Favorites: Purples! (or, watch how my swatching has changed, lol!)

Hello there!

We're down to the last of my color-based favorites posts--after this I'll turn to my favorite specialty polishes, and possibly my favorite fall, Halloween, and holiday polishes, if people are interested. I can also do a series of my favorite nail art if people are interested in that; just let me know in the comments what interests you. I always prefer to focus my attention on things I know people are interested in! :)

For now, I've saved one of my favorites for last--purple. From magentas to plums to grapes to blurples--who doesn't love a good purple? Interestingly though...As I started going through all of my favorite purples, I realized a lot of them are duochromes, and I was hoping to do a separate post on duochromes. Looks like I might just have to do a post just for purple duochromes!

So let's see what I come up with when I rummage through my bag of pretty non-duochrome polishes...

::rummage, rummage, rummage::

Ah yes! Here we go! Let's start with something on the soft side...

China Glaze Tantalize

Soft and feminine, a rich lilac with an icy blue shimmer. I have no idea what one would wear to have tea with the Queen of England, but I think this color might just work.

Enough of that soft stuff...let's go to the dark side!!!


Color Club Glitter Wonderland

Strangely misnamed, this polish doesn't have glitter in it; it has a fleck finish. And, to top it off, my best pictures of it, in retrospect, suck. Probably because the bottle is in focus and the polish isn't--how that made it through, I just don't know. Ah well--live and learn...and along the way, wear this polish, 'cause blurple in a flecked finish doesn't get better than this.

Grrr...focus fail...

Color Club Winter Affair

I hope you like this polish, because you'll probably be seeing it again if I do a 'favorite holiday polishes' post. This is a rich burnished plum polish with a fleck finish...and again, I can only find out-of-focus pictures of it. Looks like I'll be swatching it again...But in the meantime, you get the gist, I hope.

Focus FTW!

Zoya Carly

Okay, this post is quickly turning into an extremely humbling journey through some of my worst early swatches. This one's in focus, but the clean-up is atrocious--clearly this was before I discovered acetone and a nail brush. ::shudders::

If there is such a thing as a reurple (red+purple), this is it. Okay, it's more like a magenta+grape sort of purple, but I like that coinage and I'm going to stand by it. No matter what you call it, though, you have to agree that the rich flashes of color here are beautiful.

Clean-up needed on aisle one...

Zoya Lotus

One of my favorites of the favorites, this is a smoky, deep lavender with red-purple flecks in it. This polish has amazing depth and beautiful flashes of light. It truly is a work of art.

Fergie by Wet n Wild Ferguson Crest Syrah

Horrible name, beautiful polish. This is a bit of a cheat on my part, because this really is a subtle duochrome, that shows gold and brown at the edges in certain lights. But, in most lights, it doesn't, so I'm going to include it here. The thing is, the duochrome that peeks out now and then is like finding a $20 bill on the sidewalk while walking to pick up the $1000 prize you just won--it's awesome, but you didn't have to have it to make it a really good day. This polish is, in essence, a blackened plum--but with a fleck finish that keeps the colors dancing through one another from all angles. That this comes from Wet n Wild just goes to show that you don't have to pay a ton of money to get a stunning polish.

Was this tip wear or Seche shrinkage? Either way...>.<

a-England Avalon

Do I even need to say anything about this polish? Is there anything that can be said about how amazing it is that hasn't already been said? This shows exactly why purple is the color of royalty--a luxurious blurple in a smooth-as-satin finish that just envelopes the nail in muted light. Even in my less-than-skilled swatch, the stunning beauty of this shines through.

Clean-up, aisle two...

Windestine Heartbeat

Last but not least, a stunning beauty of a polish (and the swatch doesn't make me twitch all over when I look at it!). Including this polish in this post also might be considered a bit of a cheat, since I'm going to do separate posts on my favorite glitter polishes. But this glitter is so tiny and fine, I think it can easily fall into more of a fleck-type category, and darn it, I'm sticking with that.  The base color of this polish, a deep, sugary plum, is set alight with magenta purple glitter...it's pretty here, but so much more stunning in person. If you think you might like it from the pictures, go get it, because I guarantee you, you will gasp when you see it IRL.

Finally...a decent swatch

And, that's it...for now. I have a swatch spam post that I'll be showing you in the next few days that I realized, completely coincidentally, contains almost all purple polishes, several of which would have certainly been included in this post if they weren't already ear-marked. So there is more purple hovering on the horizon.

