Deborah Lippmann - Mermaids - Million Dollar Mermaid

The Mermaid collection is really beautiful. The colors are fun and springy, they're clearly capitalizing on the success of the original mermaid polish and who doesn't love mermaids?

Well, I've been accused of being a siren whose sexy voice lures men to their icy watery deaths so maybe not those guys....and I think I sound something like a small woodland creature might if they spoke English with no accent...but I digress. As usual.

These first couple of pictures are with flash and aren't really great, but they do do a great job of showing you the sparkle in these polishes, which I think you want to see, right?

You can see this really washes out the color quite a bit but it emphasizes the glitter and how that lays. These were some cute toe separators I got with...I don't know, something I ordered. Thanks, whoever you were!

This is a pretty sherbet orange color, the base has a lot of shimmer, which is a characteristic of these polishes, and it gives an almost foil appearance. It's not really very opaque, though. This is three coats and you can see there is still some VNL.

Another flash photo, but it lets you see the glitters and where they fall and their pretty complementing color to the base. You can also really see the pretty shimmer.

OK, no flash and quite a bit closer to real life.

You can see this really dries pretty smooth. Relatively speaking, you understand. It's a glitter so it's not like glass smooth, but it's pretty good. A thick top coat and you're golden with this one. No pun actually intended for once.

I was trying to show you the color comparison to a coral here. Did it work?

I love this little votive thing. When you put a candle in here the little fishes look like they're moving. :)

Last one. You can see there is some bumpy, but you can handle that. The glitter disburses nicely and the color is nice. I love the shimmer in the base, too. Really pretty and really very wearable. This isn't going to draw negative attention at work unless your office is super conservative. It went on really nicely,  and looks good on my whiteness. Kind of a bear to remove, though.

More of these coming up. I really enjoy these kinds of glitters.

Happy Talons!

It's St Pat's! And other various musings

As a redhead with a diabolically Irish name, St. Pat's has a special place in me heart.. Even a middle name composed of a suitably Irish Catholic saint and no, I won't tell you which one, I hate it. I was convinced for years my mother had concocted it from her imagination just to torture me. And an Irish grandmother of whom I have only vague memories except she bought me a set of bone china which I loved because it quote had horses on it end quote, and that she smoked like a chimney. I love Irish cooking, mainly because it boasts the advantages of things like cabbage and scones, dream of visiting the place, and rarely bother with green on the special snake free day because, let's face it, I'm a redhead with an Irish name. I never feel I need to prove a thing. But for some reason this year, possibly because I am so completely unhappy a lot of the time because of my job and other things, I have embraced the holiday with open arms. I have green toes, green nails and a corned beef in the fridge just waiting to be paired with some cabbage. Yes, I still eat meat. I struggle with being at the top of the food chain, but also feel I have to accept the working of Mother Nature, but that does not mean I think animals are here to be tortured so I can sparkle and shine. That's just silly to me. Trust me, the meat thing is a struggle more than you know, but I live with omnivores and vegetarianism isn't a viable option. Regardless...I have a very pretty and I think perfect green for the holiday to show you. Then I'm going to go watch movies like Intermission and Boondock Saints. And that one about the matchmakers...maybe it's called that, I don't remember, it's hiding the massive DVD library I've built over the years, but I'll find it! It's set in Ireland! Everything is green and gorgeous and given that winter here has decided to hold on like grim death, green and gorgeous is what I need to see.

So, I give you Swinger from butterLondon!

This is a lovely grass green jelly base with a very dense glitter. The glitter is green, sporting some larger green particles of glitter, and with some gold thrown in for good measure. This is the leprechaun, the pot, the gold and the amazing shimmer all in one little glass bottle.

This took awhile to get where I was thrilled with it as far as coverage. It's dense, but I had VNL until three coats, which is what this is. It's so sparkly and pretty and I think the perfect green for St. Pat's.

All of these were taken in natural sunlight through the window. It's a bit overcast, but bright enough the flash never tried to go off. I let the autoedit thing on Picasa fix just this one picture. It's darker than the real thing, but it shows the glitter so nicely I left it. This really is more like the other shots in true color. As you can see, I had no trouble controlling this, it went on nicely and wanted to build up. I wanted thinner coats to help suspend the glitter and it worked well. Two coats may have been just fine, but I'm glad I did three. Look at the depth, here! The gold in it really is what adds that special feel, without it, it wouldn't have nearly as much dimension, I don't think.

