Dollish Polish Expecto Patronum

HOLY AWESOME POLISH, BATMAN! 

Behold: Dollish Polish Expecto Patronum, two coats, good formula, wore like iron. It has a milky white base with pretty blue glitter of various sizes, and these amazing little copper flakes (hard to see, but in the right light you can see them).

Yep, solid top 10 material for me, and definitely worthy of an "awesome" tag. Good stuff.

Coming soon: Pirate Polish!

In my last post I alluded to a big upcoming announcement... well, here it is!

Yep, this happened. And I couldn't be more excited! It's no secret that I love handmade/indie nail lacquer, and after admiring the gorgeous creations of independent nail polish creators, I decided I really wanted to create my own nail lacquer. Thus, Pirate Polish was born.

Why "Pirate" Polish? Because pirates, much like ninjas, are awesome. It's a pretty indisputable fact. I also wanted a name that would be memorable (and alliterative, for that matter!). Speaking of memorable, how awesome is the logo? A local comic book artist worked on it with me, and I'm incredible happy with the end result!

All Pirate Polish lacquers are made "from scratch" using 3-free nail lacquer base, pigments/micas, and glitter. While some of the polishes will have a "pirate" theme (it's a wonderfully rich subject when it comes to drawing inspiration), I've also been inspired by elements of popular culture in movies, video games, and comic books.

I'm planning to begin selling Pirate Polish via Etsy within the next few weeks. It's certainly been a trial to get my hands on enough lacquer base (to say nothing of shipping it to Canada), but I should have a good amount arriving shortly. I can't wait to get started!

In the meantime, I'd love it if you all wanted to take a look at the Pirate Polish Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/PiratePolish), and tell me what you think. I've got a bunch of bottle pictures up, and I'd love your opinion on them!

Thank you, lovely readers, for being a part of this new adventure!

OPI Elephantastic Pink

Today I want to share my current pedicure colour with you- OPI Elephantastic Pink!

This was two coats, although on my toes I ended up using three coats for some reason. Elephantastic Pink is from the OPI Spring 2008 India collection, but is still widely available (I believe it's part of the permanent line).

I'm pretty thrilled about this- I'd been lemming it for awhile, but kept putting off buying it because I was afraid it would turn out to be "just another pink". Well, this definitely isn't! It's a very punchy and bright  warm pink- leaning just a bit coral.

I think this is a perfect pedicure colour- what do you think of OPI Elephantastic Pink?

While this post has been short and sweet, I do have some exciting news that I'll announce in the next few days. Stay tuned!

OPI Malaysian Mist

I've been really drawn to neutral colours lately- maybe it's the beautiful warm weather? Anyways, today I have OPI Malaysian Mist to share with you; it's a pretty peach-beige, which I'm rather fond of. I think it works well with my skin tone, which can be hard to find in a neutral. The formula was a little sheer, and took three coats to be perfectly opaque (although two would likely suffice for something with less staining on their nails).

I'm excited for this evening, because I'm going to see Feist! I'll leave your with this adorable clip of Feist singing a song on Sesame Street:

Do you have any exciting plans for this weekend?

And the winner is... (Connect the Dots Giveaway)

Today is the big day! Of course, in order to properly choose the winner for the Lynnderella Connect the Dots giveaway, we need a host of Domos! With the big Sparkly Domo officiating, of course (there isn't anyone more qualified!). 

This hi-tech giveaway-entry-mixer (which bears a striking resemblance to a giant mace) was used to thoroughly mix all the entries.

Some tiny Domos mistook the giveaway pool for an actual pool. Completely understandable.

Sparkly Domo was less than impressed: "Hey! Get out of the giveaway pool right now!"

Our esteemed Domo selects a lucky winner...

Who will it be?

Jacqueline Colman is the lucky winner!

How exciting! I've sent Jacqueline an email, and hopefully she will respond within 48 hours.

Thank you so much to everyone who entered! I really appreciated reading all your entries and clever haikus. Shout outs to Kawaii Kagura of Nailpocalypse, who had perhaps the best haiku:

You must scratch me there!
Yes, above my tail! Behold,
elevator butt.


How funny is that? Good stuff, everyone!

Lynnderella Connect the Dots Giveaway - Last Day To Enter!

Just a reminder that my Lynnderella Connect the Dots Giveaway (click here for details) ends tonight at midnight. Good luck to all the entrants!

UP Colors - Beijo na Boca (flakey topcoat)

After wearing a neutral base colour for a day (Oh My Gosh "Nude Champagne"), I decided to add a flakey topcoat to it to add some interest. I also find that layering a topcoat over an existing mani is a great way to extend wear time by an extra day or two. 

I decided to try "Beijo na Boca" by UP Colors. Beijo na Boca is a mixture of green, orange, and tiny blue flake glitter in a pink tinted base. While the pink tint shows up in the bottle, it's non-existent on the nail.

This is my first time trying a polish by UP Colors (I believe it's a Brazilian brand), and I'm pretty smitten with the bottle. It's like a little ice cube! Do keep in mind that it's not a full sized polish, though- this is only 10ml, instead of the usual 15ml.

I know it's pretty common to layer flakey glitter polishes over a black or other dark coloured polish in order to get the most impact, but I really like how subtle this looks over a neutral polish. It's very understated, but still quite interesting to look at.

Unfortunately, the brush on this was a little wonky. Not near as bad as the last Brazilian lacquer I tried, and easily fixed with some trimming, but still a bit of a let down.

