Elevation Polish & Pahlish : Venetian Duo

Howdy! Today I have the first of many posts that are a result of the crazy generous swag I received at Cosmoprof. I have pics of the show itself that I hope to get up one day but, until then, head over to the podcast to listen to our latest episode. Tia and I chatted with Ida, of Ida Nails It, about our experiences in Vegas. Also, check out recaps from other bloggers who attended like Imperfectly Painted, iheartoffbeat, and Model City Polish.

In the meantime, let's check out the Venetian Duo from the ever fabulous Elevation Polish (available August 7th) and Pahlish (available August 2nd).

First up is The Merchant's Son, which is the Elevation half of the duo. This is a GORGEOUS teal blue creme thermal with green shimmer. The polish is light teal in its warm state and a darker teal in its cool state (seen in the macro pic below). I am not experienced with photographing thermal polish so I was running back and forth to the bathroom - hence the water drops. :)

As is the norm with Elevation, the formula was perfection. Shown here is two coats with topcoat.

The Pahlish half of the duo is called The Wayfarer, which is a multi-chrome flake topper that includes some translucent green flakes. This sucker pairs PERFECTLY with The Merchant's Son but would also be amazing over other base colours.

Shown here is one amazing coat (no dabbing required) over The Merchant's Son!

Elevation Polish                             Pahlish

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Press Release : Pretty & Polished Happy Hour collection

Introducing the Pretty & Polished "Happy Hour" Collection! This Cocktail inspired collection comes with 6 stunning Holographic infused shades named after some of your favorite Cocktail Hour refreshments. This Collection will be available for sale on July 10th 2015 at shopprettyandpolished.com. In addition to the 6 new Polishes we will be releasing an assortment of new Cocktail inspired Bath & Body Products, including Mani Melt Shooters scented and named after popular shots.

Sangria: This sexy red jelly is packed with scattered holographic red glitters. Easy going formula with amazing pigmentation, get full coverage in ONE layer!

Appletini: This polish is spectacularly bright with a strong slightly scattered holographic presence. This polish is creamy and has an incredibly easy to work with formula. 2 layers for full coverage.

Purple Nurpl: Don't be fooled by the funny name, this is one HOT polish. Probably the most intriguing polish of the collection, this deep purple jelly has an insane amount of holographic sparkle coming from different shades of tiny holographic glitters. Full coverage in 2 layers.

Tequila Sunrise: This cocktail is served with the bottom half being red and the top half being orange. Dip your bottle into some ice water and get the full effect! This interesting orange jelly changes to a red jelly when exposed to cold. It's also packed with gorgeous golden scattered holographic glitters. May take 3 coats for full coverage.

Long Island Iced Tea: Tea with no tea?! This interesting shade of copper is a must have brown in your collection. It has a very strong scattered holographic sparkle and is opaque in 1-2 layers!

Cosmopolitan: A true Cosmo should be a bright pink frothy cocktail. And that is what you will get with this neon polish. This intensely pink polish is packed with pink and purple holographic glitters .

Also included in this release are our new Bath & Body products.

Our new Bubble Bombs are a wondrous mix between Bath Bombs and Bubble Bars. Add them to your bath while the water is still running and watch them fizz and foam while creating a blanket of delightful bubbles!

Cosmopolitan: A cranberry infused bomb with hints of orange and lime.

Piña Colada: A sweet tropical medley of Coconut, Pineapple, and Rum.

Sangria: Deep red Wine scent topped off with a little chopped fruit. The top of this bomb has a crisp layer scented of sweet Orange.

Strawberry Daiquiri: A dreamy Strawberry treat topped with notes of whipped cream and rum.

Pink Bubbly: Experience the sweet scent of Pink Champagne that's so bubbly it tickles your nose! 

Another addition to our lineup is our new Mani Melt Shooters!

Jello Shots: Grape, Lime, Orange, and Cherry.

Tomahawk: A Cinnamon and Almond mash up.

Melon Ball: A Melon and Pineapple infusion.

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Due to the overwhelming interest in this collection, Chelsea has decided to have a pre-sale!!

Pre-sale Information: July 1st at 1 pm EST we will put all the products up on the website at a 5% discounted rate and they will remain available until 7 pm EST. We will then not make them available again until July 10th at their regular rate of $9. 

Pretty & Polished

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WingDust Wednesday : Doomed From the Start

Whaaaaat?! I don't even remember the last #WingDustWednesday post I did. I'm the worst hashtag mama ever.

Guys, I gotta tell you, this no-buy is killing me. I want to buy all the WingDust's and just can't. *sob* Also, I seem to be in kind of a writing rut. I sit down to write a post and it's all, "ok, here's the swatch, the end." I can't seem to come up with anything interesting or witty to say in the moment. #imboring

Anywhozzles, let's get to the pretty, pretty polish.

Doomed From the Start
Blue base, filled with bright orange, watermelon, neon pink and random peach glitters. Finished off with a purple-blue shimmer. [D]ries to a matte finish.

You know that I love Wingdust's jelly glitters. Steph's "signature" is the addition of shimmer which adds such amazing depth and interest. As always, the formula was great - no glitter issues although I do wish there were more yellow triangles. Shown here is three coats and top coat.

Don't forget to post your #WingDustWednesday pics on Instagram or Facebook!

WingDust Collections

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Pretty & Polished : Summer 2015 collection (partial)

 

Today I have four pretties from the Pretty & Polished Summer 2015 collection. This is a 13 piece collection and is available now in the shop.

Frankly, I think all four of these are perfect for summer. They feel light and bright and happy - exactly how I want to feel all summer long. (As long as the weather is nice. Grrrr....)

Let's get on with it, shall we?


* Descriptions taken from Pretty & Polished.

On The Beach With a Pink in Hand is a bright pink crelly packed with white and light blue glitters.

I think this is one of my favourites. You can never go wrong with white glitter and crelly. The formula on this was good. I didn't have to fish for any of the larger hexes and the glitter distributed evenly over the nail. Shown here is three coats & top coat.

Strawberry Lemon Ice is a soft pink creme base with yellow and pink glitters.

I reallllllly wanted to love this one. Look at that milky base and pretty, soft glitter combo! The swatch on the shop from honeybee nails is much smoother than I was able to get it so it may be user error. As noted on the shop, this one is quite sheer and since I'm not a VNL fan, I used three coats to get it opaque which also resulted in the thickness you notice.

The Sea Glass is Half Full is a sand colored crelly base packed with crystal glitter that resembles sea glass and micro blue/green metallic glitter.

I find this polish to be so interesting. I wasn't sure I was going to be a fan and I thought the base would be too yellow for my skin tone. And then I put it on. Dude, I can't even. It's magic. The base is PERFECT for my skin tone and it ended up being a surprise favourite! The formula was good with an even distribution of glitter. Shown here is three coats and top coat. (PS. Pardon the blurry swatch photo - I need steadier hands.)

You Say Goodbye, I Say Yellow is a thermal color changing nail polish that changes from a yellow to a white in heat. This polish also has neon yellow glitters throughout so your white may look a little yellow still.

This is another one that I had some difficulty with application but the polish itself is still super pretty. DAT YELLOW GLITTER! As you can see on my nail tips, I'm not sure if I ever got a color shift with this one or if it's just so subtle that I didn't notice. Shown here is three coats and top coat.


Update: I spoke with Chels and she said that the shift is super subtle so you may not notice it. Also, the yellow glitter makes the base seem yellow anyway which doesn't help with noticing the color change. Still, YELLLLLOW!!

Pretty & Polished

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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?