Colours by Llarowe - Pretty Woman Collection, Spring 2015 - Part 2 The Holos

Press Sample

Hi team!

I'm back with part 2 of the recently released collection by Colors by Llarowe for Spring 2015, inspired by the 25th anniversary of Pretty Woman. Make sure you check out part 1 (the shimmers) if you haven't already, This part of the collection is all holographic and I will start by saying that I love every single one of them (hardly surprising based on the fact I love most every holo I'm faced with).

As with the last post, I didn't have any problems with application - all were amazingly self-leveling and really easy to work with. I will just mention how many coats I used each time.

'Well Done! Woo! Woo! Woo!'

'Well Done! Woo! Woo! Woo!' is a gorgeous teal leaning mint green with scattered holo and gold shimmer and flakes. OOOoooooEEEeee it's quite a complex polish that simply can't be captured in a photograph - particularly the warm gold flash of the shimmer. This is one you'll just have to see in real life! I used 2 coats.

'A Lot More Help Sucking Up'

I think this is my favourite of the whole collection, though that was a tough decision. This is the most perfect denim blue, almost periwinkle holo polish. Such a sunny, happy colour. I've worn this multiple times in the short time I've had it. Only 2 coats required.

'Divot Dance'

'Divot Dance' is a deep teal and another favourite for me. To me this polish has an air of mystery – it reminds me of the night sky reflecting off the ocean. It really is beautiful. I used 2 coats.

'What's Your Dream?'

'What's Your Dream?' is a purple holo with deep red undertones. A beautifully rich colour that is quite sophisticated in my opinion. One thing to note with this polish is that I had a little bit of staining on my skin when I removed this, but it  didn't last long and wasn't too obvious. I would just recommend using lots of cotton pads so you're not rubbing the already removed polish on your next finger that you're removing (if that makes any sense). I used 2 coats again.

'Vivian+Edward'

This is another super happy, bright polish. 'Vivian+Edward' is a brilliant hot pink holo. It is so bright, without heading into neon category - it is definitely eye catching and fun to wear. This polish only required 1-2 coats depending on how thick you do them.

'Kit'

The slightly different polish of this post – 'Kit' is holographic AND is packed full of glitter (what's not to love?). The base is a very red-pink jelly that is full of various different glitters, including iridescent blue hexes. It is these blue glitters that make this polish so spectacular as they really pop against the base colour. Because of the slightly more sheer base (so that you can get the full impact of the glitter), this polish required 2-3 coats.

'Babe'

'Babe' is a deep raspberry pinky red. There seems to be red glow about this polish - one of those classic "glow from within" polishes. 'Babe' only required 1-2 coats for full opacity. Another quick note is that this one stained my skin and very slightly stained my nails. Again this staining didn't last too long (on my skin or my nails) and wasn't too obvious in real life.

'Pirates of Penzance'

Another firm favourite for me. A true red holo that is my perfect polish in every way. If I'm not sure what to wear, I wear red and I know this will become a go-to. This is more red than 'Babe' (less pink). 'Pirates of Penzance' is another polish that appears to glow beneath the surface. LOVE. Again, only 1-2 coats needed. And I didn't get any staining from this polish.


Overall, this part of the collection was spectacular. I loved the shimmers (seen in part one), but holos will always have my heart - especially when they are of such high quality. I love the formula of these polishes - super opaque and very forgiving with their unbeatable self-levelling ability. There was not a single polish in this part that I didn't love.


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.

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.

a-england - Crown of Thistles

Press Sample

Hello!!

It's a-england time again! I have another polish from the most recent a-england Elizabeth and Mary collection and I think this is my favourite from the collection and possibly one of my favourite a-englands of all. As some of you may know I don't gravitate towards purple polish, but this one is the perfect purple for me. This is a-england 'Crown of Thistles'.

I love how rich this purple is – such a regal colour. 'Crown of Thistles' is a gorgeous scattered holo. The holographic effect is not too subtle and is obvious in most light without taking away from the purple colour of the polish.


