Crows Toes Muspelheim

Happy Caturday my dear friends!!! I guess most of you know by now what a sucker I am when it comes to purple/blue/red multi-chromes so it is for sure no surprise that Crows Toes Muspelheim had to be mine, mine, mine ;-)

There were quite a number of pictures floating around when Crows Toes launched their latest collection and I was so good - I only got Muspelheim (yes, am patting my own shoulder here). Muspelheim is a beautiful purple/blue/brownish gold shifting multi-chrome with scattered holo pigments throughout.

 outdoors in the sun

I posted this on Instagram - Muspelheim and my wallet look so well next to each other

I applied one coat of Crows Toes Muspelheim over KBShimmer Right as Rain except on my middle finger where I applied three coats of Muspelheim on its own. The formula was sheer as expected from those multichromes and as you can see in the above pictures, the difference whether you layer it over a similar base color or build it up on its own is minimal. The dry time was quite fast but the polish remained dentable for a good hour or so after applying the Top Coat.

Final thoughts: And now on to the fact that had me push back this post for quite some time now. The surface dries so gritty due to the holo particles. And if worn on its own it is Top Coat hungry - if I can decipher my notes correctly, I have something like three coats of Top Coat (Glisten&Glow HK Girl) over my middle finger and two coats on all others. I have to admit that this is quite a flaw in my books - there we go all the way to smoothen the surface of our nails to display multichromes at their best and then they come gritty? For me a no-go sadly because the concept and the color of Crows Toes Muspelheim is just awesome. Oh well, there cannot only be besties out there, right?

I ordered Crows Toes Muspelheim with Llarowe.

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

KBShimmer Beach Please and Shore Thing from the 6th Anniversary Collection

So my dear readers! Since quite a bunch of stuff has accumulated on my kitchen/polish table I have to leave safe boundaries and show you more than one polish per post - at least today.

I am sure most of you have seen the threesome pretties by KBShimmer created for their 6th Anniversary. I have picked the two creams for me - Beach Please the boldest blue leaning pink before edging into neon-magenta territory and Shore Thing a "short of neon" turquoise which reminds me strongly, very strongly indeed, of Illamasqua Nomad (I have given this one on to a friend who was craving for it so unfortunately I cannot show comparisons). Let's get down to polish business:

I applied two coats of KBShimmer Beach Please over my regular Base Coat which currently is Nail Pattern Boldness Digital Hydration (a ridge filler). I found the formula a smidgen thin and I had to be wary to not flod my nailbeds but carefully wiping off the brush at the rim of the bottle sorted all out. The first coat turned out quite sheer and even streaky due to the aforementioned but the second coat which I dared to apply medium thick, provided the opacity I love to see on my nails with such bold colors. Dry time clearly is on the fast side and I definitely would recommend to spruce up the shine with KBShimmer Clearly on Top.

isn't this just glowing like neon?

I also applied two coats of KBShimmer Shore Thing again over my regular ridge filling Base Coat. Same story as for Beach Please. And with this one I had an amazing experience: I managed to get my thumb really dented not a big dent but it was deep and it was already past 10 pm and I was in no mood whatsover to restart business with my thumb. I did some soft pushing and shoving and could actually close the dent, slapped on another coat of KBShimmer Clearly on Top and now look at that: no traces left of that dent that once sat square in the middle of my nail - how amazing is THAT? In my humble opinion this speaks of true quality and excellent performance of both the nailpolish AND the Top Coat.

Since I wear my polishes hardly ever for more than a day, I cannot give you an account on longevity but after a full day of wear at the office of both, Beach Please and Shore Thing I could not detect a single nail with tip wear much less a chip or any other signs of wear, I guess once more both of these are big thumbs up for looking gorgeous for a couple of days.

I ordered KBShimmer Beach Please and Shore Thing from Harlow & Co.

