Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer & Emerald and Ash Destination Duo

I'm late posting this beautiful duo from Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers and Emerald & Ash, so I apologize in advance. I don't think you can find this set anywhere now, but I still needed to share the gorgeous polishes with you. Maybe you'll get lucky and see them in a destash somewhere or the makers will create something similar (perhaps with a bit of persuasion)?

The lovely Julie aka the genius behind BEGL has been teaming up with other equally lovely indie makers to create a monthly Destination Duo. Each duo is created based on a vacation photo from the partner that month. For this duo (which released in July) the destination was Sugar Beach in St. Thomas. First up is Sunset at Sugar Beach from Emerald & Ash.

Emerald & Ash is a new-to-me indie and it didn't disappoint. This aqua-blue creme has shimmers of pink and copper along with brown flakes and just a teensy touch of holo. Application was easy and smooth.

I used 2 thin/medium coats of Sunset at Sugar Beach topped with a glossy topcoat. I didn't notice the VNL as much until I started taking photos, but it doesn't bother me too much. Another thin coat would eliminate the VNL in my opinion.

Macro shot to show the speckled effect created by the flakes.

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer's take for this duo was a lovely bubblegum pink with iridescent rainbow micro-glitters and a strong aqua shimmers.

For the accent nail in the photos above I used 3 thin coats and topped with glossy topcoat. For the others, I used 2 thicker coats. I had no application issues either time.

Macro shot!

  Can a polish be adorable? I think so!

This pink is adorable and dainty with just the right amount of sparkle. I'm not normally a dainty pink polish person, but since my Gramma passed a few weeks ago, I've come to love her favorite color. Maybe I'm holding on to her through my polish, but I don't think that is a problem. I apologize for taking so long to get this up. I've been struggling lately and the passing of my Gramma has made that even more complicated. Luckily Hayley has been more consistent with her posts and I appreciate her for that! (Thanks sis!)

As usual here are links to the makers' sites:
Emerald and Ash Store
BEGL Store
Emerald and Ash on FB
BEGL on FB
BEGLove Group on FB (for those of you who can't get enough BEGL - we'd love it if your joined us!)

Now go hug someone you love because no amount of time is enough when you love someone...

xoxo

Jackie

BEGL Fan Favorites

This post is maybe a little bit rushed, but I wanted to get some swatches up and let you know about the restock tomorrow (July 31 at 3:30 edt) over at Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer! She previously released her Fan Favorite's collect as a pre-order, but tomorrow she will release the collection as a regular restock. I wanted to give you a head's up because this collection contains some of MY favorites as well and therefore I highly recommend you get over there and grab them while you can!

BEGLs for restock on July 31, 2015 Including The Fan Favorites Collection, from L to R: Untrodden Snow, Monster's Tea at Tiffany's, Cherry Blossom, Sordid End, Siren's Birthday Sprinkles, Fierce & Free, Bound to the City Life, Wanna Fall In Love Tonight, I Still Adore, and Fare the Wind - Photo Courtesy of Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer

You might realize you've seen a few Fan Favorites polishes here on Polished at Heart. These include Fare the Wind (easily one of my top 10 polishes of all time). It is described as darker blue-leaning purple linear holographic with a blue to purple shift and red micro-flakies with a slight metallic finish. I would describe it as purple amazingness.

Fare the wind with accent of Lynnderella Blue Rouge on middle nail.

 

 
You can check out more swatches of this gorgeous color here and here.


I hope you remember the awesome teal squishy jelly I feel in love with in January - Bound to the City Life. If you missed it then, it is also coming back with the Fan Favorites Collection. BEGL describes this one as a dark teal jelly with teal, turquoise, purple, and blue holo microglitters. More swatches can be found in my review of the Spark in the Dark collection post here.

Another favorite making a comeback is Sordid End. I took some beach pictures wearing this one last year, but never got time to do a post. Good thing I saved them! This beauty is described as a periwinkle leaning cornflower blue with a teal to blue to purple shift. You can see some of the teal shimmer in this photo. 

And what is a swatch post with "the claw"?

