You Have No Power Over Me by The Lady Varnishes

"For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom is as great. You have no power over me!" 

Hello, my loves! I'm super excited to bring you another Labyrinth inspired polish by The Lady Varnishes today! 

May I present to you You Have No Power Over Me, described by creator Kirsten as "a nude pink varnish with copper glitter and copper, white and iridescent shreds." Photos all show three coats alone, topped with Seche Vite, taken under Ott Lite. 

Nude polishes are easily among my top . . . 5? favorite color families to wear, and when you jazz it up with glitter, so much the better!

The glitter is this gorgeous jelly is still very neutral, and as such, this would make for a very office friendly polish.

This photo is the best at showing off the hints of iridescent shreds: you can see one peeking out right along the reflection on my middle finger, and another below and to the left of the N in my watermark. I have to say the Kirsten does understated iridescent VERY well- You Have No Power Over Me is delicate and subtle, not blingy in the least, and yet those scattered iridescent shreds add an ethereal glow. Shreds can be a bit of a bear to work with at times, but I had very little issue with this polish. Out of all ten fingers, three coats, there was exactly one shred (copper, if it matters) that just wouldn't lay flat. I lifted it off with tweezers, smoothed the area over with topcoat, and everything was golden. 

You Have No Power over me is a very pale nude, and very sheer, with a hint of VNL still showing after three coats. If that's not your thing, try layering it over a similar nude, or a nude complementary to your skin tone. As with all The Lady Varnishes polishes, there is an option to have this polish scented in your choice of scents. I chose the Surprise Me option for my entire order, and this is the only one I couldn't pick up a scent in. 

The Lady Varnishes are available on Etsy: full sized bottles are $8.50 and come with a coordinating charm (I forgot to photograph the one that came on this one!) that can be left on the bottle (to be easily identified in a sea of polish!), or turned into jewelry. All orders of four or more bottles include a chain to wear your charm as a pendant. You can also find The Lady Varnishes on Facebook and Wordpress.

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

NEW 31DC: Inspired by YOU

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I struggled a bit with today's prompt. As I'm the one doing the nail art, and coming up with the ideas and color combinations, isn't EVERY nail art design I do inspired by me? So I thought. And thought. And thought some more. Ultimately, I decided to do something that was inspired by me, physically. Just like the Inspired by Fabric, and Inspired by Nature, I did this one based on looks alone. 

To explain slightly: I am very pro body modification. I have many tattoos, and even more piercings, and I've seen some gorgeous stamps out there with old school tattoo designs on them. Unfortunately, I don't have any of those stamps, so I made do with what I did have. 

I started with a base of Orly Night Owl (granted a little dark for my skin tone, but I just LOVE this color! Can't you tell? This is probably the 4th time I've shown it!) Then I stamped using Sinful Colors Black on Black. The stars are from an unnumbered Salon Express plate, and the wings and bird are from Red Angel plates whose numbers I can't quite recall (but will look up for you if you're absolutely interested). I dotted around the "tattoo" designs with my smallest dotting tool and some more black. I added a few dots here and there using Sinful Colors Heavy Metal to represent the piercings. 

This post, and this nail art, feel very personal, and while I try to be open and honest with my readers, I'm aware that many people still view body modification as an abnormality. I am proud of each and every one of my tattoos, and they all have a meaning that is deep and special to me. The piercings don't really have a meaning, but I just don't feel like I look like me without them! 

I know I promised you I would never show you my feet, but this doesn't really count, as I'm wearing shoes. I also had to show you at least one tattoo, right? I have matching lizards on the tops of my feet. With a name like Liz, you just can't go though life without being called Lizard at least a million times!

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NEW 31DC: Favorite Polish

Good morning, darlings! What are your plans for this lovely Saturday? I'm moving in a few weeks, so my weekend will consist of going through the house, trying to figure out what I can live without for a few weeks and packing it up early! Luckily today's prompt was an easy one, though I may have cheated slightly.

I don't truly have one "favorite" polish, as it tends to change fairly often. I could have gone with my top indie pick of last year (Darling Diva Space Beetle, if you missed my round up post), but since I just showed it . . . also, it feels like more of a summer polish, what with the holo and the duochrome. You really need good light for that kind of polish to shine. So I went with the polish that has been my most used so far this year: Orly's Night Owl.

Night Owl is a stunning taupey nude with silver shimmer. I've really been digging nudes and neutrals this winter, and I've worn this one probably 4 times this month! I got this polish for Christmas, and it was my first ever Orly experience. I have to agree, the rubberized cap is amazing! As is the formula: this was an easy peasy two coats, topped off with Out The Door. It also wore like iron: I got three days out of this polish, which is almost unheard of for me, as I'm very hard on my hands. At the end of the three days, I have some pretty severe tip wear, but no chipping in sight! I'm definitely an Orly fan now :)

Do you have one "favorite" polish, or does it tend to change based on mood and season? What colors are you drawn to this winter?

Be sure to check out the rest of the gorgeous faves in the links below.

