Rainbow Honey Magic Cake

Hello lacquer lovers!

If March is your birthday month, then Happy Birthday! Let's have some Birthday Cake...or maybe some Magic Cake!

This is one of Rainbow Honey's glitter toppers that was part of The Summer of 199X Collection (Part 2). It's designed to make you a feel like a wild child. It's filled with pink, blue, yellow and lime green neon glitter pieces that could be considered matte since it's not super shiny or reflective at all. There are also some little iridescent flakes mixed into the clear base to compliment the square and hexagon glitter.

This polish was my gateway into Spring. I'm ready...bring it on!

This is two coats of RH Magic Cake over NOPI Teal Me Something New and Essie Matte About You.

I had no problem getting the glitter out of the bottle and didn't notice excess base causing a long dry time (which is sometimes one of the things I hate most about glitters). The glitter laid nice and flat and didn't seem to bunch up on the nail. Overall, my kind of glitter :)

You can still pick up Magic Cake here and the full sized bottle runs you $10 USD.

Be sure to follow Rainbow Honey's social media sites to keep up with some of their new releases. Or even some old ones you might not have known about.

Twitter: @Rainbow_Honey
Facebook: Rainbow Honey
Instagram: Rainbowhoney

Thanks for stopping by!

~Linda

(Product was provided for review but all opinions are my own)

SuperChic Euphoria Meets Texture

Today's post features both holographic and textured polishes. Not two finishes I would normally put together but this totally works for me.

I recently acquired Euphoria, a deep plum holographic made by indie polish maker SuperChic Lacquer. The polish was a very thin consistency so I had to put on 4 coats for full opacity in the pictures below. Fortunately, similar to many other holos the polish dried quickly so it wasn't a long wait between coats.

The textured polish on my middle, ring and pinky fingers is Julep Cameron. This polish is described as having a Stardust Finish and is a silver lilac. This texture is what I would consider medium grade grit. There aren't large particles to give that scratchy feel, but it's not exactly smooth. I do feel that the glitter pieces add a nice shine to the polish which without them the polish might have looked a little one note.

After laying down some nail striping tape, I used a makeup sponge to dab Cameron at the end of my nails. Since I did want the texture feel on my nails, I didn't topcoat the nails with Cameron, but my index and thumb was top coated to keep Euphoria from chipping.

I always feel hesitant to cover up a holo because they are just so freakin brilliant, but I was totally loving this mani. What do you think about these two finishes together?

~Linda

Black Sheep Lacquer Review

Hello lovelies, today I have two polishes from a new-to-me Indie maker: Black Sheep Lacquer. They are a Canadian Indie brand that is Leaping Bunny certified meaning they do not test on animals nor do any of their suppliers. Their polish is also big 3 free.

After browsing their glitter, thermal and duochrome varieties I spotted Hitman and just had to try it! Hitman is described as a very dark grey (almost black) linear holographic with small silver holographic glitter mixed in. Since these are handmade in batches there is no surprise to me when you get a bottle that looks different than the photos online. My bottle would not be described as grey, but truly black which was totally fine by me.

In the bottle, there is a strong linear holo. The following picture was taken with flash however it's almost this visible without it.

This is two coats of Hitman with topcoat. Pictures are taken indoors since the sunshine has still been lacking. While the linear holo is strong in the bottle, it appears more as a scattered holo on the nail. In the sunlight it's much more visible however indoor it reminds me a lot of Zoya Storm.

BSL also sent me Siren, a multi shaped glitter topper in a clear base. The glitter pieces include holographic hexagons in about 5 different sizes in teal, green, blue, pink, and magenta. There is also white and golden glitter pieces however there is much less mixed in. Overall, there is a green/blue look to the polish however the other colors add a nice pop.

This is one coat of Siren over Hitman with topcoat.

I also layered Siren over OPI Gargantuan Green Grape. This is 2 coats of Siren and topcoat.

You can pick up a variety of unisex polish at either their Etsy Shop or their BigCartel shop. Average price for a full sized 15ml polish is $10 USD and mini bottles are $5 USD.

I love that Black Sheep Lacquer markets themselves as a unisex polish maker. They don't have many feminine colored polishes and that appeals to me. It's kinda badass to see these intentionally made for use by men and women.

Thanks for stopping by!

~Linda

(Products were provided at discount for review but this post includes only my honest opinions.)

