Takko Lacquer – Physical Graffiti

Press Sample

Hi!

I have nearly grown out all my breaks! Fingers crossed I don't get any more now. Another update, I have busted my wrist, so typing is not super easy right now so I'll just get right on with the pics.

'Physical Graffiti' is a grey polish with irregular silver flakes of glitter. So simple, but the irregular glitter makes this polish really interesting. I love the soft look that the slight jelly finish gives 'Physical graffiti'.


Because 'Physical Graffiti' has a slight jelly finish, it is slightly less opaque – in saying that though, I only needed 3 coats to get full opacity and the glitters are still really visible. I think the formula is spot on in that respect.


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.

Star Kin - Sunny Day Rain & Terracotta Army

How is everyone? Been enjoying the World Cup? We have certainly been. Today I have a post more for my kiwi readers, but of course you others can still enjoy some pretty polish pictures too. This is a brand new to my blog, Star Kin, that is the baby of Ami (from Every Sensory) and her mum, Annette. I'm really proud to support this kiwi team and they really do make absolutely beautiful polishes! Today I have 2, 'Sunny Day Rain' and 'Terracotta Army'…

This is 'Sunny Day Rain'. I have been trying to be on a low-buy for a good while now, but as soon as I saw this on Lani Loves, I knew I'd have to get it (thanks Lani <3). I love the mix of blue glitters in this and against the grey jelly base - perfect. The best part is that this polish is brimming with glitter, absolutely no fishing is necessary. The base is a bit sheer, but 3 coats was plenty for opacity.

For this skittlette mani (see ChitChatNails) I used Zoya 'London' on my pinky and stamped with Revlon 'Royal' and Bundle Monster BM-418. On my ring finger is a gradient using OPI 'Skull & Glossbones', OPI 'No Room for the Blues' and Revlon 'Royal'.

Next up is one of my favourites - 'Terracotta Army'. This is my perfect kind of polish. A most wonderfully saturated, burnt orange holo - what's not to love? I adore the colour of this polish. And to make things even better, this is really easy to apply and opaque - I think I used 2 coats for these photos.

Here's the kicker - NZ Post is really strict when it comes to sending polish out of the country (learnt the hard way here) so these polishes are only available to kiwis at this point. But for all you kiwis, head over to Star Kin on Etsy and show them some love.

Hurt No Living Thing – a-england

Press Sample

Hello hello!

I have a gorgeous new a-england polish to show you today. 'Hurt No Living Thing' is inspired by the poem written by Christina Georgina Rossetti and it is the new addition to a-england's 'Heavenly Quotes' collection.

'Hurt No Living Thing' is a soft grey with slight purple undertones to it. There is also the most beautiful flash of pinky purple - sort of mallow flower or mauve coloured. It's really quite stunning, being vivid but soft at the same time (again with the not making sense - apologies!).So of course the mauve flash is obvious and I thought that was the end of the story - but then I put it on and noticed this little orange flash (which you can see peeking from the bottom of the bottle above) - so off I went to capture it on camera…

So much love! Look at the orangey/bronze shift. It's really gorgeous and I love how it just catches your eye when the light hits your nails at an extreme angle. There are few things that I love more than when something surprises me and exceeds expectation :)


'Hurt No Living Thing' is sheer and is made to be worn as a topper, though it is absolutely buildable and so can also be worn alone. 'Hurt No Living Thing' is so versatile, I tried it over so many of my wonderful a-england polishes and it transformed them all into beautifully unique polishes. My favourites were 'Saint George', 'Dorian Gray', 'Guinevere' and 'Lady of the Lake'. Another combo that I loved was 'Hurt No Living Thing' over 'Bridal Veil' which I have shown you here - this is 1 coat of 'Bridal Veil' topped with 2 coats of 'Hurt No Living Thing'. On my pinky, I also did a little accent nail of 'Hurt No Living Thing' alone (4 coats - though 3 was enough on my non-photographed hand).

a-england polishes can be purchased from a lot of places around the world. Unfortunately, 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.

Zoya – London

Hi!

Guess what… I have my graduation ceremony tomorrow! I'm so excited to get all dressed up and celebrate with my family and friends. The Boy graduated on Monday and I was so proud!

Anyway, I have another quick post on what I've been wearing for about the last week. This is Zoya 'London'.

