Dandy Nails Love Affair

Today I've got my first polish from Dandy Nails! Sandy makes fabulous polishes and is well-established in the indie polish world. She came out with a set of amazing holos (the DandyGraphic collection) in November and I forced myself to buy only one. Because I'm trying to show restraint. :)

Love Affair is a dark pink, burgundy-ish color that is just beautiful. Then throw in that lovely, tightly scattered holo and I'm done. In my cart it went!

Direct sunlight

The formula of this is just perfection! Thick enough to be an easy one coater, but not so thick that it's gloopy and difficult to place. The brush was flat and a bit wide, so there were zero issues. I don't think I did any clean up with this mani at all. 

On a side note, look at that sunshine! Gah, I miss it. The temperature is -20 here in Indiana and I feel like the sun has been hiding for weeks. I love winter, but I'm done with it. :)

Slightly blurred because RAINBOWS!

Dandy Nails are available in her Etsy store here. Love Affair is in stock and available for $10.00. She has several lovely polishes and I'm going to have to indulge in more soon!

Stay warm, folks! Are you in a warm climate? Can I come visit? :)

A Study in Polish I Do Post-Mortems and Not Your Housekeeper

It's just about an hour until the new season of Sherlock airs on PBS (9:58 EST), and in it's honor, I'm back with the newest Sherlock polishes from A Study in Polish.

First up is I Do Post-Mortems, which is inspired by the ever lovely Molly Hooper. A soft, neutral pink with a low-key holographic shimmer. This is like Mind Palace's quiet little sister. (see my review of Mind Palace and my other A Study in Polish polishes here). I'm generally not a muted pink lover, but man! This is easily one of my favorites.

Direct artificial lighting

Direct natural light

 Not Your Housekeeper is Mrs. Hudson's polish. It's a super pretty, squishy plum with blue and pink/purple micro glitters. There may be some gold ones hidden in there as well. I used three coats here and it was just lovely.

Direct natural light

A Study in Polish offers Sherlock, The Hobbit, Teen Wolf, and Hannibal inspired polishes in her store.

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.

6 Harts Polish Blow Me... A Raspberry!

Readers, today I've got a beauty for you! This is my first (And not last... Lookin' at you, Bat Crap Crazy!) 6 Harts Polish, and it is a bright berry stunner packed with mildly linear holo particles. It is fairly reminiscent of Orly Miss Conduct, but I absolutely love the formula on this one, so I may have to let Miss Conduct go. Blow me (heh, heh) is shown here with two easy coats and a splash of top coat. 

Indoors with flash

Direct sunlight

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!

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!!

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!

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!

China Glaze Strap on Your Moon Boots

Strap on Your Moon Boots is the other polish I picked up from the Chinga Glaze Hologlam collection. Well, I got Infra Red, but immediately shipped it off to Bestie. She's a pink fanatic and they'd sold out everywhere in Chicago.

This picture doesn't fully do this one justice. The holo was a bit more prominent in the sun, but it still wasn't blindingly holo. The formula was a bit tricksy on this one and the wear time wasn't that great on me. Overall, I don't hate it by any means, and it's definitely got a place in my holo collection for those times when I want a subtle holo. Ha ha!

China Glaze When Stars Collide

I had been incredibly underwhelmed at China Glaze's Hologlam collection. (I'm thinking Color Club's Halo Hues have ruined me for any other linear holos) But as swatch photos started popping up, A couple of them caught my eye. 

The holo particles in this collection are much finer than some of the in-your-face holos we've seen lately, lending to their more subtle appearance. When Starts Collide is a plum purple base packed with holo.

Application is tricky. Thin coats are key, as is waiting a couple of minutes between. I used a quick dry top coat and found that the effect diminished slightly at first, but came back strong when completely dry.

Literary Lacquers More Like Fire Than Light

Today I've got a fabulous polish from Literary Lacquers, More Like Fire Than Light. This polish is one of nine in "The Good Parts" collection, which is inspired by erotic fiction. More Like Fire Than Light takes it's inspiration from Delta of Venus, by Anais Nin.

This polish is a linear holo in a very squishy, bright, orange jelly base. I used CND Stickey and NYC Grand Central Station without any dulling of the holo effect at all. Three thin, easy coats and you're done!

More Like Fire Than Light can be picked up for $10 per 15mL bottle here.

Valentine's Day Mani - A Quickie



Revlon Colorstay Nail Color in Ripe Raspberry with a Stiletto accent nail. Accent nail stamped with Color Club Halo Hues Eternal Beauty, other nails stamped with Color Club Halo Hues Kismet.

