Daily Lacquer - Sparkle Princess Dress

     It was bound to happen... I knew that I would eventually have a post about a polish that I couldn't capture properly with my limited photography skills. Aaand here it is! Daily Lacquer Sparkle Princess Dress is just so gosh darn, well, sparkly that my camera freaked out. I took a ridiculous amount of photos and the majority of them turned out blurry or reaaally blurry. I eventually had to call it quits, or this post would never go up. Not feeling quite as loquacious as normal, so I'll let the pics do (some of) the talking! (Keep in mind that this polish is so much more shiny and sparkly in real life. I can't seem to stop looking at my nails.)

     Sparkle Princess Dress is from Daily Lacquer's Welcome to the Circus Collection. It has a clear base packed full of shiny microglitters. It was really hard for me to pick out the colours of the glitters, because they were so small and sparkly that my eyes couldn't focus. I'm pretty sure that they are blue, green, red, and purple. This fancy lady is intended to be full coverage in two coats, and that's exactly what I used. I think it would also be pretty with one coat layered over another colour, if you want a (slightly) less blingy look.

     Application was easy peasy. I applied it like normal polish, no dabbing. I didn't have any problems with bald spots or the glitters clumping together. The base did start to thicken by the time I started my second coat, but it wasn't hard to work with. I'll add a little thinner before I wear this again. Still, lovely formula with tons of glitter goodness.

     This type of glitter polish tends to be very hungry. Sparkle Princess Dress is no exception. After the two coats of polish, I added a coat of Gelous and another from my thickened bottle of Seche Vite. My mani was so smooth and glassy and only kinda thick. By the end of day one of wear, it was down to normal thickness. These photos are from day two, and you can see that there is some texture from the glitter. It does feel a little bit bumpy, but not rough. Hey, textured polished are all the rage right now, right? ;)


Artificial light


     The picture above was taken under artificial lighting in my hallway. It's somewhat blurry, but that's honestly what the polish looks like to me most of the time. It has a brighter sparkle in more direct light, but my favourite is how the glitters twinkle indoors, especially in lower lighting. It reminds me of little twinkly Christmas lights on my fingers. :) I've worn this mani for two days, including a day at work, with no chipping. This is an absolute miracle for me! Polish with this much glitter pretty much always chips on me within the first day. I'm pleasantly surprised that it has worn this well. I can't comment on removal. I was feeling brave when I put this on, but not so much now... Maybe that will surprise me, too.

Sunset


     The above picture was taken on my enclosed back patio at sunset. (I didn't get any direct sunlight shots, because it's been rainy during the mornings and afternoons for the last week or two. I don't think my camera would have worked with me anyway.) You can see the glitters shining, even in this setting. I thought it was interesting that the glitter colours looked different, more warm. The red also seems a little more dominant.

Sunset

     One last pic to show you the glitters more clearly. This is a sunset pic, so the colours don't always look exactly like this, but it should give you an idea. Oh, and I have to share that the first two women that I served at work complimented this polish immediately. One of them was an older lady who exclaimed, "Oh my, I love your nail polish! Sparkly princess nails!" How did she know?! I've gotta say, I do feel like a sparkly princess wearing this. :)

     Sparkle Princess Dress can be purchased from  Daily Lacquer for $9. It's sold out at the moment, but Maggy does frequent restocks. Follow Daily Lacquer on Facebook for restock info and more.

XOXO,
Riotbettyx

Daily Lacquer - Artemis

     So, I should be packing right now, but here I am blogging... I wanted to get in a post before I leave town for a couple of days and don't have internet access through my computer. My birthday is this Saturday, and the boyfriend and I are taking a road trip to spend some time with my dad and nephew. Just two more days left of my twenties! Some people might get sad about that, but I'm actually pretty excited. The real issue is what to wear on my nails when I start a new decade of my life. ;) Hmm...

     Today's polish is Artemis, from Daily Lacquer's Outer Planets Collection. Outer Planets is one of a few collections Daily Lacquer has that was inspired by Sailor Moon. I gotta say, I looove Sailor Moon! I remember rushing home from school to watch it before I had to go to ballet or work or whatever else I was jamming into my schedule. Artemis was one of the cats in the anime. (Another was Luna, my kitty's namesake. Hopefully I'll get to show you Daily Lacquer's polish based on that character sometime.)

     Artemis is a white crelly packed with blue and holo glitters. There are different sizes and shades of hex and circle glitters, as well as stars and moons. There's also a pretty colour-shifting blueish shimmer running through it. You can layer this one over another polish or build it up to opacity. Personally, I hate seeing the larger glitters getting swallowed by several coats of polish and creating lumps, so I layered it over white. This is one coat of Artemis over two coats of OPI Alpine Snow. (Sidenote: If you're looking for the perfect white polish, Alpine Snow is not it. It's a streaky mess that is somehow both watery and gooey at the same time. It's also a stark correction fluid white, which is what I wanted for this mani, so I decided to use it despite its flaws.) Most of the larger glitters came out on their own. I only had to place a few strategic glitters, but fishing wasn't an issue. A coat each of Gelous and Seche Vite smoothed the shaped glitters and enhanced the shimmer.

     I didn't expect to, but I had a hard time photographing this polish. Between, the shimmer, the white, and the holo glitters reflecting the sun, my camera was not happy. Most of my pics came out blurry or stark white and flat looking. I tried again later with lower lighting, and that's what you see here. I also had problems holding the bottle. Daily Lacquer bottles are super cute, with a different colour bow tied on for each collection, but I felt really awkward trying to position my hand around the bottle shape. Still, extremely pretty packaging.

     The slightly blurry pic above shows off the lovely shimmer. I'm a big fan of white and blue combos, as well as shaped glitter, so I found this polish to be a sparkly and fun one. I know it's not a super mature polish, but hey, Sailor Moon! Daily Lacquer is a line after my own heart. They've had more than one collection based on Sailor Moon, another based on Moulin Rouge, and a Buddy the Elf collection that I sadly missed out on. (I've also heard that there's going to be a Buffy the Vampire Slayer collection. Total OMG.) If you love glitter, you need to check these babies out!

     Artemis is available from Daily Lacquer here for $10. Hope everyone has an awesome weekend! I'm looking forward to cake. ;)

XOXO,

Riotbettyx