More PixieDust love from me. What's new? So I'll keep it short. I love 'London' in all the ways. I love the shade of grey (hehe) of it. It reminds me of concrete - but with added sparkly goodness.


'London' was really easy to use, as with all the other Zoya PixieDusts I have tried so far. It was nicely opaque with only 2 coats needed for full opacity and to get a good texture.

Polished by KPT - Don't Be Ranunculus & Camellia

Press Sample

Hey hey!!

So I'm just going to jump straight into this post because I have 2 of the most delicious polishes I own to show you today! These are the next 2 polishes in my Polished by KPT series. 'Don't Be Ranunculus' which is the last of the recent 'March Into Spring' collection, and 'Camellia'. Warning… this post is picture heavy!

'Don't Be Ranunculus'

Starting with the transition of 'Don't Be Ranunculus'.  LOOK AT THIS POLISH! I love how it almost looks as though there are 3 different colour changes. The perfect mix of colours in my opinion, the wine colour with the concrete grey and that shimmer…

Seriously, the shimmer. The iridescent micro flakes and shimmer catches the light and gives the most beautiful rainbow effect. They often shine gold which gives this polish a real elegance in my opinion. The gold plays perfectly against both the red and grey.

Here is 'Don't Be Ranunculus' when hot at the top, through to cold in the bottom photo. I should also note that this polish is very sensitive to temperature and changed readily throughout the day.

'Camellia'

This is the gorgeous jelly, 'Camellia', and I have to say I didn't expect to love this one as much as I do. The 2 polishes in this post are not only my favourite Polished by KPT polishes, but 2 of my overall favourites in my entire collection. These photos show 'Camellia' from hot at the top through to cold at the bottom. I didn't get a photo of the in between colour on its own, but often my nails would be entirely bright pink (like the bottom of my pinky in the middle photo).

This is the transition of 'Camellia'. I love how very different the colours are. From the very sheer, dainty wash of colour when hot, to the vivd red when cold. Again, this polish appears almost to have 3 different colours, rather than 2. This is also the most sensitive thermal I have tried. Every time I looked at my nails, they were different. Often each of my nails was different to the others, usually with some showing the most beautiful gradient.


Yes this is a gushy post, but I truly can't say enough good things about these 2 polishes! The quality absolutely matches the beauty of them, with each applying like a dream. Even though the hot colour of 'Camellia' is sheer, it is meant to be and I think that's part of the appeal. I used 2 coats for 'Don't Be Ranunculus' and these photos show 3 coats of 'Camellia' (though I wore it with only 2 coats on my left hand and that was plenty).


Polished By KPT polishes are available direct from Katherine's Big Cartel shop if you're in the USA. For those international people, check out this 'where to buy' tab. You can also keep an eye out for restocks etc by following on Facebook,Instagram, Tumblr or Pinterest.  All polishes are 3-free and not tested on animals.

These products were provided for review. This is my personal, unbiased opinion.

For more information, see my disclosure policy.

Muse - Takko Lacquer

Hi folks!

I have an absolutely gorgeous polish to show you tonight (this morning?!). I have to start by saying that I am in love with this polish, but it has caused me some serious grief today! I could not photograph Takko Lacquer 'Muse' today at all. It was as though my camera settings had been completely changed. I couldn't get anything in focus and the polish was just looking crap. Long story short, I went and bought some new bulbs for my lamps, reset my camera, re-top coated my nails and finally everything was back to normal. What happened?

I am so glad that I sorted out whatever was wrong with my setup because that means that I could show you this beauty. This is 'Muse' and it is the purple cousin to one of my favourite polishes, 'The Electric Apple: NYC'. I think that there aren't many, if any, people out there that do a shimmer like this as well as Sheryl. 'Muse' is definitely one of those polishes that glows. As usual with Takko Lacquer beauties, the shimmer isn't shy and even glows a little in fairly low light.


The formula of 'Muse' was a bit different to what I've come to know of Takko Lacquers, but not at all in a bad way. It was a little thinner but so beautifully easy to work with. The first coat was a teeny bit sheer, but the second coat gave perfectly opaque coverage. It's also really nicely self-levelling and dries really fast.


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

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

For more information, see my disclosure policy.

Fated Prince - a-england

I have another new a-england beauty to show you today. Today's polish is 'Fated Prince' and is another in the Burne-Jones Dream collection. If you didn't see it the other day, check out 'Rose Bower' - the first of the Burne-Jones Dream collection I have shown you.

