Ruby White Tips – Christmas Balls

Nothing to Disclose

I am so thrilled to have finally got my mitts on a bottle of Ruby White Tips nail polish! I’ve heard good things about them around the blogosphere and I’ve been stalking their website and drooling over the polish. Then something happened that motivated me to push that “add to cart” button like I’d been yearning to do. Laura, the owner of Ruby White Tips, released her Holiday collection which includes the polish I am going to show you. I love every single thing about this polish!

Just look! Now first let me just say, I adore that there are little rhinestones stuck to the cap – I think that’s adorable! It makes it so girly and fun! I’ll give you a moment to collect yourself over the stunning polish. What we have here is a pearly shimmery base packed with tons of glitter, red metallic dots and squares and gold metallic dots. What’s really special about this polish though is that there is a color-shift in the base and so in some lights it looks pink! I tried to capture that pink shift for you! It really is such a lovely sparkly polish, and dare I say it, FESTIVE!

Application was easy breezy, really one of the easier glitter polishes I’ve ever applied. The glitter spread out evenly without manipulation and even though the polish is sheer and takes about three coats it does build up very easily to reach opacity.

Polishes used in this manicure: Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu; Ruby White Tips – Christmas Balls; Nail Pattern Boldness – Glitter Food; Glisten & Glow – HK Girl Topcoat

I would definitely recommend this polish and since this I have scored a couple more bottles that I’ll be showing you in the near future! You can keep up to date with Ruby White Tips on their facebook page and website (definitely follow them on facebook so that you will be kept in the loop for her contests and giveaways!) and you can buy Ruby White Tips in their Etsy shop!

Ellagee Review!

Discount Provided for Honest Review

My dearest readers let me just tell you now – I have some great things in store for you today! These are the first Ellagee polishes that I’ve ever gotten but I can tell you right now these will NOT be my last!! Furthermore you’re going to start to see me branch out into colors and finishes and effects that I haven’t touched on yet!

First up is Not the Droids You Are Looking For.

Look how fun! NtDYALF is a clear based glitter topper. There are just tons and tons of gold, silver, and blue dots inspired by C-3PO and R2D2! The glitter spread was very nice and I didn’t have to manipulate it much if at all.

These pictures show one coat over undies!

Polishes used in this manicure: Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu Basecoat; Tip Top Nails – Cherry’s in the Snow; Ellagee – Not the Droids You Are Looking For; Nail Pattern Boldness – Glitter Food; Glisten & Glow – HK Girl Topcoat

Next we have one that I was really really excited about. The only disappointment is that I am not able to do this polish justice in my pictures. I give you La Fée Verte. Well actually I’m not giving it to you this one is MINE!

Look at that lovely green fairy! This polish comes from Ellagee’s Cocktail Hour collection and this is a thermal polish inspired by Absinthe. When it’s warm it is a lovely silvery gray with just the barest hint of green. When it is cool it is a deeper green. Also sprinkled throughout is a smattering of holographic micro-glitters. Application was easy breezy and the thermal effect is really very neat I just couldn’t seem to capture it very effectively, it was pretty cold in my office and I would get my nails warmed up as best as I could but these pictures show it closer to the cool (temperature) shade.

This polish actually dries to a very lovely satiny finish, not really matte, but not super blinding shiny either. These pictures show two coats with topcoat.

Polishes used in this manicure: Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu Basecoat; Ellagee – La Fée Verte; Glisten & Glow – HK Girl Topcoat

Last but NOT least in any way shape or form is a BEAUTIFUL polish from Ellagee’s Holiday collection. This is Everyone Wishes for Silver and Gold

Really, I could faint over this. It’s so gorgeous. I know that this kind of color is a real departure for me. I am not one to go in for a bunch of neutral shades. This however is so amazingly classy, classic, and just lovely. Everyone Wishes for Silver and Gold is an ivory crelly packed with multi-sized gold, silver, and white metallic and holographic circle glitters! You know I am a complete sucker for circle or dot glitter. The overall effect is just so delicate and lovely. I will probably be reaching for this one more than once this Holiday season! You’ll have to act quick for this one though it is a limited edition for the Holidays only!

Picture shows two coats and the glitter spread was very nice and easy and didn’t require any major placement or manipulation. I do like that I seemed to get a good mix of all the glitters on my nails, even the larger dots were no problem at all. I did use glitter food, although I probably could have gotten away with not using it and just opted for an extra thick coat of HK Girl.

Polishes used in this manicure: Glisten & Glow – Stuck on Blu Basecoat; Ellagee – Everyone Wishes for Silver and Gold; Nail Pattern Boldness – Glitter Food; Glisten & Glow – HK Girl Topcoat

I am thrilled with these polishes and I foresee many more bottles of Ellagee polishes making their way to nest here at my house. You can buy Ellagee polish here and keep up to date on all the news, sales, and contests on the Ellagee Facebook page!

