a-england - She Walks in Beauty

She walks in Beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which Heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express,
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

"She Walks in Beauty" (1814)
     - Lord Byron

**********

     I'm so happy to finally get around to posting some a-england! I have a particular fondness for this brand. Everything about the a-england concept and aesthetic has drawn me in. The collections are so well thought out, and the polishes themselves are gorgeous. The boyfriend and I celebrated our three year anniversary earlier this month, so of course I wanted to wear a special polish. a-england She Walks in Beauty was my dreamy, romantic pick. (Now, by this point, I usually would have extensively fangirled about a-england or babbled on about my motivation behind choosing this polish. Lucky for you, my lovies, I'm in a "more pictures, less words" sort of mood.)

     She Walks in Beauty from a-england's Heavenly Quotes collection. It is composed of extra fine pale golden shimmer and both small and large rose-coloured hex glitter in a clear base. I'm not usually big on gold, but the particular shade of shimmer used in this polish (and the effect it gives) is delicate and ethereal. The rose glitter is feminine, but doesn't scream "girly." I think it's a perfect combination. I imagine that other glitter/shimmer polishes want to look this elegant and sophisticated when they grow up.

 

 

     For this manicure, I layered two coats of a-england She Walks in Beauty over a-england Iseult. One coat of Seche Vite was used. (Side note: I bought Iseult specifically for this combination. Months ago, I had considered using gold undies, but preferred the effect of a pink base colour for contrast. When I realized that I lacked the specific sort of pale pink polish I was looking for, well, you know how it goes... Hello, legit excuse reason to buy more a-england!) One coat of polish would have been enough glitter-wise, but I wanted a more pronounced veil of shimmer. Application was effortless, the formula was just thick enough, and the glitter dispersed perfectly on the nail.

 



 

 

     Ugh, this polish is so beautiful that I almost can't take it. I felt like a fraking princess wearing this. My newly polish obsessed fellow bartender noted that while she initially thought I was wearing pink polish, my nails later looked gold to her, and even silver. Good eye, young Padawan, good eye. There is a definite shift depending on the light and angle. I wore this combo for three shifts at work, with minimal tipwear and only a small chip on my dominant hand by the end of the third night. (Pics are from days one and two.) Removal took a little bit of effort, but nothing too crazy. I didn't want to take this polish off, though. It made me feel, well, pretty.

 

     One last shot that I hope shows the complexity of She Walks in Beauty. If you look at the sides of my nail, in the shadow, you can better see the glitter and shimmer particles. Swoon.

 



     If you live in the UK, you can purchase She Walks in Beauty directly from a-england. Otherwise, check out the list of international distributors. It's currently in stock at  Llarowe for $10, which is where I purchased my bottle. You can keep up with a-england on Facebook here. Hope everyone has a lovely second half of the week!

XOXO,
Riotbettyx

Femme Fatale Cosmetics - Keeper of the Grove

     Well, it's been a little while since my last post. Work has been murder on my nails and cuticles. The wear and tear my hands suffer while bartending has reached a whole new level. I'll spare you the details, but the damage caused by my job made it impossible to maintain any kind of length. I even went to work with bare nails a couple of times. (Quelle horreur!) Believe me, people noticed. They asked if I was okay. I'll admit, I was kinda bummed about things, nail related and otherwise. Then, one of my fellow bartenders told me something that motivated me to get back into the polishing, blogging, swing of things. She said that I was her nail polish idol. That I inspired her! As I was admiring her glittery fuchsia nails, she confided that I gave her the confidence to wear colour on her fingers, not just her toes. She had always worn clear polish or french manicures, scared that colour would look weird on her or make her feel self-conscious. However, after discussing nails with me and admiring mine for the past year, she recently felt comfortable enough to come into work wearing pinks, reds, purples, blacks, and even some glitters. She said that she was still working up the nerve to rock green or blue, but that I was the reason that she felt brave enough to expand her polish horizons and wear what made her happy. She had even started researching new polishes and brands online. (Is it just me, or is that the sound of a baby polish addict being born?) Now, isn't that just the coolest compliment ever! I felt so humbled, but at the same time proud that I contributed to a friend feeling better about herself. :)

     Still with me? Want to see the polish I was wearing during the above conversation? I present to you... a glitterbomb!

