Tuesday, December 31, 2013

A Year In Review: 2013 Favorites

I didn't intend to do a top ten favorites but after seeing a lot of other blogs, I couldn't help but think of such were my favorites.  And what's better than having a bunch of pretties all in one post?  I combined indies and mainstream for sake of simplicity.  These are in no special order.

Color Club Uptown Girl.  How can anyone resist flakies in a purple jelly base?

Color Club Uptown Girl
Color Club Uptown Girl
Ninja Polish Mystic Glacier.  Color shifting perfection.  An all around winner.

Ninja Polish Mystic Glacier
Ninja Polish Mystic Glacier




Nerdlacquer Götterdämmerung.  I can't even.  Blue and purple duochrome glitter perfection. 


Nerdlacquer Götterdämmerung
Nerdlacquer Exterminate.  The contrasting glitters against the base just slay me.

Nerdlacquer Exterminate
Nerdlacquer Exterminate


Naild It

Digital Nails Galactica.  It's the name, it's the color, it's pure glitter!

Digital Nails Galactica
Digital Nails Galactica


Typsy Turvy Collection.  OK, technically not one polish but all three were totally awesome, and not only because it was based after Buffy.

Tipsy Turvy Nails Mmm Cookies!
Tipsy Turvy Nails Mmm Cookies!
Tipsy Turvy Nails Angelus
Tipsy Turvy Nails Angelus
Tipsy Turvy Nails Beer Bad
Tipsy Turvy Nails Beer Bad

Enchanted Polish October 2013.  Because who doesn't love a charcoal holo?

Enchanted Polish October 2013
Hare Polish Test Your Love.  Moar Flakies!

Hare Polish Test Your Love

Hare Polish Flight Of The Flamingos.  I love the feminine delicacy of this.

Hare Polish Flight Of The Flamingos

 Yves Saint Laurent Jade Imperial.  Dusty Jade is probably my favorite color ever.

Yves Saint Laurent Jade Imperial
Yves Saint Laurent Jade Imperial
Sinful Colors Endless Blue.  Probably the best blue cream ever.

Sinful Colors Endless Blue
Kunimitsu Lucky Goldfish.  Copper glitters.... Yum.

Kunimitsu Lucky Goldfish
L'Oreal Berry Nice.  A perfect grape jelly.

L'Oreal Miss Candy Jelly Berry Nice
L'Oreal Miss Candy Jelly Berry Nice
My Ten Friends Clusterfrak.  Purple and green together forever!
My Ten Friends Clusterfrak
My Ten Friends Clusterfrak

Ok, so maybe there's more than ten.  It was really hard to narrow the list down!  Most of this list are indie polishes but unless you've been living under a rock, you'd know that indies ruled the nail polish world this year.  Did you have any favorites that I may have missed?  What was your top ten?

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Nerdlacquer Alecto Swatch And Review

Happy last Monday of 2013!  I'm counting down the days until the new year, only two more to go!  Do you have any plans for tomorrow night?  The days of going out on NYE are long gone for me!   I'll probably be staying home with my little family and parents to watch the ball drop on TV.  If you're doing anything exciting, I'd love to hear about so I could live vicariously through you!

I have another exciting Nerdlacquer polish to show you today, and that's Alecto from her newest collection based after the Greek Furies.  To see my previous post, please click here if you'd like to see Magaera.  Alecto, known as "the implacable or unceasing anger" is a lovely orange that leans a bit creamsicle colored but not quite, and has a ton of iridescent flakes, a sprinkling of orange hex glitter, and gold microglitter to bring it all together.  I used four coats here, although I could have gotten away with three coats IRL.   I had no difficulty with the extra coats at all - the smooth NL formula was easy to apply and didn't drag or pull during application.  In fact, I misjudged the consistency thinking it would thicker than it was and I accidentally loaded the brush with more polish thatn necessary which led to slight cuticle pooling on my pinky.  Oops.  I finished this with a layer of NYC GCS topcoat.

Nerdlacquer Alecto
Nerdlacquer Alecto

Nerdlacquer Alecto
Nerdlacquer Alecto

Nerdlacquer Alecto
Nerdlacquer Alecto

Nerdlacquer Alecto
Nerdlacquer Alecto

Nerdlacquer Alecto
Nerdlacquer Alecto

Nerdlacquer Alecto
Nerdlacquer Alecto
I love the complex simplicity of this polish - there's a lot going on with the iridescent flakes and microglitter, but the larger random hexes give an illusion that there isn't a lot of components within the polish.  How does she always do that??  Genius I say.  I love the muted orange shade as well because it's not Halloween orange or fall orange, but an orange that is neutral for all season.  Amanda, elusive as she is, says she will be back for good now so hopefully capturing one of these beauties will be much easier.  Only time will tell! 

KBShimmer The Dancing Green Swatch And Review

Happy Sunday Funday!  My brothers have both left me from their holiday visit and I know I'll miss them both terribly.  They're both so vibrant and fun, and incredibly thoughtful.  It makes me wish that we all lived closer to each other, especially now that I have a daughter.  I'm sure she'd love to spend more time with her entertaining uncles!  It's times like this that really makes me enjoy holidays, because spending time with family is priceless.

