Stash Swatch Initiative: Orly Rococo A-Go-Go

Hello!

This is Orly Rococo A-Go-Go.

Orly Rococo A-Go-Go. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Rococo A-Go-Go is a plum jelly polish with tons of metallic, purple shimmer. In the bottle, it's also got some shimmer that shifts from a coppery orange through golden to just touch on green. I couldn't see this on my nails at all really, except for a tiny bit of copper flash here and there. Even if the duochrome part falls flat, this polish is dark and sultry. It is really pretty.

Orly Rococo A-Go-Go. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today are a base coat of Seche Clear, two coats of Rococo A-Go-Go, and one coat of NYC In a New York Minute. This polish has a good formula, which provided issue-free application.

Orly Rococo A-Go-Go. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

I bought this bottle from Ulta a long time ago. Good bet the Head2Toe Beauty still has it.

Orly Rococo A-Go-Go. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

A Pause...

Hello!

As Sunday night nears an end, I'm realizing there's no way I'll get this week's content ready to go in time. So, after Monday's post, which has been scheduled for weeks, the blog will be quiet for a bit. I've got swatches and notw's to show you -- I just haven't been able to get the editing and writing bit of it accomplished. Partly, I've been just plain busy, but I've also been distracted by other things besides nail polish! Hopefully, I can catch up with you next week! 

More soon-ish! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Trelly's MISC Witches In the Sky

Hello!

I have a limited edition, no-longer-available, polish to show you today. This is Trelly's MISC Witches in the Sky.

Trelly's MISC Witches In the Sky. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Witches in the Sky is a glitter bomb in a clear base. Glitters included are: Big, satin purple squares; small, satin green squares; green, metallic micro-squares; black squares in both tiny and micro size; and silver holographic stars AND moons.

Trelly's MISC Witches In the Sky. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I had a terrible time finding undies to wear with this polish. I have tried several cremes, and I just didn't like the overall look. I was starting to be disappointed in my choice to purchase this baby, but, finally, I have found the perfect pairing! I love this!

Trelly's MISC Witches In the Sky. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today are one dabbed coat of Witches in the Sky with a coat of Gelous plus one coat of NYC In a New York Minute over yesterday's OPI The World Is Not Enough swatch. This polish has the typical, thicker indie polish formula, which I don't have any problems with. I didn't have to fish for the shaped glitters, and all the glitter stays in suspension.

Trelly's MISC Witches In the Sky. Outdoors, natural light (shade), no flash.

This was released in limited quantities for Halloween last year. It is no longer available, and no word on whether or not Cassie will resurrect it for this year. I'll let you know if it happens!

Trelly's MISC Witches In the Sky. Matted with Butter London's Matte Finish. Outdoors, natural light (shade), no flash.

I bought this bottle from the Trelly's MISC Etsy store. Her Facebook page is the best place to catch info, previews, and updates. Cassie is great about answering questions there, and I really appreciate the great customer service I've gotten when I've ordered. This isn't a well-known indie maker, but I recommend her! She's got an awesome summer collection out now that I WILL be purchasing from next restock!

Trelly's MISC Witches In the Sky. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: OPI The World Is Not Enough

Hello!

I have OPI's The World Is Not Enough on today!

OPI The World Is Not Enough. Indoors, artificial light, no flash. Not duochrome-y. Ignore that pinky center.. it's my silly red camera reflecting in the metallic hotness that is this polish.

The World Is Not Enough is a gunmetal shimmer polish with added copper, pink, and silver flecks. The shimmer is so fine that it's hard to focus on and pick out individual pieces. Overall, this polish is beautiful and kind of mysterious. To me, it looks like what magic potions should be if they existed!

OPI The World Is Not Enough. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today are a base coat of Seche Clear, three coats of The World Is Not Enough, and one coat of NYC In a New York Minute. This polish has a thin formula but it applied easily.

OPI The World Is Not Enough. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

This polish is mesmerizing. It is difficult to photograph. These pictures do not do it justice. You need to see it in person. The gunmetal shine is punctuated by pink and copper sparkles in the sun. It's very metallic and looks like a foil.

OPI The World Is Not Enough. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

I found this polish at a local salon. It's from last fall's James Bond Collection, and was on clearance when I purchased it. So, happy dusty hunting if you haven't found it and want it yet!

OPI The World Is Not Enough. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Pure Ice I'll Behave

Howdy!

My awesome other half surprised me with this polish, and even though I usually don't like greens, I LOVE this combination. This is Pure Ice I'll Behave over Pure Ice Wild Thing!

Pure Ice I'll Behave. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I'll Behave has tons of metallic green micro-glitter mixed with some small metallic silver hex glitters in a clear base.

Pure Ice I'll Behave. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

For today's swatches, I've layered one coat of I'll Behave plus a coat of NYC In a New York Minute over yesterday's Wild Thing swatch. I did take care to place the silver hexes evenly across my nails, but I had no issues with this. I got good glitter payoff with one coat, and the glitter stayed put and didn't bunch up as I fiddled with the larger hexes.