Holo Stripes

Today's post includes holographic stripes using 10 different nail polish brands. I guess you could call it a patchwork mani...maybe. The stripes on each nail are in a random order therefore no two nails were the same.

The brands used include:

Nabi

Dance Legend

Layla

Liquid Lacquer

Color Club

Aly's Dream Polish

Pretty Bitch

CBL

ILNP

SuperChic Lacquer

Because I can never leave enough alone, I ended up stamping over the stripes with a shattered stamp. I used Konad Black stamping polish and it's topped with one coat of Sally Hansen Big Shiny Top Coat.

The stamping hid a lot of the detail in the stripes, but it did show different colors peaking through different areas on the nails.

Thanks for stopping by!

~Linda

Kelvin Bleu Upgrade

Hello fellow junkies!! I recently showed you Polished by KPT Kelvin Bleu, a scattered holographic thermal that knocked my socks off and kept me entertained for hours. Well, as promised, I revamped my mani after a couple of days because I really didn't want to take it off but wanted to do my nails. lol

It's pretty basic but it did the trick. Also, there was a small amount of sunlight peaking through that day, so I got the holographic sparkle to appear for a brief debut. While it's not a super intense holo it's definitely evident and these pictures do not do it justice.

Gosh I cannot wait for Spring to show you how beautiful some of these recent holos actually are! Let's hope it comes sooner than later since I can't deal with negative degrees any longer.

Thanks for stopping by

~Linda

Silver & Studs

Today I have a quickie post featuring OPI Crown Me Already from the Miss Universe Collection. This silver glitter has both small round silver glitter as well as large hex glitter all in a clear base. This polish is packed and is easily buildable for full coverage. 

I have 3 coats of Crown Me Already (CMA) on my ringer finger and Essence Black is Back on the rest of my nails. My middle finger has two coats of CMA over the black base. Black and clear rhinestones add a little extra bling which is never a bad thing! 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

~Linda

Polished by KPT Holographic Thermal - Kelvin Bleu

Today I have my very first thermal polish to share with you. I've been seeing some amazing holographic thermals out there lately which all led back to a new-to-me indie brand; Polished by KPT. Soo many choices! Well, I fell in love with this gorgeous blurple shade named Kelvin Bleu that shifts from a light pale blue when warm to rich blue with gorgeous purple undertones when cold. This color is AmaZing!

The rich blue on the left is Kelvin Bleu in it's cold state and the pale blue on the right is in it's warm state. When running your hands under hot water the tips almost go white, but I couldn't seem to get that photographed since once you pull your hands out it changes back to the pale blue very quickly.

There are multiple shades of blue between the warm and cold states and it's very cool to see your hands at various stages of warm to cold throughout the day. I've tried to take as many pictures as possible to show you the variety. Either way.....all shades are gorgeous. Lots of pictures below...enjoy!

This animated picture show the color change after dipping my cold hands into some warm water (for my thumb, index and middle finger). The shots show the natural color change of the warm water wearing off and my hands returning to their natural cold state.

For these pictures, I was using water to change the temperature of the tips of my nails from cold to warm or vice versa. (I actually started to get prune hands at one point..lol)

So my very first holographic thermal did not disappoint and neither did the quality of Polished by KPT nail lacquer. The consistency was nice and thick, but no where near gloopy, so it was pretty much opaque in 2 normal coats. There was no obnoxious scent and surprisingly I noticed that the holographic prisms were more visible with top coat. As you can notice my pictures do not show the holo very much but in the sun they are much much more prevalent! A medium grade holographic effect in my opinion. I will have some nail art coming up very soon with this polish and in those pictures you will see the holo much better!

I picked up Kelvin Bleu on Polished by KPTs BigCartel site here. It was $12 plus very reasonable shipping. Make sure to stop by and see some of her other gorgeous creations.

Thanks for stopping by!

~Linda

ILNP Ultra Chrome Gradient

Hello my dears, today I have one of my absolute favorite manicures to show you.

I found ILNP a while back and have been growing my collection quickly! And by quickly I mean 3 or 4 polishes from each of her collections. Barbara makes some of the most amazing polishes I've ever seen! Today I will be showing you three of her Ultra Chromes that were released in 2013: Mutagen, Cygnus Loop and Birefringence.

Mutagen is a chrome polish that shifts from vibrant green, blue, red, orange and slightly greenish gold depending on the angle of your fingertips.

