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.

Let's get Christmas-y with Above the Curve - Husbands Just Don't Understand

I don't know about you, but I love seeing everyone's holiday nails! This week I decided to join in and share one of my very favorite Christmas presents from last year - Husbands Just Don't Understand from Above the Curve. I just checked the store and I didn't see this beauty in there, but I know I've seen it recently. You could always ask!

With Flash

 HJDU is a dark teal scattered holo and it is just perfect (in my opinion) for the holidays. For me it conjures images of a lovely blue spruce adorned with twinkling white lights. Yep, I'm in the Christmas mood now! And how about that name? I know my poor husband will listen to me talk polish for short bursts, but he doesn't get it and probably never will.

Without Flash

This polish applied like a dream and shown is 2 coats with the ATC quick dry topcoat. I love darker colors in the fall and winter seasons and this really fits the bill.

With Flash

Are you ready for the holidays? I'm ready to have some time off, but I've got a lot of things to finish before then!!

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?

Endless Summer - Cult Nails Intriguing

This week I've been attempting to relax and extend my summer a bit at the beach. I've had a few polishes in my untried pile that I decided to bring along. I'm all for Fall, but in truth I'm sad to see Summer go. I love the feeling of freedom that it brings and also the beautiful bright colors. Up first for the week is Cult Nails Intriguing. Though this shade isn't too bright I think it is perfect for the beach and also as a transition color.

Direct Sunlight

Intriguing is a soft scattered holo that is a bit on the sheer side. I used three coats for these pictures and topped it with Above the Curve's 5-free Quick-Dry Topcoat. I'd say this shade is a dusty blue leaning periwinkle.
 

Close-up, Direct Sun

Direct Sun

Macro on the nail, Direct Sun

This was from their Casual Elegance collection that was released in April this year and was limited edition. I really hate to post something that is hard to find, but this turned out to be a lovely shade. I'm sure with a bit of searching you could find this for sale or swap.

I know I mentioned this is a nice transition color. Do you wear colors that are seasonal or do you go with whatever you are feeling? Let us know in a comment!

Thanks for reading!

~Jackie~

LynB Designs - Am I Ginger?

Let's have a moment of pure honesty reader. When I saw this polish I needed it not for the color, but for the name. Frankly the color scared me. Which is why I have waited this long to put it on my fingers. Am I glad I did! This is such a great shade for Fall. And it's a holo. So glad I finally put it on!

Here are a couple of bottle shots, just for fun. These were taken outside and it was cloudy at the time so the holo-y goodness isn't showing here.

 

Am I Ginger is an orangish-red jelly with linear holographic tendencies. The jelly makes this polish all squishy and great and the holo, well I think you know how I feel about holos. 

For those of you not familiar with the reference, the name is taken from the Doctor's desire to be ginger. Still hasn't happened. Poor Doctor. I feel your pain. I love red hair too.

Source

Got it here

I can't help myself when it comes to Doctor Who references. I'm addicted. Sorry, not sorry. Anyway, more on this ginger polish. Geronimo!

The following photos show 3 thin coats (though I think 2 would probably suffice) topped with Above the Curve's 5-free Quick Dry Topcoat. The sun peeked out from the clouds just long enough to catch the holo!

 

 

Want Am I Ginger for your own? Check out LynBDesigns store on etsy.

 

So what do you think? Perfect for fall, right? (Not that I would limit my use to only fall with this stunner!) Do you own any colors that you are afraid to try on? Have you ever been wary of a certain shade but once you tried it you were in love? 

Let us know in the comments! 

~Jackie~

 


*Disclaimer: All polishes in the post were purchased by me. Links are provided for your convenience (not affiliate).

