Bionic Mmmm-Detector by Literary Lacquer

Are you ready to see another polish from The Good Parts Collection? Literary Lacquer sent me several polishes from her brand new collection to review. Let's take a look at Bionic Mmmm-Detector, shall we? 

Bionic Mmmm-Detector is inspired by the book Vox, by Nicholson Baker. The entire bulk of the book is a conversation on one of those 1-900 sex lines! Creator Amy describes this polish as "black jelly packed with aqua, teal, blue and green microglitter." I've shown three coats, topped with a coat of Gelous and a coat of Seche Vite. First three photos are taken in natural, full sunlight. 

This one was a stunner for me! I love black jellies, and I love microglitterbombs! You could easily layer Bionic Mmmm-Detector over a black creme, but you would lose So. Much. Glitter! by doing so. 

Look at that! You don't want to lose out on all that glitter, do you? 

Remaining photos are all taken under Ott Lite. 

I find it easiest to describe this polish as though it were a duochrome. The most predominant glitter color is a bright aqua, with flashes of teal and true blue. An almost emerald green shows up occasionally, being most visible in low-light conditions. 

I was very impressed with Bionic Mmmm-Detector overall. Microglitterbombs (a word that I've probably just made up, but will continue to use forever!) are famously a bit difficult to apply, requiring complete drying time between coats to prevent dragging the glitter off of your nail. They are also notoriously topcoat-hungry requiring several coats to smooth things over. I had neither of those issues with this polish! I applied it like any other polish, meaning I did one coat, starting with my ring finger and working my way through to my thumb (I always do my pinkie last for some reason), and then immediately started my second coat. And so on for the third coat. The glitter stayed absolutely put. I did top with Gelous and Seche Vite on my swatching hand, but it wasn't necessary to use both, and I didn't on my right, dominant hand. One coat of Seche Vite was enough to smooth everything out nicely. 

If you haven't tried anything from Literary Lacquer yet, I highly recommend that you do. Amy creates some beautiful glitter combinations, as well as stunningly strong and vividly colored linear holos! Literary Lacquer can be purchased on Etsy for $10 per bottle, and can be liked on Facebook. 

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

Out of This World: Celestial by The Polish Bar

I have my 4th- and final- polish from The Polish Bar to show you today. (You can click the links to see Eternal Sunshine, Shirley and Berry Shimmer.) The polish of the day is called Celestial, and let me tell you right off the bat: Janice NAILED the name on this one! 

Layering experiments. L-R: Three coats of Celestial alone, and two coats over Maybelline Color Show Sapphire Siren, Fingerpaints Tough Art to Follow, Sinful Colors Black on Black, and Sinful Colors Black on Black topped with a coat of Maybelline Color Show Sapphire Siren. Celestial's base is definitely black-tinted, but I don't think it would ever be opaque enough to wear alone. 

Celestial is described as "many different kinds of holographic glitter in a black jellyish base. It also has very subtle blue/purple micro shimmer."

Two coats of Celestial over the Black on Black/Sapphire Siren layering combo. Top coats is one coat of Seche Vite. Photos were taken in natural light, but as it was SNOWING this morning, it was pretty overcast :(

Let me tell you a story about this layering combo. I wanted these glitters to really pop, and look like the night sky, but I didn't want to go with black. I decided on blue. I'm not really a fan of blue polishes, so I own exactly three: NYC Water Street Blue (bright sky blue- obviously out), Hot Topic Glow In The Dark Blue (again, obviously out) and Sinful Colors Midnight Blue (closer, but I didn't want the shimmer to compete with the beautiful shimmer already in Celestial). So I decided to grab a navy creme polish on my way home from work. So I look at Walmart. No dice. Tons of navy shimmers, and royal blue shimmers and even a few royal blue cremes, but my heart is set on navy. Loreal had a color that looked close on the shelf, but of course, it was the only Loreal polish that was sold out. Family Dollar, nothing even remotely close to navy. Or even royal! Finally, Walgreen's my last hope. The Loreal polish that I saw at Walmart is actually a greyed purple color. Tons more shimmers, tons more way-too-bright blues. I'm getting bummed. Then, finally, like a beacon of light, I come across the Maybelline Color Show display. Sapphire Siren is EXACTLY what I had in my head. So into my basket it goes, and I waltz to the register singing a happy little tune. Then I get home and sit down to swatch. Sapphire Siren is a . . . jelly. Dun Dun Dun! It's a beautiful jelly, and I love jellies in general, so I can see myself wearing it again, but damnit, I needed a creme! So I got the idea in my head to try it layered over a black, and lo and behold! The PERFECT blue-black shade I was looking for. 