Birefringence shifts through various shades of blue and purple, to red, orange and sometimes even yellow.

Cygnus Loop shifts from bright purple to orange, yellow and green.

All are formulated without the need for a base color with full coverage in 2 coats, however I always find that black undies work best and prefer to use that in order to use less of my precious polish.

All photos are taken indoors under artificial light and have one coat of black undies and top coat. The gradient starts with Mutagen at the cuticle and then Birefringence and Cygnus Loop closest to the tip.

When moving your hands at different angles under the light, the color shifts are quite prevalent. All three shifting at the same time is quite amazing!

I love this picture because you can actually see bright green, blue and purple on my thumb then half green half teal, pinkish purple and royal purple on my other fingers. Possibly even a little orange on the left side of my pinky. The photo is a little washed out, but the color shifts are stunning in real life!

At times, it appeared as though there were 6 different colors on my nails at once. I'm wearing this mani as I type up this post and I honestly can not stop looking at my hands.

ILNP has a wide variety of polishes from cremes and glitters to amazing holographics (and Ultra Holos!!!) to Ultra Chromes. You can shop Barbara's store at www.ILNP.com but be warned....do not visit when you are on a no-buy! You will break it, and be ashamed of yourself at how weak you are.

There are 4 new Ultra Chromes with her new Spring 2014 Collection along with some sweet pastel holos and ultra holos. I picked up a few and cannot wait to show you what I'm sure will be more amazing color shifting beauties and holo magic.

Thanks for stopping by!

~Linda

OPI AmazON AmazOFF

Hello fellow junkies! Today I have one of OPIs Spring/Summer 2014 Brazil Collection; AmazON...AmazOFF.  This is a deep teal polish with a very subtle shimmer hiding in there. The formula was pretty good giving full coverage with 2 coats.

Since the shimmer is very subtle, I didn't have any issues with streaking. This has a coat of Sally Hansen Big Shiny Top Coat giving a nice shine and smoothed out even the smallest imperfections.

I was wearing this the days leading up to Valentines Day, so I decided to add some little hearts with Layla Mercury Twilight and a small rhinestone. Since me and my better half don't necessarily make a big deal of Valentines Day and I'm not a pink chick I decided this would be my homage to the 'holiday'.

Hopefully you ladies were showered with love...or at least gave yourself something purdy!

Thanks for stopping by!

~Linda

L'oreal Duo

Today's mani features two shades of L'oreal; one from their Extraordinaire Gel-Lacque line and one from their textured Gold Dust line. I actually haven't jumped on the gel nail polish trend because I hate having to actually work at taking off my polish. I saw Meant To Be and loved it! It's nothing like the colors I normally wear, but I still had to have it. I didn't want to pay $15 for the special base and top coats that go with the Gel-Lacque line, so I decided to get it anyways and just try my hand at some base/top coats I already have. I didn't have to try hard, I used Sinfulcolors basecoat and Sally Hansen Big Shiny Top Coat and it looks perfect.

This is 2 coats of Meant To Be and accent nails using Sexy in Sequins, a textured polish. 

Sexy in Sequins is a dusty grape purple textured polish with gold shimmer that flashes pink. The larger light purple hexagonal glitter adds an extra layer of texture. It's similar to Zoya PixieDusts with maybe just a little extra grit. 

Meant To Be is close to a raspberry wine color that can almost look pinkish under certain light while a richer burgundy color under other light. It's a quite complex color that is simply amazing.  The following picture was taken in my kitchen under normal household lighting, while the above pictures were using OttLites and my lightbox. Meant To Be is much more pink or raspberry red in this picture. (Also - this picture was taken 2 mornings after doing my nails....you can see some light scuffs in the top coat on my middle finger, but otherwise, very minimal tip wear)

Meant To Be has one coat of Sally Hansen Big Shiny Top Coat over it and it really does give an amazing gel like shine. I haven't used this top coat with any other polish yet, so I'm not sure if it's simply how amazing this new top coat is or if it's reacting perfectly with the Gel-Lacque polish. Either way, after two 10 hour days typing on a computer among the other daily stuff, it still looks shiny and there practically no tip wear!  

I'm curious to know - have you used any of the L'oreal Gel-Lacque polishes? What about the other brands of gels, do you think it's worth the money to buy the lamp and special polishes and the time to cure it and remove it? 

~Linda