A blog about a girl, her nail polish, and some delicious noms.
Archive for November, 2011
NOTD: Glitter Sandwich With A-England Iseult & Confetti Tazmanian Devil
411 year ago
Hey Everyone!!
This is my second attempt at the glitter sandwich (you can see my first try [HERE]) and I really, REALLY, love how this one turned out!! 
I posted a quick cell phone pic of it the other day on twitter but I wanted to share some better quality pictures with you all. I love this look so much that I don’t want to take it off, EVER! Also, this counts for Pink Wednesday so I get extra points. ^_^
I used SH Nail Quencher Base Coat and Seche Vite Top Coat for all swatches shown today. Clicking on any of the images will enlarge them to the original size for you.
“Cupcake” Glitter Sandwich
This look TOTALLY reminds me of funfetti cake with pink frosting and sprinkles! I kinda want to eat my nails, haha!
Here’s my “recipe”:
2 coats of A-England Iseult
1 coat of Confetti Tazmanian Devil
1 more thin coat of Iseult
Here’s a macro shot! Isn’t this gorgeous!? You’re gonna want to enlarge this photo for sure. ♥ I really love the soft shimmer in Iseult, this polish is beautiful you guys! Expect a full review of Iseult and some other lovelies by A-England very soon.
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Sooooooo, I might be obsessed with glitter sandwich manis now. It’s such a fun way to play with layering and color combinations! I have a lot of ideas so I hope you’re not tired of seeing my layered manicures just yet! 
* Some of the product(s) in this post was/were sent to me for unbiased review consideration.
For more information, check out my Disclosure Policy.
Rie’s Polish Stash: The Inside Helmer Story
32Allo Everyone!!
This was a much requested post by all my Twitter and Facebook pals, so today I’m going to show you my ever-growing polish stash and how I store everything. ^_^ I have almost of my nail polishes in a white Ikea Helmer storage unit. And I also have what I call my “overflow” side table where I keep odds and ends, including polishes that I am currently working with and those that haven’t found a home in the Helmer yet. I keep all my polish in the living room, that way I can have epic swatching sessions and marathon tv shows on Netflix simultaneously. Right now I have all of my polishes stored by brand 1st, then by color 2nd. If you’re reading this mom, I may need another Helmer for Christmas (a red one please!).
Let’s move on to the pics!
Polish Organization – Rie’s Helmer
Here’s a pic of my beautiful Helmer. I haven’t written on the labels yet because I may rearrange a few of the polishes into different drawers. I was super scared that it would be hard to put together, but honestly it was a piece of cake! Everything pretty much snapped together and the instructions were pretty straight forward. I didn’t include a picture of my “overflow” table because it’s covered with polishes from my last three hauls (epic haul post coming soooooon!). 
On top of my Helmer I have all of my Essie Mini 4pc Box Sets, acrylic paints and brushes, various hand/cuticle care tools and products, and make-up sponges/reinforcement stickers for nail art. I want to get a small basket for all my nail art supplies.
1st Drawer – this drawer contains various top coats, base coats, Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoats, striping nail art polishes, nail files, dotting tools, nail art brushes and various other art supplies, nail art stamping plates and tools, nail art display wheels, cuticle cream and cuticle remover. I recently received the set of MASH stamping plates and I can’t wait to try them out!! ^_^
2nd Drawer – this drawer contains foreign, frankens and super special/expensive brands:
A-England, Ozotic, Barry M, Deborah Lippmann, Nails Inc., Models Own, Butter London, MAC, Sephora by OPI, Chanel, Lancôme, NARS, HITS, Glitter Gal, Ludurana, Illamasqua, Missha, Nfu-Oh, Rescue Beauty Lounge, Lynnderella, and HARE Polish.
3rd Drawer – this drawer contains supply/salon-ish and online boutique brands:
Kleancolor, Essie, Orly, Zoya, Cult Nails, Color Club, Pixel, Essence, BB Couture, NYX, Nubar, Barielle, Perfect Formula, Ulta Brand, Eyeko (should go in foreign drawer…), L.A. Splash, L.A. Girl, and Julep.
