Hope Floats by Glitterfied Nails

We're FINALLY getting some Spring weather here! It snowed/rained/sleeted all last weekend, sending me into a huge funk, but it's almost 50 (F) outside today, and bright and sunny! 

Today's polish is a lovely spring-y color that would work equally well in the fall: Hope Floats by Glitterfied Nails. Creator Andrea calls is a Rose Gold, which I can understand, but it is so much more than that! It's not technically a color shifting polish, but the lighting does alter its appearance: rose gold, to pinky russet, to almost coppery. It's a very unique and delicate color. Photos show three coats, topped with Out the Door taken under Ott Lite. 

Hope Floats was a bit sheer on the first coat, but built up very nicely in three. You can see a little bit of brish stroke on the glare in the photo above, but it was not at all noticeable in person. Andrea says that this polish is a stunner as undies for glitter topcoats, so expect a revisit after I pour through the glitters in my stash to find the perfect one to pair with this puppy! 

Glitterfied Nails is available on Etsy, and can be followed on Facebook. I have one more Glitterfied lovely to show off, and that one actually has glitter! So be sure to stop back and check it out tomorrow! Andrea has offered a coupon code for my dear readers! Use code NOTTOOPOLISHED15 to take 15% off your entire order! 

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

Razzleberry by Glitterfied Nails

Ready for another newbie brand? You know I always am :) The lovely Andrea from Glitterfied Nails sent me a few of her stunning polishes to review, and today kicks off the Glitterfiedfest!

Meet Razzleberry, by Glitterfied Nails. Andrea describes is as "bright, shimmery hot pink, with a flash of violet." Spot on! Razzleberry is like a more feminine, elegant version of Rimmel's Stop Traffic, one of my fave polishes ever :) Photos show three coats alone, topped with a coat of Out The Door. 

Look at that stunner! Looking at these photos makes me sad, as my nails are all nubby and scraggly after the move. I want them to look like that again! 

Application on this baby was easy-breezy. The first coat was pretty sheer, but it built up quickly. I'm quite impressed by the formula on the shimmer polishes that Glitterfied Nails has to offer- I have another to show off tomorrow! 

Glitterfied Nails can be purchased on Etsy, and liked on Facebook. And as a special treat, just for you my dear readers, Andrea is offering a special coupon code! Use code NOTTOOPOLISHED15 during checkout on Etsy to receive 15% off of your order! Code will be valid for two weeks. 

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

Witches Brew by BNVS Nail Polish

Hello, dahlings! I have one last polish to show you today from BNVS Nail Polish, and that is Witches Brew.

Witches Brew is a murky-ish green shimmer. This is two coats, topped with Out the Door.

This polish is- by FAR- my favorite polish from the BNVS Fall 2012 color collection! It's no secret that I love green, but wow. This color reminds me very much of one of the first nail polishes that I owned, waay back in middle school (circa 1997ish). I'm pretty sure it was called Toad, but I have no idea what brand it was :( It was something urban and edgy, and I remember it being advertised in Seventeen Magazine a lot though. 

Despite being named for witches, and being part of a fall color line, I will be rocking this color all summer long. Know why? Because Witches Brew is the EXACT color of a fresh, juicy grass stain on white pants or shoes :) Not a happy thing as an adult, but as a kid? Grass stains just happened, and it meant you were playing right. 

Last photo is taken in full sunlight. While this is by far my favorite of the bunch, I loved all 5 polishes, and can see me wearing all of them repeatedly. The cremes (Bootiful, Candy Craze) went on smooth, opaque in three coats, and dried super shiny. The shimmers (Bobbing for Apples, Alien Invasion, Witches Brew) went on just as smoothly, needing only two coats. I mentioned in several other posts that the smell of these polishes is different. It's no stronger or worse smelling than any other polish, but it is different. I also mentioned the labels on my bottles, which didn't quite square up on the edges, and creator Lana has taken that under advisement. 