 

 

 

     Femme Fatale Cosmetics Keeper of the Grove is super blingy, and I la-la-love it! This baby is definitely an attention grabber. It's inspired by the Path of Cenarius from World of Warcraft. If you're not familiar with WoW, look it up. (Or just believe me when I say that I can totally see the connection.) WoW aside, I think the name sounds magical/mystical and is totally appropriate. Keeper of the Grove has a sheer lime green jelly base, and is packed full of holographic greens and golds. There are also scatterings of pale pink hearts, teal and pink dots, and bright pink holo hexes. This polish is definitely reminiscent of flowers in a luscious garden, but it also reminds me of crushed gems.

 

 

     I've seen swatches of Keeper of the Grove both by itself and layered over another polish. I much prefer it by itself, because the brightness of the base and glitter is preserved that way. This polish is so packed with glitter that achieving full coverage was pretty easy. I only used two coats here, and that was enough to make me happy. (You can still see tiny spots of nail peeking through, but it wasn't noticeable in person.) I had no problems getting any of the different kinds of glitter out. In fact, I had to be careful to not get too much glitter on the brush. I applied the polish in full strokes, then spread out any clumps of glitter to make things even and flat on the nail. This didn't bother me at all, and I wouldn't confider it problematic. I waited a few minutes between coats to make sure to not drag either the glitter or jelly base. As to be expected, this polish did dry with some texture. I topped it off with two coats of Gelous and a coat of Seche Vite to make it perfectly smooth. I wouldn't say that removal was easy, but it was easier than I thought it would be. (Oh, and pics are from both the first and second days of wear, so there are stray glitter specks in some and minor tipwear in others. Whoops!)

 

 

 

     Isn't this just sooo pretty?! I couldn't stop looking at my nails, especially under low lighting. All that holo glitter twinkled like crazy. I wore Keeper of the Grove for three days, including two at work. I did get some tipwear and a chip on my dominant hand after the second day. Still, I really didn't want to take this off. I just love that lime green, and the glitter mix is so complex. I got tons of compliments, and surprisingly, a lot of questions about this polish. People seemed baffled by how much glitter was on my nails and how I got it there. Lol. I was happy to explain. :)

 

     If you live in Australia, Keeper of the Grove is currently available from Femme Fatale Cosmetics. You can also find it at Color4Nails. Elsewhere, it's not in stock at the moment, but I purchased my bottle from Llarowe for $13.

 

XOXO,

Riotbettyx





Model City Polish - Sheena is a Punk Rocker

     Ramones inspired collection? Yes, please! An excuse to sing and dance around the apartment like a lunatic? Count me in! Glitters in a black base? Frak, yeah! Model City Polish Sheena is a Punk Rocker is exactly the type of lacquer that I love wearing. Take a look...

 

     Model City Polish describes Sheena is a Punk Rocker as "a black jelly base filled with bright pink dots, fine silver glitter, and fine silver holographic glitter." They forgot to mention that it's awesome! I've already gushed about my love for black nail polish, and this one is very wearable. I actually had a conversation about this with a middle aged guest while wearing this polish at work. She told me that she also loved the edginess of black polish, but couldn't really wear it at her age without feeling too dark or people assuming she was trying to be goth. She thought that the pink and silver/holo glitter made this polish perfect, balancing out the moodiness with some fun. I'd say she hit the nail on the head! While I'm not a "pink girl", I'm a huge fan of pink and black together. And that silver sparkle in the light? Oh, man.

 



 

     Sheena is a Punk Rocker does have a jelly base, so I decided to layer it. You could build it up with three to four coats, but I don't always like the way black jellies look on their own. (You know, that murky brown/grey/black colour if you don't use enough coats...) I wanted this to be black, without covering up the awesome pink circle glitters or overloading my nails with them. I used one coat of Sheena is a Punk Rocker over Cult Nails Nevermore. It applied easily, and I was happy with the glitter spread and coverage that I got. I did place an extra circle or two onto each nail because I'm picky, but I didn't have to fish for the larger glitter at all. The end result was pretty smooth to the touch, so I only needed a coat of Seche Vite to make things glossy.