To help closeout the Christmas spirit, I have a bright almost neon green KBShimmer for you called The Dancing Green.  The base is a near jelly electric green packed with dazzling variety of glitter from gold and fuchsia circles, gold microglitter, purple and fuchsia hexes, and a smattering of fuchsia squares.  I used three coats here, and the surprisingly liquid formula was not difficult to apply.  There was no pooling or significant stacking of glitters, and minimal glitter drag.  The glitter ratio to base was good, in that the polish application itself and final mani weren't overwhelmed with glitter.  It dried quickly to a matte finish and called for a good layer of topcoat to add luster and shine.

KBShimmer The Dancing Green
KBShimmer The Dancing Green

KBShimmer The Dancing Green
KBShimmer The Dancing Green

KBShimmer The Dancing Green
KBShimmer The Dancing Green

KBShimmer The Dancing Green
KBShimmer The Dancing Green

KBShimmer The Dancing Green
KBShimmer The Dancing Green

KBShimmer The Dancing Green
KBShimmer The Dancing Green

I thought this would be a good transition out of Christmas polish because it has the bright Christmas green feel to it but instead of red, there was a generous amount of purple and fuchsia glitters.  The colors make it a non holiday polish that's perfect to wear year round.  The bright colors are a great pick me up from the vampy polishes of winter and fall, and help me anticipate the beginning of a new year.  Are you sad to see 2013 on its way out, or are you ready for a new start? 

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Pahlish Armour Falling Down Swatch And Review



Hello dears, I hope you all are enjoying your last weekend of the year!  I'm in the middle of my longest staycation stretch that I've had all year long, and you best bet that I am doing my best to enjoy it.  Yesterday I took my brother and his entourage on a small tour of LA and so far we've gone to Mann's Chinese Theater to see the handprints, Griffith Park, photos in front of the Hollywood sign, cupcakes at Sprinkles, and finished the day with Korean BBQ.   Today we plan hitting the beach cities and a getting good view of LA from the Getty Museum. Sigh, tourists.

I'm a huge fan of polishes with shimmer and flakes, and when Pahlish had her Black Friday sale, I had to dive in a pick up a few lot, including Armour Falling Down.  This beauty has a ton of gold flakes embedded within a gorgeous dusty eggplant base.  Application was easy enough - the first was thin and streaky so for the second coat I used a generous layer which was enough to get the mani opaque.  I read about a new to me technique on MUA NB about applying polish with the brush parallel to the nail.  I'll have to practice this technique and see if it works for me, but the benefit is that if done properly, you won't need to use as many layers.  I'll keep you posted on my thoughts!  Finally to finish, I used a layer of NYC GCS.

Pahlish Armour Falling Down
Pahlish Armour Falling Down

Pahlish Armour Falling Down
Pahlish Armour Falling Down

Pahlish Armour Falling Down
Pahlish Armour Falling Down

Pahlish Armour Falling Down
Pahlish Armour Falling Down

Pahlish Armour Falling Down
Pahlish Armour Falling Down

Pahlish Armour Falling Down
Pahlish Armour Falling Down
Pahlish made this a standout winner in her winter collection, especially with those gorgeous gold flakes and muted purple cream base.  I love when gold and purple come together, because it reminds me of royalty and decadence.  After swatching this, I'm eager to try the rest of the polishes that I got from my recent haul.  The question is, where to start!

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Polish Me Silly Clowning Around Over Butter London Slapper Swatch And Review


Happy Post Christmas Pre New Years!  I hope everyone is enjoying the time in the interim.  My brother from NYC is here celebrating the holiday with the rest of the holiday, and if things go as planned, we'll be eating lots and lots of food.  I'll need to get my elastic pants out of the closet after this weekend!  Do you have anything fun planned? 

I haven't been staying current with the new Butter London colors but during a recent Friends and Family sale, one color caught my eye, and that was Slapper, described as a "truly teal nail lacquer, bold and very bright."  Teal, check.  Bold, check.  Very bright, absolutely!  And in case you were wondering, a Slapper in British slang is a woman with loose morals.  Go figure out of all the newer colors I'd choose this color.  Application was typical Butter London goodness, which was incredibly easy with its buttery smooth formula.  I used two coats here for opacity, and it dried to a pretty shine on its own.  The only disappointment I could nit pick at would be that the color on the nail doesn't match what's in the bottle.  Once on the nail, it takes on a less bright teal effect and turns a bit greener.... I'm not entirely sure how that happens! *shakes fist at polish gods*  No topcoat in these pics because I don't think it needed one.

