A blog about a girl, her nail polish, and some delicious noms.
Posts tagged multichrome
Introducing The Takko Lacquer Spring 2013 Collection!!
12
Morning Ladies!
Let me dust off my keyboard and tell you that I’m SUPER excited to be able to show you the new Takko Lacquer Spring 2013 collection today! Sheryl contacted me a bit ago to see if I’d be willing to review the collection and I of course said yes! I have loved every single one of her beautiful and unique nail polishes in the past so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity the see her new babies. 
I was worried that once I got them I’d still be in my non-blogging slump, but once I saw them in person I dusted off my camera and lightbox straight away! Hell, I even managed to swatch a different collection that I’ll be showing you later this week as well. 
This post is gonna be PICTURE HEAVY. I couldn’t settle on just 3-4 pictures of one of the polishes and you’ll see why in just a few minutes. So grab a chair and your drool bib, ’cause shit’s about to get real. ^_^
Whimsical
Whimsical is a gorgeous pastel lavender purple with iridescent light blue shimmer. This one had a thicker formula that was the trickiest to work with, but not unsalvageable! It reminded me of the formula for Takko’s The Electric Apple NYC. Thick and doable in one coat you’re very careful. I needed 2 coats here because it didn’t want to level itself. That said, once I added my top coat it smoothed everything out for me that I couldn’t do myself. :p
I’m not usually one for pastels but this one actually works for me! Look ma, no lobster hands!
Glittergasm
The name Glittergasm works perfectly for this nail polish. The colors Duke, THE COLORS!! It’s like a glitter explosion in a bottle! And the star glitter actually wasn’t super difficult to get out of the bottle. I had to do very minimal fishing and I managed to get at least one star on almost each nail. On one of my nails I had two stars and I didn’t even realize I’d already pulled one out on the brush. 
This is 2 coats of Glittergasm over Whimsical, no ‘dabbing method’ needed.
Maneki Neko
Maneki Neko (aka the Lucky Cat) is a gorgeous holographic silver, light gold and green full coverage glitter. This is only 2 coats people!! And even before I added my topcoat this polish was incredibly smooth to the touch. No Gelous or Glitter Tamer needed before I added my top coat. ^_^
Opium
Opium is intense!! It’s a murky brownish black jelly but it’s absolutely filled with multichrome shimmer! I took about 89483.5 pictures of Opium to try to capture all of the color shifts from burnt orange, to red, to green, to yellow and back! I apologize if some photos appear a little blurry, but the green shift was shy and only wanted to come out to play in low-light settings.
MOAR color shifts! Application was a breeze, I only needed 2 coats for full coverage!
And a few macro shots so you can get a better look at the shimmer. It’s like a grungy Unicorn Pee.
Pucker Up
YAASSS CORAL!! I love coral nail polishes, it’s as close to me loving a pink nail polish as I can get haha. Pucker Up is a divine shade of coral jelly/creme hybrid with pink and gold shimmer. This is 2 coats and the formula was great.
Marie Antoinette
And last but definitely not least, Marie Antoinette! I might be slightly partial to this one because that’s my name too. No really, it is. Ask my mom! Marie Antoinette (teehee!) is a gorgeous pastel blue with pink hidden shimmer. I looooove it! But I’m always a sucker for these baby blue shades. I used 2 coats here, and the formula on this one was perfect.
In low light settings the shimmer is quite subtle but still visible.
And with direct light the pink shimmer really comes out to play. This polish has my heart. I ended up keeping it on after I finished my swatching session for the night. ^_^
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Final Thoughts:
It’s pretty obvious that I’m completely in love with what Sheryl has come out with for the Takko Lacquer Spring 2013 collection. This is one of the few times that I’ve been completely thrilled with a spring collection, which are usually filled with nothing BUT pastels that I can’t get away with on my skintone. I loved the range and variety of hues that she’s offered up with this collection. And even the one ‘problem’ formula wasn’t even really that big of an issue. If I had to pick favorites….. Maneki Neko (hello St. Patty’s Day!!), Marie Antoinette (duh), Opium and Pucker Up.
Which ones did you like the most?
Purchase Info:
Takko Lacquer nail polishes can be purchased at the Takko Lacquer Etsy Shop! They retail between $9-15 per .5 fl oz bottle of polish. She DOES offer international shipping! Check out her shop policy page for more details on that.