I was trying to get you a close up of the glitter, which sort of succeeds here. You can see some of the larger pieces and the gold.
So pretty!

I dread removing this, but hopefully that's a week away. Here's the mechanics:

1 coat Nailtiques 2 Extra (I am fighting a peeling problem right now)
1 coat Growth Spurt base coat from the fine people who bring us Gelous. I'm liking this base coat a lot. Like the price even more.
3 coats butterLondon Swinger
2 coats Gelous top coat, Swinger was a top coat eater
1 coat Seche Vite to dry it all up

That is probably my one complaint about Swinger, it ate top coat. However, Gelous is perfect in those situations and I am finding that if I put on two coats of Gelous and one coat of Seche to force it to fdry (Gelous doesn't like to dry, lads. Doesn't like it a'tall.) then I can get 7-8 days of wear. The last manicure I did, which was Models Own Zest A Peal, which I didn't swatch for some reason, I will some time, I promise cause it's pretty! lasted approximately 7 solid days. I had to take it off to go to my manicure and it had just chipped. I actually got tired of it.

So I'd like o thank all of you other bloggers out there who introduced me to this little $5 wonder and to Kell who found out they're bunny safe.

Swinger, the St. Patrick's Day for your nails!

Or whenever, really...but I found it perfect for my Irish roots.

Happy Talons!

Pretty Holiday nails: RBL Recycle and BL Frilly Knickers

MDAMO decided before the holidays that my nails needed to sparkle like an ornament. I set him loose in the bottles to search. He came up with Recycle because it's a "Nice piney green" and then set me loose to come up with the sparkle. Kind of. Anyway, that is what wound up happening. We agreed Frilly Knickers was the thing. Kind of. I decided and he went along, he wasn't really convinced until after the fact.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Recycle is part of the latest Bring it Back set and I just checked, it is available. My bottle, I need to inform you, is not a part of that set but one of the original release. Probably it makes no difference whatever, but just in case.

Here is Recycle on it's own:

It is indeed a lovely forest green. It's dark but with a lot of blue, it's definitely pine. It's also a stainer. Use a good base coat.

Here's the label shot. You can see how dark this is here, yet, it will never be mistaken for black. Not in a million. I love the subtlety of this, it's dark but it's wearable, it's just a great color.

Here it is topped with Frilly Knickers. Christmas ornament!
Frilly Knickers is a clear/milky base with a ton of iridescent milky white micro glitter particles. There is a teensy bit of milky whiteness but it's mainly clear. If you layered to opaque you'd likely have nails that looked like Christmas snow, but I'd hate to guess how many coats that would take.

It's very icy and pretty. You can see how it flashes blue and green and silver against the dark green.

There's a label shot...vaguely blurry but legible. It's a bit chunky, but not bad at all. A coat of Seche or another thick top coat and you'll be all good.

The two together. I think Frilly Knickers is nothing short of magical, frankly. I'd never worn it but had looked at it a zillion times. Sometimes layering seems like work to me. I don't know that there has ever been a lazier statement but at times I can't face another coat. I just want them done. I mean...I hate my job, (I was accused of making meth at my desk the other day. Yep. That Swiss Miss, she's a real drug cartel.) and when I get home I'm TIRED. My polish is a flash of color in my dreary world most days but there are some where even I can't face more than the minimum.

It looks lit up, doesn't it? The flash helps...but you see what I mean. I love the blue flash in the glitter against the deep green. You can see it toned the green down a bit, though this is a little washed out from the light.

This is better, more real. Still, the sparkle is wonderful and dense but doesn't over-power. I love this look. I enjoyed wearing it.

The last picture! I did clean those cuticles up, by they way, you can see where I tried. I warned you! Recycle is a stainer!

What do you think? I love it! I think Frilly Knickers is going to work with about any straight cream and Recycle is pretty both glammed up and on it's own. Fun stuff!

Happy Talons!

