Here's the first of many, many posts featuring Glam Polish's Cast a Spell II collection. Today's polish? Pentacle.

OMG omg omg
You guys, I can't... I am just bowled over by what I received in the mail today. Yes, I got my much anticipated Glam Polish mail nail this arvo and holy crap, it is even better than I had hoped for (and my expctations were pretty damn high).
So, I'm going to show you just one of the polishes from the collection today, and it's one I didn't think I was going to like that much. Of course, I adore it now that I've tried it. And I think you'll see why in a moment :)

Glam Polish nail mail

So, as you can see, I bought the whole Cast a Spell II collection from Glam Polish, plus a bottle of Frankenslime 2.0 and another bottle of Maleficent because I love it and never want to run out. Yes, a little excessive, but keep in mind I haven't really gone on a nail polish mega buy for quite a while and I had been on a no-buy for a while in anticipation of buying this collection. So I'm gonna justify it, ok? Ok ;)

Anyway, this is Pentacle, a charcoal coloured polish that I'd describe as a holo lacquer filled with holo microglitter and tiny iridescent hexagon shaped glitter. The application is smooth and easy (as always) and required only two coats, although it does dry gritty so I also added two coats of seche vite to smooth it all out.

Pentacle

There's really nothing more I can say  about Pentacle except you really need this polish ;) I have a couple of dark grey glitter polishes, but none of them are quite like this and the sparkle you get in sunlight is jaw droppingly amazing. Plus those little hexagon glitters add a beautiful touch that makes this truly unique, it is a definite must have if you like darker colours.

Pentacle

The other cool thing about this polish is that it can look subdued too, so if you're allowed to wear polish at work, just not "bling bling" polish, you could probably sneak this one past the powers that be. See? Totally subdued, just don't let your hands be seen under down-lights or in direct sunlight and you'll be fine ;)

Pentacle

So, that's the first of nine Cast a Spell II polishes that I have here, ready to swatch. Plus I also scored Frankenslime 2.0, which is equally spellbinding (see what I did there? I'm a comedic genius I tells ya, genius!) so that's ten polishes I need to try *phew!* It's a burden being a polish-aholic, make no mistake ;)
As for you, dear reader, well you'd best prepare for a lot of posts and a lot of pics over the next few weeks.
In the meantime, get yourself over to the Glam Polish site and have a squizz at their polishes, there's so many beautiful products with a level of quality that makes them one of Australia's best indie polish makers. Definitely worth a look-see.

Until next time, ~love and polish for all~

Em xox

The case of the vanishing blog posts... and a few more swatches

Hello all, how are we on this (hopefully) lovely day? I seem to have a bit of a mystery on my hands, because my last post has vanished *poof* from my blog. How strange is that? I am really confuzzled and am wondering if I hallucinated writing my last entry, but I'm pretty certain I really did write it, so it's all very strange.
I guess this means I need to upload all those photos again, grrrr.

Well, there's no helping it, so here, yet again, is my review of "Wham Bam" the partner to "Thank you Mam" by Shades of Phoenix a great little Aussie indie polish maker.

Unlike "Thank You Mam", "Wham Bam" is a glitter bomb in a clear base, so it's best layered over an undie if you want to wear it as a full mani, or it can also be used in a glitter gradient or as a feature nail. Application wise this is a dabber as the glitter pay off is very heavy, but it is in no way difficult to apply, just dab instead of using strokes and you'll be fine. I would advise that you wait a couple of minutes between coats to avoid dragging or accidentally lifting polish that you have already laid down, and you'll also want a couple of coats of top coat to smooth it all out and seal the deal.

This is such a bright and gorgeous glitter bomb and the colour is to die for, a rich and vibrant turquoise that flashes with green and blue as the light hits it and the formula's great too.
To be honest there's really nothing much to add, I think it's really pretty and I love glitter gradients, so this is a definite "yes" polish for me.
Wham Bam and Thank You Mam are a limited addition pair over at Shades of Phoenix however I'm not sure if they're still available (I can't see them on their site). If they're no longer available I can tell you that Spinach/Mint Leaf is another amazing glitter bomb, this time a deep emerald green in a tinted base, and it's definitely worth acquiring if you like greens and/or glitter. Their more subtle shades, such as Earl Grey/Sardine are also very lovely, so there really is something for everyone.

I know this is a short entry, but I think the photos speak for themselves, so there's really not much for me to say except I like it and Shades of Phoenix are well worth checking out if you like indie polishes.

Until next time (which should be tomorrow as I have an obscene amount of polish to swatch and share) take care, I hope you're all well and I'll see you soon.