Pure Ice I'll Behave. Outdoors, natural light (shade), no flash.

This one should be called Slytherin... just sayin' ^_^

Pure Ice I'll Behave. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Pure Ice Wild Thing

Hello!

This polish was a part of my original polish stash. I think I was in high school when I bought this one... eleven years or more ago!? Oofda! This is Wild Thing from Pure Ice.

Pure Ice Wild Thing. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Wild Thing is a bright green creme. I don't think it's crisp enough to be called a lime green, nor do I think it's yellowed enough to be called chartreuse. I think it falls somewhere in between; maybe we can call it acid green?

Pure Ice Wild Thing. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today are a base coat of Seche Clear, two coats of Wild Thing, and one coat of NYC In a New York Minute. For a polish this cheap and this old, the formula was surprisingly not bad. The first coat was a bit streaky, but two was all it took to even out. It is nicely pigmented, and easy to handle.

Pure Ice Wild Thing. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

I've never been keen on green nail polish, but I kept this one around. I'm glad I did. It's been a great color for Halloween nail art.

I'm sure I bought this from Wal-mart a decade or so ago. I have no idea if it's still available! This one is ancient in polish years! Hehe!

Pure Ice Wild Thing. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

NOTW: Searing Pink Skittles

Hello and happy Friday!

Indoors, artificial light, with flash.

I did a simple skittle mani using yesterday's China Glaze Pool Party swatch for my base color. I didn't want to cover up much of the crazy brightness, so I only added a few touches of black. I stamped the star from Bundle Monster plate, BM-05 in Konad Special Polish Black onto my ring finger and thumb and topped that with a quick coat of NYC In a New York Minute. I then added a few star chits from a nail art wheel to my middle finger, securing those with the NYC topcoat as well. I love the deep contrast between the searing neon and the black.

Enjoy the weekend! More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: China Glaze Pool Party

Hello!

Today I am excited to show you one of my favorite pink polishes! It's a really great match for the sweltering heat we have today. This is China Glaze Pool Party!

China Glaze Pool Party. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Pool Party is a searing neon pink, that leans a little orange. It is super bright, and I wear this on my toes all summer. It really stands out. This is the first time I've had it on my fingers, and I think it is even more awesome now!

China Glaze Pool Party. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today started with a base coat of Duri Rejuvacote, two coats of Milani White on the Spot topped with Seche Vite, then two coats of Pool Party, and one final coat of Seche Vite. The formula on this is nice. It glides on smoothly, and it dries matte, as neons normally do. The only thing of note here is that there is some sheerness to this, so an unevenness during application will stand out (especially in the sunlight!). I chose to layer it over white to really make the brightness pop.

China Glaze Pool Party. Outdoors, direct sunlight, no flash.

I'm not too happy with these pictures as far as color accuracy goes. This is much brighter and more orange leaning than my new light box set up would lead you to believe. The outdoors shot is actually a little closer to true, but it is still not completely right.

China Glaze Pool Party. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I'm pretty sure this polish has moved into their core line because I found it in the normal China Glaze display at Sally's not too long ago.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Zoya Storm

Hello!

This is Zoya Storm!

Zoya Storm. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I've been meaning to swatch this beauty forever! Storm is a gorgeous black jelly with scattered holo flecks.

Zoya Storm. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

Swatches today are a base coat of Seche Clear, two coats of Storm, and one coat of NYC In a New York Minute. As usual for Zoya, this has a great, no-issue formula.

Zoya Storm. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I love how this has a nice holo effect, but the base polish is a deep, true black.

Zoya Storm. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

I bought this bottle directly from Zoya.

Zoya Storm. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: China Glaze Glam-more

Hello!

I have another special effect polish today. This is a crackle from China Glaze called Glam-more.

China Glaze Glam-more. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Glam-more is a pinky-purple, berry colored micro-glitter crackle polish.

China Glaze Glam-more. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

For swatches today I've used one coat over yesterday's Ruby Wing Wildflower swatch plus a coat of NYC In a New York Minute. I varied the thickness of my coats on each nail, trying to get an idea of the different ways the polish will react. The thinnest is on my thumb and thicker on up to my ring finger. The formula on this is weird. It's like a clear coat with micro glitter, so it goes on rather thin. I didn't think it had enough coverage when I put it on thin enough to crackle well (see my thumb), but if I layered it on heavier, it didn't crackle enough (ring finger).

China Glaze Glam-more. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

This is a fail for me, I really wanted a good contrast between the crackle and base polish, but this thin, glitter type formula made achieving that difficult. Glad I picked this up on clearance at Sally's! Maybe I can use this in a crazy glitter sandwich or something. At least the berry color is pretty!

China Glaze Glam-more. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Never Without Polish turns One!

Hello!

Well, I've gone and hit a milestone! The blog is one today!

Exactly a year ago, I posted this tiny hello!

I'm glad to say that at least my photography skills have improved!

Here's to another year!

Thanks for looking, following, commenting, and hanging out here. It amazes me that people want to see what I do here! *warm fuzzies*

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Ruby Wing Wildflower

Hello!

