as a topper. Here, I've layered two coats over one coat of black creme. The second coat of Hydra didn't make a huge difference.

Hydra is made up of small hex glitters that shift between blue, green, purple, and pink suspended in a clear base.

Outdoors, indirect lighting

Outdoors, indirect lighting, different angle. :)

Indoors, artificial direct lighting

Hydra is made by Ninja Polish, which is a great site for hard-to-find or international polishes. I don't know if/when she'll be restocking the Dragon collection, but you can find it here.

Digital Nails Spells! Pt 1 - Stupify, Colovaria, Nox

Pic heavy post... Not sorry! 

I saw teases of Digital Nails' HP Spells collection on her Facebook page a few days before the release and set an alarm on my phone so that I'd remember to be ON ETSY when they released. :) It was one of those furious, get-it-in-the-cart-and-get-out-and-oh-please-don't-let-me-get-cart-jacked moments. I managed to get everything I wanted. Yes!!

First up is Stupify! Wow. Stupify. Super beautiful blurple stunner with linear holo particles and blue/pink duochrome flakies. Yes, I know. It really is as awesome as it sounds. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

2 coats plus top coat in direct sun

direct sun, blurred to appreciate the rainbows!

2 coats in indirect sun. Better to see the flakies, my dear.

And the thermals... Oh, the thermals. I haven't been quick to jump on the thermal bandwagon because I wasn't sure if it would be one of those blink-and-you-miss-it trends. It also seemed a bit gimmick-y. But man, Raph's swatches drew me in! I love the thermals from this collection because they are bright, bold, and obvious. No pale pink to pale lavender shifting here! Both also have the color shifting flakies that are found in Stupify.

First, we have Colovaria. It changes from pale pink when warm to bright magenta when cold. The flakies in it have a yellow-green-blue shift.

hot on top, transitioning, and cold on bottom

(Imagine an awesome video of the color shift here. Grrr....)

Nox is a navy blue/purple to pale blue thermal with blue-pink shifting flakies. This polish is still very noticeable even when it is cold. The shift is so dramatic with this one!

warm to cold transition

Nox in it's cold state

I picked up three more from Digital Nails' last restock, so look for that post in a few days. If you're interested in any of Raph's awesome creations, visit her Etsy store here. She is on vacation until next week, but favorite the shop and visit later!

Please Don't Hate Me - Ninja Polish Divinity

Seriously, I contemplated not posting this one yet because it is so completely awesome and so completely sold out. :( Divinity is part of Ninja Polish's Enigma Collection and can be found here. Ninja Polish has an awesome feature which allows you to sign up for email notifications when the polish is back in stock. This is how I snagged it up at the initial launch.

I will briefly say that Divinity is like Clarins 230 on steroids. I came into the polish game after Clarins 230 was out. It has a royal purple base and turns almost every color of the rainbow. I used three very thin, very easy coats plus top coat for these photos (it dries matte-ish). There are a ton. You're welcome.

Indirect Lighting

Fluorescent lighting in my garage. (Really!)

In-the-light-box Macro

Lightbox

Lightbox

In the light box, with flash

Under the lamp in my living room

Under the lamp in my living room

With flash to better show the base

Lamplight in the living room

I urge you all to sign up for email notification. Divinity has a coat of $11.00 and is totally worth it.

Paint Box Polish Winter Collection is live! *Pic Heavy!*

I scrapped so many colors coming up with this collection. Bleeding glitters, sinking glitters, too thick, too thin, etc. In the end, I'm super happy with the five that made the cut. I hope you love them, and if you'd like to buy any, there's a link to my Etsy shop in the left column over there!

Solstice is an opaque purple duochrome polish that shifts to bright blue and features violet flakies. This polish is unique in my Winter Collection as it is the only polish that is completely opaque on its own and the only duochrome.

Northern Lights is a stunning blue jelly polish packed with blue flakies and golden shimmer. Can be worn alone as a jelly, but also able to be layered over a darker shade to make the shimmer really pop!

This shot shows the golden shimmer. Northern Lights is layered over Zoya Natty here.

Ice Cap is a squishy, white, jelly polish packed with multi-colored flakies, gold shimmer, and silver shimmer. A fabulous polish both on its own and layered over other polishes! 

Index and middle fingers show Ice Cap layered over China Glaze White on White.

