China Glaze All Aboard Collection for Fall 2014 - My Picks

Hi everyone!

For the majority of this year (and part of last year) I haven't been too impressed by the collections being put out by the mainstream brands. I hardly bought any new polishes from these brands (OPI, China Glaze, etc), and I was starting to wonder if my love of nail polish was diminishing. I'm also not really a Fall person - I really like bright colors, so Summer brights are usually what I gravitate towards.

With that little bit of background, I walked into my nail supply store to see if they had any of the new Fall collections. While most of the promo pictures I've seen online haven't really interested me, I decided to check them out in person before deciding against them. Lucky that I did! I ended up buying 6 shades from the China Glaze All Aboard collection, and 4 from OPI's Nordic collection (These will be up on the blog soon!).

The shades I purchased from the All Aboard collection are as follows (in the same order as shown in the photo below left to right): Lug Your Designer Baggage, Mind the Gap, Conduct Yourself, Nice Caboose!, Choo-Choo Choose You, and All Aboard.

Mini Giveaway!

Hi everyone!

No nail polish today, but I do have something equally exciting for you all! Lively Lacquer has recently gotten to over 100 likes on Facebook (I never thought that would actually happen!), so I put together a small giveaway for everyone interested! If you haven't heard of it yet, Nail Polish Canada's GIANT nail polish giveaway is still running - you can enter both on Nail Polish Canada's website here and on the Widget at the bottom of my post about the giveaway.

The prize is a $25 CAD gift certificate to Nail Polish Canada (purchased by me). There are two ways of entering the giveaway - you can "Like" Lively Lacquer on Facebook and/or follow me (@livelylacquer) on Twitter - it's all on the Rafflecopter widget below!

The giveaway runs from August 9th at 12:00AM to August 16th at 12:00AM, and is open to residents of Canada and the United States only.

Thank you for all of your support during my few years of blogging (however sporadically ;-) ).

Good luck! :)

Marisa


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Nail Polish Canada's Great Polish Giveaway of 2014!

Hello everyone!

This is HUGE! I know many of you would love to win nail polish, and here is a great opportunity to win some! Nail Polish Canada is my one of my hands down favourite places to shop for nail polish, and not only do I find their shipping fast and the people are amazingly nice - I always look forward to my order arriving because I always find a lollipop in my order, and it feels just like Christmas!

Anyway, keeping the rambling to a minimum... ;)

Here is the official blurb from NPC on the giveaway!

We’ve partnered with Cirque Colors, NCLA & Picture Polish to host the biggest giveaway ever.
One winner will take home up to 200 nail polish from over 10 different brands! The prize starts at zero, then bloggers can each pick a favourite shade to be added to the prize.

You can enter on their giveaway page and see all of the polish shades up for grabs here, and you can also additionally enter on all of the participating blogs (including here! on the Rafflecopter widget below!).



I chose to add Zoya Dillon to the giveaway prize!

I thought I had swatches of this polish, but it turns out on all of the occasions that I have worn it I neglected to take pictures. I was trying to dig out the bottle to swatch it for this post but I've also managed to misplace it! My polish collecting hasn't been as organized lately (my melmer is overflowing and I'm in desperate need of another one) and all of my newer polishes have been spread out throughout my house. So while I feel like I haven't made many purchases lately, I have a feeling I probably have enough polish lying around to fill another entire melmer (yikes!).

Of course, I ended up (just now actually) ordering a replacement bottle of Dillion from NPC. Of course I did. It's easier to order another bottle (I really like the color too!) than to tear my house apart looking for the old one, no? ;)

So, when the new bottle arrives, I'll be updating this post with swatches of this gorgeous polish!

Edit: My new bottle of Dillon has arrived and I've posted some quick swatches below! I didn't realize it before, but this polish matches my favourite pair of Toms!

Here is the Rafflecopter widget for the giveaway! Feel free to enter if you would like to, and good luck! I can already tell you that I'll be supremely envious of the person who wins all of that polish!

This giveaway is open to residents of the United States and Canada only, and ends on August 15th, 2014.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Duri Rejuvacote Nail Treatment

***Disclaimer: The product featured in this post was sent to me for review purposes. All opinions expressed in this post are my own.

Hi everyone!

