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!

Zoya Kimber and Zuza - a last nod to summer!

I am cleaning out my drafts folder and I found this mani that I wore at the beginning of the summer. Zoya Kimber with a Zuza accent. I love both of these, shades, they just scream summer and warm weather to me! 

Both shades are shown with two coats and are available at zoya.com.

Digital Nails Expelliarmus!

Even though Expelliarmus is a spell from Harry Potter, this polish is from Digital Nails' Doctor Who Companion Collection. It's basically fangirl Pam in a bottle. Inspired by Martha Jones in one of my favorite Doctor Who episodes (Shakespeare quoting Harry Potter? Yes, please), it's one of my favorite spells, in my favorite color, and one of my very favorite bloggers ever named it. (If you haven't checked out Accio Lacquer, please do do! Fabulous indie polishes and super entertaining style!)

So, Expelliarmus is a squishy purple jelly with a prominent blue shimmer and circle glitter - small, medium, large, purple, silver, purple holographic. Ahh... LOVE it!

Illamasqua Baptiste

I have drooled over Illamasqua Baptiste for ages. I've even had it in my hand twice, but for some reason I never bought it. Then I found her in a blog sale and couldn't resist!

Baptiste is a dark royal purple polish (could it be a more Pam polish? No!) with a dark pink-ish purple shimmer that glows beautifully! It went on in two easy coats. I do wish it was a bit more obviously purple as it looks black in low light. Hence, the flash photo. Still, a great classic Illamasqua.

Maybelline Color Show Navy Narcissist

I picked this one up at a CVS 75% off clearance. I just can't pass up a polish for less than $1. I love the color. It's metallic, not brush-strokey, and my favorite shade of blue. Sadly, the formula is shit. Completely awful. I thought it may be a one-coater, but the balding was so bad I had to use three coats. Wear time wasn't that great either.

This is the only Maybelline Color Show polish I've tried. Anybody have better luck with them?

Summer Heat! Paint Box Polish's summer collection

Today is the launch date for my newest collection, Summer Heat! Hot neon colors with circle glitters and shimmery micro flakes. I took my inspiration from my Zumba classes. The bright colors of the clothing, thumping music, having a good time while sweating like a crazy person! I tried to embody all of that in polish bottles. And, a TARDIS blue one snuck in there. Sorry, kids. I'm a Whovian. :)

I've been in Las Vegas for a week and the desert air trashed my cuticles. Rie and Ashley reviewed the polishes and they are kind enough to let me snag their photos. :) Check out Rie's review on nailsandnoms.com here. Ashley's review can be found here at ashleyispolishaddicted.com.

Behold!

Everybody's Doing It - 3 coats

Sweat It Off - 3 coats

Booty Pop - 3 coats

In The Groove - 3 coats. 2 coats over white on ring finger

Did I mention they are UV light reactive? Hey! They are!

Two Right Feet - TARDIS blue awesomeness!!

What do you think? I'm so excited about them. If you want to grab any, head over to my Etsy store. These will be limited edition. Once my supplies for them are gone, they are as well.

China Glaze Mani's Before Mimosa's

This is the second polish I picked up from China Glaze's Avant Garden collection. The swatch photos I saw online looked absolutely beautiful. However, this is an excellent example of why I need to read more closely. 

Why? Because the formula on this one was all kinds of awful. Thick, but runny, streaky, and not self-leveling at all. There are three coats to this mani, and it was still a bit of a struggle to get even. Luckily the color is an awesome light coral/peach with gold shimmer. Makes the application hurt less. :)

I cannot conclude without addressing those silly apostrophes. Or shall I say apostrophe's? Ugh. Did your naming people quit school before learning about apostrophes? Does anyone know if this is a reference to something that I'm unaware of? It drives me absolutely crazy. If I were an English teacher, kids would hate me.

China Glaze Fancy Pants

Today I've got one of the two polishes I picked up from China Glaze's Spring collection, called Avant Garden. 

Fancy Pants looks to be a blurple to me (blue/purple), but I've seen it described as both cobalt blue and purple. Either way, I love it. There is a smattering of pink/copper shimmer particles that I think are fairly visible indoors and blatantly obvious in the sun.

The formula was beautiful. Above is two easy coats. I probably could've gotten away with one, but I prefer the look of two. I'm super thrilled with this one. Not so much with the other polish from this set, but that's a post for another day!

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.

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.

LOFT Eggplant and Nightwatch

Here are the last two of my polishes from my awesome Secret Santa. The first is Eggplant, which is a beautiful, deep purple shimmer polish that applied wonderfully and was nice and even at 2 coats. This photo was taken on day two, so pardon the tip wear on my pinky. And the sheet marks on my ring finger.

Lastly, we have Nightwatch. Oh, Nightwatch. You looked so pretty in the bottle. So pretty. And you look nothing like that on the nail.

The bottle color looked like a deep turquoise version of Eggplant, but it came out much flatter and grey-er. This picture is after four thin coats. I think those four coats is what contributed to the horrid wear. I shot this about four hours into the mani, and we already have tip wear. My right index finger chipped shortly after I got to work. Very disappointing.

So, If you're out at a LOFT and see their polishes, give a couple a go. All were absolutely fabulous but for Nightwatch.

Picks from OPI's Fall 2012 Germany Collection

I tried to resist this collection. I really did. Then my favorite and most guilty polish enabler, Christy, texted and said, "I've found a bunch of the OPI Germany collection. Which ones do you want?" How could I deny her?

