Favorites: Purples! (or, watch how my swatching has changed, lol!)

Hello there!

We're down to the last of my color-based favorites posts--after this I'll turn to my favorite specialty polishes, and possibly my favorite fall, Halloween, and holiday polishes, if people are interested. I can also do a series of my favorite nail art if people are interested in that; just let me know in the comments what interests you. I always prefer to focus my attention on things I know people are interested in! :)

For now, I've saved one of my favorites for last--purple. From magentas to plums to grapes to blurples--who doesn't love a good purple? Interestingly though...As I started going through all of my favorite purples, I realized a lot of them are duochromes, and I was hoping to do a separate post on duochromes. Looks like I might just have to do a post just for purple duochromes!

So let's see what I come up with when I rummage through my bag of pretty non-duochrome polishes...

::rummage, rummage, rummage::

Ah yes! Here we go! Let's start with something on the soft side...

China Glaze Tantalize

Soft and feminine, a rich lilac with an icy blue shimmer. I have no idea what one would wear to have tea with the Queen of England, but I think this color might just work.

Enough of that soft stuff...let's go to the dark side!!!


Color Club Glitter Wonderland

Strangely misnamed, this polish doesn't have glitter in it; it has a fleck finish. And, to top it off, my best pictures of it, in retrospect, suck. Probably because the bottle is in focus and the polish isn't--how that made it through, I just don't know. Ah well--live and learn...and along the way, wear this polish, 'cause blurple in a flecked finish doesn't get better than this.

Grrr...focus fail...

Color Club Winter Affair

I hope you like this polish, because you'll probably be seeing it again if I do a 'favorite holiday polishes' post. This is a rich burnished plum polish with a fleck finish...and again, I can only find out-of-focus pictures of it. Looks like I'll be swatching it again...But in the meantime, you get the gist, I hope.

Focus FTW!

Zoya Carly

Okay, this post is quickly turning into an extremely humbling journey through some of my worst early swatches. This one's in focus, but the clean-up is atrocious--clearly this was before I discovered acetone and a nail brush. ::shudders::

If there is such a thing as a reurple (red+purple), this is it. Okay, it's more like a magenta+grape sort of purple, but I like that coinage and I'm going to stand by it. No matter what you call it, though, you have to agree that the rich flashes of color here are beautiful.

Clean-up needed on aisle one...

Zoya Lotus

One of my favorites of the favorites, this is a smoky, deep lavender with red-purple flecks in it. This polish has amazing depth and beautiful flashes of light. It truly is a work of art.

Fergie by Wet n Wild Ferguson Crest Syrah

Horrible name, beautiful polish. This is a bit of a cheat on my part, because this really is a subtle duochrome, that shows gold and brown at the edges in certain lights. But, in most lights, it doesn't, so I'm going to include it here. The thing is, the duochrome that peeks out now and then is like finding a $20 bill on the sidewalk while walking to pick up the $1000 prize you just won--it's awesome, but you didn't have to have it to make it a really good day. This polish is, in essence, a blackened plum--but with a fleck finish that keeps the colors dancing through one another from all angles. That this comes from Wet n Wild just goes to show that you don't have to pay a ton of money to get a stunning polish.

Was this tip wear or Seche shrinkage? Either way...>.<

a-England Avalon

Do I even need to say anything about this polish? Is there anything that can be said about how amazing it is that hasn't already been said? This shows exactly why purple is the color of royalty--a luxurious blurple in a smooth-as-satin finish that just envelopes the nail in muted light. Even in my less-than-skilled swatch, the stunning beauty of this shines through.

Clean-up, aisle two...

Windestine Heartbeat

Last but not least, a stunning beauty of a polish (and the swatch doesn't make me twitch all over when I look at it!). Including this polish in this post also might be considered a bit of a cheat, since I'm going to do separate posts on my favorite glitter polishes. But this glitter is so tiny and fine, I think it can easily fall into more of a fleck-type category, and darn it, I'm sticking with that.  The base color of this polish, a deep, sugary plum, is set alight with magenta purple glitter...it's pretty here, but so much more stunning in person. If you think you might like it from the pictures, go get it, because I guarantee you, you will gasp when you see it IRL.