And as always, ~love and glitter for all~

Em xox

Sorry I've been MIA but I'm making up for my absence with 3 AMAZING polishes by Glam Polish, so you've gotta forgive me ;)

Hey there, I'm really sorry for being so sporadic in my blog posting recently- I am struggling a bit with feeling down, which always leads to crazy levels of apathy and 16 hour sleeps.
But I'm still around, still buying, and playing with, nail polish and the odd bit of nail art. I just haven't really been taking many photos, and those that I have just haven't interested me enough to warrant uploading and colour adjusting and blah blah blah.
But I have to say that I am absolutely falling in love with two particular indie polishes at the moment- Two Birds Lacquer (which you may have surmised from the last couple of posts) and Glam Polish.
Glam Polish is another Aussie company that makes exceptionally beautiful polishes, and their formulas are consistently fantastic too. Oh man, the colours! The depth, the intensity, the sparkle and, well, glamorous-ness of their products... seriously, you need to try these babies out to experience the glory first hand.

I'm going to post a couple of different polishes of theirs, and hopefully you'll see what I'm on about.
First up is Coven, from their "Cast a Spell" collection (of which I have now ordered the rest, because reasons!), a bright red beauty with holo, glass fleck, shimmer... there's so much in there, yet it's all done so well that nothing outshines the other, and it all balances perfectly. I also say that about every polish of theirs that I currently own (and yes, I"m about to own a lot more haha).
I don't know quite how to describe their bases tbqh; they're sheer enough that you get to see the glitter and shimmer, but they're also very pigmented, so opacity is achievable in only a couple of coats and they are thin enough that they're super easy to work with. I suppose a tinted, jelly-like base is the best description, but they don't have that syrupy feel to them that a lot of jellies tend to have, which makes them super easy to apply. But that's my best description, so that's what I'm going to go with. If you have a better descriptive term please let me know ;)

I mean, this polish is simply stunning- it glows from within and is so sparkly and rich... ahh, heaven!

And that's no exaggeration either. Just look at that inner fire!

And for a little bit of fun I also did a gradient using Glam's "Maleficent", which is a rich, red leaning purple polish with glassfleck, holo and shimmer and also red glitter running throughout, which helped to tie it together with the red of "Coven".

Isn't is gorgeous?

And now onto the third Glam Polish beauty that I want to show you tonight- the amazingly vibrant "Evanora". This was soooo hard to photograph as it's so shimmery and glowy that my iphone kinda freaked out over it.

Evonara in direct sunlight- my iphone couldn't handle the amazingness

I can't fangirl enough over this polish. It was like I had some supernatural force glowing on the tips of my fingers. And there's these awesome little iridescent diamond pieces in the polish that added such an interesting twist to the depth and dimension already on show. And of course, it's green, and a fabulous green at that. It's neither too blue or too yellow, so I think it would look great on any skin tone (and hey, who cares anyway? you wear it, you rock it!).

Formula wise this was slightly thinner than Meleficent and Coven, but it was in no way difficult to apply. This was three thin coats and one coat of Poshe (I'm trying Poshe to see if I get less tip wear- I think Seche might be shrinking back from the tips a bit- alas and alack as it's a brilliant top coat).

Dry time between coats was minimal and it was really easy to achieve opacity. I did try to place the little diamond shaped glitters as I really wanted them to pop, but the rest was easy, standard application, no dabbing required.

I'm sure you can see what I mean by magical- it's so luminous, it's amazing. And I love that regardless of whether you're out in direct sunlight on indoors at night under dim lighting the polish still looks fabulous, picking up whatever light is available and twinkling away. It's definitely a "keep your eyes on the road" polish hazard!

 

Glam Polish is available through their website for Australian buyers and also sells to the States. There's also a list of other stockists on its website.
I would wholeheartedly recommend Glam Polish as I think their wares are stunning and of excellent quality.
What more can I say- I think the photos, even coming from such a humble source as my iphone, speak for themselves.

And needless to say, I will have plenty more of their polishes to review in the coming month or so... I kinda went a little overboard on their site, but it was all so sparkly and pretty! It hypnotized me, I had ~no choice~ Hmmm, would that stand up in court I wonder? JK ;)

Anyway, I promise not to take so long between posts again- I'm trying to get on top of the shitty mood I've been in for the last couple of months, but unfortunately it's not always as easy as just "snapping out of it". I'm sure any of you who have dealt with long term depression can understand that one :\

Until next time, as always, love and polish for all!
Em xox

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