Cold Winds are Rising

Many of you probably already know that yesterday was the season 3 premier of Game of Thrones.  I finally started watching the show last year, and I am obsessed.  I am so glad it’s back!  So I thought it was the perfect time to break out my GoT-themed nail polish, Dollish Polish Cold Winds are Rising.

Cold Winds are Rising is a grey jelly polish with different sizes of teal glitter.  Some of the pieces are holographic, too (you can see that in the bottle in the above pic).  It definitely reminds me of a grey version of Dollish Polish Expecto Patronum.  Application was good – I did need to add some thinner to it, but after that it was fine.  I used three coats here, trying to keep them as thin as possible (which wasn’t that easy).

I really love how the combination of the glitter and the base ends up looking like murky seawater.  Or rain.  Kind of perfect for a Game of Thrones polish that isn’t super dark, red, or gold.  I love it!

So… what house are you?  I’m kind of obsessed with House Targaryen (because Daenerys is totally badass), but I still have a soft spot for the Starks.

Also, keep an eye out for some Game of Thrones nail art.  Because I need to do it at some point, right?

Amortentia

“Amortentia doesn’t create actual love, of course. That’s impossible. But it does cause a powerful infatuation or obsession. For that reason, it is probably the most dangerous potion in this room”
- Horace Slughorn (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)

For some reason, I’ve really been craving pink polishes lately.  So I decided to finally break out the pink from Lac Attack’s Magical Musings collection (it’s Harry Potter-themed), and go all out.  It is a layering polish (you could probably get it opaque in like 6 coats if you really wanted to), so I layered it over China Glaze Escaping Reality, which is a neon bubblegum pink (think Barbie).  I wasn’t really creative with the layering combo, but I think next time I want to try Amortentia over a dark purple.

Amortentia is a bright pink shimmer with small and medium lavender holographic glitter.  It is really pretty, and perfectly suited to it’s namesake, the strongest “love” potion in the world.  Also, it kind of reminds me of the love potion display in Fred and George Weasley’s shop in the movie.

This was one of the few Magical Musings polishes I didn’t plan on buying, just because I rarely wear pink, especially bright pinks like this.  But I am a huge Harry Potter geek, and I ended up just grabbing the whole collection because Harry Potter nail polish is my kryptonite.  But I’m really glad I got it, because it is very pretty, and recently I’ve actually been buying and wearing more pink polish.

Here is a macro shot of the bottle so you can see the color a bit better.  It is a bit cooler-toned than Escaping Reality, and adds that color shimmer to any polish you layer it over.  I really love that!  I am a huge fan of layering shimmer.

While I can’t say this is my favorite of the collection, I was surprised to find that I do really like Amortentia.  It’s very versatile, and definitely different than anything else I own.

Lac Attack polishes are available here.  The Magical Musings collection is currently all sold out, but I’m sure it will be restocked eventually, so keep an eye out for that.

Beauxbatons Academy

I finally got around to wearing Lac Attack’s Bauxbatons Academy, from the Harry Potter-themed Magical Musings collection, and it is amazing! It is definitely one of the ones I was most looking forward to when I bought the set, and it definitely doesn’t disappoint.

Beauxbatons Academy, named for one of the other European wizarding schools, is a pale blue jelly with white, blue and yellow glitter.  Very delicate, but still really interesting.  I think it captures the school perfectly.

It is a bit sheer, so I layered it over Zoya Blu, which is the perfect undies for Beauxbatons.  Shown is two coats of Beauxbatons over two coats of Blu, with topcoat.

I can’t pick a favorite from the collection, but this is definitely one of my top picks.  What do you think?

Violate

I try to share a decent amount of glitter polishes on the blog because one, I think they’re pretty, and two, I know a lot of people like them.  But I’m not a very sparkly person in real life, so it’s actually kind of difficult for me to wear them.  I usually feel uncomfortable, and once, I literally walked around with my hands in my pockets because my fingers were just too damn sparkly once I got outside in the sun.  When I do wear glitter, I usually limit it to one or two nails on each hand because that’s all I can handle.

But this is a glitter I will 100% wear (on all ten fingers).