New 31DC: Cheer Yourself Up Mani

Today's prompt is a manicure to cheer yourself up, and by sheer coincidence, I received in the mail this past week what is quite possibly the cutest, most cheer inducing nail product the world has yet seen. But it was not for me. It was for my kitty.

You can just slightly see her hot pink toe nails peeking out through all that foot fluff. These are Purrdy Paws claw caps in Lipstick Pink, available on Amazon for under $5! I am against declawing, but poor Clio gets her claws stuck in EVERYTHING. My brand new bedspread is already pretty well ruined by the dozen snags she created just by walking across it. New carpet in the living room? Stuck every step. No matter how often I trimmed her nails, she still managed to get them stuck. Purrdy Paws are a non-permanent, painless and, quite frankly, adorable solution! They are available in 4 sizes for cats and kittens, (and even some dog sizes) and dozens of colors. I chose the Lipstick Pink, Pink Glitter and Glow in the Dark options. There are 20 caps per box, and I only did Clio's front paws, so that's about $3 per application, once you factor in shipping. So far, she has worn them all week without any losses, and they don't seem to bother her at all. 

Please note that Purrdy Paws are NOT recommended for outside cats. They can hinder climbing and the cats ability to defend itself at need. Clio is an inside only cat. 

She is not happy about having this photo taken.

I think that's enough of my off-the-cuff, NPR review, so now on to MY cheer-me-up nails for the day.

I went with hot pink and kitties, because it seemed only fitting! I get to match kitty's new nails, plus: my standard Cheer Up after a bad day is a healthy dose of kittens on YouTube and Cheezeburger.com. 

I started with a base of LA Colors Color Craze Whipped, then freehanded some French tips in Sinful Colors Cream Pink (to match Clio, of course). I stamped with Sinful Colors Black on Black, QA plate 15 (the kitty), Vivid Lacquer plate VL-001 (paw prints) and Red Angel plate RA-107 (fish bones). I realize now that my paw prints are pointing the wrong way . . . oops! I still think this is adorable!

Inspiration for this mani came from this pin, which unfortunately does not link back to an original source :(

Have you/would you use claw caps as an alternative to declawing? What do you paint on your own nails to cheer you up? 

Cheek out the rest of the cheery manis in the links below!

I Put a Spell On You!: Boouk! by 365 Days of Color

I know this one seems a little late, as it was part of a Halloween Collection, but Boouk! is NOT a Halloween specific color, so I'm posting it now. Because it's gorgeous. 

Boouk! is inspired by Winnifred Sanderson's spell book in the move Hocus Pocus. Sunny from 365 Days of Colors says that "Boouk! is a "flesh" colored base with all sorts of glitter inside: gold and brown square fine glitter, super fine brown glitter, copper and brown medium glitter." The nude base is very sheer, so I played with some layering combos. L-R shows two coats of Boouk! alone, and one coat over Sinful Colors Black on Black, NYC Carrie'd Away, Sinful Colors Nirvana and Love My Nails Iced Copper. 

Despite all the fun I had layering this polish, I didn't really have a choice as to undies. Every now and then, I feel the need to take a break from blingy, glittery and overall fantastic overthetop nails, and just wear a nude. One fateful day, I decided to wear LA Colors Whipped, a lovely Band-Aid colored nude (seriously, NO ONE has skin that color) as a palette cleanser. And my 365 Days of Color order happened to arrive that day. It was fate! I was already wearing the perfect base color, so I sat down and put Boouk! on immediately. This is two coats of Boouk! over Whipped, topped with Seche Vite. Photos are taken indoors, under "natural" light. 

There is a very subtle shimmer in the base of this color as well- you can see it best on the tip of my middle finger, where the light is diffusing off of it.

The shimmer really shows up well over black and Nirvana as well!

Nude polishes are right up there with greys as my absolute favorites, and this one did not disappoint. I love the "neutral" look to the glitter, and I think it would be very appropriate in a conservative work setting. Boouk! applied very well. The glitter is light, but not too light, allowing you to customize the amount of glitter that you get on each nail, and the base is just tinted enough to transform your base color into something truly spectacular. If you haven't picked up Boouk! yet, I highly recommend it. 

While you're there browsing, you may want to pick up some Sunny's Miracle Balm too! Sunny's Miracle Balm is a hand made cuticle balm, available in way too many scents for me to sit and count! My WAG would put it at over 100! For those who don't like balms, there are roll-on oils available as well. I'm not great at applying cuticle balm as often as I should, but these definitely make me want to- they are moisturizing without being greasy, and they smell amazing! I picked up a 3 pack balm sampler for only $5! I will do a separate review of these, but if you haven't tried them yet- or if you need great stocking stuffers for anyone in your life- DEFINITELY consider these! 

Purchase 365 Days of Color here: full sized polishes are currently on sale for $8, while minis are $4.50. Cuticle balm mini sample 3 packs are $5, full sized balms are $3. The oils run $1 more. 

Have you tried 365 Days of Color yet? Which are your favorites! I have the SCENTED Holiday Collection coming up soon, so stay tuned!

