Stash Swatch Initiative: Lacquer Lust A Toast to the Good Life

Hello!

Lacquer Lust A Toast to the Good Life. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I could not wait to wear the polishes I received at Christmas, so here's the first one I tried. This is Lacquer Lust A Toast to the Good Life.

Lacquer Lust A Toast to the Good Life. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

A Toast to the Good Life is a gorgeous mix of fine holographic gold glitter and small iridescent black hexes in a grey-tinted base. Pictures hardly do this one justice as it sparkles and flares rainbows like a diamond-encrusted ring. My camera just can't translate the beauty into digital form. The best I could do was some intentionally blurry captures.

Lacquer Lust A Toast to the Good Life. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today are one coat of Duri Rejuvacote, one coat of Sinful Colors Nail Hardener, two coats of Zoya Normani, one coat of A Toast to the Good Life, and one coat of Seche Vite. I chose to layer this, but I'm not sure I needed to. I think two coats on it's own would have been sufficient now that I've used it. This polish applies wonderfully. It dries surprisingly smooth, and I only needed a normal topcoat to finish it off.

Lacquer Lust A Toast to the Good Life. Indoors, filtered sun light, no flash.

This polish was part of a limited-edition holiday collaboration set between Polished by KPT, Lacquer Lust, and Serum No. 5 for the 2014 holiday season and was given to me by my awesome parents. This is not available any longer, which is a shame. I'm sorry to be a tease! But take a look at some of their other offerings - my goodness some of those look incredible!

A Toast to the Good Life is my first Lacquer Lust polish, and I'm quite pleased with it. The logo is adorable too!

Lacquer Lust A Toast to the Good Life. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Copycat NOTW: Bat Swarm!

Why hello there!

Here's what I've been wearing this week! I was inspired by this pin.

Halloween Nail Art. 

I started with one coat of Duri Rejuvacote and one coat of Sinful Colors Nail Hardener. After that I used two coats of Color Club Fashion Addict sealed with one coat of Seche Vite. Once dry, I created a gradient with Color Club Fashion Addict and Wild at Heart. After another coat of Seche Vite, I used Konad Special Polish in Black to stamp my bat swarm from image plate, BM-H08. Everything was then topped with NYC In a New York Minute!

I've missed the blog -- if I can, I'll play some catch up with hauls and story-time this weekend. Life has been like a rollercoaster this past month leaving little time for nails. I'm a bit out of practice, so my right hand, pictured up there, turned out much better than my left. Even my nails have been in sorry condition lately, so I definitely need to refocus on moisturizing before we get back to swatches! Offda.

Hopefully, more soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Powder Perfect Fading Tapestry

Hello!

Today's polish is another from Powder Perfect's Abandoned Mansion collection. This one is Fading Tapestry.

Powder Perfect Fading Tapestry. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Honestly, I wore this about a month ago, and I thought I'd posted it already. Guess not, so here it is!

Powder Perfect Fading Tapestry. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Fading Tapestry is a gorgeous red holo with gold flecks. It is saturated and bright. You can't really go wrong with this one any time of the year. It is beautiful!

Powder Perfect Fading Tapestry. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

Swatches today started with one coat of Duri Rejuvacote plus one coat of Sinful Colors nail hardener. Then, I used two coats of Fading Tapestry topped with one coat of Seche Vite. This went on really nicely, and I didn't have any problems with it at all.

Powder Perfect Fading Tapestry. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

Like yesterday's polish, I purchased this bottle from Harlow & Co. So pretty!!

Powder Perfect Fading Tapestry. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Powder Perfect Widow's Walk

Hello!

Today's swatch is Powder Perfect Widow's Walk from the Abandoned Mansion collection.

Powder Perfect Widow's Walk. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Widow's Walk is a gorgeous, deep, saturated purple with holo shimmer. I was lemming this from the first swatch I saw!

Powder Perfect Widow's Walk. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today are one coat of Sinful Colors Base Coat, two coats of Widow's Walk, and one coat of NYC topcoat. Formula is nice on this polish. It glides on smoothly and covers evenly in two quick coats.

Powder Perfect Widow's Walk. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

Powder Perfect is an Australian indie brand, so it was a little hard for me to find. I tried a few places with no luck (they only ship within Australia from their Etsy site, and a U.S.-based retailer I'd never heard of had website issues every time I attempted to buy this polish so I eventually gave up there). I ended up purchasing this bottle in a little haul from Harlow & Co where it was still in stock at the time of publishing this post!