Sorry for the lack of posts recently, but for the last two weeks I've been taking Duri's Rejuvacote for a spin on my nails, and while nail polish can be worn at the same time as the treatment, I opted to use only the Rejuvacote so I could watch the progression on my whole nail.

From the back of the box:
Rejuvacote the nail doctor will heal and cure your split, cracked and acrylic eaten nails. In a matter of weeks you will enjoy the look and feel of strong, vital, natural nails.

Directions: Begin with clean dry nails. Apply one coat of Rejuvacote as base coat. Apply nail color is desired. Apply Rejuvacote as top coat, daily. After 7 days, remove with polish remover. As your nails improve, apply every other day or as needed. 

I was keen to try this treatment when I first received it in the post. I had recently returned from a short trip to Paris (my first trip overseas! It was beautiful!) during which I forgot to bring my handcare supplies with me (they're in a separate little bag from my other self-care products). Of course, the trip only being 4 days long and pretty short, I thought I could get away without moisturizing. A little note to myself in the future - don't ever do that again. When I got back, my nails were in TERRIBLE shape. I've never had this kind of damage over such a short period, but I think it was probably due to a bunch of factors like not moisturizing, the weather there (it was hot-ish and dry, and really windy), and not being hydrated enough.

Ready to see some horrible nails? This is when I started the Rejuvacote treatment (and got back into my usual handcare routine - hence the dry, sad, cuticles. If you're wondering what my handcare routine is, I use shea butter, lotions, and a mix of oils (argan, jojoba) on my cuticles daily and before I sleep).  I'd like to mention as well that my nails felt really dry and brittle. Brittle to a point where tapping my nails on a desk or hard surface made this weird vibrating feeling in my fingers that kind of hurt.

Note: I've summarized my thoughts at the bottom in a nice little list - I realized that my ramblings can be a bit confusing (at least to me), so a summary would be useful. Also, It helps me remember some things I wanted to comment about that I don't remember while I'm rambling.

(Day 1) Eek! Thank goodness for the strategically placed watermark! ;)

 I started the treatment by applying one coat of Rejuvacote. I have a picture of this too, although it doesn't look much different from the one above.

The splits are still there - the base layer of Rejuvacote reflects more light than my bare nail and so the splits don't jump out at you as much as before.

I continued applying Rejuvacote daily for the next week. After a week I removed the Rejuvacote from my nails and started again, only applying every other day, as directed on the bottle. I didn't feel like there had been any major changes after a week, so I neglected to take any photos (shame on me, I know). Today is the 2 week mark though, and I have pictures! I gotta admit, I'm really surprised with the growth and general difference there is visible on my nails.

Day 14

Day 14

Day 14

Day 14

Day 14

Just a few updates: The splits on my nails are still there (although the one on my middle finger isn't as noticeable anymore), but haven't spread at all. My nails don't feel as brittle anymore (on their own, after the Rejuvacote is removed). They still don't feel as strong as I would like them to, but I notice that they are a bit stronger. Also, the growth! I didn't notice how much my nail had grown, but comparing the photos I must say I am surprised. I usually can't grow my nails out very long because they feel like they'll snap after a little bit, but the Rejuvacote treatment makes my nails feel strong, like I could actually maybe growth them out into stilettos without tearing a nail first.

Summary:

Product: Duri Rejuvacote
Ingredients: ethyl acetate, n-butyl acetate, nytrocellulose, formaldehyde resin, isopropyl alcohol, camphor, calcium pantothenate, gelatin, hydrolyzed keratin protein, formaldehyde , vitamin a, vitamin e.

Pros:
- The layers of Rejuvacote on the nail make it feel strong and less likely to break.
- After the Rejuvacote is removed, my nails feel stronger (on their own).
- May help with nail growth. At the very least, I feel like I can achieve lengths that I didn't think I reach before.
- Stopped existing splits from spreading.
- Glossy, and can be used as a top coat and a base coat. Since I like the strengthening feeling on my nails, I would definitely use it as a base coat and top coat.

Cons:
- Not quick drying.
- Has a tendency to chip rather easily (like the next day). It doesn't matter as much since you reapply it, but I'm not sure if it'll still chip as easily as a top coat (that can be more problematic).
- The smell is strong. I've gotten used to the smell of nail polish over the years, but this one is something else. Make sure to apply in a well ventilated area!
- Not "3 free" or "5 free" for that matter. Contains formaldehyde and formaldehyde resin as strengtheners.


