Love, Angeline: Smoke & Mirrors Part Two: Trickster! collection

Good morning, all my ladies in polish addicts land!  I hope the new year is continuing to be a great one for you already.  I've had a few changes in my household with my kids getting involved in more activities so I'm juggling to balance the full-time working mom duties and making time for my love of polish but I'm making it happen! 

I recently received the opportunity to swatch for Love, Angeline polish, an indie brand that features different types of gorgeous polishes that always seem so perfectly ladylike.  I have never tried the brand before now, as it seems I'm on some sort of no-buy or trying to show restraint when she releases her gorgeous collections, but always drooled over other's swatches.  So to say the least, I'm absolutely thrilled to have these two beauties to share with you tonight. 

Aztec Lady and Trapped Doves are from the Smoke & Mirrors Part Two: Trickster! collection.  The collection is made up of three gray crellys and three white crellys.

Trapped Doves

Trapped Doves is a white crelly filled with gray, mint, and aqua matte glitters.  Since the base is a little sheer for my stained nails, I dabbed a layer over two coats of China Glaze Dandy Lion Around.  However, I've seen other beautiful swatches build this up to full opacity in 2-3 coats on its own.  I didn't have any issues with glitter dragging but since I did just use one coat of the polish, I used the dabbing method to make sure the glitter was placed pretty evenly over the base polish.  For the accent nail, I used my brand new NailVinyls from Linda Davis aka @teismom on Instagram.  These worked amazingly even though I did have an issue with my fast dry topcoat lifting at the top left corner.  The colors I used here were China Glaze Dandy Lion Around, China Glaze For Audrey, and OPI French Quarter For Your Thoughts.  

Aztec Lady

This beauty is Aztec Lady, a gray crelly with pink, yellow, white and gray glitters throughout.  I adore gray shades and Natosha has some of the prettiest I've ever seen.  The shade of gray in the base seems to be a universally flattering one so I'm sure there's a gray crelly for everyone at Love, Angeline. I only needed two thin coats for full opacity and one of topcoat.  For my accent nail, the base is again OPI French Quarter For Your Thoughts, OPI Suzy's Hungary Again, and Sinful Colors Unicorn.

You can purchase this beautiful collection here, and be sure to follow Love, Angeline on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest.  

*Products in this post were provided to me for my review.

Sincerely Polish: Winter Mickey polishes

As I continue to play catch up on my past swatching, my blog post today features holiday Mickey Mouse polishes from Sincerely Polish.  These are the cutest Christmas glitter toppers that any Disney fan should own!   

Ms. Minnie Snow

First up is Ms. Minnie Snow, a glitter topper in a clear base with flakies, white hexes, pastel pink circles, and pink Minnie ears.  How cute is this?  This is one coat dabbed over Color Club Blushing Rose with topcoat.  I did need to fish for some of the mouse ears but this is pretty typical with large, heavy glitter. The flakies in MMS give this such a delicate look.  I can't wait to try this over different colored bases!

Magical Merry Christmas

This is Magical Merry Christmas, also in a clear base with green and red micro glitter, green and red circle glitter, and those famous red ears!   Such an absolute perfect Christmas polish for any Mickey fan.  I've layered this over Wet N Wild Stand the Test of Lime.  

Unfortunately, I'm not sure if these are still available.  The Sincerely Polish store is currently closed since owner Karen Jo is taking a break after the holidays, but will reopen later this month.  Be sure to follow Sincerely Polish on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter so you don't miss any updates and new releases!

*Products in this post were provided for review

Legion Lacquer: Winter/Holiday collection

Hi guys!  Are your days as hectic as mine seem to be now that the holidays have descended upon us?  I have really been struggling to keep my blog updated like I want but I am determined to make time for it.  So in the next couple weeks, I'm going to be playing catch up with some collections that I've swatched.

If you don't already know about Legion Lacquer, it's time to change that!  I don't think I've seen another indie brand charge out of the gates as strongly as these ladies have.  I am the proud owner of about a dozen LL polishes and I love every single one of them!  The attention to detail is pretty amazing.

With His Nose So Bright

With His Nose So Bright was not my favorite of the group when I unwrapped this collection.  However, on the nails...it's pretty freaking awesome!  This is Rudolph in a bottle and the shimmer in the base is to die for.  The brown base is perfect with a mix black and green glitter finished off with large red circles that make this so fun.  

