Purple Moon by Sinister Benediction

WARNING: This post is EXTREMELY picture heavy. I went a bit overboard with layering :)

Purple Moon by Sinister Benediction, L-R: Three coats alone, two coats over Sinful Colors Black on Black,  China Glaze Near Dark, Pure Ice Party Hard, Sinful Colors Inkwell, NYC Midtown Mink. 

Closeup: alone, over black, over green. 

Closeup: over navy, deep plum and chocolate brown. All nail wheel swatches taken in full natural sunlight. 

One coat of Purple Moon over Sinful Colors Inkwell, a deep, blackened plum. Topped with Out the Door, all remaining photos taken under Ott Lite. 

Sinister Benediction creator C. Benoit describes Purple Moon as "a high shimmer multichrome polish with a fuchsia base color that shifts to pale yellow to gold. You can wear it alone, but it packs more of a punch layered over a dark base. It's also great for layering over lighter polishes."

Unlike the previous Sinister Benediction polishes I've shown you (Horse Feathers and Aqua Illusion), I don't see myself ever wearing this one on its own. It is definitely better suited as a topper, but it does add something fun to pretty much any color you layer it over!

As you can see, over dark colors, the color shifts most readily from silvery lilac to/lavender to rose to a coppery color. 

Then I chose to layer over some fun, bright citrus-y colors: Thumb to pinky: LA Colors Color Craze Shock, Physician's Formula California Goddess Trio light orange, dark orange, hot pink, and Sinful Colors Dream On.

Over these mostly hot-toned colors, the color shift went from silvery lilac to violet to hot pink.

And finally, since it's right there in the name, I decided to layer Purple Moon over a purple ombre mani. Thumb to pinky: Sinful Colors Mauve, Sally Hansen Hard As Nails No Hard Feelings, Sinful Colors Amethyst, LA Colors Color Craze Edgy, and NYC Plaza Plumberry. 

Over the purples, the color shift was more of a lilac to lavender to rose. 

I've never really played with duochromes over colors other than black, or almost blacks, so I can't compare. But I was super impressed with the way that the shift in this polish changed with each base color! There was always a purple tone, and always a pinkish tone, but the visible spectrum was altered pretty dramatically depending on the undies worn! Purple Moon applied smoothly and easily in one coat, and adds a pretty punch to any base color. 

Sinister Benediction polishes are available on Etsy. Be sure to grab them while you can, as the shop is going into vacation mode at the end of March! Be sure to stop by and Like Sinister Benediction on Facebook as well- there's a coupon code to be had for your trouble :)

*This polish was provided to me for an honest review. 

Horse Feathers by Sinister Benediction

WARNING: This post is extremely picture heavy! I don't know about you, but I get so excited discovering new indie polish makers! I'm (obviously!) a huge supported of the indie scene, and the creativity that each and every creator displays is just astounding. Today's polish was an insane discovery for me. You'll see why in just a tick.

Meet Horse Feathers by Sinister Benediction. The Etsy listing describes it as: "a high shimmer multichrome polish with a peacock teal base color that shifts to blue and violet. You can wear it alone, but it packs more of a punch layered over a dark base." All photos are taken in natural sunlight. 

Nail wheel swatches, L-R: three coats alone, two coats over Sinful Colors Black on Black, China Glaze Near Dark, Pure Ice Party Hard, Sinful Colors Inkwell and NYC Midtown Mink. Did you catch on yet? It's a MULTICHROME that DOESN'T NEED undies!! Granted, the color shift is much more apparent over dark colors, but it's still gorgeous on its own. 

Closeup of nail wheel. On the far left is three coats alone. The actual base color is rather brownish, with intense teal sparkle when worn alone. The next two nails are over black and Near Dark, a blackened green,

Over Party Hard, a dark navy, Inkwell, a blackened plum and Midtown Mink, a dark chocolate brown. I layered Horse Feathers over some of my darker colors to see if a not-quite-black base color would change the overall appearance of the polish, and for the most part, it didn't. Over Midtown Mink, the look is obviously brown, but the other colors all read mostly the same. At least, they were similar enough that I wouldn't rush out to buy a different base color if you have a black creme handy.

And now we get to the meat! These remaining photos show one coat of Horse Feathers over Sinful Colors Black on Black, topped with Out the Door. Photos are taken in natural sunlight. 

There is an awesome purple-ish color shift visible on the edges of the bottle that was a bit elusive in real life. It was occasionally visible on the edge of the nail, but I was not able to capture is on film :( The main colors I saw were royal blue, teal, and occasionally almost-emerald green.