Butter London Slapper
Butter London Slapper

Butter London Slapper
Butter London Slapper

Butter London Slapper
Butter London Slapper

Butter London Slapper
Butter London Slapper

Butter London Slapper
Butter London Slapper
 Next, I added a glitter topcoat that I lemmed ever since I first laid eyes on it on Instagram.  I present to you in all its full glory, Polish Me Silly Clowning Around.  It contains fabulous sheer neon hex glitters in varying colors and sizes.  At the time of its release, which I think was during the spring, it was in a class to itself with nothing else rivaling its unique sheer neon glitters.  Soon after there were a ton of me-too glitter variations that were released by other brands.  I don't know why it took me so long to kill the lemming, but now that I did, I'm so very glad.  I can see how versatile it will be over a multitude of colors, and it doesn't take someone a keen eye to be able to layer it successfully over another shade.  Winning!  The formula was thick as to be expected with a glitter topcoat, but it applied easily and had a hefty amount of glitter in each swipe.  Some of the glitters were larger than I can usually handle(that's what she said) but with some careful placement I was able to control most of the runaway glitters.  This is all finished with a layer of topcoat.

Polish Me Silly Clowning Around
Polish Me Silly Clowning Around

Polish Me Silly Clowning Around
Polish Me Silly Clowning Around

Polish Me Silly Clowning Around
Polish Me Silly Clowning Around

Polish Me Silly Clowning Around
Polish Me Silly Clowning Around

Polish Me Silly Clowning Around
Polish Me Silly Clowning Around

Polish Me Silly Clowning Around
Polish Me Silly Clowning Around
Don't you love how Clowning Around transforms Slapper?  It turns it into a colorful wonderland of glitters but without adding too much sparkle as to detract from a work environment.  It's understated yet fun.  *lovingly pets the nails*  I would definitely recommend this polish, or one of the me-toos, to any self proclaimed polish afficionado.  I don't know what's come over me after this post, it looks like this slapper just can't stop clowning around!  Maybe it's all the pretty colors....  Have you tried Clowning Around?  Did it make you want to start goofing off while wearing it?

Don't forget to put your entry into the Hobby Polish Blogger's Holiday Giveaway, it ends December 31st!  You get a chance to win a gift certificate for $100 or $200 once you enter.  Click here to go to the original post!

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Avon Honeydew Sparkle With Lynnderella She Livedina Swamp Swatch And Review

Wowsers it's Christmas Eve and the elves are still at work!  Are you still doing last minute preparations, or are you just going to ride it out for the rest of the season?  I still don't know what we're going to do for Christmas Day - we plan on making a nice feast for Christmas Eve but I think we decided to go out to dinner for Christmas Day.  The question is, where?  What's your Christmas tradition?

I have a lovely mint green that I've been wanted to swatch for you today, and it's by Avon called Honeydew Sparkle.  This was part of the Forbidden Fruits collection, all of which were juicy bright colors with tons of glass flecks embedded within.  This is a light mint green shade with the aforementioned glass flecks, and the formula unfortunately was a bit disappointing.  It did not want to go on evenly during application and so I used three coats to hide the streaks in this mani.  This was the type of application to make the most seasoned nail polisher feel like a clumsy oaf.  No topcoat in these pics, because at least it redeemed itself with a bit of its own inherent shine.

 Avon Honeydew Sparkle
 Avon Honeydew Sparkle

 Avon Honeydew Sparkle
 Avon Honeydew Sparkle

 Avon Honeydew Sparkle
 Avon Honeydew Sparkle

 Avon Honeydew Sparkle
 Avon Honeydew Sparkle

 Avon Honeydew Sparkle
 Avon Honeydew Sparkle

 Avon Honeydew Sparkle
 Avon Honeydew Sparkle
Well, true to its name, it really does look like a glistening piece of honeydew.  I wish the glass flecks were easier to see, but I guess that's due to the nature of the lighter color base.   Next, to quench that thirst for sparkle, I used a Lynnderella that's been gathering dust in my polish drawers, She Livedina Swamp.  This has varying shades of gold thru green multisized and shaped glitters with microsparkle in a clear base.  I used two surprisingly easy to apply light coats(think super dusty, with evaporation and minimal shaking despite glitter sinkage) followed with a generous coat of NYC GCS. 

 Avon Honeydew Sparkle With Lynnderella She Livedina Swamp
 Avon Honeydew Sparkle With Lynnderella She Livedina Swamp

 Avon Honeydew Sparkle With Lynnderella She Livedina Swamp
 Avon Honeydew Sparkle With Lynnderella She Livedina Swamp

 Avon Honeydew Sparkle With Lynnderella She Livedina Swamp
 Avon Honeydew Sparkle With Lynnderella She Livedina Swamp

 Avon Honeydew Sparkle With Lynnderella She Livedina Swamp
 Avon Honeydew Sparkle With Lynnderella She Livedina Swamp

 Avon Honeydew Sparkle With Lynnderella She Livedina Swamp
 Avon Honeydew Sparkle With Lynnderella She Livedina Swamp

 Avon Honeydew Sparkle With Lynnderella She Livedina Swamp
 Avon Honeydew Sparkle With Lynnderella She Livedina Swamp
I think this turned out to be a Christmas Eve appropriate mani with the festive green glitters, and I love how the gold ties it all together and gives it a holiday feel.  And as a heads up, I might not be posting as regularly as I like as I've been banned from my polish workspace for the rest of the week by the deluge of family members that are here to visit for the holidays.  I hope that you're having a wonderful holiday and celebrating it with your loved ones in your own special way.  Merry Christmas!