January 31, 2014

Girly Bits Peel Here Swatches & Review

Hello readers! Today I have half of the Girly Bits 2nd Anniversary Duo to show you, Peel Here. This polish features a mix of shimmer and holo that Pam has termed a 'shimmolo'. This is a perfect shade if you're limited to wearing neutral polish, or if you love greys in general.


The formula on this was one really easy to apply.  I used three coats but I'm pretty sure you could get away with two.  (I'm always paranoid about sheer spots appearing in pictures of light polishes that just aren't apparent to the naked eye).  The shimmer is stronger than the holo in this one but if you get it out in the sun there is a nice scatter holo that comes out to play.  Photos show three coats of Peel Here with one coat of Gelous as a top coat in natural (overcast) lighting.




You may have noticed a small black streak at the edge of my ring finger in the second picture.  I seem to have gotten a dud bottle.  There are a few small bits of black pigment that didn't mix in properly.  The result is that little black streak.  I got in touch with Pam at Girly Bits and she is sending out a replacement bottle so I am completely satisfied with her customer service.  I am quickly falling in love with this brand.  Great polishes plus great customer service?  I couldn't ask for anything more.  Well, except that Girly Bits is also Canadian... bonus!  You can find Girly Bits at:

Happy Polishing!
- Michelle

January 29, 2014

Arcane Lacquer Lonely Dreamer Swatches & Review

Hello readers! Today I have one of the polishes from my Arcane Lacquer boxing day haul to show you, Lonely Dreamer. I've been eying this brand for a while now. I originally learned about it when searching for "nail polish" on Etsy and just seeing what came up. (I like to do that every so often to discover new to me brands). To my disappointment I quickly say that a) I wanted all of their colours and b) they only shipped to Australia. My wallet was happy in the mean time at least. A few months later Llarowe announced they would be stocking Arcane Lacquer and a little bit after that Harlow&Co started to as well. I picked up a couple when they went on sale but my collection was still quite small. Then, a few weeks before Christmas Bec (the face behind the brand) announced that she was going to have a massive boxing day sale and was going to offer a limited number of international shipments. I knew my will power was no match and that my Arcane Lacquer collection was going to grow... a lot.


Lonely Dreamer is a shimmery taupey-purple with teeny tiny gold sparkles.  The formula applied easily and there were none of those little streaks that you get with some frosty polishes.  My only issue with this polish is that is took a while to dry.  I ended up denting a couple of fingers hours after applying it.  Next time I will just use a fast drying top coat instead.  Photos show three coats of Lonely Dreamer with one coat of CND Super Shiney top coat in natural lighting.




Overall I think this is a really pretty neutral polish. Except for the longer drying time the formula was great and since I think a different top coat will take care of that issue it's not a big deal. You can find Arcane Lacquer at:


Happy Polishing,

- Michelle

January 27, 2014

The Lacquer Legion January Challenge: Reinvention

Hello readers! I decided to take part in The Lacquer Legion monthly mani challenge earlier this year.  Once a month is the perfect time commitment for me (I am The Lazy Laquerista after all :P).  I hope this challenge will force me to think up some mani's that normally wouldn't cross my mind and try some new techniques.  January's challenge was 'Reinvention'.  I went for a literal translation of this them and was inspired by an item that has been used in inventions for centuries... gears!  I went for a greyscale industrial colour palette with accents of interlocking gears.  My black nail art pen certainly got a work out today! Here's what I came up with.



I can't wait to see what next month's theme will be.

Happy polishing!

- Michelle

January 25, 2014

Lucky 13 Lacquer Electric Abyss and Stereotypical Sapphire Swatches & Review

Hello readers! A few months ago I got Kyoti over at Lucky 13 Lacquer to make me a slew of simple custom polishes.  What is a simple custom you ask?  A simple custom takes pieces from existing polishes in the L13L and mixing them together.  Maybe you like the base from Polish A but would prefer it with the glitter mix from Polish B.  Or, perhaps you love a polish but want to exlude one of the glitters in the mix.  That kind of stuff!  Basically, you can mix and match from existing polishes.  Today I have two of the polishes I had made to show you.  One of the funnest parts is coming up with the names to put on your creation.  For these too I chose Electric Abyss and Stereotypical Sapphire.


Electric Abyss was created by adding the shimmer from Big-City Dandy to a blurple jelly base instead of the original black jelly base.  Stereotypical Sapphire was created by taking out the moon and star glitter from Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey and replacing half of the medium ocean blue glitters with medium purple glitter.  See what I mean about tweaking existing polishes to make them your own?  I used Electric Abyss as my main mani colour and used Stereotypical Sapphire on my accent nail.  I found Electric Abyss a tad thick but it dried quickly so that turned out to be a non-issue.  (My usual fear of thick polishes as that they will take forever and a half to dry).  There was a slight reflective curl to the glitter in Stereotypical Sapphire but didn't translate to a physical curl on the nail.  Photos show three coats of Electric Abyss.  On my ring finger I have two coats of Stereotypical Sappire over one coat of Electric Abyss.  I accidentally forgot I was doing an accent nail until after the first coat, oops!  Everything was topped with one coat of seche vite.



