Literary Lacquers : Magic & Mysteries collection

Ohhhhh, dude. These swatches are so late. Let's just consider this the norm around these parts - sporadic posting whenever I get my poop in a group. We good?

Today I have five polishes from the Magic & Mysteries collection by Literary Lacquers. Let me just say right off the bat, I have yet to have a bad thing to say about Amy's creations and these five are no exception. Her formula is on the thinner side which some may not like, but I prefer it because it allows me complete control with how many coats I want to use/how opaque I want it to be. That said, I've not had anything take more than three coats in order to be opaque and several take two.

Let's get to the pictures, shall we?

* Descriptions are taken from Literary Lacquers.

Avada Kedavra
Avada Kedavra is a eeevil black matte polish packed with green and gold holographic glitter. The polish will naturally dry matte, but topcoat can be added for a glossy effect to make the glitter really pop.

Avada Kedavra is the killing curse favored by Voldemort and his Death Eaters in the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling. It is the most evil of the Unforgivable Curses. The only person known to survive this curse is Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, who was protected by the sacrifice and love of his mother.

Shown here is two coats. I left it matte so you could see it in its "natural state."

Felix Felicis
Liquid gold glass fleck shimmer polish.

Felix Felicis is inspired by the potion in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling. Felix Felicis is Liquid Luck, the potion makes the user extra lucky for a period of time, ensuring the success of their endeavors. It is banned in organized sporting events....

Shown here is three coats.

Flickum Bicus
Orange red base filled with blue shimmer, flakies and glass fleck, best at three thin coats.

Flickum Bicus is inspired by the Dresden Files books by Jim Butcher. It's a spell used by Harry Dresden to light candles in his lab or any small flame, some tongue in cheek fake Latin in the vein of that old lighter slogan "Flick Your Bic" Harry Dresden is a modern day wizard for hire and the books are so much fun.

Shown here is three coats.

Mirror of Galadriel
Bright silver mega glitter linear holographic.

Mirror of Galadriel is inspired by Lord of the Rings by J. R.R. Tolkien.

Shown here is three coats.

Octarine
Soft mauvey-lilac linear holographic polish, best at three thin coats.

Octarine is inspired by Terry Pratchett's Discworld. Octarine is the color of magic, seen only by wizards. If you were magically inclined and could see magic, this polish is electric lime-purple. If you are a regular mortal, however, you will probably see it as a soft mauvey-lilac.

Shown here is three coats.

Literary Lacquers

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Watercolour Nails Using a Plastic Bag

Nail slump over? Mayhaps. I've seen this technique before but I saw another tutorial on Instagram or Facebook (for the life of me, I can't remember where) and inspiration struck.

 

Example of tutorial on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/451556300108347590/

I purchased the Washed Out collection from Finger Lickin Lacquer (now Bohemian Polish) last year and have wanted to do a watercolour mani with them ever since I saw Polished Pathology's swatches. It ended up being super easy and I love the way it turned out.

I used two coats of Revlon Spirited as the base then dabbed blobs of three colours on each nail.

Have you tried this technique before?

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer : Arctis Tor

Guys, I am the legit worst. I took a wee break and then got out of the habit of swatching and editing and posting and then I started a new position at work and said position is INSANELY BUSY (but I'm really enjoying it) and..... that's all I got. My husband calls it "Courtney's Book of Excuses" and, man, I have got a ton of them.

Anywho, late last year Dave of OPNL released many glorious winter duo collaborations and I ordered several. I waited and stalked and waited some more. Dave and I chatted. We both fretted about the status of my parcel and, after a month of hoping, we gave up. He scrounged together what he could of what was left over and sent me a new parcel along with Arctis Tor which he asked if I could review. Uhhhh, yeah I can. Have you *seen* swatches of that thing? It's glorious! So, I got that package in record time, I drooled over the pretties, took pictures, sent Dave a sample and then.... I think you can see where this is going.

