Indie Spotlight: Cirque Vaudeville

Hello again!  I really meant to post this before Labor Day...so consider this my last gasp of summer before I jump completely into fall!  It's still hot and sunny on my side of the country anyway! Today I have Vaudeville by Cirque to show you.  While it's not a typical fall color, it is really pretty...

Sunlight

Shade - to show the iridescence

Shade

Sunlight

I would best describe Vaudeville as a muted lavender with gold and iridescent shimmer.  The formula was great, just a little thin, so this is 3 thin coats with no topcoat.  Removal was pretty easy since the shimmer is more micro-flakies rather than micro-glitter.  I don't have too many indies (yet!!) but this has been one of my favorite indies that I own.  My bottle of Vaudeville is about 2 years old and is still really consistent!  I was pleased that the color and formula stayed as it was supposed to this entire time.

Indoors - low light

Indoors - normal light

I just love gold shimmer!!!!

If you're interested in seeing what other beautiful polishes Annie has created, I have linked the Cirque website above. (They're 3-free and contain essential oils!)  As always, please let me know if you have any comments or questions!  I hope you have a great week!  See you soon :)
~ Hayley

*All polishes in this post were purchased by me. Links are provided for your convenience.

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

A Beautiful Glitter Bomb

Today I want to share a beautiful glitter topper with you that was graciously offered as a prize in a small polish group I belong to. It is made by Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer and it is called Heart of Texas. This polish was specially made and therefore only a few bottle exist, but I just had to share it.

 

All photos are taken in direct sunlight.

 

 For undies I used 2 coats of Above the Curve's Ultra Holo Pink (pointer, middle and pinky) and Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer's Untrodden Snow (thumb and ring finger). 

This is also 2 coats of Heart of Texas with a bit of dabbing. I topped everything with my latest go-to fast dry top cot from Above the Curve.

*DISCLAIMER: All polishes in this post were purchased by me with the exception of Heart of Texas as mentioned above which was I won. There are no affiliate links in this post. Links are provided for your convenience.

Spring Fling Challenge Day 3: Patterns of Fashion

I'm back again for day 3 of the Spring Fling challenge presented by Elena and Kelly!  The theme this time is Patterns of Fashion...and I get to show off a fun indie today.  For today's theme, the pattern I chose is polka dots.

Check out this pretty polish named Marmolada from Elevation Polish.  This is a dusty blue jelly with light blue, silver and purple circle glitter.  This was two coats over two coats of Essie's Who Is the Boss, a pale dusty blue cream that was from the 2012 Wedding Collection.  I decided that Marmolada may have had more depth if I had just used 2 or 3 coats on its own...so that is my plan for the next time I wear it.

Shade

I definitely have to give a shout out to my Polished At Heart other half, Jackie, for pouncing on this color for me so I could add it to my collection.  You can only buy Elevation Polish on their website, and they sell out fast so pay attention to the restock dates!

Shade

So that was my representation for day 3 of the challenge.  I have no idea what's in store for tomorrow but I'm excited to see it!  I'm off to check out the other Spring Fling posts and you should too! :)

Spring Fling Challenge Day 1: Indie Skittle

This first day has made me realize that skittles are hard, but I *think* I was able to pull off an ok set of *kinda* matching colors. Since this is a Spring themed challenge I went with pastels. My husband was laughing at me as I pulled all my indies out and made a little lineup on the living room floor (as we watched some Doctor Who which has lately been my other obsession). Then I proceeded to eliminate the colors that weren't pastels. This is what I came up with:

On my thumb (which I realize you can't see very well) is365 Days of Color Crush on You (Valentine's Mystery Bag exclusive), then we have Eggcentric Bunny on my pointer, Nomad on my middle, Frolicking on my ring and Rainbow Honey Be Mine as underwear for 365 Days of Color Jellybean There Done That. I have more 365 Days of Color in my collection than any other indie and ironically, most of those are Springy shades!

No tulips were harmed during these photos

 

 

Be sure to check out the other participants of the Spring Fling Challenge listed at ecklipsed by color and tuxarina.

Spring Fling Challenge Day 1: Indie Skittle

Well, for the first day of this challenge I have learned two things:
 1.  My indies don't skittle well together.

I find that odd because I generally stick to a core color comfort zone when I buy polishes. In this case, I can get 2 possibly 3 to look okay together, but not 5.  Also, I don't have that many indies in my collection yet...so maybe that means I just need to buy more polishes!

Direct Sun

The best I could come up was this skittle, which is really only one indie polish.  (I'm sorry EcklipsedByColor and Tuxarina! - This is my first challenge; be gentle!) 
I originally wanted Tryst Lacquer's Fluer-y of Flowers, to replace the void I have for not owning Illamasqua Speckle.  I love the idea of this polish...a light lavender with tiny black speckle and light blue glitter. 
Unfortunately, most of the light blue glitter has fallen out of suspension in my bottle so I don't think I get the intended effect. :(  Needless to say, I still absolutely need the Illamasqua!

This leads me to the next thing I learned with this skittle...

 2.  Essie Mint Candy Apple looks so bright on me, I don't even recognize it compared to other swatches I've seen.

I don't know why it leans this way on me.  It's just...different than I thought it would be and I'm fairly sure it's not my bottle.  The other color I used is Kiss Me Here by Pure Ice, a pretty grey cream.

Anyway...I still intend to have some fun with this challenge!  Thanks again to ECKlipsed by Color and Tuxarina for hosting this.  Here are the themes going forward, so join in!

Indie Spotlight: Pastoral by Cagedbird Nail Lacquer

I have a lovely Spring glitter to show off to you all today.  Let me introduce you to, Pastoral, by Cagedbird Nail Lacquer.  This is a perfect combination of matte mint, white, lavender, and pastel green and silver metallic glitters in a clear base.  I mentioned in a previous post that Sarah, the creator of Cagedbird Nail Lacquer, could have just named this polish 'Hayley'.  I seriously don't think I could have come up with a more perfect combination if I would have customized it myself.

My love affair with Cagedbird started a few months ago when I stumbled on her Facebook page and was in awe at the pastel glitters.  She was extremely close to 500 followers at the time and I was honored to be her number 500.  To my surprise, she sent me a mini bottle of polish to celebrate the milestone.  It was my first (and still only) polish prize!  I was beyond excited.  I mentioned how in love I was with Faerie Carnival and Pastoral and a week later a mini Faerie Carnival showed up as my prize.  How thoughtful was she?!
I immediately bought Pastoral from her Etsy store and I recommend you check out all of her creations!

Pastoral: Outdoors - shade

Indoors

To showcase this glitter, I used two coats of Sinful Colors Mauve with one coat of Pastoral.  I know...I've already used Sinful Colors Mauve before.  I didn't mean for it to happen this way, but it did.  The formula in my bottle is just flawless.  I had a few colors picked out to try with Pastoral and it was a tough decision.  My other contenders were: Sally Hansen CSM Ion, Zoya Neely and Sinful Colors Cool Gray.  I will definitely be using them all with Pastoral at some point, because I think they would all look great.  The only downside to using Mauve was that it made some of the lavender glitter not as noticeable on the nail.  I think Sally Hansen's Ion would be a good choice to show off the seafoamy mints, lavenders and greens.
Just for fun I took this macro shot of the glitter and thought it turned out pretty!

 
Disclaimer: This pretty polish was purchased by me and I will be getting it again and again and again!