Thanks for taking a look--and thanks for your patience with my old, yucky swatches! This post has truly made me want to go back and completely reswatch every post from my first year blogging, lol!! If only I had infinite time...

Hugs and loves,
M.

Polished pairing: Inspired by my sparkly shirt

Hello!

This has been a crazy week--nightmarish, really, and it's going to continue on for the next couple of days. I've gotten behind in answering comments, which is normally the happy point of my day, and I didn't get a chance to post last night. Yuck. How dare my job get in the way of my blogging!?!

Accordingly, tonight will be a fast post. This is a manicure I did a while back, inspired by an outfit I was wearing; I wanted to do a manicure that matched it. First, here is the shirt:


InDecisive Nail Lacquer Antique

I love the sparklies on this shirt, and pair it with a skirt that has little white dots on it. So I figured, why not carry that dotted sparkle look into the manicure?

I started with a base of a-England's new Rose Bower, a beautiful pinkish-red scattered holo that is almost a one-coater, but I used two to be safe:

Then, I put a simple but elegant coat of InDecisive Nail Lacquer's Antique (a silver-gold-copper flake topper) over the top:

I love these together--they play off one another's sparkle without being too much. This was even prettier in person (don't you hate that?), and I think it captured the spirit of the shirt perfectly. :)

Sorry for the fast post--thanks for stopping by! I hope for my own sanity to be back to my old blogging self shortly. :)

Hugs and love,
M.

Before & After: Briars of flowers

Hello!!

I just managed to get my hands on a-England Briarwood, one of their new Burne-Jones collection, and it was absolutely worth the wait and the price. In my opinion, it is by far the best of an already impressive collection. It's a deep maroon-burgundy-brownish red soft linear holographic, and if that sounds like a confusing color description, it's because this is such a pretty, special color. Unlike the other polishes in the collection, this is not a scattered holo, but actual has that linear flash--it's subtle, but it is absolutely there:

a-England Briarwood, direct sunlight

Check out that rainbow flash :)

This is one of the most unique holos I've seen, and I adore it. While I do like strong holos, I have a soft spot in my heart for these slightly more subtle holos; I think they have an elegance to them, and I adore it. a-England seems to be phenomenal about producing polishes that capture that sort of elegant splendor. :)

So what kind of nail art do you do on a polish like this, which is already mesmerizing? I was inspired by the Nail Challenge Collaborative's July theme of flowers, and decided to do something with a subtle spray of flowers to accent the spray of holographic flash in the polish. I stamped with China Glaze Passion to complement the gold in the sparkle of the polish, and I used an image from Konad plate m5. Finally, I added a few extra dots to amp up the design just a little:

I was supposed to redo my nails last night, and I still have this on, because I love this polish so much, and I love the accent so much. Yes, I believe this polish is definitely back-up worthy...

Please also check out the other flower manicures from week 2 of NCC's flower month, linked below. :)

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a great day!
M.

Blog swap! Lit from Within and Gorgeous Nail Art

Today, another blogger and I decided to swap blogs for the day!  If you haven't followed Nidia from Lit from Within, you really should.  She does gorgeous nail art that's easy to recreate without needing to be very artistic.  So, without further ado, meet Nidia!

Hi, I'm Nidia, and I run a little blog called Lit From Within.  I love doing nail art, but I don't have a creative bone in my body, so I'm always looking for inspiration.  One of my fave things to do is take looks from other nail artists and change it up to give it my own twist.  I found this look from Tartofraises that I really liked and wanted to put my spin on it.

I Love Nail Polish Touch of Mint.  This is pretty, but it's supposed to be a scattered holo.  I know that the light colors have a subtle holo, but, well, this is REALLY subtle.  As in, I couldn't see it.

I took a striper brush and Mode Starry Night, a shiny forest green, and drew the leaf pattern.  I then dabbed a little A England Morgan Le Fay on the top half of my nail, which added a lovely silvery, subtle shimmer.  I used a dotting tool to apply some Finger Paints Santa's Magic to the corner for that *bling*

This is a pretty easy pattern that doesn't have to be perfect - the shimmer and glitter camouflage mistakes! Subterfuge! *evil laugh*

Bottle shot:  I Love Nail Polish A Touch of Mint, A-England Morgan Le Fay, Finger Paints Santa's Magic, and Mode Starry Night.