Takko Lacquer nail polishes are also now available at Mei Mei’s Signatures. You’ll have to check her e-shop out for pricing and shipping policies. 
The Takko Lacquer Spring 2013 collection will be available this Friday on Etsy.
To keep up to date with restocking news and other updates you can follow the Takko Lacquer Blog, the Etsy Shop, @TakkoLacquer on Twitter or her new Instagram account!
* The product(s) in this post were sent to me for unbiased review consideration.
For more information, check out my Disclosure Policy.
Review: New Fall 2012 Takko Lacquer Collection!!
23
Morning Lovelies!
I hope you’re all having a great Wednesday! I’m pretty pumped because American Horror Story (wiki|FX site) is having their season 2 premier tonight!! Sadly I have to work so I’ll miss most of it but I have my DVR set. Did anyone else see the season 3 premier of The Walking Dead (wiki|AMC site) this past Sunday? HOLY CRAP. 
I’m a HUGE fan of the graphic novel series and I was pretty displeased with season 2 (aka, the longest farm visit ever and how hard is it to keep an eye on Carl?!), but this first episode of season 3 definitely made up for it.
Today I’m also excited to be able to share the new Takko Lacquer collection with you!! Sheryl blew me away with her last collection from this summer so when she contacted me with news of her four new pretties I was already getting excited before I even knew what they looked like! Then she posted her inspiration boards on her blog and I just about died.
Well these pretties showed up at my home on Monday and I had to… HAAADDD TO swatch them right away. This is a VERY picture heavy post so I’ll be putting the images behind a cut today. I’m going to show you everything on its own AND also layered over black because…. oh man, they’re glorious! Let’s get right into it, shall we?
NOTD: Sally Hansen Lustre Shine Lava!!
10Morning Everyone!
I found the Sally Hansen Lustre Shine collection fairly recently at my local Walgreens and I was so excited! I remember seeing the promo pics and being SUPER pumped to get my hands on these bad boys! And then I saw them in person and I was…. Honestly a little disappointed. Most of the polishes did not look as vibrant and multi-chromatic as their promo photos. And at least one of them looks to be a Peridot dupe or cousin. Plus Walgreens is charging $9.00 per .33 fl oz bottle! Sorry but I am not about the business of spending that much money on a drug store brand. 
I walked away from them for the time being, determined to find swatches online before I dropped that much cash on them. The Polished Mommy’s comparison post was a life-saver for me because it debunked the myth that this collection are dupes for the China Glaze New Bohemian collection (with the exception of SH Scarab which is a dead on dupe for China Glaze Defiantly Daring that I already own). After sleeping on it overnight I decided to go back and get Lava (which is NOT a MAC Bad Fairy dupe people!!). I’ll probably only go back for Firefly and Copperhead once I can find them cheaper at a different store. And rumor has it that there are 2 more colors yet to be released, so we’ll see what those look like when they surface.
Sally Hansen Lustre Shine – Lava
Sally Hansen Lustre Shine Lava is a reddish-pink-orange-gold multi-chrome. It’s a little on the sheer side so I needed 3 coats of Lava on its own to reach opacity. I love that you can build it up on its own and I’m sure the color shift would be even more prominent if it was layered over black!
I heard some stories from people on Instagram about Lava showing near-instant tip wear when layered over black, so you might want to be extra careful with wrapping the tips of your nails when you wear this one. I only wore it briefly for swatching purposes so I don’t know a wear time for this one. And really, wear time can vary from person to person depending on body chemistry and your TC/BC combination.
And here’s a macro shot, soooooooo preeeeeetttyyyyy!
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I’m honestly happy that I went back to snag this one, but I’m still mad that I paid $9 for it! I’m hoping that once these start popping up at Target, Walmart, etc that I’ll see a price drop and I can snag a few more from the Sally Hansen Lustre Shine line.
Guest Post for Love. Varnish, Chocolate, And More…
27 months ago
Hello Everyone!!
A few days ago I did a guest post for my girl Deborah over at her blog: Love. Varnish, chocolate and more… Head on over there to check it out if you haven’t seen it already!
Bottle Shots: Glitter Gal Nail Polish
49 months ago
Morning Everyone!
Happy Guild Wars Early Access Weekend for those that also pre-purchased the game like I did! I’ve been waiting for this game to release since I first heard about them making it back in 2007! I was a huge fan of the first Guild Wars, and I’ve been enjoying all the Beta Weekend and Stress Test events for GW2 for the past few months. I might be a little quiet online for the next four days because I’ll be thoroughly lost in the wonderful world of Tyria. I’ve scheduled posts through next week!
