Friday, January 31, 2014

Cirque Mink Swatch And Review

Hello my dears!  Thank goodness this week flew by fast!  I had a ton of work to do, and the piles of folders keep building up faster on my desk than the speed that I'm clearing them off.  Not to mention that I'm spending all day on the phones - for every call I put out, I'm getting three messages that I need to return.  Luckily we're hiring someone to help me out, but I'm worried that we won't find someone quickly enough!

 To help my day go by quicker and give myself to distract myself from all the craziness at work, I decided to try Cirque Mink, a gorgeous light brown holo that I've been hankering to use ever since I saw my first swatch online.  I don't own any brown holos, and in fact, they've been difficult to find in general.  Lately there's been more, but this particular one caught my eye because firstly it's made by Cirque(have you seen Fascination Street?  'nuf said), and secondly there's a stunning green flash in the holo.  Die!  I used two wonderfully smooth and easy coats, with no streaking or balding during application.  I can't think of a single complaint about this polish, other than it dried to a somewhat dull finish which needed a layer of topcoat.  Luckily it didn't detract from the holo!

Cirque Mink
Cirque Mink in Light Tent

Cirque Mink
Cirque Mink

Cirque Mink
Cirque Mink

Cirque Mink
Cirque Mink

Cirque Mink
Cirque Mink


Cirque Mink
Cirque Mink

Cirque Mink
Cirque Mink
Whoduthunkit, that a brown holo would be so beautiful?  When I think of holos, I always think of bright vibrant colors, not a  murky brown shade, but the rainbow flare against the brown make this incredibly unique and eye catching.  It's irresistible.   Out of the entire Alchemy Collection, I think Mink may be my personal favorite.  Have you ever been surprised by a holo?  Or is that a redundant question - aren't all holos surprising in their own way?  Thanks Liz, for giving me this beauty - I luuuurve it so hard!

Monday, January 27, 2014

Butter London HRH Swatch And Review With Bonus Stamping Enchanted Polish Mercy

Occasionally I feel nostalgic when I think of the days when I use out to Hollywood Blvd to go dancing.  There's something about the energy and the comraderie amongst all the dancers, and the pulsating beat that would move my soul.  I miss the creative process of imagining new dance steps and watching other dancers move in new innovative ways in the cypher.  I know there's some of the old crew who are still dancing, despite having kids and jobs... I wish I could do it because I miss the creative outlet but I know I'd be super wiped out and feel guilty leaving LO at home.  Heck, I haven't even seen a movie since she's been born!  How do people do it?  Fellow moms, will I ever get over feeling guilty?

Anyway - not sure what brought that on, but let's get back to the point at hand - nail polish!  I have for your eyes today Butter London HRH, a gorgeous royal purple shimmer.  True to Butter London's formula, it's a bit on the thick side which is tricky when working with a shimmer.  You have to apply it in as little swipes as possible to minimize brush strokes.  I found that it leveled fairly well except for the areas around the base of my nail.  It applies with a lot of streaks, and three coats are needed to avoid any visible camera patchiness.  I finished this with a layer of GlitterDaze topcoat for shine.

Butter London HRH
Butter London HRH

Butter London HRH
Butter London HRH

Butter London HRH
Butter London HRH

Butter London HRH
Butter London HRH


Butter London HRH
Butter London HRH

Butter London HRH
Butter London HRH
Next, I decided to add some extra eye appeal by adding some stamping with my Winstonia plates.  I've been wanting to use this particular pattern for ages but never found a good opportunity to use it until now.  I went with subtle stamping and used Enchanted Polish Mercy to stamp my pattern - I wanted to use a purple holo and I realized that this was my only one.  How did I let that happen??  I'll have to rectify that ASAP!

Butter London HRH Stamped With Enchanted Polish Mercy
Butter London HRH Stamped With Enchanted Polish Mercy

Butter London HRH Stamped With Enchanted Polish Mercy
Butter London HRH Stamped With Enchanted Polish Mercy

Butter London HRH Stamped With Enchanted Polish Mercy
Butter London HRH Stamped With Enchanted Polish Mercy

Butter London HRH Stamped With Enchanted Polish Mercy
Butter London HRH Stamped With Enchanted Polish Mercy

Butter London HRH Stamped With Enchanted Polish Mercy
Butter London HRH Stamped With Enchanted Polish Mercy
I still consider myself really clumsy when it comes to stamping, but I think the Winstonia plates make it easier with their crisp construction.  My only complaint is that my nails are getting too long for the designs, so I won't be able to use any of the full nail patterns unless I shorten them.  I don't know why I wanted so long to use this pattern either, it transferred over without any problems whatsoever.  I love stamping with holos - they really add a lot of visual interest to a mani and are easy to stamp with.  Have you braved stamping yet?  If not, I definitely think you should give it a try, especially if I can pull it off! 




