Christmas is for giving...and receiving!

Hello ... I have received some stunning polishes recently. I'll say a few words and show some pictures. The first one shown is a gift from Dolly to her Posse Facebook group members. It came in a little pink organza bag with some chocolate treats and a greetings card. A lovely gesture. Thank you Dolly.

The second gift is a beautiful surprise. Also made by Dolly, this is a custom made polish to celebrate my granddaughter's first Christmas. This is a special gift from Linda. Thank you. I love it and it matches the description of my perfect polish that you sneakily extracted from me a few weeks ago!

On my middle and ring finger, this is 3 coats of Izzy's First Christmas, 2014 with Seche Vite as a topcoat. The other fingers have China Glaze OMG and a coat of Dolly's gift. The shine on my skin is from using the beautifully scented cuticle balm; also made by Dolly and a gift from Linda!
 

On my other hand I have another gift. This is a lovely deep red from Chanel. The other fingers are wearing an OPI pale gold with a light coat of Enchanted Polishes Flashing Lights. The top coat on the red nails is the gift from Dolly. All finished with a coat of Poshe basecoat and Seche Vite.

So I have had some lovely early Christmas gifts. Thank you.

If you are reading, then I'd love your comments, feedback is always appreciated.
I am not a nail technician or a photographer! I do not claim to have fantastic nails.
I simply own some fabulous polishes!
all rights reserved - www.lacquerland.co.uk
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Sparkly Vernis - Gifts and Christmas Specials

Hello ...

Goodness me, Sparkly has been busy over at Sparkly Towers! No sooner had I tried her first range, Winter 2014 Collection, she offers me a Christmas Special to try! A few days later, from the far side of the USA to the middle(ish) of England, a little white box arrived.

These have no name that I know of, and as they had seasonal stickers where the name would be, we will call them Snowflake and Snowman.

As you can see, Snowflake is a seasonal micro glitter that is choc full of colour. I'd say the base colour is gold with added red and green specks of colour. There is a good sprinkling of holo dust in this mix. A Christmas Pudding for the nails! Will someone find the sixpence?

 

Snowman looks like a blue holographic micro glitter. It is. Yet, it is so much more sophisticated. There is a rose gold/copper base to this polish with masses of blue and holographic sparks. It is one of the cleverest micro glitters I have seen.

Snowflake was paired with a purple holo that Sparkly included. I haven't heard of the brand before but it is a 'femme couture', called USA Blush. I think it must be a chemist brand (drug store to any American reader) as it has a barcode on the label.

 

Snowman, shown here in the bottom left corner, is two coats over a bare nail. This shows the copper base shimmer better than when used over a base colour. On my other nails I have a base of one of the OPI Nordic colours, the blurple one. It is a mini so has no name on the base.

 

Both polishes applied well, I dabbed them on rather than painted, and dry time was fine. I used Poshe 'fast drying basecoat' over the glitters and then a proper topcoat of Seche Vite. The Poshe was another gift from Sparkly; it is a brilliant pre-topcoat for glitters. It seems to settle in the ravines left by the glitter (in micro terms) and lets the topcoat do its job rather than being eaten alive by glitter.

In summary. I love these polishes. Thank you for the opportunity to try them. You can buy the Winter 2014 collection at www.sparklyvernis.com/

 

If you are reading, then I'd love your comments, feedback is always appreciated. I am not a nail technician or a photographer! Pictures taken with an iPhone 5S. I do not claim to have fantastic nails. I simply own some fabulous polishes!

 

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Sparkly Vernis is a great polish maker ... and a great friend!