I'm curious to test Rejuvacote further. I've heard on the grapevine that not everyone has had great results (I've very happy with how my nails have progressed), so I may pass Rejuvacote on to my sister (who has really weak nails that split, chip, tear, you name it - all the time regardless of how well she cares for her nails). I feel like she'd be the ultimate test. I'll make sure she documents how it goes for her!

What do y'all think? Have any of you tried out Rejuvacote? What kind of results did you get? I'm curious to see how it has worked across many different people, since nail conditions vary from person to person.

Thank you for reading! I'm hoping to have a huge holo-tastic post up for you sometime in the future (I need to swatch my most recent Colors by Llarowe haul!).

Have a great week everyone!

Duri Rejuvacote can be purchased from several online retailers, including Nail Polish Canada.

Marisa


*** Products in this post were sent for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Colors by Llarowe - Dirty Diana

Hi everyone! Long time no post!

Truth is, I've been in a nail polish rut over the last little bit. My last few swatching sessions haven't been going so great - I keep seeing little things I dislike in my photos and as a consequence I never want to post them and just say I'll reswatch them at a later date. Also, none of the big brands' summer collections have really been tugging at me. I've still been buying polish, just not splurging all at once on collections like I used to. I'm kind of excited about the Orly summer collection though (except that one with bar glitter).

Anyhow, on a different note... Today's post is from my last swatching session, and I deem it to be the most "postable" quality out of them all. Someday, I will get around to reswatching everything else. One of the things I didn't like was that my ring finger nail had this habit of flattening at the free edge and looking kinda like a duck lips on my finger. No bueno. I've changed my nail shape to a more rounded and natural shape, which (so far) I haven't been having duck issues with.

I probably wouldn't be posting this at all if I had the time to redo the photos, but I'm leaving on a short trip (few days) to Paris tomorrow, and I wanted an excuse to share the news. I'm hoping to have time to look out for nail polish while I'm there!

Anyway, without further rambling, here is Colors by Llarowe Dirty Diana!

Dirty Diana - Outdoors, Full Sun

Dirty Diana - Outdoors, Full Sun

Dirty Diana - Indoors, Artificial Lighting

I love this polish! I really need to remind myself to get more CbL holos. That might just bring my mojo back! Great formula, beautiful rainbows in the sun and strong lighting.

What do you think? Do you own any CbLs? Any recommendations for new ones I should add to my shopping list? So far I have Smooth Criminal, Mojito, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Dirty Diana.

As always, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you all have a great weekend!

Marisa

Colors By Llarowe - Mojito

Hi everyone, I hope you're all having a great Easter weekend!

Sorry for not posting more recently... I bought all of the Picture Polish Limited Edition polishes and had them swatched, but none of the pictures really turned out well and I wasn't really in the mood to swatch them again. I'll redo them, but it might take me a while.

The great thing is that all of my exams are done! Huzzah! I couldn't resist ordering Borealis (another LE Picture Polish shade) from Harlow & Co when I just happened to be browsing during a restock, so I ended up purchasing my first Colors By Llarowe polishes at the same time. I know that CbL is a pretty wanted brand at the moment, but I'd never had the desire to enter the crazy restock madness that always seems to accompany it. Luckily, there were a few shades that were still on the Harlow & Co website that appealed to me. We've had rain for most of the week, and I was away and unable to open my package, but today when the sun came out I finally decided to do some swatching.

I am SO GLAD I bought there polishes (I ended up getting Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Dirty Diana, Smooth Criminal and Mojito). Of course I reached for Mojito first!

Almost done raving now, just a short description of the polish and I'll let you have a look!

Mojito is a beautiful light spearmint-y green with a slightly subtle linear holo. But slightly subtle I mean not as holo as the Color Club Halo Hues and maybe as holo as the China Glaze Hologlam ones (or maybe more, I haven't really compared). I actually really like subtle holos, so I love this one to bits. Actually, I think this is one of my favourite green holos ever.

Okay, done raving. Here are a bunch of photos I hope will make up for all of the jabbering! :)

Artificial Light

Sunlight

Sunlight

Sunlight

Sunlight

Sunlight

Artificial Light

What do y'all think? Gosh, I am such a sucker for greens.

As always, thank you so much for reading! I hope I'll be able to get my game on and reswatch those Picture Polish shades soon!