GlitterDaze Exquisite Over Cirque Cape Liz Swatch And Review

Nothing To DisclosePurchased

Hello my dears!  I hope you enjoyed your weekend!  I slept a lot and didn't get to swatch as much as I wanted to.  I spent a lot of time hanging out with LO, which makes it the perfect weekend.  She's figured out how to keep me with her at night - while I'm trying to put her to bed, the cheeky monkey stays awake as long as possible so that I end up falling asleep with her.

Today's polish is a dusty blue cream with grey undertones called Cape Liz by Cirque Lacquers.  The cream is offset with iridescent flakes that are strongly visible in the bottle but don't translate on the nail as well.  Application was smooth and easy during the two coats I used here for this mani.  I finished with a layer of topcoat to add a glass like shine.

Cirque Cape Liz
Cirque Cape Liz

Cirque Cape Liz
Cirque Cape Liz

Cirque Cape Liz
Cirque Cape Liz

Cirque Cape Liz
Cirque Cape Liz

Cirque Cape Liz
Cirque Cape Liz

Cirque Cape Liz
Cirque Cape Liz
Isn't that the perfect winter blue?  I felt that it made the perfect canvas for some glitter, so I topped it off with GlitterDaze Exquisite, a lovely mix of gold and pink multisized hex glitters accented with silver shimmer.  The formula was dense with glitter so I needed only one easy coat to get plenty of glitters on each nail.  I finished this with a layer of GlitterDaze topcoat to add smoothness and shine.

GlitterDaze Exquisite Over Cirque Cape Liz
GlitterDaze Exquisite Over Cirque Cape Liz

GlitterDaze Exquisite Over Cirque Cape Liz
GlitterDaze Exquisite Over Cirque Cape Liz

GlitterDaze Exquisite Over Cirque Cape Liz
GlitterDaze Exquisite Over Cirque Cape Liz

GlitterDaze Exquisite Over Cirque Cape Liz
GlitterDaze Exquisite Over Cirque Cape Liz

GlitterDaze Exquisite Over Cirque Cape Liz
GlitterDaze Exquisite Over Cirque Cape Liz

GlitterDaze Exquisite Over Cirque Cape Liz
GlitterDaze Exquisite Over Cirque Cape Liz
The coloring reminded me of KBShimmer's Toast-ess With The Mostest, except without as many larger glitters.  This was a daintier version of that glitter, and not as dramatic.  I think it was the perfect accent for Cape Liz because it doesn't overwhelm the soft base color.  I seem to also have a thing for gold and pink together.  It's an irresistible combination that looks good over a multitude of base colors.  Have you found your go-to glitter combination?

Nothing To DisclosePurchased

Friday, January 24, 2014

Gloss 'n Sparkle Slowing Growing Deaf Swatch And Review

It's Friday! I've got a ton of work that just piled in and a visit to the dentist.  You best bet that I'm looking forward to this day being over, ASAP!

Today I'm excited to show you a polish from Oz by indie maker Gloss 'n Sparkle called Slowing Growing Deaf from the Discord Collection.  For some reason I feel that Australian polishes are hard to come by, but with all the worldwide stockists, they actually easy to obtain these days.  If anything, the difficulty lies in snagging them before they go out of stock, something I don't always have time for these days.  So any Gloss 'n Sparkles that I come by are treasured, and I have Liz to thank for this one!  This beauty is a light robin egg blue creme embedded with tons of red and matte white tiny glitters.  I had no difficulty with application other than some mild runaway glitters off the tips of my nails that I was too lazy to chase after.  I used two nicely opaque here and finished with Gelous and GlitterDaze topcoat.

Gloss 'n Sparkle Slowing Growing Deaf
Gloss 'n Sparkle Slowing Growing Deaf

Gloss 'n Sparkle Slowing Growing Deaf
Gloss 'n Sparkle Slowing Growing Deaf

Gloss 'n Sparkle Slowing Growing Deaf
Gloss 'n Sparkle Slowing Growing Deaf

Gloss 'n Sparkle Slowing Growing Deaf
Gloss 'n Sparkle Slowing Growing Deaf

Gloss 'n Sparkle Slowing Growing Deaf
Gloss 'n Sparkle Slowing Growing Deaf

Gloss 'n Sparkle Slowing Growing Deaf
Gloss 'n Sparkle Slowing Growing Deaf

I love the speckled look of this polish and the combination of colors together.  Despite being red, white, and blue it doesn't seem overly patriotic either. In January, it has a wintery, fresh out of the holiday vibe to it. The color seems to elongate the length of my nails too. I can't believe how long they appear!  It must be a combination of the shape and color that give that illusion.  I can't say that's a bad thing, although it's hard for me to get use to seeing them this long.  Do you have any colors that magically lengthen your nails?