'Fated Prince' is a gorgeous gun-metal/charcoal grey holographic polish. It is the sort of holographic finish that is linear, but scattered (I never know if that makes any sense). The holo in 'Fated Prince' is much more apparent than the holo in 'Rose Bower', but it's not too over the top or in your face. In low light the holo, rather than being a rainbow, appears just as though the polish is glowing - super pretty.


'Fated Prince' was slightly on the thick side, but not in a bad way. Barely 2 coats were needed for full opacity and there was no problems whatsoever in application.

a-england polishes can be purchased from a lot of places around the world. Unfortunately, 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.

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

For more information, see my disclosure policy.

Love Is Enough - a-england

I have another new a-england to show you today. This is the latest addition to the Heavenly Quotes Collection 'Love Is Enough'.

'Love Is Enough' is one seriously complex polish! At first glance it is a moody olive green-ish polish, look closer and you see all sorts of colours in there. The overall effect is that this polish really lights up with the predominantly golden shimmer/micro-glitter. My favourite part is the tiny pink/purple micro-glitter that catches my eye all the time. So interesting and really quite beautiful. In some lights the olive looking base appears to have a slate/grey tone to it (like in the top photo).

'Love Is Enough' was really easy to work with and I used 2 coats in these photos to give perfect coverage. The nature of the micro-glitter means that it can be a bit tricky to clean up, but not a biggie, just be careful when applying is all. Although it is packed with sparkly goodness, I used 1 coat of a thin top coat and it was lovely and smooth.

Currently, 'Love Is Enough' is not yet on the a-england website, but pop over there and look at the list of distributors worldwide to find a source near you. Just a reminder that if you are outside the UK, unfortunately yo ucannot order direct from a-england anymore due to regulations of Royal Mail (there are a heap of distributors though).

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

For more information, see my disclosure policy.

Power Clutch - Essie

Hi guys!

I am so close to finishing exams. One week (2 exams) to go. I'm really looking forward to having some time to try some more nail art. I miss it. I just have a super quick post today of something I wore a couple of weeks ago. It's cold and wintry here and I just felt like a nice, simple crème for once. Essie 'Power Clutch' fit the bill perfectly.

'Power Clutch' is such a cool polish. It's a slate-y olive green that is fairly dark and brooding. It's a bit of a chameleon to look at. Sometimes it appeared more charcoal grey, sometimes more olive. Either way, I really like the colour. Perfect for the winter weather here (not that I ever go by the season).


The formula was really nice. This seems to be the formula that people always rave about Essie having. Unfortunately the first 2 Essie's I tried weren't great, formula-wise, so they scared me off a little. But since then, I have been using Essie's like this one and 'Bungle Jungle' and I now understand the love. 'Power Clutch' was nice and thin (not too much though) and levelled easily on the nail. It was also perfectly opaque in 2 coats.

Also a big thanks to Mimi (from Makeup Withdrawal) for getting this baby to me a while back :)

Grey-t To Be Here - Essence

I have just a short sweet post for today. This is another polish sent to me from the lovely Mimi from Makeup Withdrawal. Essence 'Grey-t to Be Here'...

 'Grey-t To Be Here' is a gorgeous grey polish with those little glass fleck bits in that I love. What makes this polish particularly loved by me is the fact that the little flecks have a shift in colour from an orangey-gold through to bright pinky-purple and sometimes even appearing slightly green. Here's the thing... I found the shimmery particles near impossible to capture in all their glory. Have a look at the bottle to see what I mean. The visibility of the shimmer in real life is not as much as what the bottle shows, but significantly more than what is seen on my nails in these photos.


This polish was easy to work with and I used 2 thick-ish coats. I really liked this polish and actually got a few comments on it at work. Sometimes I think a nice simple polish with a little shimmer is just what I need :) Thanks Mimi!

A Greyscale (-ish) Christmas Mani

I have my first christmas inspired mani to show you today. It's not your usual festive red and green mani, but rather a simple greyscale(-ish) mani...

This is a bit of a representation of Christmas around the world. I wanted to do snowflakes, but as it's summer here I figured I'd better bring a bit of Kiwi Christmas into it somehow, hence the jandals. Also when I did this mani last night, there were in fact 8 days till christmas here and right now as it's still Monday in America there are still 8 days till christmas for you guys! :)
P.S. please excuse the bleeding hearts on my pinky finger. I did more than one stroke of top coat in the same place on this tiny little nail and then wrapped it like an idiot after that. Will I ever learn?