4th Drawer – this drawer contains beauty supply and drug store-ish brands:
OPI, Nicole By OPI, Sonia Kashuk, Mini Divas, Rimmel London, Pure Ice, Maybelline, Jesse’s Girl, Sinful Colors, Max Factor, E.L.F., Diamond Cosmetics, Hard Candy, Borghese, Confetti, CQ, Avon, N.Y.C., various dollar store & un-named polishes.
5th Drawer – this drawer contains MOAR beauty supply and drug store-ish brands:
Revlon, Sally Hansen, Wet n Wild, Milani, and Finger Paints.
6th Drawer – this drawer contains all of my China Glaze nail polishes, including my 3 crackles in the top left corner and a holographic top coat somewhere. Yes, I have an entire drawer devoted to only China Glaze. I’m a bit of a fangirl for this brand. O_o
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That’s all folks! I hope you enjoyed taking a gander at my polish stash! If you want to see an current and detailed account of my stash you can check out my collection spreadsheet [HERE]! The amount I own has already gone up from what I had last week when I first created the darn thing. It’s a work in progress. I may change how I describe the colors and I plan on adding blog links to the polishes that I have swatched for quick user reference. ^_^
Fashion Polish – One Month of Giveaways!
11 year ago
Morning Ladies!
Sam from Fashion Polish is celebrating her one year anniversary with an EXTREMELY generous month of giveaways! Each week she’s offered a different prize pack. It’s open internationally and is running until December 11th. I’ll list below each week of prizes. Clicking on the picture will take you directly to that week’s giveaway theme, this is also where you can sign up for the contest!!
- Week ONE : Kiko Giveaway!
- Week TWO : Effects!!!
- Week THREE: Frankens!!!
- Week FOUR: European Pretties!!!
NOTD: My First Glitter Sandwich (Semi-Fail)
751 year ago
Hey Everyone!
I have been in such a lazy rut lately. It’s taken me all night/morning to get motivated enough to edit these photos, hahah! I was talking with Kirsten (my fellow night owl) on twitter the other day and asking for her pro tips on creating glitter sandwiches. If you’re not familiar with the concept, glitter sandwiches are basically layered manis with glitter polish sandwiched between coats of your jelly or sheer polish of choice. I always love looking at this mani style but I hadn’t attempted it myself… Until now! I don’t know why I decided to start with such a complicated design for my first glitter sandwich, but here it is: my first attempt, and I kinda botched it a little bit.
“Cotton Candy” Glitter Sandwich
I couldn’t make up my mind on whether to use a pink jelly polish or a blue jelly so I did both! I called this one my “cotton candy” glitter sandwich because it reminds me of the yummy treat I used to always beg for when I went to Cedar Point as a child. Well, this and funnel cakes. I was ALL about the funnel cakes and still am. *mmmmMMMmmmm*
I started out with 2 coats of Rescue Beauty Lounge’s Bikini Bottom. Then I added a layer of Tazmanian Devil by Confetti. I then did a diagonal stripe of Kleancolor’s Chunky Holo Candy. And ended with 1 more coat of Bikini bottom, and this is where I messed up. I made the last layer of Bikini Bottom way too thick on my middle and ring fingers, and it obscures the glitter too much. 
Here’s a rare shot of my thumb, I think I had the look perfect on this finger. Now I know and next time I create this look I’ll do a super sheer final coat of my jelly polish over the glitter. ^_^
I decided to add a coat of Essie’s Matte About You topcoat to see if it would mask the mistake fingers a bit. Not-So-Much, my middle finger still looks wonky compared to the others, but I DO like the look of matte topcoat with this layering. ♥
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I hope you like my first attempt at the glitter sandwich! I had fun with it, and I definitely did a better job on my second attempt. Pics of that one will be coming up tomorrow.
Guest Post on Oooh, Shinies!
21 year ago
Morning Everyone!
Once upon a time I made a guest post for Bregje at Oooh, Shinies! And then I forgot to link you all to it. My bad. 
Click the photo below to bring you to my ‘Orange Juice’ gradient nails!!
China Glaze Let It Snow Collection Swatches! – Part 2 (**pic heavy**)
19
Morning Everyone!
I cannot BELIEVE that it’s the last week of November already. I haven’t done any Christmas shopping yet, I feel like time is going by way too fast this year!
