Today I want to show you Arcane Lacquer's oh-so-pretty "The Power, The Passion"

Hello to you all on this cold and dreary Saturday, I hope everyone is having a good weekend.
The house I'm renting is (unfortunately) currently on the market, which means my daughter, our youngest cat and I all have to nick off for 20 minutes every Saturday morning while they have an open for inspection. It is such a pain in the arse... I just want to spend a Saturday morning in my pj's, lounging around and being completely unproductive, so I really hope the house sells soon.

This Saturday in particular is a bit bleh as I'm starting to feel nervous about Monday's surgery. I'm getting my bag packed, running through my list of things to take and feeling like I'm forgetting something, like I always do. And just to add to the mood my skin has broken out, which is par for the course when I'm stressed.
Oh well, it''ll all be over by Monday evening, which will be a huge relief.

Anyway, in the meantime here's a mani I did yesterday featuring my other recent Arcane Lacquer purchase, "The Power, The Passion". I also used Nubar's "Star Sparkle" on my accent finger to add to the bling factor... and it really is blingy :D

"The Power, The Passion" is a dark, purple based glitter polish, not exactly what I'd call a jelly as it's not particularly viscous, but that's the best description I can think of. And in that base is a veritable smorgasbord of different coloured microglitter- from hot pink to green to holographic- all of it adding heaps of character to the polish and phenomenal levels of bling.

As with my other Arcane Lacquer's the formula is a delight to use, the dry time is minimal and I only needed two coats to achieve full coverage. Of course, being a glitter dense polish it dries slightly gritty, but one generous coat of Seche Vite was all it took to achieve a glassy smooth finish.

And will you look at that bling? So beautiful! The sun makes the colours jump out from that gorgeous, rich purple base. It's another "keep your eyes on the road" type polish that has me constantly distracted by the rainbow flashes as I'm driving.
I wonder if you can insure for nail polish induced accidents?

I don't know if I'll get around to doing another mani before I head off to hospital, especially as it all needs to come off for the operation, but if I do I'll try to take some nice pics before I go.

I must admit, the best part about all of this is that I'm coming home to a ridiculous amount of nail mail... I ordered far too much this week, but I justified it with the fact that I'm about to be operated on.
Plus, I'll use the polish as a recovery tool- happy minds/healthy bodies and all that.
So really, it was all for my health. Totally legitimate, right? See, I knew you'd understand. Those silly debt collectors, they just don't get it ;)

Arcane Lacquer is available through Etsy as well as through several overseas nail polish stockists- for a list of names just check the info page on Arcane's Etsy store.

If you happen to remember, please throw some good thoughts my way this Monday arvo when I go under the knife, and I'll see you all soon,
Em xox

A quickie post today- hospital news and Arcane Lacquer's The Power, the Passion

Well, I got a call from the hospital yesterday, I go in for my third, and hopefully last, surgery on Monday (well, last for a while anyway).
They really didn't give me much notice- five days isn't cool when you're a single mum needing to organise school runs and house sitters and all that jazz. Thankfully we're all pretty used to this, so it only too a few phone calls for things to fall into place.

Of course, going in for surgery also means having to take all my polish off and show my stained nails to the world haha. And they are badly stained, thanks to a cheap black polish that managed to breach my base coat's defenses and leave my nails a delightful shade of gangrene.

I'm currently umming and ahhing about whether to go nuts and paint my nails everyday leading up to Monday, or be a tightarse and stick to what I have on now for as long as possible.
IDK, chances are I'll have a new colour on by tomorrow's end.

Today, however, I just had a very quick play with my other Arcane Lacquer acquisition "The Power, The Passion", a deep, dark purple that is so full of different coloured microglitter I almost drove off the road staring at it.

The Power, The Passion

I thought it would look good with the pink of Funhouse and I was right, the colours really compliment eachother.
So I did a very quick gradient and then spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to capture the ever elusive sparkle...

Anyway, there you have it, a very quick, slightly messy but oh so shiny gradient using the gorgeous Arcane Lacquer's "Funhouse" and "The Power, The Passion".
Hope you like it :)

Let me introduce you to Arcane Lacquer's aptly named "Funhouse"

I say "aptly named" because this polish is bright, pink and a lot of fun to wear.

Now, as I'm sure you know, the indie polish market is pretty saturated (terrible pun, I know) and it can be hard for polish makers to stand out from the crowd.
I'm lucky because Australia has some of the best indie polish makers around, so we're kinda spoilt for choice over here. But even with all the competition and all the great indie brands there are a couple that stand head and shoulders above the rest. Arcane Lacquer is one such brand.

