NOTW: Secret Garden

Hello!

I am fail blogger again! But I regret nothing, Azeroth needed me! I'm a hero, don't you know? ^_^

So, since I've been playing too much World of Warcraft and don't have any pictures edited for this week, let's go all the way back to January in Maryland when I wore this beautiful mani.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

This started with my normal base coat combination. Then, I used two coats of Zoya Odette, which was then topcoated with Qtica Extending Topcoat. After a lot of dry time, I stamped the swirls with AEngland St. George. The glitter accents are the fabulous, Rainbow Honey Metalmark. Lastly, I used one coat of NYC In a New York Minute to seal everything in. I totally loved this look so much. I might have to revisit it!

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: AEngland St. George

Hello!! Ugh, Monday again so soon? Let's distract ourselves from the looming work week by looking at a lovely holographic polish! By the way, this whole week, I'll be featuring holos. I had some great sun a few weekends back for swatching. Stay tuned!

AEngland St. George. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

This one is AEngland St. George.

AEngland St. George. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

St. George is a saturated teal with holographic shimmer. It's gorgeous, well-pigmented, and has a perfect formula. This one is great for stamping, so it's an all-around winner.

AEngland St. George. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash. See the rainbow!?

Swatches today are a base coat of Seche Clear, two coats of St. George, and one coat of NYC In a New York Minute. This can be a one coat polish if you're careful. I'm never that careful, so I used two coats to cover my little mistakes. Formula is really great.

AEngland St. George. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

St. George can be purchased from both llarowe and Ninja Polish.

AEngland St. George. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: AEngland Princess Sabra

Hello!

AEngland Princess Sabra/Tristam Eyes is up for swatching today!

AEngland Princess Sabra. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

This is a yellow-toned neutral, holographic polish.

AEngland Princess Sabra. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I started with a base of Seche Clear, two coats of Princess Sabra, and one coat of NYC In a New York Minute. This has a decent formula. I had some issues with balding on the first coat, so it isn't very forgiving. I had to make sure I waited long enough for the first coat to dry so the second would cover completely. Small issues, though, no worries -- it wasn't too difficult to apply.

AEngland Princess Sabra. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

The holographic effect is on the subtler side, but it does add a touch of glitz when out in the sun. Lovely!

AEngland Princess Sabra. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I bought my bottle from llarowe! Happy shopping! More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: AEngland She Walks In Beauty

Hello!

AEngland She Walks In Beauty. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Today I have AEngland She Walks In Beauty to show you.

AEngland She Walks In Beauty. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

For swatches today, I've layered one coat of She Walks In Beauty plus one coat of NYC In a New York Minute over Monday's swatch of OPI Don't Touch My Tutu! This turned out incredible! She Walks In Beauty is packed with gold shimmer, small gold hexes, and bigger pink hexes. It's really unique, and I love it over Don't Touch My Tutu!!! This applied easily.

AEngland She Walks In Beauty. Outdoors, shade, no flash.

I think the She Walks In Beauty could reach opacity easily on it's own, but I think this combination is fabulous! It was hard to photograph; I feel like most of the shots didn't capture the glowy, gorgeousness I saw in person. This one in the shade is the best, most true to life. I want to go put it back on right now! Love!

AEngland She Walks In Beauty. Indoors, artificial  light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Nails of the Week: Wednesday and St. George

Hello again!

As promised, here is what I wore this week featuring Zoya Wednesday, A-England St. George, and Nyx Aqua Glitter:

Outdoors, sunlight.

I used one coat of Sinful Colors Nail Hardening Base Coat, two coats of Zoya Wednesday, and a coat of Seche Vite. After a day, I wanted a little more flair so I used hole-protectors to cover the base of Wednesday at the top of my nail and painted the rest with one coat of Nyx Aqua Glitter, which just added some sparkle. Once that was dry, I used Bundle Monster plate BM 21 and St. George to stamp over the same area. I then removed the hole-protectors. I had planned on leaving it that way, but it looked unfinished. My solution was to freehand a line at the top, creating a stronger half-moon design. This was my first try with a nail art brush and freehand, and I have to say, I dislike how thick the line became. I didn't have time to try again, but I'd have been much happier with this had it been a thin line. Live and learn, I guess! I topped everything off with a coat of New York Color's In a New York Minute Fast Dry Topcoat. This is the only topcoat I've tried that doesn't smear the stamped polish.

Outdoors, sunlight.

I had high hopes for this mani, but failed at executing it. I love the idea, so I'll have to give it another shot sometime.

More Monday! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: A-England Lady of the Lake

Outdoors, sunlight.

Hello again!

Today we start my attempt to swatch everything in my collection, which I've dubbed 'The Stash Swatch Initiative'. I got a lot of swatching done this past weekend, so updates will be short swatch posts daily during the week until I run out of polishes (unlikely, as I'm on the hunt for new ones any time I leave the house). I plan to show you what I wear each week, too.

Anyway, on to the polish! Today's swatch is Lady of the Lake from A-England.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Outdoors, sunlight.

This is a gorgeous deep blue-purple polish with a scattered holographic effect. When I added this baby to my shopping cart, I didn't think I had anything like it. I was wrong. Take a look at Lady of the Lake compared to Color Club's Wild at Heart. Both pictures show Wild at Heart on my index and middle fingers while Lady of the Lake is on my ring finger and pinky.

Outdoors, natural light. Lady of the Lake on pinky and ring fingers, Wild at Heart on middle and index finger.

No base or topcoat here. Both are shown at two coats. Formula-wise, they are very close. The each have a great formula, which becomes opaque in two coats. I didn't have any problems with application and dry time was quick.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

They certainly aren't dupes, but they are similar. Wild at Heart is warmer and has a pink-tinged holo effect, where Lady of the Lake's holo is full spectrum rainbow.
Lady of the Lake is a part of A-England's 'The Mythicals' collection and can be purchased from A-England's website as well as from llarowe (which is where I got mine). This was in the first order of polishes I purchased from llarowe, and I was impressed. I ordered on a Friday afternoon, received shipping confirmation two hours later, and by Monday afternoon, the package was sitting in my mailbox. Magic, I say! It's a long jaunt to the mid-Atlantic states from Colorado.

I purchased my bottle of Wild at Heart from Head2Toe Beauty. It's been a long time since I made that order, so I can't recall how quickly it came. I do know that I will order from there again--they've got a great selection of polishes from older collections at really cheap prices (I think most Color Club are $3 and China Glaze too).

More soon! ^_^