 

     Side note: I'm pale, but jeez. Blacks and dark purples sure make me look really pale in some lighting. Holy ghost hands in that last pic! And this is probably the longest you will ever see my nails. I tend to break them at work once they reach a certain length. Sure enough, I snapped a corner completely off on the second day of wearing this polish. Props to you ladies who can keep your nails beautiful and long, but I guess it's just not for me.

 

 

     Sparkle, little holo glitters, sparkle in that kinda sorta sunlight! Yep, I love this polish. True story: I was driving home from work wearing this, and guess what song plays on the radio as I'm pulling into my apartment complex?! Of course I sat in my truck until it finished, then ran inside to tell the BF. Thrusting the bottle into his face, "Do you know what I just heard on the radio?! Look what this polish is called! Look what I'm wearing!" He actually thought it was a really cool occurrence, because the Ramones don't tend to get a lot of radio play. I love him for telling me that my nail polish was meant to be, totally sincerely.

 

     Sheena is a Punk Rocker is currently available from Model City Polish for $8. You can keep up with the brand on Facebook.

 

     End of post bonus for you, lovies, because I assume everyone loves the Ramones as much as I do:

 

 

XOXO,

Riotbettyx

Dollish Polish - Ferb, I Know What We're Gonna Do Today

     I like to have a have an emotional connection to my nail polish. Does that sound weird? Sometimes, a pretty colour or unique finish is enough me want to buy a polish. Other times, it's hearing about a stellar formula or simply a new release from a brand I'm a sucker for. Honestly, though, I would probably buy an average polish if it reminded me of something that I love. (A band, a character from a work of fiction, my cat, the ocean, homophonic puns, et cetera...) Well, today's polish is definitely much better than average and makes me think of my nephew. That means that Dollish Polish Ferb, I Know What We're Gonna Do Today is a double win in my book!

 

 

     Ferb, I Know What We're Gonna Do Today is from Dollish Polish's Cartoon Series. It is inspired by Perry the Platypus from Phineas and Ferb. This polish first caught my eye because of its name. (My nephew is seven and a fan of the show. On one of my recent visits back home, he downloaded a game called "Where's My Perry?" onto my phone for us to play whenever I'm in town. Now, anything Phineas and Ferb makes me think of him.) My interest peaked, I clicked on a preview swatch pic and Oh. My. Glitter. Dollish Polish describes Ferb as "bursting with small and medium turquoise holographic hexagons glitters, accented with golden orange glitters all in a turquoise jelly." Bursting is right! There are certainly a lot of different glitters going on. I love the combination of colours. Definitely a happy day polish. My bottle didn't have a turquoise jelly base as much as a slightly light blue tinted one. That was fine with me, because the almost clear base made this polish perfect for layering, while not changing my base colour too much.

 

 

 

     Ferb, I Know What We're Gonna Do Today applied like a dream. It went on smoothly, with even glitter coverage. No clumping glitter or need for placement/dabbing. I liked that it applied like an effortless jelly, unlike similar glitters that come in your typical clear suspension base. One coat would have been perfectly fine, but I wanted a little more sparkle. Shown is two coats of Ferb over OPI Can’t Find My Czechbook. One coat each of Gelous and Seche Vite for a glassy shine. I feel like you could layer the Dollish Polish to opacity on its own with three or four coats, but I think putting it over a base polish makes the individual glitters pop. It also helps with removal, which wasn't too bad, considering the amount of glitter.

 

 

 

     I wore this mani for five days. Yes, five. I didn't want to take it off. I wore it for two nights at work, a day of packing and traveling, and two more of playtime with my nephew. So much abuse and this combo still wore like iron. I had absolutely no tipwear and only had a tiny chip on my dominant hand at the end of the last day. I made sure to wear this particular polish on my trip to see my family so that I could show my nephew. I tell him things that I don't tell other people, so he knows about my love of polish. I'm glad that we got to bond over this one.

 

     Ferb, I Know What We're Gonna Do Today is currently available from Dollish Polish for $10. Llarowe also has it in stock for $11. Hope everyone has a great Monday!

 

XOXO,

Riotbettyx







Lac Attack - Weasley's Wizard Wheezes

     Hi, lovies! I've missed you guys. :) Hope everyone is doing well. I haven't been able to blog lately, but I've still been taking photos of my manis. I've got quite the backlog of pics to wade through and edit, so I do have material to post. I've got the day off and a little bit of energy right now, so let's get to it!