Finally...a decent swatch

And, that's it...for now. I have a swatch spam post that I'll be showing you in the next few days that I realized, completely coincidentally, contains almost all purple polishes, several of which would have certainly been included in this post if they weren't already ear-marked. So there is more purple hovering on the horizon.

Thanks for taking a look--and thanks for your patience with my old, yucky swatches! This post has truly made me want to go back and completely reswatch every post from my first year blogging, lol!! If only I had infinite time...

Hugs and loves,
M.

Polished pairing: Inspired by my sparkly shirt

Hello!

This has been a crazy week--nightmarish, really, and it's going to continue on for the next couple of days. I've gotten behind in answering comments, which is normally the happy point of my day, and I didn't get a chance to post last night. Yuck. How dare my job get in the way of my blogging!?!

Accordingly, tonight will be a fast post. This is a manicure I did a while back, inspired by an outfit I was wearing; I wanted to do a manicure that matched it. First, here is the shirt:


InDecisive Nail Lacquer Antique

I love the sparklies on this shirt, and pair it with a skirt that has little white dots on it. So I figured, why not carry that dotted sparkle look into the manicure?

I started with a base of a-England's new Rose Bower, a beautiful pinkish-red scattered holo that is almost a one-coater, but I used two to be safe:

Then, I put a simple but elegant coat of InDecisive Nail Lacquer's Antique (a silver-gold-copper flake topper) over the top:

I love these together--they play off one another's sparkle without being too much. This was even prettier in person (don't you hate that?), and I think it captured the spirit of the shirt perfectly. :)

Sorry for the fast post--thanks for stopping by! I hope for my own sanity to be back to my old blogging self shortly. :)

Hugs and love,
M.

Before & After: Briars of flowers

Hello!!

I just managed to get my hands on a-England Briarwood, one of their new Burne-Jones collection, and it was absolutely worth the wait and the price. In my opinion, it is by far the best of an already impressive collection. It's a deep maroon-burgundy-brownish red soft linear holographic, and if that sounds like a confusing color description, it's because this is such a pretty, special color. Unlike the other polishes in the collection, this is not a scattered holo, but actual has that linear flash--it's subtle, but it is absolutely there:

a-England Briarwood, direct sunlight

Check out that rainbow flash :)

This is one of the most unique holos I've seen, and I adore it. While I do like strong holos, I have a soft spot in my heart for these slightly more subtle holos; I think they have an elegance to them, and I adore it. a-England seems to be phenomenal about producing polishes that capture that sort of elegant splendor. :)

So what kind of nail art do you do on a polish like this, which is already mesmerizing? I was inspired by the Nail Challenge Collaborative's July theme of flowers, and decided to do something with a subtle spray of flowers to accent the spray of holographic flash in the polish. I stamped with China Glaze Passion to complement the gold in the sparkle of the polish, and I used an image from Konad plate m5. Finally, I added a few extra dots to amp up the design just a little:

I was supposed to redo my nails last night, and I still have this on, because I love this polish so much, and I love the accent so much. Yes, I believe this polish is definitely back-up worthy...

Please also check out the other flower manicures from week 2 of NCC's flower month, linked below. :)

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a great day!
M.

Favorites: Blue!

Hello again!

Oh yes oh yes, it's time for the next installment of my favorite polishes I've found over the past year! I thought it was only fitting that I do blue this time, given the focus on Autism awareness this month.  There are so many blurples that I love so much, I'll do a separate post on them. I'm also not doing any glitters; I found I have a bunch of blue glitters I fell for, so I'm going to do them separately, too, otherwise this will be far too long! :)


China Glaze Deviantly Daring

China Glaze Deviantly Daring in the shade

This is from China Glaze's Bohemian collection, and is a slight green-blue duochrome. Honestly, in most lights it's just blue, but it's a gorgeous blue and when the green does show, it's like a bonus. Plus, it stamps!!


