A blog about a girl, her nail polish, and some delicious noms.
Posts tagged Indie
Coming Soon: The Arcus Collection by Cirque!
23 weeks ago
by Rie
in Press Release
Inspired by hues of the rainbow, The Arcus Collection consists of 12 brightly-colored nail lacquers just in time for the summer. The first half of the collection explores the primary and secondary colors of the spectrum in variety of finishes from a fiery holographic red to a regal purple micro-glitter. The second half of the collection focuses on multi-colored “toppers”, such as whimsical squares, punchy neons and polychromatic sparkles, designed to be used over existing colors.
Vesuvius
A strawberry red with a rainbow holographic finish
Helios
A brilliant gold micro-glitter with holographic sparkle
Bejeweled
A royal blue with a rainbow holographic finish
Le Invader
A rainbow confetti than consists of square-shaped glitter (best layered over other colors)
Electric Circus
A rainbow confetti made with bright neon satin-finished glitter (best layered over other colors)
Magic Hour
A rainbow confetti that consists of iridescent glitter in various shapes and sizes (best layered over other colors)
Sanguine
A chameleon orange that shifts to coral and gold at different angles
Erda
A glowing green that shifts to teal and blue at different angles
Queen Majesty
A radiant purple micro-glitter with glimmers of blue
Kaleidoscope
A rainbow confetti made with over 30 different types of satin-finished glitter (best layered over other colors)
Lullaby
A rainbow confetti made with satin-finished glitter in soft pastel colors (best layered over other colors)
Iris
A topper that adds rainbow shimmer over existing colors
The Arcus collection will be available online at www.cirquecolors.com starting June 3, 2013. Prices range from $13-15. For other retailers, please check the “Stockists” page of the website.
Scofflaw Nail Varnish Flotsam & Jetsam
4* (The product(s) in this post were purchased by me.)
Hey Everyone!!
I’ve got another nail polish from Scofflaw Nail Varnish to share with you all today. This time I’m wearing Scofflaw Flotsam & Jetsam. As soon as I saw swatches of this nail polish on the Scofflaw Facebook page I knew it had to be mine! I’m half asleep here so I apologize for the minimalistic post. 
Scofflaw Nail Varnish Flotsam & Jetsam
Flotsam & Jetsam is a gorgeous pale mint jelly/creme hybrid that is filled with purple and turquoise shards and turquoise micro-shimmer. So pretty!! Application was a breeze and it was opaque at 3 coats. Though I think next time I’ll try layering it over a creamy white or minty green underwear nail polish.
Macro shot of awesome and win.
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Final Thoughts:
Flotsam & Jetsam by Scofflaw Nail Varnish is yet another great freshman release from the newcomer to the indie nail polish world. I’m really looking forward to trying more from her, and I can’t wait to see what she comes out with next! Have any of you tried Scofflaw nail polishes yet? If so, what are your thoughts? ^_^
Purchase Info:
Flotsam & Jetsam (and other Scofflaw Nail Varnishes) can be purchased at either scofflawvarnish.com or Llarowe. Prices and shipping vary depending on the site so check their shop policies individually. And for you folks not in the US, Llarowe does offer international shipping. ^_^
To keep up to date with upcoming collections, news and restock dates you can check out Scofflaw Nail Varnish on Facebook.
* (The product(s) in this post were purchased by me.)
Scofflaw Nail Varnish Koi Pondering Swatches and Review
3* (The product(s) in this post were purchased by me.)
Hey Everyone!!
Lookit, two posts in… Well, less than a month! I’m working on posting more often. But I’ve been doing this weird thing called ‘leaving my house” on my days off from work. Puts a damper on my usual Netflix Marathon-n-Swatch… A-thons. And there’s also this whole “I’m working almost 50 hours of overtime in April why did I do this to myself” mess that I got myself into. Soooooo, yeah. It’ll be a blessing no matter how many posts I manage to crank out this month. O___o
I did add a nifty little feature to my blog where you can check out my forever active updates on Instagram. You can see it to your right —————————————————————>>
Anyway, I have a new indie brand to share with you all today. Presenting one of my new pretties I picked up from Scofflaw Nail Varnish! She is a pal of the one and only NerdLacquer (who recommended her to us lacquer-heads on her Google+ page), and so far I am not disappointed with the two nail polishes I grabbed from her debut collection!
Koi Pondering
Behold, Koi Pondering!! I fell in love with this beauty instantly from the swatches that Scofflaw shared on her Facebook fan page before her premier release. As per my usual addict fashion, I set an alarm and used my Ninja Skills to snag this and one other polish from Scofflaw the day of her initial release. 