Wet n Wild vs Orly

Who isn't looking for ways to save money these days? Bad economy brings on "The Lipstick Phenomenon". When the economy tanks we buy more lipstick. It's a cheap pick me up, or at least relatively speaking. As things get worse this drops off, of course. It's easy to see why. You're not going to keep on buying lipsticks. But if you could get more than one for the same price as a more expensive option, wouldn't you do it?

I've already shown that some Wet n Wilds can get pretty close to their more exclusive counterparts. I have another offering today.

Not exact dupes, you can see that. Close though. Very close. These are Orly Rock Solid, from their MineralFX collection and Wet n Wild Rock n Roll from the Fergie Collection. The Orlys go for $10. The WnW was $3.49. You do the math.

Another bottle shot to try to show just how similar these actually are. The Orly has more black in it, the WnW is more steely. They both have the holo particles and the Fergie has larger glitter. Still...for $7.50, which is lunch if you're frugal....the Wet n Wild starts to look pretty good!

I did swatch these on my nails and it didn't come out so you could see the differences. I thought white paper might be better to really let you see. The Orly, however, washed out some in the light from the flash. It's every bit as sparkly but I guess you have to take my word on it. The glitter in the Fergie took more advantage of the flash while the glass fleck in the Orly subdued. It's just the nature of the ingredients, I'm afraid.

This shows it a bit better. This also shows that while the Orly has more desnse particles in it, the Fergie has a black jelly base to work with, which is where some of it's color comes from. I think it's just a different take on the same idea.

Because of the particles, the chunky glitter in Rock n Roll vs the glass fleck and holo in Rock Solid, you will have different drying textures. The Orly will dry smooth, the WnW won't. End of story. That is a personal choice. Also, the Orly will come off and not leave you looking like a Vegas show girl when you take it off. Just some things to keep in mind. I think the WnW did have more sparkle to it while the Orly was a bit more sedate. If you can use that word in reference to a polish like these. 

They are both beautiful and distinct, and clearly I have them both, but if you only want one the Wet n Wild will get you the look for quite a bit less. You can literally get three Wet n Wild Fergie polishes for the cost of this one Orly. Literally. More if you stick to the regular collections at $2 a piece.

Do what you gotta do.

Hope this was helpful!

Happy Talons!

butterLONDON Tart with a Heart - Dressing Table Set

The first I'm going to show you from the Dressing Table set from butterLONDON is Tart with a Heart. It's a lovely and amazing pinky gold chunky glitter. It has an amazing amount of stuff going on in it.

Yeah, OK, it's sheer. I know, I don't like sheers, but really this should be over something else. I am not sure it really matters what for you won't be looking at it. Just in this swatch alone you can see pink, blue, purple, gold, green, teal...I bet if you keep looking at it, you'll see even more.
This is one coat. It would work very well as a top coat.

You can see here how dense the glitter is and that it's all different shapes and probably sizes, actually. It's hard to tell because there is so much of it.

This is a weird shot, I know but I wanted you to be able to see how dense the glitter is. It's blurry, which shows the sparkle, but you can see what I'm trying to show you. This is basically a bunch of really pretty tiny glitter held together with some clear pinkish lacquer.

OK, two coats. You could do this alone if you wanted. Probably three coats would get you a fairly opaque cover. I like this, though. Even though it's sheer. It's so pretty. It's like fireworks!

I think the camera was blinded by the bling.

Ehhhhh, I'd like a base coat under this, I think. I don't like nail lines. This is pretty and you could do it, but I think I'd prefer this as a top coat.

Lots of glitter!
This was easy to apply too, for a glitter. It's chunky, you have to pay attention, and this won't dry smooth. That would be almost too much to hope for. It needs a good top coat over it to make it smooth.

I'm so glad I got this shot. It is showing the crystal quality of this. It looks like I dipped my finger in some kind of decorator sugar. I love this. It's like a stained glass window or something.

OK, last one. This is just another shot at how gorgeous this is. You can't see much pink in this and there really isn't much to be had. Just a hint is all. That's really all you need. You wouldn't be looking at the pink anyways.

How can you not have Happy Talons with something like this in the world?