Here's a pic of 'Grey Matters' on its own. I recently bought this from Steph from Nail Juice. I really like this polish. I love the little black shimmer in it. It gives the polish a look of felt to me.


For the stamping, I used Konad Special Red and White polishes and Ulta 'Black Satin'. I also used a coat of Chi Chi 'Disco Diva' on my pinky and a coat of that and China Glaze 'Snow Globe' on my middle finger.

'Grey Matters' had a really nice formula to work with and only needed 2 easy coats for full opacity.

Bone Daddy - CrowsToes

I have a potential fail to show you today... I decided to try layering CrowsToes 'Bone Daddy' over something that wasn't grey. I love the look of that, but it's all I could find swatches of. Being that it's a Halloween polish and we were coming up to Halloween at the time, I thought I'd try something a little weird... So I ended up layering 'Bone Daddy' over China Glaze 'I'm With The Lifeguard'...

I ended up with two fairly thick coats of 'Bone Daddy' over top and I wish I had left it at one. I kinda love how weird it is, but I'm still a little on the fence...

I love the little blue flashing glitter in this polish! It's really eye-catching. I think this blue plays kind of well against the green... the grey jelly base of 'Bone Daddy' just nicely toned down 'I'm With The Lifeguard'.


So, as I said at the top, potential fail, but I somehow dig it... I had lots of comments about it, so it certainly made people notice haha. What do you think? I like playing with weird combo's with my glitters and pairing things that you might not think would suit. Sometimes it just works better than others ;)

I purchased Bone Daddy from Llarowe for $13USD and I've just seen that there's heaps of CrowsToes in stock (including 'Bone Daddy') right now!

The Electric Apple: NYC - Takko Lacquer

HI!!

It's Takko Lacquer time again! I've got another GORGEOUS shimmer to show today by the name of 'The Electric Apple: NYC'...

'The Electric Apple: NYC' is a grey polish with a metric truck load of shimmer in it. Just like 'Wanderlust', the golden shimmer is far from shy and is visible in most lighting.

I love the clean concrete grey of 'The Electric Apple: NYC' and I think the shimmer warms it up just enough for me to wear it easily with my ghostly white skin. Basically I think this is a really versatile polish.

Look at that shimmer!! The colour of it is just perfect, with an almost green hue to the yellow gold. I love this polish so much!!


Another piece of good news? 'The Electric Apple: NYC' barely needs more than one coat! It's incredibly opaque which is amazing for such a pale colour. Just like 'Wanderlust' though, the opacity clearly doesn't hide the shimmer. I used two coats for these photos just to ensure that everything was nice and even. 'The Electric Apple: NYC' is reasonably thick, but not unmanageable at all. It does dry to a matte finish so a lick of top coat is needed to really make that shimmer glow.

Takko Lacquer is available from Sheryl's Etsy store. All the polishes are vegan, 3-free and not tested on animals. Check out Takko Lacquer blog for updates on restocks etc.

Dorian Gray - a-england

It's Gothic Beauties installment number 3 tonight and this time I have 'Dorian Gray'. I think I'll mainly let the pictures do the talking...

This is quite different from the other polishes in this collection, but still seems to fit perfectly. 'Dorian Gray' is a pewter grey colour that has a ton of shimmer in it giving it a somewhat metallic look.

'Dorian Gray' can be a bit of a chameleon and like a lot of a-england polishes, the shimmer is not simply one colour. Apart from the silver/pewter colour, I can see coppery gold shimmer predominantly and though it's not particularly obvious on the nail, it gives the polish a real depth (you can catch a glimpse of it on my pinky finger).

In keeping with the rest of the collection, 'Dorian Gray' has its blackened side too. I love this veiled look of 'Dorian Gray', I feel as though it gives it a real sense of mystery, as though there's something more to this polish that you can't quite put your finger on.


The formula of 'Dorian Gray' was also in line with the other Gothic Beauties - in other words it was really opaque and 2 thin, easy coats gave perfect coverage. I was originally a bit worried that it may appear brush-strokey, but this wasn't at all the case. This isn't my favourite polish of the collection, but that is absolutely not to say that I don't like it. In fact, I really do like 'Dorian Gray' a lot, I just happen to like the others more (I love a collection where I still adore my least favourite of the bunch). If the other Gothic Beauties seem a bit dark for you, then this is definitely the one to look at getting as it is dark enough to still have the gothic feel to it without ever appearing anywhere near black.

a-england polishes are available from a range of places online now, I have always ordered mine from the a-england site.