If you'd like more information about I Love Nail Polish, you can find them on Facebook, and their webstore. A-England can be found on Facebook.  Currently, they can only deliver within the UK, but they have a list of worldwide distributors. Mode Cosmetics is a value Australian brand.  I got this in a blog sale, but if you'd like more information about them, here's Mode's Facebook page. And, finally, if you'd like to follow me and my beauty blogging, You can find Lit From Within on Facebook, and my blog.  If you try this look, please show me on my Facebook page! Many thanks to Julie for this most excellent post swap!  Don't forget to check out her comparison post on my blog!

Comparison Thursday: Lilac Holos

Tonight's Comparison Thursday will be a little disjointed, and I apologize for that.  Originally, the only two lilac holos I owned were A-England Princess Tears and Color Club Fashion Addict, so I had planned to do this post a very long time ago with just those two polishes.  I'm really glad I waited, though, because I was able to add three other polishes to the line-up.  However, I didn't have all of these beauties at the same time, so the line-up photos will be a little off as I had sold Fashion Addict before I did the final comparison swatches.  Womp womp!  Anyway, let's get to it!

The players: Color Club Cloud Nine, A-England Princess Tears, OPI DS Diamond, China Glaze Visit me in Prism, and Color Club Fashion Addict

Cloud Nine

Well.  I think we should address the massive elephant in the room first.  There's clearly one obvious winner in this bunch - Cloud Nine.  Let's tackle it head on, and then maybe we can take a look at the others that pale in comparison to this amazing work of art.  The linear holo is so bright in Cloud Nine that it's blinding.  The rainbow effect is so strong that the polish almost looks like it has a foil effect to it.  Unfortunately, application was a bit more tricky than some of the others.  You have to work quickly with application to keep it from balding and dragging.  Further, it definitely shows every. single. imperfection. in your nail, so buff it with a shine block or use an aqua base before you apply.  Excuse my smudge!  I purchased my Color Club Halo Hues on Amazon.com.

Princess Tears

Princess Tears is unique to the bunch because it has a very pretty lilac to pink shimmer on top of the holo effect.  Application for all of the A-Englands I've tried has been amazing, and Princess Tears is no exception.  The only down side is that the holo isn't nearly as strong as other holos I own, especially when it's put right next to Cloud Nine.  It's almost unfair to poor pretty Princess Tears...  I purchased my A-Englands on Llarowe.

DS Diamond

I'm not going to lie.  I was extremely disappointed with this DS, which, I guess, is because I'm used to the linear beauties from the older DS line.  Sadly, Diamond was a scattered holo that wasn't even really all that holo.  It's like it wanted to be holo, but it fell short.  Application was a bit difficult because it had the tendency to flood the cuticles.  Since Diamond has been discontinued, I found mine while I was out dusty hunting at a salon.

Visit me in Prism

Visit me in Prism was another dusty find, but I've got to say that I liked it way more than Diamond!  Application was easy but a little watery.  This is four thin coats, and I had to be a little careful with application to make sure I wouldn't flood my cuticles.  Prism is a scattered holo, but the colors refract the light perfectly, and it's probably my second favorite next to Cloud Nine!  Again, since this polish has been discontinued, you'll need to check your local salons to see if they have any they'd be willing to sell.

Fashion Addict

Fashion Addict is another scattered holo that shows up alright in the sun.  It's a little lighter than the rest and its rainbow effect is middle of the range.  Sadly, it's another polish that will show every imperfection on your nail.  Case in point, my index finger.  Ugh.  It also flooded my cuticles pretty easily.  You can purchase Fashion Addict where core Color Club colors are sold.  I believe I saw a few at my Bed Bath and Beyond the last time I was in there.

So, there you have it!  My pick from this bunch is obviously Cloud Nine.  How could it not be?  But each one of these polishes has its own unique positive points.  I will say, though, that you really don't need all of them if you're looking to de-dupe or destash.  Although, these are all really good for collecting if you're looking to keep collections together.  I ended up selling all but Cloud Nine, but that's because I'm moving.  

Which is your favorite?

Purple Sparkles!

