Pirate Polish Cinnamon Girl (layered over OPI Midnight in Moscow)

Tonight I have a twist on one of the shades from the Pirate Polish "Love In A Cold Climate" Valentine's Day collection. While Cinnamon Girl can be worn alone as a (very bright and intense) red jelly, as shown in my original swatches of the Pirate Polish Valentine's Day collection, it can also be layered over a darker shade to show more contrast between the red base and the multitude of red glitter. In this case, I used one coat of Cinnamon Girl layered over OPI Midnight in Moscow. 

OPI Midnight in Moscow, by itself:

Overall, I'm pretty thrilled with how this turned out; I love seeing the contrast between the base and the red glitter, in all it's varied shapes and sizes. Speaking of which, how enormous and awesome is that giant square red glitter?

Cinnamon Girl is currently in stock (along with the rest of the Valentine's Day collection) in the Pirate Polish Etsy store.

ManGlaze Fatty's Got More Blood

After featuring a deep matte red in my last post, I thought I should show you another one today: this is ManGlaze's Fatty's Got More Blood. Whereas Layla Soft Touch Queen Bordeaux is more of a deep brick red, Fatty's Got More Blood has quite a bit of plum in it- it leans decidedly more purple. It also features this extremely fine holographic shimmer in it. It's only visible in direct sunlight, and isn't so apparent in my photos, but it's really pretty. 

Of course, and as always with ManGlaze, we have to talk about the awesome label art. In this case, it features a badass vampire chick indiscriminately gorging on various decapitated body parts. Who doesn't wanna see that on a nail polish bottle?

In this next photo, I think it's almost possible to see the holographic shimmer...

So what do you think of Fatty's Got More Blood? Is this ManGlaze polish calling your name? What do you think of the name/label art?

Layla Soft Touch in #07 Queen Bordeaux + Jindie Nails Candy Cane

Today I've got another festive manicure to share with you- this is Layla Queen Bordeaux with Jindie Nails Candy Cane as an accent nail. I was extremely excited to try out the new Layla Soft Touch line; it features a fairly unique finish, a combination of suede/matte/rubber finishes. It's not as stark or chalky as a straight matte, and the shimmer isn't as evident as with the OPI suede polishes. This has a lot  of depth- it's not immediately apparent in these photos, but Queen Bordeaux has a fiery red metallic shimmer in it, although it's rather subtle. I don't have anything similar to it; Man Glaze's Fatty's Got More Blood is more plum toned, and has very different shimmer. 

Overall, I'm very pleased with how this manicure turned out. I also opted to do an accent nail using Jindie Nails Candy Cane, in order to amp up the festive holiday theme. Candy Cane is a lovely white jelly/creme with different sizes and shapes of red and green glitter in it. It's quite sheer, so expect to use 3-4 coats for full opacity. The end effect is glorious- like crushed candy canes on your nails! 

I think this picture in full sun brings out the depth of Layla Queen Bordeaux the most. Isn't she beautiful?

What do you think of my festive manicure? Are you intrigued by the Layla Soft Touch line, or have you had enough of matte/suede/rubber finish polishes?

Availability: I purchased Layla Queen Bordeaux from Nail Polish Canada, and Jindie Nails from her Etsy shop.

OPI German-icure by OPI (plus comparisons)

Today I have a great vampy shimmer to share with you, although I imagine you've already seen it a billion times by now. This is OPI German-icure by OPI, from the Fall 2012 collection. It's a deep vampy red loaded with coppery shimmer. 

As you can see, it has that lit-from-within, dark around the edges look that really nice vampy shimmers have. In the next photo (taken under direct light) you can really see the coppery shimmer running through it.

In the shade:

In full sunlight (I love how it looks here):

I also decided to do a comparison between some similar shades in my stash; left to right we have Color Club Jewel of a Girl, OPI German-icure, and OPI Royal Rajah Ruby

On the nail, left to right: Jewel Of A Girl, German-icure, Royal Rajah Ruby

Left to Right: Royal Rajah Ruby, German-icure, Jewel of a Girl.

Of these three, Color Club Jewel of a Girl is the farthest off; it's far more purple, although it still has that lovely vampy shimmer look to it. Royal Rajah Ruby and German-icure are far closer, although they certainly aren't dupes. The main difference is the very prominent copper shimmer German-icure has; Royal Rajah Ruby is a bit murkier, with less obvious red shimmer. To my eye, German-icure is warmer looking, probably because of all that copper shimmer.

Which of the three do you like best? And have you tried saying "Royal Rajah Ruby" ten times fast?

Cherry Blossom Nail Decals on Illamasqua Baptiste.

Recently I was contacted by KKCenterHK, a Hong Kong based beauty and nail art supplier, who asked me if I would be interested in reviewing a few of their products. I was quite happy to accept, as nail decals are a new technique for me to experiment with- I haven't experimented much with any kind of nail art, so this was a fun way to get started. Today I have a set of "3D" white cherry blossom nail decals to show you, and I've applied them over Illamasqua Baptiste, a deep shimmery purple and my manicure from the other day. 

