Abigail Leigh - Help me work to end ovarian cancer!

September is ovarian cancer awareness month, and it is a cause near and dear to my heart because last year, my sister in law was diagnosed with it. Watching what this fierce, strong, hilarious, wonderful woman became during her chemo and radiation was incredibly sad. And terrifying. And I've never told her that. :) You see someone you love suffering and you put on a brave and happy face and try to be encouraging, no matter how you feel inside. But now I'm all FEEL-y and that's not what this post is about...

Helping! How can we help? Research needs to be done. I hate research, but there are folks out there who love it (thank heavens!). Research takes money. So... I've made Abigail Leigh. It's teal because that's the color for ovarian cancer awareness. It's glittery and shimmery because shimmery glittery polish is pretty. It's named Abigail Leigh because that is my sister-in-law's name. I'm donating $3 for each bottle sold to UnTEAL There Is A Cure, a non-profit organization started by Karen and Mike Collins after Karen was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Their mission is to provide hope for cancer patients and survivors by raising money for ovarian cancer research and in the past two years, they have raised $73,000.00 for the cause.

Here she is, go buy a bottle and help fight ovarian cancer! If you don't love the polish but have a couple of dollars to spare, you can visit the UnTEAL There Is A Cure website and donate directly.

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!

Urban Outfitters Sea Dust

I was digging through my "To Be Blogged" folder and saw that I still hadn't posted this mani from over the summer! My co-worker and keeper-of-my-8-5-sanity went to a conference in Las Vegas this summer and spent a lot of time shopping. You know, to avoid the heat. Anyway, I wanted to check out Urban Outfitter's polish selection, and was glad to find this Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream dupe on sale!

I don't have a comparison because I've never been compelled enough by her polishes to drop that much money on a bottle. If you search the interwebs, you'll find comparison shots a plenty! 

Sea Dust has a great formula, and I really love the bottles and brushes of Urban Outfitters polish. They're squat and square and feel substantial. The brush was nice and full. This mani was just two coats, and I remember that this polish wore for days without a chip. Definitely a winner!

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.

Scofflaw Nail Varnish David Bowie's Bulge

Today I have my latest purchase from the awesome Scofflaw Nail Varnish... David Bowie's Bulge. Ha ha ha!! The color is inspired by David Bowie's Aladdin Sane album. The name? Have you seen Labyrinth? If so, you know what I'm talking about.

The base is a squishy-yet-opaque coral (not quite as bright as it appears here) filled with different sized teal glitter and smaller red and bronze glitters. There is also a smattering of holographic shimmer.

This is a lovely polish that applies like butter and needed no fishing to get that awesome glitter coverage. Wear time was great, and it is a classic color kicked up a bit by the glitter. I see myself reaching for this one often! 

Orly Miss Conduct

Today's beauty is one of my luckiest polish finds yet! Miss Conduct is a highly coveted and hard to find part of Orly's Naughty and Nice Holiday 2012 collection. I'd seen it on a few blogs and looked everywhere... to no avail.

Fast forward nine months and I was in my local TJ Maxx. I always swing through the beauty section because there are occasionally awesome deals (Hello, liter bottles of Dermorganic shampoo and conditioner for $10 each - $60 savings!!). I saw several Orly two-packs and snagged the last one with Miss Conduct and Angel Eyes for $6.99!

Miss Conduct is a squishy but highly pigmented berry with fairly tightly scattered holo particles. It's a bit thin, but there's no need for more than two coats of polish. The rainbow effect isn't super evident in this photo, but trust me. If you see this in the wild, you HAVE to pick it up!!

OPI DS Indulgence

Add this one to the "My Bestie is flipping awesome" file. She gifted me with this beauty from OPI's Fall 2012 DS Collection for my birthday. Look at it!  

DS Indulgence has a cool, sparkly, vivid red base and is packed to the gills with gold flecks. It was perfectly opaque after two easy coats, but adding a thin third coat really gives it depth. I haven't gotten so many compliments on a polish from patients and co-workers in a long time. 

Bestie, you're the best!

Alter Ego Beachcomber Too!

Readers, I've got a beauty (and a wound, obviously. Apologies!) to show you today. This is Beachcomber Too! by the lovely Cynthia from Alter Ego Nail Enamel. Cynthia has recently revamped all of her polishes, and let me tell you... This one is beautiful!!

This mani was two (three? Yikes. I can't remember) coats of Beachcomber Too! topped with Digital Nails Ain't Nobody Got Time For That! top coat. Cynthia was inspired by turquoise ocean waters, and I think she did a beautiful job! I love the scattered holo, but am bummed that there wasn't enough sun to properly showcase it.

Alter Ego Nail Enamels dry to a satiny, matte finish. I used the top coat to showcase the holo shine. I didn't think to get matte shot, but will show it later!

Scofflaw Nail Varnish Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, Koi Pondering, and Owls of Outrage

Scofflaw Nail Varnish is one of those indie brands I'd been hearing all sorts of awesome things about and finally happened upon her store when she restocked. I managed to pick up the two polishes I'd been lusting after and another one that caught my eye when I was getting all grabby-handed. :)

First up is Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. In real life, I've got a bit of a potty mouth. And my entire family have our ham radio licenses. And my husband honestly tried to get us all to learn Morse Code. How could I not get WTF??  Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is a teal jelly base with a mixture of white, red, and gold glitters. Excellent application. Above is shown at two coats.

