Nail of the Day: Orly Rococo-A-Go-Go

Hey everybody!  How is it going in your world today? :)  Today I wanted to show you a lovely polish that is quickly becoming one of my favorite purples.  It was a suggestion to me by one of my readers...she emailed me to let me know that TJ Maxx had this polish in an Orly duo on clearance.  And I can say it was certainly worth a lot more than the $4.50 for two price tag.  Meet the charmingly-named Rococo-A-Go-Go.

I have seen comparisons of Orly Rococo-A-Go-Go to Zoya Jem, and the two do look very similar.  I don't own Jem, but from the pictures of it, Rococo-A-Go-Go has more shimmer.  YAY for shimmer!  There is a lot of sparkly, glass fleck action going on in this one.  Rococo-A-Go-Go is a red, plummy purple .

Orly Rococo-A-Go-Go is from the 2011 Mineral FX collection, which was insanely beautiful all the way around.  As a matter of fact, I wouldn't mind having more from that collection. :P  The application was pretty easy on Rococo-A-Go-Go, and the polish dried quickly on me (imagine that!).  I used two coats.  The only negative thing I can say about it is I had crazy tip wear...but lately, *every**single**polish* I wear has awful tip wear!  I blame it on the pollen.

You just can't go wrong with pearls and shimmer.

So, what do you think of this lovely purple?  I'm so glad Jessica pointed this one out to me.  Nothing like have readers who enable your addiction! :P

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

Sally Hansen Lustre Shines: Scarab and Lava

 
Hey everybody!  I don't know anybody who doesn't just plain love Sally Hansen Lustre Shines.  They have been around since 2012 but have apparently been a popular part of Sally Hansen's line.  And it's easy to see why...Lustre Shines are shimmeringly fantastic!  I picked up Lava when the line was first introduced.

Lava is a *very* shimmery, pink-to-bronze duochrome glass fleck.  And yes, I couldn't seem to capture the true amount of pink in this polish because the shimmer was blowing it all to smithereens.  It's there though, and in large quantities too.  These seriously must be the worst ever pics of Lava.  My camera was just not having any of it. Apparently, it's sick of taking pics of all these pinks. :)

I used 3 coats of Lava for the pics because Mr. You-Know-Who forced me to.  I love, love, LOVE the interesting color and overall look of Lava, but I always seem to have one problem with it:  it ends up looking almost grainy on me and wears off my tips within no time.  BUT, trouper that I am, I always find the fortitude to soldier on in the midst of imperfection and wear it anyway. :D

I had been threatening to get Scarab for a long time, and I finally picked it up one day whilst polish shopping with Mr. Sweets.  Nope, he didn't choose it for me.  It's not red, silly! :P

No, it's not red...but a teal most FABULOUSSSSHHHHH!  And don't even get me started on that shimmer.  Oh, okay.  The shimmer is blinding!!  This mess is super reflective too, *almost* mirror-like.  I know that's hard to imagine.  Remember my post about OPI Into the Night being so shimmery it stung your eyes in the sunlight?  Scarab is the same way.

I used 3 coats of Scarab for full coverage.  It doesn't have the grainy look that Lava has at all.  Scarab is an absolutely beautiful metallic, but there's one problem with it:  I sent in a search party to find the duochrome, and they haven't returned yet.  Oh well.  I would be bummed if I was one of the duochrome girls.  But as fortune would have it, I happen to be a shimmer girl!  YAY!!  So it doesn't bug me that there is no duochrome (okay, maybe a tiny bit of gold going on) because Scarab is too pretty to hold a non-duochrome grudge against it. 

Do you own any Lustre Shines?  My advice is to not buy Scarab for the color shift, but for the color period.  And my other advice is to just ignore my extremely non-pink photos of Lava and buy it. :)

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day. <3

Happy Howlidays from Tawdry Terrier! (Pic Heavy)

Hey everybody!  Well, as you know, the holiday season is in full swing everywhere, including the world of nail polish. :)  My first Christmas polish post today is three lovelies by one of my favorite indie designers, Tawdry Terrier.  These are from the new Happy Howlidays collection...so grab a cup of cocoa for yourself and a liver treat for Fido and enjoy the show!