     I was really sick a couple of weeks ago and barely got out of bed for a few days. I attempted to go to work, with mixed results. Mostly I just watched all of the Harry Potter movies in order. Over and over. I'm more than a little obsessed with them. (Once again, I'll spare you my fangirling, and keep this post polish related.) During my extended movie marathon, I made sure to use a couple of my Harry Potter inspired polishes. Kind of a no-brainer, really. I'm sure most of you will recognize today's polish. Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, from Lac Attack's Magical Musings collection, is a big lemming for some people, and I can see why!

 



     Lac Attack Weasley's Wizard Wheezes is a bright mix of matte orange and yellow bar and hex glitters in a clear base. This polish is just so fun! I applied it like a normal polish and got pretty good glitter coverage. I then went back and dabbed a little more on to cover any bald spots, but I didn't really have to worry about exact placement of the bars or hexes. They didn't clump together and spread out nicely. This is one "coat." I used Essie Butler Please as my base polish. I really liked this combo, but I think it made my camera freak out a little. I could see myself wearing WWW over black around Halloween, and I still want to try it over aqua. One coat of Seche Vite made it smooth and shiny. (Oh, and I don't recommend wearing Butler Please when you're sick. Maybe my sense of smell was heightened, but it just smelled rancid. Maybe it's always smelled like that, and I just didn't realize or had forgotten, but it was overwhelming. I could still smell it the day after I applied it, and I was paranoid that other people were aware of the rotten egg/dead fish smell coming from my fingertips. Yeah. But gee, it sure is pretty.)

 

 





     Isn't this such a cheery and fun combo?! It's definitely eye-catching. I was surprised that the over fifty crowd at work (male and female) was very fond of this mani. Nothing like having a woman in her eighties interrupt you to tell you how much she adores your nail polish. Lol. I loved wearing a polish that made me think happy thoughts whenever I looked at my nails. I have a ton of glitter toppers, but this one is special. I also loved that I was able to score this polish at all. If you've ever watched any of the Lac Attack restocks, you'll know that WWW sells out almost immediately. I got this little bottle of sunshine into my cart a few months ago the second the listing went live. Thank goodness my phone refreshes like a champ!

     The Lac Attack shop seems to be closed at the moment, and Weasley's Wizard Wheezes is sold out at Harlow & Co. right now, but don't fret. It is possible to get this polish. You just have to wait for it. The most recent restock was last week, so it might be a bit before the next one. Your best bet is to follow Lac Attack on Facebook and by blog for updates. I don't know the specifics, but there's also a waitlist for the full Magical Musings collection. Harry Potter fans, rejoice!

XOXO,
Riotbettyx

Pretty & Polished - I'm not a banana!

     Every now and then, I'm pretty sure that some people look at my nails and wonder, "What made her pick that polish?" Or, a little more judgey, "Why does that polish even exist?!" When said polish is a yellow jelly, I forgive them. They'll never understand why I'm not a banana! is so awesome. I don't bother to tell them that it's from Pretty & Polished's Mathematical! Collection, which is inspired by Adventure Time. I don't feel like explaining what Adventure Time is, that my boyfriend and I looove the series, or that this polish represents Jake the Dog. (Not, as they might assume, a bumblebee.) They definitely won't appreciate my love for Pretty & Polished, or that I exclaimed "Oh my Glob!" when I first started to apply this. But you, my lovies, you might understand...

 



     I'm not a banana! is a yellow jelly base with large black and white matte hex glitters, as well as small matte white glitters. I'll admit, I was a little apprehensive about wearing a yellow jelly, but my love for Adventure Time leaves little room for worrying about my nails looking strange. In some lighting, the base leans a little orangey-yellow. Other times, it's more of a bright, sunny yellow. In any case, it's a very Jake accurate shade.