::rant over::

Awkward hand pose: holding my steering wheel to show you that the polish really is blue, not black!

As for the review portion of this post: I just . . . I can't . . . I don't even know what to say. This polish is RIDICULOUS! It is one of the most gorgeous polishes I've seen, and you absolutely NEED it. It seemed a pretty standard black-jelly-holo-glitter, until I put it on. The holo glitters, while definitely holo, seemed biased toward pink-purple-blue-teal, and just added to the breath-taking aura on my nails. I've said a few times that a polish causes me to stare at my nails all day, but this one takes the cake! It looks exactly like a glorious, northern night sky photo. The kind where you're in the Borealis Belt, and there is no pollution from chemicals, light, sound or even other people, and the sky just becomes a huge, all encompassing entity, telling you exactly how small and insignificant you are in the grand scheme of things. Am I going on too much? No. You NEED this polish. 

Oh, you want to know how it applied? Great. Two coats, dabbed a bit on the second coat to make sure my glitter coverage was even. Didn't dry gritty. As amazing as this polish is, I don't think I would even care if it were the hardest polish to apply ever. But it wasn't, so even better!

The Polish Bar Polishes can be purchased on Etsy. Full sized bottles run $8.50, minis $4.25. Make sure you head on over and snap the ones you need, though- the shop will go into vacation mode Thursday at midnight, and will be on vacation for most of the month of November. Be sure to Like The Polish Bar on Facebook, too! 

*This polish was provided to me for an honest review. The overly glowing opinion expressed in this post is my own, and entirely accurate.

I Suppose You Want a Kiss? Frog Prince by Varnish Vixen

I had a bit of a hard time with today's polish. I fancy myself a rather creative type, but every now and then a polish will just absolutely stump me when it comes to layering!

Nail Wheel, L-R: Three coats of Frog Prince alone (as much as I like sheer polish, it was too sheer to wear alone, even for me)

One coat over China Glaze Agro (nice, but I wanted something that would showcase the tinted base of the polish as well)

One coat over NYC Water Street Blue (what was I thinking? Blue does NOT scream 'frog')

One coat over NYC Highline Green (not nearly 'swampy' enough)

So every now and then, I would pull a random green polish out of my stash, and try to layer Frog Prince over it. No dice. Finally, in a frustrated fit, NEEDING to use this polish, and NOW, I layered it over the mani I already had on- NYC Sidewalkers (a neutral, medium grey creme.)

Success, at last! The grey successfully creates a murky background, and is light enough for the teal base to play a part. This is two coats of Frog Prince over NYC Sidewalkers, topped with a coat of Seche Vite. Photos taken in natural light. 

Caley from Varnish Vixen describes Frog Prince as "deep kelly green jelly base with pink, fuchsia and lavender holographic glitter."

I was amazed at how long it took me to try this out over grey- it seems like a no brainer, and will absolutely become the way I wear this polish now! Frog Prince applied very well- all glitters came out smoothly and evenly, and the jelly base was streak free and quite shiny on its own. The glitter didn't even dry gritty, which is odd for smaller glitters. I could have gotten away with Out the Door on this, rather than Seche Vite. 

Have you checked out Varnish Vixen yet? I'm definitely diggin' the Halloween Collection! Stop by the Varnish Vixen Etsy shop and browse around- minis are available for $4.50, and full size polishes run $8.50. Be sure to like them on Facebook as well!

Support your indies, ladies!

Cheers,

-Liz-

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

Mardi Gris: Girls Night Out by Daring Digits

My camera hated this polish. It just refused to capture the gorgeous little multicolored sparkles! Sad panda :(

Meet Girls Night Out by Daring Digits! Ashley describes this color as "an awesome dark grey base with pink and green highlights." It's a charcoal grey jelly with super tiny sparkles in pink, green and some other pretty colors that all blend beautifully into an almost holo effect, but different.  This is four coats of Girls Night Out alone, topped with a coat of Out the Door.