Powder Perfect Widow's Walk. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

GOT Polish Challenge: Skittle

Hello!

For those of you who are regular readers, this looks a bit familiar! I swatched Cult Nails Mayhem for yesterday's post and realized I was well on my way to this weeks GOT Polish prompt, "Skittle".

I started with a base coat, and the following polishes:

Indoors, direct filtered sunlight, no flash.

Left hand, thumb to pinkie: Essie Armed and Ready, Zoya Ibiza, Zoya Arizona, Pure Ice Wild Thing, and Color Club Gossip Column. All of which definitely qualify for the challenge as they're all at least a year old!

Indoors, direct filtered sunlight, no flash.

Right hand, thumb to pinkie: Sinful Colors Amethyst, OPI Koala Bear-y, Barielle Lemondrops, Zoya Robyn, and Models Own Pink Punch. Amethyst and Pink Punch are newer polishes, but the rest have been around awhile. I'm counting 8 of 10 polishes as good enough here!

I added one coat of Cult Nails Mayhem, a holographic topcoat, to unify the look. Then, I placed rhinestones and shapes from a nail art wheel on each finger adhered with topcoat. Fun and vibrant!

More soon! ^_^

An InLinkz Link-up

Stash Swatch Initiative: Cult Nails Mayhem

Hello!

I have a holographic topper from Cult Nails to show you today. This is Mayhem!

Cult Nails Mayhem. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Mayhem can turn any polish into a holographic polish without altering the base color too much. It's really quite marvelous.

Cult Nails Mayhem, layered. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I wanted to show this over a variety of colors, so swatches today started with a base coat of Seche Clear, and the following polishes (thumb to pinkie): Essie Armed and Ready, Zoya Ibiza, Zoya Arizona, Pure Ice Wild Thing, and Color Club Gossip Column. One coat of Mayhem was added to each, and then everything was topped with NYC In a New York  Minute. Formula is great -- glides on smoothly, no issues.

Cult Nails Mayhem, layered. Indoors, direct filtered sunlight, no flash.

I love how it melds into the brighter/lighter polishes, but still pops in the sun.

I purchased my bottle from Cult Nails.

Cult Nails Mayhem, layered. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Zoya Payton

Hello!

I have a gorgeous polish to kick off this week with! Check out Zoya Payton!

Zoya Payton. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Payton is a beautiful deep plum-purple jelly with holographic fleck-like bits.

Zoya Payton. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today are one coat of Seche Clear, two coats of Payton, and one coat of NYC In a New York Minute. This applied easily with zero issues. It is nicely opaque at two coats, yet retains that jelly-like squishiness.

Zoya Payton. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Payton is gorgeous! She is similar to earlier the Zoya holos, Storm, Blaze, and Aurora. Ahh, I have much love for this one!

Zoya Payton. Indoors, filtered sunlight, no flash.

I purchased my bottle directly from Zoya during a promotional sale. Stay tuned to their Facebook page to catch one of their frequent sales or promo codes!

Zoya Payton. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Color Club Blue Heaven

Hello!

Today's polish is Color Club Blue Heaven!

Color Club Blue Heaven. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Blue Heaven was a part of the first Halo Hues collection, which was so popular last year (the year before?). And for good reason, this is a frosty blue linear holo. It looks nice indoors but looks incredible in full sunlight.

Color Club Blue Heaven. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today are one coat of Sinful Colors Base Coat, two coats of Blue Heaven, and one coat of NYC In a New York Minute. Great formula here -- it's very opaque and flows nicely onto the nail. I think you could get away with one coat for everyday wear, but I did two for blog pictures.

Color Club Blue Heaven. Indoors, filtered direct sunlight, no flash.

I think I purchased this from Head2Toe Beauty some time ago.

Color Club Blue Heaven. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

NOTW: Copycat Tape Mani for New Year's!

Hello! I hope you all had a fantastic New Year's Eve! My blogging resolution this year is to finish the Stash Swatch Initiative, so to meet that goal faster, I'm going to try to post more than four swatches each week!

But for today, here's what I've been wearing this week.

