Ice Polish : Dreams Come True... Not If I Can Help It

These swatches are a long time coming but I finally got my poop in a group (why is life so.... lifey?) to edit and post them.

I was super excited when Erin contacted me about swatching these. The Dreams Comes True... Not If I Can Help It collection is based on Disney princesses and villains - I thought the colours she picked for the pairings were spot on and the formula for all of these was amazing.

I have six colours to show you today so let's dispense with the chit chat and get right to business, shall we?

Belle & Gaston
Belle is a soft, creamy yellow with lovely pink and red shimmer (better seen in the second picture) that perfectly captures the essence of Belle's iconic dress and Gaston is a red holo with some gold flakes. I was especially surprised by Belle considering the finicky nature of yellow polish - it had great coverage and I didn't use any white undies for these swatches. Shown here is three coats of Belle and two of Gaston, both with top coat.

Jasmine & Jafar
Jasmine is described as being a minty green but on me I think it definitely reads more as baby blue. It has a lovely holo effect and even though Erin said care needs to be taken with application to not show brush strokes, I had no issues. Shown here is three coats. Now, for my favourite of the whole collection - Jafar. This polish completely blew me away; the plum colour is so amazing and the subtle shimmer adds life to the holo. Shown here is two coats and top coat.

Mulan & Shan Yu
Mulan is a mid-toned, cornflower blue holo with subtle green shimmer. Again, the formula was great and I only had to use two coats although you can just barely see VNL. If you have longer nails you might want to consider using three coats. Shan Yu was another stand out for me. The gold flakes are seriously gorgeous and add complexity to what is still a great brown holo. Shown here is two coats and top coat.

 

Great collection, right? Which pairing is your favourite? I seem to be partial to the villains. ;)

 

Ice Polish

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Philly Loves Lacquer : Sunset Down the Shore

I'm really excited to show you today's polish but first have to start with an apology and disclaimer. This polish was available in June's Holo Grail box from Dazzled and is not available for purchase. :( That said, Esther has lots of other beauties in her shop and I've seen Sunset Down the Shore up for sale on Storenvy and other places so keep an eye out.

On to the polish!

I received this sneak peek several weeks ago and have been dying to show you. Now that the June Holo Grail boxes are arriving in people's mailboxes I can pull back the veil.

When I asked Esther what her inspiration was, this is what she said;

Sunset Down the Shore was my tribute to all of the sunsets I experienced as a child growing up going to the Jersey Shore every summer. I tried to capture as much of the pinkish orange glory as I could, and came up with Sunset Down the Shore. I look at the bottle and am filled with a sense of nostalgia.

I think she got it exactly right. Sunset Down the Shore is a pink-leaning coral and looks exactly like the sun setting on the water. It has these undertones that make it seem to glow from within and it almost seems magical. The holo isn't super strong but it's definitely there - like the sun shimmering on the ocean's surface. Poetic, right? ;)

The formula is on the thin side so I used three coats for these swatches but I ain't mad, because it really gives it this amazing depth. I don't even know if I would try it over undies - I'd be afraid of losing some of the complexity - but if you do, let me know.

Make sure you "like" Dazzled's Facebook page in order to find out information on future Holo Grail boxes.

Philly Loves Lacquer

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Guest Post : Enchanted Polish April 2014

Howdy, folks. I am away on a much-needed family vacation but don't worry, you'll still be getting your swatch fix. ;) I roped three of my super talented blogger friends into providing guest posts and I think you are really going to love what they come up with! Enjoy! <3

Good afternoon everyone! Nina here from Model City Polish. Courtney was kind enough to have me over today to share some gorgeous lacquer and meet all of you lovely readers. To kick things off right I am going to share one of my favorite brands today, the infamous Enchanted Polish. April 2014 is a stunning smokey periwinkle blend with a soft holographic finish. As with many of Enchanted's blends, this one is heavily pigmented and has amazing coverage. In my photos I am wearing just one generous coat of April 2014 and then sealed it with a coat of HK Girl Fast Dry Top Coat.   So what do you guys think of Enchanted Polish? If you like what you see then be sure to sign up for the Enchanted Polish Newsletter for up to date stock info. These guys don't last long so clear your schedule during stock times and get ready for a heart pounding shopping frenzy. Thank you so much for having me today and I would love to see you guys over at Model City. I hope you all have a wonderful Monday and an outstanding week. <3