I purchased this lacquer via Llarowe, and since I ordered this one they have expanded their stock to include a whole bunch of intriguing UP Colors shades (including a whole bunch of holographic polishes).

Do you like layering flakey topcoats over neutral colours? Or do you prefer layering them over something darker to create a more dramatic effect?

Oh My Gosh - Nude Champagne

Recently I've noticed new Gosh brand mini lacquers showing up in stores; they have their own display, and have "Oh My Gosh" written on them. They're only a few bucks a pop, but that's to be expected for the smaller 5ml size. I decided to pick up a couple to try, and the first one I have to share with you is Nude Champagne.

Nude Champagne is a putty/beige creme. The formula was nice, and covered in two coats. I like that this neutral leans more to the grey side of beige rather than the pink; overall, I'm quite satisfied with it. It works with my skin-tone, which can sometimes be hard to find in a beige.

This last picture was taken under indoor lighting and reads a bit warmer than it was in real life.

Have you come across the "Oh My Gosh" minis? I also picked up a baby blue and a deep cobalt blue to share with you. What do you think of this nude shade? Do you like to wear neutrals like this?

Greyscale Ombre Manicure (Domo-inspired!)

Recently the lovely ladies at Varnished Valkyrie asked me to do a guest post on their totally awesome blog while they're away. Naturally, I was extremely flattered to be asked, and came up with this idea for my first ever ombre manicure!

A Gresyscale-Domo inspired ombre mani! I'll post a couple pictures here, but please click here to check out the whole story. Let me know what you think of my first guest post/first ombre mani!

Lynnderella ChocoLotta Love

As my Lynnderella Connect the Dots Giveaway enters its last week, I've got another Lynnderella to share with you today. This is Lynnderella ChocoLotta Love. This is the first Lynnderella polish I saw that really created a lemming for me. I love the combination of deep velvety brown glitter with bright candy-like glitter in a multitude of colours: turquoise, ruby red, pink, purple, and even a few specks of bright chartreuse. The overall effect is satisfyingly chocolate-y and sweet.

In order to amp up the opacity, I layered this over Sally Hansen Cocoa A-Go-Go, from the Insta-Dri line last fall. I remembered to nab this picture before I painted over all of the fingers with ChocoLotta Love (the index and middle fingers have one coat of Lynnderella over Cocoa A-Go-Go, while ring and pinky fingers have just one coat of Cocoa A-Go-Go). This is definitely a layering polish.

This is how ChocoLotta Love looks at two coats, layered over a dark brown base:

Overall, I'm pretty happy with this. A base colour is definitely a necessity in order to achieve opacity, but the end of effect is quite nice. It definitely satisfied my sweet tooth!

What do you think of Lynnderella ChocoLotta Love? What other colours might be nice to layer it over?

NARS Ratin Jot

Ever since I saw Scrangie's swatches of the Thakoon for NARS collection, I've been dreaming of Ratin Jot (a lovely orchid purple). I like the bright intensity of all the colours in the collection, but this seemed to be the most unique colour when considering the rest of my collection. Today I have the gorgeous Ratin Jot to share with you:

This was my first experience with NARS nail lacquer, and I couldn't be more thrilled; the formula is perfect, and what you see above was two easy coats of Ratin Jot.

I also couldn't resist doing another caviar accent nail using some matching microbeads I picked up at a craft store recently:

This is what the set of coloured microbeads looks like. I also previously purchased one in various metallic shades. This time around I simply dipped my still-wet nail into the little tube of beads and made sure it was thoroughly coated. I then covered the nail with a coat of Seche Vite topcoat.

What do you think of NARS Ratin Jot? Did you pick up any colours from the Thakoon for NARS collection?

Nails Inc Piccadilly

Nails Inc Piccadilly is a fishnet design magnetic polish. While I usually really like the Nails Inc magnetic polishes, in this case, I found the design hard to successfully create. As you can see, the fishnet pattern doesn't cover my whole nail, possible because my nails are quite curved. 

This is a shot of what the lacquer looked like at one coat (before applying the magnet after the second coat). 

While I was really excited about having a new magnetic pattern to play around with, this might not be the best one for my nails- on someone with flatter nails, I think it would probably work much better.

Here's a bonus picture- Piccadilly is such a bronze-y colour (a deep green-leaning bronze with golden shimmer), I thought it perfectly matched a bronze bodhisattva statue I have.

What do you think of Nails Inc Piccadilly? Is it a success or failure?

Lynnderella Connect the Dots - Giveaway Reminder

I just wanted to throw a quick reminder your way about the Lynnderella Connect the Dots giveaway that I'm hosting. You have until June 21st to enter, so if you haven't done so yet, please check it out! You can find the details here!

Good luck!

Pretty and Polished Midnight Masquerade

I have a lacquer from Pretty and Polished to share with you today.

This is Midnight Masquerade: a somewhat jelly-ish black with lots of purple and green glitter. 

I didn't expect this polish to be opaque, and thought I might have to layer it over a black creme, but it surprised me. It only took two coats to cover.

As you can see, today's manicure prop is a Fuzzy Orange Domo. There really isn't any connection to the lacquer here, I just needed something to hold- although truthfully, he was kind of prickly and uncomfortable to hold onto. Awfully cute, though!

This polish was incredibly glossy- look at how shiny it is!

In this last picture I'm holding my invisible Domo I wanted to show you how squishy and jelly-ish Midnight Masquerade looks, which I really like. I seems a touch sheer in this picture, but in real life it was definitely opaque.

What do you think of Pretty and Polished Midnight Masquerade? Domo seems to approve (he also seems to be shedding!).