In the shade. Looks like your standard black with silver glitter.

Here you can see a bit of the color. Please stop by Daring Digits' shop and take a look at this color! Her camera must be inundated against the pretty, because it shows the variety of tiny little glitters far better than mine! 

Girls Night Out applied super smoothly, sheer on the first coat, but building to complete opacity in three. I added the fourth coat, but it really wasn't necessary. Pictures just cannot capture the loveliness of this polish. It does look rather holo-y on first glance, what with the rainbow of colors, but then you look closer and realize that the glitter IS actually all those different colors! It's understated and yet very complex at the same time. I absolutely love Daring Digits' polish- check out my raves over Master Shake! 

Daring Digits polishes can be purchased on Etsy. A 16.5 ml bottle (regular full sizes are 15ml) are usually $7.75, but Ashley is currently running a sale! All full sized bottles are only $5!!! Minis are not available for the duration of the sale, which ends 9/22/12. Be sure to like DD on Facebook for restock and sale info, plus shop news and new color previews! Daring Digits can also be found on Instagram (#daringdigits) and Daringpolish.com blog.

Support your indies, ladies!

Cheers,

-Liz-

Violet Flakie Jelly: Ozga the Rose Princess by A Rhyming Dictionary

Today we showcase the last of my A Rhyming Dictionary polishes, and probably my least favorite. It's a beautiful color, but I was a bit underwhelmed. I should say that I'm not a huge flakie fan in general, so my opinion may be colored by that. 

This is Ozga the Rose Princess. Morgan calls this one "a deep shade of lavender with blue, purple and rainbow flakies in it." It is a beautiful jelly violet color, but the flakies pulled a bit of a no show. This is four coats of Ozga on its own, topped with Out The Door. Photos taken in natural light.

Surprisingly, for a purple, the nail color is pretty accurate- the bottle color is obviously not. Ozga is not at all blue toned. You CAN see the flakies in the bottle though!

You can see a bit of flakie here as well. 

No show really isn't the right term- the flakies were visible, they just weren't very flashy. They would show up a lot better over black, but then you lose the pretty purple coloring. 

Overall, I did like this polish, I just liked the others better. You kind of have to choose between the color or the flakies, and I went with the color, because violet is one of my favorites :) It was almost imperceptible on the first coat, but it built to this beautiful squishy-jelly in four coats. The flakies were there, but you had to look to notice them. I will try this over black, and possible a dark purple, and report back. It would also make for a yummy jelly sandwich, so you may see this one a few more times. 

A Rhyming Dictionary polishes are available on Etsy. $3.50 minis and $7.50 full size. Make sure to like ARD on Facebook for updates and swatches :)

Support your indies, ladies!

Cheers,

-Liz

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

Va-Va-ViXXen! Featuring Vixen by Varnish Vixen

Vixen! What a great word. One that does not get used nearly enough, in my opinion. Most dictionary entries I read seem to think it means a quarrelsome, shrewish woman (in addition to a female fox), but Mirriam Webster offers a third definition: a sexually attractive woman. And to me, at least, it connotes a pretty sharp one as well. After all, a vixen IS a fox, and foxes are smart and sly, as well as playful and energetic. Also: adorable! So kudos to Varnish Vixen for re-adding this word to my vocabulary.

Caley from Varnish Vixen describes her "signature color" as "fine pink and pink holographic glitter suspended in a black jelly base."

This is three coats of Vixen by itself, topped with a coat of Seche Vite. Photos taken in natural, outdoor light.

This color did become opaque in two coats, as promised, but I went with three to get a deeper black look. Most black jellies really look best when layered over a black creme polish, but this looked outstanding on its own. It's a soft black look, but it is definitely black. And look at the amount of glitter you get by layering! Almost a galaxy look, if only there were pink stars :) Vixen applied smoothly, but I definitely had to make sure my previous coat was dry before adding the next. I pulled of a fair bit of glitter by not waiting long enough on the first pass. Other than that, it was smooth sailing. Beautiful polish, with a beautiful name. For any black and pink lovers out there: this is THE polish for you, I promise.