Son of a Nutcracker is a fun, green jelly polish packed with green flakies and a hint of red ones. The Fraternal twin to Santa's Britches, it looks great both alone and layered over other polishes.

Index and middle fingers show Son of a Nutcracker over OPI Jade is the New Black.

Santa's Britches is a fun, red jelly polish packed with silver, gold, and green shimmer. The Fraternal twin to Son of a Nutcracker, it looks great both alone and layered over other polishes.

Index and middle fingers show Santa's Britches over Zoya Sooki.

L-R: Son of a Nutcracker over OPI Jade is the New Black, Santa's Britches over Zoya Sooki, Northern Lights over Zoya Natty, Ice Cap over China Glaze White on White, and Solstice on its own.

Holy Duochrome! Swatches & Review: Limited Edition Sally Hansen lustre shine Lava *Pic Heavy*

Swatches! Ahh! This is a pic heavy post, and it's well deserved. Promo pics of Sally Hansen's lustre shine collection have been all over the place, but I was rather stunned when I saw what was left of a picked-over display at Meijer today. There were only four colors left, and only one bottle of Lava. I didn't really pay attention to the others (the ever-present Chanel Peridot dupe, the Deborah Lippmann Sugar Daddy dupe, and a teal/blue that wasn't very duochrome-y) and the next thing I knew, Lava was in my hand!

All shots are three thin coats over a coat of Elmer's Glue (I'm experimenting) and under one coat of Poshe Super-fast Drying Topcoat. The first coat had me a little worried as it looked very thin and patchy, but the second coat had near-complete coverage. The final coat added a nice depth to the color. My brush was a little wonky, but workable. The long, thin cap was very comfortable to hold.

Here you can see the pink near the tips, and yellow/gold over the bed of the nail. The photo is a little blurry, so please excuse that.

This photo has a very nice representation of both colors across the nail.

Okay, these are just because it's so freaking pretty!

Go. Buy. Now.

(I've also built a light box in an effort to bring you better pictures. I think it makes an improvement!)

China Glaze Splish Splash and Liquid Crystal

School is starting, and all of a sudden I've gone from craving fall colors to needing one last summer hurrah! I was fishing though my China Glaze Summer Neons and realized I hadn't done a full mani with Splish Splash. At the last minute I grabbed Liquid Crystal from the Prismatics collection as well.

One of the biggest complaints I've seen about the Summer Neons is the horrid formula. Thick and thin, runny and goopy at the same time. Luckily, Splish Splash was nice and even and applied really nicely. Above is 2 coats of the bright blue with silvery blue shimmer over a coat of Duri Rejuvacote, topped with Seche Vite. I have discovered that this combo absolutely does. not. work. I had pretty significant shrinkage less than 12 hours after application. I'll need to do some experimenting because so far, I love Rejuvacote!

My index finger has only 1 coat of Liquid Crystal on my index finger. It has a slight blue to purple shift and has lots of colorful round glitter. I really love the combo.

OPI The Amazing Spider-Man Collection: Just Spotted the Lizard Swatches

This polish was the first in the collection to catch my eye when I first spotted the swatches over at Scrangie's blog. It was rumored to be a dupe for Chanel Peridot, and I believe it's been proven to be the case many times over. Application was a little tricky in that I had to be more careful than usual to avoid brush stroke marks. It wasn't as bad as I expected.

The photo below isn't that great is bad, but it does a decent job at showing the duochrome (multichrome?) effect. Gold is the dominant color that shifts to green and blue at the edges of the nail.

The photo below shows how this color shines in the light. It's really stunning and the photo does it no justice. One word of warning with this polish though... It has a foil finish that will show every flaw. I used a ridge-filling base coat and still missed a little bump on my ring finger. 

China Glaze Prismatics Collection Swatches

I passed up on the Prismatic polishes in Chicago - I was distracted by all the pretty, but couldn't leave them behind at Sally's when they have polishes Buy 2 Get 1 Free. (That deal is good on all polishes all month long, BTW.) I didn't get the whole collection, but picked up one of each of the three they had in stock.

The Prismatic Collection is China Glaze's Spring 2012 release. It a collection of duochrome glitters. Extremely dense, tiny glitter that shifts from one color to another and larger, multi-colored round glitter in a clear base. The shift is subtle in most of the colors, but it's definitely there. Swatch photos do not do justice for these colors. They must been seen in person to be appreciated. 

