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

 

 



OPI - Meet Me on the Star Ferry (for Diana)

Sunset and evening star, And one clear call for me! And may there be no moaning of the bar, When I put out to sea, But such a tide as moving seems asleep, Too full for sound and foam, When that which drew from out the boundless deep Turns again home. Twilight and evening bell, And after that the dark! And may there be no sadness of farewell, When I embark; For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place The flood may bear me far, I hope to see my Pilot face to face When I have crost the bar. "Crossing the Bar" (1889)      - Alfred Lord Tennyson **********          So, this is not the post I had planned. I had a couple of Harry Potter inspired polishes lined up to show you, as well has some fun spring/summer colours. I was excited to be blogging again after my recent hiatus. Then, last Wednesday, the boyfriend got some horrible news. His mother had suddenly and unexpectedly passed away. The last couple of days have been exhausting, as the family has been trying to make arrangements and such, all the while grieving and trying to make sense of what happened. The shock has not worn off.      I've been trying to be the supportive girlfriend. I love the bf, and his mother was always so warm and caring towards me. It's difficult to see him in so much pain, but I don't think I'm emotionally equipped to be much comfort. I chalk that up to my military upbringing. I could safely rescue you from a catastrophic weather event, but you would want someone else there with you as you sifted through what remained of your house and possessions. I've been staying strong, taking care of our day-to-day and finances. This doesn't mean I haven't cried while alone in the shower, or that this post is easy to type.      Sunday was the memorial service. I wanted to wear a polish that would serve as my unspoken tribute to her. It might seem like a trivial thing, but my mind appreciated focusing on something tangible, and I agonized over what to wear. Polish addicts often plan out their manicures days (or weeks) in advance when it comes to birthdays, holidays, major life events. But what polish does one wear to what is basically the funeral of the woman who was to be one's mother-in-law? It's not a pleasant thing to think about, but it was important to me.

Crossing the Bar Alfred Tennyson
1889

 

 

     OPI Meet Me on the Star Ferry is from their Spring 2010 Hong Kong Collection. The "Star Ferry Co Ltd" name was inspired by the poem above. I don't really want to explain my polish choice past that. I haven't shared this with the bf yet. I don't know if I will.

    

 

 

 

     All photos are two coats of Meet Me on the Star Ferry and one coat of Seche Vite. Any bubbles are the result of my sleep deprived application, not the fault of the polish. This polish looks different in every light, sometimes cooler or warmer. Frosty or crazy shimmery. Pink, purple, brown. I don't feel much like describing it in depth. Photos are all colour accurate, to an extent. (Let's say that they capture the spirit of the polish.) I'm just not that concerned this time. There are other, more perfect, swatches out there. These are being posted with love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 







     I'm hoping that my next post will be more upbeat. I got word a few hours ago that my own mother is in the hospital. Keep us in your thoughts, as you all are in mine.

 

XOXO,

Riotbettyx

 

 

 

Color Club - Eternal Beauty

     Ahh, holographic polishes... What can I say? I love the way they look. Should I own as many as I do? Absolutely not. I'm not in the sun enough for me to see some blinding holo effect. If I expect for my manis to last any time at all, I have to wear top coat, and we all know that this dulls most holos. Some holos also cost more, and it's not very practical for me to spend extra money on something I can't fully appreciate. All that being said, we are talking about nail polish here, so logic and reason are pretty much irrelevant. On a gloomy day that promised rain, I decided that there was only one polish that I wanted to wear. Eternal Beauty, from Color Club's 2013 Halo Hues Collection, was the exact colour of purple that I was craving. So, enjoy some pics of a polish I'm sure you've already seen, this time sans direct sunlight or flash.

     Eternal Beauty is a mid-toned purple linear holographic polish. The holo effect is crazy strong with this one. All photos were taken indoors, with the sun refusing to make an appearance in the grey clouded sky, and you can still clearly see the holo rainbows. Imagine how amazing this is when there's more light present!

     I had zero problems with application. The formula of Eternal Beauty is fantastic. It went on exactly where I wanted it to, similar to a great creme, and dried smooth to the touch. While far more even and opaque than I expected at one coat, I used two to ensure richness of colour and holo strength. I don't own an aqua base coat, so I used my usual CND Stickey, and this polish flowed nicely over it. I also top coated this mani with Seche Vite. The linear holo effect was initially dulled a little, but reappeared after the Seche was dry. Was it exactly as strong as pre-top coat? Probably not, but it was close enough for me to not care. (I've heard mixed reviews about whether top coat dulls the Halo Hues. When I swatched them on a nail wheel, I found that it depended on the individual polishes. Some seemed unaffected by top coat, others sported a slightly weaker effect. The linear holo wasn't totally killed on any of the shades, though.)

     How gorgeous is this shade of purple?! Factor in the strong holo, and I'm in love. I wore this mani for a night at work and ended up with no (!) chips. Tipwear, yes, but that's to be expected. I did wear top coat, though, so I can't comment on how it wears without it. I'm just happy to find that I can get at least one day of wear out this polish, and that it still looks beautiful with top coat. I can't wait until the weather evens out (hellllooo, Sunshine State?) so that I can try out some of the other polishes in this collection.

     I bought my bottle of Eternal Beauty off of Amazon. I actually purchased all of the Color Club Halo Hues (both 2012 and 2013) at once, as a lot of 12, for just under $80. I didn't shop around, comparing prices, because I wanted them right then. Once again, love of nail polish > logic, reason. Looking around after the fact, I've seen them retailing for significantly more than that, so my impulse bulk purchase makes perfect financial sense. Mmm hmm...