Varnish Vixen polishes can be purchased on Etsy, at $8.50 per full size bottle. All polishes are 3- and Cruelty Free, and created with glitter grade suspension base and stainless steel mixing beads. Have you tried anything from Varnish Vixen yet? I'm totally crushing on Zombie Breath and Vampire's Delight from the Halloween collection :) Be sure to like Varnish Vixen on Facebook as well- lots of new color/shop announcements!

Support your indies, ladies!

Cheers, 

-Liz-

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

Madness, I Say!: Moonlight Madness by Styler Design

No story or anecdote today- let's jump right into polish!

Today's beauty is Moonlight Madness, by Styler Design. First off: This polish did experience some settling. Not so badly as Party Mix, and Sarah from Styler did tell me after that post that she is revamping her formulas to get rid of the settling problem.

Here were are properly shaken up (just a few seconds worth), and look at the pretty! It's like an 80's party in a bottle. Sarah calls Moonlight Madness "a black base with a green and purple iridescent look. It has just the right amount of medium sized silver square glitter, medium sized teal hex glitter, medium sized square purple glitter, and flakes of silver, teal and purple glitter." All in a black jelly base.Maybe 80's party was the wrong descriptor: the teal, purple and green combo makes me think of a mallard duck!

Here we see three coat Moonlight Madness on its own, topped with a thick coat of Seche Vite. The black base wasn't so thick that the glitter got completely hidden (though it does get obscured with more layers), but it didn't need a black base coat either, which is pretty awesome. There are already at least three bottles involved in any mani (four, if I use Gelous, which I do for most glitters), so not needing undies is always a plus! For glitter purists out there: a black base plus one coat will net you the same look :)

Styler Designs polishes can be purchased on Etsy- Full size bottles for $8.75, or a pack on 3 minis for $14.25. There is also a Facebook page to like, offering updates and swatches of all her lovely colors!

Support your indies, ladies!

Cheers,

-Liz-

P.S.- On a completely unrelated note, you may have noticed that I've begun watermarking my photos. After the Sinful Fiasco last month, and now Miss British Steal All The Posts, I thought it prudent. They are not professional, and they won't stop anyone who really wants me pictures, but there you have it. Sad that it has to be done, but at least I'll be sure to get credit if anyone wants my pictures!

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

An Appropriate Pairing: Delightful Mermaid by Lacey Lou's Stockpile

I love purples, and I don't tend to wear a lot of them, because if they become too blue-toned, I feel like my skin gets washed out. Rationalization aside, I LOVE purple.  

Meet Delightful Mermaid, but Lacey Lou's Stockpile. It is a sheer purple jelly base with such a huge array of glitters that my camera was freaking out a bit. I barely got any decent pictures of this lovely polish :( I used two coats of Delightful Mermaid in this mani, over A England's Lady of the Lake. Hence the appropriate pairing :) To be sure, mermaids are more commonly found in the sea, but I allowed myself a bit of artistic license.

This polish was a bit thick, but went on very easily. In the bottle you can see the array of shatter glitter that this polish is full of: it reminds me of all the beautiful flotsam and jetsam floating in the sea, collected by a mermaid with a hoarding disorder.

Lacey says that this polish was inspired by a solid perfume that she got from Unbound Eden Cosmetics on Etsy, also called Delightful Mermaid. (Unbound Eden has since moved to Storenvy.com)

This is the truest-to-color picture I captured (we all know how cameras hate purple). It is more violet than blue. And again with the lovely flakes of colored glitter! There are traditional hexes in here as well, but I think the irregular shapes are really what makes this polish, and what makes it fit its name! 

I'd like to layer this over a lighter polish next, to see the purple really stand on its own two . . . on its own merit!

Lacey Lou's Polishes can be purchased on Etsy. Full sized bottles run $9, and minis are $4.75. Be sure to Like on Facebook, and check out my reviews of Summer Nights and Sugared Cherries as well! I cannot say enough good things about this brand- have you tried it out yet? Which colors are you crushing on?

Cheers, dears!

-Liz-

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