OPI - The Man With The Golden Gun

Tonight I've got OPI's The Man With The Golden Gun topcoat to share with you- while I couldn't justify shelling out the cash for this myself, I was pretty thrilled to find it in my stocking at Christmas. The gold flakes aren't very dense in this- what you see below is one coat over Zoya Marley. This is a pretty Easter look, but next time I think I'll try this over a darker colour (although I think I'll wait for a semi-special occasion... I can't help but think plastering gold leaf on your nails requires a special event- I guess grocery shopping doesn't quite count). 

I kind of think this is worth it based on the shiny golden bottle alone- it's like a trophy! Definitely the ideal gift for a nail fanatic. Did you buy into the gold flake topcoat trend this past season?

Zoya Spam!

Happy Easter, everyone! How about some Zoya spam to celebrate? 

Zoya Aurora: gorgeous (and insanely sparkly) scattered holographic purple. Looks different in the following pictures depending on lighting- in reality, it's somewhere in between. 

Zoya Bela: soft and squishy-looking peachy pink jelly.

Zoya Jacqueline: creamy yellow-toned off-white creme.

Zoya Marley: a light pastel purple with soft pearly shimmer. Very pretty, and perfect for Easter!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

Lime Crime - Les Desserts d'Antoinette

When I first saw The Manicure Addict's amazing swatches of the Lime Crime Les Desserts d'Antoinette collection, I knew they would have to be mine... and when I saw this wickedly brilliant pinwheel manicure she put together using all of the colours, I was even more convinced of the fact that I needed them.  One problem- at that time, Lime Crime did not ship to Canada. Since then, Harlow and Co has begun carrying the Les Desserts collection, but at the time I was rather sad about not being able to get my nails on these. Thankfully, Katherine (the owner of those fabulous nails over at The Manicure Addict) is just plain awesome and offered to be my US mailing address. A couple weeks later, these arrived in my mail box: Lavendairy, Peaches and Cream, Pastelchio, and Milky Ways.

Being awesome, Katherine also included some extra goodies- what an awesome surprise! It seems that the best kind of nail mail comes with tasty suckers.

First up is Lavendairy; I absolutely can't say no to a pretty pastel purple, and this one is very pretty indeed. While all the shades in this collection are pastel-ish cremes, they're not your typical pastel cremes. They're much punchier and more saturated than your standard pastel. This lavender pastel leans very pink, which makes it fairly unique in my collection. Gorgeous. This is two coats. 

Next up is Pastelchio; the first picture of this is a bit washed out, the second is truer to colour. It's an amped up pastel pistachio creme that is totally unique in my collection. While extremely thick, and a little tricky to work with, what you see below is one coat. Pretty amazing! There are a few thin spots, so if I was wearing this as a mani, I'd likely do two, but I'm still impressed. 

Peaches and Cream: a vivid creamsicle orange. This was another amazing one-coater- no streaky areas, although it was a very thick formula to work with.

My favourite of the collection is Milky Ways; what a fantastic and unique white creme! Quite unusual. It has a soft peachy undertone that keeps it from looking too stark. Beautiful.

Milky Ways photographed in natural light:

I was so taken with this collection that I decided to order one more from Harlow and Co; this is Once In A Blue Mousse, a pretty pastel blue creme. 

What do you think my picks from the Lime Crime Les Desserts d'Antoinette collection? I'm pretty thrilled with them! I decided to pass on the other two shades in the collection, a pastel yellow and a pastel pink, but if they're anything like these, you probably can't go wrong. The bottles are slightly smaller than a full size (I think they're around 10ml instead of 15ml), but they're really cute. I love the shape and the frosted glass. Adorable! Will these be finding a place in your collection?

Pirate Polish Holiday 2012 Collection Swatches!

Tomorrow I'll be releasing the Pirate Polish Holiday 2012 Collection! Here's a sneak peek:

Left to Right: Holiday Glow, Joyeux Noël, Sugar Cookies, Christmas Lights, Christmas Tree In Blue

Sugar Cookies is a creamy white polish with multicoloured pastel glitters in various shapes and sizes. For me, the quintessential holiday treats are the sugar cookies my grandmother used to bake. Here I've tried to replicate the slightly golden hue of white sugar cookies fresh out of the oven; this isn't a stark white, it's very soft and warm, with some yellow in it.

I've had this fantastic metallic blue tinsel glitter in my stash of supplies for some time now. It reminded me instantly of the blue pine needles of a faux blue Christmas tree. I feel like coloured trees went through a phase of popularity back in the day- does anyone else recall this phenomenon? This is my Christmas Tree In Blue, a mixture of metallic blue glitters, silver hexagonal glitter, fine holographic blue glitter, and different sizes and shapes of white glitter. The overall effect is very snowy, icy, and glitzy. Below I've swatched it over a grey-beige shade.

Holiday Glow is a luxurious mixture of superfine copper and gold flakes, as well as a smattering of gold holographic glitters. It's a luminous combination that reminds me of candlelight. Below it is pictured on it's own, but it could also be layered to create an interesting effect.

Joyeux Noël is a perfect Christmas polish- red and green metallic glitters in a multitude of different sizes, along with a smattering of gold holographic hexagonal glitter. Very festive! Below it is swatched over a forest green creme. 

I wanted to create a lacquer reminiscent of Christmas Lights at night- this is my take on that theme. A deep grape purple jelly containing multicoloured matte hexagonal glitters, small twinkling silver holographic glitter, and large metallic purple glitters. Below it is shown over a dark purple creme (Illamasqua Baptiste).

I'm also pleased to be offering minis for the first time! They will be available individually for $5, and as a set for $22. The regular size bottles are priced at $10 each, and are available as a full set for $45.

This collection will be available tomorrow in the Pirate Polish Etsy shop. You can also follow updates by checking Pirate Polish out on Facebook.

What do you think of my Pirate Polish Holiday collection? Is anything catching your eye?

Black Cat Lacquer - Tetris and Let Them Eat Cake

Tonight I've got a couple Black Cat Lacquers to show you! First up is Tetris, an assortment of multicoloured square glitters in a clear base; I can see gold, red, blue, green, and purple in this. All in all it's a fun polish, and the metallic squares really stand out. Really cute! I layered this over a deep grey- I think it might have been Nubar Palisade. 

I also have Let Them Eat Cake to show you; this is a delicate mixture of pastel glitters and tiny white glitters. I chose to layer it over Lime Crime's Milky Ways from the Lime Crime Desserts d'Antionette collection- a very fitting combination! Below you can see it at one coat- I like how it looks here, just delicately speckled. 

At three coats:

I'm a big fan of choosing fitting lacquers for correspondingly appropriate occasions- in this case, I wore Let Them Eat Cake to see the movie "Farewell, My Queen" (a movie about Marie Antionette and the days leading up to the French Revolution, as told through the eyes of a servant). Here is the trailer if you're interested- it was quite good!

What do you think of these two glitters? Have you seen the movie "Farewell, My Queen"?