I can't remember the names and numbers of the stamping plates, so I'll add those later. Accent nail from Cheeky CH15 from the Vibrant Collection, and others are from Vivid Lacquer plate VL001

I wish it were better, but it's only the 2nd or 3rd stamping mani I've done.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Quickie swatch - My picks from the Color Club 2013 Halo Hues collection

I first saw swatches of the new Halo Hues colors on Sheila's blog. Honestly, I had no clue that Color Club was coming out with a new holo collection. While I was looking for more swatches, I saw that they had inadvertently sent polishes out to some distributors. So, I did what any good polish fiend would do and I hunted those suckers down!

Unlike a polish fiend, I thought, "Pam, you already have a blue and a pink holo from the last collection, so don't get those." I was probably feverish, but I only bought the four you see below.

The formula is smooth and easy like the last set. Beyond was rather thick, but workable. As you can see, a quick dry top coat (Essie Good To Go) didn't dull the holo whatsoever. 

I couldn't pick just one, so I did a skittles mani. L-R: Eternal Beauty, Kismet, Beyond, and Cosmic Fate. 2 coats with top coat.

What do you think? Did you get any of the 2012 Halo Hues? Are you getting any of the new ones?

Color Club Halo Hues - Part 2

So sorry for the absence! Holidays, work on my polish line, computer slowly dying, new lap top (!!!), new puppy, etc. have made my life rather hectic. I had a swatch fest a few weeks ago, but just got to upload and edit my photos. I feel like I'm back in the swing of things, so I'm crossing my fingers that there will be no more hiatuses. Hiatii? You know what I mean.

Today I'm here to finish off the Color Club Halo Hues collection. Sheila over at PointlessCafe.com just posted three swatches of the upcoming collection on her blog. Check it out! 

As I said in my last post, the formula on these were flawless. Opaque in two coats, no need for a special base, holo not dulled by top coats, and excellent wear time. I cannot adequately describe how awesome they are. 

All swatches are two thin coats with top coat. All were taken in my light box. 

2 coats of Cloud Nine, a lilac-pink base

2 coats of Cloud Nine. Base color clear near the cuticle of index and middle fingers

2 coats of Halo-Graphic, a bright pink base

2 coats of Blue Heaven, a pale blue

2 coats of Blue Heaven

Color Club Halo Hues - Part 1

I was in the middle of a polish no-buy when Color Club released this collection. I remember drooling over photos some bloggers had taken at CosmoProf, but was thinking that I could show restraint. Holos are famous for having streaky formulas and being very finicky with base coats and top coats. Was the pretty worth all that trouble?

Then reviews started popping up. The formula isn't finicky? It plays well with regular base coats? Top coats don't dull the holo effect? The collection is selling out at lightning speed? Well shoot. Come here, credit card!

I bought the whole collection and it's taken awhile to get photos up. They're so pretty I just can't stand to swatch them and take them right off. So, all of these photos are 1-2 days into the mani.

All are with standard base coat (Zoya Anchor, if memory serves) and Poshe top coat. I can confirm that there is no difference in the holo effect after a quick dry top coat. All have excellent wear time as well, with all getting 4-5 days wear before any noticeable chipping or tip wear. The formula made them a breeze to apply!

2 coats Cherubic in full sun

2 coats Harp On It in direct, indoor lighting

2 coats Harp On It in direct sunlight

2 coats Angel Kiss in direct, indoor lighting

I am happy I bought all six colors because I only had a couple linear holos in my stash. There aren't any ground breaking colors here, but I think the application and wear time certainly are.

What do you think? Did you pick up any of the Halo Hues collection?

Enchanted Polish Austin Powers

I've had this one in my stash for awhile now after snatching it up in a blog sale. I've recently read that it's being re-released, so I thought I'd dust off my photos and post this thing. 

Austin Powers is a densely packed gold glitter polish with a linear holographic component and copper/bronze hexes. It is very versatile polish, looking great over both light and dark colors, as well as on its own. I originally swatched it over Zoya Dove, so that's what is shown in these first couple of pictures. Please, enbiggen these photos.

One coat of Austin Powers over Zoya Dove

I was inspired by Jeanette's post, so later threw it on over a mystery dark mani. :) I did paint just two coats of Austin Powers on the index finger.

Two coats of Austin Powers on index nail, one coat over a dark creme on other nails

Blurred to show the linear holo, rainbow glitter beauty

The nail polish world was saddened by the news that Austin Powers was being retired. This is why I may have been fist pumping and emailing in Walmart when I happened to see a posting on Instagram that this beauty was being sold (unused!!) in a blog sale. Groceries? What?