     I used two coats of I'm not a banana!. I wasn't worried about covering my nail line. It wasn't super noticeable in person. (I did make sure to wear it while my nails were short.) If you have longer nails, VNL might bother you more. I guess you could wear a yellow polish underneath or add another coat, but I think that would kill the depth and jelly squishiness. I wanted to quickly slap on some polish before work, and man, I picked a winner with this one. The formula was fantastic. I only have a couple of Pretty & Polished jellies, so I forget that they go on sooo smoothly. This went on perfectly level with no streaking, even at one coat. The base is just thick enough that it doesn't run and goes where you want it to. Despite my hurried application, this polish behaved so well. (Sorry about my sloppy clean-up and not-so-great pics. I was running late. Story of my life.) A layer of Seche Vite on top to make it shiny, and I was good to go.

     Just look at that squishy jelly glitter goodness! I didn't have to fish for glitters or worry about placement, but I'd definitely recommend leaving the bottle upside down for a few minutes before application. I did this before each coat, and the hexes came out easy peasy. I wore this mani for only one day. No tipwear at all, but the polish did start to lift on a few of my nails. Oh well. At least I got to wear a polish that made me smile (and want to watch Netflix) every time I looked at it, even if not everyone had the same reaction. Funny story, though, one of my regular guests did burst into laughter when I set down his drink. "Oh my God! Your nails! Those are sure to attract some attention!" He tried to suppress his giggles but couldn't. He seemed so honestly surprised and amused. His ex-wife just smiled at me and said, "Whatever makes you happy, honey, that's all that matters."

     I'm not a banana! is still available from Pretty & Polished for $9. It's in the "Say Goodbye!" section now, so it won't be restocked. If you're an Adventure Time fan, but this just isn't your thing, there are lots of other cool polishes to chose from. Go check out the site!

XOXO,
Riotbettyx

Lucky 13 Lacquer - Special Hell

     Sooo... Work has been full of tiresome high school level drama, the weather has been bipolar, and my bottle of Seche Vite reached the point where it probably had more thinner in it than top coat. Bleh. At least one of those issues has been rectified, so I'm able to resume posting. :) I tend to cease communication when I feel annoyed or stressed out, often for weeks at a time. My friends are used to this occasionally happening, but I promise I'll try to not do it to y'all. I actually look forward to blogging, especially when I love a polish as much as the one I have for you today. Just please be understanding if I don't post for a couple days because of, you know, life and such...

      I'm not going to profess my love for all things Joss Whedon. I'm not going to tell you that I'm obsessed with most of the projects he's been involved in. I'm not going to call him a genius. (While all of those things are true, I'll save my nerdy fangirling for another day.) What I am going to do is show you a polish from a collection inspired by Whedon's Firefly/Serenity series. Say hello to Lucky 13 Lacquer's Special Hell.

     Oh. My. Glob. I own a lot of red polishes. A lot of red polishes that I love but don't wear. I want to wear this. Over and over again, I want to wear this.

     Special Hell is from Lucky 13 Lacquer's Ballad of Serenity collection. If you're a fan of the series, then you'll care that this polish is inspired by our Mrs. Reynolds, Yolanda/Saffron/Bridget. It's an orange leaning red jelly, full of holographic red squares and ruby red micro hex glitters. And it's amazing. I normally prefer reds that lean towards the cooler side, but this polish has a gorgeous fiery glow that made me fall for it instantly. The red squares are constantly changing, flashing yellow/orange and pink/purple, while the tiny glitters add depth and visual interest.

     Application did take a little bit of effort, but I wouldn't call it problematic by any standards. The base is on the thicker side. This is good, because it keeps the squares suspended (no fishing required!) and you can push them around on the nail a bit if you're picky about placement. They can sometimes drift towards the edges if you're not careful. It took some patience for me to figure out how much polish to put on the brush so that I wasn't globbing it on. You could layer this over another red, but why would you want to do that? I used three thin coats, and the depth of this polish was fantastic. (All those holo squares suspended in the jelly? Love.) By the third coat, the base had started to thicken, so I'll add a few drops of thinner before I use it again. This polish did dry on the dull side and slightly bumpy, so you can guess what happened next. A coat each of Gelous and Seche Vite and...

     Shiny! I tried my best to capture the beauty of Special Hell, but like so many polishes, it's even better in person. I would recommend clicking on the pics so you can better see that wonderful depth. I've worn this mani for a little over three days now, including two days at work. All pics are from days two and three. So, you can see for yourself the amount of tipwear I ended up with. No chips at all, minus the one piece of square glitter that was hanging off the edge of my nail getting (thankfully) knocked off. I could probably wear this for a few more days with no problems, and part of me really wants to.