Short, sweet post today because my wrist is still a bit unhappy, but I will finish by saying that this polish has the a-england formula that we have all come to know and love. Super opaque (these photos show 2 coats) and wonderfully long wearing on me. All in all, 'Crown of Thistles' is an absolute must-have for everyone.

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.

Takko Lacquer - Babycakes

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I'm back baby!!!

I have handed in my dissertation and it feels oh so good to be done! So I am now going to try and give this poor little blog some serious loving and get it back up and running. It's going to be baby steps because I'm pretty out of practice photographing my nails etc, so be gentle with me :)

Anywho, what better way to get back into blogging than with one of my absolute favourite brands, Takko Lacquer. This is 'Babycakes' which was released earlier this year.

'Babycakes' is a really pretty antique rose polish with a slightly scattered, but linear, holo effect (Yes, I'm right back to making not much sense!). 'Babycakes' also has this gold shimmer that catches the light and makes this polish that bit more complex (one of the many things I love about all my Takkitos). This is one of those polishes that is really inoffensive and could be worn to any occasion, but the holo and gold flash just amps it up enough to keep it interesting.


'Babycakes' had a really easy formula to work with. I used 2 coats for these photos and that was plenty - no pulling or dragging or any of that silliness at the cuticles. Also, this polish is wearing really well. I have had this on for 4 days so far without the slightest sign of tip wear and I haven't been particularly gentle with my hands this week either.


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.

Colors by Llarowe - Come Dance the Hora

Hello!

I'm still alive and I'm about 5 weeks away from my thesis being due so unfortunately I'm going to be all over the place for a little longer. Anywho, I have a quick post of a polish that I adore from Colors by Llarowe - 'Come Dance the Hora'.

'Come Dance the Hora' is a silver linear holo polish with various sizes of royal blue hex glitters. It is GORGEOUS! There's nothing really subtle about this polish, but I think the blue glitters in there just off-set the silver holo perfectly.


This polish is really buildable on its own, but a few coats might be needed. I think I used 3 here and you can see that's enough.


Colors by Llarowe polishes are available from Llarowe (obviously), but it is also available on Harlow & Co. These babies sell out seriously fast though! Luckily Leah Ann does pre-orders reasonably often though. Keep an eye on Llarowe's Twitter andFacebook pages for details on restocks etc.

piCture pOlish Blog/Insta Fest 2014!!

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I'm so excited to be part of piCture pOlish Blog/Insta Fest 2014! This year Blog/Insta Fest is made up of 2 parts so let's get started with part 1…

First up I have a gorgeous shade to show you that was made in collaboration with Sassy Shelly called 'Badass'. We all know how much I adore holos and so it shouldn't come as a surprise that I really like this polish. 'Badass' is a beautiful scattered holo with a black base - I love how black the base is without hiding the holo effect too much at all. To make matters better, the formula is great too. As is the usual story with piCture pOlish polishes, this had great opacity with 2 coats being perfect.

The next part of Blog/Insta Fest is to celebrate not only some more wonderful piCture pOlish shades, but also Nail Vinyls that have just started being stocked there.

This is the look I came up with using piCture pOlish 'Hot Lips' and 'Honeydew' along with the chevron design from Nail Vinyls. I have a quick step by step of how I made this look.

Starting with a white base, I placed the nail vinyls where I wanted them with one small area and one large area on each nail. I painted 'Honeydew' just in the small section and immediately peeled up the vinyls. Next, I top coated to speed up the drying time of everything.

Next up I placed the vinyls right on top of the green and painted 'Hot Lips' on the large area of my nails and peeled up the vinyls immediately again. I actually repeated that step again to make the pink a bit more opaque. Again, wait for everything to dry completely and place some vinyls on top of the pink right against the green. Place another vinyl to leave a really thin gap and then another after a slightly larger gap (see the bottom pic there). Paint these bits white and then once dry place vinyls either side of the larger white stripe and paint with 'Honeydew'.

Et voilà. Top coat to seal everything in and you're done. I really love how this turned out - these colours go so perfectly together and they take me right back to the fashion of my childhood (does anyone else remember slouch socks and hair scrunchies?). It does require a little patience while each layer dries but it's totally worth it in my opinion.