Thursday, January 23, 2014

CrowsToes One Trick Pony Swatch And Review

Happy Thursday!  Is it just me or is this weekend dragging by slowly?


There's something seductive about a black holo, and when I was admiring the RAOK that I received from Liz, I was immediately drawn to CrowsToes One Trick Pony.   It's a straightforward black holo with strong linear rainbows prisms.  The formula was a bit thick but workable and two coats would be sufficent for IRL, but I did three for the camera.  It could have used a layer of topcoat to add shine, but I chose not to in case it dulled the holo.

CrowsToes One Trick Pony
CrowsToes One Trick Pony
CrowsToes One Trick Pony
CrowsToes One Trick Pony
CrowsToes One Trick Pony
CrowsToes One Trick Pony

CrowsToes One Trick Pony
CrowsToes One Trick Pony
CrowsToes One Trick Pony
CrowsToes One Trick Pony

CrowsToes One Trick Pony
CrowsToes One Trick Pony

CrowsToes One Trick Pony
CrowsToes One Trick Pony
I love that inky black goodness!  I wore this for a work dinner and although it was probably too dark for such an occasion, I could not help myself!  It's irresistable.  My only regret is that I don't get to spend more time in the sun during the weekdays.  Are you a sucker for black holos?  Which ones have you tried?

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Amazing RAOK And Cirque Queen Majesty Swatch And Review

Nothing To Disclose
Hello lovelies!  I hope you're enjoying your week.  If you're not, at least you're half way through! 

Last weekend when I was feeling under the weather, I received the best cheer me up gift ever from a fellow blogger and nail enthusiast, Liz from Lacquer Slacker Liz.  It came as a complete surprise, and I waited until after LO went to bed so that I could savor opening up the RAOK(Random Act Of Kindess).  Needless to say I was knocked speechless by her generosity - my dear polish fairy sent me the best polishes ever!  I'm not going to reveal any names of the polishes.... You'll have to stay tuned to see the swatches of what she's sent me.  Thank you so much Liz!!

Look at that card!

Look at those sexy Cirque boxes!!  Can you believe that she sent me all of those?  Incredible.  I had a hard time choosing which one to try first, but of course I settled on the purple glitter.  Can you blame me?

Cirque Queen Majesty is a combination of purple, fuchsia, and holographic blue microglitter suspended in a clear base, and opaque after two easy coats.  I didn't have any balding or clumping of any kind, which sometimes is expected with a glitter only polish.  It applied smoothly and evenly and I had minimal cleanup.  It dried to a textured finish on its own, reminiscent of Zoya Carter but without the darkened jelly base. 

Cirque Queen Majesty
Cirque Queen Majesty

Cirque Queen Majesty
Cirque Queen Majesty

Cirque Queen Majesty
Cirque Queen Majesty

Cirque Queen Majesty
Cirque Queen Majesty

Cirque Queen Majesty
Cirque Queen Majesty
Cirque Queen Majesty
Cirque Queen Majesty
Of course, I had to try using topcoat to see if it changes the appearance of Queen Majesty.  I used a layer of Gelous and my Poshe/NYC GFC mix.

Cirque Queen Majesty
Cirque Queen Majesty

Cirque Queen Majesty
Cirque Queen Majesty

Cirque Queen Majesty
Cirque Queen Majesty
Cirque Queen Majesty
Cirque Queen Majesty

Cirque Queen Majesty
Cirque Queen Majesty

Cirque Queen Majesty
Cirque Queen Majesty
 Look at all those pretty sparkles!  I love the accent of the blue holographic glitters because they emit an elusive spark that hides as soon as you see it.  I wish my photos did the color more justice because it looks more fuchsia leaning purple IRL than blue leaning as it appears here.  Why do purples never photograph correctly?  In any case, I know that when I wear this that I'll be thinking of how awesome Liz is for being so thoughtful and kind.  Thanks again Liz for the wonderful RAOK!  I can't wait to get through the rest of the beauties!

Nothing To Disclose