Essie - Carry On

Essie Carry On (from last year's fall collection), a deep, vampy, raisin purple. Formula was good, this is two coats. So glossy, I can literally see myself taking the picture in this. 

I'm afraid this will be a very quick post indeed, because...

I'll be back soon, though, with some brand new Pirate Polish lacquers! Enjoy your Sunday!

Butter London Knackered

Tonight I have Butter London's Knackered to share with you! This is a multichromatic polish with holographic sparkle. The colour shift in this goes from purple to blue to green; depending on the lighting, the holographic sparkle in this can either blaze (full sunlight, as in the second picture) or have a more subtle appearance, like in the first photo (indoor lighting). For the pictures below, I've layered Knackered over black to bring out the colour shift more (it would be quite sheer on its own).

I really like how Knackered looks in the above picture... it makes me think of constellations in the night sky. Very pretty!

What do you think of Butter London Knackered? This one impressed me when I first saw pictures of it in the spring time (can it really be autumn already?), but I didn't pick it up until later this summer. I'm glad I did, because I think this is a really nice lacquer.

Before I leave you tonight, I've got a couple quick updates for you! Yesterday I showed you Smitten Polish's The One On The Right; there was some discussion about where the name came from. Noelle commented on the post and clarified the speculation! In her words:  "When I first made this polish, I had it swatched with two other colors. When I showed it to people to get opinions, everyone said, "I love the one on the right," and it just stuck!" Good to know! I'm glad that mystery is solved. ;) 

Finally, I wanted to let anyone who might be eager to get their hands on the Pirate Polish Halloween Collection know that the collection has been fully re-stocked in the Pirate Polish Etsy shop; this includes the full set of 5 Halloween lacquers which is listed at a discounted price. 

L-R: Autumn Embers, The Witching Hour, Fangs, Trick or Treat, Zombies!

Smitten Polish - The One On The Right

It's a back-to-back Smitten Polish spectacular! Yesterday you saw Pink Lemonade by Smitten Polish, and today I'm showing you The One On The Right, a vibrant medium tone blue with purple and sky blue glitter in small and medium sizes. I knew I had to have this polish the minute I saw it on Jennifer's blog (her lovely nails are the source of a great many lemmings for me!). I love lacquers that combine a pigmented and creamy base with fun shades and sizes of glitter. This was two coats, and it applied smoothly. 

What do you think of The One On The Right? And for that matter, does anyone know what the name of this polish is a reference to? I keep wondering about it, but have yet to find an explanation!

*Edit: Noelle of Smitten Polish clarified the meaning behind the name in the comments section. In her words: "When I first made this polish, I had it swatched with two other colors. When I showed it to people to get opinions, everyone said, "I love the one on the right," and it just stuck!" 

Smitten Polish is available both on Etsy, as well as at Llarowe.

I'm positively smitten with Smitten Polish: Smitten Polish Pink Lemonade

Today I have a great indie polish to share with you: Smitten Polish Pink Lemonade! This is a creamy yet squishy pale yellow with fine and medium magenta glitters. This is exactly the kind of yellow I like: very pale and soft. Gorgeous. What you see below is two coats, and for full opacity I should have done one more, but I actually kind of liked how this looked being a touch sheer. Very squishy and jelly-like! 

What do you think of Smitten Polish Pink Lemonade? I have to admit, Smitten Polish is becoming one of my absolute favourites, and I can't wait to share more of these lovely lacquers with you!

You can purchase Smitten Polish on Etsy, but it's also being stocked at Llarowe.

Fall Extravaganza! Pirate Polish Autumn Embers over OPI DS Indulgence

I layered Pirate Polish Autumn Embers overtop of my OPI Indulgence manicure from the other day... and... BAM! The perfect fall manicure. This looks amazing. And I'm not just saying that because Autumn Embers is my own polish which is currently available in the Pirate Polish Etsy Store. I'm seriously head over heels in love with this. I mean... look at it! 