I’m back with Part 2 of the China Glaze Let It Snow Collection swatches to show you today. We’ll take a gander at Blue Year’s Eve, Tinsel Town, Snow Globe, and Champagne Bubbles. If you missed Part 1 you can find it [HERE]. Let’s get right to it, shall we?
I used Seche Vite Top Coat and Sally Hansen Nail Quencher Base Coat for all swatches shown today. This is a **pic heavy** post. Clicking any image will enlarge it to the original size for you. ^_^
Champagne Bubbles
Champagne Bubbles is a yellow-gold metallic with sparse silver glitter spaced throughout. This polish brings out the yellow undertones in my skin like crazy. It kinda makes my fingers look a tiny bit jaundiced, hah! With that said I’m still inexplicably drawn to this one, I can’t really say no to a gold polish. 
For some reason it reminds me of a swanky 1920s speakeasy. I feel like I should be wearing a flapper dress with this on. 
Application can be a bit tricky if you’re not careful, it has a tendency to show every brush stroke. I used a tip from Michelle and painted the left and right sides of my nail first, THEN I went straight down the center of my nail with my final stroke. This is 3 coats.
Blue Year’s Eve
Blue Year’s Eve is a bold blue shimmering polish filled with micro glass flecks. It has a very subtle duo-chromatic shift from light blue to purple that’s nearly impossible to capture on camera. You can kind of see it in my macro shots, more so in the super blurred out one. This is 3 coats.
Enlarge these macro shots to get a good glimpse at the purple duochrome shimmer. This one gave me the most application trouble. The formula is very thin, sheer, runny and it really enjoyed flooding my cuticles. The first coat was streaky, the second coat had cuticle drag, but the third and final coat pulled everything together. Totally worth the hassle though because it’s a beautiful polish. Even better, Blue Year’s Eve doesn’t stain upon removal! ^_^
Tinsel Town
Tinsel Town is a beautiful multi-sized silver glitter polish with a blackened jelly base. The formula was fairly thin for a glitter and it was super easy to work with. Even after 3 coats shown here (though you could get away with 2…) it was hardly gritty and dried fairly quickly. This polish is so bling-tastic, I’m definitely busting this out for New Years Eve! ^_^
Snow Globe
Snow Globe is a re-release from the China Glaze 2009 Specialty Collection. That’s fine with me because I missed out on it back in the day. I took another shot of the bottle because my previous bottle shot does not show off all the pretty glitter in this sucker. It’s filled with so many different colors of luminescent glitter: pink, blue, yellow, silver, purple, green, etc… all floating around in a milky-ish clear thick suspension base. You do NOT want to see my stained nails so I layered 1 coat of Snow Globe over 2 coats of CG Liquid Leather (a black jelly).
I absolutely LOVE the way this looks layered over black! It positively glows. Does it remind me of a snow globe? Not really. Do I care? Helllll no! Snow Globe dried a little bumpy but a few coats of TC or Gelous will get it super smooth if you prefer it that way. ^_^
The set I ordered with Snow Globe and Blue Year’s Eve also came with this adorable mini snow globe with a snowman inside. How cute is this?! Don’t even ask me how long it took me to get a picture of this silly thing with the snow falling inside.
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Final Thoughts:
Again, if you missed Part 1 of my Let It Snow Collection swatches you can find it [HERE]. I really love this collection! There are a lot of color choices and finishes that will please any palette (cremes, glass flecks, shimmers, glitters, etc). I think my top picks from the 9 polishes I own from this collection are Ring In The Red, Glittering Garland, Poinsettia and Blue Year’s Eve. Snow Globe, Champagne Bubbles and Tinsel Town are tied for second tier picks. ^_^
Purchase Info:
The China Glaze Let It Snow Collection polishes can be purchased from a variety of e-tailers: TransDesign, Victoria Nail Supply, Nailsupplies.us, Head2Toe Beauty, and 8ty8 Beauty. You can also find them at salons and beauty supply stores nationwide, including Sally Beauty and Ulta. Prices vary depending on the retailer with a range between $3-7.00 per .5 fl oz bottle of polish. There are also a TON of gift sets available for purchase with a large variety of color combinations. Happy shopping!
Adopt A Polish
01 year ago
Hey Everyone!