Every Month is Oktoberfest is a beautiful, vampy burgundy shimmer in a vivid purple base. This is two perfect coats. Look at it glow!

Gratuitous shot of Every Month is Oktoberfest. Please enbiggen, and promise to buy it if you find this one in the wild.

I've been searching for a good mannequin hands shade, and couldn't turn down Don't Pretzel My Buttons. I asked her to grab this one, but picked up H&M Nerd before Christy dropped these in my lap. The color is great, but it was streaky and had a hard time self-leveling. I like Nerd's formula much better. This one will be a great base for glitters and such.

This is three coats of Germanicure by OPI. Such an odd bird. I seriously think I got an off bottle, but will try reswatching it. It's hard for me to believe the photos above and below are the same polish. Germanicure has a similar finish to Oktoberfest, but has a red-brown base and red and gold fine shimmers.

I was so disappointed in this polish. I want to give it another chance before I write it off for good.

So tell me, which polishes from this collection made it into your stash?

a-england Jane Eyre

I snatched Jane Eyre up during a fabulous promo a-england ran on their website before Christmas. I'm glad I got in when I did as they have temporarily suspended shipping outside of the UK due to Royal Mail being very stringent about shipping polishes.

Jane Eyre is from Adina's Gothic Beauties collection - inspired by classic characters.  It is a blackened polish with fine red shimmer. It is described on the website as "intensely smouldering crimson embers, imprisoned in a veil of sombre black." This description is poetically accurate. 

These photos are two coats without top coat. I am always impressed by the shine of a-england polishes. This one was practically a one-coater. It is a beautiful shade, but I wish the red was a little more pronounced.

Some polishes have what is known as "hidden shimmer" i.e. obvious shimmer in the bottle that disappears on the nail. That isn't the case with this polish. What you see is what you get, and it's lovely.

SpaRitual Conduit and Rusted Lux - Swatches and Review

I spied the SpaRitual gold-infused polishes at Sephora when I went to Chicago to visit Bestie last year, but didn't want them for $12.50 a piece. However, when a friend on Twitter tweeted that she found them in a store for MUCH cheaper, I jumped on it!

Conduit is a warm, bronze-gold polish that has a beautiful foil finish. It was rather thin and watery, and these swatches are three coats with some visible nail line. I allowed a couple of minutes between each coat, but I think this one may have benefited from layering or a fourth coat.

I was very excited about Rusted Lux. SO excited about Rusted Lux. And so disappointed when I actually wore it. These photos are three coats with a good 2-3 minutes between each, and check out that bald spot on that first finger!

This photo shows the lovely rose-red base with that intense gold glass-fleck shimmer. So stunning in the bottle, but really a poor payoff on the nail. I may try it layered over a color like Zoya Kimber and see how that looks.

Isn't it pretty? *sigh*

My picks from the OPI James Bond collection - Live and Let Die and GoldenEye

OPI's Holiday collection this year is in celebration of fifty years of Bond... James Bond. (Sorry! I couldn't help myself!) It was full of great colors, but my Helmer is getting full, so I tried to show restraint. I grabbed GoldenEye because I have nothing like it in my stash, and after seeing swatch photos pop up on the internet, I knew Live and Let Die had to be mine.

Application with both was just lovely. I love OPI's brush and the formula wasn't to runny or too thick. Neither of these swatches involved any clean up.

Live and Let Die is a dark, muted green with prominent green and gold flecks. We have had very little sun here, so I wasn't able to get an outdoor shot to show off that shimmer. I may have to add one later. The above photo is two coats, no top coat. Beautiful.

This is three coats of GoldenEye, a warm-toned gold foil. So stunning! I think this would be great for a holiday party. I do believe I read that this polish is featured in the new James Bond movie, Skyfall, which is in theaters now. I don't know if I can tear my eyes away from Daniel Craig long enough to notice. :)

On a non-polish note, I hope all of you people who Black Friday-ed it up made it out with what you wanted and were unscathed. I went out for the past two years, and I just didn't have it in me to do it again. I also hope that your Thanksgiving (if you celebrate it) was full of family, good food, and enjoyment.

Maisie Shine Orion's Belt - Swatches and Review

I saw this polish one day while surfing around Etsy and I just had to have it. The name is what drew me in, as Orion is my favorite constellation. Silly? I don't think so. 

Lindsey describes Orion's Belt as follows: "A dark navy and green shimmery base that shifts in the sun. This galactic nail polish is littered with gold glitters that emulate a perfect night sky." It is definitely easy to pick out the navy base and the green shimmer is pretty prominent. It is also packed with small gold shimmers, small gold squares, small gold hexes, and larger gold hexes. Super beautiful in the bottle and on the nail.

Application... Wow. Application wasn't great at all. This polish is very, very thick. It could definitely do with some thinner. It seemed a little off though. I poured some out onto a sheet of waxed paper and found several chunks of navy blue mica that wasn't completely mixed in. The good news is that I didn't have to fish out glitters or place them at all.

I think I'm going to dump out the whole bottle, thin it down and mix it a little more, and see where that gets me. I do think it is a beautiful color. Two coats of polish, one coat of Gelous, and a coat of Seche Vite gave a beautiful, smooth finish.

Orion's Belt and several other beautiful polishes are available at Lindsey's Etsy store, Maisie Shine. She sells full sized, 15 mL polishes for $9.00 each.

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.