Big Spoon Lacquers – Holiday Collection

Provided for Honest Review

Hello my lovelies! I have three AH-Mazing polishes from Big Spoon Lacquer’s Holiday collection to share with you. I am super excited to show them to you! Big Spoon Lacquers is a brand new indie polish line and so far I have been uber-delighted with Pauline’s lacquers! I could not pick a favorite from these three!

I’m going to cut right to the chase and show you these pretty polishes! First up we have Meet Me Under the Mistletoe!

Meet Me Under the Mistletoe is a delightfully delicate and feminine polish. It made me feel all kinds of girly! The polish is a sheer white crelly with a sprinkling of metallic magenta hexes and metallic lime green dots. It does go on sheer as I mentioned but it does build up nicely or it could be paired with undies. I do not tend to like using undies for jelly or crelly polishes as it causes them to lose some of their squishiness (which is the reason I love them).

Picture shows four thin coats with topcoat. As with the other Big Spoon Lacquers I reviewed here there was no need for glitter food and the glitter spread is very nice and required no manipulation or fishing.

Polishes used in manicure: Glisten & Glow Stuck on Blu, Big Spoon Lacquers Meet Me Under the Mistletoe, Glisten & Glow HK Girl Quick Dry Topcoat.

Next up we have a BEAUTIFUL jelly based polish. I have to tell you I knew when I saw the pictures of it that I would need to own it. Kiss Me at Midnight is a lovely polish that I can see working for the Holidays or all year long!

As with all jelly polishes this one is another sheer polish but it does build up to opacity or it can be paired with undies. Kiss Me at Midnight is a squishy denim blue jelly polish and it is packed with aqua and magenta micro glitter. I LOVE it!

I actually would have done just two coats but there would have been a little more VNL which I would have been ok with but I did three which shows only the tiniest bit of VNL and four coats would have reached full opacity. It was a dream to apply.

Polishes used in this manicure: Glisten & Glow Stuck on Blu, Big Spoon Lacquers Kiss Me at Midnight, Glisten & Glow HK Girl Quick Dry Topcoat.

Finally, my favorite of the three that I received. It is simply to die for.

This lovely polish is Christmas Tree In a Bottle. It literally LOOKS like a Christmas Tree in a Bottle. I was giddy with excitement that I received this polish in my review package. It is a real stunner of a polish and one that I foresee being one of my all time favorite Holiday polishes.

Christmas Tree In a Bottle is lovely green jelly based polish with tiny matte yellow and medium sized matte blue hexes, tiny metallic magenta hexes, teensie tiny holographic dots, and holographic gold bars. It catches the light so beautifully and just sparkles and glitters like crazy!

It is a jelly based polish but builds up to opacity in TWO coats – all of the squishiness that you could dream of in a jelly based polish and as with all of Pauline’s glitter polishes is it packed to the brim with all kinds of glittery goodness, no fishing, digging, manipulating, or otherwise messing around just easy breezy application!

Polishes used in this manicure: Glisten & Glow Stuck on Blu, Big Spoon Lacquers Christmas Tree In a Bottle, Glisten & Glow HK Girl Quick Dry Topcoat.

Now, Big Spoon Lacquers is having a PRE-Black Friday sale so that you can get amazing prices without having to schedule it in with all of your other Black Friday shopping! The sale starts TOMORROW November 22, 2013 at 6PM EST.

Here are the sale details: All polishes are $5.50 alone or priced at $5 if they are bought in a set. It’s site wide. There will be grab bags of 3 minis for $6. And any orders of $15 or more will receive a free mini of a shade that is only available through this offer which is a dark green with light green and darker green shimmers throughout called Shop Til You Drop. Also, 20% of all sales (not just profit) will be donated to a former SEAL whose dog was hit by a car yesterday to help pay for vet costs that are estimated to reach upwards of $10,000.

You can find out all about this and other news about Big Spoon Lacquers on their facebook page and you can pick up all of your favorite lacquers at their shop!

Big Spoon Lacquers – Norway Collection

Provided for Honest Review

Hello all you lovelies out there! I have something super exciting to share with you! It is no secret that I love indie nail polish. In fact I would say I probably hit you over the head with that fact on a right regular basis. Don’t worry there will be no actual hitting! Instead, today I’m bringing you the first of two posts featuring a brand new indie polish brand, Big Spoon Lacquers!

