26 February 2014

I Love Nail Polish Cygnus Loop (H)

How have I not posted these yet?! Cygnus Loop (H) was one of the very first polishes I ever swatched for the blog and I guess it just got lost in amongst all of the newer stuff.

Like Birefringence (H) that I posted back in January, Cygnus Loop (H) from I Love Nail Polish (ILNP) is a holographic ultra-chrome and it is GAWRGOUS. (Said in a refined Southern accent - or a Canadian version of.) This sucker shifts from purple to orange to yellow to green all while blinding you with crazy holo. The pigmentation and formula are both amazing and, if I remember correctly, I believe this is two coats with one coat of Poshe top coat.

I have yet to master the art of photographing duo/multi/ultra-chromes but you can see some of the shift in my pics. Trust me, it is WAY more amazing in person.


Loving the holographic ultra-chrome? ILNP has several other variations, with another being released with the Spring collection, coming March 7th!

I Love Nail Polish
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24 February 2014

Elevation Polish Gobi

Does anyone have a case of the Mondays? I'm getting over a nasty cold and an early Sunday morning wake-up (5am, what?!) to watch Canada clinch gold in the men's Olympic hockey final! #wearewinter How was your weekend?

The brand I am sharing with you is not new to me - I've always admired their creations from afar but hadn't had the opportunity to grab any. When I came across several for sale second hand I said to myself, "self, who could give them a better home than you?" And so home they came. I'm waiting on five more to arrive and can't wait to swatch them.

Let me just say that I am equal opportunity when it comes to colours. I'll try most things once and have fallen in love with plenty that others would deem "ugly." Unless it totally doesn't work with my skin tone, I'm good. That said, Gobi by Elevation Polish may need another wear to win me round. It's one of those ugly-pretty colours that I'm not quite sure I can rock.

Gobi is a brownish orange polish with golden holographic shimmer. It's a tough one to nail down. The formula was great and I used three coats for full coverage along with one coat of Glisten & Glow HK Girl. If you like this one I suggest you snap it up while you can because it is in being discontinued.

 
Do you have a favourite "ugly" colour?
 
Elevation Polish
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19 February 2014

Eat Sleep Polish Alice in Polishland collection

**Warning: This post is picture heavy. Prepare a refreshment and a snack and be ready to be amazed.**

Happy Hump Day! My internal clock is all messed up because of the long weekend. Sometimes I feel like today is Thursday and other times Tuesday, but rarely Wednesday. (That made perfect sense in my head...) ;)

Today I have an AMAZING collection to share with you. The wonderful Caterina of Eat. Sleep. Polish. recently released her newest collection and I was very excited to get my hands on these. Inspired by Alice's Adventures in WonderlandAlice in Polishland consists of five polishes - three holographic, one crelly and one glitter topper. (NB: Off With Her Head is only available through the end of February.)

The first one I have to show you is Bruised Her Soul, which is a blackened plum colour and has a scattered holographic effect. The holo isn't super strong but pretty nonetheless. The pigmentation on this was good and it flowed well on the nail. Shown here is one coat of CND Stickey base coat and two coats of Bruised Her Soul.



Next up we have Don't Pet the Cheshire Cat, which is a light purple crelly and has purple and pink square and hex glitters. This is not a glitter bomb by any means and the lower concentration of glitter makes this polish more understated and elegant. This one is quite sheer so it will take three to four coats to build up the opacity or you could layer it over a similarly coloured undie. Shown here is one coat of CND Stickey base coat, three coats of Don't Pet the Cheshire Cat and one coat of Glisten & Glow HK Girl.

 
 
Next in line is The Queen's Croquet, a bright pink polish with micro flakes and a super subtle holo sparkle. I don't know why, but my camera freaked when taking pictures of this one so I apologize for the quality. I used three coats for this one but it you used a heavier hand you could likely get away with two. This polish dries to a satin finish which is quite nice on it's own. I added one coat of Glisten & Glow HK Girl for the final picture.

 
 
Off With Her Head is a limited edition glitter topper and will only be available until the end of February. I really like the combination of black, silver and white glitter and the addition of the red hearts is perfect for a Queen of Hearts inspired polish. I did have quite a bit of trouble fishing the hearts out but it could be because I purchased this collection in the mini size. As you can see though, I was able to get several to place on each nail. Shown here is one coat of Off With Her Head over The Queen's Croquet and one coat of Glisten & Glow HK Girl.
 

Last, but certainly not least, we have Painting the Roses Red, a burgundy polish with the same scattered holographic effect as Bruised Her Soul. The formula on this was exactly the same as Bruised Her Soul and I was able to use two easy coats over one coat of CND Stickey.