You can almost see the purple on the tips!

Some of that almost-emerald on the lower edge of my middle finger. 

Aside from the fact that Horse Feathers can be worn alone- which is something I've never seen before, and I love-, I was very impressed with the polish. It applied without a hitch, smooth and perfect in one coat. The color shift from teal-blue-occasional green way gorgeous. I only with the violet came out to play a bit more. Perhaps next I'll try a full mani over Inkwell to see if that plum base will force the violet out a bit more. I do have two more Sinister Benediction multichromes this week, so be on the lookout!

Sinister Benediction polishes can be purchased on Etsy. In addition to the multichromes, there is a collection of color shifting glitter topcoats, and Metal Earth, a metallic collection inspired by the metals of Middle Earth, which I obviously need!

*This polish was provided to me for an honest review. 

New 31DC: Holo, Flakie or Duochrome feat. Holy Shift by SYN Cosmetics

I finally feel like I'm getting back into the swing of things. I got so caught up with the beginning of this challenge that I haven't been doing reviews! Luckily, today's prompt (Duochrome, Flakie or Holo) wasn't necessarily an art heavy one, so I pulled out an untried indie: Holy Shift by SYN Cosmetics! 

This is two coats of Holy Shift layered over black creme and topped with Seche Vite. The first photo is taken under my Ott Lite, the rest are in natural sunlight. I prefer the crisp look of the Ott Lite photos, but the sun just caught the shift so much better!

Holy Shift is a color shifting topcoat meant to be layered over dark colors. And it really did make me say: "Holy Shi(f)t!"

I would say the main colors in the polish are bright violet and magenta, and that is what I saw most of the time while indoors.

But at the edges, and in the right lighting, there are gorgeous bursts of copper and orange, and almost a touch of green at the far edge of the nail. 

Holy Shift went on a little bit streaky on the first coat, so I did apply a second. This can probably be attributed to user error. That is honestly the only bad thing I can think of to say about this polish! It's just such a stunner, and I wore it for three days without any chipping, and very minimal wear!

SYN Cosmetics can be purchased here. There is a whole range of color shifting polishes, plus neons, glitters and everything in between! PLUS: polish is not all they sell! Pigments and false lashes and blushes, oh my! Be sure to like SYN on Facebook as well: they occasionally offer some amazing sales! 

Don't forget to check out the rest of the duochrome-y, flakie-y and holo-y goodness in the links below!

Another Appropriate Pair: Sunlight and Phoenix by Starlight & Sparkles

I'm nearing the end of my stash of Starlight polishes to show off. Issa offers so many beautiful colors- I've shown you Starlight, Unicorn, Dragon and Din.  Today we have Phoenix and Sunlight. Which leaves me with only two more colors to show :( I guess that means I'd better get shopping, right?

I've yet to see Sunlight (a gold glitter topcoat) available for sale, but Phoenix is a duochrome topcoat, which Issa says "shifts from red to gold to green, and flashes vivid red and bright green at the extremes of it's color range." Due to the many, many colors that Phoenix shows, this post will be rather more picture-heavy than most of my others :) All photos show one coat of Phoenix over creme black, with an accent nail of one coat of Sunlight over black, taken in bright sunlight.

Lovely bronze-y copper.

Much more red, with some copper flashes. 

Getting into a bit of gold, still with some red flashes. 

Gold with touches of olive. 

Lots of green in the shade, plus some orange-y copper. (The green in the shine spots, especially noticeable on my ring finger, is from my camera :( Please ignore it. The green on the edges of the nails ARE due to the polish)

More green and gold.

Green and copper, plus a little bit of life from Sunlight!

Phoenix, like every other Starlight polish I've tried, has gone on so smoothly and easily, there's really nothing to complain about. High color saturation and incredible color payoff! Perhaps once I finish my first run, I'll revisit these to see if a colored base coat (rather than black) plays as nicely with the color shift of the topcoat. 

As I said at the top of the post, I have not seen Sunlight available for sale. It was . . . a bit underwhelming. It's a lovely gold glitter topcoat in it's own right, but pairing it with a flashy duochrome topcoat was a mistake, as it really doesn't do much, and it was completely outshined by Phoenix. It will absolutely punch up your dark polish, but it doesn't do tricks like the rest of the amazing color shifts that Starlight offers. It did, however, apply just as easily :)

Starlight and Sparkles polish can be purchased on Etsy. Both minis and full size bottles are available, in a wide range of prices. Issa's specialty is definitely color-shifting polishes, and she offers some lovely holos as well. Starlight polishes are 3-free and do not contain carmine or any other animal-derived ingredients. 