I wanted to share with you a fun idea that was presented to me by a lady named Sam with the help of NailPolishCanada. They are behind the Adopt A Polish “organization”, which is neat little website modeled after pet adoption agencies. But this one is all about finding homes for all those lost, sad, and alone lacquers.
WORLD’S FIRST NAIL POLISH ADOPTION AGENCY: PARENTS NEEDED
Adoptapolish.org announces the world’s first adoption drive for in need nail polish, available for U.S. and Canadian applicants.
Every day, thousands of nail polishes are abandoned or abused. They are not sticky or old, they are fine new polishes, stuck on a shelf because they are forgotten or out of season. All they desire is to be used, and maybe taken for a night on the town in return.
“We have so many polishes who need a good family to take them in” said AdoptAPolish.org executive director Nikki Smith. “All it takes is filling out an application form describing how you can provide a better life for one of our in need nail polishes. We select the best application and take care of all the expenses, delivering your newly adopted polish directly to your door.”
- Charleston Essie… Fell On Bad Days.
One current nail polish, Charleston, held back tears well describing his life, “I spent two years of my life stacked in a dark room crammed together with thousands of others just like me, hundreds pressing down on my shoulders at any given time. I’m a shimmer and I have never seen sunlight in my life. Oh and don’t get me started on CND Shellac, I just can’t keep going as long, why would any women want me” he continued.
- The Orly Family… Times Are Tough.
Please don’t let the agony go on any longer than it has
to. The first round of adoptions closes December 31st. Apply to Adopt a Polish at
http://www.adoptapolish.org/category/current-adoptions/.
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I think this idea is super cute and innovative, and I definitely plan on submitting an adoption application soon. I’m not sure which one I want to take home most, they’re all so pretty!
*I (nailsandnoms.com) am in no way affiliated with or sponsored by NailPolishCanada.com,
nor am I receiving payment or free product(s) for this giveaway/contest.
For more information, check out my Disclosure Policy.
China Glaze Let It Snow Collection Swatches! – Part 1 (**pic heavy**)
19
Good Morning Everyone!
I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! I stuffed myself full of awesome food with the boyfriend and his family at his mother’s house. Lemme tell you, if you haven’t tried brining a turkey before you cook it you are missing out. Seriously the most moist and best tasting turkey I’ve ever had. ♥ I skipped out on all the Black Friday craziness, running around with people in the full scope of the holiday frenzy it just not for me. I’ll stick to shopping online.
Today I’ve got part one of my China Glaze Let It Snow collection swatches to share with you all. I LOVE this collection. I’m showing you five polishes today: Ring In The Red, Poinsettia, Holly-Day, Twinkle Lights, and Glittering Garland. I only purchased 9 out of the 12 from this collection. I skipped out on Icicle (silver metallic), Velvet Bow (maroon creme), and Winter Berry (berry red creme) – nothing too original there and I already have similar hued polishes in my collection.
I used Seche Vite Top Coat and Sally Hansen Nail Quencher Base Coat for all swatches shown today, unless otherwise stated. This is a **pic heavy** post. Clicking any image will enlarge it to the original size for you. ^_^
Poinsettia
Poinsettia is an amazing bright red jelly/creme hybrid. I love this type of creme finish, the formula is a dream to work with. Super smooth and just glides across the nail. I also love that it’s the exact color of a poinsettia plant! The first coat is a bit sheer/streaky but the second coat levels everything out. I did 3 coats here to eliminate some VNL but I could have stopped at 2 coats. This is now my go-to bright red. I swear I used this polish at least 3-4 times during my 31 Day Challenge, hah!
This is the only polish where I used Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat instead of Seche Vite. I’m trying to wean myself off of Seche Vite because I’ve heard so many good things about Revlon’s top coat, but it’s gonna take some time. Baby Steps.
Holly-Day
Holly-Day is a medium green creme with a super glossy finish. It has a very thin formula that goes on a bit streaky, but like just Poinsettia this one levels out after 2 coats. Now that I’m looking at the first photo it looks like I have just a hint of cuticle drag, but it’s most likely my camera playing tricks on me since the finish is super shiny. The other two pictures of Holly-Day look just fine.
