NARS Candy Darling + Lush Lacquer Party Rockin and Flippin Out

Today's post comes to you from a slightly grumpy Lacquer Tracker. The reason why? It's 5:22pm and the last bit of sunlight is disappearing beyond the horizon. In another 20 minutes it'll be pitch black. Ugh. It's not the cold or snow that gets me down about winters here, it's the incredibly short days. And until winter solstice comes around (December 21st), the days will keep getting shorter. Ugh. Okay. End rant. Let's get onto the nails, shall we? 

NARS Candy Darling, a very light and sheer beige; this took 4 coats to reach this level of opacity, and as you can see, it's still a touch sheer. For the first several coats it was streaky as well. Can't say I'm a big fan...

But two coats of glitter should improve this manicure (and hopefully my mood as well). Enter Lush Lacquer!

This is Party Rockin, by itself, over Candy Darling. Pretty!

Even better, here it is with a layer of Flippin' Out as well.

 Well, the sunlight may be gone, but at least my nails are brighter. That helps, right?

NARS - Anardana

NARS Ratin Jot was my first ever NARS purchase, and I hadn't been planning to pick up another so soon... but then I saw Anardana, an extremely rich and vibrant fuchsia pink. Anardana is another colour from the same collection as Ratin Jot (Thakoon for NARS collection), and I couldn't pass it up- this set was limited edition, so I didn't know how long it would be around. 

This was so bright it kind of freaked my camera out. The formula was perfection, and I barely needed two coats. The polish was easy to control, and levelled out perfectly.

In case you were wondering what exactly "Anardana" is (I know I was), it's actually a kind of spice made from dried pomegranate seeds.  The word is from the Persian language, and the spice is commonly used in India and Pakistan. Although I didn't recognize the name, I've actually tried it before in an Iranian friend's cooking (mixed with saffron and rice). It's quite tart in flavour, and slightly fruity. 

What do you think of NARS Anardana?

Comparison Post with China Glaze Kalahari Kiss and Illamasqua Stance

In my post about China Glaze's On Safari collection last week I mentioned doing a comparison post for Kalahari Kiss; I have that (plus another comparison featuring Illamasqua Stance) for you today. 

By far the closest colour to China Glaze Kalahari Kiss in my collection is MAC's In The Buff (a limited edition shade from summer 2010). However, I think these two colours are far from being twins. Kalahari Kiss is much brighter and cleaner, whereas In The Buff has a much dirtier, murkier tinge to it.

Left to Right: China Glaze, MAC, China Glaze, MAC

In The Buff leans towards the greenish/grey side, while Kalahari Kiss is much more of a clean camel-beige. It's also much more wearable than In The Buff, and generally more flattering, in my opinion. Formula-wise, I'll also take the China Glaze over the MAC. MAC's lacquers are notorious for being weak in terms of formula, and this was still a little streaky at two coats, were Kalahari Kiss was perfect.

The other comparison I wanted to share with you features Illamasqua Stance and Zoya Charisma.

When I first tried Illamasqua Stance, it's nearly-neon vividness brought to mind another purple-neon: Zoya Charisma. However, the two are actually quite different.

Left to Right: Illamasqua, Zoya, Illamasqua, Zoya

Illamasqua Stance is much more cool toned and purple leaning, where Zoya Charisma is more of a warm pink-red. Charisma is also more of a true neon, drying with a matte finish. I much prefer the look and finish on Illamasqua Stance. For me, there is no contest here- Illamasqua knocked this one out of the park. You can see my original swatches of it here.

Just for the heck of it I also pulled out NARS Anardana to add to the comparison (it's shown here on the index finger), but it much more of a pink, rather than purple.

I hope these comparisons helped you out! Which colours are your favourite?

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?