Glitzology Violate is a mixture of purple glitter.  There are some darker true purple glitters, some medium purple glitters, and a lot of periwinkle-ish hexes.  I really love that most of the glitter seems to have a satin finish, which makes it a little bit more subtle.  I also really like how the different shapes (hexes, shards, and squares) add some interest, too.

Shown is one coat of Violate over Essie Big Spender with topcoat.

Violate was inspired by the über-creepy relationship between Violet and Tate in the first season of American Horror Story.  I was a little late to the party on that one, but I recently watched it on Netflix and I am obsessed!  If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend it.  Just don’t watch it alone at 3am like I did.  Because you will never sleep.  Seriously.

Here’s a macro of the bottle so you can see the glitter.  I know some of it looks black, but it shines purple when the light hits it.

What do you think of Violate?  It’s available in Glitzology’s Etsy shop along with a ton of other shades.  I currently have six Glitzology polishes and this one is hands-down my favorite.  If you love glitter, you will definitely find one, or ten, that you like, so make sure to check them out and let me know which ones you get!

On a Clear Night

I’ve got another Windestine polish for you today!  This one is called On a Clear Night, and it is definitely one of my favorites.  I am always amazed at the combinations Freda (Windestine’s creator) puts together.  They might be subtle, but they are always unique.

On a Clear Night is a black jelly with rainbow shimmer.  It’s hard to pick out specific colors, but it seems to be heavy on the purple, and is mostly cool-toned.  I actually really love that the shimmer is actually multicolored, not holographic.  It’s not as flashy as holo shimmer, but it is definitely gorgeous!

The formula is ok.  This is really sheer, and requires 3-4 coats for opacity.  Once you get to the third coat, it really wants to drag, so you have to be careful.  However, I think this would look just as great with 1-2 coats over a black creme, so that’s probably how I’ll wear it next time.  Here I used 3 coats with topcoat.

On a Clear Night, along with the Spring collection, will be available starting February 20th in Windestine’s Etsy shop.

Yo-ho Yo-ho A Pirate’s Life For Me

Yo-ho Yo-ho A Pirate’s Life For Me is a new-ish shade from Dollish Polish.  I grew up in Southern California, and the Pirates of the Caribbean ride is my second favorite (after the Haunted Mansion), so of course I had to have it.  I have a serious problem with buying polishes because of the name.  At least this one is gorgeous.

Yo-ho Yo-ho A Pirate’s Life For Me is a deep red jelly with (from what I can tell) silver, gold, red, pink, orange, and blue glitter.  It mostly just looks red with darkish glitter until the light hits it, and then all the colors come out.

Formula was actually really good, which is surprising for a shade like this.  I used two coats with topcoat, but I feel I should mention that it was smooth without the topcoat, which was really nice.

And here’s a micro shot of the bottle so you can see all the different colors:

I believe Yo-ho Yo-ho A Pirate’s Life For Me is still available from the Dollish Polish Big Cartel store.  It’s definitely an unexpected favorite for me, and I’m really glad I decided to buy this!

Windestine Spring Collection

Today I have Windestine’s brand new Spring collection!  It consists of three glitter filled jelly polishes that are perfectly spring-appropriate.  All swatches are three coats with topcoat.  Make sure to check out the micro shots at the end of the post!

First up, Crushed Rose in Spring:

Crushed Rose in Spring is an alteration of one of the polishes from Windestine’s previous collection, Crushed Rose.  It’s the exact same glitter, but in a gorgeous green base.  One of the reasons I love Windestine so much is that she is so good at mixing the base color.  The green is really a great shade.  The glitter consists of yellow, white, and pink hexes as well as some white shards.  It definitely resembles a spring garden!

Next is Rainy Day Blues:

I’ll be honest, I’m not a huge fan of bar glitter.  In the bottle, I thought this would be my least favorite of the three.  And then I put it on.  I was completely shocked by how much I absolutely love this!  It is just so beautiful.  It gives the impression of glistening, slightly murky water.  I love, love, love, love Rainy Day Blues!  If you like blue polishes, this is a must-have.

And last, but not least, Leilani:

Leilani is definitely my favorite of the three, if only because I love the base color so much.  I’ve been looking for a polish this exact shade of coral, but I hadn’t found one I liked until Leilani.  It is filled with small glitter in various pastel shades.  LOVE.  This is definitely one of my favorite indies ever.  It really needs to be seen in person to fully appreciate just how gorgeous this shade is.

