Polish Royalty Meets the King of The Lizards

Hello, Fireflies!

When I started developing this rabid addiction to nail polish, there were some brands I was desperate to try.  KOH was one of them, even though I had to have it shipped internationally to get it.

This lovely brown is KOH Chocolate Brown. I love the subtle shimmer, which is apparently due to the addition of topaz.  It's such a rich polish.

But it's not just the color or shimmer that makes this 'Polish Royalty'.  Check out the packaging:

I've never seen polish come with a leather (or faux leather, I'm not sure) and lined snap case, with a little fan for drying your nails.  LUX.

Yep, I can't wait until the end of the post for the bottle shots.  The fan is too cute, and the embossed polish case is such a nice touch.  I even love the shape of the bottle.

So, when I was thinking about nail art, I immediately thought of T-Rex, the King of the Lizards, for this royal-treatment of a polish.

Little, tiny t-rexes.

These gold foil t-rexes are small, but sharp! they're made of gold-colored foil.  I bought them from The Sparkly Shop. I think they're totes adorbz.  Totes T-rex Adorbz, y'all.

 What would you pair a T-rex nail charm with?

(not my picture; not sure who to credit, though.  Just a funny picture from the Interwebz.)

Fancy, Flakie Browns

Ok, class, when we met yesterday, I told you there would be a polish you would get a glimpse of then, but you'd see again today.  Do you remember what it was? 

That's right!  Takko Opium.  I knew you could do it.

I think this polish is pretty unforgettable, myself!  Brown with a reddish-orange shimmer, it looks like burning embers.

I love brown and blue together, and I thought that this icy blue and pink glitter from Hit Polish, Retro Chic, would set it off nicely.  I really like the combo!  The blue looks so light, almost translucent, and the pink is so delicate with the brown. 

The second brown I want to show you today is from Koh Colours - Chocolate Brown!  Yes, with an exclamation point!  Apparently, all their color names are very exciting! Because they all end with exclamation points!

Love that goldent shimmer, but I wish it was more obvious on the nail, especially for such an expensive brand.

I added a little Nubar 2010, and....

....gorgeous.  Love the orange and gold flakies with the brown.  Here's a bottle shot:

The last fancy brown I have could be a brown, or a black, or a blackish-brown.  It's dark, so it's hard to tell!  I think it's brown, though.  Contrary Polish Candlelight.  Another subtle gold shimmer, but with larger particles than the Koh.

A little bit of Orly Shining Star, and there's gold shimmer... and blue?  I didn't see any blue in the bottle, but some of the glitter turns blue on the nail.  Surprise!

Browns are the unsung heroes of the polish world.  They're so versatile!  And they look great with a little bling, too.  Any fave browns out there?

Adventures in Stamping - using gold, and a special polish lemming!

On Saturday, I went to lunch and out shopping with some special peeps from the Central Florida Beauty Lovers/Bloggers (plus 1) and I wanted to wear a fun, special polish, so I chose Koh Blue Universe.  I *love* flakies.  I don't know which I love more, flakies or holo polishes.

This one is a bit subtle, but it's still quite beautiful.  I kept looking at my nails!

This week's challenge was to stamp in gold, and I thought that gold snowflakes would look lovely over the sparkly blue background, like a winter scene.. almost like the one I posted last week, only that one was silver over a blue/grey gradient.  And, and, well, these are different snowflake stamps.  I'm not that predictable....

Or, maybe I am.  Soon, it will be time for holiday manis!  More indulging in nail art with Butter London first, though.  Stay tuned...