If anyone else will be playing this weekend, come find me in-game! My Guild Wars ID Tag is Nymeria4326. ^_^
And now back to the polish! I posted nail wheel swatches of these Glitter Gal nail polishes a loooooong time ago on Instagram. I’ve yet to actually swatch them on my nails, but in the meantime I hope you enjoy the bottle shots! ^_^
Glitter Gal Nail Polish
From Left to Right:
Transitions Soft Blue
Transitions Soft Violet
Transitions Soft Green
Transitions Soft Red
From Left to Right:
Coober Pedy Green
Lightening Ridge
Andamooka Blue
Serpent Black
From Left to Right:
Hidden Violets Soft
Daybreak Soft
Evening Light Soft
Furnace Glow Soft
From Left to Right:
Wild Violet Brilliant
Last Light Brilliant
Red Night Sky Brilliant
Fiery Furnace Brilliant
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I layered these all over Serpent Black when I swatched them on the nail wheel and they are really pretty! I will eventually get around to swatching them on my nails in the not-so-distant future.
You can see who stocks Glitter Gal in your area by checking out the Glitter Gal Store Locator on their website. ^_^
* The product(s) in this post were sent to me for unbiased review consideration.
For more information, check out my Disclosure Policy.
Review: Nicole by OPI Target Exclusives Fall 2012
15
Morning Everyone!
Today I’ve got the Nicole by OPI Target Exclusives for Fall 2012 to share with you all, and these polishes are absolutely GORGEOUS!
I’m not even gonna do a huge intro here, let’s get straight to the pretties! I used Cult Nails Get It On and Wicked Fast as my base coat and top coat today.
Photos after the jump!
NOTD: BeYu 330 – Behold The Multichrome Gorgeousness!!
23
Morning Everyone!
Today I’ve got another beautiful international polish from my lovely Sabine to share with you all! This time we’re taking a look at the stunning BeYu 330! BeYu is a polish brand that comes from Germany, but according to their website their brand is also sold in 39 other countries. So for those of you that have access to these little gems, count yourselves as lucky!
I was lucky enough to have been sent BeYu 330 by my pal, so let’s get to the swatches so I can show you this looker.
BeYu 330
BeYu 330 is a beautiful and complex multichrome that flows from dusky turquoise with grey undertones, to a greenish hue. It’s then filled with multichromatic glass-fleck shimmer that alternates from a teal to a purple shade. I could stare at this polish forever! This is 3 coats of BeYu 330 on its own, but I absolutely MUST try layering it over black soon to see if that changes the color at all.
BTW, you should be clicking on each of these pictures to enlarge them. You won’t regret it. ♥
Here’s a macro shot of BeYu 330 in all of its magnificence. This polish has my heart.
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Including BeYu 330 I only have two BeYu polishes in my possession and they are both heart stoppers. I’m not sure that I want to even know about any more of these little beauties for fear of my bank account being quickly depleted.
Do any of you own any BeYu polishes! If so, what are your favorites? ^_^
Black And White Challenge – Day 3: Black Base With Color
211 year ago
by Rie
in Black and White Challenge
Good Morning Everyone!!
We’ve reached Day 3 of the Black And White Challenge and our task today was ‘Black Base with Color’. I’m REALLY happy with the way my mani turned out today. As soon as I saw Nailside’s Abstract 80′s look I just knew that I had to try recreating it! My first attempt here turned out so awesome you guys, I can’t wait to try this look out with other colors.
Let’s move right onto the swatches.
Just warning you here, my photo borders are FUBAR right now. I had to involuntarily switch from using Picnik on Flickr (yet another thing that Google has discontinued for dubious reasons…) to re-learning how to use Photoshop. Annnnd, it’s a bit of a steep curve. Expect to see my watermark and border changing until I land on something I like in the next few weeks.
Black And White Challenge – Day 3: Black Base With Color
I started out with 1 coat of Wet n Wild’s Black Creme. I then used tape to add MAC Bad Fairy (a red-to-orange duochrome) and Maybelline’s Blue Brilliance. What’s funny is that Blue Brilliance is normally a blue-to-purple duochrome in the bottle but on my nails is transformed into a green-to-purple when layered over the black.
LOVE IT!