NYE Tape Mani. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I've been wearing the super sparkly Color Club Magic Attraction since I swatched it for Tuesday's post. For New Year's Eve, I dressed it up a bit with this tape mani Sammy at The Nailasaurus did awhile back. I thought this look was so simple and gorgeous - I had to try it for myself!

NYE Tape Mani. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I used striping tape and Cult Nails Nevermore, a black rhinestone, plus a coat of NYC In a New York Minute to finish the look.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Color Club Magic Attraction

[Whoops! Didn't post this Tuesday as planned!]

Hello!

This bling-tastic polish is Color Club's Magic Attraction!

Color Club Magic Attraction. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I've worn this polish multiple times, but up until I 'officially' swatched it for the blog, I thought it was simply chock full of holographic micro-glitter. It also has pink micro-glitter in the mix, which really doesn't matter much because the rainbows being thrown by this polish obscure any details unless you are scrutinizing it. It is a crazy rainbow-colored sparkle fest most of the time! It is totally awesome! It's even better in person than these photos suggest.

Color Club Magic Attraction. Indoors, artificial light, no flash..

Swatches today are one coat of Duri Rejuvacote, one coat of Sinful Colors Nail Hardener, three coats of Magic Attraction, two coats of Gelous, and one coat of Seche Vite. This polish applies like any micro-glitter polish -- it's a bit thick with glitter but works just fine. It does dry gritty, so I did need three thick coats of topcoat for a smooth finish.

Color Club Magic Attraction. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

This polish is magic in a bottle. I love it! Check out how sparkly it is -- even in low, indoor lighting! I love the pastel look of the rainbow of light sparks!

I purchased my bottle from Head2Toe Beauty, where you can still get it!

Color Club Magic Attraction. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Polished by KPT Harvest Moon

Hello!

Polished By KPT Harvest Moon cold. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Today I have the very beautiful Polished by KPT's Harvest Moon for your viewing pleasure!

Polished By KPT Harvest Moon warm nail bed, cold tips. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Harvest Moon is a holographic thermal polish that is a very light, grey when warm and gorgeous coral when cold. I didn't get great sunlight shots -- yay winter in the northern hemisphere! The holo effect is subtle indoors, but what I could see outside, in the weak sunlight was fantastic. I love that the cold color is warm-toned and the warm color is cool-toned! So fun and pretty!

Polished By KPT Harvest Moon warm nail bed, cold tips (my favorite!). Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

Swatches today are a base coat of Duri Rejuvacote, two coats of Harvest Moon, and one coat of Seche Vite. Formula on this was similar to Nightcrawler, but less sticky. I did see what looked like pigment bits making a slightly textured surface, but topcoat smoothed everything over. You can kinda see what I'm talking about in a the thumb/label picture below, but, out and about in normal life, this looks smooth and normal.

Polished By KPT Harvest Moon cold. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

I purchased this recently directly from Polished by KPT.

Polished By KPT Harvest Moon warm. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Color Club Revvvolution

Hello!

Quick post to show you and oldie but goodie. This is Color Club Revvvolution.

Color Club Revvvolution. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Revvvolution is a near-black, charcoal polish loaded up with fine holographic shimmer. It does produce a slight linear effect out in direct sunlight.

Color Club Revvvolution. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

Swatches today are a base of Seche Clear, two coats of Revvvolution, and one coat of NYC In a New York Minute fast dry top coat. Formula is quite nice. It is well pigmented and applies easily.

Color Club Revvvolution. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I'm pretty sure I snagged this from Head2Toe Beauty, where it is still available.

Color Club Revvvolution. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: OPI Servin' Up Sparkle

Hello!

This is OPI's Servin' Up Sparkle.

OPI Servin' Up Sparkle. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Servin' Up Sparkle is a glitter topcoat in a clear base. Silver, holographic hexes and silver, holographic micro glitter make a simple but pretty addition to any mani.

OPI Servin' Up Sparkle. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today are one coat coat of Servin' Up Sparkle over yesterday's OPI On Her Majesty's Secret Service swatch. I also added one coat of NYC In a New York Minute to smooth the glitter. This is easy to work with and one swiped on coat was enough to add a little sparkle and shine to my nails -- especially in the sun!

OPI Servin' Up Sparkle. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

I'm not sure the availability of this one. Mine was Christmas gift a few years back!

OPI Servin' Up Sparkle. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^