*Press Sample*

     Today I have a very special treat for all of you! Literary Lacquers is back! *insert round of applause* Not only is she back with a stunning new collection she is also having a sale on all of the older collections. Let's get some of the details out of the way before we get to the polish, shall we? 

     Literary Lacquers is back with a collection of 7 new polishes (Plus a special limited edition gift with purchase polish) inspired by the Sarah J. Maas series A Court of Thorns and Roses. This collection will take you on a journey through the 7 courts of the High Fae of Prythian. The full collection will be available at a slight discount for $70. The Launch Date is 4/22/19, noon Mountain time. And I can't forget about the Sale: 4/22/19 – 5/1/19, 25% off all older collections, Plus you can receive Starfall, a Limited Edition polish as a free gift with $50 pre-shipping purchase

     Veiled in Roses – Rosy pink packed with holographic and opalescent microglitter - $10
Inspired by the Spring Court’s beautiful manor house, an alabaster estate covered in roses and ivy, surrounded by meadows and forests in perpetual springtime.

     The formula on this is simply wonderful with a smooth application and even coverage. You get a ton of sparkle in each layer. There was a slight VNL after the first coat but as you can see it builds up nicely. Full opacity was achieved with the application of a second coat. Shown here as two coats plus glossy topcoat. 

     Adriata – Aqua opal, this polish is loaded with blue, green, and white opalescent flakies and microglitter $10. 
The Summer Court is home to the beautiful city of Adriata nestled in its half moon bay.

     The formula on this one gave me just a little trouble. The first few strokes were a tad splotchy. Almost like the flakes were all clumped together and needed to be separated on the nail. Which is exactly what happened after a few strokes of the brush. Once again I had a slight VNL after the first coat with full opacity after the second coat. Shown here as two coats plus glossy topcoat.

     Autumn Fire – Deep coppery red holo with microglitter - $12
Fire is the power of the High Fae that reside in the Autumn Court.

     High Lady of Winter – Soft grey holo with white, silver, and blue flakies - $12
This polish inspired by the frozen Winter Court is a little shout out to the fandom and my girl Vivianne, may her voice be heard

     This polish has a formula that has a smooth consistency and even coverage. While it was more opaque on the first coat than I was expecting, I still had a slight VNL. The addition of a second coat will give you full opacity. Shown here as two coats plus glossy topcoat.

     Sunstone Palace – Delicate metallic that shifts from copper to rose - $10
The books’ action only visits the Dawn court for a short period of time, but the description of the breathtaking palace inspired this lacquer

     The application is smooth and even with a nice dispersion of flakes on the nail. Again this was slightly more opaque than I was expecting but you're still left with a small amount of VNL after the first coat. Full opacity can be reached after two coats. Shown here as two coats plus glossy topcoat.

     Cursebreaker – Bright white gold metallic with a subtle green iridescence - $10
The mysterious Day Court is home to Helion Spell-Cleaver, his power of Cursebreaking is vital to something I can’t tell you about because it’s a spoiler. 

     The formula on this was surprising. I was honestly expecting it to be more of a topper than a regular nail polish. With its smooth consistency and even coverage, this polish is easy to work with and leaves only a slight VNL on the first coat. Curse Breaker builds up quite nicely to achieve full opacity after to easy coats. Shown here as two coats plus glossy topcoat.

     Court of Dreams – Black base with holo microflakes, silver flakes, and shimmer that shifts from blue through indigo to violet - $12
The Night Court is home to the mysterious and dark Rhysand and his hot muscular Illyrian warriors (ahem). No spoilers but fans self anyway.

     With a smooth consistency and even coverage, this polish is a winner in my book. I did have a slight VNL after the first coat but, it builds up nicely to reach full opacity after two effortless coats. Shown here as two coats plus glossy topcoat. 

     Starfall - Deep navy holo with microglitter and opalescent green flakes
Amy really wanted to call this polish My Other Ride is an Illyrian Warrior but decided to go with the more sedate Starfall. Starfall is a holiday celebrated in the Winter Court on a night where star spirits migrate across the sky.

*Provided for Review*

    Today I'm bringing you another look at some of the prizes available in my current giveaway. If you haven't done so yet, be sure to check it out! A few smaller prizes have been added and I want them to be a surprise for the winner. Are you excited? 

     I'm not sure how many of you are familiar with the brand SassyG. I know I haven't heard much about them which, to be honest, is a real shame. The focus behind this brand really warms my heart and deserves more attention. Here's a little bit about the company from their website:

*Nothing to Disclose*

     Hello Everyone, I hope your week has gotten off to a good start. Things have finally settled down a bit here, for a few days at least and then I'll be off and running again. I'm actually doing another paranormal investigation next week and this one will be a two-day investigation of an old school. It's a place I've investigated before but because of its size, there was a lot that we missed. I can't wait to get back in there and see else we can experience. But before that adventure, there are blog posts to write like this one featuring Coco Bae from Sinful Colors. 

     Coco Bae is a new addition to the core line of Sinful Colors for 2018, although it's not one of the Walgreens exclusive colors. Which means if you want to add it to your collection you can probably find it anywhere Sinful Colors are sold. 

     Coco Bae is a pale tan polish with subtle iridescent shimmer. The moment I saw it in the store it reminded me of the paper you see old treasure maps or love letters on in the movies. Which is why it was the perfect choice for a base color to my parchment manicure from a few months ago. 

     The formula on this is a bit thin and streaky, but the polish does self-level. Despite the thin formula, this polish surprised me with its opacity. I had only a slight VNL after one coat and full opacity after two. Shown here is two coats plus a glossy top coat. 

