Cirque: Cape Liz, Vaudeville, Hellebore

So, this year for Valentine's Day I received what was pretty much the best Valentine's Day present ever from my significant other: a whole whack of lacquer-y amazingness in the form of Cirque's delightful polishes. Was there ever a purer expression of true love? Well, from a lacquerhead's perspective, anyways. 

 The pretties, left to right: Cape Liz, Galinda, Vaudeville, Hellebore, French Roast, XX, Cypress

Today I have a few of these beauties to show to you- first up is Cape Liz, a stormy light grey-blue with small flakey shimmer particles in it. Gorgeous, and a little demure. This reminds me of a bluer version of Illamasqua's Raindrops- it has a similar shimmer running through it.

Vaudeville: ridiculously pretty soft purpley-pink with strong golden/green shimmer running through it. I love this colour combination, and the shimmer makes this polish something special.

Vaudeville, with it's pink/purple base and greenish shimmer, also seemed like a natural companion to Hellebore, which is a mixture of predominantly green glitter with subtle purple accents. I applied Hellebore as a gradient over Vaudeville.

So far, all of the Cirque polishes I've tried have been excellent in terms of formula; I can't wait to try the rest of them! I'm especially pleased with how the Vaudeville/Hellebore manicure worked out- it's a perfect springtime combination... if only spring would actually show up around here. Which brings me to my next topic, regarding the weather in my neck of the woods. I apparently inhabit some kind of wintery hell dimension, because so far April has looked much like this:

Is it too much to ask for temperatures above freezing? And for further illustration as to the amount of snowfall we've had this past month, check these out:

 Trees be like: "what is this, quicksand?!"

 ...he's trying to run away from the memory of this winter.

What about you, dear reader? Has spring time arrived in your world? 

A-England Dorian Gray and Lush Lacquer Lite Brite

Here's a look at a combination I did back in January: A-England's Dorian Gray with Lush Lacquer's Lite Brite layered overtop. First up, here are a couple pictures of Dorian Gray by itself:

Dorian Gray is a charcoal metallic grey, opaque in two coats. It has a somewhat pearly finish, and at first I thought it might show a few frosty brushstrokes, but after drying it looked pretty smooth. Overtop I layered Lush Lacquer's Lite Brite, an extremely punchy and vibrant glitter topcoat; I can spot big magenta metallic glitters, small turquoise squares, various orange, blue, and purple glitters, along with some tiny silver speckles. Overall, it's a really fun and high impact layering glitter. Highly recommend.

As I mentioned, I originally wore this manicure earlier in the year, and at the time I happened to be visiting Banff and Lake Louise. While sight-seeing around the Chateau Lake Louise, we were lucky enough to have a look at some amazing ice sculptures that had been carved as part of an ice-scupting competition. There were so many incredible and intricate sculptures- here's a look at one (with a pretty stunning backdrop, to boot).

China Glaze Tranzitions - Shape Shifter

I decided to pick up just one of the China Glaze Tranzitions polishes: Shape Shifter, a steel grey that changes to a saturated blue-ish purple after the addition of topcoat. 

This is Shape Shifter before the addition of any topcoat; a slightly frosty gunmetal grey. 

Below you can see my clumsy attempt at doing tips using a clear topcoat to change the colour of Shape Shifter; while it's kind of neat to see the gradual colour change after applying topcoat, it also makes it a touch harder to see where you've already painted while you're in the process of applying. I'm not sure it makes a better alternative for nail art- I'm not sure why one wouldn't just use another opaque nail colour altogether (although, admittedly, it's kind of cute to have "two shades of polish in one"... perhaps less so when one already has an absurd amount of nail lacquer).

Finally, the best result: Shape Shifter, fully top-coated. Gorgeous, deep, glow-y purple. Extremely pretty, and my reason for buying this in the first place.

Did you bother picking up any of the China Glaze "Transitions" shades? What did you think of them?

China Glaze - Some Like It Haute

Today I've got another mani that is from ages ago- this past New Year's Eve, to be exact. This is China Glaze's Some Like It Haute, a charcoal grey glitter with silvery/holographic accents. The base is clear, but the glitter is dense enough to be opaque in 3 coats. 

What do you think? Overall, I think it was a pretty solid NYE mani option- can't go wrong with a dramatic steely grey accented with sparkly holographic goodness! Now I just need to get better at posting these manicure pictures before they're months old...

OPI Suzi Says Da! + Dandy Nails Grave Robber

I'm ashamed to say that these pictures are from a manicure I wore waaaaay back at the beginning of last November. I guess they just kept getting pushed to the back of my un-posted folder. Nevertheless, you're finally seeing them tonight. Suzi Says Da! is one of the polishes I picked up from the OPI Russian collection (which I'm extremely enamoured with- it's an older collection from Fall 2007, but there are still a few polishes kicking around from it if you look hard enough). This is a deep red-toned brown creme. It reminds me a little of darker Chanel Rouge Noir. From what I recall, the formula was good, and I used two coats for these pictures. 