So, Dave, I am officially throwing myself on your mercy. You can send your horrid weather westward (actually, please don't) or strike me from your friends list. But, better late than never, right? Right? RIGHT?! ;) i<3udave

On to the swatches!

The formula on this is stellar. No issues to report and I got amazing opacity with two coats. This polish has amazing purple flakes that are super tough to capture on camera but I think the macros did a decent job. What think you?

Shown here is two coats with top coat.

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer

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*There will be a restock of four or five pretties on Saturday, March 14th at 1 PM EDT.

Pretty & Polished : Pretty Little Lady and Girl Next Door

A post on a Sunday?! Crazy, I know, but Pretty & Polished released several new colours today and these two are part of that release. Can you believe that something arrived from the US to Canada in time for me to swatch and post about? I was pretty excited. :)

 

Pretty Little Lady and Girl Next Door are two new offerings in the Country Girl Swag collection (the Dark Arts collection also launched today along with four new holographic shades).

 

First up is Pretty Little Lady - a lovely white crelly that is JAMMED full of blue and white glitter as well as a smattering of pink bows. Due to the amount of glitter the formula is on the thick side but, if you use thin coats and wait a few minutes between coats, you should be fine. I noticed that if I applied a new coat too soon it resulted in some dragging and bald spots. Also, I did have to fish for the bows but they came out easy enough with a few dips of the brush. I love me a good white crelly and this one definitely fits the bills. It's soft and feminine and just all around lovely. Shown here is 3 coats with one coat of Nail Pattern Boldness glitter food to smooth things and one coat of Gelous for shine.

 

 

I have a confession to make; lately I've been having glitter fatigue. I've been lazy and the difficulty of glitter removal was too much for me. But then, the perfect glitter combo comes along that screams to be used and Girl Next Door is one of those combos. I tested this over many different undies and it worked with all of them - cream, taupe, teal, mint, purple, even pink. I ended up choosing to layer it over Dior Waterlily because the light mint green perfectly highlighted the aqua, turquoise and gold glitters. Shown here is one dabbed coat and one coat of Gelous.

 

 

Pretty & Polished

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First Blogiversary Giveaway!

Wow! I can't believe that a year has passed already! I started this blog so I could stop spamming my family with nail posts on Facebook. I've really enjoyed posting here and, while I may not be as consistent as some others, I hope that my readers have found something of interest in this little corner.

Strangely, one of the things I've enjoyed most has been the writing. I think you know when you've found your niche when you are able to be 100% yourself. Sometimes I'm boring. Sometimes I'm weird and crazy (ok, most of the time). Sometimes I'm grumpy. And I've NEVER felt the need to self-censor here. In past blogging lives I've always tried to "fit in" and the content never felt like me. But this here? It's good. It feels good. I've found my people. :)

So, in order to celebrate and thank you guys for sticking with me, I have a wee giveaway. It's not much, just some things I've been collecting over the last while, but it's a small material token to show my appreciation.

Just a few rules:

1. You must be 18 years of age or have a parent's permission to share your mailing address in the event that you are the winner.
2. Giveaway is open internationally! (Unless your country prohibits the import of nail polish)
3. Please, no giveaway only accounts - that's just dirty pool. All entries will be verified. Let a genuine follower win.
4. Giveaway runs from January 9-22, 2014. Winners will be notified by email and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be drawn.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

New Year's Eve Swatch Spam

I thought I'd leave you with a bit of swatch spam on the last day of the year. Thank you so much for your support in 2014! Here's to an amazing and prosperous 2014!

 

* All macro swatches (except Partners in Lime) have one coat of Julep's matte top coat in order to better show the complexity of the polish.

 

Indigo Bananas Galactic Halo (holo) - 3 coats

Indigo Bananas Viridescens - 2 coats

KBShimmer Partners in Lime - 2 coats

picture polish dragonfly - 2 coats

picture polish shy violet - 3 coats

Reverie Nail Lacquer Bayberry - 2 coats