Twinkle Lights
Twinkle Lights is the reason I decided I needed this collection. It’s a mixture of gold, green, and red glitter in a clear base that looks like Christmas exploded on my nails! I used 4 coats here to show you Twinkle Lights on its own, but it’s also GREAT for layering. I layered this baby over Poinsettia and Holly-Day and it looked fabulous. You can expect some holiday themed NOTD posts in the future…
Ring In The Red
Ring In The Red is made up of multi-sized glitter in a red jelly base. Under my day-lamp the glitter almost takes on a glowy-golden hue but I can assure you that it’s most definitely red. I took Jen’s advice and layered this with a red base polish. This is 2 coats of Poinsettia with 2 coats of Ring In The Red layered on top. I absolutely LOVE this polish, and it’s definitely become my favorite red glitter. ♥
Glittering Garland
Glittering Garland is the crowning jewel of this collection. Y’all know how much I love green polishes, and this one is just breathtaking! *le swoon* She’s a forest green beauty and filled with glass flecks. *le swoon, part deux* Glittering Garland is nicely pigmented, this is 2 coats. I let it dry for a few minutes between coats since this one is a little prone to cuticle drag if you move too fast.
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Final Thoughts:
So far I love this collection. I initially planned on passing this one up but I’m glad I changed my mind. Poinsettia and Holly-Day aren’t anything groundbreaking but they are very easy to work with cremes and the colors are vibrant. I would have kicked myself if I missed out on Glittering Garland, it reminds me of a holiday wreath. ^_^ Ring In The Red is my other favorite from this group, with Twinkle Lights tagging along right behind it. I had nothing like these polishes in my collection previously so I’m happy they have a new home inside my Ikea Helmer. ^_^
Purchase Info:
The China Glaze Let It Snow collection polishes can be purchased from a variety of e-tailers: TransDesign, Victoria Nail Supply, Nailsupplies.us, Head2Toe Beauty, and 8ty8 Beauty. You can also find them at salons and beauty supply stores nationwide, including Sally Beauty and Ulta. Prices vary depending on the retailer with a range between $3-7.00 per .5 fl oz bottle of polish. There are also a TON of gift sets available for purchase with a large variety of color combinations. Happy shopping!
Wet n Wild Ice Baby Collection Winter 2011 – Part 2 (swatches/review)
16
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
Well… Happy Turkey Day if you celebrate, Happy Last Thursday of November for everyone else! I’m going with the boyfriend to his family’s home and having Thanksgiving dinner (lunch??) with them this year. I work all holiday weekend so I didn’t have time to make my usual holiday fair, but I’m thinking the manfriend and I will do a mini post holiday dinner and I’m make my usuals: roasted cornish hens, brown rice supreme, and sweet potato pie. ♥♥
I’m finally getting around to showing you all Part 2 of the Wet n Wild Ice Baby Collection swatches, sorry it took me so long to get back to these! If you missed (or can’t remember) Part 1, you can see the swatches and review right [HERE]. ^_^
I used Seche Vite Top Coat and Sally Hansen Nail Quencher Base Coat for all swatches shown today. Clicking any image will enlarge it to the original size for you.
Rockin Rubies
Rockin Rubies is a gorgeous cherry red glitter filled with small iridescent pink hex glitter. It reminds me of the glitter that’s in Diamond In The Rough (see previous review) but with a pink theme. It has a very thin formula so I needed 4 coats for full coverage. This one may be better suited for layering. It’s also a very thirsty glitter. Even after a thick coat of SV the polish was still gritty to the touch. You’d best do with at least 2 thick coats of SV if you want a smooth surface.
Here’s a macro shot, I almost want to say that the larger glitter in Rockin Rubies leans towards being holographic with the hints of green and orange popping up at different angles. ^_^
24 Carats
24 Carats is the other bar glitter polish in this collection. This one is like New Years Eve confetti on your nails! I see copper, gold, and silver bar glitter mixed in with smaller glitter in the same three colors. There’s a lot going on, and it kinda reminds me of shag carpet, but I like it! 
This is 4 coats, application was pretty easy and the formula is thin just like Rockin Rubies.