I really can’t get over how much I love this mani! I think this is the first time I’ve done a taped manicure where the colors didn’t bleed out on the lines. *pats self on the back* :-)
Here’s a macro shot for you. I really need to work on consistent sizes for my photos, lol.
And here’s some bottle shots of the polishes I used. You can tell I use Black Creme a lot because the damn label has worn off!
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That’s all I’ve got for today, I hope you all enjoyed it! I feel like I’m finally starting to get my creative mojo back for this challenge. ^_^
Check out what the Sexy6 is up to this week! I can’t wait to see what the other girls came up with for their Day 3 manis!
LTHP
The Nailasaurus
Fab Fingertips
Sincerely Stephanie
The Lacquerologist
A England The Legend Collection Swatches & Review!!
23
Hey Everyone!
Well folks, I’ve FINALLY got A England The Legend Collection swatches to share with you today! Adina has done it again, telling a wonderful story with her polishes. This time she takes her inspiration from the story of St. George and the Dragon.
I apologize for these being so late but you know how that goes. Real life getting in the way of my fun. Plus I really wanted to get some pictures of these beauties in natural sunlight. Silly me, I forgot that I lived in the tundra and that the sun doesn’t plan on showing its face again until May. 
So I had to settle for “fake sun”, aka camera flash, for my swatches but they still show just how utterly beautiful all 7 of these polishes truly are.
You’re definitely going to need to enlarge all of these pictures, especially the “sunlight” photos in order to see each polish it its full glory! Not only are the majority of The Legend Collection polishes scattered holographics, but a few of them are ALSO multichromatic. Be still my fricken’ heart!
I used A England The Knight base coat and The Shield top coat for my swatches today.
St. George
We’ll start with St. George, an absolutely STUNNING deep teal green that glows from within with scattered holographic green and teal blue shimmer. This was the first of The Legend’s that I tried and I was instantly in love. The pigmentation is so rich that I could have easily stopped at 1 coat. I used 2 for swatching purposes. I got so many compliments while wearing this color, it’s just fabulous. Even in fluorescent lighting at my workplace the polish was still glowing from within.
Here’s St. George in low/indoor lighting. A little less holographic but still absolutely gorgeous.
And a macro shot, just look the depth of color here! It reminds me of a gemstone. ♥
Princess Sabra (Tristam Eyes)
Adina describes Princess Sabra as a “golden olive bronzite”and I’d have to say that the description is fairly accurate. While is stays mostly in the bronze category, the holographic shimmer ranges from gold, to silver, to a very slight green hue. Its alter name, Tristam Eyes, is a tribute to Adina’s handsome furry companion of the same name. His eyes are the same elusive shade of bronze liquid metal.
- My cats send their love! >^_^<
Here’s a quick picture of Tristam, courtesy of Adina’s twitter. You can see another gorgeous picture of Adina and Tristam on A England’s Facebook Page.
Here’s a shot of Princess Sabra without camera flash. I don’t have another color like this one in my collection. It’s a little sheer but built up nicely after 3 thin coats.
And finally a macro shot of Princess Sabra.
Dragon
Dragon. This color is… WOW. It leaves me breathless, speechless, and in love. If I had to imagine any polish perfectly embodying the scales of a dragon, this would be it. I feel like Dragon has set a standard that any other green polish must abide by, and it is now my favorite green polish. EVER. The polish is a beautiful mossy green, and when the gold pops through I am in heaven. I used 2 coats here.
If any of you have read GRRM’s A Song of Ice and Fire Series you’ll know what I mean when I say this polish reminds me of the mother of dragons: Daenerys and her ‘children’, Viserion, Rhaegal and Drogon.
Once again, I’ve never seen anything quite like this polish. Even in low light it’s still a gorgeous scale green shade.
Macro shot of Dragon. I’m sorry it’s so blurry! I didn’t realize it until I was already editing my photos. 
Princess Tears
Princess Tears is the lighter of the two main holographic and multichromatic holo-chromatic (see what I did there?) polishes in this collection. It’s a delicate amethyst shade with a hint of a pale grey in certain lighting. In the latter picture above you can just see the grey peaking around the edges of the lilac. I ended up using 3 coats with this one, but I probably would have been fine with just 2 coats.
Here’s a shot of Princess Tears with camera flash. That’s when you pick up on the green that is subtly spread throughout the polish.
Your macro shot here. ^_^
Bridal Veil
Bridal Veil is one of the blackest black polishes that I own, and it’s filled with holographic glitter that gives it an almost celestial look. I used 2 coats here. This one NEEDS to been seen in person to fully appreciate it.