Intro to the butter LONDON Dressing Table set

After a week of Rescue Beauty's, we're changing gears utterly and looking now at butter LONDON glitters. I had initially meant to show you all this in one post, but it would have so many pictures you would be lucky to be able to open the thing. So first I will show you how cute the set was, it's now unavailable. I know. I have promised not to do this to you. No stuff you can't get any longer! I have a caveat, though! The polishes are still available, just not in this set. I just want you to be able to see what a great imagination and presentation, and what fun, butter LONDON is!

So...here are some sneak previews of the set:

This little dresser came in a large clear plastic box. It was cumbersome and I got rid of it, not something I would ordinarily do. Look at how cute this thing is! It's a little cardboard thing and it was not stable at all. I had to kind of piece it together to get the pictures I got. Without the base piece that the feet of the table sat in, it sort of fell apart, but it's still adorable.

This one shows the sparkle in the polish more. You can see a touch more of the mirror as well. The polishes sat in little slots to keep them standing up.

OMG. Can you believe these two colors?? Look at the sparkle!! On the left we have Tart with a Heart and on the right The Black Knight. You can see just in these pictures that there is a lot going on here. Different colors and sizes of glitters. So completely wonderful.

More on these to follow!

Happy Talons!

butter LONDON - Disco Biscuit - ARG!!!

I mentioned a disappointment, didn't I? Yeah. Pretty sure I did. This is it. I'm so sorry to say it because the bottle of polish is stunning and I mean jaw dropping, drooling in your shoes stunning. What we get instead is...a mess. It has potential, but not the potential I'd hoped. Let's go to the map!

OK. That takes sheer to a whole new level. I am not a huge fan of sheers. I simply don't really like them. This reminds me of an old Avon sheer I wore all the time as a kid because Moms felt that little girls shouldn't wear real polish, but sheers were ladylike enough for a little girl.
Yuck.

What does two coats do?

Ummmm, not a lot. And note the texture of this. Rough to say the least, and note the weird lack of shine. What is up with this? OK, a top coat can fix rough and rubberized finish, which....should something with glitter/holo particles ever be less than shiny? Yeah, OK, ManGlaze does it well, but that's for men. This is not.

Three coats annnnnnd, we don't appear to be making much progress. **blows bangs out of eyes** In the immortal words of the Germans: "Scheisse".

Well, we're going in the wrong direction. Maybe this is meant to be a top coat. What can I layer it over....hmmm.....


Queen Vic. It's close. I thought Snog but this is too purple. I went with Queen Vic. And Nail Foundation, just for a comparison.

The before shot. Index finger is two coats Nail Foundation, middle finger is two coats butter LONDON Queen Vic.

Hm. Queen Vic by a landslide. On Nail Foundation Disco Biscuit still looks sheer and icky. On Queen Vic, though, now we're talking. Do I have a better picture? I hope.

Meh. You can see the similarity of color here, and you can see some of the potential. Maybe two coats of Disco Biscuit would have been better, but I didn't do it. How about Queen Vic there, though. Pretty!

OK. So...lots of potential lost. This looks like it wasn't even tested. Seriously? I could see where you might have a lot of fun layering this, but it's really a mess. The bottle doesn't translate to the nail at all. I was so disappointed. So now I have a top coat for other things, that will require a clear top coat. Dang. I had really high hopes for this.

Just so you can see what you do actually get by way of sparkle in this I snapped the pad I used to remove it.

There is quite a lot happening there. Pink, blue, purple...it just gets buried under that hot pink jelly lacquer. You can see some of it, but it's not like this.

Tomorrow we will see if we have a similar let down with Knackered.

Happier Talons!

Halloween!!

I kinda love Halloween. I don't get all dressed up and stuff, but it brings with it apples and peanut butter pumpkins and lots of cute decorations involving goofy spiders, black cats and the lovely Great Pumpkin with the Flying Ace shot down behind enemy lines....YOU BLOCKHEAD!!!! LOL!

I got a rock.

So, I do tend to get drawn to the fun Halloween makeup though usually I stick to the nails. I really only indulged in a couple, what with that pesky determination to shop only cruelty free. Mainly...China Glaze. Their Halloween stuff tends to be so fun! I think last years collection was more inspired, but...for my readers I didn't dig those out. I don't even know if you can still get them.


It's ALIVE!!!