The Purple Summer

I have decided that this summer my very favorite shade has been purple. I find myself going back to the various shades I own over and over again. This polish is no exception. Shown in these photos is Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers "Fare the Wind" - a gorgeous linear holographic purple with a blue shift. I decided to be a little different and use my middle finger as the accent on this mani. For the accent I used Lynnderella's Blue Rouge - it matched so perfectly! This mani reminds me a bit of the book "The Rainbow Fish" maybe because I've been reading it to my son at bedtime this past week. Or maybe becasue those glitters from Blue Rouge remind me of Rainbow Fish's glittering scales that he gives to each of the other fish in the sea. Time to let the pictures do the talking.

 Used here is 2 coats of FTW, accent of Blue Rouge on middle, and topped with ATC topcoat.

Obligatory Flower Shot

Let's get a little closer, shall we?

I think the draw to holos for me is that sparkle I catch in the sun - the purple is lovely on its own but then POW! the sun shines and rainbows appear. If you don't own any holos, I highly recommend adding at least one to your collection. Unless you hate rainbows, then never mind. Fare the Wind is currently sold out, but if you stalk follow BEGL on facebook, you just never know what she might decide to bring back. As for Blue Rouge, it has been discontinued (so sorry!).

And as always here are a few places where you can find these lovelies:

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer on Facebook

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer's Store

Lynnderella on Facebook

Lynnderella's store on ebay

Above the Curve UH Purple

Today I have a beauty from Above the Curve Nail Lacquer called Ultra Holo Purple. I snatched up three of their ultra holos as soon as they came out and I was not disappointed. U.H. Purple is my favorite (so far).


As some may know, I've really been in to the holographic polishes lately, but I feel like it actually dates back to college when I fell head-over-heels in love with Sally Hansen's Fairy Dust Pink. I can't tell you how many comments I got while wearing that color. I still have it too - anyone want to see it? Leave a comment below if you do! Now on to the pictures!

I'll take any opportunity to pose with my posies when they are in full bloom! Shown here is 2 coats of UH Purple with no topcoat and in full sun. I tired to get a few angles to show off those stunning rainbows. Seriously, who can resist a polish that sparkles with rainbows? Not I!

 

I love holographic polishes in the sun!

So let me talk just a little bit about why I love Above the Curve (ATC) so much and what I think is so special about them. Polish Monster introduced me to this company and I am so very glad she did! ATC is a husband and wife duo which is pretty awesome in itself, but what is even more awesome is that $1 from EVERY bottle of polish sold is donated to Shriner's Hospitals for Children and also used help raise awareness for Scoliosis! Polish for a cause? Yep, I'm on board with that!

I hope you will check out ATC's etsy shop and give them a follow on their facebook page too!

And I was serious, if anyone wants to see swatches of my first holo love, SH Fairy Dust Pink, let me know. I'm happy to take requests.

NOTD DIFFERENT dimensions Dueling Unicorns

Here's a quick Nail of the Day post! I know, I know. We haven't posted in a while, right? But if you are still out there, I've got a beautiful holo to show you today! I hope that makes up for the lack of posts. And Hayley and I both want to get back to blogging, so we promise to try harder this time. 

Without further ado, I give you DIFFERENT dimension "Dueling Unicorns":

The polish maker describes this shade as a gorgeous violet linear holographic polish. She isn't lying folks! All photos are 3 thin coats of Dueling Unicorns alone, no undies and no topcoat.

 

This first shot was taken outside. Alas, it is a cloudy day here, so the rainbows were hiding from me. So I was forced to use flash, but prepare to be amazed!

 

Do you love it?  Look at the rainbows!

 

 

And last here is a slightly blurred-on-purpose shot to show those rainbows up close. I have to say that I love this polish and here is why. I love this shade of purple and I think it is bright enough to be a fun summer polish but also dark enough to look good on my short (ok fine, VERY short) nails. I'm having some issues with peeling, especially on my pointers. I've been very strict with myslef for the last 2 weeks about moisturizing and also I started taking a biotin supplement, so we shall see if it makes a difference. In the meantime, I hope you don't mind seeing some shorties.

DIFFERENT dimension can be found on etsy and I believe that llarowe is also carrying the brand as well. For more information on this polish, be sure to follow on Facebook!