Thank you so much, Nina, for sharing this amazing polish with us. I missed out on this one but your pictures make up for it. :)

I want to say a huge thank you to Cass of Land of Ten Thousand Polishes, Brandi from Rainy Day Manis, and Nina from Model City Polish for providing such amazing guest content while I was away enjoying the sun. Be sure to check out their blogs - you won't be disappointed!!

Enchanted Polish

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Guest Post : WingDust Wednesday : Steel Town Girl

Howdy, folks. I am away on a much-needed family vacation but don't worry, you'll still be getting your swatch fix. ;) I roped three of my super talented blogger friends into providing guest posts and I think you are really going to love what they come up with! Enjoy! <3

Hello there, new friends! I'm Cass, and I am the blogger behind the "Land of Ten Thousand Polishes"! I am so thrilled to be here blogging for the Polish Ranger while she is on vacation!
I know Courtney because of Reddit and an amazing little sub called redditpolish.  I have been blogging for less than a year, and in that time, I have come to meet so many amazing and creative people. I feel so incredibly privileged to be here, as a guest blogger for Courtney.

I'm sure you already know about "Wingdust Wednesday". This is a weekly feature that showcases this fantastically creative indie polish maker. I am here to show you "Steel Town Girl", which is new to me, but may not be to you.

I love this polish. I love this polish, A LOT. It's on loan to me, and I reallllllllly don't want to give it back!

Steel Town Girl is a deep teal holo base with iridescent blue, holo blue and gold flake. This polish has a little bit of everything. I wondered if all the flakes would make it hard to apply, but it wasn't...not even a little.

Sometimes flakes curl up or poke out of the polish a bit, but I didn't encounter that at all.

I mean, come on. Is this not the coolest polish you've ever seen?

I wish my light box didn't wash out the holo so much!

I waited and waited for some sunshine so I could really show you the holo aspect of this polish, but sadly, we haven't seen the sun here in quite some time!

For my pictures I am wearing three easy coats of Steel Town Girl and one coat of Seche Vite.

I want to say thank you to Courtney for having me, and letting me join in for Wingdust Wednesday! Thank you for reading, and come visit me at landof10kpolishes.blogspot.com sometime!

 

Thank you so much Cass, for such an amazing post! Steel Town Girl is one of my all-time favourites and your photos are simply stunning! Be sure to check out her blog - she's awesome!

 

WingDust Collections

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Two Gypsies Lacquer: Chilean Chocolate, Lake Glass, and Spruce

What the huh?! (My daughter's continuous watching of Littlest Pet Shop is rubbing off on me.) How have I not posted these? I have to extend a huge apology to Michelle, the maker behind Two Gypsies for being so delinquent. I was editing my newest Two Gypsies swatches and found these in the folder. Oops. :(

All three of these were amazing and so pretty. Chilean Chocolate was on many a "best of 2013" list, despite being brand new, and I completely get it. It's such a gorgeous red-toned brown and perfectly captures my favourite type of chocolate - that with a bit of heat. Spruce is a lovely light green holo and Lake Glass is pretty and delicate. I love me a good glitter bomb but the base to glitter ratio in this one is perfect and makes it a little more wearable. Two Gypsies is fast becoming one of my favourite brands. Their formulas are always consistent and I'm loving everything they are putting out.

All swatches show three coats (for extra depth) and one coat of HK Girl top coat.

*Descriptions taken from Two Gypsies.*

Chilean Chocolate
Chilean Chocolate is a red brown polish with a silver shimmer that features a subtle holographic sheen in the sunlight. As you might guess from the name, Chilean Chocolate was inspired by spicy chili chocolate!