Rich, earthy, coppery and holographic gorgeousness, all compounded by the delicious golden flash and red base of OPI DS Indulgence.

Well... what do you think?

OPI DS Indulgence

I absolutely said I wouldn't be picking up either of the new OPI Designer Series polishes due to the higher price tag (which seems excessive considering neither of the new polishes is holographic). However... somehow Indulgence ended up up coming home with me. Isn't that the way it seems to go? Maybe I was thinking of The Manicure Addict's awesome swatches of this, or maybe it was just the way I got a bit weak in the knees when I saw how glowy and pretty this was in person. Either way, it's mine now. Brace yourself for a whole lot of beautiful: 

Gorgeous, vibrant, cranberry red with big gold shimmery flakes. Very sparkly and attention-grabbing.

Isn't this insane in the sun? Gah. So pretty.

Indoors in low-lighting you can really see the gold particles stand out.

I think the golden flash in this has stolen my heart! What do you think of OPI DS Indulgence? Did you pick this one up?

Before I finish tonight's post, I'll remind anyone who might be thinking of ordering from the Pirate Polish Etsy store that a 15% off coupon code is still active until tomorrow morning! Just enter "LaunchParty15" at checkout. Speaking of the Pirate Polish Launch Party (which took place last night)... here are a few pictures!

A chest full of gold and other sparky treasures! 

A fleet of cupcakes flying the Jolly Roger.

My manicure of the evening: Pirate Polish Scimitar as a base and Pirate Polish Trick or Treat overtop!

There are more pictures on the Pirate Polish Facebook page, so be sure to check it out!

Oh My Gosh Cobalt Blue + Pirate Polish Treasure Chest

This is Oh My Gosh Cobalt Blue, a gorgeous and pigmented cobalt blue, with a somewhat jelly-like finish. This was ridiculously shiny; perfection! And all for about $5. I won't say anymore, because the pictures really say it all. 

I topped Cobalt Blue with a gold glitter bomb of a polish, Pirate Polish Treasure Chest (created by yours truly). Treasure Chest boasts a multitude of gold glitters in various sizes, including a good deal of holographic gold glitter. There are also large red and holographic orange hexagonal glitters (the "gems" in this treasure chest, of course).

Here it is in a blurry picture to show off all the holographic glitter:

Overall I'm digging this combination- Oh My Gosh Cobalt Blue is an absolutely gorgeous base for this, and Treasure Chest is extremely blingy and a lot of fun to wear.

I picked Cobalt Blue up at my local Shopper's Drug Mart, where there seems to be a permanent display of the Oh My Gosh colours. Treasure Chest is available in my Pirate Polish Etsy store! I'm also excited to announce that all weekend long, a 15% off coupon code will be available- just use "LaunchParty15" at checkout. I'm hosting the official Pirate Polish Launch Party tomorrow evening, but of course not everyone can attend in person; hopefully this discount code will help a bit with shipping costs for anyone interesting in ordering!

You can also find Pirate Polish on Facebook, if you'd like to keep up to date on future announcements and releases!

F4 Mint Chocolate Chip

I've got a tasty polish for you today- F4's Mint Chocolate Chip! A creamy mint base with tiny "chocolate" brown glitters. This was opaque in 2 coats, and application was easy. I really like how this looks on the nail; the glitter distributed nice and evenly. 

The shade name label is on the bottom of the bottle of F4's polishes.

What do you think of this lacquer? Are you a fan of minty colours? Myself, I'm filing this one under "delicious".

This polish is available through F4's Etsy store for $8 and is currently in stock.

Illamasqua Creator - A damn fine lacquer

Illamasqua Creator: black with tiny silver glitter, two coats of perfection. I LOVE this polish- and this coming from the girl complaining about how she doesn't go for black lacquer in the previous post. Well, this is amazing, and I'm in love with how my nails look with this on.