If you haven't seen them, have a look at 'Lady of Shalott' and 'Jane Eyre' too.

This product was provided for review. This is my personal, unbiased opinion.
For more information, see my disclosure policy.

Kaleidoscope Eyes - Takko Lacquer

Hi folks!

I had originally planned to post Enchanted Polish 'Hey Jude', but I changed my mind. Instead I would love to show you a gorgeous polish by Sheryl, from Takko Lacquer. I just want to say first up, that Sheryl is just so lovely and add that to this amazing polish and I'm telling you, we have a winner! I can't wait to buy more of her polishes (in fact there's already some more on the way)! On to the polish... this is 'Kaleidoscope Eyes'...

'Kaleidoscope Eyes' is essentially a blue to purple duochrome polish, but it's so much more than just that. Other than the fact that it's also holographic, I get a grey shift too. In fact when I removed this polish, it looked really grey on the pad. The main colour you can see in most light is this gorgeous teal-y, aqua colour.

You can see here the aqua to grey shift I was talking about. I love this side of this polish. I think it's so ethereal. It's certainly the softer side of 'Kaleidoscope Eyes'.

Next up purple. This is the first of the purples 'Kaleidoscope Eyes' shifts to. A softened lavender colour, again with that veil of grey just shading the sides of my nails. Did I mention that I love this polish?

This is where 'Kaleidoscope Eyes' comes alive. The shift here is more toward a brighter pinky purple, almost fuschia leaning. Still you see that grey, only this time it's looking a little more charcoal.

Last up, you can see the darker blue to purple shift. Love love love love love.



I am on such a multichrome kick at the moment (queue 'Hey Jude' post next). I just stare at my nails constantly when I wear them. Add holo to the mix and I am a goner! 'Kaleidoscope Eyes' was everything I hoped for and more after seeing the first swatches of it by Rie over on Nails & Noms. I used 2 care-free coats for full opacity in these photos. 'Kaleidoscope Eyes' was a little on the thick side, but not in a bad way at all. More in the way that it glides on like butter. My bottle leaked ever so slightly on it's long journey to NZ, but not much (just into the lid), but that just means I'm not sure if it may have thickened up a little.

Takko Lacquer is available on Etsy. The polishes are $15USD. They are slightly pricey, but if they're all like 'Kaleidoscope Eyes', they're worth every penny. International Shipping starts at $8USD, but if it costs Sheryl $2 or more less than that, Sheryl will refund you the difference (as was the case when I ordered this polish). Takko Lacquers are all made using cruelty-free, natural pigments and minerals (the holo isn't Spectraflair) and they are also 3-free.

Splatter Mani Take One...

Last Sunday, the last day of my holidays, I thought I'd like to try one more technique. So splatter mani it is...

I have to say, this was just as fun but not quite as messy as you all say it is to do! I took forever to decide which colours would go perfectly together and I ended up back with my old favourites, yes of course, I used 4 a-englands and a little Essie to top it off. On these four nails, left to right, all a-england - 'King Arthur', 'Avalon', 'Perceval' and 'Order Of The Garter'. Underneath is Sally Hansen 'White On', two coats.

This photo was taken mainly without top coat. There is top coat on my index finger, but it smeared the colour so the rest is without. I love how everything has a matte sort of look about it. All the other pictures are with top coat but a different one (on the index finger is Cult Nails 'Wicked Fast' and the rest are using Essie 'Good To Go').

I know this is a weird picture but I just popped my left thumb in here so I could show you all the colours together! On my thumb is Essie 'Trophy Wife'.

I really loved this fun look and will definitely have to try it again some time. The only thing was that I kept doing double takes, as my middle finger looked like I had ripped off a large piece of cuticle out the corner of my eye! I think these a-england colours played so nicely with Essie's 'Trophy Wife'.


And to make life a little sweeter, the ever-generous Adina has a massive promotion happening from now until the 22nd July and all the Mythicals are only £5 with free shipping, so hop on over to the a-england website and get shopping. The three polishes on the left are all from The Mythicals collection.