Two polishes from the Fan Favorites Collection that I did not have, so I pre-ordered them, are I Still Adore and Monster's Tea at Tiffany's. First up, Monster's Tea. This color is described as Tiffany blue with green to red shift. I'm not sure if I see the red shift, but I do love the green in this one. It dries to a satin finish and I decided to leave it that way for these photos.

I do love my nails and my flowers....

Anyone care for a cuppa?

Monster's Tea had a slightly different application feel from other BEGLs I have used. However, take that with a grain of salt since I polished with this during some extreme heat and humidity with my windows open as my air conditioning was broken at the time. I noticed that the polish wanted to get tacky, like it was drying, very quickly and this led to a little streaking/patchiness. I want to try this one again now that my house is back to normal, livable temps. I would bet it would apply with no problems like my other BEGLs, but as always I wanted to let you know my honest experience. The photos also show three coats.

I Still Adore is an orchid pink holo with gold to pink shift. It applied nicely and was perfectly opaque in just two coats. Here are two photos of I Still Adore taken in full sun. See how she sparkles on my ring and pinky fingers?

 

I have two other Fan Favorites that I haven't taken photos of (yet) and they are Untrodden Snow (white with gorgeous blue shimmers) and Wanna Fall in Love Tonight (red-leaning purple with red shimmer). And after seeing some gorgeous manis I would love to grab up Cherry Blossom and Fierce & Free as well! I'm also loving this months latest Siren - more on her below. The polishes in the Fan Favorites Collection will be sold individually or as a set: individually - full size bottles $8.50-$12 | mini bottles $5-$6; as a set - full size bottles $102.50 | mini bottles $55.

A few other polishes will be listed tomorrow as well. They are the latest limited edition Siren, Siren Channels the 80's and the July Destination Duo, the Gulf Coast Sunset Duo. This month BEGL teamed up with Literary Lacquers! The duo consists of Gulf Coast Twilight by Literary Lacquers, a soft dusky twilight purple linear holo with iridescent gold flakies and a touch of orange shimmer; Happy Hour at the Blue Parrot by Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer, a juicy orange jelly with purple and copper shimmers; and 10 beachy cocktail water slide decals. Siren Channels the 80's is a totally rad neon green jelly packed with silver holo, gold holo, lime holo, and rainbow iridescent microglitters. Both photos below are courtesy Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers.

The Gulf Sunset Duo with Literary Lacquers

LE Siren Channels the 80's

Hmmm...looking at that Siren again, I think I definitely need her. I can say with confidence that I have nothing like her in my hoard collection. 

Siren Channels the 80's will be available in full size only for $8.50 and limited to one bottle per household. The Destination Duo box will be $25 shipped domestically, or $22 plus shipping fee for international customers. The Duo can be purchased at both the Literary Lacquers and the BEGL shops. 

Restock is tomorrow, July 31st at 3:30 edt - don't forget! I have a feeling some of these will go fast and they will be gone for a while (if not forever). 

For your stalking convenience:
BEGL Shop
BEGL Facebook
BEGL Fan Page BEGLove
BEGL Instagram



Do you think you'll be grabbing any of the Fan Favorites? Or do you already have them all? How about that neon Siren? Let me know in the comments!

xoxo
Jackie 


* DISCLOSURE * All Polishes were purchased by me except Bound to the City Life which was provided for review in January 2015. All opinions are my own.

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer - Once More With Feeling Collection Review

*Sent for Review

Today on the blog I have the newest collection from Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer! The Once More With Feeling Collection (OMWF) is actually a re-release from back in 2013. These gorgeous holos were so popular that Julie decided to be awesome and give those of us who missed out a chance to grab these beauties. She's pretty cool like that. For this restock/re-release, she has slightly reformulated six of the polishes, making them more opaque than their original counterparts. The other three are brand new to this collection and were created to "update the look and feel of this collection in a holo-cluttered market." This means they're extra sweet and spectacular. :) YASS!

The three new polishes are "The Last Time I Tortured Someone, They Didn't Even *Have* Chainsaws" (Angelus aka Angel without a soul), "I Fought for My Soul" (Spike with a soul), and "5x5" (Faith). As you can see, there are two new polishes for Angel and Spike which means the originals will NOT be restocked ("Don't Worry. I Don't Bite." and "Out. For. A. Walk...BITCH."). But don't fret - keep reading for all the details.