Marisa

NOTD: Sparitual Imagination over Peace, Love, and OPI

Hi everyone!

I hope you're all having a great January so far! Today I have a recent NOTD to share with y'all. When I first saw Sparitual Imagination I thought it was duochrome goodness in a bottle. I was hoping it would be opaque, but it was more like duochrome glitter suspended in a clear base. I decided to laŷer it over OPI's Peace, Love, and OPI for a sparkly, duochromey manicure.

My pictures definitely don't do this one justice! It's much more sparkly and duochromey in person.
That's all for today!Thank y'all for reading, and I hope you have a great week!


- Marisa

China Glaze Sea Goddess Collection for Spring 2014

Hellllloo everyone! I'm back!

Sorry about the unplanned hiatus! I'll have much more time to blog now (and do my nails for that matter). For the last few months my nails were an absolute mess. It'll take me a while to get them back into shape, so please excuse my gross cuticles and dry hands in the next few posts. Actually, I'm looking for a new lotion that's heavy duty but also good for everyday use that doesn't have an overwhelming smell and absorbs fast... so if you have any recommendations feel free to leave them in the comments! My hands thank you in advance!

Anyway, on to the polish! I went to my polish supply store for the first time in a few months last weekend to see if they had any new, interesting collections. Although I've been on a break from the nail polish world (I think I purchased a record low number of polishes in the past 8 months), I've been keeping tabs on the upcoming releases just in case there were any that I absolutely HAD to have. I came across the China Glaze Sea Goddess collection which I haven't actually heard of yet... I had to google the collection name to figure out if it was actually a recent collection. Of course, my hoarder instinct kicked in and I purchased all 6 polishes even though they didn't have a swatch wheel and I had the idea that they were textured polishes (which I'm not completely sold over). 

This'll be a fairly long post so I'll put it under a cut. Unfortunately I forgot to make a collage thingy so there isn't any pretty picture before the cut (I tried to make it just now, but it's hard on a tablet without a stylus...)

China Glaze Dash of Dazzle Christmas 2013 Set - Swatches and Review

Disclaimer: The products featured in this post were sent to me from the lovely people from Nail Polish Canada for review. Any opinions presented in this post are my own, and are not affected by any outside party.

Holy guacamole! A new post!

Sorry I've been away, I've gotten a new hobby it seems... work! It has been positively hectic at work since my last post. I'm not going to go into details since it'd be a long and confusing ramble (moreso than usual), so we'll skip that little bit and get straight into the good stuff, shall we?

I also apologize in advance if this post seems a bit disjointed at times... I have the 50th anniversary special of Doctor Who playing in the background (for the second time) and it may distract me at some point...

Today's featured polishes were sent to me from the lovely people at Nail Polish Canada! I'm not paid to say this or anything like that, but I'd like to mention that Nail Polish Canada is one of my primary resources for purchasing polish. I think they have different shipping centres in Canada, but my parcels primarily get sent to me from within Vancouver, so they usually the day after they're processed. They're really lovely people - the boxes are stuffed to the brim with packing peanuts and the occasional sweet treat. I can only imagine how magical it would be with all of that beautiful nail polish in one place.. *wipes up drool*. Okay, okay, I'll stop gushing now and get on to the polish!

I now present to you the three piece Dash of Dazzle set from the China Glaze Holiday 2013 collection! Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the polishes together in the boxed set as it got a bit smashed up when I accidentally dropped the parcel after finding it on my doorstep! D'oh!

The Dash of Dazzle set consists of three polishes: So Blue without You, Mingle with Kringle, and Bells will be Blinging.

First up: Mingle with Kringle

Mingle with Kringle is a gold foil. It is so much better in person than my photo can show. the foil particles are actually two toned (that is, not all the same colour), and that really gives this polish depth. It also shines like mad - almost reflective! I've been loving the gold foils that have been released this past year - they give a metallic look without the streakiness that the "mirror" metallics give (that seems like such a long time ago now!). Formula wise, this polish was a tad on the thick side, but the application was still good and I didn't have any major issues with it. I used 2 medium coats for complete coverage.