Hello! Something very different today! My friend, and established blogger Sparkly Vernis, has been secretly working on a project! Last week we discovered what the project is; she is making her own brand of polish and I have a set of the first range! There are five colours in this first launch. They are all pastel light holographic colours and in the bottle, three look quite similar. On the nail, they are clearly different. From left to right:

• Gilded Lemon Drops - a pale gold but not at all yellow. 
• Mint Frosting - a strong icy minty green
• Cotton Candy Sugar- an icy pink tinted lilac
• Blurple Ice Cubes - an icy mix of blue and purple
• Periwinkle Sprinkles - an icy blue; my bottle is named 'Sue's Periwinkle Sprinkles'. :)

 If you go to sparklyvernis.com you can see how the proper bloggers do it! You can buy here and they are $12.99 each with free shipping within the USA. International shipping is flat rate and $25; mine got to me in under a week.



On my left hand I chose Mint Frosting. This is a strongly pigmented minty green. It applies well and two coats were all I needed. Like spreading butter onto hot toast! Dry time was fast and it dries to a semi matte with a strong holo flame. I am not sure my pictures have captured the holo flame.  

 

I often think this sort of green brings out the redness in my very pale skin. Some friends of mine, also pale, have the same thoughts on wearing this type of colour. I think that is simply how minty greens on pale skin are.

The brush is perfect; it isn't too thin and it isn't too thick. It holds the right amount of polish to get a good even coat. The polish has a creamy texture, full of pigment and holo. The bottle holds 12ml, feels heavy, looks classy and the lid is nicely tapered with a semi-matte finish. The writing on the back of the bottle gives lots of information, probably that required by law, but I can only just read it as the font is very small and in white.

I have a nail injury on this hand and the polish didn't help to hide the bump on my middle nail. This is a feature of all holo or shimmer polishes; the effect relies on a smooth surface and my little nail bandage isn't as smooth as it could have been. I have hidden most pictures that show this!

The second polish I used today - on my right hand - is the Blurple Ice Cubes. This is not quite as opaque as Mint Frosting, but still gave a good covering with two coats. I have some horrible staining on two nails (not from SV polish) and this is almost hidden apart from a tiny bit that the camera saw but my eye didn't...


look at the holo!

 

Just look at the colour here. It is a sort of blue and a sort of purple. I guess that's why she called it Blurple! There is a pronounced holo flame and the colour dries a frosty lilac on the nails. In some lights it has a light denim blue effect. Again, a fast drying semi matte finish, and I think for this one, I prefer it top coated. A personal preference. 

 

In summary. I love these polishes. I'd love to see some more colours, more saturated shades of purple and blue and pink etc. All the colours! There is nothing I dislike about the product or the customer service.
 

If you are reading, then I'd love your comments, feedback is always appreciated. I am not a nail technician or a photographer! Pictures taken with an iPhone 5S. I do not claim to have fantastic nails. I simply own some fabulous polishes!

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Lynnderella - blue micro glitters

Hello!

Something a little different today. I have several of the micro glitters made by Lynnderella. All are lovely but I was curious as to how close they were. In the bottle there are differences but they are all on the purple side of blue and they all have some holographic sparkles in the mix.

I found they were all similar to apply; not exactly like painting with a normal cream polish, more of a paint/dab technique was needed. Shown is two coats, without topcoat. The final picture is with Seche Vite topcoat and I'd recommend using a thick glossy topcoat. It brings out the sparkle and micro glitter much more effectively than leaving them semi-matte.

Ten Green Bottles, hanging on the wall

 

No topcoat and I swear those bits were not there!

 

As you can see, they are (with the exception of my little finger) all very similar but not exactly the same. Couture at the Navy Yard (thumb) is a navy blue; The God Mother Clause (index) is not a true micro glitter and is more of a dense small glitter in a heavily shimmered base; Violet's Dark Side (middle) is a dark violet-navy micro glitter; Thrill Ride (ring) is a purple-blue micro glitter and the little finger is a creamy lilac micro glitter in a heavily shimmered lilac base.

Violet's Dark Side (middle) and Thrill Ride (ring) are to me the closest in colour and effect but differ in the sparkle they throw off. It is difficult to explain why but they are quite different on the nail.

If you are reading, then I'd love your comments, feedback is always appreciated. I am not a nail technician or a photographer! I do not claim to have fantastic nails. I simply own some fabulous polishes! all rights reserved - www.lacquerland.co.uk Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Colors by Llarowe - Gemini Rising and In a Dark Place

Hello! . .