WinterMint

WinterMint is a glitter topper filled with a mix of white, green, and silver glitter of various shapes and sizes with green shimmer.  This is one coat dabbed over Sally Hansen Mint Sorbet.  I didn't have to fish for any of the glitters, even the gorgeous holo hearts!  Perfect for winter and would make a great St. Patrick's Day polish as well. 

LL Holiday Blend

Next up is LL Holiday Blend, a glitter bomb with green, red, gold and iridescent glitter of various shapes and sizes with gold flakies and green shimmer.  I've used this over Essie Forever Young.  Again, no fishing or digging out glitters needed from this gorgeous blend. 

Snow Miser 

As part of a duo, this is Snow Miser, a baby blue crelly with a mix of white, silver, and blue glitters of various shapes, sizes and finishes, and snow white flakies and micro holo glitter.  If you love blue, then you need this polish!  This was so easy to apply and was opaque in two coats and topcoat.  It's available on it's own or as a set with Heat Miser.

Heat Miser

And this beauty is Heat Miser, a bright red crelly with gold holo glitter, gold flakies and red and gold shimmer.  My pictures do it no justice so trust me when I say you'll want this one.  The shimmer and holo sparkle is absolutely stunning.  This is two coats with topcoat.  As mentioned, this is part of a duo with Snow Miser or available on it's own. 

Royals

Lastly, this is Royals, not part of the holiday collection but the LL girls were kind enough to send this to me for swatching.  I am so happy to own this gorgeousness in a bottle!  It's a mix of purple, pink, and gold holo glitter of various shapes and sizes with purple shimmer in a clear base.  I used one dabbed coat over eighty4 C.R.E.A.M. and had no issues with any of the larger glitters.  I wanted to catch an Instavid to show off the holo sparkle but there was no sun for me the next day.  I received so many complements while wearing this!

All of these are still available for purchase from Legion Lacquer's store so if you haven't already purchased any of these amazing polishes, there's still time.  Be sure to follow Legion Lacquer here on Instagram so you don't miss out on new releases, one coming very soon for Valentine's Day so stay tuned for that!

*Products in this post were provided to me for review 

Different Dimension: Happy Holly Days

Hi everyone!  I am so glad to be able to actually sit down and take a moment to write a blog entry!  As I'm sure everyone has been, I have been so busy the last few weeks with the holidays, and two of my daughters had birthdays in the same week so it's been extremely hectic in my house.  Not to mention, it seems I was flooded with swatch requests all at one time so my nights were filled with polish and acetone fumes with no time to write!  Trust me, I'm not complaining.  I am so thankful to be able to do something I completely love in my free time.

So, better late than never, I have the GORGEOUS Happy Holly Days collection from Different Dimension.  I'm going to be 100% honest, I had never tried the brand before.  I do own several of Missi's polishes but sadly they are still in my untrieds pile.  This is not intentional, but only as a result of being a complete polish hoarder with too little time to paint!  So on a whim, I submitted a blogger/swatcher application and was absolutely floored when I was selected.  I hope you guys enjoy my swatches as much as I love these polishes!

Mistle-Toad

First up is Mistle-Toad, a green linear holographic with a subtle duochrome of pink shimmer.  Dead.  I couldn't believe how gorgeous this transferred to the nails and is seriously my new favorite green.  This is two perfect coats and topcoat.  Went on like buttah.

Can We Carol On

Next is Can We Carol On, a creamy light dusty lavender holo with blue shimmer.  Another absolute stunner.  As I'm sure you can imagine, the holo is much stronger in sunlight and was just a perfect formula.  Two smooth coats used here and topcoat. 

Load of Baubles

If you are looking for a perfect baby pink, then you need Load of Baubles!  She dries matte with an unbelievable blue shimmer.  I did use topcoat simply to bring out the shimmer even more so but I have to say this was the best formula matte I've ever used.  It doesn't dry chalky like so many do, more like a matte satin finish.  It is a little on the sheer side so I used three thin coats to achieve this level of opacity.  I felt so girly and pretty with this on!

That's Snow Joke

That's Snow Joke is in a clear base with silvery blue shimmer with blue, white, and silver holo glitters in a mixture of sizes and shapes.  This is one dabbed coat over Can We Carol On for a really icy look!  I didn't have any issues with sinking glitter but I seem to recall needing to place the larger circles just beucase I'm really OCD and need to have uniformity.  Also, I realize my skin tone looks crazy here but I'm working on my lighting situation and did slightly edit the picture just to get the polish true to life.