This is going to be interesting...  Let's take a look at three different polishes tonight!  A-England Elaine, Sonoma Nail Art Sonoma Sunset, and a Polish Bar prototype that became Berry Shimmer.  I'm going to attempt to do this in as much order as I can, so I hope it doesn't get too convoluted!

*I was not financially compensated for this post.  All items in this review were purchased by me or swapped for by me for my own use.  The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.  For more information, please see my Disclosure Policy in the tab above.*

A-England Elaine

Color: Deep purple

Finish: Crème – a flat polish that finishes smooth with full opacity.

Bottle / Brush: Square bottle – long cap with standard size wand.  Average application with standard brush.

Opacity: High – opaque at two coats!

Glitter Application: N/A

Consistency: Medium – applies easily and doesn’t flood the cuticles.

Overall Ease of Application: Easy – applies well without pooling, dragging, streaking, or balding.  Spreads evenly and smoothly.

Stampability: Not tested for stamping.

Dry Time: Medium – dry to the touch with minimal smudging in 3-8 minutes. Overall Thoughts:  Elaine is the perfect purple creme.  It applies with ease and looks beautiful and smooth without any manipulation.  Just a perfect, creamy, vampy purple that looks great on its own as well as with glitters layered on top.  I purchased my A-Englands at Llarowe.

Sonoma Nail Art Sonoma Sunset

Color: Clear base with purple, periwinkle, gun metal, and fuchsia hexes

Finish: Glitter Top Coat – glitter in a clear base to be worn as a top coat.

Bottle / Brush: Round bottle brush – both the wand and the brush are standard width and length.  Easy to control and manipulate.

Opacity: Glitter topcoat – not designed for full opacity.

Glitter Application: Impossible – pools at the cuticles, difficult to spread the glitters evenly, leaves large bald spots unless you apply more than one coat.  You have to be careful because if you try to get enough glitter on your nail with just one coat, it will pool and bulge unevenly on one side and bubble when dry.  The glitter to base ratio is off.  This is two coats.

Consistency: Super thin – runny and floods the cuticles easily.

Overall Ease of Application: Hard – pools at the cuticles.  Does not spread well without massive manipulation.

 Stampability: Not designed for stamping.

Dry Time: Long – dry to the touch with minimal smudging in over 8 minutes. Overall Thoughts:  I think I'm just not in love with Sonoma's formula and consistency.  I love her glitter combinations, but every glitter topper I've tried has had a glitter-to-base ratio that leans heavily in favor of the base.  That's even after storing it upside down for quite a while and rolling to mix it!  I almost always have to use at least two coats to get the glitter coverage I want.  It's really pretty, though, and I love the effect over Elaine.  You can purchase Sonoma Nail Art polishes at her Etsy store.  Follow Michelle on Facebook for news on restocks and new additions to her line.   Oh, and so you know, she has polishes listed right now!  That's a bit of an anomaly.  If you want some of her pretties, get over there stat!

The Polish Bar Berry Shimmer

Color: Clear base with hot pink and purple hexes, squares, and shreds.

Finish: Glitter Top Coat – glitter in a clear base to be worn as a top coat.

Bottle / Brush: Round mini bottle – wand and brush are just long enough to reach the bottom of the bottle.  However, the fact that it’s a mini makes application a little tricky.  Requires a steady hand to apply evenly without pooling.

Opacity: Glitter topcoat – not designed for full opacity.

Glitter Application: Easy – Spreads evenly without much manipulation.

Consistency: Medium – applies easily and doesn’t flood the cuticles.

Overall Ease of Application: Easy – applies well without pooling, dragging, streaking, or balding.  Spreads evenly and smoothly.

Stampability: Not designed for stamping.

Dry Time: Quick – dry to the touch without smudging in under 3 minutes. Overall Thoughts: If you haven't tried out the Polish Bar, you should.  This is one of my favorite glitter toppers, and I'm sad I only have a mini!  I received this beauty in a hand-made polish swap I participate in every couple of months.  The consistency is perfect.  Unlike other glitter topcoats, it isn't clumpy and it doesn't pool or bulge.  It's bright and fun and goes well with Elaine topped with Sonoma Sunset.  The holo bits shine brightly and make this polish seriously bling-tastic.  Absolutely gorgeous!  You can purchase The Polish Bar polishes from her Etsy shop.  Also, follow Janice on Facebook for news and updates.

Which is your favorite glitter topper?