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

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 - Death Day Party

     Hi lovies! I should be sleeping, but, nah... Gotta post when the blogging spirit moves me. ;) Today's polish is one that I wanted to show you a couple of weeks ago during my Harry Potter marathon. Lac Attack Death Day Party is sooo cool! It's from the Magical Musings Collection, which I'm still trying to work my way through. I'm giddy just thinking about all that awesome.

     I'm horrible at describing polishes. My brain just goes, "Oh my glob. Shiny..." and I can't think past that. My apologies. Death Day Party is a topper that contains (according to the Lac Attack site description) "mainly charcoal colored micro-flakes that flash a beautiful purple, as well as multicolored iridescent flakes strewn throughout a clear base." Oh my, do I ever love flakie polishes. This one is inspired by Nearly Headless Nick's 500th death day party. Even if you're not into Harry Potter and that previous sentence means nothing to you, you should still be able to appreciate this complex and unique polish.

 

 

     How fantastic do those flakes look?! The colour shifts are so pretty and unusual. This is just one coat of Death Day Party over OPI Vant to Bite My Neck?. I chose to layer it over a dark purple because it matched the overall bottle colour, but I think it would look good over a variety of base colours. (I still want to try it over a dark blue to contrast the coppery flakes and a beige to show off the variety of iridescent flakes better.) I was happy with the coverage that I got, but I guess you could do a second coat if you wanted to. Despite being full of flakes, this polish spread easily. I applied it like normal polish, with very minimal dabbing. As usual, everything is topped off with a coat each of Gelous and Seche Vite. I want to say that I wore this for three days with no chipping and that removal wasn't anything horrible, but don't quote me on that. I should really take notes for when I get behind on my posts. (Or I could just, you know, not get behind...)

 

     Death Day Party is currently available from Lac Attack for $8. You can also find it at Harlow & Co. for $9. Sidenote, the elusive Weasley's Wizard Wheezes is still in stock at Harlow & Co. Get it while you can, and avoid the normal restock madness! While you're at it, you should go ahead and follow Lac Attack on Facebook for updates. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. :)

 

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

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

Mint Chocolate Chip Nails: Zoya Neely w/ Dollish Polish Creme De Menthe

Well, lovies, here we go...

     I've been considering starting a blog for a little while now and have decided to just dive on in, sink or swim style. I really want a spot to share my love of my "colours" (my boyfriend's term for my ever expanding stash) and interact with people who love nail polish as much as I do. There are a couple of girls (and one guy) at work that have shown interest in my ever changing manicures and nail polish in general, but I've been hesitant to "out" myself as being a little obsessed. Mostly, I just interrupt my boyfriend while he's playing xbox and force him to look at my nails. He politely assesses them because he loves me, but I suspect that he secretly thinks that I'm crazy. Anyway, more about the blog and what to expect from me later. On to the polish!

     My idea here was to create "Mint Chocolate Chip" nails. I love anything sweet. Chocolate, cake, cookies, candy, pastries, ice cream... I have a sweet tooth of Buddy the Elf proportions. Mint chocolate chip was my favourite flavour of ice cream as a child, so it gets the honour of inspiring my first published manicure. (Please excuse the tipwear and cuticles. I bartend long shifts, which is really rough on my hands. I'd already worn this for two days at work before I took these pictures. I kinda figured that if I kept waiting for the perfect opportunity to start this blog, it would never happen. So, yeah, I've set the bar low.)

     I started with a base of Zoya Neely from this spring's Lovely Collection. Zoya describes it as a "full coverage earliest spring green in a glossy creme finish." I'd say that's pretty spot on. Two coats was all I needed. The formula was wonderful, and I had no problems with streaking. All my recent Zoya purchases have been a joy to apply and wear time has been impressive.



     The glitter topper is Dollish Polish Creme De Menthe from the 2013 Valentine's collection. It's a sparkly mix of different sizes and shades of green and brown glitter with some white bars thrown in. I know it's not available anymore, but due to some issues, I wasn't able to get it before Valentine's Day and am only now wearing it. It's super shiny and also pre-St. Patrick's Day appropriate, so I don't mind that much. (Sidenote: Dolly's customer service is pretty wonderful.) Application was easy. The glitter payoff great, so I only needed one coat. I didn't even have to do any dabbing to get the large hexes or bars!

     I do have to mention that I've worn this combo for four days now without any chipping and only some inconspicuous tipwear. That's pretty miraculous considering the 30 hours of bartending I did in that time period. The constant handwashing, contact with cleaning chemicals and alcohol, endless amounts of glasswear to wash, and banging my fingers against numerous glass, metal, plastic, and rubber surfaces... CND Stickey kept it anchored, a coat of Gelous smoothed the glitter, and Seche Vite was, well, the chemical filled awesomeness that is Seche Vite.

     Well, that's it for now. I'll leave you (my currently non-existant audience) with a picture of my darling Luna, who is the partial inspiration for the title of this blog. :)

XOXO,

Riotbettyx