BNVS Nail Polish can be purchased on Etsy and liked on Facebook. 

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

Alien Invasion by BNVS Nail Color

Today's lovely is my second-to-last BNVS color, and the one I THOUGHT would be my favorite. As you'll see tomorrow, I was very, very wrong :)

Meet Alien Invasion, a pale spring green with silver shimmer. This is two coats, topped with Out the Door, photographed under Ott Lite. 

Alien Invasion is a part of the Fall 2012 color line. Check out the shimmer! 

As with the other BNVS polishes I've used, I had no issues with this one. It was smooth applying, and quick drying. It smells different, but no stronger or worse than any other polish in the world. I can see myself pulling this puppy out as a base for nail art throughout the spring! 

BNVS Nail Colors can be purchased on Etsy, and liked on Facebook. Please, please go show Lana some love- I'm so impressed with this brand, and I can't wait for new colors!

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

Bobbing for Apples by BNVS Nail Color

Ladies, I really hate to do this to you, but I have to show you a color today that is, sadly, not currently available :( But it's such a lovely, shimmery red, perfect for Valentine's Day.

Meet Bobbing for Apples by BNVS Nail Color. Shown is two coats, topped with Out the Door, under Ott Lite. 

Bobbing for Apples is a rich, bright, true red with red and pink shimmer. 

I rarely enlarge photos when I read blog reviews, and I don't recommend it very often, but the shimmer in this polish is quite stunning. Enlarge away!

Bobbing for Apples was a part of BNVS' Fall 2012 color line, and I'm told it will be making a comeback in fall of 2013, so keep and eye out for it!

The bottle and smell on this polish were the same as the others I've reviewed from BNVS (Bootiful and Candy Craze), but the formula really hits it out of the park. The creme formulas were great, for what they were (a yellow creme is a pain, no matter what!), but the shimmers- glide on like buttah, and full coverage in two coats. No pooling in the cuticles, which can be a nightmare when it comes to red. And this particular red actually cleaned up quite easily. 

If you haven't checked out BNVS Nail Colors yet, I highly recommend it. Check out BNVS on Etsy.

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

Swamp Creature by Free Hippie

Have you ever gone through your polish stash, and been completely surprised by which color you actually own the most of? My favorite color for polish is grey, but as it turns out, I have almost four times as many green polishes as I do greys! I really do like green as well, but I didn't realize I liked it that much :) I suppose there is much more variation possible in greens than there is in grey. That said, today's polish is a stunner of a green!

Meet Swamp Creature, by Free Hippie. Creator Rebecca says that "Green micro glitter adds a mysterious sparkle to this deep, luscious green shimmer polish." I would call the base a jungle green, leaning slightly toward jade, with emerald shimmer. This is two coats, topped with Seche Vite. First photo taken indoors, remaining photos taken in natural sunlight. 

My love for indies is no secret, but neither is my love for a palette cleanser from all the glitter bombs! Free Hippie excels at creating beautiful and interesting polishes that are not loaded up with glitter. I've got several of her polishes sitting in my draft folder, and I feel horrible for not showing them off before now, but I'm definitely working on remedying that! Swamp Creature went on smoothly in two fuss-free coats, and wore like iron. I actually wore this color for three days straight, and there wasn't a chip in sight, which is quite a feat for me! 

Free Hippie polishes- along with Hippie and Boho Chic jewelry- can be purchased on Etsy. If you haven't checked her out yet, I recommend it!

Gold Rush by Free Hippie: Gold in Them Thar Hills!

Hello, lovelies! Today's beauty is Gold Rush by Free Hippie, an out-of-the-blue polish maker that I never would have discovered were it not for randomly searching Etsy for "nail polish". Rebecca from Free Hippie specializes in Boho Chic and hippie jewelry, but she also offers a small selection of polish, and I've been very impressed with it! (You can see my review of Phosphorus here.)

Gold Rush is a nice pale gold packed full of shimmer, plus small and micro bright gold hexes.