I always like to show a photo of my beautiful package: 

First up I have the last one...chronologically speaking, that is...New Year's Barkin' Eve, graciously gifted to me by the Tawdry Terrier ladies. :)

New Year's Barkin' Eve is fireworks against a night sky conveniently captured in a bottle for you to wear whenever you feel like having a party.  Or exploding...if you've been overeating during the holidays, that is. :D

Tawdry Terrier describes New Year's Barkin' Eve this way:  "a black holographic jelly polish with a mix of black, red, gold, silver, orange, pink, purple, blue, and turquoise glitter. This polish was inspired by the explosion of fireworks on New Year's Eve."  The glitters in this are very reflective, and application is easy.  It's a perfect mix of colors, and the amount of glitter is just the right amount and doesn't simply look like a glitter bomb.  You know how some glitter polishes just look like they have tons of glitter just for the sake of having glitter?  Yeah, you know. :)

Another thing I want to add about New Year's Barkin' Eve is that the black jelly base is very pigmented.  I've found that black jelly bases sometimes look a little brownish and have to be layered over a black creme, but this was an opaque, rich black in two coats. 

Next up is an absolutely beautiful green glass fleck called Yappy Hollydays Ya'll.

Yappy Hollydays Ya'll is such an unusual green.  It's not yellow enough to be grass and not blue enough to be mint...it's just a true medium emerald green.  It's got a lovely holographic shimmer.  There is also red, silver, and gold shimmer if you can get past the holographic goings-on. :)

Ahhhh!!  It's so pretty.  And the application was fabulous...two coats and no cleanup.  This color makes me think of holo and mistletoe.  What's that?  OH!!  I meant HOLLY and mistletoe!!  See, I told you it's hard to get beyond that holo shimmer! :P

And finally, I have my very favorite polish from the Happy Howlidays collection, Bark! Harold the Angel Sings.

Heh heh...it turns out that Tawdry Terrier co-owner Kimberley, as a little girl, thought the words of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" were "Hark! Harold the angel sings." :)  I don't know about Harold, but I'm sure loving this beautiful silver with all that lovely Christmas red and green glitter!  I used three coats for the photos, and the application was great.

Bark! Harold the Angel Sings is such a festive polish.  The inspiration behind it was silver tinsel decorations, but it makes me think of caroling in the snow under glittering lights.  At least I think it does...I've never seen that much snow in person.  Let's just say that in the Currier and Ives world in my head that it reminds me of all that.  So there! :P

You can purchase the Happy Howlidays collection on Etsy.  And today is Kim's birthday, so be sure to check out the special birthday promotion going on just for today!  Happy birthday, Kim! <3

Tawdry Terrier is also having a great Black Friday promotion starting on Thanksgiving (11/28) and going through Monday (12/2) which will include free shipping on orders over $35, previously exclusive polishes for sale, and a free bonus polish with all orders of two or more polishes.  Uh...did you catch that "previously exclusive" part?  Four words:  Harvest Moon Possum Hunt.  It has the distinction of being my favorite polish of the entire YEAR.

I hope you have a lovely evening and a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I am thankful for so many things in my life, including you all! <3

It's a Haunted Howlaween with Tawdry Terrier!

Hey everybody!  I hope you're doing well.  Who out there loves Halloween polishes?  I love Halloween collections.  The colors are always fun, and the glitter combos are great!  Today I have a couple of the new Halloween, or should I say Howlaween, polishes from Tawdry Terrier's new collection.

First, as always, I have to show you the package I got. :)

Ooooh, ooooh, witchy puppy...

When we think of Halloween colors, we always think of orange.  But purple is another fun color...kind of the cartoonish side of Halloween, especially when it's combined with green.  Tawdry Terrier Dawg of the Dead is a perfect example of this.

Dawg of the Dead is described as "a bright purple glass fleck polish with a mix of orange, purple, red violet, lime green, and emerald green glitter. This polish is great for zombies, monsters, and other kinds of ghouls!"  Ahem...I personally think it's great for me. :D

Isn't this fun?  Makes me want some Halloween candy! :)  I especially love the big lime hexes.  And I threw in a blurred bottle shot to give you an idea of the sparkle factor!

I used 2 coats of Dawg of the Dead for full coverage.  The formula is easy to work with, and as with all Tawdry Terrier polishes, there was zero cleanup.

