Peacock Pie - Custom Pendant + Extra Goodies!

Hi guys!!! Happy Halloween! By far the most fun day of the year in my opinion - even if we don't celebrate it much in New Zealand, its still Halloween at my house!

A couple of week ago I asked Serra from Peacock Pie if she would be able to paint me a bat pendant - I said I wanted 3 bats, one for each of my kiddies lol. When she asked me why my kids are bats, I have to admit - I didn't know how to answer, but I came up with 'Because they're awesome... and noctornal'. Anyway! Look what I received!

*squeal* I love it so much! And how adorable is the little peacock charm? Its even better than I had pictured. I left it up to Serra to come up with the backing polish - I gave her the guidline of 'purple' lol, and I think she did a fantastic job. This is Nostalgic Lacquer 'Rayanne'. And as if that wasn't enough, today I received this in the mail:

"What magic is this?" you ask? Why thats a bat RING to match my bat pendant! I am overcome with happiness, Serra is so lovely and talented! What a lovely Halloween pressie :)

Oh, and look at my special extra! This is a pendant painted with Emily de Molly 'Dark Forces' - I think this looks amazing, I sat there and stared at it for a while when I first got it lol.

If you would like to see what else Serra has available, or order your own custom pendant you can visit her on Etsy here, or follow Peacock Pie on facebook here. All pendants are handpainted in New Zealand using only cruelty free polishes, and her prices are amazing - starting at only $9 NZD + post.

Hope you have enjoyed this post, and have a fantastic halloween!!!

Penelope Luz 'Pandora' - Swatches & Review

I recently purchased my first polish from the Brazilian Brand Penelope Luz. I chose Pandora which is described as 'a wine base polish with fine magenta, red and black glitters'.

These photos show three coats of Pandora with one coat of Glitter Food, and one coat of Rica Glossy Glam. You will need a couple of coats of top coat for this one because it does dry a little gritty.

This is a beautiful polish, the only thing I will mention is that I felt like it wasn't overly unique for an indie polish. I could get a similar polish from a brand such as Essie or China Glaze and pay less. I also didn't feel that the black glitter was noticeable unless I really looked for it. Having said that, I did really enjoy wearing this polish, and the formula and application was fantastic. 

I purchased this from Color4Nails - Check out Penelope's Blog for some stunning swatches.

Thanks for viewing my post! xx

Pahlish 'Moats and Boats and Waterfalls' - Swatches & Review

Pahlish released this limited edition beauty recently and I couldn't resist the combination of the teal base and the purple glitter. The swatches below show three coats with one layer of Jordana Quick Shine topcoat.

Moats and Boats and Waterfalls is described as a 'turquoise jelly base with purple holographic hex, light purple hex, and small chartreuse glitter'. The formula was smooth and application was good - my only complaint is that I felt the purple glitter got a bit lost in the dark colored base - I would have been happier if it had stood out a bit more.

Pahlish have recently left Etsy and opened their own website which is fantastic! They will be releasing their fall collection at on Friday 11th October. By the time you read this its probably already been released so head over and take a look - theres some beautiful polishes in the collection. Pahlish ships worldwide!

Thanks for viewing my post - enjoy your weekend! xx

Glam Polish 'She Had a Lipstick Taser!' & 'Bubble Breeze'

Hey guys! Today I have swatches of a couple of Glam Polishes. I'd been drooling over a few colors and finally strength failed me and I placed an order :) I am glad I did though, because look at these pretties!

She Had a Lipstick Taser: 'White Matte hex, Watermelon hex & dots in a blue crelly base'. This shade is from the Mayhem & Madness collection which is inspired by the characters from Despicable Me 2. (Awesome movie btw, but back to the nail polish....)

These swatches show two coats of 'She Had a Lipstick Taser' over two coats of China Glaze 'Bahamian Escape' with one coat of Jordana Quick Shine. I did try building this to opacity alone but it took four coats, so I prefer it layered. 

The watermelon glitter in this is such a unique color - I don't think I have anything else in my collection with this particular shade of glitter. The combo of that with the blue base and smalller white glitter looked great - I really enjoyed wearing this one and am happy to have it in my collection.

Bubble Breeze: 'Silver holo dots, large ocean holo dots & blue holo micro glitter in an ocean blue base'. This is from the 'Me Oh My Collection' inspired by all things cute & fun!

The pics show three coats of Bubble Breeze with one coat of Jordana Quick Shine. Formula was good - not thick at all, but I did have to do a little bit of fishing to get the bigger dots out. How adorable is this though? It actually looks like I have little pools of water for nails with bubbles floating round in them - I love the effect :) Circle glitter is always a winner with me!

I picked these up from Llarowe as the Glam Polish website ships within Australia only. They are also available from the following retailers: Norway Nails, Color 4 Nails, Rainbow Connection and Mei Mei's Signatures.