First up is Liquid Crystal, which shifts from blue to purple. There is a smattering of silver, gold, green, pink, and orange glitter. Liquid Crystal is the most obvious duochrome of the three polishes I purchased, and is definitely something special. 

Next up is Polarized, which is a pretty silver that doesn't really shift much. The larger glitter in this one is yellow, pink, orange, and green.

Prism is the last polish of the group I picked up, and it is a purple holo that shifts to a light blue with chunky pink, blue, green, orange, silver, and gold glitter.

All of the swatches are 2 coats of polish with no top coat. They are very dense and very dramatic. Application wasn't difficult at all. They all flowed off the brush and onto the nail quite nicely. I imagine a thick topcoat would make these look even better. I will probably pick up more of these if I find them out and about.

Christmas Top Coats - Essie, Nails Inc, Fingerpaints

As I've said before, I have some serious polish fairies for friends/family. These three polishes came from fabulous ladies whom I consider both. :) 

I came into the polish world after the wonder that was Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure (I'm not a fan of the new one that just came out). I'm talking about the fabulous flakie HT. Word quickly spread that Essie Shine of the Times was a dupe, and I had to have it. Sadly, the stores here that carry Essie didn't have this one, but Bestie lives in Chicago and she loves me enough to have gotten me a bottle. 

The pic below is just one coat of SotT over Hot Topic black creme. It covers really well. It has an odd consistency... Thick but runny, maybe a little jelly-ish. You get used to how it works quickly. I imagine you need a thicker base to properly suspend the small red/yellow flakies that reflect green at certain angles. Is it a HT dupe? I have no idea, but do I love it? yes!

Essie Shine of the Times over black creme

I have a serious weakness for flakies and a Bestie who feeds that weakness. I'm okay with this. In fact, I'm trying my hardest to turn Abbie! This pic is 2 coats of Nails Inc Donmar Overglaze Top Coat over Chelsea, which is a very blackened plum. The flakies in Donmar are much larger than in Shine of the Times, but they are much sparser. It is very easy to see both the green and yellow flashes at the same time in this polish.

Nails Inc Donmar Overglaze over Nails Inc Chelsea

 Abbie gifted me my very first Fingerpaints polish this Christmas. Fingerpaints has the most comfortable handle I've ever polished with. It's long and tapered with a fairly long stem and flexible brush. There was no squinting or holding my head/hands at an awkward angle to see what was going on. Sparkle Top Coat is very pearlescent. I applied it over Hot Topic black creme and it flashed purple. Abbie says it flashes green at times, so I'll definitely need to do some experimenting with this one!

Fingerpaints Sparkle Top Coat over black creme

Zoya Reece

I didn't put this on last night because of the OWWWP thing, but hey, it's Wednesday and I'm wearing pink! A fabulous pink if I say so.

Bestie sent a package of goodies a couple of weeks ago, and threw this in as she wasn't crazy over it. Yay for me! Zoya's formula is so wonderful. I had near-opacity at one coat, but 2 gives a great depth and let's the duochrome (pink & gold) really pop.

Just realized that Wendy Torrence would love this polish... Yay for random movie references.

I took a pic of my other hand this time because I took a chunk out of my L ring finger when I was shaving, and it's super obvious. I have gotten ridiculous shrinkage with the Seche Vite and this one. Given the fact that I have 19 Zoyas, I think I'll invest in their color lock system.

Hard Candy Beetle

I can't adequately explain how much I love this color. I tumbled down the nail polish rabbit hole after Orly Space Cadet's release and right around the time the MAC Venomous Villains came out. I never considered getting Mean and Green due to the $13 price tag (I know!) though I drooled over it frequently. A few months later I saw extraH's post on Polish or Perish and I was done. This may be the first polish I searched stores for.

I tried to get a picture that showed all the colors at once. It's generally called a duochrome, but that doesn't do it justice. I'd call it a quadchrome. You see the green and gold on my index finger, and the pink/purple is shown on my middle finger. This polish is a gorgeous foil in a sheer teal-ish base.

Above is 2 coats, which looks a little bare near the corner tips of my nail, but that oil-slick look totally distracts you from a minor detail like that! extraH's pics are really good, so be sure to check them out as well. Certainly a winner, considering I got it on sale at Walmart for $4.