So in this first post I’m going to share two of the polishes from the Norway Collection. This is Pauline’s inaugural collection that includes some really amazing glitter polishes! All of the polishes in this collection are based on “the natural beauty that can be found in Norway.” Let me just say that I’ve never been to Norway but I could imagine any of the 5 polishes in the collections being very representative of that country!

Let’s get it started!

Up first I have Geirangerfjord (Go ahead try to say that five times fast, I dare you! No? Alright carry on.) This is a stunner of a polish even though I was slightly apprehensive about the yellow glitters! Yellow and I are not the best of friends. I needn’t have been apprehensive AT ALL. I loved this polish far more than I expected to!

Geirangerfjord has a yellowy-green tinted base is and is PACKED to the brim with a multitude of glitters: tiny metallic green hexes, tiny matte yellow hexes, teensie weensie little green bar glitters, and metallic gold dots. Even though this baby is packed to the brim with glitter they all lay nice and flat to the nail, the spread was lovely and even without any manipulation, and pictures show three coats plus topcoat – NO Glitter Food was necessary to smooth it out!

Polishes used in this manicure: Glisten and Glow Stuck on Blu Basecoat, Big Spoon Lacquers Geirangerfjord, Glisten and Glow HK Girl Topcoat.

Next up is my favorite of the two I’m reviewing today, Trollveggan. Trollveggan is so flipping amazing that I almost couldn’t contain myself when I put it on! It’s just lovely! It makes me think of icy seas and cold cloudy days when I look at it!

I don’t really know where to start. I loved every single thing about this polish! It is absolutely beautiful. Trollveggan has a pearly gray base that is packed to the brim with glitters, just like Geirangerfjord. There is metallic aqua microglitter, medium sized metallic aqua hexes, small matte silver dots, and tiny holographic gold bar glitters. It’s utterly stunning and pictures do not do it justice in the least!

I will say that the aqua hexes do have a slight reflective curl but it does not translate to the glitter itself and everything spread out and laid on the nail perfectly flat without any issues at all. Neither of these two polishes required any special fishing and manipulation to come up with a good glitter payoff!

The picture shows 3 coats plus topcoat, I personally would have stopped at 2 however there was a slight VNL at two coats that would not have bothered me in the least but I know that some people don’t care for it so I pushed it to three for the pictures to show you can reach opacity easily. Again, no Glitter Food was necessary to achieve a smooth glassy finish!

Polishes used in this manicure: Glisten and Glow Stuck on Blu Basecoat, Big Spoon Lacquers Trollveggan, Glisten and Glow HK Girl Topcoat.

I was extremely delighted with these polishes. Too often I play hunt and fish for glitters or I have to manipulate the glitters on the nail once I get them there. I didn’t have to do that with these polishes. They are sheer but they build up very nicely to opacity without any hassle or problems. I foresee many Big Spoon Lacquers in my future! You can keep up to date on all the happenings with Big Spoon Lacquers at their facebook page and instagram and you can purchase them in their online shop!

Top Five Faves…For now!

Nothing to Disclose

The other day when I was talking with some friends we were discussing our top five favorite nail polishes. Naturally I had to sit down and think about it. I decided that I was kind of interested in what I gravitated toward the most and also I wanted an excuse to pull out all my bottles and gaze at the prettiness (don’t judge!).

Then I decided I should share with YOU my beloved readers what those favorites are. Because these are polishes I have purchased over time some of them may be discontinued (SORRY!) however, I’ll note if they are still a currently available color in my review!

Like all nail polish addicts I’m a fickle junkie, so I think I’ll revisit this topic in a few months and keep sharing this with you on a seasonal or quarterly basis maybe? Let me know if you would be interested in that!

Without further ado and in no particular order, here are my top five faves!

Etoile – Frosted Berry (Currently Available)

This is a pink leaning berry red – it’s not really as red as you might expect but more of a light raspberry color. However, just like berries this color is juicy and delicious! To top off what is truly an amazing formula there is a swirl of diamond dust. That’s right I said DIAMOND dust! Talk about luxurious! Ooo la la!

This picture is one coat – ONE COAT!! SOUND THE ALARMS we have a ONE COAT WONDER! I didn’t top coat this one but I did wear a base coat but when I removed it there was no pesky staining even though it is just mega-saturated with color.

Used in this manicure: Glisten and Glow Stuck on Blu, Etoile Frosted Berry

Lucky 13 – Softening the Bad Things (Discontinued)

Excuse me while I have a fangirl moment. This polish is based on an episode of Doctor Who, which is my ALL TIME FAVORITE show EVER. Yes I intended to yell there, if I could have made the font larger I WOULD have! To even further increase my love of this polish it is one of Kyoti’s “Polishes with a Purpose” which are polishes that she developed to show support for a particular cause and some of the proceeds of the purchase of this special line of polishes goes to charity!