A couple of tips for working with the vinyls - from my experience it is absolutely best to peel them off while the polish is still wet, also I found that if I stuck them down too hard they would leave a slight gluey residue (they are plenty sticky so you don't need to press them hard). Overall, these vinyls are a nail art must have! They make nail art so easy and you can make some really striking nails with relatively little effort.

Now to the important details - where can you get your hands on all these things? piCture pOlish is available from a lot of places all around the world and of course from them direct from Australia. Pop over to their network page to find where is closest to you. piCture pOlish always has really great deals which you can see on their Every Day Deal page too.

Nail Vinyls are available from them direct with international shipping and of course from piCture pOlish too. piCture pOlish will be selling a special exclusive pack that includes Chevrons, Mini Chevrons, Straight and Right Angles which you'll be seeing used inBlog/Insta Fest this year :)

Make sure you follow Nail Vinyls and piCture pOlish to keep up with all their latest news and info.

piCture pOlish - Facebook and Instagram

Nail Vinyls - Facebook and Instagram

An InLinkz Link-up

Aca-Awkward! - Dollish Polish

Hi!!

I have a gorgeous polish to show you today that I absolutely adore. One trouble is that it was limited edition and so isn't easily available anymore - but you never know where it might pop up and if it does GRAB IT! This is Dollish Polish 'Aca-Awkward!'.

I wore this polish a few times in a row because I just loved it so much. It is so pretty but the brightness of the colour and the subtle holo make it so much fun to wear. For this mani, I stamped my middle and ring fingers using Bundle Monster plate BM-423 and Colours by Llarowe 'Refresh…ing'.


'Aca-Awkward!' was surprisingly opaque and 2 coats was more than enough for full opacity. It was also super easy to apply and didn't pull at the cuticles or anything silly like that.


As I mentioned, this polish is not currently available on the Dollish Polish website as it was a limited edition polish. But, keep your eyes out for Dolly's other LE polishes each month and grab them so you don't miss out on polishes like this one! Make sure you follow Dollish Polish on her various social media sites to keep up with updates (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram).

Girly Bits - Into The Night

I have an oldie but a goodie to show you tonight. A polish that I've had for a long time now, I think this was one of my earlier indies, this is Girly Bits 'Into The Night'…

This is such a beauty. I have 2 coats of 'Into The Night' over top of a-england 'Perceval'. This polish is often put over various dark colours and it looks wonderful, but this is my most favourite combination. It makes the most beautiful blackened red, and then with those holographic particles… MMMMMmmmmm. Such a seductive combo - can I even say that about 2 nail polishes and have it make sense?


As I mentioned, I used this polish as a topper using 2 very thin coats which is how I like to use it. The blackened base is fairly sheer though just giving a black cast to whatever it is layered over if thin coats are used. It can be built up to full coverage with more coats. The holographic glitters are packed in to the polish and so apply really easily to the nail.


Girly Bits polishes are available through a number of websites so make sure you check out this list of distributors to see which ship to your location. You can follow Girly Bits on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest to keep up with the latest news and swatches etc and of course the Girly Bits blog too. 'Into The Night' is currently in stock on the Girly Bits website at the time of writing this post so hop over there and grab it.

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.

The Angels Have The Phone Box - Dollish Polish

HI!!

How are we all? I have a really lovely polish to show you this evening that was recently released as part of the Dollish Polish Ultimate Fandom Collection. This is 'The Angels Have The Phone Box'…

'The Angels Have The Phone Box' caught my eye straight away and I expected to receive a nice blue holo in the mail. This polish is much more than a nice blue holo. I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised when I put this on my nails. The shade of blue is really unique in my collection. It's such a perfect blue and the holo - well let's just leave it there because we all know how I feel about holo.


What would make this better… a perfect formula of course! One coat was fully opaque for me, but as usual I did 2 for photos. No dragging, no bald spots, all-in-all pretty foolproof application.


Head on over to Dolly's Big Cartel shop because I've just checked and this polish is in stock right now. Make sure you follow Dollish Polish on her various social media sites to keep up with updates (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram)