a-England Briarwood

Hey everybody!  I did a crazy thing.  I totally forgot I owned a-England Briarwood.  FORGOT.  I told you it's been a rough year :P

I was digging through the ol' collection to rustle up some autumn hues, when there it was, the arguable gem of the Burne-Jones Dream collection, Briarwood.  Briarwood is a deep reddish brown color infused with an especially (or it seemed to me) colorful scattered holo.

I've only had experience with one other a-England polish, Briar Rose.  Briarwood wore for two days before I got a chip versus one day with Briar Rose.  That's not to say Briar Rose doesn't wear well; it is highly unusual for me to go two days without a chip.  Blasted chemistry!!

One reason I love holos like this is because I think they look literally dusty.  Magically dusty!  Briarwood has a lot of gold going on in the holo particles.  I used two coats of this very lovely polish.  The only issue I had with it was that it did stick a bit to my unpleasantly hard cuticle area.  But since I seem to the be the only person in the universe who has that problem, you should be just fine!

a-England is available at Color4Nails.  What's been your experience with a-England?

Thanks for reading, and have a lovely day. <3

Fall Favorites: China Glaze Harvest Moon

Hey everybody!  Do you have a polish that never ceases to amaze you every time you revisit it?  That's how I feel about today's post polish!  You all know I don't like orange...but add a dash of bronze or copper, and we'll talk. ;)  China Glaze Harvest Moon is, in my humble opinion, the epitome of an autumn polish. <3

AHHH...it always gets me, this polish.  It's so stinkin' pretty.  Harvest Moon was one of the many lovely offerings from the 2012 Hunger Games collection.  Wow...now that was a great collection. :)

One of my favorite traits of Harvest Moon is the wonderful application.  It applies like a foil (you can't mess it up!!), but I suppose it's technically a metallic shimmer...make than an extreme shimmer.  This is an October forest of fiery-colored leaves in a bottle.

I applied 3 coats of Harvest Moon for the photos *just* to make sure the visible nail line went bye-bye.  I didn't want that to distract my readers from this amazingly fantastic color and shimmer!

I thought the entire Hunger Games collection looked perfect for fall, even though the movie was released in March.  Oh well!  Hey, speaking of which, are you all excited about the release of Catching Fire??  I am...it was my favorite book of the trilogy!  TEAM PEETA!! :D

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day and a safe weekend! <3

Chocolate and Coffee: Salon Perfect Cafe Ole

Hey everybody!  I hope things are well with you. :)  Today I am showing you a polish from Salon Perfect's new First Look Fall Polish Forecast collection called Cafe Ole.  Cafe Ole is a brown-taupe creme with a fantastic gold shimmer.

I simply have to tell you the story of how I found this collection.  As you probably know, Salon Perfect is a Wal-Mart exclusive, so you can pretty much figure it'll be a crap shoot as far as actually finding them IN a Wal-Mart.  I had actually been looking for another polish, SinfulColors Graine de Poivre, which Liesl of Liesl Loves Pretty Things made me really want.  Alas, no Graine de Poivre, and nothing really interesting anywhere else either, until I spotted 3 brand new Salon Perfect fall displays shoved into the back of the BOTTOM SHELF OF THE CLEARANCE SECTION,  hidden away so that nobody could even see them.  Ay yi yi.

Salon Perfect describes Cafe Ole as milk chocolate brown with a golden shimmer. On me, it looks more like chocolaty mud.  That's not to say it's not attractive.  It's terribly pretty, and the shimmer makes it glow. 

I used two coats of Cafe Ole for the photos.  The formula was good...a little thin but easily manageable, and with no cuticle pooling.  The first coat went on patchy, but everything leveled out with the second. 

I love this polish for fall!  Nothing like a cup o' muddy chocolate coffee to make you long for your favorite sweater! :D

Salon Perfect polishes retail for $3.98 at Wal-Mart stores.  Good luck finding them!!  Be sure to check the clearance section for all the latest releases! :/

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely evening! :)

A Week of Falls with Pretty Jelly: Rabbit Hole

Hey everybody!  I hope you are all doing well today.  I am super excited for today's post, another epic "fall" as interpreted by the amazing Liz at Pretty Jelly.  It's a story of confusion, riddles, and trying to get back home - featuring a girl named Alice, who fell down the...Rabbit Hole!

OH.  MY.  GOODNESS.  I think I would gladly put up with a weird cat, a grumpy caterpillar, a chop-happy monarch, and insanity in general if Wonderland was THIS color.  I mean, why would Alice even want to come back?? :)  This stuff is magic in a bottle.

Let me quote Liz's description of Rabbit Hole, because it's so complex I'd never get it right myself: "brown-purple base with red-violet shimmer that turns gold at extreme angles, large copper glitter, small copper-gold glitter, and sparse holographic glitter."  And that's all there, in one convenient polish!

I would describe the overall look of Rabbit Hole as aubergine.  It's just so gorgeous.  Really.  It's a crelly, and I could have used 3 coats, but I only used two because quite frankly, my lighting was bad and I couldn't see what I was doing! :P  The formula is fantastic and the application effortless, as with all Pretty Jelly polishes.

So...will you also be falling down the Rabbit Hole?  It's a lovely place to be...

Pretty Jelly Rabbit Hole is available on Etsy.  Be sure to check out the entire Fall Collection!  They are all so beautiful that you'll be sure to "fall" for them! 

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day! :)

Welcoming Fall with Tawdry Terrier Autumn in the Barkshires! (Pic Heavy)

Hey everybody!  I've got a fun post today.  You all remember the fabulously sparkling Tawdry Terrier Dog Days of Summer polishes I showed before, right?  Well, today I have three polishes from their new fall collection, adorably named Autumn in the Barkshires. :)

The Tawdry Terrier ladies, Donna and Kimberley, are exceptional in the art of presentation.  Look at this lovely package!

Puppy in the leaf pile!! <3

First up, I have Hahvahd Hound.  Okay, let me instruct you as to how to say the name:  Raise your eyebrows, tilt your head back slightly, and with your best under bite, say "Harvard." :D  

Tawdry Terrier describes this polish as "a crimson metallic glass fleck polish with a mix of red, orange, and golden yellow glitter inspired by the color of autumn leaves in the Harvard Yard."  It absolutely looks like leaves...you know, those fluffy-crunchy ones that are so pretty.  

I love this polish.  The color is very unusual; depending on the lighting, it's a deep red or a rust or sometimes a pinkish-bronze.  Awesome!  The metallic sheen is really pretty.  I used 2 coats of Hahvahd Hound for photos.

Next up is a lovely green called Pawsome Pines.  So very pretty!!  

Pawsome Pines is described as "a pine green glass fleck polish with heavy blue and green shimmer inspired by a moonlit stroll through the pine trees."  Hey, if want shimmer, I want it heavy!  This shimmer is fantastic. :)

The color is dead-on pine green.  I know this for a fact because when I was a little girl in the 70's, my Mom had a very fashionable green polyester pantsuit that she called her "pine green pantsuit", and Pawsome Pines looks just like it :)   This is a beautiful green, and I don't have another green quite like it in my collection.  I used 2 coats...the formula was great.

Oh...I must have been a very good girl, because the Tawdry Terrier ladies generously gave me a bonus polish.  And it's my very favorite from the entire collection...so grab your blue tick hound and join me for a Harvest Moon Possum Hunt!

My GOODNESS.

...what's that?  Oh, sorry...I was mesmerized by my own photos. :D  Would you just LOOK at this??

Harvest Moon Possum Hunt is described as "a chocolate brown glass fleck polish with gold, red, and holographic shimmer inspired by the color of the woods, as seen under a warm harvest moon."  They had me at "holographic shimmer."  

Harvest Moon Possum Hunt looks like magic chocolate.  Beautiful, sparkling, magical chocolate that doesn't make you fat.  I used 2 coats for shimmery perfection.

The Autumn in the Barkshires collection can be purchased at Tawdry Terrier's Etsy store.  Harvest Moon Possum Hunt is not sold separately, but it's an exclusive bonus polish you will receive when you purchase the entire collection.  Trust me...it's special. :)  Tawdry Terrier's polishes are 5-free.

What do you think of the new fall Tawdry Terrier polishes?  I love a polish that's a bit unusual in color, and all three of these have that characteristic.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day! :)

Nicole by OPI Comparison: Just Busta Mauve and Cinna-Man of My Dreams

Hey everybody!  We've seen a whole lot of textured polish this year.  And while I don't go crazy for them as many people do, there were two textured polishes that I really wanted this year:  Julie G Rock Candy and Nicole by OPI Cinna-Man of My Dreams.  I wanted them for the same reason I usually want a polish:  because they were unusual. 

When I finally found Cinna-Man (everybody seemed to be really late getting the NOPI Gumdrops), I noticed right away that in the bottle, it bore a striking resemblance to another of my very favorite NOPI polishes, Just Busta Mauve.  Sooo...I decided to do a little comparison of the two.  Obviously, I knew they wouldn't, or couldn't, look a whole lot similar due to the texture difference, but the colors are so close in the bottle that it got me curious.

(L) Just Busta Mauve and (R) Cinna-Man of My Dreams

Just Busta Mauve is a brown glass fleck polish with a little pink and a lot of blue shimmer.  I LOVE this polish.  It's a bit sheer but builds up nicely in 3 coats.

Look at that insane shimmer!  The blue is hard to capture in photos, but it's very visible in real life and produces a sparkling effect.  The only thing about this polish that I don't like is the name.  Mauve?  Really??

Cinna-Man of My Dreams is another polish that's a little bit unusual...it's a brownish-red that looks a little pink too.  It's crazy sparkly and looks magically delicious! :)

As you can see, Cinna-Man is super sparkly, but bears absolutely no resemblance to Just Busta Mauve on the nail.  It's a little closer with top coat, but still Cinna-Man is his own man. :)

UGH...I LOVE THIS with top coat!!  Look at the depth it gives it.  It's a striking polish either way.  So is Just Busta Mauve.  But they're not even close in color when you get them out of the bottle.  Am I the only one who thinks they look alike in the bottle??

Well I hope you've enjoyed my little comparison of completely different polishes, LOL.  Well, okay...let's just say it was for my own benefit!! :)

Thanks for stopping by, and remember to enter my giveaway!  It ends Sunday night, and the prizes are fantastic! :)  Have a lovely day!

My Very Own Franken Femme Creation: Toxic Chocolate!

Hey everybody!  I hope you're having a great weekend so far.  I was just happy to sleep late, which was 5:30. :D  I have something special to show you today...the lovely, talented, and extremely witty Becca at Franken Femme sent me my very first ever blogging bud nail mail!  A few weeks ago, Becca created a flakie beauty she called Toxic Chocolate, and I really loved it.  So being the sweetie pie she is, she made me my very own bottle. :)

For those of you who aren't familiar with Becca's mad frankening skills, you can find the story of how Toxic Chocolate came into being here.  Becca creates some awesome stuff...sometimes originals, sometimes frankens from other polishes.  Toxic Chocolate is a franken with which even SHE fell in love.  Becca is very talented and her blog is a joy to read because she's so stinkin' funny.

Look at that bottle shot!  The color of Toxic Chocolate reminds me of the sludge left in the bottom of an almost-eaten caramel and hot fudge sundae. Mmmmm.

Becca created this polish as a matte, but I was experiencing some awful drying time...again, not the polish's fault, but the humidity's.  I applied top coat, and it still had a satiny finish rather than a really shiny one.

While the color of Toxic Chocolate is beautiful, the flakies make it really special, especially the Seawitch Green ones.  I wore this polish for 2 and a half days, which is an eternity in my wear time. :)

Nothing toxic about this polish!  It didn't give me that paper cut.

Becca has made some lovely things in her top secret frankening laboratory, but I think she really outdid herself on this one.  

Blogging buds are some of the most creative people out there, and you know something else?  They're really nice too.  My sincere thanks to Becca for being so very thoughtful. ;)

Please don't forget to enter my giveaway!  Entries are low, so you have a really good chance of winning some wonderful indie polish! 

Be sure to check out Becca's blog, Franken Femme, and prepare yourself to be impressed.  Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day! :)

A Sparkly Cosmic Vacuum: Black Sheep Lacquer Into the Void

Hey everybody!  I hope this Monday is going well for you. :)  Today I have a very special polish to show you by a Canadian indie company called Black Sheep Lacquer.  And let me tell you, you will feel like anything BUT a social outcast whilst wearing this baby...presenting Into the Void!  (Not to be confused with the void into which Google Reader vanished today...)

Black Sheep Lacquer Into the Void

Black Sheep Lacquer's creator, Erin, describes Into the Void like this:  "a clear base with iridescent glitter, and tiny brown & turquoise hex glitter.  It's packed with personality and you only need one coat for it to look amazing!"

Black Sheep Lacquer Into the Void

Erin's not kidding...look at this stuff...look at it!  It's aqua teal and a coppery brown together in one iridescent bottle of awesomeness!  I used 2 coats of Into the Void over black for the photos, and this is honestly one of the most gorgeous glitter creations I've ever seen.  I know you see all the time that popular line "I've never seen anything like it"...so I'll spare you and say "I'll bet you've never seen anything like it." :P

***Blurred bottle shot to emphasize unbelievable sparkle***

Into the Void applies extremely well.  The glitters positively glow.  I used 2 coats of CND Air Dry as my top coat because I wanted a glassy finish...the result looks like diamond dust on my nails.  I was a little frustrated because I couldn't capture the exact colors of the teal and brown, but I took a shot in my office with my iPod, and I think it comes closest.  

Ugh...I don't really have gout in my pointer finger, honest.

I'll gladly be the black sheep of THIS family.  No wait...I want to be TOTALLY INCLUDED in THIS family!!  

Oh, and I just have to show you how the polish comes packaged:

Heh heh heh. :)

Black Sheep Lacquers are 3-free and cruelty-free and are available on Etsy.  Erin even makes custom colors! 

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day! :)