Bec, the creator of Arcane Lacquer, also runs a nail blog called Nail Gun xs,and does some of the best nail swatches I've ever come across. She really is gifted. And it's clear she takes as much care with her polishes as she does with her swatches, because every single one I have tried or read about is sublime.
The formulas are so easy to work with, the colours are true and beautiful, regardless if its a work-safe grey or bold and bright purple... what can I say? Everything just seems to work together perfectly.
Now, me being the sort of person I am and also being stuck at home, well, I can get away with wearing any colour I choose, so I decided when ordering my polishes that I would get something bright and cheerful and, of course, blingy...The Power, The Passion and Funhouse filled all of those qualifications and then some;

Funhouse and The Power, The Passion

It wasn't easy choosing which polish to try first, but I decided to think pink and went with Funhouse.
 

And oh boy am I glad I did :D
This is a scrumptious polish, full of bright, vivid pink microglitter that sparkles and shines and shifts as the light hits it. And what makes this really stand out from the crowd is the scattering of vivid blue microglitter throughout, a combination that gives the polish an orchid purple look in some lights.

The formula of this polish was a breeze to use, smooth and easy, with the dense microglitter dispersing evenly across the nail. It dried quickly between coats and I was able to achieve a glassy smooth finish with one topcoat of Poshe. It really doesn't get any better than that.

I used three coats here and, while you could get away with two, I think three takes it to the next level in terms of colour depth and richness.

All in all I really like Funhouse and I can see myself wearing it a lot- I think it would also work really well with nail art and I'm already thinking of things I can do, most likely involving accent nails and neon stars (that really seems to be my go-to mani, it's so much fun and doesn't take away from the beauty of the main polish).

 

 

 There's nothing left to say except go and check out Arcane Lacquer, you won't be disappointed. I'll definitely be reviewing The Power, The Passion sooner rather than later, but until then enjoy the glory that is Funhouse :)

Em x

Pretty Serious Cosmetics have managed to knock my socks off with this one

Hey all, hope your week is progressing nicely, or at least that you don't feel the urge to throttle anyone (you gotta take your wins where you can).
Today I am sharing a polish that has honestly blown me away with its loveliness. It's "Seasonal Sunset" by Pretty Serious Cosmetics.

I know I gush about most of my polishes, but that's because most of the ones I buy are me to a T, so of course I'm going to think they're awesome ;)
But this one really surprised me. I knew I'd like it, but I had no idea just how much. And it's not just me, I've had several people compliment me on my nails since I've been wearing it, which is a lot considering I'm almost a recluse!

So lets have a look at what's got me all a flutter... Pretty Serious Cosmetics' "Seasonal Sunset";

 

This is a gorgeous, lush polish simply chock full of microglitter of various colours- there's copper, bronze, gold and more in a jelly base that is almost a dark, burnt orange.
It applies beautifully, and I found it was opaque at two coats but, as I always do, I added a third for good measure.
Dry time was pretty fast and, as with all 3 and 5 free polishes that I've used, the formula can get a little thick quite quickly, so this is a polish that benefits from a reasonably fast application.  A generous coat of Poshe and I was done- all up this was a very quick manicure and the polish applied so evenly and smoothly that I had hardly any clean up, even on my non dominant hand.

What I love about this polish is just how complex the colour play is- every movement of my hands causes the polish to reveal a slightly different side of itself, and when it's hit by direct sunlight it simply blazes with colour- I describe it as having a sunset on my fingertips.

sunlight glittery gorgeousness

You can see just how complex the colours are in this polish just by looking at my swatches- no two show the exact same shade.

I know a lot of people are leery of bronze-like colours so I've decided to overwhelm you with pictures so I can convert you to the bronze side. One of us! One of us!
Seriously though, this would suit so many skin tones, it really is a versatile polish- I can only imagine how it would glow against a darker skin tone <3

Alright, enough polish pic spam... well, 2 more and then I'll call it a day, o.k?

Unfortunately this colour is being discontinued, so you better hurry on over to the Pretty Serious site and snag yourself a bottle- plus it's on sale for only $5.95, so even better!

And I'll see you all very soon with even more Australian indie polish goodness.
Sure, I might be in need of a polish intervention... my bank balance is scary low, but I need all the pretties.
You guys understand, right? Guys?