Koi Pondering is a gorgeous blue jelly with orange, yellow, white hex glitters in various sizes and micro-shimmer. Application was super easy and it was opaque after 3 thin coats.
Macroooooo time!! The shimmer in this one is really beautiful. And I love the fact that I didn’t have to go hunting for the glitter to get it to apply evenly on my nails.
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Final Thoughts:
Koi Pondering by Scofflaw Nail Varnish has left me quite impressed! I hadn’t purchased nail polish in a long time, like months, until I discovered this brand. The combination of color and glitter in unique to my collection and I enjoy the professional level of her indie brand with the bottle and gorgeous label/font right from the start! Her prices are reasonable for an indie brand so if you’re looking for something new I would recommend giving Scofflaw a try! I already have my eyes on a few others of hers that I need to snag in the next restock.
Purchase Info:
Koi Pondering and other Scofflaw Nail Varnishes can be purchased at either scofflawvarnish.com or Llarowe. Prices and shipping vary depending on the site so check their shop policies individually. And for you folks not in the US, Llarowe does offer international shipping. ^_^
To keep up to date with upcoming collections, news and restock dates you can check out Scofflaw Nail Varnish on Facebook.
* (The product(s) in this post were purchased by me.)
The Return Of NerdLacquer!! Swatches of The Eye, TDBSLWCHSHITD, and All of Time and Space!
7
Morning Lovelies!
I honestly didn’t think I would ever be able to say this, but… NERDLACQUER IS BACK Y’ALL!! I’m so SO thrilled to have Amanda of NerdLacquer back in the indie space. I certainly missed her gorgeous nerdling nail polishes. My first indie nail polishes I ever bought were NerdLacquers back when she had first created her teeny Etsy shop before the indie polish boom. She’d suddenly disappeared one day due to personal life circumstances (which you can read about [HERE] if you have a Google+ account), and I faithfully and patiently hoped for and awaited her return. I’m so so so happy that once again I have to chance to get ALL THE THINGS from her portion of the indie nail polish world.
No joke, I set an alarm to be ready for when she opened her shop for the first time again in almost a year. She had new pretties based on LOTR and I NEEDED THEM. But as I was adding things to my cart it looked as if the two polishes I had eyed up had sold out from under me. Kick dirt, there’s always next time right? So I ended up snagging All of Time and Space, one of her polishes that I’d been lusting after for about a year, and I was content. Fast forward to a week or so later and not only does that one show up, but the two LOTR collection polishes I’d been after were in my package too! I thought at first, WOW, she must have used magic psychic powers and known that I’d wanted those and included them for me. HOW COOL!
But see-what-had-happened-was… That I had already bought them via paypal, but forgotten about it in my panicked nail polish shopping frenzy. Derp. Well, I’m happy that in my blackout I managed to snag ‘em so let’s get to showing them!
The Eye
The Eye is a cayenne red-orange jelly packed with black, orange, gold, red, and holographic glitter. It’s based on (you guessed it…) The Eye of Sauron from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. This is definitely my favorite of her newbies and the one I was after the most. The application was great and I only needed 2 coats for opacity!
I love that Amanda included THE EYE on the top of my bottle. Anyone else get one on theirs?
TDBSLWCHSHITD
TDB… OMG the name on this one!! O__O TDBSLWCHSHITD stands for “THE DWARF BREATHES SO LOUD WE COULD HAVE SHOT HIM IN THE DARK” according to Amanda’s description on her shop page. Once I read that it made me lol heartily. I wasn’t sure how I would like this one but after seeing it in person I’m sold.
I’m just gonna drop the rest of her description here because it’s made of win:
“Soft gold-flecked spring green of Lothlorien. A sunny green shimmer plus loads of white, golden, and leaf-green glitter on your fingertips will make you feel like you’re in Galadriel’s own garden…with a snotty elf making snide remarks about your lack of intrusion skills.”
I used 2 coats here. It was a little lumpy without top coat so keep that in mind if you prefer a smooth finish. The glitter likes to hide inside the base at times, so thin coats work best. ^_^
All of Time and Space
And lastly, one of the classic NerdLacquer nail polishes that I had been lusting after since the beginning — All of Time and Space! This nail polish is beautiful! The Doctor Who themed AoTaS is an ethereal semi-sheer crystalline minty turquoise with silver shimmer, plus silver and fuchsia glitter. I used 3 coats here, but perhaps could have used a 4th to make sure my tips were fully covered. I cannot wait to layer this with my baby blue and pale greens! Or maybe purple to match with my purple version of one of my favorite hoodies from Threadless!
