Pahlish Dance Across The Sea Swatch And Review

Purchased

I'm still doing lots of last minute prep for my trip, and that included some last minute shopping for my DH's tie and a couple dresses for me.  I'm sure I could have used a few more items but it's difficult to concentrate with a toddler wanting to run around and tear everything off hangers.  Oy!  On the bright side, I have an excuse to go shopping while on vacation because hopefully tax will be less than in CA, and also I have the grandparents to watch LO while I shop!

You know how I've been going through my untrieds?  I think I may have found my oldest untried indie polish.  *shameface*  It's Pahlish Dance Across The Sea, one of the original releases of this polish back when the line first debuted.  I don't know why it took me so long to wear it, other than I think I may have been confusing the bottle with another indie brand that I received more recently.  Dance Across The Sea is a azure blue crelly base loaded with tiny silver hexes and larger turquoise blue hexes.  The combination is true to its name and mimics swirling tropical ocean water and sparkling tiny bubbles.  Surprisingly the formula wasn't overly thick from sitting in my drawer too long and it was easily manipulated during application.  As with any thick polish, I had some trouble getting all the way towards the sides of my nailbeds, but nothing a little concentration couldn't fix.  I was too lazy to get up and get any thinner but I'm sure it would have made application quicker.  I used three coats here and experience no dragging, stacking, or streaking of the polish whatsoever.  I finished this with a nice thick layer of Essence Gel Look topcoat.

Pahlish Dance Across The Sea

Pahlish Dance Across The Sea

Pahlish Dance Across The Sea

Pahlish Dance Across The Sea

Pahlish Dance Across The Sea

Pahlish Dance Across The Sea

I'm literally kicking myself for waiting so long to wear such a gorgeous polish that has now become a classic in indie history for polishes.  I love the way the glitters catch the light and spark like water does when hit by sunlight.  I think I may have a few more Pahlish classics sitting around in my drawer, but I'll have to dig them up to swatch them.  Too many polishes, not enough fingers!  Have you been whittling away at your untrieds?

Purchased

Zoya Muse Swatch And Review With Bonus Wet 'n' Wild Matte Topcoat

Press Sample

I'm glad that I'm going back to the gym, even though the gym is not my favorite way to work out.  I like to keep in shape, whether it be dancing, swimming, or plain old running, but it's been hard to do it with LO needing so much attention.  The gym has been convenient, and she's been adjusting well to their daycare.  I managed to increase my ten minute initial workout to a whole forty minutes.  Yay!  Now I work on losing those last few post pregnancy pounds.  How do you like to keep in shape?

I have a new summer 2014 release from Zoya's Bubbly collection called Muse that I couldn't wait to show you.  It's the only blue from this collection, and like the others, it features gold microglitter and holo hex glitters in a "blue raspberry" jelly base.  The formula wasn't sticky like most jellies and it applied incredibly easily without any streaking or stacking of the hex glitters.   I finished this with a layer of topcoat for added shine.

Zoya Muse

Zoya Muse

Zoya Muse

Zoya Muse

Zoya Muse

Zoya Muse

How bubbly is that?  The holo hex glitters sandwiched inside the jelly base look exactly like bubbles suspended in blue ocean water.  The gold shimmer is reminiscent of sunshine rippling through the water waves.  I can't wait to show the rest of the collection, with all that jelly holo hex glitters sammich goodness!

Of course, what's the obvious next step when confronted with a jelly glitter sammich?  Matte all the glittah!

Zoya Muse Matted

Zoya Muse Matted

Zoya Muse Matted

Zoya Muse Matted

Le sigh.

Press Sample

Hare Polish Gallery Row Swatch And Review

Hello my lovelies!  I took a bit of a hiatus for the weekend and I'm back and recharged.  I hope you all had a nice Mother's Day and got to spend time with family.  My brother and nephew were in town so we took a mini food tour of LA, mostly spending time in Koreatown, the westside for some fish tacos, and then to Portos bakery for some cuban sandwiches and sweets.  Not too much sight seeing per se, but we did spend a chunk of time at USC checking out the campus with my nephew so he could get a feel of what campus life was like there.  My college, Rutgers, seems much more grittier than the manicured lawns of USC.  It's the perfect bubble in the middle of chaotic downtown.

Speaking of downtown, Los Angeles' downtown has been booming and undergoing a significant reformation.  It use to be a seedy area that was deserted at night except for unknown illicit activites, but it has since turned a full 180 degrees.  It's now bustling with a young crowd, expansive loft spaces, trendy restaurants and hip lounges  Part of that growth is Gallery Row, a street that has now become a hotbed of beautiful art boutiques and galleries.  Back in my younger years when I had time to spare in that area of town, we would come at night and find live music being performed at some of those galleries, which then later expanded to the infamous once a month Artwalk.  It has now become a community event where live music, food vendors, and galleries collaborate to create a night full of energy and visual beauty.  Aside from the beautiful commissioned gallery art, there is also an abundance of street art found all over downtown, from huge colorful graffiti murals to small quirky stencils in the sidewalk.  You can turn a corner into an alley and then unexpectedly run smack into the most jaw dropping piece of graffiti out of nowhere.  That's probably my favorite thing about downtown.  I often wanted to drive aimlessly through those streets and capture those works on film.  Nowadays being a mom, I don't see that happening any time soon!