Koi Pondering is one I've wanted ever since I saw Rie's review. Deep blue base with white, orange, and yellow hexes as well as a silver shimmer. You may be amazed to know that this one is inspired by... a Koi pond! Geez. Don't quit my day job.

The last is Owls of Outrage. This one came out more brown/dark mauve than I'd hoped. There's a ton of glitter going on in this one, and it applied beautifully, but I just wasn't feeling it. This is three coats in the waning sun on my in-laws' farm.

Overall, Scofflaw Nail Varnishes are definitely ones I'd recommend. They sell for $10.50 for a full sized bottle and a restock is scheduled for Sept. 15th. The Etsy store can be found here.

Fandom Cosmetics Still Betting on You

Today I have a polish from Fandom Cosmetics, a super awesome indie brand that pulls inspiration from all sorts of nerdy fandoms. Be still my heart! :)

Still Betting on You is from the Hunger Games collection and is inspired by one of my very favorite characters, Cinna. It is described as, "... our ode to everyone's favorite Capitol resident, and the mastermind behind the girl on fire. It is comprised of a gold holographic dust base, and scattered with soft pinkish orange and red hex."

I decided to use this one solo. Shown is three coats with CND Stickey base coat and Digital Nails Ain't Nobody Got Time For That quick-dry top coat.

Blurred to show off the holo! Fandom Cosmetics polishes are available for $8.50. They also sell eye shadow, scrubs, t-shirts, and candles. Check out the wares here!

Zoya Tomoko and Maria Luisa

And my string of Zoya polishes continues! This mani is the super awesome Zoya Tomoko from the Fall 2013 PixieDust collection. Tomoko is a champagne colored textured polish packed to the brim with silver/gold glitter. I used three thin coats without any base or top coat and got excellent wear, as I have with all of the PixieDust polishes.

I also got a blurred shot to show the glitter in Tomoko. Definitely another winner from Zoya.

The only other polish I picked up from Zoya's fall collection was Maria Luisa (look at me showing restraint!). I remember seeing it in shots from NYFW, but  it wasn't available in the Zoya Fashion Sets. I was so happy to see it available to purchase!

Maria Luisa is a gold flake polish in a clear base. I'm sure you can build it to opacity, but I chose to layer it (one coat) over my Tomoko mani and to use it as an accent nail with Carter. What do you think?

Zoya Carter

I'm back with a pretty kick-ass polish. I've got Zoya Carter from their Fall 2013 PixieDust collection. I am a purple lover and this purple is all sorts of awesome! I used three thin coats with this mani and didn't use and base or top coats. There was no staining at all, and it wore for almost a week before it chipped. I never got the urge to remove it, either, which is very rare for me! I definitely recommend snatching this one up if you are lacking a purple textured polish in your stash.

Please forgive my sad little pinkie. I suffered a bad break, but it's since grown out!

Zoya Destiny

Destiny is the other Zoya Summer PixieDust polish I picked up. The bottle shots looked great, but man oh man! I saw swatches and I knew it had to be mine! 

This mani is the blingiest one I've worn in ages. I swear if the sun hit it right, you could see the sparkle across a parking lot. I've got two coats of matte coral and gold glitter summer on my nails here. Love it!

Zoya Liberty

As soon as I saw promo pics of Zoya's summer PixieDusts, I knew I had to have Liberty. I'm a sucker for all polishes blue and purple, and the brighter the better!  Zoya's PixieDusts are the only ones of the 40 million textured polishes out there that have appealed to me, so I grabbed it and Destiny (which is my next post).

I think I love these so much because there are both matte texture and glitter. It makes it look sparkly and blingy, not like the ceiling in my grandma's living room. Perfectly opaque in 2 coats. It isn't recommended to use a base coat, but I'd heard this one stained horribly. I used CND Stickey and let it dry really well. It wore wonderfully with two thin coats.

A blurred shot to show the sparkle. Seriously. These are crazy glittery! Have you grabbed any?

NerdLacquer I Think You Call Me... Sexy

This is one of the NerdLacquers that got me lemming NerdLacquers. It sings to my nerdy, Doctor Who loving heart. Inspired by the TARDIS, this polish gets it's name from Idris, the woman-form of the TARDIS from one of the brilliant episodes written by Neil Gaiman. 

I Think You Call Me... Sexy has a cobalt blue base loaded with varying sizes of silver hex glitters and a warm red/gold shimmer. There are just two coats shown here and all of the glitter lays perfectly flat with just one coat of top coat. I've went through almost a whole bottle of NYC Grand Central Station. A great fast-dry top coat for $1.97 at Meijer!

NerdLacquer I Aim to Misbehave

The next NerdLacquer I have for you is I Aim to Misbehave. Oh, Firefly. Oh, Mal. This one sings to my nerdy heart. If you're not familiar, Firefly is a sci-fi western-ish Joss Whedon TV show that was cancelled after one season and caused an uproar in their fandom. Fox didn't care, and it's gained popularity since then. There's also a movie, Serenity. (Both are on Netflix and should be enjoyed by all sci-fi lovers!)