Next I have a polish generously gifted to me by the Tawdry Terrier ladies.  There's only one problem...it's got a name I can't say. :D  I'll asterisk it for your amusement:  Bloodsucking B*tch!  Hey...I know one of those... :P

 

Isn't this a pretty little bloodsucker??  Bloodsucking B*tch is described as "a black glass fleck polish with red and silver shimmer and a mix of red and black glitter. This is a perfect polish for vicious vampires and wicked witches!"  Oh, and me. :D

Now, I love black and glitter, and this one doesn't disappoint!  Oh, and in case you thought there were limited colors in this one:

You didn't realize all that was in there, did you?  This polish had an excellent formula...very smooth with even application and no cleanup at all.  I used 2 coats for a hauntingly lovely look. ;)

The Haunted Howlaween collection by Tawdry Terrier is available on Etsy.  Your entire Tawdry Terrier experience, from the lovely packaging to the matching tissue to the beautiful polishes, is always a pleasant one.

Be sure to check out the other polish in the Haunted Howlaween collection, a fall festival in a bottle called Pumpkin Patch Pooch.  And speaking of a pumpkin patch pooch...

Nicky awaits the Great Pumpkin!

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

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!

Keeping Cool with the Tawdry Terrier Dog Days of Summer (Pic Heavy)

Hey everybody!  I am excited for today's post because it features a brand new indie company called Tawdry Terrier.  Mother and daughter team Donna and Kimberley have created a lovely new collection called Dog Days of Summer.  You may notice a very canine theme going on here...many of you are probably familiar with Kimberley's blog TikiBarbie and have seen her photos of her adorable West Highland White terriers.  Gotta love a fellow dog lover! :D  I have three polishes from the collection, all very different and each one a stunner. :) 

First up we have Fort Barkerdale.  And look!!  Puppy bottles! :D

 

Fort Barkerdale is described by Tawdry Terrier as "a golden sand metallic glass fleck polish with a mix of golden sand, turquoise, and pink glitter inspired by the seashells that wash up on the wet sand as the tide goes out."  This is a gorgeous polish that was very difficult to photograph due to the insane iridescence!  I used 2 coats for full coverage, and for some reason, the pics show it looking patchy in spots, but it wasn't like that at all in real life.  It looks exactly like the wrappers on Ferrero Rocher chocolate hazelnut balls.  Seriously.  This polish absolutely glows.

I used 2 coats of Fort Barkerdale for the look of gleaming, magical sand.  It practically applied itself and I had no cleanup.

Next we have Preppy Puppy...ahhhhh, it's SO CUTE!!

Preppy Puppy is described as "a hot pink glass fleck nail polish with a mix of pink, white, and lime green glitter inspired by Lilly Pulitzer's classic summer combination of hot pink and lime green."  I just love this glitter combo...the green is very different and really makes it pop.  And  I'm quite certain my very fashionable brother-in-law has some argyle socks in these colors.

Preppy Puppy is a bit like a jelly and applies well.  I used 3 coats for the photos.

And last, we have Moondoggie.  This was actually a very generous gift to me from the Tawdry Terrier ladies because I was their very first customer!  YAY me! :D  And...UGH!!  Look at this!  It's crazy beautiful!!

 
Moondoggie is described as "a cerulean blue glass fleck nail polish with a mix of turquoise glitter inspired by the glints of sunlight reflecting off ocean waves."  I know all the whippersnappers out there have no idea who THE Moondoggie was, but he was the drool-inducing surfer character in the 1960's Gidget movies. :)  And talk about drool-inducing!

Moondoggie is the really complex one of the lot.  The formula is very similar to Julie G Frosted Gumdrops polishes, like a glitter pavé paste with good application and no cleanup.  It was a little thick but still easy to work with.  In person, Moondoggie looks like the fantasy ocean waves from a Disney movie...you almost expect Ariel to pop up waving around her latest dinglehopper.  In real life, the color leans more turquoise, and the glitter sparkles abundantly.  The following blurred bottle shot gives you an idea...

My package arrived beautifully wrapped...and each polish was individually boxed and wrapped in color-coordinating tissue!  I love attention to detail. :)

Tawdry Terrier polishes are 5-free and not tested on animals.  And to celebrate the opening of their Etsy shop, Tawdry Terrier is currently having a giveaway of their complete Dog Days of Summer collection!  Be sure to check them out! :)

Nicolo is staying cool during these dog days of summer by enjoying a frozen yogurt treat...or is he just eyeing my  polish?? ;)

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