Thanks for viewing my post, enjoy your day! :) xx

Takko Lacquer 'Kiss the Sky' - Swatches & Review

This polish has been a long-time lemming for me - I nearly bought it when I first saw it on Mei Mei's Signatures a while ago, but by the time I talked myself into spending the money it was sold out! So of course, as soon as that happened I became obsessed with it and stalked Mei Mei's until it came back in stock. It took a while because the creator of Takko Lacquer took a little break. And now its MINE! *evil laughter*

Kiss the Sky is described as 'A deep blu-rple (hybrid purple-blue) jelly lacquer with orange and green duo chrome shimmer'. These pics show 3 coats plus one layer of topcoat.

Application was fantastic, this polish is pigmented and smooth. It was definitely worth the wait! The only thing I did notice is that the green duochrome is really hard to spot (unless your holding your hand at an odd and pretty unnatural angle lol). This wasn't really a big issue for me, the orange shimmer is extremely visible - just something to be aware of.

Takko Lacquer is available from Mei Mei's Signatures and Llarowe internationally and Takko's website (US shipping only).

Thanks for reading my post - hope you're having a wonderful day!!! xx

Femme Fatale Nail Lacquer - Swatches & Review!

Hi Guys! I was lucky enough to receive a polish press pack from Femme Fatale Cosmetics, so I have some swatches to share with you . I received Noble Garden, The Other Side of the World, Spindleweb and Fatal Attraction, and I already had swatches of Abracadaver so I've included those too.

All swatches are shown at 3 coats with no undies, 1 coat of glitter food, and 1 coat of Jordana quick shine topcoat. I borrowed the descriptions from the Femme Fatale site - they describe them better than I could!

Abracadaver

'a dusty purple crelly with a scattering of pinks, reds and black'

Sophie from Femme Fatale comes up with the best names for her products! I really like the way this one looks, but it did take some work to get there, the glitter is very dense so it can be a bit diffucult to get the base color even and the glitter positioned properly. Definitely worth it though! Femme Fatale suggests layering this one over a base of a similar color and I think that would work really well.

Noble Garden

'A dense blend of greens in complimentary finishes and sizes; speckled with orange, teal and pink.'

I couldn't find a suitable polish to wear this over when I went to try it so I just decided to see how it would go on its own. It built to opacity in 3 coats and I love how it looks. This shade was originally part of the Easter Trio it was designed to resemble brightly colored eggs hiding among the greenery. That is definitely what it makes me think of! I admire the way Sophie can take an idea like that and turn it into polish form. If you love green you need this one.

The Other Side of the World

'A sheer purple base with red tones and shimmers, highlighted by various orange, iridescent, purple and pink glitters'

This one built up to opacity easily in 3 coats. The polish is slightly thick due to the sheer amount of glitter packed into it, but I'd much prefer that than having to fish for glitter! It took a bit of patience to apply evenly but I'm happy with the results. I really like the orange glitters in this one - they make it really unique.

Spindleweb

'A sheer deep jewel toned blue with strong green shimmers, suitable for layering over other shades rather than wearing alone, and filled with scatterings of blue, green and iridescence in various sizes'.

I actually really liked the look of this one alone - it had great depth, but I can see it being just as pretty layered over another shade. This one is a favourite of mine and again Sophie took her inspiration and turned it into polish form. HOW DOES SHE DO THIS SO WELL? :P Having experienced trying to make nail polish myself, I can tell you that this is a talent!

Fatal Attraction

'a deep magenta polish with scattered holographic particles in a rich burgundy'

Oooooo.... prettttty... I love everything about this polish, it was easy to apply, a gorgeous color and the holographic sparkle looks amazing. This was part of the Valentines trio. 

I've also previously reviewed Nightsong Grotto and Aqueous.

I'm excited about all the Femme Fatale polishes I've received. They do take some patience to apply if you want them to look their best, but I find thats the norm for any indie glitter polishes, and as I said its worth it for the glitter payoff that you get. I'm so impressed by Sophie's creativity - she is consistently bringing out gorgeous polishes and has now just released her first holos as well as 12 new glitters!

If you're a regular reader of my blog you will know that I'm also a fan of Femme Fatale's fabulous powder cosmetics - she shows the same amount of creativity in these, particularly the duochromes she produces. All Femme Fatale products can be ordered on her site (now shipping internationally!) or at the following retailers worldwide:

Ninja Polish (coming soon)

Harlow & Co.

Color 4 Nails

Beauty So Fly

Norway Nails

Thanks for reading my post! I hope its been helpful :) I take no responsibility for any lemmings created :x

All polishes in this review (besides Abracadaver) were provided for my honest review.

Arcane Lacquer 'Funhouse' - Swatches & Review

I am so excited to show you guys these swatches - they combine two of my recent purchases, both of which I'm exceptionally happy about!
As soon as the Femme Fatale website introduced international shipping I snapped up some Arcane Lacquers I'd been eyeing up. The shipping didn't come cheap, but I definitely feel it was worth it - Sophie was really helpful and the package came lightning fast. 
The first polish I tried was Funhouse - a magenta base filled with a mix of magenta and blue glitter.

