Colors by Llarowe Tog a! Tog a! Tag a! from Llarowe's A Box Indied of August

Hello my dear nailpolish friends! Now today I have another gorgeous, gorgeous number of Llarowe's A Box Indied of August and it goes by the name Tog a! Tog a! Tog a! created by Llarowe. Is it appropriate to label Llarowe a stronghold for awesome holos? I would definitely say so and Tog a! Tog a! Tog a! is a real bright metallic looking purple in the shade and by shade I mean a really shady place with no light floating in from wherever because the second the tiniest ray of light hits that baby it lights up to a crazy blurple throwing linear holo beams mostly in red and blueish shades and now on to a serious picture spam:

 and this is indoors in daylight - oh boy, do you have words???

 and in this picture more of the purple base color shows through

I applied two coats of Colors by Llarowe Tog a! Tog a! Tog a! over my Nailpattern Boldness Digital Hydration. And I know this might read boring but the formula and the consistency are flawless and each brushstroke was a pleasure to apply. Dry time was fast and I finished the mani with Glisten&Glow HK Girl. Upon removal I had the strange experience that the polish pigments sort of divided and I was left with some pink smears of polish that looked like powder residue. If I would have worn Tog a! Tog a! Tog a! for longer than a day it probably could have stained my nails badly but as is all of that residue came off just fine. I first thought that this is my Base Coats do but then I haven't had the same base on all of my nails so I don't believe that, well it is just weird...

Final thoughts: I had Colors by Llarowe Tog a! Tog a! Tog a! on for my todays TRX workout - usually I feel close to death halfway through the hour - it is so hard. But today I just was mesmerized by my nails and sort of walked through the workout in a breeze - I am sure I will feel the impact tomorrow trying to climb stairs, carry papers or even lift my arms to steer the wheel in my car - LOL!!!

This polish is exclusive to Llarowe's A Box Indied to which I subscribe but then Colors by Llarowe have an awesome range of purple holos which are not any less breathtaking.

I look forward to reading your comments - thanks for visiting!!!
Christine <3

Colors by Llarowe Julia Roberts 1967

Hello my lovely readers! You might have read this ad nauseum over here at Polished Marvels but I am still on a low-buy - read: carefully weighing ANY nail polish purchase. This mind-set of mine was tested to the limits upon Colors by Llarowe latest Collections. And I could not resist getting a couple of them. When I laid eyes on the first pictures of Julia Roberts 1967 created by Emily (the sweetest Customer Service Rep) I knew it had to be mine. A perfect Pistachio green holding silver and white shimmer and the finest milled scattered holo (I detected mostly yellow-gold and turquoise but I did not wear my reading glasses - please excuse any inaccurate reports on the holo colors).

I applied two coats of Colors by Llarowe Julia Roberts 1967 over my regular Base Coat and finished it with Glisten&Glow HK Girl. Now the polish fairies were not well disposed towards me yesterday. I had one big fight with Julia Roberts 1967. The formula of my bottle is thick and not nicely spreading. I should once remember posting a picture of a really bad first coat here - not so much as to shy off anyone at the gruesome view but as reassuring measurement that nearly ANY polish can be built up to a lovely and beautiful finish. But back to matters at hand: After having painted about four nails I finally "understood" that polish. Julia Roberts 1967 wants to be applied in medium thick coats. And don't, just absolutely don't go over the same area twice. It will not look patchy but the brush literally picks up again ALL the polish you just applied - ewww!! It dries though super quick to a level of dry-to-the-touch but beware - it remains dentable for a good hour or so. What saved the mani overall? The immaculate, one and only Glisten&Glow HK Girl. It covered and then evened out not one but two of my dents. The remaining part of my hassle was totally my fault - I ended up having to do two of my nails again from scratch, drowned a nailbed completely in polish - you get the idea, right?

Final thoughts: Despite the hassle I had for getting Colors by Llarowe Julia Roberts 1967 onto my nails I love it - it is exactly my favorite shade of Pistachio green (imagine some ooh-ing, gushing and OMGs). Now I have to yet SEE the shimmer - I think it is more to spruce up depth and overall look of this beauty. So if you get it (which you actually should if you are into Indies) work with medium thick coats, don't go over the same area twice and don't head for grossary shopping right after application. Then you will be fine - no, you actually will be DELIGHTED!!!