In case you didn't know, this collection is based off of the popular TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I watched it back in the day (when I was in High School, gasp!) and I just started watching it again on Netflix. Classic. I love how all the 90's stuff takes me back, but I digress.

On to the swatches! All swatches in this post are over Nail Pattern Boldness Glitter-a-Peel and topped with Above the Curve Lacquer 5-Free Topcoat.

Love Makes You Do the Wacky This light purple linear holo with a strong fuchsia flash is based on Willow, who I remember being my personal favorite character. We'll see if it's the same this time around!

BEGL polishes are formulated to be opaque in 1-2 coats which means they are on the thicker side. I personally leave them as is because I personally find them easy to apply. However if you prefer a thinner polish you can easily add a few drops of thinner to you desired consistency.

Add caption

Outside, with flash to bring out the holo

I'm in love with this 

Dorkhead!? You Slash Me With Your Words Xander is the muse for this color - a light green linear holo with a strong mint flash.

Under a shady tree - Xander and me :)

Dorkhead turned out to be a very nice green on me. Sometimes I feel like pastel/mint on my skin tone looks strange and can make my skin look dead. I thought this shade worked really well. I also found this one to be a little of a chameleon, looking anywhere from green to even gold-ish at times. It might have just been that there was so much sun this week.

In sunlight.

As you cans see, it sparkles in the sun!

Tact is Just Saying Not True Stuff. I'll Pass. Oh Cordelia, how I used to loathe thee. This time around though, I find her very amusing. I guess that is because everyone has dealt with a Cordy at some point in their life. Her color is a light taupe linear holo with a strong green flash,

Direct Sunight - see that holo sparkle!

This polish was probably the thickest formula of the three, but I repeat again that I prefer polish that can easily be a one coater. This fits the bill for me. The only other thing I noticed with this one, due to its metallic properties, you can get brush strokes if you aren't careful. I believe use of a smoothing base coat would help this. Swatches show two coats.

Shade - here you can really see the metallic taupe

Direct Sunlight

Additional colors are listed below:

I'm Going Through Some Changes. Oz was the inspiration here and this color  and it is a lovely medium brown linear holo with copper glass flecks.

We Saved the World, I Say We Party! This light pink linear holo with strong pink flash was named for Buffy. 

And last but certainly not least Tea is Soothing. I Wish to be Tense. Funny story about the polish based on Giles. I went to Starbucks with a friend the other day and she swore she only allowed me to go there because I claimed to want some tea earlier. I used this quote. The barista thought I was funny. True story. Any who, Tea is a light blue linear holo with a strong icy blue flash.

The OMWF collection is on sale NOW at the BEGL shop. The full set (nine polishes) will cost $96 for the full sized bottles and $48 for the minis. BEGL ships to US and internationally. 

Some things to note: 

• The Scoobies and Floppy, Hoppy, Bunnies! have been discontinued and are NOT included in this restock. Sorry!
• 5x5 is only available if you purchase the collection in it's entirety. But before you go all slayer, read on! IF you already own the entire OMWF collection, you have the option to send proof of purchase to Julie and she will invoice you $12 + shipping to purchase 5x5. IF you are filling out your collection, you can also send proof to Julie and she will offer a free 5x5 with your current order.
• Proof of Purchase can consist of a photo of your OMWF collection, a copy of the receipt from your OMWF collection polishes, or a mixture of both. If you are filling out your collection, please leave a note to Julie in the "Notes" section upon checkout that you will be emailing her the proof of purchase. 
• Please use the email wishesofablueeyedgirl@gmail.com
• IF you would like to own the original Angel and Spike polishes I mentioned in the intro - you can! There will be a pre-order for those two from May 10th at 3:30 est to May 11th at 3:30pm est. So you have 24 hours to order these. They will be $12 each and only available in the full size bottles.

I think Julie has done a great job accommodating all of her fans with this one. We begged for the OMWF collection to make a comeback and she pulled through! I know it is a little more detailed than other releases, but BEGL takes care of her fans and that is one of the main reasons she is a favorite of mine. To connect with BEGL, you can follow her at the following places:

SHOP

BEGL on Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

Pinterest

Facebook Fan Group - BEGLove

So now the big question -  what will you be grabbing? Do you own any of the OMWF collection? I hope you let me know in the comments below!

