ILNP Paper Route & Lucky 13 Lacquer Song Of Storms Glitter Gradient

Purchased Myself

Hello readers,
Today I have a simple glitter gradient to show you.  I used ILNP Paper Route as my base colour and then dabbed on Lucky 13 Lacquer Song Of Storms to do the gradient.  Finally, I used two coats of Essence Gel-Look top coat to smooth everything out to a glassy finish.  This is a super easy look but I think the results look really pretty.  Photos were taken in daylight spectrum lighting.

Summer Of Untrieds Day 29: Rainbow Honey - Sapphire Weapon & Tidal Wave

Hello readers,
The last few days of the summer of untrieds is upon us.  Day 29 called for rainbow honey's so I chose two shades from my collection to do a glitter gradient with.

Sapphire Weapon is a deep blue jelly base packed with blue, green and gold shimmer.  The colour is very pretty but the formula was pretty awful.  It was very hard to apply evenly because it got goopy so quickly. If you accidentally went over the same spot twice it dragged horrendously leaving these uneven blotches in the polish.  I used two coats but there were still some sheer spots due to this.  The formula for Tidal Wave, an glitter and shimmer packed aqua, was better but I didn't use it over the entire nail.  After all that I also experienced some pretty bad shrinkage.  You can see the beginnings of this in the photos at my nail tips.  I used my usual old CND base and top coats which I haven't had any shrinkage issues with before and I've used them with dozens of other brands.  Photos show a Sapphire Weapon and Tidal Wave gradient with two coats of CND Super Shiney top coat in natural lighting.

The colours are really pretty but the bad formula and shrinkage kind of nullified that for me.  I do have a couple other Rainbow Honey's in my collection so hopefully this is an isolated issue.

Happy polishing,

Michelle

Teal Glitter Gradient

Hello readers,
Today I have a quick post for you showcasing my favorite way to hide chips... glitter gradients!  My original many used a base colour of Arcane Lacquer Headstrong and one coat of Girly Bits Cosmic ocean to add shimmer.  To cover up some tip wear and minor chips I dabbled Rainbow Honey The Kraken on the tips.  Sparkly and functional! A coat of Seche Vite smoothed everything out and my mani was good to go for another couple days.

Happy polishing,

- Michelle

Pipe Dream Polish Swatch Spam Part I

Disclaimer:  This product was offered at a reduced price or at no charge to manicuremanifesto.com in exchange for published reviews.  All reviews are fair, honest and reflect my personal opinion.

Hello readers! Today we had our first real snowfall. I am celebrating it by avoiding the outdoors and slippery roads as much as possible and writing up a blog post instead. I have three polishes from Pipe Dream Polish to show you. I did go a little crazy with the camera so get ready to look at lots of pictures.

Bruises

You could probably guess the colour of Bruises without even seeing it.  It perfectly represents that dark blue-purple colour that a bruise first turns.  In indoor and overcast lighting it looks more like a metallic steel blue that shifts to purple when viewed from an angle.  The formula dried very quickly which means that it's much better to just wait to add another coat than to try and touch up the current one or you'll end up with smudges.  The coverage was very good and it only took two coats to become opaque.  Photos show two coats of Bruises with one coat of CND Super Shiney top coat in overcast natural lighting. The last two photos really show that purple shift that comes out at an angle.

Fall Again

Fall Again is a glitter topper packed with copper, bronze and brown glitter as well as gold flakes in a clear base.  There is a ton of glitter in this polish which means the formula was quite thick.  However, it was still easy to work with and the glitter payoff was fantastic.  I used it to create a glitter gradient over Bruises.  To give you an idea of coverage, I brushed one coat of Fall Again over the top two thirds of my nail and then dabbed a second coat on the very tips.  It dried a little uneven (I mean, look how much glitter there is) but I wouldn't go so far as to say it dried roughly.  One coat of a thicker top coat is enough to even everything out.  Photos show Fall Again over Bruises with one coat of Seche Vite in overcast natural lighting.

But wait! There's more! All of a sudden the sun actually peeked out from behind the clouds and these green flecks appeared in bruises that hadn't been visible before.  I liked Bruises before but now I love it.  Photos below show the same mani in brighter sunlight.

Tomorrow's A Mystery

It's teal.  It's glittery.  What's not to love?  Tomorrow's A Mystery features a teal jelly base packed (and I mean packed!) with lime green holo, turquoise, and green circle glitters along with several shades of blue and green smaller glitters.  I love the circle glitters in this.  Because of all the glitter the formula was somewhat thick but it wasn't too hard to work with.  Also, because of how dense the glitter is it only took two coats to become opaque.  Like with Fall Again the glitter did dry a little unevenly but it wasn't rough to the touch.  The jelly base also dried with a satin finish so if you want a high gloss finish just add a shiny top coat.  Photos show two coats of Tomorrow's A Mystery with one coat of Seche Vite in natural lighting.

Conclusion

If I had to choose a favorite I think it would be bruises.  Those green flecks that come out in the sun are super pretty.  It's a tough choice though because the three polishes are so different.  The only bad thing about such great polishes is my wishlist from this indie maker just doesn't stop growing.  If you'd like some Pipe Dream Polishes of your very own check out the Pipe Dream Polish Etsy Shop and facebook page.  I have three more polishes to swatch and then I'll be back later this week with Pipe Dream Polish Part II!  Until then, happy polishing. :)

Lucky 13 Lacquer Trine Swatches & Review

I know summertime calls for bright and vibrant colours, but today I couldn't resist doing a dark mani.  I settled on doing a glitter gradient with Lucky 13 Lacquer Trine over China Glaze Crimson.  Trine is a sheer purple jelly packed with small blue glitter and medium gold hexes.  China Glaze Crimson is a dark almost black plum purple.

I dabbed one coat of Trine over my base colour .  The outcome isn't quite a gradient... more like selective glitter placement but I still think it looks amazing.  If you wanted glitter over your full nail you could definitely just brush this on without any dabbing.  I was just being picky about where the gold glitters went.

Pictures show once coat of Lucky 13 Lacquer Trine over two coats of China Glaze Crimson with one coat of Gelous in natural sunlight.  I absolutely love how this turned out.  It's very eye catching and glittery while still looking sophisticated.  Trine is part of the Humble Indie (Polish) Bundle collection which is only available when Humble Indie (Game) Bundles are for sale.  Keep your eye on the Lucky 13 Lacquer facebook page and you'll know when these are up for grabs.  In the meantime, go check out the Lucky 13 Lacquer shop for lots of other amazing polishes.  I definitely have my eye on some from the Teal collection.  No surprise there, since teal is my favorite polish colour.