Darling Diva Polish Eye of the Tiger (custom) and Charger

Hi everyone! It's finally time for the BCS National Championship game and my Auburn Tigers are playing! I asked my pal Carrie from Darling Diva Polish to create me a custom for the event, and boy did she deliver! I adore her fine holo glitter polishes, so I asked if she could make me one in orange and blue. Keeping in theme, I named it Eye of the Tiger. It is perfect! You are the best Carrie! <3

For my game day mani, I used 2 coats of Eye of the Tiger over piCture pOlish Cosmos and then I did some orange accents with Darling Diva Polish Charger (2 coats over L.A. Girl Electric Coral). I love it so much!

 

 

 

As I said, Eye of the Tiger was a custom, so it is not currently available, BUT the fabulous Charger from the Muscle Car Diva Collection is now on sale in creator Carrie's Big Cartel Shop.  There are more beauties in this collection, so be sure to check them out. Darling Diva Polish is also available from Llarowe. Follow Darling Diva Polish on Facebook and Instagram for updates on new collections and restock news. 

Thanks for looking everyone...and War Eagle!!

Darling Diva Polish Muscle Car Swatches: Charger, GTO, and 'Cuda

Hi everyone! I'm very excited to show you some polishes from the upcoming Darling Diva Polish Muscle Car Collection which is going on sale today (January 5th)! If you saw my "Favorite Polishes of 2013" post, you know that I included Darling Diva's Little Red Corvette in there. Well this collection is filled with gorgeous holo glitter polishes in that very same vein, so I was super excited to receive these beauties in the mail! I have 3 polishes from the collection to show you so let's get on with the pictures!

Charger has a orange jelly base filled with various sizes of orange holographic glitter. I feel like this polish would provide pretty full coverage with 3 coats, but I chose to do 2 coats over an orange jelly base (OPI Y'all Come Back, Ya Hear). The formula was pretty smooth and spread easily for a polish so packed with glitter. Just look at this beauty.

GTO has various sizes of green holographic glitter in a clear base. I used 2 coats over Illamasqua Elope. The formula was also smooth and easy for this one. I'm a sucker for green glitters, and this one is no exception. Completely smitten!

 

 

'Cuda has a blue jelly base with various sizes of blue holographic glitter. Some of the larger glitters a bit lighter blue than the rest. I used 2 coats over Misa Pour Me Something Tall and Strong here. The texture of this polish was a bit thicker than the others, but not difficult to manage. The jelly base is also more opaque. It is lovely and glowy on the nail.

 

 

Overall, I think that these polishes are all amazing and glowy! I would recommend using a thicker top coat (2 coats even) to smooth out the glitters and bring out the maximum glow from them. In the end, it looks like your nails are encrusted with gems, so it's totally worth it! 

The Darling Diva Polish Muscle Car Collection will go on sale tomorrow in creator Carrie's Big Cartel Shop.  There are more beauties in this collection, so be sure to check them out (Carrie has swatches on Instagram of the whole collection). Darling Diva Polish is also available from Llarowe. Follow Darling Diva Polish on Facebook and Instagram for updates on new collections and restock news. Thanks for looking everyone!

*Products provided for my honest review*

Smitten Polish What Sorcery is This?

What sorcery indeed. I have been searching for ages for a saturated purple holo that has a fantastic flame, and I have finally found if folks! I was wanting something with a jelly-like formula similar to Ozotic 513 (my favorite purple holo) but that was more of a true purple (513 is a very reddish purple). I have looked high and low and have found lots of pretties along the way, but none were ever "just right". The closest I had found thus far was Dance Legend Cosmic Rainbow, but while it was super holo, it still wasn't as saturated as I wanted. Because it has a more metallic finish instead of a jelly finish, Cosmic Rainbow had that twinge of silver to it that washed it out a bit.

So...we've now come to What Sorcery is This? Smitten Polish has been putting out some amazing saturated holos this past year, and What Sorcery is This? is right on par. The vibrant purple jelly base is fine at two coats, but I preferred 3 coats to deepen the color even more. Formula was fantastic and no special base or topcoat is needed. I hated that I didn't get any sunlight pictures, but of course I chose to put on this polish on the eve of the gloomiest day of the year. *sigh* It never fails. But still...look at how gorgeous! If you love purple holos, you must have this. MUST!

 

Smitten Polish can be purchased from creator Noelie's Etsy shop as well as from Femme Fatale Cosmetics, Edgy Polish, and Shoppe Eclecticco. Be sure to follow Smitten Polish on Facebook for updates on restocks and new collections. Thanks for looking everyone!

Evolving Mani Featuring Contrary Polish, Indigo Bananas, and Darling Diva Polish

Hi everyone! Today I have a mani today that evolved over the course of a day or two. Sometimes these don't turn out well, but this one was gorgeous at every stage!

I started out with Contrary Polish Greenhouse, a gorgeous blue jelly with golden shimmer which gives the polish an overall green appearance. The formula was excellent (in true Contrary fashion) and two coats gave great coverage.

Next I decided to layer a beautiful glass flecked duochrome polish from Indigo Bananas called Anansi. Anansi shifts from vibrant green to purple. I used 1 coat over Greenhouse for this mani. Just gorgeous!

 

Finally, I received a beauty in the mail from Darling Diva Polish called Happy Wife, Happy Life (such truth in that name) and I couldn't resist putting it on top to see what would happen. It has tiny color shifting glitters in a clear base. They shift from turquoise to pinky purple to gold. This combination was absolutely stunning!

 

 

 

 

Contrary Polish can be purchased direct from creator Carrie (details are on her blog) or they are available from several e-tailers including Llarowe (US), Femme Fatale Cosmetics (Australia), Mei Mei's Signatures (Singapore), Norway Nails (Norway), and Rainbow Connection (UK).

Indigo Bananas polishes are available from their Etsy Shop as well as from Edgy Polish (Sweden) and Mei Mei's Signatures (Singapore). Be sure to follow Indigo Bananas on their official website,  Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter to see many amazing swatches and keep up-to-date on new collections, restocks, etc.

Darling Diva Polish is available from creator Carrie's Big Cartel Shop as well as from Llarowe. Follow Darling Diva Polish on Facebook and Instagram for updates on new collections and restock news.

Thanks for looking everyone!

Random Pastel Leopard...

Yeah...I have no idea... I was wanting to do something atypical for winter and somehow a pastel leopard was born. And then I had to throw some glitter in there too. I guess this is where my brain goes after too many days of work and too much gloomy weather...

I started out doing a distressed look with Revlon Buttercup as my base and then I used Illamsqua Jo'mina, OPI Mermaid Tears, and Barry M Blueberry Ice Cream for my other colors. Then I stamped a leopard design using the Cheeky XL Wild at Heart plate and Konad White. Finally I added a coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust.

And that concludes this edition of random, non-seasonally appropriate nail art. Thanks for looking everyone!

Pahlish Mad Man With a Box

Hi everyone! Today I have a beauty from Pahlish's new Dr. Who themed All of Time and Space Collection. Mad Man With a Box was actually released for a short time on Black Friday as a preview to the collection, so I snagged it then. It is a gorgeous deep blue jelly base with blue and golden flecked shimmer with a violet shift. The violet shift is subtle (and very difficult to capture on camera) but it adds wonderful depth to the polish. Now I decided to layer this polish because it is such a deep inky blue and I was worried about stains (because dark blues are notorious for staining). I will have to say that was a good call because I got a bit of stainage at the cuticles upon removal (this was really made worse by the fact that my cuticles were super dry). I used 2 coats over piCture pOlish Cosmos for this mani and there was absolutely no stainage to the nail plate. It dries a bit matte (which actually looks cool...it would be fun to use it with matte topcoat) but I recommend using a shiny topcoat to really bring out all of that shimmery goodness. I heard someone describe this polish by saying it looked like OPI Absolutely Alice and Alcatraz...Rocks had a baby, and I must agree. That is the best way possible describe the amazing shimmer that is going on here.

 

 

Part one of the All of Time and Space Collection (Including Mad Man With a Box) will be released on January 3rd (tomorrow night!) in Pahlish's Big Cartel Shop at 7 pm Central Time. There will be a part two of the collection that will be released in February. Be sure to follow Pahlish's blog,  Facebook, and Instagram for official info on restocks and new collection updates. Pahlish is also available from Llarowe (US), Overall Beauty (US), Rainbow Connection (UK), and Edgy Polish (Sweden). Thanks for looking everyone!

Chaos and Crocodiles Rainbows All Around

Hi everyone and Happy New Year! I utterly destroyed my NYE mani before I could get proper pictures, so I thought I would share something bright and cheery with you today instead. I recently picked up a few Chaos and Crocodiles polishes during a pre-order and Rainbows All Around just had to be mine. It is a fun mix of multicolored holographic glitters in a clear base. I used 1 coat over Illamasqua Noble for this mani. I love how smooth and workable the glitter formula is and it actually didn't require a lot of topcoat to smooth out, which is always a plus with blingy glitters.

Here is Illamasqua Noble on its own. It is still one of my favorite cremes ever.

And here is a peek at the one terrible iPhone picture I got of my NYE mani. I used L.A.Girl Black Illusion as a base and then used Darling Diva Polish Diamond to stamp on the fireworks from the Bundle Monster H14 plate. The accents are Lynnderella Shapeshifter. I then proceeded to destroy one of the glittery nails before I ever got proper pictures so...bummer.

Chaos & Crocodiles polishes are available from their Big Cartel shop as well as from Mei Mei's Signatures. You can keep track of info on restocks and releases by following their blog and Facebook. Thanks for looking everyone!