Have you tried any Starlight colors yet? Which one won you over?

Support your indies, ladies!

Cheers,

-Liz-

*These products were provided to me for an honest review.

Hungry Like the Wolf: Timberwolf by Custom Nail Art

I should really take a page from Robin over at Polished Cousins (along with many others), who has a weekly Blue Monday post. Only for Gray. Only there are no days that start with G, and I tend to pick my posts pretty arbitrarily and randomly, based on what looks good to me at the time. So for now, I'll just keep posting my greys as they come to me and inspire me, just like this one did today!

Meet Timberwolf by Custom Nail Art. Ashlyee, creator, describes it as "a gorgeous grey color with a bit of mystery mixed in. Depending on how the light hits your fingers, you can pick up subtle red, green and blue tones."  Shown is three coats topped with Out the Door, indoors under a "natural" light. 

Direct sunlight. Almost looks like a pewter foil!

Indirect sun, and the blue tones really shine through.

Last few photos are in the shade.

Green tones are more visible near the top of the nails. Inside at work, under fluorescent lighting, the green was far more prominent. It looked liked a dusty, greyed out seafoam color. Beautiful!

This was one of the most surprising color I've come across in a long time. I was expecting a grey shimmer (I know, I know, I'm no great shakes at reading descriptions. I snap polishes up as soon as I see them), and was blown away by the unexpected multichrome-ness of it! Its not an overt color-shifter, obviously, as I didn't notice it based on bottle shots, but it absolutely shifts based on the light. You can see the blue and green in all of the outdoor photos, and the grey in the indoor shot. This applied great, though perhaps a bit thick. Not enough to need thinner, just a bit thick.

Custom Nail Art Polishes can be purchased on Etsy. Full sized bottles run between $7-$11, and minis are $3.75 each. There are also packages on minis that will save you a bit, like a 3/$9 set. Be sure to stop by and like the Facebook page also!

On a completely unrelated note, my followers are sloooowly creeping up there: I've already started shopping for a giveaway at 100, and we're nearly 40% of the way! Share the good news, lovlies :P

Support your indies!

Cheers, 

-Liz-

*This polish was sent to me for an honest review.

Dragon and the Goddess of Power

I made a mistake with this mani. I will admit that right up front. Among the polishes I received from Starlight and Sparkles were two color-shifting trios, with different particles sizes in each trio. I meant to use the two strong green polishes together, but I grabbed a wrong bottle :( Silly me. I do like the way it turned out, though. 

Dragon and Din, from Starlight and Sparkles. Dragon is part of a trio of color-shifting topcoats with a fine particle size, along with Unicorn and Phoenix. Din is part of a trio with a slightly larger particle size, along with Farore and Nayru. I had no idea what these were named after, so I had to Google it. Apparently Din, Farore and Nayru are the three Golden Goddesses of Hyrule in the Legend of Zelda series. I'm as geeky as all get out, but I never was much of a gamer :)

From the back. You can see how I grabbed the wrong bottle, right? I meant to use Dragon and Farore. Issa from Starlight and Sparkles describe the color shift of Dragon as "bronze gold to green, and flashes orange and teal at the extremes of it's color range." Likewise, Din (the Goddess of Power!) "shifts through red, orange, gold and green."

I did an every-other-finger mani over black with these, because I really wanted to see the difference in the particle sizes. It's pretty obvious over the black polish. This is one coat of each polish, over black, topped with Out the Door. Photos are all in bright sunlight.

Index and ring finger: Din, middle and pinky: Dragon. Green and copper showing up strongly.

I love the bronzey color of dragon at this angle . . .

. . . and the more olive tone it shows here. 

Just like Unicorn, both of these polishes delivered on the duochrome. In basic indoor light, Dragon showed mostly green, and Din showed mostly a dark gold. Both applied great, and wore like a charm. Very minimal chipping. 

When I mention chipping, this is why. I'm not going to name the above polish, because I don't want it to be blamed for the horrible photo. I'm pretty rough on my hands, and I spend most of my work day digging into things with my nails, and this is what my nail look like at the end of the day a good 50% of the time. So when I say that a polish wears well and doesn't chip, listen to me! 

Starlight and Sparkles can be purchased on Etsy. Both of these trios can be purchased as minis for $9.50, or in full size for $22.50. 

*These polishes were provided to me for an honest review.