Spruce
Spruce features a green base with tiny silver glitters with a holographic sheen in the sunlight.

Lake Glass
Lake Glass is a green jelly polish packed with gold, teal, blue, and copper glitter of various sizes. Lake Glass is inspired by the weathered sea glass we have enjoyed collecting from the shore of Lake Erie.
 

Which one is your favourite? All three are currently in stock! I just received my order from the Spring 2014 collection so those will be up on the blog in the near future.

Two Gypsies Lacquer

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WingDust Wednesday : These Broken Wings

So, I've been blogging, in one form or another, for a long time; at least since 2002 and the early days of Livejournal. And yet, 12 years later, my biggest weakness as a blogger is comparing myself to others. In previous iterations, my blogs followed trends and I tried to be something I'm not - a decor and lifestyle blogger. Sure, it's something I enjoy - who doesn't like pretty things? - but it was never something that I was PASSIONATE about. Nail polish on the other hand? It may seem like a silly and frivolous pursuit to some but I truly see artistry in a gorgeous bottle of nail polish. I don't know if I'll ever call myself a writer or a photographer (definitely not the best at either) but, for the first time, I'm blogging because I love the subject matter and not because I'm trying to keep up with a certain niche.

That said, I'm not super happy with my photos of today's polish. It's not the fault of the polish, I just think my application wasn't the best and it shows. Want to see lovely swatch photos? Check out Polished Pathology or Kitty Kam's Nails.

On to the polish! As described by Stephanie, These Broken Wings "has a soft blue/periwinkkle [sic]base that can look grey or lilac in different lights, linear holo, iridescent and silver flakes, 12 kt white gold leaf and a hint of aqua/lavender shimmer." As with any polish that has gold leaf (like big sister, Steel Town Girl), you need to be careful with application. The flakes will come out of the bottle easily but you may need to dab a bit to ensure that the leaf lies flat on the nail.

These Broken Wings is on the sheer side and shown here is three coats and one coat of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri. You may want to try layering it over a dark colour (like Polly Polish did) or a similar periwinkle creme.

As with all of Stephanie's creations, this one is so unique and will forever have a spot in my collection.

Are you wearing WingDust today? Share your link in the comments! <3

WingDust Collections

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Enchanted Polish July 2013

Every so often, if you are in the right place at the right time, you will meet someone who will change your life. Someone whose generosity never fails to impress. Who thinks about how they can make other people happy and then actually does something about it. For me, this moment was when I joined a nail polish sub on Reddit. There I met a group of ladies who have completely blown me away and who I feel very lucky to be able to call friends. A while ago I was bemoaning the fact that I hadn't seen Enchanted Polish July 2013 on the resale market for less than $50. I know, right? Total wishful thinking. I asked my friends to keep an eye out for me and let me know if they came across one. Instead , my sweet friend Ashley organized a group, they all pitched in and the GOT JULY FOR ME! It arrived at my house completely out of the blue on Monday and I'm not going to lie, I cried. It's such an amazing feeling to be the recipient of such an unexpected act of kindness and I can only hope to repay it one day.

So, Ashley, Kelsey, Michelle, Jennie, Deb, Diane, and Jenne, thank you. From the bottom of my heart. <3

Here she is in all her glory. As with all EP's, the formula was great and it was super easy to work with. Try as I might though, I could not capture the subtle pink shimmer in this - it totally elevates it above a standard mint holo. This is two coats and one coat of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri. Oh, and excuse the tip wear in the sun photo - yesterday was the first day for sun and I did a massive mail-out at work. :/

Now, it's blogger confession time. I am a horrible, habitual cuticle picker. Normally when I'm swatching they aren't too bad because I apply cuticle oil every time I remove polish. But this week? Yeesh. They are bad and I apologize. What tips do you have for cuticle care?

 

Enchanted Polish

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