As I said at the beginning of the post, it's being re-released with Ballerina Slippers and will be able to be found at the following sites: shop.llarowe.com, pshiiit-boutique.com, harlowandco.org, and meimeisignatures.com. Keep an eye out!

Zoya Storm - Swatches and Review, and a Rejuvacote update

Zoya's Ornate collection is full of some stunning polishes, but Storm and Aurora are the only ones I felt the NEED to have. I had decided to hold off on ordering them right away in hopes that there would be one of Zoya's fabulous promos soon. I checked Twitter right before bed the night Sandy hit the East Coast and saw Zoya posted a promo. Storm for free with any non-spoon purchase. 

Please forgive the tip wear and growth. I took these photos after five days. Five!! We've had several cloudy days so I was holding out for the sun. I got a bit in the middle of errands, so I whipped out my phone and snapped some pics.

Storm is an opaque black creme that is packed with an irregularly shaped silver/holographic glitter. The formula is the standard wonderful one that we always get from Zoya and was perfect in two coats.

 
I used one coat of Duri Rejuvacote, one coat of CND Stickey, two coats of Storm, and one coat of Essie Good to Go quick dry top coat and got fabulous wear. Again, these photos are after five days. Keep in mind that I wash my hands at least twenty times a day at work. Rejuvacote is working wonderfully. My nails aren't as peel-y, and they're growing so fast! I just had to find a good combo that worked well with it and me.

Blurred to better show the holo sparkle

butter LONDON Dodgy Barnett and Shag - Swatches and Review

It seems that butter LONDON had released a store-exclusive polish every other week shortly after their regular Autumn/Winter collection was released. Several seemed lovely, but I've been trying to reign in my polish spending lately and if there are two things I have trouble backing away from, it's holos and browns. So, to my home came Dodgy Barnett and Shag.

Dodgy Barnett is a very fine silver glitter with scattered holo particles. It's rather thin, but builds up easily. I have two coats on my ring finger and three on the others. Dodgy Barnett is a beautiful, clean-feeling polish. I wish the holo were a bit more pronounced, but I'm still pretty happy with it.

The other polish I ordered from this collection is Shag. Shag is a warm-toned, brown shimmer polish. I was so excited for this one because I love browns, but I was very underwhelmed by this polish on my nails. I don't know if it's because of my skin tone or what, but just don't like the look of it. I'll probably give it another go before I completely give up.

What do you think of butter LONDON's new offerings? Any you just couldn't say no to?

Jelly Sandwich - OPI's Houston We Have a Purple and Servin' Up Sparkle

I felt very ho-hum about jelly polishes for a long time. Jelly sandwiches really didn't hold much appeal for me either until OPI's New York Ballet collection came out and everyone started doing them with Pirouette My Whistle. I have yet to see a jelly sandwich combo that I don't love with Pirouette.

So, when I was offered the opportunity to pick up OPI's Serena Williams Grand Slam! England duo for $2 and some change, visions of jelly sandwiches began dancing in my head. Servin' Up Sparkle has the same size glitters as Pirouette My Whistle, but the glitter is holographic and in a clear base. Close enough. I'll still grab up Pirouette if I see it in the wild. :)

This photo is two coats of Houston We Have A Purple from the Texas Sorbet collection, one coat of Servin' Up Sparkle, then one last coat of Houston. I'm very happy with the look of this mani, and it wore for ages! I think I got three days before it chipped, and I did dishes and laundry.

What do you think of jelly sandwiches? The polish kind! Do you have a favorite combo?

Cult Nails I Got Distracted

Today I have one of the two Cult Nails polishes I ordered during Maria's birthday promo. I have no idea why, but I haven't indulged in any Cult Nails lacquers before. The company has a cool story, as Maria started as a blogger, but launched her own polish brand with lots of success. I've heard nothing but good things about Maria, her company, her company's customer service, and the polishes themselves. 

I Got Distracted comes from the most recent collection - Coco's Untamed. This collection is made up of five polishes that were designed by Maria's daughter, Coco, and they were released on her 13th birthday. How cool is that? 

I Got Distracted is a black polish absolutely packed with fine holographic glitter and small, green hex glitters. The formula is pretty thick, which is to be expected with so much glitter, but really easy to control. Only two coats are needed and it has such great depth! I really wish the sun were out so that you could see the scattered holo sparkle.

Consider me a Cultie. I'm in! Check out Cult Nails polishes in their online shop. Maria still maintains her blog as well. You can follow that here.