Bells with be Blinging is a pretty glitter mix that includes small blue glitters, silver hex glitter, and silver bar glitter. You know that I'd not really fond of bar glitter (and actually most glitter polishes), but I find that it actually works pretty well in this polish. The glitter isn't too dense, and isn't hard to apply at all. I have one coat of Bells will be Blinging in the photo above over Color Club Evolution (from the Kaleidoscope collection). It's a nice subtle bling, which suits my style.

And finally, last but not least: Blue without You.

*Swoon* Be still my heart! Blue without You is a GORGEOUS blue foil-y metallic polish. It's so.. glowy and bright and beautiful. It's a sky blue with a tiny hint of teal in it, and did I mention that it's gorgeous? It looks a bit streaky in my photos, but you can't really see that in person at all. It glows! It's beautiful! I love it! Formula was great too! It's not as thick as Mingle with Kringle, so I used 2 thin coats (I prefer thin over medium coats - I have better control that way). My ONLY complaint is that it stained my nails after I swatched this with no base coat. The next time I wear this (the very near future), I'm going to make sure to use a liberal amount of base coat to try to prevent the staining from happening again. This polish is too pretty to not wear again! This is definitely in my "Best of 2013" list!

And there you have it! What do you think? I must confess, when I first saw this in store, I passed by all of the colours thinking that they weren't anything special, but I sure am glad to have the opportunity to change my mind! I can't believe I passed on Blue without You!

That's all for today, but I'm hoping to be able to post more frequently from now on (I can't make any promises since I'm still working full time before I go back to school in January). I have a MASSIVE Rescue Beauty Lounge order that'll be making its way to me sometime in the near future... I know I usually avoid buying RBLs because I feel that they're a tad expensive, but I just HAD to take advantage of their 50% sale and ended up getting a bunch of the polishes I've wanted for a while now. Hopefully that'll be my last order until next time they have this sale (I can't justify buying their polishes at normal price!).

Annnnnnnyway! As always, thank you for reading! and I hope you all have a FANTASTIC (fantastic in all caps!) week!

The polishes in this post can be purchased online at Nail Polish Canada, along with several other polishes and brands. At the moment NPC is offering free shipping to Canadians with no minimum purchase, which is, I'd like to remark, perfect for the holidays!

Marisa

Picture Polish - Freya's Cats

Hi everyone!

Today I have a polish that jumped all the way up to the top of my top 10-20 of 2013 as soon as I took it out of the bubble wrap! Onto the photos!

Freya's Cats is one of the latest releases from Picture Polish in their blogger collaboration collection. It's the same finish as Cosmos (my swatch here) with the scattered, sparkling holographic flake-glitter-bits, but a different shade of blue. This shade of blue happens to be my favourite! Where I would describe Cosmos as a night sky blue-black, Freya's Cats is a saturated, indigo-blue (TARDIS blue, to all of my fellow Whovians). Formula-wise, Freya's Cats is fantastic - I used two coats for the swatches above. In my photos it looks a bit like you can see my nail line, but I can't actually see it in person.

I really adore this colour. My favourite shade of blue is pretty much vibrant, saturated primary blue (with a hint of indigo) like this polish, which just happens to be similar to the colour of the TARDIS. On a semi-related note, one of my dream nail polishes at the moment is inspired by a scene in an episode of Doctor Who. Maybe one day I'll manage to franken it, but for now it's my top secret brainchild.

Anyhow, enough rambling for one day! Thank you all so much for reading, and I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Marisa

Nail Polish Canada needs your help!

Hi everyone! 

I just have a quick shout out on behalf of Nail Polish Canada today. I'm not being compensated for posting this at all, but I would definitely like to support NPC because 1) This is an AMAZING opportunity and 2) I frequently buy polish from them online since their prices are reasonable and they usually offer free shipping to Canadians for a really reasonable minimum purchase or even for no fee at all! Combine this with the fact that I usually get my purchase in 1-2 days since I live in Vancouver! 

Anyhow, onto the announcement. I'll be back again soon (later this week hopefully!) with more swatches of polish!

For immediate release:


Nail Polish Canada (almost) the best e-tailer in Canada


NailPolishCanada.com is close to being named the best e-commerce company in Canada as part of Canada Post’s E-Commerce Awards and needs your help.

NailPolishCanada.com was selected as a finalist for best e-tailers in Canada by a panel of judges including executives at Facebook and Google (So yes Dad, nail polish is a “thing”!).