This is two coats of Gold Rush alone, topped with Seche Vite. Photos taken in natural sunlight.

I love how pale this color is compared to most gold polishes: I really don't wear gold polish on a regular basis, and I hate how it looks with my skin, but this is a nice, almost champagne color, and I think I pulled it off rather well! The polish went on very smoothly, and had great coverage. I was afraid it would be kind of sheer, but I only used two coats, and I'm the three-coat Queen. It did dry slightly gritty, as is standard with micro glitters, but a thick coat of Seche Vite completely smoothed the whole thing over. I've tried 6 colors from Free Hippie, and I haven't had a single issue with any of them! This one, in fact, has become my favorite gold (for the rare occasions when I need one!). My only complaint is that polishes are only available in minis- because there are a few that I would like full size!

Free Hippie polishes are available on Etsy.

U-Neek Polish Part II: Penny

U-Neek: Part Deux! Another beautiful shade from U-Neek's Autumn Collection: Penny. 

Janet describes this one as "a copper base with copper sparks." Can't go wrong with that! Of all the possible metallic shades out there, copper is my absolute favorite. I'm not a big fan of orange (the closest "regular" color to copper), but copper it up a bit, and I'm all over it. 

Three coats of Penny, one coat of Out the Door, natural sunlight. 

VNL was not noticeable in person. 

Penny was a bit odd in a way that is difficult to describe. The mica (I'm assuming it is a mica) that was used to make the polish is not as fine as usual. When I applied the first coat, it was very sheer, and the color particles were quite larger than normal. It almost looked like a glitter polish with super-super fine glitter in a clear base. This is obviously not the case, as the color built to be smooth and opaque. This is in no way a criticism, and it's not a bad thing, but I've never seen it before, so I thought it worth mentioning. Of course, it could be as simple as: the base is sheer, so all I was seeing on that first coat were the "sparks". 

No issues to report. Application was perfect. Easy-peasy. Like Autumn, Penny is sheer, so if you don't like doing multiple coats or risking VNL, this would be best layered over a similar color. I think it would also do some gorgeous things over a red! 

Check out U-Neek Polish on Etsy and Facebook, and be sure to stop back tomorrow and Saturday for a different type of U-Neek Polish- glitter topcoats!

Support your indies, ladies!

Cheers,

-Liz-

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

An Underrated Beauty: King Arthur by A England

I'm sure you're all aware by now that grey is my absolute favorite polish color, so today I have a grey to show off that I feel is VERY overlooked and completely underrated.

   

A England's Mythicals collection is highly coveted, and contains some of the most gorgeous and widely blogged-about colors in existence: Lady of the Lake, Tristam, Perceval, et cetera. But King Arthur, sadly, doesn't get much love. It's not a vibrant color, and it doesn't have the holo sparkle of some of the others, but it truly is a gorgeous color nonetheless. And I've worn this, both alone and as undies, a good half dozen times in the few months that I've owned it.

Two coats of King Arthur topped with Out the Door. Photos taken in natural sunlight. The A England site describes this color as "tungsten, steel gray with subtle diamond shimmer." It is a lovely, charcoal color with a very subtle sparkle to it. 

I absolutely love how sophisticated this color it. It's dark without being vampy, shimmery without being blingy. 

What can I really say about A England, application wise? There were zero problems- perfect in two coats. Smooth, supple, thickish but not too thick. I seriously can't think of any bad things to say about this polish. 

A England polishes are available all over the place: the A England website (£9, free international shipping to most countries), Llarowe ($12), Mei Mei's Signatures (Singapore, S$16), 

Ninja Polish ($10.50) and Overall Beauty ($12). Be sure to like A England on Facebook for sale announcements,

blogger swatches (including TONS of the yet-to-be-released Gothic Beauties collection, which I want SO badly)

and other goodies! 