XOXO,

Riotbettyx

Orly - Fowl Play (pic heavy)

     As excited as I am to wear pastels and brights for spring, sometimes I just have to mix things up with a darker polish. I guess it's my version of a palette cleanser. Orly Fowl Play is from their Fall 2011 Birds of Feather Collection, but I didn't get it until last year. I meant to wear it during Fall, then Winter, but never got around to it until now. I'm sure everyone has seen this one by now, but I'm not that concerned. I'm a big sucker for puns, so its name makes me smile.

     Just a little heads up... These are not the best pics. I'm fully aware of this. Us baby bloggers learn a lot by trial and error. I'm not ashamed to show my failures. What you see in the photos is not tipwear. It's shrinkage from my Seche Vite, which happened pretty much immediately. I tried to add another coat of polish to cover my bare tips and a layer of random top coat that wasn't fast dry. This only made the shrinkage line uneven and my polish look thick. The shrinkage didn't really bother me in the first place, but I wanted for the polish to look its best for this post. Fail. It looked even worse. Let's just call this a learning experience...



     Fowl Play is a dark plummy jelly base with a quite a bit of yummy goodness mixed. I don't normally post this many photos, but I was trying to capture what it looks like in different lighting and from various angles. It has reddish/copper flakies that shift to orange, yellow, then green. I like that you don't have to hold your hand at extreme angles to see the shift. It also has really pretty blue glitter that sparkles in every light. In the shade, it looks like there's some silver microglitter thrown in, too.



Rainbows!



     I originally used three thin coats of Fowl Play to reach opacity and depth. Due to the aforementioned shrinkage debacle, these photos show an additional thin coat, which didn't affect how the polish itself looked. It applied easily. The flakies lie flat on the nail and didn't interfere with application. The formula was slightly thick, which was fine with me. I just waited an extra minute between coats. I don't think I can blame the shrinkage completely on the polish or the Seche Vite. I didn't do the best job of wrapping my tips, thanks to my new shorter nail length. Hello, polish all over my fingertips! Removal  and clean-up were easy, but be careful or you'll end up with sparkles everywhere (like I did).



Sunlight



Sunlight



     Argh! Shrinkage! Hmm, that's what the title of this post should have been... I read that some people didn't understand the hype surrounding this polish and that it could only be appreciated in the sunlight. I disagree. The sunlight certainly makes it sparkle and shimmer, but it's overwhelming for me. Even though I live in Florida, I'm not currently spending a lot of time outdoors. I wouldn't wear a polish that I didn't think looked good in indoor or low lighting, since that's where I normally am. I think Fowl Play is beautiful and complex. (I'm also a sucker for compliments on my polish from my bar guests and co-workers. Holos and other sunlight loving polishes are reserved for my days off, because it's pointless to wear them in dim lighting where no one, myself included, can see them in their full glory.) I wore this mani for three days, including a Friday night at work, without a single chip. Tipwear? Who knows. My shrinkage line didn't seem to change at all. ;)

Shade



Shade

    
     Fowl Play is supposedly a dupe, or very close to one, of OPI Merry Midnight. I don't have the OPI, so I'm not sure. From swatches that I've seen online, they seem to be very similar, but not dupes. Fowl Play, however, was affordable and easy for me to find. From what I can tell, it's still widely available. Go check it out for yourself! (Or go on eBay and pine over a $23+ bottle of Merry Midnight. I can't say I haven't done that myself...) Hope everyone has a beautiful Sunday. :)

XOXO,
Riotbettyx

Pretty & Polished - Tart

     Happy Vernal Equinox, lovies! In celebration of the first day of Spring, I have a beautiful polish to show you that I think is perfect for the season: Pretty & Polished Tart. I'm warning you now, I adore this one! Commence gushing...

     Tart is my favourite shade of light purple. It looks slightly more pink or blue tinged depending on the lighting and angle. It also has an amazing blue to purple shimmer that gives it an iridescent glow, which I absolutely love. (It makes me all nostalgic for high school in the 90's, when anything iridescent was sooo cool. Lol.) My bottle was packed with glitter. Packed. Yellow, blue, purple, red, white, and pink glitter of all different sizes. Fishing was unnecessary, even for the large white hexes. There are also larger pink hexes in this, but I didn't get any on this hand. Surprisingly, all that glitter spread out nicely and didn't affect application! A coat each of Gelous and Seche Vite and this was perfectly smooth and shiny.

     Tart was love at first brush stroke. A lot of polishes look lovely in the bottle, but this one was actually a joy to apply. It was a little bit sheer but went on so perfectly. It went exactly where I wanted it to and pretty much applied itself. Not thick at all, but not runny, and no glitter struggles. (I did have a teeny bit of clean up, but I apparently missed a little shimmer smudge which I didn't see until after I took pics. Je suis désolé.) I left this at two coats, because I thought it looked more delicate that way. I know it looks like I have tipwear or shrinkage in these pics, but I promise it looked great in real life. I didn't really have any visible nail line, but I wasn't worried about that in this case.

     I can't explain how much I love this polish. I already can't wait to wear it again. It's just so gosh darn pretty. The boyfriend and I went to breakfast this morning and our half awake server stopped mid-sentence to ask me about my nails and polish. When I told her that I do my nails myself, she asked me if I had my own nail shop. I took this as a major compliment. After she walked away, the BF started laughing and said that I could start my own shop, I certainly had enough nail polish! Gah. At least he didn't tell her my secret. Lol. For the record, the BF whole-heartedly approved of this shade. He even asked me a few questions about it, so I know he was honestly interested. ;)

     Pretty & Polished Tart has been brought back for a limited time and is available here for $9. Get it while you still can!

XOXO,
Riotbettyx