Here are some micro shots so you can see the glitters in each polish:

Leilani

Rainy Day Blues

Crushed Rose in Spring

The Spring collection will be available on February 20 in Windestine’s Etsy shop.

*These polishes were provided to me for an unbiased review*

Blue Lagoon

After reorganizing my helmer (where I store my polish), I realized I don’t have a lot of variety when it comes to polish brands.  So I’ve been making an effort to try some new ones lately.  I recently discovered the brand Glitzology, and she has some really amazing glitter polishes!  This one is called Blue Lagoon, and it is definitely one of the most glitter-packed polishes I own.

Blue Lagoon is a mix of different shades and sizes of blue and teal glitters, accented by some light sage green glitters.  Some, but not all, of the glitters are holographic.  The effect is really gorgeous!  You probably already know I’m not one for glitters, but I couldn’t stop looking at pictures of this, and ended up buying it during a recent 50% off sale (another reason to love Glitzology – there are LOTS of 50% off sales).

I did have a bit of an issue with the formula, but I don’t have a lot of experience with glitters like this, so it might just be me.  I found the glitter to base ratio to be a little (ok, a lot) skewed towards the glitter side.  There’s pretty much just enough base in there to make the glitter stick.  Which is not conducive to applying polish.  One tip: glob the polish on your finger, and then kind of “pat” it down to spread it out (sort of like how acrylic nails are applied).  I found that worked much better than trying to paint it on.  Here, I did a gradient over Essie Da Bush.

Glitzology is available on Etsy.  It’s always really well stocked.  Make sure to follow the Glitzology Facebook page to get updates on her awesome sales and discount codes!

Durmstrang

Durmstrang was one of the few polishes from the Lac Attack Magical Musings collection that I wasn’t going to get.  And then, at the very last minute, I decided I needed the complete collection (you can’t get Hogwarts and Beauxbatons and leave out Durmstrang, right?).  I am soooo glad I did, because it is gorgeous!

For those of you who aren’t Potterheads, Durmstrang is a wizarding school in Eastern Europe, and is featured in several of the Harry Potter novels, especially The Goblet of Fire.  Not much is said about it, other than it is extremely cold there, and the students wear dark furs (and are also maybe taught the dark arts).

Durmstrang (the polish) is a sheer shimmery teal blue with black diamonds and shards.  I think it is a great representation of Durmstrang (the school).  The base is really sheer, so this is probably best as a layering polish.  I swatched it on only two fingers so you can see how the base in Durmstrang changes the color you put it over.

And here’s a bottle shot, so you can see how gorgeous it really is:

The formula was a little bit problematic.  I found it hard to get the bigger pieces out of the bottle, and even then, they didn’t want to stay on my nail.  It was a challenge to place the glitter while keeping the base even at the same time.  Still, it wasn’t the worst polish I’ve ever worked with.  Shown is two coats of Durmstrang on my index and middle fingers over Orly Snowcone.

I can’t wait to show you the rest of the Magical Musings collection!  They are available for purchase in Lac Attack’s store, both in mini and full sizes.  The entire Magical Musings collection will be restocked today (January 23, 2013) at 5pm EST.  If you miss out, don’t worry, because Anastasia swears they’re not going anywhere!

Death Day Party

The Lac Attack Magical Musings Collection is hands-down my favorite polish collection of 2012.  And when I first saw pictures of Death Day Party, I knew it was going to be a favorite (I love that part of the books, too!).  It is a clear base filled with tiny gray flakes, tinier orange/copper flakes, and some pink/blue/purple shimmer.  So, so gorgeous!

I took a close-up of the polish in the bottle so you can see how beautiful this polish is.  I really can’t tell you how much I love Death Day Party!  It is seriously magical!

I used it for some accent nails over yesterday’s OPI Do You Lilac It?, but I can’t wait to do a full mani with this, so you will definitely be seeing it again.  I used one coat here, with a bit of dabbing to fill in some sparser areas.

I think I want to try Death Day Party over a darker color next.  Maybe a cobalt blue.  What color do you want to see it over?

If you haven’t already, you should definitely check out the Magical Musings collection, available in Lac Attack’s shop.  I’m pretty picky about the indies I buy, but I really love every single one of them!  I really need to get some more swatches of them up soon!