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That’s all I’ve got for you today! I hope you all enjoyed my mini NerdLacquer spam! I actually have 2 or 3 more that I’ve yet to share with you on the blog. I must get around to correcting that, eh?
And for those that want to stay updated on NerdLacquer releases, looks like the only sure-fire way to get updates directly from Amanda herself is to follow her on NerdLacquer’s Google+ Page. You can also randomly stalk her e-shop, nerdlacquer.com for updates like I do. 
I am almost positive that she is restocking TODAY at 3pm CST!!
I do know that both Harlow & Co. and Ninja Polish plan to begin stocking NerdLacquer nail polishes again soon, so it might be in your best interest to (politely!!) e-stalk these gals too.
Review: Alanna Renee Nail Polishes!
5
Morning Lovelies!
I hope you’re all having a great Monday, or as great as a Monday can be anyway. Today I’ve got some very special nail polishes to share with you all. I’m excited to have the opportunity to review several nail polishes from the Australian indie polish creator, Alanna Renee! These special little treasures came to me all the way from Australia through the joint effort of Alanna herself and my wonderful IG pal, Natalia. Thanks so much ladies!! I especially loved the little Aussie koala stuffed animal and the nummy Caramello Koala candies stowed away in my care packages.
I was given the option to pick out whichever Alanna Renee nail polishes that I wanted to try, and Alanna ended up throwing in a fourth one for me to play with as well. Enough of my rambling, let’s move on to the swatches! I’m using my new light box for the first time so hang in there with me while I adjust, haha!
Tranquil
First up is Tranquil, a gorgeous turquoise filled with lavender hex glitter, small light blue and purple hex glitter, large turquoise square glitter and small indigo flakes. This one is sooo pretty, but the lavender hex glitter was a little difficult to get out and turquoise square glitter flat out refused to leave the sides of the bottle. I inverted it, but I think I need to take a toothpick and jab the sides of my bottle to loosen their grip on the glass. I think I managed to get a single piece of square glitter on one nail, haha!
You see all that beautiful lavender and turquoise hex and square glitter in the bottle? Yeah, it’s still in there. I’ll wear this one again soon and try some other techniques to get that glitter to play nice. If I have better results I’ll update this post!
Even with the stubborn glitter, Tranquil is really beautiful. I’m a sucker for this color of nail polish and the glitter that did come out of the bottle really accented the base color nicely. It was like creating a jelly sandwich without having to layer two different nail polishes. This is 2 coats with a little bit of dabbing for a 3rd coat after fishing out some hex glitter.
Ablaze
Oh hell yes, you already know that Ablaze is my shizznuckle. Ablaze is a complex mix of yellow, orange and red shreds and yellow, orange, red and black hex glitter in a fiery orange jelly base. YESSS GAWWWWWD I am in love!! I used 3 coats here. There’s an epic crapton of things going on in this polish, so you definitely need a top coat to get everything nice and smooth. And as will all nail polish with shard glitter, making sure those pieces lie flat before adding top coat is a must for a smooth finish.
I want this on my toes. I don’t even care how atrocious the future glitter removal will be for it, haha! I will use the foil method on my toes if I have to. It’s just that serious. O_O
Milky Way
Milky Way was snuck into my care package by Alanna for me to try out. It’s a pretty glitter topcoat made up of orange-to-green and blue-to-purple colour shifting glitter of different shapes and sizes in a clear base. While it’s not anything particularly new to the glitter topper world, Milky Way is very pretty and application was superb. All I needed was 1 coat over my black base for a nice effect. The formula is very easy to work with versus most glitter toppers that have thick and sometimes goopy suspension bases. I see myself coming back to this one a lot to jazz up my vampy nail polishes.
Reptar
And finally, my favorite in my humble collection of Alanna Renee nail polishes…. Reptar!! I was already in love with the look of this nail polish from photos. And then I saw the name!! I mean, who else wasn’t obsessed with the Rugrats as a kid? Or babysat someone who was obsessed with the Rugrats for the more distinguished crowd. If you’re not familiar, Reptar is pretty much the most badass dinosaur (behind the HBICs in Jurassic Park anyway). I mean hello, Reptar On Ice anyone?
