Blue Holo-splosion!

My love for holos is no secret, and it seems that I have a hard time NOT buying one, even if I have many of a similar (they're not the same! really) color.

I think the 2013 collex of Color Club Holos has really raised the bar for all holos.  They are super-pigmented and yet don't lose any of that wonderful rainbow. 

Color Club Over The Moon.  I am, over the moon.  This polish is gorgeous, and easy.  No special undies, no buffing.  You do have to apply in thin layers and wait for each to dry completely before applying the next, or you'll get bald spots.

I saw this design done with glitter and black, and decided to try it with this sparkly holo.  I need a little practice with my zigzags, but it's still a fun design.

A new-to-me Indie called Cameo Colors Lacquers put out a holo collection, and I picked up a few of them.  This is the first one I've tried - Welcome to the Universe.  It applied like most Indie holos - smooth, thick, with a scattered holo.  This one leans a bit towards greenish blue, which makes it more unique to my stash, though.

This did make me a little curious to see what other Indie holos I had that might match, and since I'd also just played with my Above the Curve polishes, they seemed a natural choice.  Bottle shots of the polishes for the first comparison:

If you missed out on the Above The Curve Prototype Blue, it's fairly close to their Blue-eyed girl polish.  It's not the same, though.  Blue-Eyed Girl is a little lighter, and may have a little bit tighter holo rainbow.  Divine Angel and Fiddle-Dee-Dee are really close in color, but the finishes are completely different.  FDD leans more metallic, and has a very sparse holo.  Divine Angel has a very strong holo finish.

Cameo Colrs WTTU lies between the two.  In the top photo, it's more blue, like the ATCs in the middle.  In the bottom photo, it pulls more aqua/teal, like the outer ATC polishes.  It was also more sheer, and required 3 coats for opacity.

One more comparison for today: 

These are all either icy blue or dark blue.  None here compare to the dark cobalt blues of HITS Apolo.  Poseidon, Absolute, and DS Sapphire are closer to each other in color, though Absolute is a scattered holo, Sapphire having a bit more linear, and Poseidon having the strongest linear rainbow of the icy blues.  Over The Moon is alone in both color saturation and rainbow. Gorgeous!

Are you 'over the moon' for holos, too?  If you could just pick one, which would you get?

Purple Indie Goodness!

Continuing with the January Indie Trend, I have 4 different purple looks I want to share with you today.

The first one starts with a Brazilian polish from the HITS line, Perolao. Some of the Brazilian polishes have a ...um, well,  strong smell.  They're not all on board the 3-Free train yet.  This color purple is bright, shimmery, and bold. 

I decided to pair it with Crows Toes Cheshire, which evokes the Cheshire Cat from Alice In Wonderland.  Can you see his smile?  I'm wearing it when I wear this polish.  Gorgeous!

The next mani starts with purple.  China Glaze Grape Juice didn't grab me right away, but I was hooked once I put it on.  I have a lot of purples, and this one has a finish that is unique.

I couldn't bear to cover it all up, so I did a glitter gradient and one accent nail in The Nail Junkie Fish.  I know, the base isn't purple, but the shimmer evokes grey and periwinkle to me, and I thought they'd go well together.  As you can see, Fish is perfectly opaque on its own, and doesn't need undies, but I think it looks good paired with Grape Juice.

I didn't even bother with undies for this next polish - Darling Diva Polish Angry Beaver.  Jelly purple!  Opaque in two coats, and you can see all the different bright colors of glitter.  Let's go piss off some more beavers if they produce polishes like this, I say.

I took a bit of a risk on this last combo. I don't normally wear a lot of foils, but I couldn't resist Butter London Lilibet's Jubilee.  This is one coat, and it applied like buttah.  It's almost silver, but it leans lilac, which is why I thought it might be a good backdrop for Sonoma Nail Art Steampunk.

I don't usually pair dark glitters with shiny base coats, but I really like this combo.  It really makes the black stand out, and the little copper bits just glow.  Sonoma Nail Art is known for excellent formulas and creative glitter mixes, and this one is no exception.  This is a fun polish.

Are you rockin' the purple look?  Which is your fave?

Purplicious with toppings

Daring Digits Almandine.  Sigh.  The moment I saw it, I wanted it!  I love how it looks black around the edges, and has that lit-from-within look, but still has a greyed-out purple look, too. 

Hits Hephesto made it look holographic!  Probably the only thing that could improve on it at all.  So, of course, I dented the middle finger, because all beauty has imperfections.

Who knew that Fergie could inspire some cool nail polishes?  This lovely glass fleck purple is Ferguson Crest Syrah.

And it goes from cool to amazeballs with 2 coats of Finger Paints Asylum!

Do you like changing polish by changing topcoats?

Avon and Glitter I

Some of my earliest nail polishes were Avon - in the square bottles.  A bright orange and a light grey.  Must have been 20 years ago, because they're back in fashion again!

I decided to try Avon again, and ordered some polishes from my friend Alyssa from Pretty Little Bottles.

This is pretty pix heavy, so I put all the lovelies after the jump!

What's Black and White and Sparkly all over?

Me!

Dinner with friends and margaritas? Yes, please!

I used Milani eyeshadow in White Lie, Pitch Black and Just Perfect (a greenish, peacock color) on my eyes.  I am really impressed by these eyeshadows!  They are super-pigmented.  I only needed to lightly dab my brush in the black to get enough pigment to act as a liner and go in the crease.  And when I came home from an evening of drinking and laughing, my makeup still looked perfect.

 I have never worn black nailpolish on its own, but I got very close that night!  I rocked 1 coat of A-England Bridal Veil which is beautiful, but not as holographic as I was hoping for.  Two thin coats of Hits Zeus, and I was loving the look.  Dark, but not vampy, with a rainbow shine that wasn't glittery or chunky.  Very sophisticated.

ONE coat of Bridal Veil.  If you haven't tried A-England yet, you need to!

  With Zeus:

 Right hand:

And because I thought it looked like a galaxy, I added a star from the Bundle Monster wheel.  This set is awesome - different colors and shapes all in one place, with an easy-to-use dispenser.  It's like a box of Lucky Charms! Green circles, pink bunnies, yellow and purple flowers, silver scales, blue and red rhinestones, silver stars, and more!

One thing I didn't realize was going to happen through this blogging process was how I would start to expand my boundaries.  I am having such a blast trying new products, new looks, and meeting new people.  I truly believe that beauty is Lit From Within, and all of these products just help us find a way to express it in our own way. 

So, today, if wearing a rhinestone on your nails makes you feel pretty, do it!  Wear as many as you want.  If wearing a new lip color gives you confidence, embrace it.  Have fun changing your look.  Do it your own way.