I had a little parcel from Mr Postman today! Inside were two polishes from a lovely lady that we shall call Miss Soprano. She knows who she is and most of my readers might know too! She won't wear green. It might be down to show biz superstition or perhaps it is because she has curly hair. Who knows?

The pictures in this blog have gone. Apologies but I have no idea where they have gone to!

The polishes are both Colors by Llarowe. The first I am showing is called 'In a Dark Place' and it is a forest green shimmery duochrome. When the fingers are turned in the light, different colours in the blue-teal-green spectrum light up. It applies beautifully and really needed just one coat. I painted over OPI "Jade is the new Black". Perfect. I painted my right ring finger with OPI "Russian Navy" as a base for a Lynnderella. That might feature at a later date. 

The second colour is a "wow! Look at this green!" sort of green. I don't know what has gone into it, radioactive magic frogs that have been eating genetically engineered grass? It is vivid. It behaves like a holo but the rainbow is green and blue. Again, it is beautiful to apply. I have heard that this one is a stainer but as I have painted over gels, I'll be ok... won't I?

 

Another fine pair of polishes from Leah Ann's stables. 

If you are reading, then I'd love your comments, feedback is always appreciated. I am not a nail technician or a photographer! I do not claim to have fantastic nails. I simply own some fabulous polishes!
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Nerd Week - and the Nerds came in two by two...

Hello!

This week I wondered about using one brand. Just one brand.  I chose Nerd Lacquer. No real reason except I'd not used them for some time and I have 17 Nerd Lacquers. Time to try them.  The plan is to use two everyday until they have all been used. Or until I am bored. I hope you like my pairings!

A matching base colour has been used as I have scarlet red gel polish on my nails. You might see a peek of the gel in some of the pictures.

All Nerd polishes, in my experience, need to stand upside down for sometime as the glitters fall to the bottom of the bottle. Other than that, and that they need a good shake, they apply well and dry fast. A quick coat of a Seche Vite to give some shine and I am good to go!

Monday
Nerd Pinnin' for the Fjords is the blue and Nerd Resolutionary is the pink.I used China Glaze Secret Peri-winkle under the blue and Sinful (Pink Forever) under the pink.

Tuesday
Nerd Outed by a Probot is a blue polish and Entirely Unlike Tea is a nude. Ciate Ferris Wheel (sky blue) and Ciate Bon Bon (nude) were used as base colours.

Probot is a pale sky blue, has teal and white larger accent glitters and lots of smaller silver glitters. It has a silver and blue micro shimmer base.
Tea is a peculiar polish but it works. The base is a mid brown, milky tea if you like, with a lot of silver glitter. There is some glitter that turns blue as the light twists on it and the micro shimmer is pink. Or gold. Or both. 

Wednesday

I cheated today. Well, that isn't strictly true. I liked the Entirely Like Tea so much I wanted to keep it on. So I did and just redid the blue nails. Nails Inc Westminster was my base colour. This is a rich cream purple and like many of Nails Inc creams, applied perfectly. I am not a big fan of NI - they are expensive and a bit faddy - but they do a good cream!

Nerd Cold & Calculating is a rich purple with silver and purple glitters of varying shades and sizes. There is a silver micro shimmer in the mix too. The glitter payoff (I think that is the technical term) is good.

Thursday

Nerd Rheingold and Carbon Allotrope. The names are definitely intriguing! I used OPI Ogre the top Blue as a base for Rheingold and an OPI called Glamour Game for Carbon Allotrope.This is a pale gold shimmer but I have tinkered with it and cannot remember what it was like before! Both OPIs are excellent to apply and dry fast.

Nerd Rheingold is a teal leaning blue with metallic gold and black glitters. The micro shimmer is electric blue. It seems less sinky than other Nerds and it applies well.