Notes about Nell: those of you who follow me also on Instagram (@mausishuffle) might have seen my earlier posting there about Nell falling from the window sill on first floor down to ground at 2 a.m. last night. I was frankly mere inches from a heart stop and ran down in my nighties and slippers into a creepy storm to look for him. Luckily he was fine, dashing past me into the house at the speed of a canon ball. He is playful, hungry and currently haunting "the hood" in a mild summer night - I am relieved beyond words that the furball of my eye is apparently fine. I trust that any serious injury would have shown by now. Just look at him:

very possessive of this fly swatter ;-P

Colors by Llarowe polishes are available with Llarowe and with Harlow & Co.

I look forward to reading your comments - thanks for visiting!!!
Christine <3

Colors by Llarowe Woman from Tokyo

It was sunny, it was hot, it called for a holo. I have to admit, my pile of untried holos is MASSIVE - I seemed to have gone bonkers over them during winter and spring….

Colors by Llarowe Woman from Tokyo is a very dark purple with strong linear holo, mostly in blueish and reddish colors, morphing into a burgundy glow around the edges and containing a smidgen of a golden shimmer.:

 indoors in daylight

 

I applied two absolutely, totally effortless coats of Colors by Llarowe Woman from Tokyo over my regular Base Coat. I find it so hard to find the words to comment on this formula - haven't you experienced this as well? The "technical" part of a polish is so good that on one hand, you feel you should go on forever about its flawlessness, on the other hand, facts are so simple. This is one of those polishes. Woman from Tokyo has just the most superb formula you can think of, dries quickly despite the heat and wore well for more than two days with hardly noticeable tip wear.

 

Final thoughts: In the beginning of this post I was a tiny bit on a roll about the expanse of untried holos but now after wearing Colors by Llarowe Woman from Tokyo, I am more than exited to have snagged so many of Leah Ann's creations - and there are still quite a number cueing here...

 

I ordered Colors by Llarowe Woman from Tokyo with Llarowe. A selection of CbL's is also available on Harlow & Co.

 

I look forward to reading your comments thanks for stopping by!!!

Christine <3

Colors by Llarowe Behead The Drama Queen

It is Throwback Thursday with #supergorgeousblog Challenge of July, so let's take a dive into my untrieds - and whoops here comes Colors by Llarowe Behead The Drama Queen!! This was released in the first ever collection Leah Ann created. A beautiful dark teal jelly base filled to the gills with green shimmer. To me it looks like some shimmery peacock feathers. Beware, there are quite some pictures coming:

 and outdoors:

I applied two effortless coats of Colors by Llarowe Behead The Drama Queen over my regular Base Coat. I expected the polish to be a tad thicklish given the hot temperatures but it was perfect in consistency and application. The first coat went on sheer and a medium thick second coat provided full opacity. And look at that shiny finish - beautiful!

Final thoughts: I start to like my no-buy status (with breaks here and there, I admit). It forces me to finally use nearly forgotten gems - so yes, I consider this a treasure hunt through my very own stash - LOL!!!

I ordered Colors by Llarowe Behead The Drama Queen with Llarowe. This beauty is long gone but there are regular launches and re-stocks of a myriad of beauties to choose from.

I look forward to reading your comments - thanks for visiting!!!
Christine

Colors by Llarowe Alternate Universe

Shopping some of Colors by Llarowe polishes from the Summer Collection was one of my last splurges before boarding my no-buy month (that is with the exception of Llarowe A Box Indied to which I subscribed). Back when I ordered those bottles, I had no idea, that I was going on no-buy - a rather spontaneous decision after looking exasperated at my untrieds - and I clicked rather carelessly on the one or the other "add to cart". One of those rather sloppily added polishes is Alternate Universe - a bright turquoise / blue foil that I would classify as metallic even. But let's have a look:

doesn't it look insane in the sun???

I applied three thin coats of Colors by Llarowe Alternate Unvierse over my regular Base Coat. The formula is wonderful to work with - thin and not overly pigmented but smooth and easy to build, fantastic to control and quick drying. Given all those characteristics, I don't mind adding a third coat to my mani - I only get renitent when I have to fiddle with patchy, thickish polish from coat one to three. I finally started my bottle of KBShimmer Clearly on Top Top Coat and so far love it. It is thin, quick drying and leaves a wonderful high shine.

Final thoughts: this is an eye-searing bright foil that in my eyes turned into a first class metallic in the sun minus the brushstrokes ;-)

I ordered Colors by Llarowe Alternate Universe with Llarowe.

