Stash Swatch Initiative: Black Cat Lacquer Paranormal

Hello!

Today, I have a very old untried to finally show you. This one is Black Cat Lacquer Paranormal.

Black Cat Lacquer Paranormal. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Paranormal is a glow-in-the-dark polish with small iridescent squares and iridescent shimmer. This is definitely a layering polish, however, all the glow in the dark pigment did serve to lighten my base color a little bit.

Black Cat Lacquer Paranormal. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today are two coats of Paranormal over yesterday's Zoya Maya swatch, and I used one coat of NYC topcoat. This polish applies easily, and, even after sitting for two years, I didn't have any problems with it.

Black Cat Lacquer Paranormal. Indoors, natural light, no flash.

This polish glows faintly yellow, but, like China Glaze Ghoulish Glow, didn't impress. I guess I'm just expecting way more from glow-in-the-dark lacquers than I'm getting! Weak glow aside, I do like the daintiness of this polish over my base.

Black Cat Lacquer Paranormal. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I believe my husband purchased this bottle for me as a Christmas present in 2012. I don't see it available from Black Cat Lacquer anymore, however, it was a Halloween polish and could possibly return.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Black Cat Lacquer Discotraxx

Hello!

Black Cat Lacquer Discotraxx. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

This is Black Cat Lacquer Discotraxx.

Black Cat Lacquer Discotraxx. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Discotraxx has a plethora of holographic glitter shapes in a clear base. I see squares, starts, bars, diamonds, and multiples sizes of hex glitter.

Black Cat Lacquer Discotraxx. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

For these swatches, I layered one dabbed coat over Color Club Wildflower plus a coat of Gelous and Seche Vite. I didn't have any issues with this one formula-wise. I didn't have to fight to get the glitter out of the bottle and one easy coat gave me my desired glitter coverage.

Black Cat Lacquer Discotraxx. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

Black Cat Lacquer has yet to disappoint me. You can find this polish over at the Black Cat Lacquer Etsy store along with some other really great polishes.

Black Cat Lacquer Discotraxx. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Black Cat Lacquer Trick or Treat

Hello again!

Black Cat Lacquer Trick or Treat. Indoors, artificial light, with flash.

Today's polish is the very awesome glitter bomb from Black Cat Lacquer's Halloween Release. This is Trick or Treat!

Black Cat Lacquer Trick or Treat. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

There is a lot going on in this bottle. It's a very complex glitter topcoat. I see tiny iridescent glitter; orange mini bar glitter; pink matte squares; small matte hexes in orange, green, blue, pink and silver; tiny orange matte hexes; and large matte hexes in blue, red, and purple. Whew! Get all that? Here's a bottle shot for reference.

Black Cat Lacquer Trick or Treat. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today are one coat of Trick or Treat (with a little bit of dabbing to fill in some gaps) over yesterday's RBL Aqua Lily swatch. I topped it all off with a coat of Seche Vite. The formula is a little thick, but not too bad. I added just a little bit of thinner to my bottle, but I think it'd be okay without it. Otherwise, this was easy to work with, and I got the desired glitter coverage easily.

Black Cat Lacquer Trick or Treat. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

As soon as I saw this polish, I knew what I'd pair it with. I'm absolutely loving this combination. The big matte glitters in this are either textured or patterned, and I love that about it. I got this as a Christmas gift from my awesome fiance, but I happen to know he got it from Black Cat Lacquer's Etsy store. Unfortunately, since this was a Halloween polish, it is no longer available. Here's hoping it's a seasonal polish and will be back next year! *crosses fingers* (Oh wow, I just realized I've had two polishes in a row that are no longer available! Sorry for the teasies!)

Black Cat Lacquer Trick or Treat. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon!! ^_^

NOTW: Zoya Inspired Chevrons

Hello again!! Been awhile--I got caught up in the holiday and spent some time with the Mister over the long weekend. Here's what I wore last week.

Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

I started with a base coat of Sinful Colors Nail Hardener, two coats Zoya Aurora and one coat of Seche Vite. Once that was dry, I used tape and one coat Zoya Rory to start the chevron tip design. I was impatient and didn't want to wait for that to be completely dry so I could use more tape for the black tip, so I just free-handed the final color with Zoya Storm.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I loved how this turned out. This was not my original idea though. My inspiration came from this bit by Zoya. I did switch up the colors, but the elements are the same.

Outdoors, sunlight, no flash. Holo sparkle!

More soon!! ^_^ 

NOTW: Lemondrops and fun!

Happy Friday!! In one week, I'll be on VACATION!! ^_^

Here's what I've been wearing all week. A bright, sunny, simple mani!

I started with one coat of Sinful Colors Nail Hardening Base, two coats of Barielle Lemondrops on all but my ring fingers (which got two coats of Zoya Arizona), and a coat of Seche Vite.

Bright and sunny! Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Once that was all dry, I added a careful coat of Black Cat Lacquer's Rainbow Brite and topped it with more SV. I reviewed Rainbow Brite in this post, where I also explain in greater detail how I applied what I call a 'careful' coat of glitter polish.

Lemondrops and fun! Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

This was fun and easy and quick--exactly what I wanted after the rather involved mani's I've done the last few weeks (here and here too). This is reminiscent of Candeo Jellybean. I'm not saying this look is a dupe for Jellybean, but I think it's close enough for me that it kills that lemming!

Hope you all have a great weekend. Wish me some sun, so I can get some major swatching done! I don't want you to be without posts while I'm away!

More Monday!!!!!!!!!! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Black Cat Lacquer

Hello again!

Today I have a very special set of polishes to show you. I haven't been this excited for an order to get to me in awhile. Here are my picks from Black Cat Lacquer, an 'indie' seller:



Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

That's Let Them Eat Cake on the left--a mix of pastel hex glitter in pink, blue, and green with small white glitter and a sprinkling of tiny holographic glitter. We have Rainbow Brite on the right--a rainbow mix of matte hex glitter in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple with tiny holographic glitter as well.

These are layering polishes. Both have a clear base and the glitter application with one coat is sparse. No glitter bomb here, but I like that for these. It creates a cute sprinkled or dotted look on the nail. I chose to show this layered over a few different things. Application was easy, however, I did not apply this like regular polish. I swirled the brush in the bottle then used the neck of the bottle to bend the brush enough to trap the glitter on the top of the brush and allow extra base polish to drain back into the bottle. I then smooshed the glitter on the nail and carefully slid it around until I was satisfied. The glitter in these lays flat--no curling! However, I did see a few oddly shaped glitters in my bottle of Rainbow Brite, like they weren't cut correctly; I don't mind at all (there aren't enough of them for it to be an issue for me), but I thought I should point it out. Both these polishes add some fun and flair and uniqueness to a mani. I'm very glad I snagged these. All photos today were taken indoors under artificial light without flash.

First off, let's look at Let Them Eat Cake:





Pastel glitter is awesome!

I first tried this over OPI Skull & Glossbones:

Then over one of my favorites, China Glaze Sunset Sail:

And finally, over China Glaze Sweet Hook:

All of these were one careful coat of Let Them Eat Cake, using the method detailed above, and no topcoat. I think my favorite is over Skull & Glossbones. The colors seem to pop the best over the neutral base.

Rainbow Brite--Happiness bottled!

Next up is Rainbow Brite. I picked out a few of the neons from China Glaze's summer lineup. Once again, these are all one careful coat and no topcoat. Here it is over Splish Splash:

Then over China Glaze Love's A Beach:

And finally, over China Glaze Beach Cruise-r:

I am loving this over these neons. The neon collection was excellent to begin with, this just makes them better!

Black Cat Lacquer can be purchased from her Etsy page here: BlackCatLacquer. She has a good selection of awesome-looking glitters; I plan on getting a few more as my polish budget allows. Tune-in to her Facebook page for updates and news about restocks and new items. Shipping was super quick; I ordered this midweek and had my nail mail Saturday afternoon!

More soon! ^_^