This one was taken under bright artificial light:

This was also a perfect base colour for Dandy Nails Grave Robber, a combination of metallic orange and steel-blue shredded glitter in a clear base. Very unique, and such a cool colour combination. I applied it as a gradient to the tips of my nails. I really love how this turned out, and it wore for ages. 

I'll also take this opportunity to show you a really cool bracelet I picked up last fall- it's a white "blood vessel" motif cuff that I really loved pairing with the vampy-ness of Suzi Says Da!. I purchased it from Nervous System's Etsy store. I highly recommend checking them out- they make some really amazing and unique items!

What do you think of my accessorizing? Have I piqued your interest in anything I've shown you today?

Layla Soft Touch - Stone

Awhile ago I showed you one of the Layla Soft Touch polishes (a deep red, called Queen Bordeaux), and today I have another one to show you. This is "Stone", a gorgeous and soft greyed out pale purple that has silvery pink shimmer running through it. The Soft Touch finish is very unique- not quite a matte or a rubber type finish; this particular shade is most like the OPI suede finish polishes, but even then it's a little different. Not quite as dull, and the shimmer isn't quite as pronounced. The formula was good, and although it took awhile to dry, it wore like iron. Better than any matte-type polish I've ever tried, and in fact better than most manicures I would usually finish with topcoat. Impressive!

What do you think of Layla Soft Touch in Stone? Have you tried any of the Soft Touch polishes yet? If so, how would you describe the finish?

Essie Spring 2013 Swatches (Go Ginza and Maximillian Strasse Her)

Tonight I've got a couple swatches from the Essie Spring 2013 Madison Ave-Hue Collection: Go Ginza, a pale pink/lavender, and Maximillian Strasse Her, a faded light grey/green.

Go Ginza reminds me a little bit of OPI Steady As She Rose, or maybe OPI Panda-monium Pink. It has the same dusty/greyed out finish as Steady As She Rose has (one of my all-time favourite polishes, by the way), and straddles the line between pale pink and lavender. Very pretty! The formula was a little runny and hard to work with, but covered in two coats.

Maximillian Strasse Her is a light greyed out pale green creme; the formula on this was better than Go Ginza, easy to work with and perfect in two coats. While this reminds me a bit of Essie Absolutely Shore, this is definitely a deeper and murkier shade; more in the army green category than the pastel one.

This collection kind of popped up out of nowhere- I hadn't even heard of it, then happened to see it at a Walgreen's. Which, by the way, you might be surprised to hear seeing as how there are no Walgreen's in Canada. How, then? Because for the last week I've been here: 

It's been awesome, and I'm fully prepared to leave my heart in San Francisco. 

What do you think of these shades from the Essie Spring 2013 Collection? Are you planning on picking any of them up? 

Zoya Dove + Pirate Polish Love In A Cold Climate

Zoya Dove is a gorgeous (you guessed it) dove grey creme. Application was lovely, and it covered in two coats. I'm especially pleased with this grey because it's fairly neutral- it doesn't lean too green or too blue. It's perfect. And now it's my #1 grey creme. 

I decided to top Zoya Dove with two coats of Pirate Polish Love In A Cold Climate; all in all, I think I prefer Love In A Cold Climate layered over a dark blue, but this is still quite pretty. Mmm, blue heart-shaped glitter.

I purchased Zoya Dove from Nail Polish Canada; when I picked it up, I also nabbed the other polishes from the same collection (Zoya Intimate Collection Spring 2011). At the time, it was on sale for $36- it doesn't seem to be now, but it might be worth keeping your eye on if you're looking to pick this collection up!

Pirate Polish Love In A Cold Climate is part of my Valentine's Day Collection, currently available in the Pirate Polish Etsy shop. I'm currently away, so all orders will ship after my return this weekend, but to make up for the inconvenience I've activated a coupon code to give you a 10% discount off your order- just enter "AWAYONVACAY" as a coupon code and your order will be adjusted accordingly.

What do you think of Zoya Dove as a base for Love In A Cold Climate?

Dandy Nails Bathed In Light (...the polish I wish I'd made!)

Today I'm going to show you an amazing polish; in fact, it's probably my favourite lacquer of the past year. This is Bathed In Light by Dandy Nails, and it's the polish I wish I'd made.

Bathed In Light is a glorious mixture of a pale grey/taupe base, golden/pinkish red duochrome flash, and fine holographic shimmer. The overall effect is very ethereal; it's very unique and actually has a lot going on, but is also quite subtle and wearable for any occasion. Behold!

So very, very pretty. And that's yet another reason why I adore indie polish. I can't wait to see what my fellow indie polish makers come up with in 2013!

What do you think of Bathed In Light? If you're as taken with it as I am, I'm pleased to tell you it's currently in stock at the Dandy Nails Etsy store.