Lyderella Swatches!

I just received my order from Lynnderella's latest sale yesterday and I just couldn't wait to try them! She sure does make some doozies! Just look at these beauties! If you love glitter, you NEED to keep watch for her next sale (she only opens shop for a small bit of time every few weeks - this last time she was only open for some 15 minutes before she was swamped with orders!).

Lynnderella - Cauldron Drippings over Essence - Get the Fever

This is Cauldron Drippings over Essence Get the Fever. So many pieces of pretty copper/orange glitter with some random bits and pieces thrown in (whatever is in the cauldron, she says). It's just a perfect Halloween polish. I did like it over orange, but I decided I'd try it over black and it's EVEN BETTER!  I will definitely be wearing this on Halloween, no question.

Lynnderella - Cauldron Drippings over China Glaze - Liquid Leather

Lynnderella - The Glittering Crowd over China Glaze - Liquid Leather

So most glitters have a couple colors and may contain a couple different shapes. But not this one. According to Lynnderella, this polish contains over ONE HUNDRED different types of glitter, and because of this, every finger comes out different. Also, all of the Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday dupes (I don't have the original) look dull in color compared to this one. The colors are so vibrant and varied that it's the biggest rainbow in a bottle I've ever seen. This is THE BEST rainbow glitter EVER. I'm wearing this for my mom's birthday this Sunday!

Lynnderella - Very Pretty Vampire over Essie - Bordeaux

Very Pretty Vampire is not as "blingy" as the others, but it's just as gorgeous. It's a mix of all different shades and hues of red and burgundy (and even black I believe). I layered this over Essie Bordeaux, but it appears that the base itself is tinted. I may have to try it on its own sometime.

Lynnderella - Connect the Dots over China Glaze - High Hopes

Connect the Dots is one of those truly unique but kind of simple ideas. It's just black and white glitter, but in all different shapes and sizes, including string or bar glitter. It's totally awesome, but I had trouble getting the glitter to look any kind of "even" between all the fingers. Nevertheless, it turned out amazing anyway, and I love the shimmer in the base. Also, I like how a smaller black hex ended up right in the middle of a white one on my ring finger - so cool! I SHOULD have layered it over orange for more Halloween vibe, but I didn't think of it until just now.

Lynnderella - Snow Angel

Last is Snow Angel. I may have mentioned before that I was obsessed with finding a white glitter polish. Well, this one takes the cake. It's been mentioned that it is hard to work with, and after the first perfectly even coat I thought "no way!" However, the second coat was a little rougher, and you can see it doesn't come out quite even. Maybe letting each coat dry in between or even putting Seche Vite in between each coat would help, I dunno. I wish I would have gotten a picture at one coat because it was so dainty and delicate and I liked it better. I'd also like to try it over some greys and a white like Essie Marshmallow.

I'm so incredibly excited that I was able to get an order in this last sale, and I can't wait to see what she has to offer in her next sale!

Icing Blackout Swatch

I know I say this about a LOT of polishes, but this truly is one of my all-time favorites (I guess I must blog mostly about ones I like, and skip posting about the ones I don't). This is Icing Blackout. I hear there are two versions (one that's more dense with holo glitter), but this one is AMAZING. It's a deep charcoal jelly with tiny holo glitter that builds to black in three coats as shown (I'm sure you could do with one coat over a black base as well, but I love the jelly look):

Icing - Blackout

The next picture is blurred to show more of the beautiful colors.

For some reason I liked this picture even though it isn't very clear - again with the bright colors, and this isn't even in direct sunlight!

Here it is in the sun and you'll just have to take my word for it that it's much more sparkly in person! Just captivating!

I've gotten a couple other Icing polishes as well and have been quite impressed with them - awesome unique colors and fantastic formula.  I saw swatches of an gorgeous orange glitter by Icing here at Girly Bits, and it's created a HUGE lemming for me!  If anyone finds a bottle and would be willing to ship it to me, I'll buy it from you!!

Glitter Gradient - Finger Paints It's an Original and Ozotic Elytra 528

Now, before you move on to the pictures I want to say that this wasn't nearly as spectacular as it looks here. The first three pictures are taken underwater, and the rainbow is much more prominent than it is in person.

This is Finger Paints It's an Original (shown alone here) with Ozotic Elytra 528 on the tips (about three coats starting father down the nail each time).

The following two pictures are not taken underwater, but are in very indirect, dim light, which is the only other time I could see the rainbow at all (besides in the water).

Unfortunately, this was so disappointing that I ended up taking it off pretty quickly. Mostly, it looked like simply teal glitter on the tips of the purple, and it just didn't "pop" like I wanted it to. Oh well, at least the pictures look pretty.