But, the polish. :) A wine-colored base filled with blue/silver shimmer varying sizes of gold, blue, and reddish glitters. I think. Who cares? It's pretty. I used two coats of top coat with this one. As Amanda says in the description, "It's a gorram glitter bomb." 

NerdLacquer The Quantum Bluniverse

The Quantum Bluniverse is the second of five NerdLacquers I got my mitts on, and it's a beauty! TQB has a blue jelly-ish base that is packed with gold and blue hexes in varying sizes, gold flecks, and a bit of a duochrome blue/green shimmer. Super busy glitter bomb of a polish, but I love it to bits! 

I used two coats here, and application was a breeze. No dragging, no need to place or dab the larger glitters, and no need for undies.

And, taking a cue from Mish at Accio Lacquer (you guys have to check her out if you haven't already. She's hilarious and her nerdiness just sings to me!), I mattified this baby with a coat of Hard Candy Matte-ly in Love. I love how easy it is to see the details when glitters are matted. And see that tiny bit of tip wear? That's about 3 days in. 

For info on restocks, follow NerdLacquer on Google+. And practice your lightning fast fingers. These polishes are gone before you can blink. ;)

Zoya Nyx

Nyx is the second PixieDust polish I ordered from Zoya's original release. As with London, application was simple. Here, I used 2 thin coats over CND Stickey base coat. The key is to let each coat dry before adding the next to avoid dragging the texture to the end of the nail. Dry time was excellent with both, and they wore really well on me. I believe I got 5 days out of Nyx.

I had a reader ask about removal of the PixieDust polishes. Taking these polishes off was fairly simple. Nowhere near as difficult as with glitter bomb polishes, but only slightly more work than with a shimmer or flakie polish.

NerdLacquer All of Time and Space

What is the biggest rush you've had in your life? I spent a 30 minute time frame obsessively refreshing Amanda's shop page until her restock went live. Then, it happened. Polish was available to buy. I immediately put five bottles in my cart and furiously checked out before I got cart jacked. And my heart was racing and I had a huge adrenaline rush. Is that sad? :) 

Behold, my favorite of the five... All of Time and Space. I love NerdLacquer's Doctor Who polishes. And the Firefly ones. And the Lord of the Rings ones... All of time and space is made up of tiny silver glitter, large-ish silver hexes, and small/medium fuchsia hexes that suspend nicely in a shimmery turquoise/green base.

Application was a dream. Two coats to opacity, and the glitter laid flat with no fancy topcoats. This is two coats topped with NYC Grand Central Station (which is a fabulous quick dry top coat for little $$).

If you love unique polishes and are feeling like letting your nerd flag fly, Check out NerdLacquer. You'll find restock info by following them on Google+. Warm up your fingers. This latest restock (1,200 polishes) sold out in 4 minutes.

Tough As Nails Lacquer The Dregs, part 1 - The Redundant Woman and Magdelene's Laundry Service

Today I have two of the four polishes from Tough As Nails Lacquer's Spring Collection, The Dregs. This collection came together as a result of the creator's "recent obsession with drinking tea, the underbelly of Victorian culture, and a desire for a more calming collection." The Tough As Nails line is filled with brights and glitter bombs, so this collection is a bit of a departure from that.

First up is The Redundant Woman. It is a periwinkle purple/blue shade with fine pink shimmer. The shimmer is fairly evident in the bottle, but has to be coaxed out on the nail. The photo below is as sunny as I could manage, so I've also included a shot taken with flash. 

I used three medium coats of The Redundant Woman for this mani. There is a tad bit of nail line in these shots, but it really wasn't visible at all. I purchased shorty bottles, and they have a fairly short, stiff brush. I had to be careful with application because I got a few bald spots. 

3 coats of The Redundant Woman with top coat and flash.

Magdalene's Laundry Service has a milky, pink jelly base with pink dots and hexes and a pearly finish. A very beautiful polish! The above shot is three coats with top coat. No undies - because I'm usually too lazy for that. I normally don't go for polishes that are this sheer, but I really love this one. Application was great. I used two coats of top coat, but it really wasn't necessary. 

I was unaware of what the name referred to, but there is a nice explanation on the Tough As Nails blog. I've included it here:

"During the 18th-20th centuries, if you were a prostitute, unmarried, too flirtatious, or even too pretty, you may have been sent to a Magdalene Asylum. Magdalene Asylums, or Magdalene Laundries, were institutions for the fallen women of society, located throughout Europe, Canada, and the US. The asylums were originally intended to rehabilitate prostitutes and other women back into society, sustaining themselves by offering laundry services, but became prison-like, where women experienced hard labor, forced periods of silence, and abuse."

A sad thing, to be sure. There have been a few news stories recently about Magdalene Laundries after the Irish Prime Minister issued a formal apology for them. The last one wasn't closed in Ireland until 1996. 

Sorry to end on a sour note, but you have the rest of this collection to look forward to in my next post.