Barielle Blackened Blue

Barielle Blackened Blue; indirect light

Bad picture of a very pretty color. Dark and darker blue flecks in a blackened finish, going almost black at the edges. Sublime. :)


China Glaze Hanging In The Balance

China Glaze Hanging In The Balance; direct sunlight

A brilliant, energetic, fun blue creme from China Glaze's Cirque Du Soleil collection. This is such a versatile blue; it looks great with a lot of my wardrobe and is amazing for nail art. Yum yum yum.


China Glaze Man Hunt

China Glaze Man Hunt; direct sunlight

Oh yeah. That'll work. Deep like the lapis lazuli in an ancient Egyptian necklace. It pulls me in and I can get lost just staring into it. So rich and elegant and amazing. One of the many beauties from China Glaze's Safari Collection.


Zoya Zuza 

Zoya Zuza; direct sunlight

This is such a happy color, it makes me smile when I wear it. It's almost like a dark robin's egg blue with silver shimmery flecks in it. And the formula was so amazing I have nothing but positive associations with it.


Zoya Crystal

Zoya Crystal; in the shade

Slate blue with gold flecks. I went back and forth about including this one here, not because I don't love it, but because it's such a unique polish. It's not *quite* right to call it a blue, because the gold is such a force, but it's not a glitter or anything like that, so I stuck it here. Because it has to be recognized somewhere, it's such a beauty. :)


Sinful Colors Ciao Bella

Sinful Colors Ciao Bella; partial sunlight

Sinful Colors Ciao Bella; in the shade

I don't quote catch phrases that often, and I'm not a huge Rachel Zoe catch-phrase fan, but when I look at this polish...well...I die. I mean, like, bananas. Totally Maj.

Okay, now that I got that out of my system, ahem, seriously, this polish is transformative. Gorgeous in any light, and it makes my nails look flawless. All for $1.99, $1 if you get it on sale? How can you argue with that? I have $20 polishes that are nowhere near this maj. Oops, another one slipped out...Sorry!!


Layla Green Fever (CE07)

Layla Green Fever (CE 07)

Another one I wasn't quite sure where to put, and the (unofficial) name makes it even more confusing. It feels pretty blue to me, although it clearly has a strong green flash. I'm sticking with blue on this one...It reminds me of the ocean with that shimmer and green flash...I can hear the waves and feel the sea breeze on my face.


A-England Tristam

a-England Tristam; direct sunlight

This one flirts with the line between purple and tries to reach over it, depending on what you put it next to. A deep holo blue of that special sort a-England makes. Another richly pigmented polish that makes me think of precious jewels. :)


Polished Components Psyche

Polished Components Psyche; indirect sun

Polished Components Psyche; direct sunlight

And to end with a stunner, I give you Polished Components Psyche. This is a electric blue that feels like it's gonna zap you when you touch it. It has a sort of a satin, matte-ish finish, but isn't a full-on matte. It also has a pinky-purpley shimmer that makes it extra special. It's the sort of polish I hope for when I buy a non-glitter indie--something that has the extra components (no pun intended) that make it just a bit more special. If you need a lift in your day, a prance in your step--this polish will give it to you. :)

So there you have it! My favorites of the blues I've encountered the past year. I hope you saw something here you liked!

Thanks for reading. Big hugs!
M.

Before & After: Misa Live Without Knowing

Hello!!!

Today's prompt in the Flip-Flop February challenge is wings/outline...And I've opted for 'wings'. :)

I started with a base of Misa Live Without Knowing, a beautiful neutral polish that has enough sparkle to give it personality:

Misa Live Without Knowing in partial sun

Misa Live Without Knowing in the shade

Then I stamped with a-England Avalon and Bundle Monster plate BM307; I stamped the pattern so it would look like a flock of butterflies flying across my nails. I also did a saran wrap background with a titch of gold on my accent nail for reasons that aren't fully clear to me, lol--it seemed like a good idea at the time:

I actually like the saran-wrap background, and wish I'd done it on all the nails. I also like the dynamic feel to the butterfly pattern across the different nails--it makes them feel like they're currently flying across (of maybe that's just the residual effect of all the drugs my mother did before I was born--KIDDING).

Thanks for taking a look! Short and sweet today because I am beat beyond words. :)

Xoxox,
M.