Macro shot, there are a few bare spots around the tips of my nails. I’d like to layer this over another color to see how it looks. ^_^
Believe Me, It’s Real
Believe Me, It’s Real is a gorgeous cobalt blue glitter filled with larger purple hex glitter pieces. I really love this one. It’s one of those “slap you in the face” colors that really pops on the nail. ♥ The formula on this one was a bit thicker than the previous two, this is 3 coats.
Macro shot, the purple glitter is such a wonderful contrast color for the blue. I’m smitten with this one. ^_^
It’s All In The Cut
And my favorite of the four I’m showing you today, It’s All In The Cut is FAB-U-LOUS! I didn’t think I was going to like this one that much, but once it was on my nails it was all over. It’s bright, cheerful, and feminine. The color reminds me of sugar plums! I really love that the bright opalescent pink hex glitter doesn’t get lost in the dusty lilac hued base.
Macro shot, I did NOT want to take this off my fingers! It’s just so beautiful, I see myself wearing this one a lot. This is 3 coats. ♥
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Final Thoughts:
Again, if you missed Part 1 of this collection you can find it [HERE]. I am really happy I was able to get my hands on this collection. The Ice Baby Collection is fun, festive and the majority of them have great coverage for glitter polishes. ^_^ I think my top picks for the collection would be It’s All In The Cut, Believe Me, It’s Real, Cost Is No Issue, and Give Me A Price Quote. My second tier would be Diamond In The Rough and Back Alley Deals. So basically all of them at this point, haha! If you’re able to get your hands on these I definitely recommend picking them up, because once they’re gone you’re gonna be looking at some crazy Ebay prices for sure.
Purchase Info:
The Wet n Wild Ice Baby collection is a limited edition line that is an exclusive for Walgreens, aka: hard to find. If you’re lucky enough to come across these gems they’ll set you back $2.99 per .34 fl oz bottle of polish.
Ludurana Aurora Boreal Magnifica – Holographic Nirvana! (swatches/review)
14Hello Everyone!
We’re one day away from Thanksgiving! What are everyone’s plans for the holiday if you celebrate? I sadly have to work this whole weekend, but I think I’ll be having Thanksgiving dinner with the boyfriend’s family. Is anyone hosting dinner at their home? I’ve never done that before, the idea frightens me too much!
Bringing it back to polish talk, we’re gonna look at my last Brazilian polish by Ludurana that I received from Llarowe. Today I have Ludurana Aurora Boreal Magnifica to share with you. This is part of their line of holographic polishes and it’s a really strong linear holographic. Love it, LOVE IT!!
I used SH Nail Quencher Base Coat and no top coat for all swatches shown today. Clicking on any of the images will enlarge them to the original size for you.
Ludurana Aurora Boreal – Magnifica
Ludurana Aurora Boreal Magnifica is a described as a ‘robin’s egg blue’ holographic, which I think is fairly accurate. But past the color descriptions I think that Magnifica is a SPECTACULAR linear holo! These two shots are in direct sunlight, this is definitely one of the stronger holographic polishes that I own. I used 3 coats for full coverage but you’d probably be able to get away with 2.
Here’s a shot with camera flash, pretty similar to direct sunlight with the addition of the lovely yellow tinge that flash gives my fingers.
And here’s a photo of Magnifica under artificial light, my lightbox in this case. The holo isn’t as strong indoors but it is still slightly visible.
And your macro shots! The last one is pretty epic when it’s enlarged. I really can’t get enough of the rainbow-like prismatic effect in strong linear holographics. :-D
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Final Thoughts:
Now that I’ve had the chance to try one of each from the Brazilian Ludurana polishes I can say that I’m for sure a new fangirl for their polishes. Their Aurora Boreal Holographic and Multi-Chrome lines are fantastic, and their line of flakies is very promising (other Ludurana reviews are [HERE]). I can’t wait to try out more from this brand! If you haven’t tried Ludurana polishes before and you have access to them then you are definitely missing out!
Purchase Info:
Magnifica and other Ludurana Aurora Boreal multi-chrome polishes can be purchased through their US stockist, Llarowe. She offers worldwide shipping (although Italy is currently excluded). They retail at $14.00/ea per 8ml bottle of polish. ^_^
*The product(s) in this post was/were sent to me for unbiased review consideration.
For more information, check out my Disclosure Policy.