Why Am I Such a Misfit

This one stopped me in my tracks when I was unwrapping this collection.  Why Am I Such a Misfit is such a fun and unique polish for Christmas with its neon and pastel glitters in all shapes and sizes.  I always buy wrapping paper in these colors for my girls' presents and I would love to one day buy all new tree ornaments and really go for something non-traditional like this.  Since it's pretty sheer on it's own and my nails are ridiculously stained I decided to layer it over Load of Baubles.  I did see several other swatchers like @mrslochness that did swatch it on its own and I would prefer it that way but I couldn't make it work for me.  I can't wait to try it over more shades for versatile looks.

I Only Have Ice For You

If I could only choose one holo topper for the rest of my days, I Only Have Ice For You would win hands down.  This is unlike anything I've ever seen before and just blew me away.  This has not only a linear holo effect but also includes sterling silver micro flakies.  What?!  Of course I had to try it over purple so this is American Apparel Violet Panache.  I'm fairly certain this has since sold out and I'm really kicking myself for not getting a back up bottle so I'm going to have to ration this one out!

Christmahanakwanzika

I just love the name of this polish!  So that no holiday was left out, Missi threw them all together in one polish!  This is Christmahanakwanzika, a glitter topper full of red, yellow, blue, green, black and gold glitters, and I used one dabbed coat over a red base.

You're Not Making Any Frankincense

You're Not Making Any Frankincense is such a pretty topper filled with gold and silver holo circles, and hex and square glitters.  I went with gold as my base but would look good over so many other colors.  I just love circle glitter so this was definitely a fave of mine for this collection.

This is Not Fir

I think this may be my favorite of the collection!  This is Not Fir is such a perfect, squishy green jelly filled with silver and green circles, squares, and hexes.  I used two coats over a similar green base but it can also build up on it's own in several coats.  It's just such a perfect holiday green!  Glitters came out easily and I used two coats of topcoat to perfectly smooth out.

Don't Be the Santa of Everything

Let me just apologize in advance if you don't care for the shade of green I used as my undie.  I was informed by friends the day after I posted this collection to my Instagram account that this was a horrible pea green.  I guess I didn't see it that way but please don't let my swatch keep you away from this polish; it's the perfect Christmas topper!  Don't Be the Santa of Everything is a topper full of red and green circles and hexes of different sizes.  I would probably use this again over black to really make the colors pop.  It really is Christmas in a bottle! 

Tinselitis

Tinselitis is a glitter topper filled with silver holo glitters with a strong, gorgeous silver shimmer.  I used one coat over Orly Snowcone.  Just look at that bottle shot, serious holo glitter porn!  

The Happy Holly Days is just an amazing collection overall.  I discovered one bad thing about swatching these polishes:  having to take them off to swatch the next one!  I truly wanted to wear each one for days at a time. As I mentioned before, I am so late in blogging this so I'm sure there are several of these that have sold out at this point.  However, ALL her polishes are definitely hoarding worthy and I'm sure you'll find something you have to have.  You can purchase Different Dimension at her Etsy shop, and follow her on several social media sites, including Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.  

Novel Nail Polish

Happy Monday, guys!  I hope everyone is having a fabulous long weekend.  I took advantage of the sales today and went shopping with my mother-in-law.  My girls racked up and I only managed to get myself a shirt.  I didn't even go into Ulta to look at polish since my good friend Blanca (IG @lacquermeup) and I are on a competitive no-buy at the moment.  We've both nearly cracked, but I got this!  I keep telling myself I have hundreds of untrieds to keep me occupied but it's just too tempting with all these sales.  I tried explaning to a coworker recently why Blanca and I are constantly buying indie polishes, that most brands only make a certain amount and once they're gone, they're gone.  Civilians just don't get it, though.  ;)

The polishes I have on the blog today come from Novel Nail Polish.  Creator Monica Cantu is a school librarian and bases her collections on the books she's read and comes across during her day job.  I was lucky enough to get to swatch her Game of Thrones collection, ten gorgeous thermals.  This was my first experience with thermals and I can now say I'm a huge fan!  If you're wanting the look of a gradient without all the work, you should definitely try a thermal.  It's pretty cool looking down at your hands throughout the day and seeing what transistion your nails might be in.  I alternate being hot and cold in my office at work so it was fun seeing the changes.