Before & After: a-England Dragon + Lush Lacquer

Hello!

Today's CNT 31 Day challenge prompt is 'geometric'. My preferred style tends to be flourishy and not so much geometric, so these types of prompts are always fun for me, to get me out of my comfort zone a bit.

I started with a base of a-England's Dragon, which is a gorgeous deep moss green scattered holographic. This is such a yummy polish, I think I need to get Saint George, the teal version of it when I can afford it...I just spent most of my Christmas money on a frankening kit, so I'm not sure when that will be, lol.

Anyway, my second step was to add some Lush Lacquer Slime Time to the accent nail; Slime Time is one of the first Indie glitters I got and it's still one of my favorites. I think what really makes it special to me is the white squares, which seem to just set off the other colors perfectly, and give it just a bit of quirkiness. :)

a-England Dragon + Lush Lacquer Slime Time

I mean, seriously, take a look at the bottle--how pretty is that mix of glitter!

Next I stamped with Konad White and Cheeky B, a square white pattern to mirror the square white glitters; I finished off with a square rhinestone on each nail:

This looks a tiny bit rough because I did wear it for a little while; I ended up loving it and didn't want to take it off. Something about the squares just worked for me, somehow, lol.

Thanks for looking, and please check out the other geometric manis, linked below!

Xoxox,
M.

Before & After: a-England's Avalon

Hello!

Today's prompt in the CNT 31 Day Challenge is purple, a color I love almost as much as red. Bouncing back from pink, babyyyyyyy!! :)

In my attempt to support Indie polish makers on my blog, I've been showing a lot of glitters lately on the blog (and you'll certainly see more). Most of the time when people think of indie polishes, they think of glitters. However, there are some indie polish makers who do really beautiful things with non-glitter polishes, and today I have one of those for you: a-England Avalon. I'll be trying to show you others from smaller labels in the future as well.

One of the things I love about a-England is the beautiful, deeply pigmented colors they have. Avalon is a perfect demonstration of this is...Avalon is a brilliant purple shimmer, with a regal, glowy depth, and duochrome tendencies shifting gently to blue. I love purples and this is one of my favorites:

a-England Avalon in the shade

After wearing Avalon on its own, I knew just what I wanted to stamp on it; I've been waiting to use this stamp for quite a while... I used Konad plate m69 at the cuticle, and stamped with China Glaze Avalanche:

A-England Avalon + China Glaze Avalanche 

Check out that duochrome shift...:)

I love the way this color and pattern create a lacy sort of effect; I'd love to have a blouse or dress edged like this. :)

Thanks for looking, and please check out the other purple manis, linked below. :)

Xoxox,
M.

Before & After: A is for a-England's Perceval

Hello!!

So my first nail art challenge recently came to a close, and I was a bit sad by that. But I am not the sort to mope, oh no! So I joined me another challenge, and I'm on my way to fun and excitement!

Some ladies in my CNT group decided to start another group, Llama Nails, and we're starting the inaugural challenge: an ABC challenge. Every week on Wednesday, we will present a manicure that in some way touches on the letter for that week--and of course we will go for 26 weeks, A to Z.

Today we begin with A...and my A is for a-England! I have yet to find a polish by a-England that I don't love, so I decided to give Perceval a try. See, red is my favorite color, and I'm picky about my red. I have a lot of them, and I don't need another just-run-of-the-mill red. So I fought it.

But finally, I gave in:

a-England Perceval

a-England Perceval in full sun

Perceval is rich, and deep. It shimmers and glows; it's regal and has that fiery lit-from-within quality that I love so much. I wanted to do something simple but bold with it; here's what I came up with:

I used Konad plate S6 for this, and stamped the full pattern on my ring finger, while stamping only part of the pattern on the other nails. Of course I used China Glaze Passion for the stamping polish--this is my new favorite go-to stamping polish. I love how this image makes the nail almost feel like a piece of inlaid enamel jewelry. :)

Thanks for coming by to take a look...Next wednesday we'll be looking at the letter 'B'. In the meantime, please check out the 'A's done by my fellow bloggers, linked below. :)

M.