Colours by Llarowe - Pretty Woman Collection, Spring 2015 - part 1 The Shimmers

Press Sample

Hello!

I have just got home from a big old uni exam and I was about to start some more work for the next test on Friday. So before that, why not share some gorgeous polishes with you. These polishes are from the very recently released collection by Colors by Llarowe for Spring 2015, inspired by the 25th anniversary of Pretty Woman. I will break this collection up into 2 or 3 posts. First up, the shimmers...

First of all, the formula for all of these was similar in that all of these polishes were really easy to work with so I won't mention this individually.

'Slippery Little Suckers'

'Slippery Little Suckers' is a peachy pink with electric blue shimmer. I really like the softness of this polish, but the blue shimmer really brings it alive. I thought this polish was going to look terrible on me against my pale skin, but actually I quite liked it. 3 coats used.

'Big Mistake. Big. Huge.'

LOVE this polish. A lilac purple/pink base that is jam-packed with warm gold shimmer. The shimmer is so beautiful and prominent in 'Big Mistake. Big. Huge.'. An unexpected favourite. And only 2 coats needed.

'Barney'

'Barney' is a gorgeous pink-leaning purple polish with pink/purple shimmer. The shimmer appears a fairly similar colour to the polish and so it just acts to bring this polish to life a bit – making it catch the light perfectly. 2 coats needed for this one too.

'Blue Banana'

This blurple/indigo polish was such a pain in the butt to photograph. It was so tough to capture the beauty of 'Blue Banana' especially that purple shimmer. The shimmer is not quite as obvious on the nail as some of the other polishes, but it is still very visible. I used 2 coats.

'I Want the Fairytale'

An electric blue/turquoise polish with purple shimmer - another one that I loved, but did not love photographing (I think my camera just doesn't like blues). Well I finally got it close to colour accurate, but again the shimmer just isn't quite what it could be in these pictures. In bright light this polish is really eye-catching. This one is a little sheerer than the other, needing 4 coats, but totally worth the extra coat or 2. One thing to note is that there were a few little bits of unmixed pigment, but with a couple of coats these were really not visible.


Overall, I really liked these polishes, none of them disappointed. As I said, there were no problems application-wise.


These polishes are all currently available on the Llarowe website and will be until mid June. After that, keep your eyes out because some of these beauties may be headed for the core line. These shimmers are all $10 each and can be shipped worldwide. Also keep an eye on the Colors by Llarowe Facebook, Twitter and Instagram  pages for updates.

This product was provided for review. This is my personal, unbiased opinion.

For more information, see my disclosure policy.

a-england – Fotheringhay Castle

Press Sample

Hello!

I'm carrying on with another a-england polish from the Elizabeth & Mary collection, even though 'Queen of Scots' is a hard act to follow. This polish, 'Fotheringhay Castle', has also been worn a LOT! Here's why...

Every time I have worn 'Fotheringhay Castle', I've had so many people ask what it is and where they can get it? Their response is always that it's an unexpected colour, but that they love it. I'm not surprised that I love it – a gold-leaning olive green with a blackened edge AND subtle scattered holo.


I feel like a bit of a broken record when I talk about a-england and their formula, but as usual this was super easy to work with. I used 2 coats, but 1 was basically enough. I did thin this polish out slightly at some point, but it's my personal preference to apply 2 thinner coats than 1 slightly thicker one.

a-england polishes can be purchased from a lot of places around the world. You can only order direct from them if you are in the UK, but be sure to check out their list of worldwide distributors to find a place close to where you live. You can also follow a-england on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to keep up with the latest news from them.

This product was provided for review. This is my personal, unbiased opinion.

For more information, see my disclosure policy.

a-england – Queen of Scots

Press Sample

Hello!

I have this morning a polish that I love so very much. I have been wearing this quite a lot since I got it. There's something about navy polish that just always draws me in and 'Queen of Scots' from a-england's Elizabeth and Mary Collection is even more perfect than most every other navy polish I own. See for yourself.

'Queen of Scots' is the epitome of a polish that glows from within. I always see that being written about polishes on blogs and I have polishes that I thought were glowy, but this one is really something else. It is polishes such as this that remind me why a-england is my favourite polish brand.


'Queen of Scots' has a perfect a-england formula. I used 2 coats, but the second was barely needed. This polish doesn't pull and it's good to note that visible brushstrokes were not an issue (as they can be in shimmery polishes such as this).

a-england polishes can be purchased from a lot of places around the world. You can only order direct from them if you are in the UK, but be sure to check out their list of worldwide distributors to find a place close to where you live. You can also follow a-england on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to keep up with the latest news from them.

This product was provided for review. This is my personal, unbiased opinion.

For more information, see my disclosure policy.

Takko Lacquer – Dazed and Confused (i.e. I'm back baby!!)

Press Sample

Hi guys!

Good news, my wrist is heading towards being better. It still hurts a bit when I'm taking photos, but not enough to stop me anymore. So I'm back! It's going to take me a while to get back into the swing of things, but I'm looking forward to it. So to kick off again, I have a gorgeous multichrome polish from Takko Lacquer – 'Dazed and Confused'.

'Dazed and Confused' is a perfect multichrome. The colours are so rich, making this polish a definite favourite for me. The scattered holo adds that little extra wow and with the blackened colour at extreme angles this polish can appear like galaxy nails with no nail art skill required :) (see my pinky in the photo above).

The main colour of this polish in normal light is a royal purple with flashes of blue. I found it difficult to capture the rich purple under my lighting setup even though this was how 'Dazed and Confused' appeared more often than not.

The colour changes of this polish are not shy and there are many. It goes from purple and blue through to a rich rusty red, to cranberry and at extreme angles through to bright orange/copper. Need I say more as to why this is a must-have polish?


On to the formula… In true Takko Lacquer style, this polish was simple to apply. Depending on how thick your coats are, I would say 2-3 coats would suffice. This polish wore really well on me too, lasting a good 5 days or so.


Make sure you check out Sheryl's blog to find out about the inspiration behind her polishes, along with other updates. Also keep an eye on Takko Lacquer's twitter and instagram for info about restocks etc. Takko Lacquers are sold from their own shop, but only with US shipping. For us international ladies, Takko lacquers are stocked at Llarowe, Femme Fatale and Mei Mei's Signatures.

This product was provided for review. This is my personal, unbiased opinion.

For more information, see my disclosure policy.