Getting My "Doctor" On with BEGL

**All Polishes Were Purchased**

Hello lovelies! I've got a quick post for you today of a fun mani I did using three of my beauties from Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer!

This is BEGL Innuendo Squad, 2000 Years, and Just Admiring Your Skills, Sweetie from her "It Got Away From Me, Yeah..." collection.

Blurred a bit to show that sparkle!

My parents got me some flowers and I just had to use them as props for this one since they were so pretty!

With flash, to make my paleness ever paler

This combo kind of snuck up on me. I was looking at my BEGL collection and moved a few bottles around and thought "Hey, those 3 might go well together" and I decided to give it a whirl. I originally only had 2000 Years (the glitter) on my middle finger, but I wanted to show how fun these colors were together, so I added it over the other 2 colors.

If these colors strike you, you can head over to the BEGL site here and grab them up!

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Custom Giveaway

Today I have a super fun post for you that includes :::drum roll please:::: a GIVEAWAY! 

Since my little man is in preschool, I decided to take my obsession with polish one step forward by having the talents behind Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer and Monster Polish create some custom colors as gifts for his teachers. And they are so amazing and awesome that they provided a couple for you, my readers! 

First I'm giving a chance at my BEGL customs (so check back since you know I'll have some Monster Polish up for grabs at a later date!) I asked Julie to create something that was "Christmas-y" and also incorporate that my son is in the Rainbow Room at preschool. Man, did she come through! May I present "Merry Christmas Rainbow Room!" and "Rainbow Room Christmas Rumpus"!

Aren't they simply gorgeous? MCRR is an ultra sparkly red holo and RRHR is a light pink crelly with metallic and holo glitters. So much glitter and rainbow! Yes, I know these beauties have Christmas names (as they were made for my son's teachers for Christmas) but I thought they were the perfect colors for Valentines Day. And if you're not into V-Day, think of the awesome anti-V-Day mani's you could do with this red holo...

Alright, ready to enter to win? Please make sure you enter the best email to contact you at in case you win! I'd hate to pick you but not have a way to get in touch. I can only ship within the US right now, but if you have a US mule, you can enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer - A Spark in the Dark Collection Swatches and Review

 *Press Samples*

It's no secret that Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer is one of my favorite indie polish brands. January 12th brings us a new collection release called A Spark in the Dark and I am lucky enough to share three of these polishes with you!

Caught a bit of sunshine - see these beauties sparkle?
From L to R are Hypothermia, It's Almost After Midnight, and Bound to the City Life

First up is Bound to the City Life which is described as a dark teal jelly with teal, turquoise, purple, and blue holo microglitters. In the bottle the polish looks almost black, but on the nail you can see the teal come out. This teal leans more blue than green and is stunning on the nail. Shown are three thin coats over a base coast plus a top coat.

Look deep into the squishy-ness!

I normally shy away from jellies as I like my polish to be opaque in as few coats as possible. I also felt like jellies were hard to work with. I'm happy to say that I had no issues applying Bound to the City Life. The formula of this color is on the thicker side which means that it only really took two coats for me to be happy with opacity, but I used three for the sake of pictures (the camera always finds a bald spot!).

Florescent lighting

Macro Shot!

Next up is It's Almost After Midnight described as a medium grey creme with blue shimmer and blue flash. This one is gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous! Did I mention its gorgeousness? This beauty was opaque in 2 coats but I'm wearing three here for photo reasons.

Direct sunlight

IAAM has that dusty quality that I often look for in polishes but with the added flash it really gives it something special!

Direct sunlight

Macro Shot

And last but not least is the collection limited edition Hypothermia! Hypothermia is a gorgeous purple holo with purple shimmers. This is a re-release from last winter. It was so popular that Julie was awesome enough to give those of us who missed out (ahem, yes, sadly I was one of those people) a shot at getting this beauty. Remember, it will ONLY be available if you purchase the full collection!