So what do you think?  I'm leaning towards Electric Abyss as my favorite of these two.  I'm just love that squishy shimmer finish (and I don't have to fight to get glitter off).  I had so much fun creating these and Kyoti was very patient with all my requests.  I'm pretty sure I sent over a dozen emails containing idea, tweaks and suggestions.  If you want a simple custom of your very own get in touch with Kyoti via the Lucky 13 Lacquer website, or you can always send her a message on facebook.  I really need to try the other ones she sent me now.

Happy Polishing!

- Michelle

January 23, 2014

Battle Of The Purple Multichromes Part II - The Holo Multichromes!


Hello readers! Are you ready for some more comparisons??  Did you catch Part I of my purple multichrome comparison yesterday featuring Girly Bits I Hit My Bunny Phone and KBShimmer Pigment Of My Imagination?  If not, you can check it out here.  Today I have the four remaining holo purple multichromes to show you and you can decide if they are different enough to need them all.

Enchanted Polish Yesterday vs Girly Bits Belly Jeans vs Enchanted Polish Octopus's Garden vs ILNP Cygnus Loop (H)


Right off the bat we can see that two of these are definitely not dupes.  EP Yesterday is more pink toned than the rest and Girly Bits Belly Jeans has more holo.  EP Octopus's Garden and ILNP Cygnus Loop (H) look identical in the bottle though so it was worth checking out if that translated to the nail.  Photos show two coats of each polish with no top coat in natural lighting.




The verdict?  I'm saying Octopus's Garden and Cygnus Loops (H) are dupes.  They have the same amount of holo and the same colour shift.  The only difference I found was that Cygnus Loop (H) was a tiny bit more pigmented.  I think if I had added a third coat of Octopus's Garden then the opacity would have been exactly the same.  Belly Jeans has the same colour shift as those two but has significantly more holo pigment.  Yesterday is a different colour all together.

Out of the two dupes I would have to declare ILNP Cygnus Loop (H) the winner.  It is slightly more pigmented which is always nice, it is readily available and it's cheaper than the Enchanted Polish.  I hope this comparison makes your multichrome shopping a little less confusing and your bank account a little happier.

Happy Polishing!

- Michelle

January 22, 2014

Battle Of The Purple Multichromes Part I - The Metallic Multichromes!


Hello readers! I feel like multichromes are the new holo.  Lots of different makers have had multichromes as part of recent collections which leads to the question: Do you need to get them all?  I realized that I have a lot of purple based multichromes in my collection already and decided to compare them to try and give you an answer.

Girly Bits I Hit My Bunny Phone vs KBShimmer Pigment Of My Imagination


Today I am comparing the two straight metallic multichromes that I have in my possession.  That is, they have no added holo pigment and give a shiny metallic finish.  On first look in the bottle they definitely look identical.  Both start with an indigo blurple base that shift to a redder purple and then to a coppery orange.  As I was putting them on there was one difference that became apparent.  Girly Bits I Hit My Bunny Phone was more pigmented than KBShimmer Pigment Of My Imagination.  In the end I only needed two coats of the Girly Bits polish but required three of the KBShimmer polish.  Photos show both polishes in natural lighting with no top coat.




So, what do you think?  I declare dupes!  You definitely don't need both of these in your collection.  I don't think there is a clear winner either though.  I Hit My Bunny Phone is more pigmented and requires less coats but it is also more expensive, retailing at $12.50-$13.  Pigment Of My Imagination is less pigmented and requires more coats but it is less expensive, retailing at $8.75-$9.25. So, for about two thirds the price you get a bottle that will last two thirds as long.  They both had easy to apply formulas that dried smoothly and both had the exact same end look.  I really think which is best for you really depends on what qualities you're looking for in a polish.  I'll be back later this week with the remaining four polishes - the holo purple multichromes!

Happy Polishing,

- Michelle

January 21, 2014

Abstract Lines

Hello readers! A quick post from me today.  I'm sitting at home fighting off a cold right now and have decided that the only benefit is that I can't smell any polish or remover fumes.  I used China Glaze Liquid Leather, my bundle monster BM-201 stamping plate and my Barry M black nail art pen to add some abstract lines over top of the KBShimmer Rollin' With The Chromies mani I was already wearing.  Since pictures are so much better than words I'll just stop talking now and go get myself some tea.  Enjoy :)






Happy Polishing!

- Michelle
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