Bridal Veil in low light. The scatter takes a back seat but you’re still left with a wonderfully glossy and fast drying black. If you’re careful I’m sure you could make this work with 1 coat!
Macro shot of Bridal Veil, it’s like you’re peering into the galaxy. ^_^
Order of the Garter
And now for something entirely different, we have Order of the Garter. OotG is an astonishing shade of royal blue that is filled with shimmering glass flecks. This one took me by surprise, but in a good way! It was a little streaky for me on the first coat but evened out nicely after 3 thin coats.
Here’s a picture of Order of the Garter with camera flash. I can’t WAIT to wear this sucker as a pedicure this summer while I’m dipping my toes is the beautiful (and frigid!) Lake Superior.
Macro shot for ya, click for maximum pretties.
Ascalon
Ascalon is another holo-chromatic polish similar to Princess Tears, but this one is a mixture of a deeper lavender and gunmetal grey. I. LOVE. THIS. ONE. The color transition is strong and I have a weakness for grey polishes that knows no bounds.
This is 2 coats of heaven. I had no idea that this one was multichromatic until I put it on. And then I just oooh’d and ahhhh’d at my nails for hours. *le sigh*
Even in low light the scattered holo effect in Ascalon is fairly prevalent.
You can get a really good look at the color transition in this macro, so click on this baby and be merry.
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Final Thoughts:
Well honestly I’ve never been disappointed with an A England polish and The Legend Collection isn’t going to break that trend. All 7 of these polishes are wonderful. Deep pigments, buttery smooth application, and unique colors are the keynotes and I’m once again astounded by Adina’s creative mind. If I had to pick favorites they’d definitely be Ascalon, Dragon, and St. George. But honestly any of these would make a great addition to your stash. So what are you waiting for? Bring The Legend home.
Purchase Info:
You can take any polish from The Legend Collection home by visiting the A-England official website at www.a-england.co.uk, they retail at £9.00 per 13ml bottle of polish and free international shipping is offered. A-England polishes can also be purchased for $12.00/ea through their US stockists, Overall Beauty or Llarowe (check each site for their individual shipping & handling stipulations). They’re also available from the newer e-tailer, Ninja Polish for $10.50/ea.
* The product(s) in this post were sent to me for unbiased review consideration.
For more information, check out my Disclosure Policy.
Layering Experiment No. 7 – Sally Hansen Black Tie & Hard Candy Pixie
201 year ago
Allo Everyone!
This post is short and sweet because I am T-I-R-E-D! I went from being at the salon from 10:30am-5:30pm straight into working my midnight shift at 10pm the same night at my regular job. This new morning/midnight schedule of mine is going to take some getting used to.
I did a quick layered mani before I went to bed on Thursday night that I’ve been wearing for a few days now, and or course I got some sheet marks that I didn’t notice until I edited my pictures. What can ya do?
Sally Hansen – Black Tie & Hard Candy – Pixie
I started out with 2 coats of the newish Sally Hansen Diamond Strength polish called Black Tie, it’s a gorgeous dark/blackened teal and purple duo chrome. I then layered 1 coat of Pixie (holo glitter explosion!) by Hard Candy over it.
I know this picture is a little blurry, but this was the best photo I had to show off the duo-chromatic flash. This polish combination is incredibly camera-shy, trust me when I say that the duo chrome shows up much more strongly in person.
Pixie was sent to me in a polish care package from my girl Dana. I really love the micro holographic glitter, and this polish looks AMAZING layered over black. My friend Jacqui mentioned on twitter that this reminded her of galaxy nails, and I can see it. Though this look was much easier to achieve, no sponging involved! ^_^
If you want to see some pictures of Sally Hansen Black Tie on its own you should check out Nicole’s gorgeous swatches over at Nightly Nails or Mary’s swatches at Body and Soul. I blame both of them for me lemming after this polish so bad.
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That’s it for today, and holy cats are my nails getting long again! I’m hoping that I get adjusted to my new schedule quickly because I have SO many polishes to show you all. Including the The Legends collection by A England, and a TON of custom frankens I’ve been snatching up on Etsy (that place is like crack to a nerdy polish addict)!
For now I’ll leave you with this picture of one of the fur kids, Clarence. My roomie put his hat on Clarence and it’s basically too adorable for words. Ignore his disgruntled gaze, he totally loved it.