"You know, this is - excuse me- a damn fine lacquer. And I've had, I can't tell you how many lacquers I've had in my life, and this is one of the best."

Sally Hansen Insta Dri - In A Flurry and Freeze

Tonight I have two new colours from the Sally Hansen Insta Dri Fall line: In A Flurry and Freeze. 

In A Flurry is black with a subtle green shimmer (along with a few rarely witnessed flashes of purple); this was opaque in two coats. This is one of the cases where the shimmer is more visible in the bottle than on that nail. Especially once the lacquer dried, it lost a lot of depth; too bad, because when I first applied it I thought it looked amazing. 

I have to admit, when I saw Scrangie's swatches of this, I ran straight out and got it. I don't know if I got an off bottle, but mine doesn't look as jaw-droppingly awesome as her version. A little disappointment here, but still an interesting polish.

Next up I have Freeze, which is an awesome glowy-looking blue, with tonnes of blue shimmer (more of a glass fleck than a glitter). Tonnes of depth, and very eye-catching. Also opaque in two coats. I love this one!

This reminds me a lot of a cross between two of my favourite polishes: Sally Hansen HD Laser and OPI Swimsuit... Nailed It. Where Laser is darker, and Swimsuit is perhaps a bit lighter, this is somewhere in between. I really love polishes like this- very intense, and they almost seem to glow. Gorgeous.

Of these two, Freeze is definitely my favourite, and I highly recommend it if you don't have a blue like this in your collection. In A Flurry will probably be your thing if you're fond of black polishes, but I would have been okay without it. 

Which shade do you prefer? Have you picked up any of the Sally Hansen Insta Dri for Fall polishes?

Layla Black as Ebony (Mirror Effects)

Monday I posted about Layla Metal Chrome, and today I have Black as Ebony, a gunmetal grey chrome from the same collection. All I can say is...

YOWZA. Check it. 

In sunlight:

In the shade (super reflective!):

Yep, this is THE BEST chrome polish I've ever tried. Totally unique (at least I can't recall another gunmetal grey chrome polish), and it surpasses expectations when applied to the nail. Utterly gorgeous.

The formula on this was also better than on Metal Chrome; it wasn't as brushstrokey, and where Metal Chrome was a bit of a pain to apply, this was definitely easier to manage (although you'll still need to wait a tiny bit longer between coats to prevent bald spots).

If you're a chrome/metallics lover, you should probably have this one in your collection. I got mine at Harlow and Co., a Canadian nail polish retailer which carries a nice variety of hard to find polish brands. Shipping is quite reasonable (especially for Canada), and they ship very quickly. Even better, they still have Black as Ebony in stock!

What do you think of Layla Black as Ebony? Are you as crazy about it as I am?

Layla Metal Chrome (new Mirror Effect polishes!)

Today I have one of the brand new Layla Mirror Effect polishes to share with you! This one is Metal Chrome, and it is a classic silver chrome.

I was incredibly excited about this collection when I first heard about it, because I LOVE metallics and chromes and Layla has been knocking it out of the park lately when it comes to their unique polish lines (their holographics and magnetics are both great). Now that I've tried the Mirror Effect polishes, my excitement is slightly dampened, but only a little (after all, my expectations going in were extremely high). I'm not sure I'm totally prepared to grant this the title of "Best Chrome Ever", but it's definitely up there. Like most chromes, it will show up every imperfection in your nail, so be prepared to buff them a little before hand. Application is also a little challenging; wait in between coats to ensure even coverage, and be careful when applying to minimize brushstrokes. What you see here is 3 coats.

Indoors, out of direct light, this lacquer does take on a "mirror effect" appearance, which is pretty cool. In sunlight, it's less reflective, but still unabashedly chrome. I did use a topcoat for these photographs, which I suspect may have compromised some of the mirror effect, but I really wanted this manicure to last. For my next Layla Mirror Effect review (I'll be showing you Black as Ebony in my next post), I'll be sure to take picture before and after topcoating. 