From all this Nikole takes inspiration to create a polish called Gallery Row, a muddled dark navy base that has a multitude of equally muddy glitters that manage to come together into a lively creation of color and energy.  There are rust colored circles, fuchsia hexes, green and yellow mini glitters, along with pink and silver squares.  It reminds me of the days when I'd drive through the empty streets of downtown under a clear midnight blue sky, and the pieces of graffiti art whirling by as I passed.   The formula itself was easy to apply, needing only three thin coats for full opacity and a high density of glitter.  I had no trouble with stacking or dragging of glitters, but make sure to allow each coat to fully dry being applying the next.  I finished with a layer of topcoat to smooth and add shine.

Hare Polish Gallery Row 

Hare Polish Gallery Row 

Hare Polish Gallery Row 

Hare Polish Gallery Row 

Hare Polish Gallery Row 

Hare Polish Gallery Row 

In my opinion, this is probably Nikole's best translation of a Los Angeles location into a nail polish - the dark base color does an excellent job of portraying downtown Los Angeles at night with its mysterious and gritty streets, while the colorful mix of glitters bring the viewer straight into the growing art scene that is found within.  This finishes my small swatchathon of the Viva Los Angeles collection, and regrettably I didn't get the last of the collection called Bowl of Roses.  I'll make sure to rectifiy that the next time Nikole has a restock!  Out of all that I swatched, it's hard for me to choose which is my favorite since they're all so beautiful.  I would say Gallery Row is amongst the top two or three or four.  Heck, don't make me choose!  Which was your favorite?

Pahlish Drink The Sea Swatch And Review

Purchased

Another Monday, another dollar.  At least I had a nice weekend catching up with friends, and I got to do my taxes as well.  I'm looking forward to getting a decent sized refund, which will probably go straight into daycare expenses.  I also watched a ton of Freaks And Geeks, a show that I never knew existed while it aired.  I can't get enough of it, and I love seeing how young the show characters are compared to what they look like now.  Have you ever seen this show before?

I realized that I haven't used a Pahlish in a little while, so I pulled out Drink The Sea, a lovely mint green cream with accents of gold circles and green hex glitters.  The only downside was that application wasn't easy - it was streaky and didn't self level well.  I had to use four coats to cover up the patchiness, and once dry, you can see some of the pooled areas.  Meh.  I tried adding topcoat to smooth it out but it didn't hide all the flaws.  I had similar experiences with other white cream based Pahlishes, which makes me think it's a formula issue when it comes to the lighter creams.

Pahlish Drink The Sea

Pahlish Drink The Sea

Pahlish Drink The Sea

Pahlish Drink The Sea

Pahlish Drink The Sea

Pahlish Drink The Sea

I think the base color of this is amazing, but it's a shame it's so hard to apply.  I know I've definitely had other brands with similar color that applied beautifully.  The gold and green hexes add to the subtle tonality of this polish, giving me a hint of what to expect when spring finally arrives. With winter coming to a slow end, I can't wait to see more uplifting spring shades.  Are you already wearing pastels, or are you still enjoying the dark vampy colors of winter?

Purchased

Elevation Polish 2AM Walks With Farrihn Swatch And Review

Purchased

Hooray for the weekend! If you're in the northeast, you're probably having a three day weekend. I hope you all are safe and warm! My parents are worried about their flight back to PA on Monday and we're hoping the flight will go smoothly with no delays.   It's hard to tell at this point! Travel this weekend is going to be a b*tch.

I love grey polish and I love it more when it's a grey polish with glittah!  When I saw Elevation released 2AM Walks With Farrihn I knew it had to be mine. This is a dark purple leaning grey colored crelly base loaded with hex glitters in purple, fuchsia squares, and green circles.  I used three coats here found that the slightly thick polish was a somewhathard to control, in that it didn't want to flow easily and coat the edges of my nail bed, especially toward the cuticles.  The glitters however posed no hindrance whatsoever during application.  I finished this with a layer of Gelous followed with topcoat.

Elevation Polish 2AM Walks With Farrihn

Elevation Polish 2AM Walks With Farrihn

Elevation Polish 2AM Walks With Farrihn

Elevation Polish 2AM Walks With Farrihn

Elevation Polish 2AM Walks With Farrihn

Elevation Polish 2AM Walks With Farrihn

Lulu's inspiration for this was a flower that she saw while taking a late night walk in NYC with her friend.  I think this polish summarizes that moment precisely, and I can see in my mind the shadowed colorful bloom.  I love when an artist can visually portray a moment like that to her viewer, and Lulu has done it time and time again with her creations.   Each bottle is a work of art, and the story behind it makes it that much more special.  Do you think of the stories behind the polish when you use it?

Purchased

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

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

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? 

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

Purchased

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

 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

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!

Purchased