     Slightly blurry pic, you can see that the tiny red glitters sparkle, too! In lower light and in the shade, this polish leans cooler, more true red. The squares glimmer and twinkle. Throw some light on it, and it totally looks more orange. Check it out...

     My male friend at work that always notices my nails loooved this polish. (He doesn't have a fetish or anything. He's just detail oriented. And fabulous.) He didn't think of Firefly, though. "Ooooo! Ruby red slippers!" I can definitely see that...

     I purchased six of the polishes from the Ballad of Serenity collection as a gift to myself for my birthday. Lucky 13 Lacquer was a new to me brand, but I had to have them. (Okay, what really happened was that I saw polishes inspired by something that I love, and they happened to be gorgeous. All of them. I freaked out, and was barely able to stop myself from buying the entire collection at once.) I'm very impressed with the quality of this line so far. I plan on getting the other five Ballad of Serenity polishes soon, and I'll order a backup of Special Hell while I'm at it. Yep. I never thought it would happen, but I want a backup of a red polish. I don't want to ever not have this.

     Special Hell is available from Lucky 13 Lacquer here for $8. The shop is on a mini vacation at the moment. You can still place polish orders, but they won't be processed until around the end of the month. Follow Lucky 13 Lacquer on Facebook so you can stay updated. You'll be glad that you did. :)

XOXO,
Riotbettyx

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

Dollish Polish - Peter Cottontail

     I'm gonna start off today by saying that I'm so, so, sooo very excited that baseball season has started! Like, giddy, on the verge of passing out. I've been a die hard Atlanta Braves fan since I was young, and I adopted the Tampa Bay Rays as my second team about a decade or so ago, when I moved to the area. The only time I wasn't passionate about baseball was my earliest years, living in Saudi Arabia before my family moved back to the States. Growing up in the South, you just kinda breathe baseball. I love everything about the game. The history, the personalities, the atmosphere, the artistry and athleticism. It's a beautifully nuanced sport that breaks my heart every year, yet there's nothing like discussing pitching mechanics with my seventy-five year old father or watching my seven year old nephew turn a double play. A lot of things have changed over the years, but baseball is in my soul. Now, you didn't come here for my ramblings about baseball,  did ya? ;) On to my ramblings about nail polish!

     Today's polish is a Limited Edition shade from Dollish Polish, Peter Cottontail. I had originally planned on wearing this on Easter (of course), but in my brain dead state last week, I managed to forget to buy cotton balls/pads so that I could remove my old mani. Five days in a row, I left the house to do everything except for this one simple task. Once again, BF to the rescue. He bought me the biggest bag of cotton balls I have ever seen. I wish I had taken a picture before I ripped into it. It was ridiculous. I guess he was trying to prevent future polish related meltdowns, and he knows that I'll use them... So, I went ahead and wore this polish the day after Easter, because, well, why not?

     Peter Cottontail is a soft coral jelly, filled with multi-hued iridescent glitters in several shapes and sizes. I can see micro glitters, hexes, and squares, all of which catch the light in a rainbow of colours. This polish can be built up on it's own, but I wasn't down for the task of seeing how many coats that would take, as it's a very sheer jelly. I've seen this polish layered over a few different shades of orange, but my bottle seems to lean more towards the pink side of coral, and I didn't want to ruin how pretty and delicate it is. I somehow don't have the shade of peach that I was looking for as a base colour, so I used two coats of China Glaze Sunset Sail, which is a peachy nude with microshimmer that ended up being too warm on me. One thin layer of Nicole by OPI Do Good... Feel Good (a very light baby pink) on top made the base closer to the colour I was looking for. Fairly satisfied with this, I used one coat of Peter Cottontail and topped it all off with Seche Vite. Such a pretty little bunny!



     I'll be honest, I only wore this for about a day and a half. It chipped while I was at work, and I wasn't heartbroken that I would have to take it off. (I also managed to break a nail, but I'm not heartbroken about that, either. I'm used to it happening all the time due to how busy my bartending shifts are, so I'm not devastated like some people are by loss of length. My next post will feature nubbins. C'est la vie.) I thought this mani had an ethereal quality that reminded me of the many years I spent in a ballet company. It's so feminine and delicate... and not my thing at all. Way out of my comfort zone. I'll wear vampies, brights, or glitterbombs any day of the week, but nudes or sheers? Eeek! I don't mind light colours or pale pinks, but this was just too close to my skin colour for me. I do love the polish itself, so I hope that I can find some undies to pair it with that are more to my liking. Anyone else have shades or finishes that you find a little scary to wear?