Isn't that fun?? It is, obviously, a grass green glitter on a blackened green jelly, I would call it. It has a ton of sparkle and color. I got several compliments on it. It went on super thick and the glitter is very, very dense. This has a coat of Seche Vite over it and it didn't even phase it. That's the kind of sparkle I'm talkin' 'bout!

Don't you love it? Look at that! I believe it IS Alive!! (great name!)

This one, you may have to click to enlarge it, shows the different sizes of glitter. I believe I see hex glitter in there. It just adds a lot. This wound up being smooth with a top coat, which is nice. Glitters...they can be so problematic.

This wore really well, until it didn't. When it went kerflooie, it didn't mess around. It came off in huge chunks. One at work, which, being resourceful, I managed to glue back on for several hours with a coat of Seche. It held through the work day, can't ask for more than that! I like this polish a lot and while it's meant for Halloween, I don't see why it has to be limited to that.

This came in a collection with a black crackle and a glow in the dark top coat. I didn't try either of those with this. I liked it on it's own. Plus...I'm not a huge fan of the crackle. I am wearing it right now, but it's for Halloween. I wouldn't probably for every day. And unfortunately, I've not swatched it yet. I might do an after Halloween follow up...

The other offering I picked up was Haunting. It's a dark charcoal/black jelly with silver glitter. This glitter is more your standard fare.

It's striking, though, isn't it? I like this one a lot. It reminds me of Orly Goth...I should do a comparison.

Sorry for the crap paint job. Why didn't I clean that mess up? Well, regardless, you can see the sparkle here. It looks a lot like a night sky...a winter's night sky, when it's so black but you can smell the snow in the air? Love those nights.

A little different angle, it shows more of the sparkly goodness.

These were both two coats. Haunting does not have a top coat on because I was only swatching it. This came right back off after the snaps were taken.

Lovely, aren't they? Scary? Not so much!! That's OK, Halloween should be fun, in my view, not scary. If I want scary, I'll watch the news!!

Happy Haunted Talons!!

Deborah Lippmann Get This Party Started!!

I managed to score this set on the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. It was exclusive at that time, but it probably will not stay that way. It's pretty awesome if you don't already have Happy Birthday, which I don't. Didn't...I do now. Obviously. K, I'm clearly hitting the dork level of tired.

Check it out!

The Lippmann collections come in these fun boxes, this one with music on it. They are, from left to right: Happy Birthday, Candy Shop and Forget you. The concept is the Happy Birthday glitter arrangement in different bases.

Happy Birthday is a freaking icon of the polish world, it's all different colors, shapes and sizes of glitter in a clear base. The glitter is mucho dense in this but it makes a fun top coat for most everything. I did not already have this as I don't often wear glitters. As a part of a set and for a discount I was willing to take the plunge.

Candy Shop is in a Candy Pink base. I haven't played with these but that looks pretty opaque to me...hmmm. I wonder how that will play out on the nail. It doesn't look like it buries the glitter.

Forget you, which I just love the concept of, is the same glitter but in a black jelly base. How just perfect is that? The whole thing lays out a story for you. Girl loses guy and paints her nails in Forget You, a black jelly that matches her mood and compliments her somewhat dangerous outlook but is littered with multi-colored sparkly goodness saying "I'm having fun without YOU, bud." Good for you, girl! It just screams I don't need you!! and who among us hasn't felt like making that statement at least once? If you can say you haven't then you're twelve. Or a nun.

It's kismet, lads. The Ramones I Wanna Be Sedated just came on!!! ROFLMAO!!!! I love the Ramones.

Here's another shot:

Aren't those great? See all the great glitter in there, the different sizes and shapes? Deborah Lippmann does fantastic glitters and the new additions here are no exceptions. However, in this closer pic, you can see that Candy Shop isn't displaying the glitter as aggressively as the other two...interesting. I want to see this on the nail but not right now because it's too late to go fixing my whole manicure. Maybe this weekend or when this mani gives out.

I think I gotta go with Forget You as the fave here....I'd love to see that over a grey or a white....Interesting!  Mmm, possibly the Fall Lippmann Stormy Weather? Maybe that would be too dark....Hmmmm. I feel a polish play session coming on!

Thoughts?

Happy Polishing!