 

First up is Eyes of Wight, inspired by the terrifyingly glowing blue eyes of the white walkers.  This is the perfect shade of light blue when warm, and turns to a darker teal color when cold, and as you can see here it glows in the dark.  This was also my first time with a GITD polish and it caught me off guard that night as I was going to bed!  This dries with a slightly gritty texture but is stunning with topcoat, with gorgeous silver shimmer. 
 

Next is Children of the Forest, a nude color when warm that changes to a taupe shade when cold.  This is full of hex glitters in perfectly complimentary shades like gold, brown, and teal green colors.  I needed two coats of polish which dried matte and topped this off with two coats of topcoat.
 

 

This is Daggers in the Dark, a pewter color when warm that changes to a lovely light plum color when cold.  I absolutely fell in love with this polish.  It dries to a brushed metallic finish and looks amazing with topcoat.  I used two coats of the polish.
 

 

Next in line is Not Today, from one of my favorite lines of the series.  I love the depth of this polish, which has a ton of tiny sparkle that I could not capture.  A macro lens is definitely next in line for me!  When warm, this is a very sheer shade that includes black glitters, and micro glitters in shades of brown, gray, and black.  I love it most when it's cold and becomes a black color but you still get all the gorgeous glitters.
 



This next polish, Hands of Gold are Always Cold, is a perfect fall shade of...gold!  When warm, it's a lovely gold metallic shade that becomes a darker broze color when cold.  Two coats needed for full opacity and topcoat needed to smooth it out.
 

Winds of Winter is a light blue color when warm, that changes to a darker shade of blue, almost periwinkle.  I did need two coats of topcoat to smooth down the larger glitters as these seemed to curl very slightly. 
 

Summerhall's Shadow is a light blue/grey when warm that becomes lavender when cold.  This is similar to Eyes of Wight, and dries with a shimmery finish.  Two coats of polish and a coat of topcoat.
 

This one is my absolute favorite!  This is Dark and Full of Terrors, a bright berry red when warm, that goes to a deep blood red, almost black when cold.  This is a gorgeous jelly full of red and black glitters.  This one has the most dramatic transition and I didn't want to take it off!  I needed two coats of polish and two coats of topcoat to smooth it out.
 

I really liked the look of this one in both states.  This is The North Remembers, a sheer shimmery nude when warm that becomes a pretty bright red when cold.  Please excuse my stained nails, which you can really see here.  I considered using an undie but I actually liked the affect the shimmer had on my nails.  This is two coats of polish and one coat of topcoat.

For the grand finale, I have Dragons Trump Everything.  This one is quite different from the rest of the collection, with the amount of glitters in all shapes and sizes.  As you can see, the warm state is a very sheer light purple, made up of BEAUTIFUL irridescent shimmer that turns a bright red toned purple when cold.  The glitters in this one include shades of purple, pink and silver in different shapes of hex, square, circles and stars.  I did have to fish a little for the stars but they were easy enough to retrieve.

 

Overall, this is an amazing collection of thermals.  The quality of these are amazing and I had no issues with application.  I love the range of transistions, from subtle to dramatic.  I enjoyed the GOT references and I'm so ready for the next season!  Be sure to follow Novel Nail Polish on Instagram (@novelnailpolish) and visit her Etsy shop for pricing and availability.

*Products in this post were provided for review

Sincerely Polish

Hi guys!  I hope you're all having a great weekend.  I've been sick with a nasty cold this week and even had to miss a couple days of work which I always hate.  My amazing husband took our girls to a cousin's birthday party, and after about 45 minutes he called me, telling me not to freak out (yeah right!). Our two-year-old, who is our energetic handful and is desperately trying to exert her independence, was climbing up a slide ladder with him right behind her, and just as she reached the top, she slipped and knocked her front tooth out!  She's fine now and stopped crying after about five minutes.  The dentist told me there's really nothing they can do since it's just a baby tooth and to bring her in this week and they'll take x-rays and even see about fitting her with a temporary tooth.  Needless to say, it's been a little bit of an emotional day for everyone.  

Now on to the polish! I have four swatches from another new indie brand called Sincerely Polish (Instagram @sincerelypolished) from creator Karen Jo. The bottles came in really cute packaging which is always a nice touch.