 
 
I am a big fan of this whole collection but, for me, I think the stand-out is Bruised Her Soul. I love the dark, vampy plum colour and the scattered holo gives it the perfect amount of sparkle. Fans of Alice in Wonderland, you are going to want to snap up the whole collection before Off With Her Head is gone.
 
Eat. Sleep. Polish
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18 February 2014

Colors by Llarowe Smoke Gets in Your Eyes LE

Back to the grindstone after a three-day weekend; it was Family Day here. We spent our morning at Ikea which was a mad-house! Apparently, Family Day is their busiest day of the year - even more so than Boxing Day! Hope you had a great Family Day/Louis Riel Day/President's Day/day off!

Today I have a gorgeous limited edition polish to show you. I have mixed feelings on these posts. On the one hand, why show it to you if it's not currently available? However, I am trying to share my stash and this one is too gorgeous to skip. Plus, there's always the after-sale market - blog sales, Pinterest boards, Storenvy stalking. ;) Either way, I hope you enjoy the pictures. :)

Colors by Llarowe Smoke Gets in Your Eyes is a brown leaning taupe with gorgeous copper shimmer. This applied smoothly and the formula wasn't as thick as some of my others CbLs. The shimmer is stunning and there's is a colour shifting element as well - I just couldn't capture it. To get a feel for the shifty nature of this beauty, check out Pointless Cafe.

Shown here is one coat of CND Stickey base coat, three coats of Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and one coat of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri.


Pretty, right? What are your feelings on the indie polish after-sale market? Personally, I try to pay as close to retail as possible with a few exceptions. Will you be looking for Smoke Gets In Your Eyes now?

Colors by Llarowe
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11 February 2014

Spellbound Nails Jaded for Green

Happy Tuesday, all! We are currently suffering through the deep freeze that is Canadian winter so I wanted to share something bright and cheerful with you today. This polish was a gift from a wonderful friend - I seriously feel super lucky to have made the friends that I have through the nail polish community. I {heart} you all!

Spellbound Nails Jaded for Green is a lovely, well, jade coloured holographic polish but the holo is very subtle. The formula on this was good - it flowed well on the nail and was opaque in two coats. The only thing that disappointed me about this polish is that, based on the pictures in the Etsy listing, I was expecting something darker and more saturated. The colour is still pretty, just not what I was expecting.

Shown here is one coat of CND Stickey, two coats of Jaded for Green and one coat of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri.

 
Are you looking forward to Spring? I know I am... :)
 
Spellbound Nails
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08 February 2014

Colors by Llarowe Monkey See, Monkey Do

What? A post on Saturday? I've been so tired after work that I haven't felt up to writing in the evenings. Spring can arrive ANY TIME NOW! I hope you all had a great week and are able to relax/have fun this weekend. We are likely taking the kid to see The Lego Movie (or Frozen, again, if she gets her way).

Last weekend I posted a sneak peek video of Colors by Llarowe Monkey See, Monkey Do (currently out of stock) that showed off the crazy sparkle and holo in the sun. (Good thing I did that last weekend! No sign of the sun today.) and today I have the full post for you.

Monkey See, Monkey Do is described as a "[m]edium blue/grey holo with blue and multi colored holo micro glitter" but I think it reads more as a turquoise or aqua blue on me. I definitely don't see any grey tones. The formula on this was on the thick side but I didn't find that it ever got goopy - it still spread evenly. Shown here is one coat of CND Stickey, two coats of Monkey See, Monkey Do, and one coat of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri.












Isn't that crazy sparkle? Beware while driving that you don't blind yourself. ;)

Colors by Llarowe
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* Colors by Llarowe is now also stocked by Harlow & Co.*

 

05 February 2014

Colors by Llarowe Smooth Criminal

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, it was World Cancer Day on February 4th and the nail polish community chose the tag #PaintedPurple4WCD in order to show their support. Today I have a gorgeous purple holographic polish to show you and let me just say, my photos do not even do this polish justice!

Smooth Criminal (currently out of stock) from Colors by Llarowe is a brilliant blue leaning purple holo that has crazy bend and sparkle in direct sun (last three photos), but the thing that makes me really love this polish is that the rainbows are visible even under artificial light - something that can't be said for all holo polish. Shown here is one coat of CND Stickey base coat and two coats of Smooth Criminal (no top coat used). The formula on this was good - a touch on the thicker side but it's also super pigmented and spreads easily.


Isn't that bend insane? I will have more polish from Colors by Llarowe on the blog in the coming weeks so keep an eye out.

Colors by Llarowe
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