Nerd Carbon Allotrope is a pale green leaning grey tinted white with silver glitters and micro glitters. The texture seems different from other Nerds so maybe this has had thinners or something else added. That said, it applies well and again, has a good glitter payoff. This reminds me of a granite work surface!

Friday
Nerd Don't Panic is a grass green polish with various shades, sizes and shapes of green glitter. There is a bright green and orange micro shimmer. I think this could be a full coverage polish with two coats. The base colour is Illamasqua Smash, also a grass green cream polish, quite thick to apply but evens out well. Two coats were needed and as usual I applied Seche Vite over the top.

Nerd The Eye is a tomato coloured polish. I would probably say it is orange rather than red. It has a smattering of black matte hexagonal glitters and gold of various shapes and sizes. The larger gold hexagonals are holographic. The micro shimmer is red and gold. The black hexagonals were a little tricky to find. I applied The Eye over China Glaze Riveting, in itself a lovely orange polish.

There is an eye on the top of the lid!

So this concludes my Nerd week. I know a week usually has 7 days but I am itching to use other brands so my interpretation of a week is a working week, five days!

If you are reading, then I'd love your comments, feedback is always appreciated. I am not a nail technician and I am not an expert photographer! I do not claim to have fantastic nails. I simply own some fabulous polishes!

all rights reserved - www.lacquerland.co.uk 

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Colors by Llarowe - Hellcat

Hello! . .

Today I have used Colors by Llarowe "Hellcat" as an accent mani. Just two nails; middle and ring. It has been applied over a royal blue gel base. Two coats followed by CND Super Shiney. I love this polish, so easy to apply and fast to dry!
It has a pronounced multi-chrome effect, ranging from purple to red to orange to burgundy. The polish is enhanced with coppery flakies that catch the light making it glow from within.

On my other fingers I am wearing Colors by Llarowe Monkey See, Monkey Do. Perhaps an unconventional combination!

Two colours, one polish!

If you are reading, then I'd love your comments, feedback is always appreciated. I am not a nail technician or a photographer! I do not claim to have fantastic nails. I simply own some fabulous polishes!

 all rights reserved - www.lacquerland.co.uk 

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A England - Dancing with Nureyev and Sleeping Palace

Hello!

Beautiful, sophisticated, elegant ... not words usually associated with my nails! I chose two polishes from A England today. Both muted holographics.

Dancing with Nureyev is a dusty denim blue holographic polish. It has a slight pinky-blue sheen to the polish that seems to be a separate layer to the holo effect. Application was easy, the polish is quite thick and spreads easily. I used two coats with Seche Vite as a top coat.

Sleeping Palace is a brown sort of plum colour. No hidden shimmer, just a rich grainy linear holo effect. It isn't an in-your-face holo flame, more of a spread of a warm glow holo effect! Same flawless application as is expected with A England polishes.

Subtle holo effect

You can buy A England from various online retailers. I buy direct from http://www.a-england.co.uk/. Dancing with Nureyev is from the Ballerina collection. Sleeping Palace is from the Burne-Jones collection. They retail for £9 and this includes UK postage.

If you are reading, then I'd love your comments, feedback is always appreciated. I am not a nail technician or a photographer! I do not claim to have fantastic nails. I simply own some fabulous polishes! all rights reserved - www.lacquerland.co.uk Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Girly Bits Cosmetics - Peel Here and Remember Aja

 .

Today I have used two of my Girly Bits polishes. The name 'Girly Bits' always makes me chuckle. If you know the creator, Pam, you will understand she has a wonderful sense of humour.

The main shade I have used is a grey called 'Peel Here'. There is a story to the name and it goes something like this: Pam's daughter, when very young was asked what was the name of a particular OPI polish. Now, if you are familiar with OPI, you will know that all of their labels at the bottom of the bottle, say 'Peel here' to reveal another label with ingredient and safety information as well as the name of the polish.

This grey is slightly holographic, has a silver and I think a pink shimmer. It is a very subtle polish. The first coat is a bit wishy washy, vague and uninspiring. Add another coat and it morphs into a rich elephant skin colour, creamy and self levelling. An easy polish to work with despite an awkward start!