Boouk! is a "flesh" colored base with all sorts of glitter inside: gold and brown square fine glitter, super fine brown glitter, copper and brown medium glitter

two coats over la colors whipped (band aid color - no one has skin this color0
+ sunny's miracle balm- gummy bears (my mom said it instantly made her mouth water), brown sugar & spice (light, spicy & sweet) & sea island grapefruit (not too fondof it- should have just gotten grapefruit- kind of musky? )

must have been fate that make booukl show up the day I was already wearing whipped- being lazy & wore it for an extra day (which I never do), but then I was ready to use booukl right out of the pkg

zsuper easy to remove

NUDE GLITTER!: Chandelle by Darling Diva Polish

It's not any great secret that Darling Diva Polish is one of my absolute favorite polish makers out there, indie or otherwise. She was the very first brand to pop into my mind when I did my birthday favorites giveaway. And this was the very first polish from DDP that I fell head over heels in love with. I can't believe it took me months to actually crack down and purchase it! 

Darling Diva Polish Chandelle. L-R: three coats alone, and one coat over: NYC Carrie'd Away, Love My Nails Iced Copper and Sinful Colors Nirvana. Chandelle's Etsy listing says: "This is crystal glitters in a rosey taupey base with pink, green, gold holographic, and copper glitter." Chandelle is the perfect marriage of nude and glitter, and I didn't want to take it off. Ever.

For my full manicure, I layered three coats of Chandelle over NYC Carrie'd Away. I wanted a basic nude to really play up the colors in the polish itself. I topped it with a coat of Seche Vite. All photos are taken in natural sunlight. 

Blurred to show the iridescent shimmer in the base. 

I couldn't decide, when describing this polish, whether to call it an English Cottage Garden, or a Sweet Girly Camo. I still can't, and I think it would work well if you needed a polish representing either of those things. This polish also looks amazing matted, but I sadly did not capture any photos of it. I can't say enough amazing things about this polish. It's seriously rivaling Space Beetle for my favorite polish of the year. Just writing this up makes me want to put it on again. Why, oh why, must I have such a pile of untrieds?! 

As with every Darling Diva polish that I've tried, this one applied like a dream. The glitter is a bit sparse, allowing you to completely customize the amount of glitter you end up with on each nail. The glitters lay completely flat- I've yet to see even a hint of curling with any DDPs. 

I implore you to stop by the Darling Diva Etsy shop and browse around. I promise that you will find at least a dozen polishes that want to jump into your cart immediately! Offerings range from linear holos to glitter topcoats to color+glitter polishes, many with a deliciously nerdy bent :) Liking DDP on Facebook is also an excellent idea: TONS of swatches, news, occasional discounts, and seriously the sweetest and most personable creator you're likely to come across! 

Support your indies, ladies!

Cheers,

-Liz-

Reading Tea Leaves

I have another Lyn B Designs color today: Chocolate and Chai! Jenna from Lyn B describes the colors as:
I created this collection in honor of one of my favorite drinks, tea . . . In my opinion chocolate goes smashingly well with chai tea. It adds a sweetness to the spice, and makes it even more yummy. This polish is a light sandy color with small brown glitter added like bits of chocolate in a hot cup of tea." I'd call it a sort of dark shimmery nude, and I couldn't decide if the glitter was black or brown.

I have to say: I love when polish makers describe the thought process behind their color names. Many polishes are named for TV shows, or movies, or other large fanbases and I don't always get the reference. Tea is a bit easier, but I still love seeing how a certain item inspired someone to create a lovely polish :)

You were wondering when I'd get to pictures, right? Here is two coats, topped with one coat of Out the Door, in full sun. You can still see a bit of VNL here, but I find I prefer that with nude shades, as it prevents the dreaded "mannequin hands" syndrome. And can I say, I love this color on my skin? It's just dark enough and shimmery enough (not to mention the glitter) to make my nails look obviously painted, but not outrageous. This would be a lovely neutral look for the office, or any other occasion where hot pink would be rather inappropriate. 

Indoors, under "daylight" lamp. This polish reminds me of loose tea leaf dregs in the bottom of the cup- but in a totally good way! Like- makes me want a cup of hot tea, even though it's 90+ degrees outside kind of way.

Again, indoors- you can see the super shimmer in the base color. 

Bottle shot. These bottles are adorable! And completely unique within the indie community. 

I had absolutely zero issues with application on this polish. It was slightly sheer, but I like that in a nude. It went on completely smooth, and created a lovely "depth" with the layers of glitter. 

I haven't seen too many reviews of Lyn B Designs out there, so I held off on ordering for quite a while. But I'm so glad I did order! I purchased this color, Four Things and a Lizard, and Angels Have the Phonebox, which I haven't tried yet. And there are several other colors that have been added to my wishlist since. Polishes are $10 each, and there is currently a "moving sale", where you buy two polishes, get one free! There are also many other items available in the shop, including lip balms and scents.

Lyn B Designs can be found on Etsy and Facebook- check it out!