Support your indies, ladies!
Cheers,

-Liz-

There's A Storm A-Brewin!: 70% Chance of Rain by Starry Earth

Ladies, I have found a blue polish that I really, really like! I didn't think it would happen, but it's absolutely blue, and I absolutely loved it!

Meet 70% Chance of Rain, by Starry Earth. Being a highly grey-toned blue probably didn't hurt its cause :) This is three coats of 70% Chance of Rain on all fingers but the middle, which is two coats over a metallic silver. There was really no difference at all in the final look of the polish over this base color versus alone. The ring finger accent is a decal by Long Changed, which will get its very own full review shortly. 

Elizabeth From Starry Earth describes 70% Chance as a "stormy grey-blue shimmer polish. It has tiny (and I mean tiny) silver holo glitters. It shimmers without being overpowering." You can see the holo particles, both on the nail and in the bottle, in the photo above. Like sunlight on raindrops after a storm. 

Depending on the light, this polish went from a baby blue to a very greyed out blue, but either way it was pretty.

Obligatory shade shot- without the sparkle it looks almost Robin's Egg Blue. This is not a color shifting polish at all, it's just one of those colors that is very difficult to describe.

70 % Chance of Rain applied very nicely. It was basically a creme in terms of application, as the glitter isn't large enough to effect the way it applied. And it was great: thick enough that it didn't pool, and thin enough that it self-leveled to create a smooth surface. I tend to use Seche Vite on all glitters, but these were fine enough that I got away with Out the Door. Which makes me happy, because it is by far my favorite topcoat. 

Starry Earth polishes can be purchased for $8 (full size) on Etsy. There are a few colors featuring smaller glitters, plus lots of chunky fun glitters. There is a Princess collection as well- I'm loving A Most Peculiar Mademoiselle, which is obviously Belle-based :) Be sure to stop by and pay a Like on Facebook as well- lots of reviews and swatches, plus Halloween Collection previews right now!

Support your indies, ladies!

Cheers,

-Liz-

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

Sweet Sea: Mermaid Grotto by Rainbow Polish

I'm sure you're all aware by now that blue polishes are not my favorites. However, there is a caveat to that: I'm LOVING the glut of mermaid and peacock polishes lately. Somehow, the cool-toned trio of blue, green and purple just works for me. Deep, rich jewel tones for the peacocks, and lighter, dreamy airy pastels for the mermaids.

Today's polish is Mermaid Grotto by Rainbow Polish.

I didn't see this polish listed in Tonya's Etsy store, so it's up to me to describe it! This always make me nervous with other ladies' polishes, as I'm terrified that I'll mis-identify a color or something. Any mistake is relatively minor, but I hate possibly misrepresenting someone else's hard work! All that aside: Mermaid Grotto is sheer, sky blue tinted pearly-shimmery base with mediumish silver holo hexes and short aqua bar glitters. 

Nail wheel swatches show L-R: one coat of Mermaid Grotto over Sally Hansen No Hard Feelings, NYC High Line Green, NYC Water Street Blue and 3 coats alone.

I chose to layer Mermaid Grotto over Sally Hansen No Hard Feelings, because the blue shimmer in the base showed up best over the lilac color. Photos show two coats of Mermaid Grotto over NHF, topped with Seche Vite. Photos taken in full sun.

This look was so airy and confectionary- if "Mermaid" were to ever show up on my Halloween costume list, this polish would be in. 

This polish applied very well. The glitter is all small enough to come out easily, and not clump together at all. The bar glitters were shorter than your average bar glitter, so there was no chance of curling, and even on my super-curvy nails, they didn't stick off the sides at all. The pearly blue-ish base would look great over pretty much any polish, in my opinion. Well, maybe not orange. But that's probably it!

Rainbow Polish can be purchased on Etsy, $8.50 for a full sized bottle. Tonya also offers a gift wrap option, which will save tons of time come holiday season. Be sure to like on Facebook as well for photos and updates. Post pics of your Rainbow Polish mani on Rainbow Polish's wall, and once a month, one lucky lady will win a polish :)

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