I look forward to reading your comments - thanks for visiting!!!
Christine <3

Colors by Llarowe My Own Private Paradise

How about you? Do you have an own private paradise? I got two now - first my tiny little flat which is my sanctuary, my haven and since a week or two I own on top Colors by Llarowe My Own Private Paradise - a perfect light purple with insane linear holo rainbow mostly gleaming in turquoise and yellow (a gorgeous, gorgeous color combination).

The descending sun and I had a challenge - it was disappearing fast and I wanted to get as many pretty pictures as possible, hence all those shades on my fingers - LOL!!!

 outdoors in the shade:

I applied two coats of Colors by Llarowe My Own Private Paradise over my regular Base Coat. The formula and consistency are right along the lines I came to expect from Llarowe: not too thin or thick, a dream to control, admittedly a tad sheer upon the first coat but totally opaque after applying the second coat. And as if this would not be enough - it dries within a blink of an eye.

And a stamping using Rica Black Stamping Polish and MoYou Mother Nature Collection Plate 03:

see who joined me there in the back sniffing flowers?

Final thoughts: This year I love all shades and finishes of purple, light, bright, bold, dark, cream, glitter, foil and HOLOOOOO!!! I only wish My Own Private Paradise would contrast more with my skin tone but this Latte Macchiato tan I got fades the contours - oh well, I won't care this time ;-)

I ordered Colors by Llarowe My Own Private Paradise with Llarowe.

I look forward to reading your comments - thanks for visiting!!!
Christine <3

Dotticure with Colors by Llarowe Grape Juice

With the latest launch by Colors by Llarowe there were quite a couple of polishes that were not holos - HORRAY!!! Mind you, I am any given day in for a spectacular holo by Colors by Llarowe but by now I probably own a holo shade in just about every nuance  of red or purple or black and I start to long for some sauce outside the holo or multichrome galaxies. Next to an awesome range of shimmers Leah Ann mixed up some jellies as well and I just did not get around Grape Juice, a dark, lucious purple jelly. On Instagram I got inspired by @gimme_all_the_polish for the following mani:

This is a very simple Dotticure and you don't require anything but a jelly and a very pigmented white polish (Cult Nails Tempest, my absolute favorite white cream). There were two obstacles I encountered : one was to smooth my ridged nails, the second all that waiting. Below a quick step-by-step:

1. Two coats of Seche Ridge Filling Base Coat

2. One coat of CbL Grape Juice (perfect formula, went on totally even), wait for it to dry

3. Place a few dots in two different sizes with Cult Nails Tempest, wait for it to dry, apply Top Coat

4. Another coat of CbL Grape Juice, wait for it to dry

5. Place some more dots, wait for it to dry, applied Top Coat

6. Add one or two more dots over the Top Coat and finished with a matte Top Coat

7. Fill a couple of dots with CbL Unorthodox Annie

This is really a super simple nail art, core to it: wait rather a couple of minutes longer than risking smudging the dots and use a super pigmented polish for the dots. I also tried it with colors like peach or neon coral and frankly, the results were disappointing. The color of the dots got weird layered under the purple jelly. The white provided the various shadings of purple I was hoping to achieve.

I hope you don't mind my step-by-step but being such a beginner in the nail art sphere I am still looking  for tutorials left and right of just about ANY form of nail art - maybe this little explanation helps the one or the other of my readers…. as a bonus for all of you who made it down here - NELL - his furry sweetness taking a stroll in the sun

I look forward to reading your comments - thanks for visiting!!!
Christine <3

Colors by Llarowe Little Boy Blue

I have to admit, I amassed way more holo polishes than I probably will be able to wear this summer (after all Switzerland is not a sun-drenched part of our planet). So you can imagine, I was more than smitten by Colors by Llarowe new shimmer polishes released for spring. And I just could not resist getting Little Boy Blue for myself, a simply perrrrfect cyan blue crelly filled to the gills with pink shimmers that show their iridescent secret upon twists and turns of your hands.

I applied two coats of Colors by Llarowe Little Boy Blue over my regular Base Coat. The formula is a perfect jelly-crelly hybrid, sheer but not runny and applying evenly already on the first coat. The consistency makes Little Boy Blue so easy to control, I promise you will enjoy each and every brushstroke! Dry time is fast and the finish has a nice shine. In some pictures you can see the slight shift to iridescent territory but on my pictures it is more visible in the bottle than on my nails but I assure you IT IS THERE!