First Snow! (Orly Pixie Dust and Nubar White Polka Dot)

I can't believe it! It actually was SNOWING here in Pine, AZ on October 7th! Only briefly, and it didn't stick, but still... FIRST SNOW OF THE SEASON! I had on Orly Pixie Dust because it was rainy and stormy, so I just added a coat each of Confetti Tiara and Nubar White Polka Dot over it. Check out my snow nails - I love them!!

Orly Pixie Dust w/ Confetti Tiara and Nubar White Polka Dot

I've seen a few swatches of Nubar White Polka Dot (which, by the way, is the same formula as the Painted Nail Moon drops) over dark colors, and it looks awesome. But I'm really in love with it over a stormy grey! It has the most beautiful pearly, silvery white glitter hexagons as well as smaller while pearl and iridescent glitters. Honestly, one of my favorite glitters that I own (and I have a LOT).

And for good measure, here is Orly Pixie Dust by itself:

For Nihrida: OPI Ink and Finger Paints It's an Original

Here's a comparison for my dear Nihrida <3

OPI Ink and Finger Paints It's an Original:

OPI Ink (index and ring) and Finger Paints It's an Original (middle and pinky)

The finish is obviously different, with Ink having a slightly duochrome glass fleck thing going on, and Original is just a straight blue-purple shimmer. To me in person, the flecks in Ink make it look a bit more blue, which doesn't show in the picture. Both only take two coats.

And to refresh your memory, here is how Finger Paints looks alone (except a bit too blue, but this picture shows the vibrancy quite well... maybe it's because it has a top coat).

Finger Paints It's an Original

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Midnight Sky Swatch

Another one "from the vault." This is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Midnight Sky. It's darker than OPI Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous and Chanel Graphite, and covers in two easy coats. I originally intended to layer something over this (like my Orly prismatic gold top coat, or China Glaze Fairy Dust) to make it more interesting, but as it turns out I loved it so much that I just left it alone.

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Midnight Sky

Chanel Graphite Swatch

I have to say, I think Chanel really came out with a doozy of a collection this fall. Well, I don't like Quartz, but two out of three ain't bad (Meatloaf, anyone?). I ended up picking up Graphite recently (and ALMOST got a backup of Peridot), and it turns out I love this one too!

 Chanel - Graphite

Aren't the gold and pewter sparkles gorgeous?? Such a beautiful color!

Fire Kitty and Nails!

So maybe you didn't know this, but I love World of Warcraft. My two mains (nope, I can't pick just one) are a gnome warlock named Whatsit (Chief has a gnome rogue named Whoosit... aren't we cute??) and a feral druid named Zyrah. Last night, Zyrah brought down the 6th boss in Firelands for the third time and Fandral's Flamescythe dropped!

All of my combat is in cat form, and this staff makes my character look like this:

I was so excited that all night I dreamed of ways of putting these flames onto my nails, and here's how it came out. I'm pretty happy with it, though I might do it again with a little more orange next time (less red). I used Zoya Kimmy for the base (2 coats), then lightly brushed Zoya Tanzy over it starting a little farther towards the tips each time, then added just a hint of China Glaze Lighthouse on the very tips.

I'm still so incredibly excited I can't stop squeaking now and then :o)

EDIT:  By the way, all of my Wow characters or on the US Doomhammer server.  Let me know if you have a toon there or would like to try playing and I can send you an invite for a trial account!

Another Holiday Manicure

Here's a quick post of a holiday mani I did last week. I saw a similar manicure by All Lacquered Up using Orly's new holiday collection here and loved it, so I figured I'd recreate it as best I could. I used China Glaze Phat Santa and CND Sugar Sparkle to get this look.

China Glaze Phat Santa w/ CND Sugar Sparkle

I love the effect Sugar Sparkle gives - I think it makes it look like a sugary Chrismas candy! I'm thinking of making a "gumdrop" mani with CG Mrs. Claus, Mistletoe Kisses, and Grape Juice. Are there any other colors you think I should add into the mix?? This over each one might give them an even more sugar-coated appearance.

Any holiday mani ideas that you'd like to see?

Hello and welcome!

After stalking many a nail-polish-blog, I've finally decided to start one of my own! I am still figuring out how to blog as well as take pictures which accurately portray the various nail polish colors. For now, I would love any comments and suggestions you have for me!

Here is a picture of the wonderful polish that made me feel the absolute need to start my own blog: Charla from the new Zoya Sparkle Collection. The color in this one is SO amazing, and I'm still trying to find a way to capture its crazy teal sparkle. Let me know what you think and I'll try to post images of the rest of the collection in the next few days.

Zoya - Charla

I also want to thank the many other blogs I have been been following that have inspired me to start this one. You should definitely check these out if you haven't seen them already - they are amazing!

Scrangie

All Lacquered Up

Little Music Boxes

The Manicured Manatee

Lextard