These are from her first collection, Mademoiselle, releasing November 10 and consisting of eight polishes. She explains these are inspired by her boyfriend's girl cousins, beautiful girls with names almost all starting with the letter "M".   Each polish represents a bit of who each girl is. I love the sentiment!

First up is "Richelle", a light green crelly filled with glitter of different sizes and shapes, including matte circle glitter in peach and yellow shades, green micro glitter, and white hex glitter.  This started off pretty sheer but built up to full opacity with three thin coats, which was pretty consistent with all four.  I topped it off with two coats of topcoat for a smooth finish. 

Next up is "Margaret", a light yellow crelly with pink and blue matte circle glitter, small white hex glitter, and holo butterflies.  This one gave me the most trouble and I will probably need to add a tiny bit of thinner the next time I use it.  Three coats was needed to get rid of most of the VNL (visible nail line).  This will be one I visit again in the spring, and would be perfect for Easter.

I absolutely love this one with my skin tone.  "Marvi" is a light blue crelly with blue micro glitter, blue bar glitter, small white hexes, and small blue and pink hexes.  This went on like a dream.

 

If you guys don't already know and don't follow me on Instagram, you should know I'm trying to make it my life's mission to own ALL THE PURPLE POLISH!  So needless to say, "Mia" is my favorite of the collection.  The base color is a gorgeous lavender shade with a glitter mix that includes different hues and sizes of purple and pink and white hexes.  I'm actually still wearing it, I love it so much!

 

Overall, this is a lovely first collection from Sincerely Polish.  I love crellys/milky bases and these do not disappoint.  Be sure to follow IG @sincerelypolished for pricing and ordering information.  I'm excited to see what she comes up with next!

*Products in this post were provided for review

Legion Lacquer

I recently received the opportunity to swatch and review polishes from a new indie brand called Legion Lacquer.  Creators Angela (IG @pickacolorblog) and Shay (IG @shaycwells) have come up with a gorgeous first collection.  I am a total indie addict and have tried many brands.  I can tell you these are some of the best quality and the attention to detail is amazing.  The first three polishes below are already available in their shop, and the second three will be available tomorrow, November 1. 

First up is Sub-Zero Frost. This is a white crelly with gorgeous blue large circle holo glitters, gold hex glitters, and glue and gold micro glitters of different sizes. This only needed two coats to achieve full opacity. I did need to fish a little for the large circles but they came out easily enough. This definitely has a winter feel to it. 

 



Next up is Berry Perplexing, a clear base with iridescent shimmer throughout, and consisting of matte glitter in various shades of berry and blue colors and large white hex glitter. The large purple hexes are more of a fuchsia color instead of the purple like you see here but we know how difficult purple is to photograph. I did use the sponge method to apply the glitter, where you paint the polish onto a makeup wedge and then pat and dab the glitter onto the nail. I think this is the reason I didn't have much of the shimmer showing through. Gorgeous either way!

This next polish is my favorite of the group, Silly Witch!, another glitter topper perfect for Halloween. I could not keep my eyes off my nails while I was wearing this! It's completely made of holographic glitters in green, purple and orange in different shapes and sizes. I even uploaded a video to my Instagram account just to show off how much sparkle is in this one. This was one coat over black polish. I did have to fish for the green circle glitter but as you can see it was well worth the effort.

The next three polishes are available tomorrow, November 1 from Legion Lacquer. 

 

 

This one is called Not a Monarch.  As you can tell even from the bottle, this is packed with holo glitter that just dazzles, including butterfly shaped glitter.  This also includes iridescent shimmer in the base, which I absolutely love, tiny hex glitters in purple and black, and large black circles.  This is one coat over Essence Hello Marshmallow.

 

This one really surprised me, Clockwork Orange.  I'm not usually a fan of orange based colors because they don't always work with my skin tone.  But I think the base color combined with the blue glitters makes this pretty unique and a standout polish. 

Lastly, this is Fascination and I am completely in love!  I had a hard time choosing what color to go under this because I wanted to really show off the gorgeous color of this glitter topper.  Pink and fuchsia holo glitters in a clear base make this a very versatile polish and I know it would be stunning over most anything you use. 

Make sure you head over to IG @LegionLacquer to see many more beautiful swatches of these and more polishes from these very talented ladies.  They've certainly got a big fan in me! 

Till next time...



*Products in this post were provided for review