As for who will be crowned the Consumer Champion it now comes down to a vote

“It’s been thrilling to work with so many great customers and bloggers over the past few years. So thank-you all for building NailPolishCanada.com into a company worthy of such an honor. Sam even teared up a little bit as he wrote this sentence pretending to be me.” - Nikki, VP Glitter. 


To encourage everybody to show their support and vote, NailPolishCanada.com is offering up to $2000 in prizes!


How it works


Vote for NPC

You can vote every day. Voting runs from August 28th to September 20th 12:00PM.
You must record your vote to enter & win at Nail Polish Canada’s vote page here.

Voting & prizes are open to Canadian and U.S. residents.

Daily Draw
There is a daily thank-you draw for everybody who voted that day for awesome prizes!


Bonus: If Nail Polish Canada Wins the Vote


This is the kicker, if NailPolishCanada.com wins Consumer Champion then we’re having a huge giveaway with two winners!


Grand Prize #1: 24 bottles of Enchanted Nail Polish
Grand Prize #2: $1000 shopping spree at Nail Polish Canada

Both prizes are awarded separately and every day you voted for us as Consumer Champion is one entry to win. 


Prizes are only open to Canadian and U.S. residents. See http://www.nailpolishcanada.com/vote for full details.

For further info please contact joy@nailpolishcanada.com

Wow! I would LOVE to win a $1000 shopping spree at Nail Polish Canada. I can just imagine what I'd buy... :D

Thank you all for reading! I'll see you again sometime this week! :)

Marisa 

OPI San Francisco Mini Set Swatches

Disclaimer: The products featured in this post were given to me as a gift from Sisi of Color4Nails. I am under no obligation to promote her polish store and do not gain anything from doing so. Any opinions presented in this post are my own.

Hi Everyone!

*Gasp* - another post! So soon... it's a miracle! Well, I found some time to sit down and write a post (who am I kidding? I'm supposed to be wading my way through academic papers right now). I figure you've all seen polishes from this collection about a million times by now, but I'll just swing some of my own quick swatches for you. I recently received the OPI San Francisco Mini set in the mail as a gift from Sisi at Color4Nails (I gave her permission to use some of my swatch pictures on her Facebook page and she wanted to send me a gift, which was very sweet of her). Thanks to her, I was able to try some polishes that I probably wouldn't have purchased on my own (I wasn't too impressed by the promo images of the collection).

Anyhow, I won't bore you too much with my rambling! Onto the polish!

In the Cable Car-pool Lane: A fairly standard dark plum/burgundy. Not an extremely exciting colour for me - I probably wouldn't be able to convince myself to buy this polish if I had seen it on a shelf somewhere since I'd probably have something very close to this in the 600+ bottles of polish that I own. It does have a very nice jelly-esque squishiness to it though. I used 3 coats.

First Date at the Golden Gate: A kind of reddy-burnt orange shade. Like In the Cable Car-pool Lane, it has the squishy look of a jelly with the more opaque formula of a creme. I used 3 coats for this swatch.

Peace, Love, and OPI: Silvery sage-blue-purple duochrome that reminds me of the northern lights. Undoubtedly one of the most buzzed about polishes from the San Fran collection. Initially I had only planned to pick up this polish from the collection, and I'm not too disappointed. I knew from prior swatches that it was going to be frosty, but the duochrome is actually really strong in this polish and kind of makes up for it. Streaks aside, I was pleasantly surprised that the formula isn't too thin - I used 3 thin coats for my swatch here.

Muir, Muir on the Wall: The dark horse in the collection for me. I would have completely passed this one over if it weren't for this mini set. When I swatched this polish I pretty much fell in love with it then and there, and ran out to buy a full size bottle. I can't even describe this one, but the important thing is that it has this beautiful red-coppery slightly duochrome shimmer that is absolutely gorgeous. I love it.

So, what do y'all think? I'm glad I got to try Muir, Muir on the Wall, since I probably wouldn't have known about how awesome it is if I didn't! It's seriously one of those colors I pass by on the shelf/counter and don't look at more closely. Thank you Sisi for your generosity!

As always, thank you for reading! I hope you all have a great week!

Marisa

My picks from the China Glaze Autumn Nights Collections

Hi everyone, long time no see!

Sorry I've been away so long - the usual combination of work and family drama have been added stress lately. I didn't realize how long I've been on the periphery of the nail polish world until I went to my supply store the other day... I didn't realize until then that I hadn't checked out the store since the end of April!

