Part 2 of my Two Birds Lacquer review

Hi guys, I'm really sorry for not getting this second part of my Two Birds post done sooner.
I'm just so tired, like sleeping 14 hours every night and then having to have a nap in the late afternoon tired. I know it's not normal to be this tired, and I'm pretty apathetic too. And yeah, those symptoms generally go hand in hand with depression in my experience, so I I'm not at my best right now.
Winter doesn't help, feeling a huge sense of foreboding over my future in terms of financial security- hell, my future in general- isn't helping either. So, that's why I haven't blogged much recently. Hopefully my energy will start to improve soon and I can get back into the swing of things. Until then, I hope you'll bear with my while I try to get it together.

O.k, onto the review. Today's post features the most divine blue glitter polish called Chrysocolla, which is part of Two Birds Lacquer's gemology collection. This collection is discontinued, so if you want to get your paws on this polish, and others in this collection, then I would head on over to Two Birds now before they're all gone. I've gone back and snagged a couple of spares myself because they're so lovely, and I don't want to regret not doubling up when I run out, so yeah, my advice is don't leave it too late.

Outdoor shots

Now, I will add that the colour of this polish is almost impossible to capture accurately, so my photos have a fair amount of difference about them as a result. In real life the polish is a gorgeous teal leaning blue. My bottle seems to be more teal than other swatches I've seen around, so whether that's down to monitor differences or those small differences in the polish that comes with buying hand made lacquers, I don't know. My indoor pics definitely have the polish looking more "true blue" in nature in comparison to the outdoor shots, but it looks amazing regardless.

Indoor shots

I've posted pics from both inside and outside to give you an idea of the colour differences I faced when taking pics of my swatches, but I feel that the outside shots are a more accurate representation of the colour of Chrysocolla, but obviously these things can be quite subjective. Anyway, onto the review...
Chrysocolla is a royal blue jelly polish filled with various sized blue glitter, including hexes and microglitter and I must say, it is really interesting how these glitters work together with the base, as the end result is an almost a foil-like finish.
Now, when I first applied this polish I honestly thought there's no way that it was going to become opaque on its own, not in a couple of coats anyway. But I managed to get great coverage with three thin coats, and only needed one generous coat of Seche Vite for the whole thing to have a super smooth finish.
And yet the polish isn't overloaded with glitter to achieve the level of coverage it has, which makes it super easy to apply and there's no need for dabbing or glitter placement, at all. Plus the base manages to be opaque enough to give excellent coverage while still allowing the glitter to shine through. Awesome, right?

Outside shots

I wish I could adequately explain just how interesting this polish is, I have never owned a glitter polish that has a finish quite like it. And I love it. It's such a pretty colour, so flattering, even on my winter pale skin.
It's polishes like this that have me reevaluating my "I'm not a blue polish gal" more and more, and with good reason- I really can't recommend this polish highly enough, and I really do encourage you to get yourself a bottle if you can. I'd be very surprised if you weren't as wowed by it as I am.

Indoor shots

Two Birds Lacquer is available through their etsy store, although postage is limited to Australia for the moment- hopefully international stockists will start to carry their range so people from all over can get a hold of, and appreciate, their products.

I have ordered a back up bottle of this, and I also have a couple of other polishes on the way too, so keep an eye out for more reviews of two Birds products.
I did, unfortunately, manage to break one of my nails on my swatching hand, resulting in a nail cull, so my swatches will be a little on the shorter side for a while, but hopefully the beauty of the polishes will shine through and my little nubs wont be too much of a detraction.

My poor little nubs ;_;

Anyway, until next time I hope this finds you well and I will do my utmost to blog a little bit more regularly from now on- the structure would probably benefit me too.

And of course, love and glitter for all,
Em xox

My first foray into the world of Celestial Cosmetics

Hello non readers of my obscure blog, how goes it?
Today I received a bundle of joy in the form of a post pack envelope.
And inside? Lots and lots of lovely polish :D

I like the little personal note on the back of the Celestial Cosmetics card

 Not only were my 4 ordered polishes in there, but there was an additional polish called "Birth of a Star", a beautiful grey leaning, dusty purple holo




I actually emailed Celestial Cosmetics as I thought they had accidentally added the polish to my order, but they emailed me back to let me know it's part of their birthday celebrations and that all orders receive a bottle until the 25th of April.
Awesome!

Birth of a Star

So, apart from Birth of a Star I also received Nomad, Charming, Crow Eater and Neon Nights (Nomad, Charming and Crow Eater are all from the Sons of Anarchy collection). Both Crow Eater and Neon Nights are very different polishes to what I normally buy, so it wasn't surprising that Nomad and Charming are my faves as they're very much my type of colours.

Nomad

Charming

Crow Eater

Neon Nights

Application wise they varied quite a bit, with Neon Nights being the thickest formula and Nomad being the sheerest. Both Crow Eater and Charming applied in a similar fashion and had the nicest consistency to work with, although all were good.

Now, for some reason I don't wear blue polish- the closest I'll get is turquoise, but a true blue is just something I have never been drawn to. Crow Eater has actually got me reconsidering this- it is a gorgeous polish and looks fabulous on;

Excuse the shitty swatches- I only have a camera phone right now

Next up is Nomad, which is quite sheer and thin when applying, so I used two coats of it over one of Ultra3 Chilli. That undie made all the difference and allowed Nomad to really come to life on the nail. It has a gorgeous depth to it and that great squishiness that jellies have;

Nomad over Ultra3 Chilli

Then there's Charmed, which is tied with Nomad as my favourite. This is a simply glorious green that looks great after two coats, although three would probably give it even more depth. I love this colour, it's bright, vibrant and fresh... it really has charmed me;

Charming

Next up is Neon Nights. To be honest I'm not sure how I feel about this one. I have never worn a white polish- ever. I know, right?! So it feels really odd having such a light, bright colour on my nail.
Part of it is also my age- I suspect this would suit a younger person. I also think it would look better on my during the warmer months when my hands are tanned.
Aside from my own inexperience in wearing those sorts of colours the polish itself was easy to apply and was opaque in only two coats;

Neon Nights

And finally there's Birth of a Star, the lovely surprise polish :)
This is a beautiful grey leaning, dusty purple holo with lots of colour complexity depending on the light. Again, two coats was enough to get full opacity and I even threw on a top coat with no dulling effect.
And being a holo it was, of course, bloody tricky to capture, but here's what I managed to get;

Birth of a Star

Now, I know these swatches are less than stellar and these two didn't help matters either

I'd get a great angle and suddenly a cat tail would block the light, and Peanut was determined to eat my boot for some reason.
here is Smudge enjoying the swatched fingers;

Anyway, all in all I am absolutely rapt with my first Celestial Cosmetics encounter and I look forward to adding to my collection as time goes on.

I've also decided to wear Nomad to the gallery opening that is being held in honour of my mum's passing- she will have died a year ago on the 29th of this month and my sister has organised for a showing of some of my mum's photographic work in honour of this first anniversary.
I've decided to wear Nomad because my mum always wore red nail polish, and her nails were done even during those last weeks and days of her life.
In fact, her nails were still perfect while I held her hand as she passed away, far too young and from preventable cancer (so please, don't forget to have your annual pap smears).
I think she would have loved the colour and it's just a little something my sister and I can smile about together on a night that is bound to be a tad emotional.

And now, before I get all emotional writing this, I shall sign off.

I hope you've enjoyed the review and I would definitely recommend adding some of Celestial's polishes to your collection- and I will certainly take some more pics of my fully manicured hands wearing Nomad too.

Cheers,
Em x