This polish is discontinued (SORRY!) but it is still in my top five favorite. This polish was created to support and increase awareness for mental illness. I don’t know anyone who hasn’t been affected in some way, either themselves or someone close to them, by mental illness. I myself struggle with depression as do a number of my family members. It is also based on one of my favorite quotes from the Doctor.

source

This polish is a beautiful soft blue crelly and it is sprinkled with multi-sized gold hexes and tiny copper glitters. It goes on with all the ease that I’ve come to expect from Lucky 13 and I adore it. It just makes me feel good when I wear it.

Used in this manicure: Glisten and Glow Stuck on Blu, Lucky 13 Softening the Bad Things, Nail Pattern Boldness Glitter Food, Glisten and Glow HK Girl Quick Dry Topcoat

Digital Nails – Double Rainicorn (Currently Available)

OH.MY.HECK! Ok so, Digital Nails was my first indie brand polish. I *heart* Digital Nails so much! Every polish I have ordered from her I love and adore! This is my favorite Digital Nails polish that I own (I’m sure if I owned more another might top it but for now this one holds the top spot). Let me tell you a funny story about this polish. While I was making my very first order my aunt and I were looking at all the pretty colors and I needed to order one more to get a free shipping deal so I asked her to pick one. She picked Double Rainicorn and I was sort of “meh” about it. I thought it was pretty but not my cup of tea! Boy oh boy am I ever glad I listened to my aunt – online pictures of this massive glitter bomb do NOT do it justice. My dear readers you are IN LUCK because not only is Double Rainicorn still a current polish but it is even IN STOCK! I highly recommend it! If you love glitter this polish is for you!

Double Rainicorn is a clear based glitter topper and it is packed with all sorts of glitter and shimmer. There are multi-sized yellow squares, blue and green hexes, red hexes, silver shimmer, red microglitter, red bar glitters, and my favorite GIANT pink holographic circles! This is a bit of a challenge to put on I’ll admit – it works best dabbed over a base color but the glitter payoff is huge. These photos show little to no manipulation of glitter once dabbed and I didn’t have to do a whole lot of fishing either even for those big circles. Also, I’ve had this one for awhile so there was a wee bit of settling, but honestly I’ve come to expect that from glitter polishes and turning it upside down for 10-15 minutes before applying sorts all that out!

Used in this manicure: Glisten and Glow Stuck on Blu, Bondi New York Lady Liberty, Digital Nails Double Rainicorn, Nail Pattern Boldness Glitter Food, Glisten and Glow HK Girl Quick Dry Topcoat

Enchanted Polish – Magical Mystery Tour (Currently Available?)

I love the Enchanted Polish lacquers that I own, but none so much as Magical Mystery Tour. It is part of the Imagine collection which is as far as I’m aware still a current collection but as with all EPs it could be discontinued with the drop of a hat and they are as scarce as raindrops in hell. This was my first EP and up until I owned it I didn’t understand what all the hullabaloo (I just wanted to say hullabaloo…Score! I used it twice!) was all about and then I won my first EP from the lovely Jini over at MakeUpMom123 and I was hooked.

Magical Mystery Tour is a lovely color shifting polish with a very slight bit of holographic shimmer. The polish shifts from indigo, to emerald, to dark purplish pink. My camera totally freaked out at it, so I was unable to truly capture the color shift, but trust me when I tell you that it is AH-mazing!

Used in this manicure: Glisten and Glow Stuck on Blu, Enchanted Polish Magical Mystery Tour, Glisten and Glow HK Girl Quick Dry Topcoat

Jindie Nails – Princess Breath (Currently Available)

Seriously. I had to own a polish named Princess Breath I just HAD to! It was the first polish that attracted me to Jindie Nails (even though it wasn’t the first Jindie I ever got). It is stunningly beautiful and if I had to imagine a princess’s breath in a visual way, I have to say it would look like this! I believe that this is part of her core collection and has not been discontinued though it is not available on her site right now. Jindie is also available at Llarowe and Harlow and Co.

Princess Breath is a GORGEOUS teal leaning blue crelly polish packed with hexes and dots in all sorts of metallic colors, pink, lime green, blue in various sizes. I love Jindie’s crellies they are just ah-mazing!! This was a very easy polish to apply, sometimes glitter heavy crelly polishes can be challenging but this one just wasn’t, photos show two coats with little to no manipulation of glitter and absolutely no fishing or dabbing.

Used in this manicure: Glisten and Glow Stuck on Blu, Jindie Nails Princess Breath, Nail Pattern Boldness Glitter Food, Glisten and Glow HK Girl Quick Dry Topcoat