I managed to hold off the polish hoarder in me enough to spend a reasonable amount of polish. I avoided buying the whole collection and limited myself to only a few shades, which I managed to swatch (instead of leaving them on my swatching desk for later). Anyhow, enough of my chittering! Onto the polish! Please click read more after the cut to see my swatches of these polishes!

Left to right: Tongue & Chic, Queen B, Red-y & Willing, Rendezvous with You, Strike up a Cosmo, Goldie but Goodie, and Gossip over Gimlets.

Picture Polish Sea Jewel and Whimsy

Hi everyone! Long time no see!

Today I have some amazing polishes to show y'all! As you may have noticed, my posts have become a bit less frequent since I'm working full time and usually end up staying a few hours extra each day too.

Anyway, onto the polish!

Picture Polish Whimsy (with Neverland Nail Blog) and Sea Jewel (with Wacky Laki)

These two polishes are from a group of three that were released Monday as the newest additions to the Picture Polish Blogger collaboration line. I was lucky enough that Nail Polish Canada actually had these in stock Monday night, and my parcel was delivered Wednesday afternoon (with lollipops!). The only collaboration polish from this release that I didn't purchase was Frosting. It is a cute glitter combination, but I wasn't sure I'd wear it very often (I don't actually find myself reaching for chunky glitter very often. Isn't this strange? At least it lets me save money that would otherwise be spent on indies!).

Out of the two polishes I ordered, I was the most excited about Whimsy, a bright light blue with gold shimmer. I got Sea Jewel (a teal-y green loaded with silver glitter) on a whim - I liked the base colour but was unsure about the glitter in the polish itself. After seeing (and wearing!) these polishes in person, I'm super glad I got both!

Now, enough rambling and the pictures!

Sea Jewel

Created with Wacky Laki

*Swoon* My pictures don't do this polish justice. The formula on this polish is good - I used 3 coats to achieve opacity. I was skeptical about the glitter at first - in the bottle the polish can look a bit 'flat' (kind of like a lot of non-shiny glitter in a base) - but after I put it on it was stunning! Light really just bounces off the glitter in the polish, and the size of the silver glitter in the polish itself allows for each glitter particle to reflect the light back to your eye, creating an effect reminiscent of the glimmer of sunlight on waves in the ocean. I'll stop rambling now, but my final word on this polish is that it is so gosh darn pretty. Love it!

Whimsy

Created with Neverland Nail Blog

Isn't she a beauty? The formula on this polish is good too. I used 3 coats for opacity. I'd definitely give this polish a minute or two between coats to avoid any streaking (which is possible if you're a bit heavy handed on the application like me). Just to warn you again, my photos don't do this polish justice. I was a bit worried at first that the gold shimmer would be either really subtle or elusive (by elusive I'm thinking about a polish like Meep-Meep-Meep from the OPI Muppet collection a while back that had the prettiest glitters in it that all happened to sink down and disappear into the polish when it was dry). I'm happy to report that the glitter in this polish are neither elusive or subtle. This polish is gorgeous. Easily makes my top 10 list of most amazing polishes ever. Another bonus: the gold fleck/shimmer/glitter in this polish is also duochrome. If you look at your nails from different angles, gold will be the primary colour, but at increasingly extreme angles the shimmer/glitter will turn a subtle teal-y green.

So, what do y'all think? I'm very happy with these polishes. I'm sure Sea Jewel and Whimsy will make it to my top 10-20 list of polishes from 2013 at the end of the year, and I'm certain they've both found their way onto my top 10-20 list of all time favourite polishes. This polishes can be purchased directly from Picture Polish, or from their distributors such as Harlow & Co and Nail Polish Canada in Canada, and Llarowe in the United States.

Thanks for reading! I hope you all have a great weekend! :D

Marisa

China Glaze Bump & Grind

Hi everyone! Happy June!

Today I have another interesting textured polish to show y'all. Textured polishes have been growing on me lately, although I still can't wear them for extended periods of time without going crazy. Bump and Grind is one of my favourite polishes from the CG textured collection. This collection features a textured finish that reminds me of stucco on houses.

What do you think? Have the idea of textured polishes growing on you too? I actually think I may buy some of the Zoya pixie dust polishes now too...

Hope you all have a fantastic week!

Marisa