Zoya Pixie Dusts in Godiva and Vespa

I'm loving the textured trend lately, particularly Zoya's rendition of it, the Pixie Dusts. Today I've got Godiva and Vespa to share with you. 

Godiva is a light sandy beige with lots of silver sparkles- these really are best witnessed in person in order to appreciate how much sparkle these pack. They especially come to life in the sunlight. 

Vespa is a dusty light sage green with silver sparkle. Gorgeous, and again even better in person.

While I'm loving the textured trend, I have to say one thing about it- I hate wearing textured polish while flossing my teeth! It just... feels wrong. It gives me the creeps! What do you think of the textured trend? Are you loving it?

Quo by Orly Bubble Bath and Sailor's Blue

Tonight I've got two lacquers to share with you from Quo by Orly's spring collection: Bubble Bath and Sailor's Blue. FYI, these are the exact same as the Orly polishes Peaceful Opposition and High on Hope, except re-packaged into the Quo by Orly lacquers carried by Shopper's Drugmart in Canada. 

This is three coats of Bubble Bath, a milky white with lots of silver glitter in different shapes and sizes. I'm a sucker for silver glitter in a milky base because it makes the glitter look like a cool reflective white glitter, and not so much straight-up silver. Neat look, although the formula was a little globby. 

Sailor's Blue is a smokey navy blue with tonnes of purpley-red and gold shimmer. This one is really cool and the shimmer flashes a whole bunch of different colours. A little bit multichromatic!

What do you think of these polishes? Did you pick anything up from the Orly spring collection?

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...

Picture Polish - Atomic

Tonight I have Picture Polish Atomic to share with you; this has a scattered and subtle holographic shimmer in a soft silver/white base. Not visible in the pictures, but more visible in real life is a golden-pink flash. Quite pretty, and definitely better in reality than in my pictures. The holographic shimmer in this is kind of flakey and really interesting, although visible mostly in bright sunlight (unfortunately on the day I took these, sunlight was in short supply). I used three coats to achieve full coverage. 

What do you think of Picture Polish Atomic? Did you pick up any of the recent Picture Polish collaboration shades?

Man Glaze - Fuck Off And Dye

Man Glaze's Fuck Off And Dye is a gorgeous medium warm-toned pink with silver shimmer. Matte finish, of course. The formula was excellent, as per usual with Man Glaze, and I might add that the label art is also awesome (also to be expected). Check it out:

It's the perfect colour to wear on those days when you'd really just like to let your fingers do the talking.  I rather like it because it allows me to feel secretly snarky and slightly passive-aggressive all day. Y'know?

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?

Pirate Polish "Love In A Cold Climate" collection swatches (Valentine's Day 2013)

I'm thrilled to announce the release of the Pirate Polish "Love In A Cold Climate" collection for Valentine's Day 2013! This collection is a set of four polishes, and I think there is something here for everyone. 

Left to right: Be Mine, Lovandula, Cinnamon Girl, Love In A Cold Climate 

First up is Be Mine, a soft candy pink creme peppered with fine golden accents: subtle golden flakes and tiny golden holographic sparkles. By far the most demure polish of the collection, this lacquer fits the bill if you're looking for something soft and sweet, and yet it has more going on than your standard pink pastel. Be Mine is opaque in two coats.

Lovandula is the perfect lavender glitter bomb; tiny purple holographic glitter, bubblegum pink hexagonal glitter, an abundance of diamond-shaped lavender glitter, and large silver holographic hex glitter. For such a cute looking polish, this lacquer definitely packs a big holographic punch. Lovandula is shown below, two coats over a purple creme.

Lovandula also conveniently doubles as a disco ball, in case of impromptu Valentine's Day dance parties...

Cinnamon Girl is a scorchingly bright red jelly, teeming with red glitter in every imaginable shape and size. It also features tiny silver holo glitter, which adds extra depth and sparkle. I really love the idea of red-on-red when it comes to combining a red jelly with red glitters. While opaque by itself in three coats, this polish can also be layered over a dark vampy shade to bring out more contrast between the base colour and the red glitter. I'll be sure to show you swatches of what Cinnamon Girl looks like layered in the coming days.

Love In A Cold Climate is this collection's namesake, and is notable for its abundance of icy blue and white hearts. It also contains a wide range of bright blue and snowy white glitters in various shapes and sizes, as well as tiny iridescent blue square glitters. Here I've shown two coats of Love In A Cold Climate over a deep blue creme.

I'm happy to announce that this collection will also be available in miniatures. The set of four minis is priced at $18 ($5 individually), while the set of four full-size polishes costs $36 ($10 individually). 

These polishes are currently in stock at the Pirate Polish Etsy store, and are limited edition for Valentine's Day. For more information, and to stay up to date on new releases, check Pirate Polish out on Facebook.

What do you think of these sweet offerings for Valentine's Day? Are you feeling the love?

Merry Christmas! Sally Hansen Nail Strips in Prep's Cool

It's rare that I post a manicure on the actual day I happen to be wearing it, but tonight you're getting my *actual* Christmas manicure. Sally Hansen Nail Strips in Prep's Cool are currently adorning my nails, and I couldn't be happier. I actually picked this up last year, but have been saving it for a special occasion; this Christmas certainly qualifies! Not only were these relatively easy to apply, but they look amazing. I'm thrilled with the pattern, and as always, the wear time is second to none. Because we're travelling a bit this holiday, this was the perfect choice- no need to worry about repairing a chipped manicure, and I get about a solid week of wear from the metallic Sally Hansen nail strips before any major flaws show up. I do slap a coat of Seche Vite overtop, and that seems to help ensure extra long wear time (not to mention making my manicure brilliantly shiny). 

And some obligatory manicure pics + seasonal props:

Merry Christmas, dear readers! I hope you're all having a good one.

A few festive Pirate Polish manicures!

I'm getting into the Christmas mood (Christmas music, baking cookies, wrapping presents...), and I wanted to share a few festive manicures I've done lately using some of the Pirate Polish Holiday Collection lacquers. 

Joyeux Noel, layered over a silver foil (Sally Hansen Celeb City); this one is a strong candidate for official Christmas Day manicure.

Holiday Glow, layered over Essie No More Film (which is my go-to for layering lately- it's perfect in just one coat). I love how rich and luxurious this looks.

And finally, Christmas Tree In Blue; it makes me think of snowy blue Christmas trees. A nice image!

And that's what I've got to share with you today, along with a reminder that December 10 is the last day to place an order destined for the US or Canada that will (likely) arrive before Christmas Day. So if anyone is looking to order some Christmas polishes, check the Pirate Polish Etsy shop out soon! As always, you can also find Pirate Polish on Facebook.

Thanks for looking, and happy holidays!