These swatches show three coats of Funhouse with one layer of Glitter Food and one layer of Jordana Quick Shine topcoat. Formula was perfect so application was nice and easy.

I stamped my accent nail with China Glaze 'Millennium' using Vivid Lacquer nail plate 'VL001' (my other recent purchase). I'm really happy with how it turned out - the plate was fantastic and the image came out nice and crisp. The design is super cute too :P

I adored this mani and I'm looking forward to trying the other Arcane Lacquers I purchased, as well as the other stamping designs. Arcane Lacquer is available within Australia at Arcane's etsy shop, or internationally at Femme Fatale or Llarowe. Vivid Lacquer plates and polishes can be found at her etsy shop, and she ships worldwide.

Thanks for viewing my post :) xx

Jindie Nails 'Battle Royale' - Swatches & Review

I've had swatches of this on my computer for a while, I don't know why its taken me so long to do a post because this polish is gorgeous! Battle Royale has a royal blue crelly base with lilac, lavender, silver, purple, turquoise, teal, periwinkle, magenta hex, dots, shreds and squares in holographic and metallic finishes.

The pics show three coats with one layer of Poshe top coat. The formula was good - application was easy, especially for a polish this packed with glitter. I didn't have to put any effort in to get a good amount of glitter on my nails.

Only complaint I had about this polish is the bright pink label lol.. glad they have been changed! The new bottles look so much nicer in my collection :)

Jindie polishes are available from Harlow & Co., Llarowe, Mei Meis Signatures and within the US at the Jindie Nails website.

Thanks for viewing my post :)xx

Lush Lacquer 'Freckles' - Swatches & Review

A while ago I purchased Lush Lacquer 'Clowning Around' and loved it, so when they released the same polish but with smaller glitters I snapped it up. Freckles is a mixture of 2 different sizes of neon glitters in a clear base.

This swatch shows 3 coats of Freckles over 2 coats of OPI 'Alpine Snow', with 1 coat of topcoat. I could have gotten away with 2 coats of Freckles but I wanted a nice dense coating, especially since some of the lighter glitters get a bit lost on the white.

Formula was pretty good, I got a decent amount of glitter with each coat and the glitter sits nice and smoothly. Just like Clowning Around, this polish would look great over a variety of colors!

Lush Lacquer is available from their Etsy Store, Mei Meis Signatures and Femme Fatale.

Picture Polish 'Ocean' - Swatches & Review

Today I have a gorgeous blue to show you! Picture Polish 'Ocean' is a collaboration shade between Kelly's Kolors and Picture Polish. Ocean has a turquoise jelly base with scattered holo flake particles.

These swatches show 3 coats plus topcoat. Formula was great - no problems at all. This shade is inspired by Kelly's love of the ocean and The Beatles.

This polish is so pretty, it really does sparkle like the ocean! I love the depth that the holo flakes give. Picture Polish is available at Llarowe, Harlow & Co, Picture Polish and Overall Beauty.

Thanks so much for viewing my post, hope you enjoyed it! xx

Digital Nails 'Dig Deep' & 'Lying' - Swatches & Review

Hey guys! Sorry I've been a bit quiet, hectic week! Today I've got two polishes from Digital Nails to show you.  I picked up Lying and Dig Deep in a recent restock.

Dig Deep is a "neutral gray crelly packed full of multiple sizes of matte gray glitter, and also a pale aqua glitter". Dig Deep is inspired by diamond blocks in Minecraft - though there must have been some drama over that, as the listing is now titled: "Dig Deep: a Digital Nails nail lacquer inspired by mining diamonds in that game that I'm not allowed to mention." Sigh! I've done my time in minecraft, so I'm loving the geeky reference. Even if it does bring back memories of many lava + creeper related deaths!!

I think this captures the color of diamond ore really well! The swatch shows four coats alone (no undies) and two coats of topcoat. Although I love the depth of this, I will definitely use undies next time. I had no issues with the formula and didn't have to fish for glitter. Definitely a fan of this one.

The other polish I purchased was 'Lying', which is a thermal color change polish.

"It’s a dusty deep purple at room temperature & transitions to a rich dusty teal when it goes above 88 degrees F" (approx 31 degrees Celsius). When I buy color change polishes I tend to go for quite dramatic change and this one doesn't disappoint!

Apparently this polish was inspired by The Lying Cat from the graphic novel series 'Saga'. I'm not familiar with this series so I had to google a pic:

The swatches show 3 coats plus topcoat, and the formula was perfect.  

This was definitely a good first experience with Digital Nails - I like the thought and care that goes into creating their polish and their geeky inspiration is definitely a selling point for me! My order shipped quickly and arrived faster than I expected.

Digital Nails lacquers can be purchased through their etsy store and both of these shades are currently in stock :)

Thanks for viewing my post xx