The second half of Glam Polish's Cast a Spell 1 collection

Hi all, sorry I didn't get this post up sooner... I don't actually have any excuse except I forgot ;)
Anyway, Glam Polish's second Cast a Spell collection is now up and ready for pre-order, as is their Halloween duo. I would highly recommend snagging at least a couple of these babies as they look stunning, and if Glam's first Cast a Spell collection is anything to go by, the polishes will also be amazing in terms of quality and wow factor too.

So, here's the last two of my Cast a Spell 1 lacquers, the first three are discussed here in this post.
As with the other three polishes, Coven and Conjuring are beautiful to apply, with each of them being easy two coaters, or three thin coats if you prefer. The high quality and consistency of Glam's products is why I rate them so highly, and not a single one of these lovelies let me down in any way...just throw on a nice coat of top coat to get that shine factor up and you're done.

So, without any further ado here is Coven, a red holo glitter beauty;

Coven

Nothing I say can suitably describe how gorgeous this polish is in real life. It's a glowing, red masterpiece. it has those teeny tiny little circle glitters that catch the light and look as if there's sparks of flame, flashing out of the vibrant red base. I love this so very, very much :)

Coven

And the last polish from the original Cast a Spell collection is... Conjuring;

Conjuring

OMFG you guys! Can you see this? Do you believe in the glory that is Conjuring? Oh man, oh lord, this is such a stunner, you gotta believe me when I tell you you need this in your life, stat. Even if you generally don't like greens, this is just too captivating not to have.

Conjuring

And that, my friends, is the end of that.
Thankfully, Cast a Spell 1 is still available, so if you see anything you like you can still snag a bottle.
I am currently waiting on the new Cast a Spell II collection as I made my pre-order purchase the morning it became available, and believe you me, I will be sharing swatches of those lovelies as soon as I get a hold of them, so keep your eyes peeled for that one.

As usual you can find Glam's store here and they also have a list of overseas stockists on their site if you're not in the land of Oz.
Glam Polish really are worth a look, and I think they would make a fantastic starting point for anyone contemplating exploring the massive market that is Indie Polishes. There's so many new brands popping up all the time, it can get a little overwhelming, but at least you know with Glam that you're going to get amazing quality with lovely customer service and a product that will actually live up to the hype.

Until next time, as usual ~love and polish for all~

mwah! 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

The one that started it all; Emily De Molly's "Cosmic Forces"

Hullo hullo, how is everyone today? It is absolutely full on where I am at the moment, the weather is just wild! Gale force winds, torrential rain and hail... my beautiful poppies that I planted have really taken a beating and I'm worried they won't make it after the last couple of days ;_;
I'm no green thumb, but I planted those tiny seeds and watched them germinate (it took for freaking ever!) and I was so excited to have my own pain management centre growing in my back yard, but this bloody weather may have put paid to all of that. Luckily I have more seeds, but I can't even get out there to plant anything as things stand.
And I certainly can't get outside to take pretty pictures of nail polish, so all of my photos are currently taken in my kitchen under the delightful glow of our ~el crappo~ fluorescent light... it adds that special something, managing to both reduce exposure and leech out any colour at the same time, which is quite a feat really. I do my best to adjust the exposure without bleaching or over saturating the colour of the polish, but you'll have to excuse me if the pictures aren't as uniform as they normally are.

Anyhoo, today I decided to break out Emily De Molly's "Cosmic Forces", the polish that started it all in terms of my current nail polish obsession. I had never even heard of "indie nail polish" until that fateful day, and the images my googling produced had my lusting after that polish like nobody's business. So I went and had a look at Hayley's online store and that was that- I was lost, absolutely smitten and ran headfirst into becoming a polish hoarder post haste.
So, onto the pictures...

O.K, if you're at all familiar with Aussie indie polishes then chances are you've come across this polish before, and for good reason. Emily De Molly was one of the first to use large, holographic circle glitter in a polish like this and it really made people sit up and take notice. And you can see why- it has the most remarkable effect, as if there was something magical going on- a doorway into another dimension perhaps or the reflection of distant stars somehow trapped and held in a bottle of bright purple jelly... whatever the case, it was a significant development and you can now find large circle glitter in many polishes as people appreciated just how amazing it can look.

Cosmic Forces is part of a trio which includes "Oceanic Forces" (which I have reviewed here) and "Dark Forces", which is a blackened jelly containing the same striking combination of glitters. I am currently waiting on a bottle of Dark Forces that I have bought through a destash sale and will definitely be reviewing it as soon as I am able.

 

Formula wise this is a bright purple jelly that is filled with glitter of various types, the aforementioned holographic circle glitter clearly being the star of the show. The larger glitters do require fishing, but I find standing the bottle on its lid for 5 minutes or so before applying definitely helps in getting a hold of those pieces.
I did find this polish to be tricky to apply when I first used it, but that was primarily down to my inexperience with polishes of this kind. Now that I use glitter jellies all the time I find Cosmic Forces a lot easier to handle.
It has thickened up somewhat since I first bought it, but I just add some Seche Restore and it's all good to go. Please note that Seche Restore isn't 3-Free, but I'm sure you could find a 3-Free thinner if that's important to you, just don't use nail polish remover to thin things up as you will end up destroying the polish and then you'll be sad face and I'll be sad face and it's just not a good idea.
I also don't bother with undies as Cosmic Forces achieves opacity easily in three coats, plus you get that fabulous depth and complexity that comes with layering several coats of jelly if you skip the undies, and it's the depth and squishiness that I find so appealing about this polish.

Cosmic Forces is, without a doubt, one of my all time favourites. It holds a special place in my heart as being my first ever "must have" indie, as well as being part of my first ever online polish order.
And it's just so freaking beautiful, I love it. I feel as if there's some sort of sorcery going on here, as if someone's managed to capture something rare and wonderful and trapped it in this bottle, ready for me to re-expolore whenever I get the urge to wear the universe on the tips of my fingers.

Emily De Molly is currently taking some time off after the birth of her first child, a healthy bouncing baby boy (congratulations Hayley!) but you can still purchase her nail stamping plates and nail gems, and as for the polish just keep checking back.
Also, if you belong to any indie nail appreciation groups chances are you'll hear about any store re-openings as Emily De Molly is a much coveted polish, and I know a lot of people are waiting for her return.

For product info, shipping and so on there's Hayley's Big Cartel store as well as her Etsy store. My advice is to just keep checking in periodically and get in there if you get the chance- I already have my list of "must haves" that I will be ordering the minute her store goes live again ;)

Anyway, that's it from me today. I hope you enjoyed my review and the photos- as I said, they weren't taken under the best of conditions, but while the weather remains this revolting I will be taking all my pics inside until further notice.

Until next time, love and polish for all,

Em xox