     The picture above is intentionally blurred to show off the iridescent glitter. Like I've said before, I'm a sucker for anything iridescent. :) I know that some people think it's a bummer when blogs feature polishes that are no longer available, but you never know when you'll have a lucky day and stumble across one. That being said, Peter Cottontail is a Limited Edition polish that I was so happy to score! Dolly was only supposed to make 100 bottles, but a website error resulted in the polish being oversold and she honoured the extra orders. My bottle is number 133/150, so I'm one of the people who lucked out. I hope the polish gods are being just as kind to you, lovies!

XOXO,

Riotbettyx

White Owl Lacquers - Water Lilies

     Well, hey there, lovies. Hope y'all had a good Easter. Quick post today. Or it might be long. I don't know. I do know that I'm behind on my blogging. Work was crazy busy last week and fairly full of drama, so I was both mentally and physically exhausted. I'm still feeling kinda bleh and drained. What I am stoked about, however, is today's polish. White Owl Lacquers Water Lilies, from their Spring 2013 collection, is the vernis du jour.

     According to the White Owl Lacquers site, Water Lilies is a "light mint green jelly base with purple, teal and aqua matte hex, metallic turquoise dots and bigger magenta dots." I don't think this fully describes how beautiful this polish is or all the different types of glitter in it. The purple hexes come in three different sizes and shades. There are also small pink hexes that they didn't mention, as well as very subtle shimmer flecks. I originally tried to wear this on it's own, without any undies, because I love the way the glitter suspended in the green leaning base really does remind me of water lilies. Fail. I just need to learn that certain jellies look awesome swatched on a nail wheel but not so much on my slightly stained nails. (Oh, and two coats of precious polish wasted... breaks my heart.) Maybe I'll try it alone again when I'm rocking supernubs.

     This is one coat of Water Lilies layered over China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint. I didn't want to alter the colour of Water Lilies too much by picking a mint base that was too blue or dark. Compared to bottle colour, I think I did pretty well. I'm not so great at applying jellies, but this one didn't give me much trouble. For the most part, it was self-leveling and non-streaky. (All of my White Owl Lacquers jelly based polishes seem to have wonderful formulas. Some of them actually apply effortlessly. Total score.) I did make sure that I had a good amount of glitter on the brush with each dip, but I didn't have to place it on the nail at all. I also didn't have to fish for the large magenta circles, which I love. Removal was what you'd expect from a polish with glitter, a little bit of work, but nothing crazy. As usual, I topped this off with a coat each of Gelous and Seche Vite.

     I kinda feel the need to apologize for the less than stellar clean up job on this mani. I was just so tired and my contact lenses were dry from being awake for so long. I couldn't really see straight and thought I did much better than I did. It should also be noted that the boyfriend picked this polish out. My brain was too fried to make a decision, so I shoved this and another polish from the same collection in front of him and asked him to choose. BF to the rescue. ;) I ended up wearing this polish for five days. (Yes, five! I told you, I was shot from work. Good thing I really like this polish.) These photos are from the second day of wear. I only had one chip after day three and two more after day four. Really, though, the chips weren't that noticeable. Tipwear was almost non-existant.

     A couple of final thoughts... Mara, the creative mind behind White Owl Lacquers, seems super sweet. A few months ago, I expressed interest in two of her polishes that had been recently retired. She offered to make them for me even though she was no longer restocking them! I had never bought anything from her before, and this totally impressed me. I was thankful for her kindness, and she earned herself a loyal fan. Her polishes have a certain delicate beauty to them, and I honestly think they deserve all the attention they can get. Ohhh, and how ridiculously cute are those bottles? Water Lilies can be purchased from White Owl Lacquers for $9.

     Aaand for no reason other than it being stuck in my head for the last 24 hours, I'll leave you with a song. Nail world, meet my first love, Music...

XOXO,
Riotbettyx