     Overall I think the shade of this polish is a bit on the boring side, and the sandy tan color is not one that's overly friendly with my skintone. However, the shimmer that seems to float in the polish saves it from being a complete snooze fest. I do think it makes a great base for nail art when paired with the right colors. 

     What are your thoughts on yellow leaning neutrals, are they colors you can wear easily? Let me know in the comments and be sure to stop back on to the blog on Thursday to see a different kind of post from me. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing! 

*Nothing to Disclose*

    Today I have for you a very special polish that was created for a fellow nail blogger and classmate of mine Janna from The Girlie Tomboy. (Girlie Tomboy Nails) Colors By Llarow created this charity polish to help pay for medical bills during her fight against inflammatory breast cancer called One Headlight. Sadly she lost her battle in November and while we were no longer close she was the one who inspired me to get into nail art and the loss was greatly felt. That's why this post is a little bittersweet for me. I hate that this polish has been sitting here untried for so long, but happy to share such a beautiful, bright polish for the untried A-Z Challenge with all of you. 

     One Headlight is a neon pink leaning coral crelly polish with intense aqua blue micro-shimmer and aqua blue glass flecks. You know me, anything with glass flecks in it I have to see with a matte top coat.

     The formula on this is wonderful with even coverage on the first coat, even though it's a bit sheer. The polish builds up nicely after two coats but I still had a slight VNL. ONe Headlight dries to a matte finish.  I've shown this polish as two coats plus a glossy and matte top coat.

    I really like this polish in both the matte and glossy versions. Each option has a certain beauty to it, although I am leaning more toward the glossy version. 

    Which one do you like better? While you decide make sure to check out the other polishes for this weeks prompt.  Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!

*Nothing to Disclose*

     Welcome back to my blog, I hope your week started off on a good note. Mine started out with cleaning and straightening our camper from our last trip so I can get it ready for our next one. I will be off and running for the next two weekends with friends out camping and attending a music festival of sorts. I'm currently thinking up mani ideas for each event but in the meantime, I thought I'd share with you my letter N polishes for the Untried A-Z Challenge. 

     

     Yes, you read that right I said polishes, this week I'm sharing two polishes with you from China Glaze.  I'll also be sharing my thoughts on a new to be base and top coat. This post is chocked full of untried products! I'll get to the top and base coat at the end of this post but for now, let's get to the polish. 

     New Birth is a white creme nail polish with just a whisper of a blue tint. While you can easily see the hint of blue in the bottle, I found it looks mainly white on the nail until you get it next to something truly white.   Released in 2014 as part of The Giver Collection this pale beauty has been sitting around unloved in my helmer for almost 4 years. It was way past time to get it on my nails. 

   
     I wish the blue was a bit more evident in this, I'm not sure I would wear this on its own again. Even though the formula is thin it still applied easily and I'd be willing to use it again. I'd like to try it in a watermarble or as a base for some floral leadlighting.


      Naked is a Begonia pink polish with silver micro-shimmer. This polish was released as part of a Breast Cancer Awareness set in 2012 that included this color and a bottle of Seche Vite top coat. It took me hour and hours of scouring the internet to find out that little tidbit of information. Why would I put so much effort into it? Well, I wanted my China Glaze Collection list to be complete!


     Instead of using Pure Ice Girl on the Run, which is my typical go-to quick dry top coat, I reached for one called Show Stopper from 77 Nail Lacquer. I honestly have no idea when I picked this up, or how long it's been in my helmer. Show Stopper was dry enough to lightly touch after 4 minutes, still dentable after 10 and, fully dry after 30 minutes. Once dry I was left with a super glossy finish and is UV reactive. I didn't test the UV part because after moving, I have no idea where my black light has ended up!

     That all I've got for you today, time to get back to my preparations. I hope you enjoyed this post, I'd love to hear your thoughts on any of the products I mentioned. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!

*Nothing to Disclose*

     We are smack dab in the middle of summer, the days are long, the temps are high and the nail polish is getting brighter. What a perfect time to share with you the new Wild at Heart Collection from Sinful Colors for summer 2018. This 8  piece collection contains an illuminating base coat, a top coat, and 6 bright neon colors.  This collection was announced on 6/26 and has been spotted in a few Walgreens stores throughout the US.

   "Let your heart run WILD this summer with luscious neon colors that sizzle with exotic jungle heat!" - Sinful colors IG acct

     Before I get into the swatches I should tell you that I used one coat of the illuminating base coat (White on Time LE) in these photos. I would strongly suggest picking it up if you're interested in the collection. Trust me, on this one. 

     I've chosen to show each polish as 2 coats with both a matte and glossy top coat. 90% of the photos were taken outside in direct sunlight with the exception of when color accuracy prevented it. I will make a note on the photos that were taken indoors for full transparency. 

     I should also mention that I swatched these polishes outside when the humidity was high. (My kids wanted to swim in our pool and I needed to be where I could see them and I wanted to get this post up right away) This caused a few bubbles in my top coat that look like lumps in the polish. I assure you that these lumps are purely due to my swatching condition and that the polish will lay smooth on your nail. 

Safari Not Sorry

     Color: Bright bubblegum pink with a hint of blue shimmer. 

     Application: The formula has a nice consistency but like most neons, the first coat applies with some streaks and was a bit sheer. I found that the more I played around with the polish the more issues I had with streaking and the polish began to pull away at the cuticles. The second coat built up to full opacity and a smooth finish. Safari dries very quickly to a matte finish.