Direct sunlight

Like all of the BEGL holos, this baby sparkles like nobody's business! I love this shade of puple, which is slightly darker and much dustier than my other favorite BEGL Fare the Wind, the perfect purple for winter.

Indirect (indoor) lighting - see that "dusty" quality?

Macro in direct sunlight

The A Spark in the Dark collection will be released on Monday, January 12, 2015 at 3:30 pm EST. The full collection of 8 polishes will be $67 for full sized bottles and $37 for minis. Remember you can only get the elusive Hypothermia with the purchase of the full collection! There will also be a new limited edition Siren released that day!

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer's shop can be found here. Be sure to follow Julie on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to keep up with the latest news and release information. She can also be found blogging at Wishes of a Blue-Eyed Girl.


Disclosure: These polishes were provided for review. All opinions are my own.

2014 Favorites

We hope you all had a great holiday and here's to the New Year!  Without further adieu, these were our favorite polishes from 2014.  Did any of these make your list this year?  Are you making any polish/ blog resolutions in the new year?

Hayley's Favorites:

My resolution this year is to explore (and post) more Indie polishes.  Almost everything I posted this year was from mainstream brands, but there are too many fabulous indie makers out there to pass up!

Sinful Shine Prosecco

A polish so nice, Sinful released it twice! (and right in a row).  I'm sure I don't need to say much more about the stir Prosecco caused, but you can view my full post here.

China Glaze - Choo-Choo Choose You

I imagine China Glaze Choo-Choo Choose You will show up on a few 2014 lists. I love how multi-faceted this polish is, so it deserved a spot!  Post is linked to check out more pictures.

Sinful Shine Go Glossy

I just could not get enough of this color on my nails this fall and winter.  There were many that I liked, but this one actually came out in 2014...way to Go Glossy! ;)

Jackie's favorites:

My resolution is to try more polishes from my stash. Anyone up for "Untried Tuesday" posts? I did get a few new polishes for Christmas so you'll be seeing those soon!

My first pick should come as no surprise and it isn't one specific brand, but a color - PURPLE! I've been so into purple in 2014 and I don't forsee that changing much next year. Here are a few of my favorites I've shared:
BEGL Fare the Wind
Different Dimension Dueling Unicorns
China Glaze Choo-choo-choose You
Above the Curve UH Purple

My next 2014 favorite was a surprise to me. I never would have guessed an orange polish would steal my heart as much as LynBDesigns Am I Ginger? has! This color just worked for me. I admit I bought it simply for the name, but I am so glad I put it on. This is proof that sometimes when step out of your comfort zone you find something new to love.

My final 2014 favorite isn't a polish, but rather my new found love for cuticle care products. Be they oils or balms, I've been much more diligent about using these daily and I try to use something after I wash my hands, even if its just a standard lotion. I've found that moisturizing helps my nails grow faster and I can say that I have seen some improvement in my peeling. Not as much as I'd like, but it all takes time. So if you don't already use some sort of cuticle oil or balm or lotion or something, try it out in 2015 and let us know how it works for you!

Here's to a new year filled with fun new favorites! Cheers to 2015!

~ Hayley and Jackie

Movember Mustache Mani

I'm sure you have seen the hype about Movember and what it stands for, but just in case you can check out the Movemeber Campaign here. The short version is that men grow mustaches to raise money for mens health. And the fun for me is that I've got a little obsession with mustaches (I think they are hilarious) so much that I chose a 'stache centered theme for my little man last year. We had a blast. Anyway, on to the mani!

I started with Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer's Two! (ring finger and thumb) and Above the Curve's Lemming Have It. I topped them with Monster Polish Wyatt's Whiskers, a custom that Diana made me for above mentioned party. She also sent me a little bag of mustache glitter to place as I wished. Those are on my ring finger and thumb.

Outside in shade

Outside with direct sun

Direct sun

Direct sun

I love the way this turned out! The only thing I'd do a little differently ifs the pre-bend the mustache glitters on my thumb so that they would lay on the nail a little better. This was a really fun mani to create and to wear. As you may have noticed I love purple! And blue isn't far behind on my list, so this combo made me very happy. 

Thanks for checking out my 'stache! Are you participating in Movemeber?