The purple colour is a fabulous purple. It was created to remember Aja, a young girl who died in tragic circumstances. The proceeds go towards a fund in her memory.

The polish applies superbly, needs one or two coats, and dries smoothly and quickly. It has a linear and scattered effect, one of those grainy type of holo effects. If this finish has a proper name, I don't know it! Please let me know if you do!

Both polishes are available from http://www.girlybitscosmetics.com/.

If you are reading, then I'd love your comments, feedback is always appreciated. I am not a nail technician or a photographer! I do not claim to have fantastic nails. I simply own some fabulous polishes!

all rights reserved - www.lacquerland.co.uk 

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Ciate "jelly bean" and Lynnderella Ten Pipers Pinking

Hello! . .

A quick blog today using one polish that I have had for a while and one that I bought more recently.
Ciate jelly bean is a hot pink creamy polish with a shy blue shimmer running through. It applies like a dream cream! Two coats, no top coat over a base of Duri Rejuvacote. Perfect. This bottle was a gift with purchase from a magazine back in 2012 I think. 

Lynnderella Ten Pipers Pinking is a micro glitter jam packed with pink, purple, magenta particles. It seems to be in a pink base and has some holographic properties to it. The sparkles are not a typical rainbow prismatic effect, more pink and blue with a hint of rainbow. It applies like a cream and two thin coats were needed for full coverage. No top coat has been used in the picture but I think a coat of Seche Vite will enhance the polish. This polish is from Lynnderella's Christmas 2013 range, Twelve Days of Christmas.

Ciate is available from their own website and Lynnderella is available from lynnderella.com or in Europe, http://www.norwaynails.com/collections/twelve-days-of-christmas.
Use the code LAQUERLAND (yes, I know it is spelt wrong) for 10% off.

If you are reading, then I'd love your comments, feedback is always appreciated. I am not a nail technician or a photographer! I do not claim to have fantastic nails. I simply own some fabulous polishes!

all rights reserved - www.lacquerland.co.uk
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Enchanted December 13, January 2014 and Lynnderella

Hello!

I received the latest from Enchanted Polish today. December 2013 was shown on the Big Cartel sale page but January 2014 was a mystery, sold sight unseen. Knowing that I would probably like it, I ordered. I do like it,  December 2013 is more of a mystery; I liked it when I applied it but when I was outside a short while later, I wasn't so sure.

December 2013 is a toffee, very milky coffee type of nude holo. It has a shimmer, to me the colour of brand new pennies. A sort of pinky, copper, sometime light red effect. Unusual.

January 2014 is a dark blue-green-almost charcoal colour. I can see a lighter blue shimmer but the main effect is of a dark blue holo polish.
 
I have found the newer EPs to be thicker than I'd like. It has the consistency of double cream. This means that you can get away with one coat but the flip side of this is that it is trickier (to me) to apply. I found a second coat dragged a little on the coat below. Maybe I needed to let it dry more than I did. The jury is out for me, I think I prefer the texture of the Imagine series.

Blurry to capture holo effect

The Lynnderella is unnamed. I think it is called Grinchie. Or something. It came to me from a friend. It has a fabulous light green micro-shimmer and holographic green diamonds, stars, circles and smaller glitters, accented by red glitters and hearts. It applied well although some of the larger shapes were clumped together and needed some on nail surgery to place them. One coat of Seche Vite has smoothed it nicely. I might add a further coat to give a glass like effect.

See the holo effect!

Stars and hearts!

I wondered about using some edit techniques on the pictures. My cuticles are suffering from the winter. I decided not to in the end. Those of you who know me know I try hard with the skin around my nails but years of nibbling them have left them vulnerable and the weather doesn't help!

If you are reading, then I'd love your comments, feedback is always appreciated. I am not a nail technician or a photographer! I do not claim to have fantastic nails. I simply own some fabulous polishes! all rights reserved - www.lacquerland.co.uk Follow my blog with Bloglovin