This is my one and only Ruby Wing Polish. Ruby Wing is part of the Color Club family, but all their polishes are UV activated -- meaning they change color in sunlight! This one is Wildflower.

Ruby Wing Wildflower. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Indoors, Wildflower is a deep yellow color with a fine, light green shimmer. Outside, it turns a deep orange, but that shimmer is still there, which is quite pretty on either hue.

Ruby Wing Wildflower. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today are a base coat of Seche Clear, three coats of Wildflower, and one coat of NYC In a New York Minute. This polish is slightly sheer, almost jelly-like. The formula is great -- it glides on and self-levels perfectly.

Ruby Wing Wildflower. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

While this is a fun novelty polish, I'm not blown away by the special effect because the color change isn't drastic. I'm glad I tried one out, but I don't think I need more of these.

I bought this bottle from Head2Toe Beauty.

Ruby Wing Wildflower. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

NOTW: The FAIL Blogger Edition

{Postdated}

Hello!

So, I wore KBShimmer's Sugar Plum Faerie for most of last week. This post was supposed to be what I put on my fingers for Friday... but I never did around to getting a picture of it until it was too late. So here it is Tuesday night, all beat up. It's not even daylight, so I can't even distract you with holo goodness. Life's been a wee bit crazy around here. Plus, my lightbox lamp quit working, and it's replacement is not quite to my liking yet. I've got some experimenting to do with different light bulbs to see if I can get back to a bulb intensity and warmth that I'm happy with... Good thing I had this week's posts scheduled out way ahead of time or there would be silence!

Fail Skittles. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I started with a base coat of Duri Rejuvacote followed by two coats of OPI DS Extravagance on all my fingers but the ring finger which got two coats of Jade Mystic Gold. All of that was topped with one coat of Seche Vite.

On my middle finger, I layered on one coat of Zoya Gilty plus another coat of Seche Vite. My ring finger got the art deco-inspired stamp from Bundle Monster plate BM-202 in Konad Special Black, which was then sealed with a quick coat of NYC In a New York Minute.

I'm not sure I loved my color choices here; the gold really muddied the berry into a burgundy (which isn't helped by my current light set up!). I think something like OPI Koala Berry or Wet n' Wild Dreamy Poppy would've paired better with the gold. Oh well, can't win them all!

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: KBShimmer Sugar Plum Faerie

Hello!

I have my first KBShimmer today! This is from last year's holiday collection. It is Sugar Plum Faerie!

KBShimmer Sugar Plum Faerie. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Sugar Plum Faerie is grape-purple jelly sandwich in a bottle. There are deep purple, metallic hexes; cranberry, holo hexes; and lime green, holo hexes all in multiple sizes hanging out in that dreamy grape base. The glitter is the super shiny, metallic type. It catches the light and is very sparkly. This polish is incredible!

KBShimmer Sugar Plum Faerie. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

For today's swatches, I started with a base of Duri Rejuvacote. Since I intended to wear this one as a full mani, I then used a layer of Elmer's Glue. After that was dry, I needed three coats of Sugar Plum Faerie for full coverage. I topped it all off with a coat of Gelous plus Seche Vite. The formula on this is much sheerer than I expected, but it built up surprisingly well. It is easy to work with and keeps all that glitter in suspension nicely. Well done, KBShimmer!

KBShimmer Sugar Plum Faerie. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

I am totally smitten with the color combination in this polish. That pop of lime green in there is gorgeous with the rest of the mix being berry toned. I bought this bottle recently straight from KBShimmer's website. Overall, I think this brand is outstanding. Their website is professional, prices are extremely reasonable, and their selection is huge.

KBShimmer Sugar Plum Faerie. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Lush Lacquer Glowsticks

Hello!

I've got my first Lush Lacquer on tap today! This is Lush Lacquer's Glowsticks.

Lush Lacquer Glowsticks. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Glowsticks is a fun neon glitter topper in a clear base. Yes, I said: Neon. Glitter. Neonglitter!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love this! It's great for summer -- so bright, happy, and cheery. While wearing this, I got more than one compliment on it, and everyone thought it looked like a splatter mani, which it really does! Splatter mani in a bottle! It's great!

Lush Lacquer Glowsticks. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today are a base coat of Duri Rejuvacote, two coats of Orly Au Champagne, one slightly dabbled coat of Glowsticks, and two coats of Seche Vite. Formula is fine on this, I can't remember having any difficulties. The glitters are so thin that they are transparent, which I think is awesome. I thought that would make them easy to remove, but not so much. Removal was just as difficult as with regular, metallic glitters.

Lush Lacquer Glowsticks. Outdoors, natural light, no flash. This was the week of nothing but clouds and storms, so this picture was the best I could do for 'sunlight'. Blah!

As far as glitter sizes and shapes, I see: small, medium, and extra large pink hexes; medium and extra large yellow hexes; small, medium, and extra large blue hexes; and small, short, blue bars. I love this mix of color!

I bought my bottle from Lush Lacquer's Etsy store, here. They've also got Facebook! Check them out!

Lush Lacquer Glowsticks. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^