Final thoughts: Colors by Llarowe Little Boy Blue will be my go-to polish if there are some dull days out there and I am in a deep need of a high dose of "cheer-up".

I ordered Colors by Llarowe Little Boy Blue with Llarowe.

I look forward to reading your comments - thanks for visiting!!!
Christine

Colors by Llarowe Smooth Criminal

YAYYY we finally joined daylight saving time!!! I feel only minor regret over loosing one hour of my weekend when I think of the longer enlightened evenings to come!! Above all, I will have a week off and look forward to get my place into spring mood (read spring cleaning). Maybe this is my Swiss gene but I am really exited to get those cleaning utensils out and whirl through my apartment!!! Let's see if I am as exited about it once half way through next week. To top the spring feel, we are in for a gorgeous week full of spring weather, what's more to wish for? NAILPOLISH - of course!!!

Today I have Colors by Llarowe Smooth Criminal for you - an insane periwinkle holographic polish. At least I assume it is periwinkle blue this holo is so mindblowingly strong, that I could hardly concentrate on identifying the base color - LOL!!

and now please sit straight in front of your screen, have both of your feet square in front of you and slowly inhale and exhale before scrolling further down

have you recovered yet from the holo-impact? Once in the shade Smooth Criminal has a lovely periwinkle/lilac color.

I applied two coats of Smooth Criminal over Seche Ridge Filling Base Coat. As with all the Colors by Llarowe holographic polishes Smooth Criminal as well has a flawless formula and a perfect consistency. It actually applies like a cream. Dry time is fast and the above mani is sealed with Glisten&Glow HK Girl Top Coat.

I bet, many of those who read my Blog on a regular basis are aware of my slight (ehem :-S) addiction to holo polishes - let's take a dive into my stash and see what we could compare Smooth Criminal with…

From left:

Colors by Llarowe Papermoon

Colors by Llarowe Smooth Criminal

Emily de Molly Devotion

……and what it turned out on the nails:

I found the differences in color the most visible in the shade:

Pinkie and index: Colors by Llarowe Papermoon

Ring: Emily de Molly Devotion

Middle: Colors by Llarowe Papermoon

all polishes are shown at two coats and with Glisten&Glow HK Girl Top Coat

But I am sure, you all want to see the holorificness of the threesome:

Summary: Colors by Llarowe Smooth Criminal and Emily de Molly are close base color wise, though Smooth Criminal clearly is a periwinkle blue in its base color (I know, it doesn't really show in my pictures - I am afraid, you have to trust me on this one). Holo wise Colors by Llarowe Papermoon is clearly the strongest and the softest with regard to base color in the shade - but then it is also a lilac and has more red in the base of course. What struck me most is that the holo in Emily de Molly's Devotion looked so weak next to the holo explosions of the CbLs.

You can order Colors by Llarowe with Llarowe and with Harlow & Co. Emily de Molly is available with Llarowe and MeiMei Signatures.

I had company while taking those holomanic pictures: 

Nell enjoys the spring weather as much as any of us!!!

I look forward to read your thoughts in the comments section - thank you so much for stopping by <3

Christine

Colors by Llarowe Silver

For the last couple of weeks, we had beautiful sunny weather - during the week. The weekends were more often than not overcast and murky. So you might guess how exited I was when there finally came a bright and sunny Sunday around the corner. You can bet, I hardly have changed my nail polish so quickly to give my nails a special holo-treat. Colors by Llarowe Silver is well, a straight forward silver holo but boy, what a holo that is:

I applied two effortless coats of Colors by Llarowe Silver over Essence Hardening Nail Base. It was relatively quick to the touch but remained sensitive to dents for some time. Using Glisten&Glow HK Girl Top Coat did not diminish the holo effect one bit.

Final thoughts: I so far only had only silver holos that came with an attitude - think Nfu Oh 61 or Fnug Psychedelic. Extraordinaire holo with zero wear. Both of them literally fall off by themselves. Not so Colors by Llarowe Silver - not only it throws breathtaking holo rainbows into your face, you can also wear it for a full day and not experience chips or dents or what have you. And this is by painting it on a regular Base Coat - no Aqua Base Coat needed here!!!

I ordered Colors by Llarowe with Llarowe.

I look forward to reading your comments - thanks for visiting!!!
Christine