I purchased my bottle of Metal Chrome via Harlow and Co., a fantastic Canadian-based nail lacquer e-tailer. I highly recommend them, and they carry a nice range of hard-to-find brands. 

Pirate Polish - Halloween Collection!

Today I'm really excited to share the Pirate Polish Halloween Collection with you! I absolutely adore Autumn and all things Halloween, and I think I've captured some of that whimsical excitement with these lacquers- I hope you like them!

Left to Right: Autumn Embers, The Witching Hour, Fangs, Trick or Treat, Zombies! 

The first one I want to introduce you to is The Witching Hour:

The Witching Hour is a magical mixture of metallic purple and turquoise shredded glitter, small magenta glitter, and medium hexagonal navy metallic glitter. The base is clear, and below you can see The Witching Hour layered over a black creme.

Just for fun, I've included some extra photos pairing spooky decorations with the bottles; I thought the purple witch's hat and skull were nice companions to The Witching Hour.

I've dubbed the next lacquer I'm going to show you "Fangs"; it contains a wide array of black, white, and metallic red glitters in various shapes including diamonds, hexagons, bars, and squares.

Most notably, the white diamonds made me think of vampire fangs. Whether you like your vampires to be of the sparkly variety, or, uh, the Eric Northman variety, this lacquer has you covered. ;) Below you can see Fangs layered over a grey creme base.

Next up is Trick or Treat, a classic Halloween mixture of orange and black. This is Halloween in a bottle.

Orange and black glitters in a wide variety of shapes and sizes swim in a clear base. Below you will see Trick or Treat layered over a plain white creme, but I think it would look amazing over a wide variety of other colours (purple, green, etc).

How cute is this next picture of a mouse with sweet treat? He looks pretty satisfied. After all, who wouldn't want a giant sparkly candy corn (not to mention awesome Halloween lacquers)?

I think this next one might be my favourite of the bunch; it makes me think of falling leaves. I've named it Autumn Embers. 

Autumn Embers is a mixture of fine metallic copper, orange holographic, and rich purple-brown glitters, with the addition of medium and large reflective copper hexagonal glitters. Below it is layered over a black creme, although it could be opaque on its own in several coats.

The warm holographic sparkle makes me think of glowing embers. Gorgeous.

The fifth and final Halloween lacquer I have to show you is called "Zombies!".

For a long time I've tried to find the perfect avocado green shade, and I think I've achieved it here. It's not too bright or clean, and leans more yellow than blue. It's just a little bit "dirty" looking. Perfect for a zombie polish! I've also added black glitters in various sizes (including tiny black squares) to the avocado green base. It's just squishy enough that you can see the layers of glitter, but it's still opaque in 2-3 coats.

What could be more appropriate for Halloween than a horde of zombies? 

...it's particularly terrifying for a couple Domos out for a walk in their Halloween costumes!

"OMG! Zombies! Run!"

Uh oh, someone can't keep up. Remember: in the event of a zombie attack, you only have to run faster than the next slowest person.

Unfortunately, this little Domo wasn't fast enough.

Even worse, he was abandoned by his Domo buddy. Tragic!

But of course, if you abandon someone in the zombie apocalypse, they'll probably find you again... as a zombie!

"Braaaains...."

I hope you enjoyed this little zombie/Domo drama. And even more, I hope you enjoyed my Pirate Polish Halloween lacquers!


The Halloween collection will be available tomorrow (Sunday) on the Pirate Polish Etsy store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/piratepolish. All full size (15ml) polishes are priced at $10, although these five Halloween lacquers will also be sold as a set for $45. Supplies will be limited until I can determine what the demand for these will be, so if you're interested, get yours early!

You can keep up to date on Pirate Polish releases by following Pirate Polish on Facebook: http://www.etsy.com/shop/piratepolish