Alanna Renee’s Reptar captures the essence of the original source flawlessly. It has orange and lavender hex glitter and smaller black, white and neon green hex glitter in a light green base. I LOVE this one. I ended up keeping Reptar on my nails after my swatching session and I’ve made a point to show it to everyone. It even got the coveted Boyfriend Seal Of Approval™!
I used 2 coats for full coverage. Reptar dries gritty and it has a monster appetite for topcoat. I used 2 coats of Gelous AND China Glaze Fast Forward topcoat. And today (2 days later) it’s back to being a little gritty to the touch. But in the days of Liquid Sandzzzz/etc. this is quite acceptable, and I actually like the texture.
And one more group bottle shot for you all because I was messing around with my new pop-up light box. It even comes with 4 backdrops! Fancy, eh?
☻
Final Thoughts:
I am absolutely smitten with the four Alanna Renee nail polishes that I currently own. I think all of them are great, but my favorites are definitely Ablaze and Reptar. If you’re looking for a great glitter topper, Milky Way is the one for you. And Tranquil would be flawless if not for the temperamental square and hex glitter, though I still love it even though it’s the ‘problem child’ of the group. :p
There are currently 10 nail polishes in Alanna Renee’s collection. And now that I’ve tried these four I definitely want to try the other ones!
Alanna Renee nail polishes are Big 3 (Toluene, Formaldehyde and DBP) free, and the full list of ingredients can be found [HERE] via her website.
Purchase Info:
Alanna Renee nail polish is currently only available for purchase in Australia at alannarenee.com, they retail for $7.99 AUD per 12ml bottle. Unfortunately due to the strict international shipping regulations with nail polish (classified as dangerous goods), international shipping is not offered at this time. 
BUT!!!! Alanna is working with Shoppe Eclecticco in Singapore and Color 4 Nails in the U.S. to stock Alanna Renee polishes, and they both offer international shipping (pricing not confirmed yet)! So keep an eye out for news from Alanna Renee on when those two stockist will start supplying her collections. ^_^
To keep updated on Alanna Renee collections, news, etc… You can follow her on her blog, Facebook and Twitter.
* The product(s) in this post were sent to me for unbiased review consideration.
For more information, check out my Disclosure Policy.
Review: Pretty And Polished Pretty As A Peacock!
4Allo Everyone!
Welcome to Day 3 of my mini Pretty and Polished spam! Today I have Pretty As A Peacock to share with you all! This one is a beauty, so let’s get to the swatches!
Pretty and Polished – Pretty As A Peacock
Pretty As A Peacock has a dark emerald green base that’s filled with multi-sized blue, teal, purple, and green glitter. There’s a lot going on and it’s alllll good. Chels Marie was inspired by the plumage of male peacocks, and I think she nailed this one perfectly!
I layered 2 coats of Pretty As A Peacock over Paint Box Polish Northern Lights, but honestly I think Pretty As A Peacock is opaque enough to be built up on its own. I’ll have to try it next time I decide to wear it.
Here’s a macro shot for ya! This polish is busy in all the right ways!
☻
Final Thoughts:
So I have a bit of an obsession with birds. I have a small owl tattoo on my ankle, a HUGE phoenix spanning from my ribs to my knee, and I’m currently working on the sketching of my owl half sleeve with my tattoo artist! And peacocks are on my list of avian loves, so I’m sure I’ll find a spot to get one of them tattooed on me too. This polish is truly amazing and it definitely captures the spirit of the bird in the nail polish. I had no application issues whatsoever with Pretty As A Peacock, so that also constitutes as a win in my books! 
Purchase Info:
Pretty and Polished Pretty As A Peacock can be purchased from their online store, www.shopprettyandpolished.com. It retails at $5.00 for the mini and $9 for the full sized bottle. You can also still find Pretty and Polished on her Etsy Shop.
For updates and previews of new collections, follow Pretty and Polished on Facebook and Twitter!
* The product(s) in this post were sent to me for unbiased review consideration.
For more information, check out my Disclosure Policy.
Review: Emily de Molly Black Forest!
9Morning Everyone!
I’m suuuuuper pumped to be able to share this polish with you all today. I have been lusting over Emily de Molly polishes ever since I first stumbled across her Etsy shop earlier this past Spring. Sadly for me, she is based out of Australia and the turn around time for shipping nail polish from AUS was a staggering 3 months! And that’s if it showed up at all. As much as I loved her polishes, that was just too risky for me and I just came to the belief that I would never own a ‘de Molly’ polish. And after a while she stopped shipping internationally altogether on her Etsy page.