Overall, these were surprisingly easy to use. I'm not sure why I was expecting it to be hard, but they're basically just slightly raised stickers you remove from the sheet and place on the nail. These pictures were taken prior to applying topcoat, but with topcoat they stay in place nicely. This is definitely a look I'll have to get used to, as I usually stick to plain colours without any nail art, but it was a nice way to dip my toes into the world of nail art. What do you think of these nail decals?

You can find more product information here, and the item code for this product is "3D-051".

*Nail decals were sent to me for unbiased review; all opinions are my own. 

OPI Every Month Is Oktoberfest

If you get only one lacquer from the OPI Germany collection... it should probably be this one. Feast your eyes on OPI Every Month Is Oktoberfest:

How perfectly gorgeous is this? Vampy, shimmery, glowy, purple perfection. The formula was fantastic: easy to control, levelled out nicely, and good to go after two coats.

In natural light the warm velvety purple shimmer really lights up, and under artificial light the shimmer can sometimes take on an almost golden hue, as seen below.

In the shade, the shimmer is less visible, but still there. It appears to be a deep purple, but not black (which I love). Mmm, glossy purple perfection!

What do you think of OPI Every Month Is Oktoberfest? I'm so very glad I decided to pick this one up- it's really something special! 

Pirate Polish Unforgivable Curses Trio (New Collection!)

Just in time for October: a trio of sinister and vampy lacquers. All feature black bases packed with jewel-toned flakey shimmer and a dash of ultrafine metallic glitter. This trio is inspired by the Three Unforgivable Curses (drawing inspiration from Harry Potter). 

Left to Right: Avada Kedavra, Cruciatus, Imperius 

Swatched side by side on a swatch wheel (all lacquers are opaque by themselves in two coats):

 

Left to Right: Avada Kedavra, Imperius, Cruciatus

First up we have Avada Kedavra, a lacquer that contains greenish gold shimmer that flares in the deep black lacquer base. A deadly -and fittingly serpentine- combination! 

Imperius is an insidious mixture of glinting silver and blue shimmer particles in a black-as-night base.

Cruciatus: malevolent flashes of red and violet shimmer in a blackened base.

The entire Unforgivable Curses Trio is now available in the Pirate Polish Etsy store (individually for $10, or as a set for $27). You can also find Pirate Polish on Facebook, if you're interested in keeping up to date on new releases!

What do you think of my new trio of shades? Is it something you might be interested in sporting this Fall and Winter?

Top to Bottom: Imperius, Avada Kedavra, Cruciatus. Thumb nail is Cruciatus.

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!

Lacquistry Plucked Spider (over various bases)

A short while ago I posted a review of Lacquistry's Plucked Spider, which I had layered over Essie Bordeaux, a deep red jelly. I wasn't so keen on the result, and several readers had mused about what it might look like overtop of a lighter base. Today I have swatches of Plucked Spider overtop of a plain white base (Zoya's Snow White), as well as Plucked Spider by itself, without anything underneath it.

Left to right: two coats of Plucked Spider over white, two coats of Plucked Spider by itself, one coat of Plucked Spider over white, one coat of Plucked Spider by itself.  

I have to be honest, I'm still not loving Plucked Spider. In the bottle it is very interesting to look at, but on the nail, I'm just not feeling it. The glitter still doesn't pop, although I'll grant that it is a neat concept and I do like the name. The formula was also incredibly hard to work with, extremely gloopy and globby (I'm not actually sure either of those are legitimate words, but I'm gonna use them). It was like trying to paint my nails with strawberry jam, both in texture and appearance.

What do you all think of Lacquistry's Plucked Spider now? It is better than it was over Essie Bordeaux? Or is it still lacking?

Chanel Rouge Noir / OPI Pearl of Wisdom

Today I have a classic for you: Chanel's Rouge Noir, a.k.a. Vamp. This is three coats (with Essie base and top coat).

Rouge Noir is a brown-based dark red. You'll have to overlook the very short pinky nail; I suffered a tragic break, and discovered that taking pictures of my right hand was even more challenging than capturing ones of my left.

Even though this Chanel is a classic, I decided to try layering OPI's Pearl of Wisdom (from the Spring 2010 Hong Kong collection) over top of it. Pearl of Wisdom is a sheer iridescent duochrome that shows a variety of colours, ranging from purple to green. The below picture shows more of the green flash...

More of the purple aspect of Pearl of Wisdom...

And two pictures that show a mixture of colours, with the latter showing the "texture" that Pearl of Wisdom displays when observed up close.

I have to admit, I'm really enjoying the way Pearl of Wisdom looks over Rouge Noir. I'm a sucker for duochromes, and this OPI is a particularly versatile one that is great for layering over other colours. Do you have any favourite duochromes? How do you like to wear them?

I'll leave you with this fantastic clip from Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction; it's one of my favourites, and of course it is in this movie that Uma Thurman's character wore Chanel Vamp on her nails, helping to make it a cult classic. Enjoy!