Then Leah Ann of Llarowe came to the rescue! She started to stock Emily de Molly! And my nails rejoiced, haha! I immediately snatched up Black Forest because it was at the top of my DO WANT list for months. ^_^
Emily de Molly – Black Forest
Emily de Molly Black Forest is a BEAST! This super black jelly is chock-full of multi-sized iridescent green hex glitter. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life! I decided to layer 2 coats of Black Forest over 1 coat of black (A England Camelot), and oh-my-glob-you-guys, it’s beautiful!
The polish was easy to apply and I didn’t have to fish for glitter at all. I added a coat of Gelous before adding my top coat to get a super smooth finish. But you may not even need to do that. I didn’t wait for it to fully dry to see if it had any bumpy texture before adding my TC.
Sorry guys, I could not get a decent macro shot of Black Forest to save my life! I took about 10 macro shots and this was the best one from the lot. Bah.
☻
Final Thoughts:
I love Black Forest and I’m so happy that there is a way to acquire Emily de Molly polishes internationally now! The way I feel about Emily de Molly is the way I feel about Pokemon, GOTTA CATCH ‘EM ALL!
Purchase Info:
Emily de Molly polishes can be purchased from her Etsy Shop for residents of Australia only. Outside of Australia your current options are Llarowe or Shoppe Eclecticco, who both ship worldwide! Pricing ranges depending on the E-Tailer, so check each individual shop for pricing and shipping charges/policies. ^_^
For updates and previews of new collections, follow Emily de Molly on Facebook!
Review: My Paint Box Polish Holiday 2012 Picks!
5Morning Everyone!
I’m gonna try to knock out my holiday nail polish collections over the next week for those that want to see them. Today I’ve got my picks from Paint Box Polish to share with you all, Northern Lights and Santa’s Britches!
Northern Lights
Northern Lights is really stunning! This polish is a gorgeous teal blue jelly filled with flakies and golden shimmer. We’re in love. At some angles it almost seems a little duo-chromatic, shifting from a teal to a deeper blue. I used 4 coats here since it’s pretty sheer, but I love jellies so I didn’t mind. I’ll have to try layering Northern Lights over a dark blue next time to see how that looks as well! ^_^
Santa’s Britches
Santa’s Britches is a red jelly filled with green, gold and silver (glass fleck-like) shimmer. This one was another sheer, yet buildable polish! I used 4 coats here.
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Final Thoughts:
This was my first experience with Paint Box Polish and I really enjoyed both of my selections from her Holiday 2012 collection! Northern Lights is basically amazing, and reminds me of our own northern lights where I live in the U.P. of Michigan! And Santa’s Britches it probably one of my new favorite nail polish names, along with it being a great holiday color! Both of the polishes I played with today had great formulas are were easy to work with.
Purchase Info:
Paint Box Polish is a 3-Free and cruelty free indie brand. You can purchase Northern Lights, Santa’s Britches, and others from the Paint Box Polish Etsy Shop. Pricing ranges from $4.00 for 6ml minis to $8.50 for full sized bottles of polish.
UPDATE! – Pam was generous enough to create a 20% discount code for anyone that reads my little ‘ol blog post, haha. To get the discount, make you enter the code NAILSWINTER20 when you checkout. This code is good for the next 30 days!
* The product(s) in this post were sent to me for unbiased review consideration.
For more information, check out my Disclosure Policy.
Review: Lilacquer Polishes Fifth Element Collection Swatches!!
9
Allo Everyone!
I’ve got a swatches from an Indie polish brand that’s new to me to share with you all today. We’ll be taking a look at the Lilacquer Polishes Fifth Element collection! When I was first contacted by Lilacquer Polishes and asked if I wanted to review her Fifth Element collection I friggen JUMPED at the chance to get my hands on these babies! For one, I’m a gigantic nerd. And two, The Fifth Element is one of my absolute favorite movies of all time!
So basically if it’s a nail polish and it’s named after a fandom I love, imma need that polish son.
Cathleen, the owner of Lilacquer Polishes, specializes in duochrome polish and top coats. This was another reason I was quite interested in her collection. The Indie/Independent polish world is absolutely flooded with glitter polishes, so I love discovering Indie brands with something different to offer.
The Fifth Element collection is a set of 8 sheer and jelly (!!!) topcoat polishes that can be worn on their own or layered over another polish to enhance the duochrome effect. I’ll be showing you each nail polish on its own and layered over A England Camelot (a black creme).
For the full swatches and review, click the link below. I used Cult Nails Get It On and Wicked Fast base/top coat today.