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

Powder Perfect Lake Lyn - a blogger made me buy this Take 1

Hello naillacqueristas! How is your week going? I for sure am back at full steam at work with everyone being back from vacation all charged and on a roll. It's been a while since I introduced a new to me brand and today I have a new to me brand that I purchased after having seen reviews - multiple reviews that is - over at My Nail Polish Online. Of course given my low-buy intention I was not right jumping on the bandwagon and I missed the launch at Harlow & Co and by the time I finally placed my order of course my first choices were gone - lucky me - I ended up getting Lake Lyn. This is a denim blue-with-hints-of-teal jelly and then there is so much going on in there: copper glitter in various sizes and turquoise iridescent glitters in small and medium that throw tiny holo beams when hit by the sun:

 outside in the shade

I applied two coats of Powder Perfect Lake Lyn over Nail Pattern Boldness Digital Hydration. It is a jelly so this says it all about the formula. However, the application was purrrrfect - so easy to control and the polish went just where I wanted it to - it was a breeze and dry time was really quick. A bonus: the surface of your nails will be nearly smooth - one coat of Glisten&Glow HK Girl was totally sufficient to turn Powder Perfect Lake Lyn into a high shine glossy beauty.

Final thoughts: Powder Perfect Lake Lyn has won my heart over instantly. And one of the reasons why I could not get myself into swatching as I was physically revolting against the thought of removing it - there you have it - LOL!!!

I ordered Powder Perfect Laky Lyn with Harlow & Co.

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

Christine <3

Different Dimensions 7 Years Of College Down The Drain from Llarowe's A Box Indied of August

Happy Humpday dear readers!!! And yayyy I nearly made it within the week - I am through all of the polishes that came with Llarowe's A Box Indied for August TO-DAY!!!! I end my review of the August Box with presenting the awesome 7 Years Of College Down The Drain by Different Dimension. This is what lip stains are for lips - it is a polish stain because I cannot say that it is a jelly, well it probably is but then there is so much going on in there like golden and pink flakies and then the whole sheer tint is filled with green/blue iridescent micro particles. Confused? Just look:

I applied four coats of Different Dimension 7 Years Of College Down The Drain over my regular Base Coat. Don't be shocked about those four coats - I started out with an extremely irregular first coat and it took me all of those four coats to even out things. So you totally get away with three coats. However, this guy is not meant to be opaque, but to gleam translucent. The formula is so workable and easy to apply despite all the stuff that swims in there. Dry time is fast and the surface of your nails will be smooth and shiny. I finished the mani with KBShimmer Clearly on Top.

Final thoughts: I am wowed by Llarowe's A Box Indied for August - each and every polish in this months' box had me squealing, throwing my hands up in the air in delight and what have you. Well maybe with one exception but that is just me and my taste and has nothing to do with either color or formula. Oh and of course another word or two on Different Dimensions 7 Years Of College Down The Drain: I am so happy to add yet another shade to my Different Dimensions family - I tend to neglect that Indie brand for I don't know what reason but they come up with such awesome and unique shades it is just amazing.

I got Different Dimension 7 Years Of College Down The Drain is part of Llarowe's A Box Indied for August and exclusively available with that box only.

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

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

Girly Bits Food Fight from Llarowe's A Box Indied for August

Happy Monday my dear readers!!! Here in Switzerland we seemed to have gotten all the summer rage there was for us from February to June (those months were actually gorgeous) and now we are having the spring we missed out on - oh well - plenty of time to catch-up on untried nailpolish and unseen movies, right?

Last Wednesday I was quite bold in stating something like "showing all polishes that came in Llarowe's A Box Indied within a week" - ooopsie - only 2 more days to go of that said week, time to take a seat and look at Girly Bits Food Fight. Already my last Girly Bits polish (Man Size Love) was catapulting me into a new nailpolish galaxy of exitement. Now Food Fight my dear readers is leaving me as an inarticulate heap of delight. Looking at the bottle, it doesn't really give away it's beauty completely but then you get that concrete grey jelly on your nail, see the green/blue iridiscending glitters flow from your brush onto your nails and the myriad of micro holo particles start to twinkle and sparkle interspersed with small copper glitter and you know, you are lost. Well of course this is overly dramatic but then I can get floored and squealing in delight over something as simple as nailpolish - but I get ahead of me here, have a look:

 and outside in the shade - just look like those iridescent glitters - swooooooon….

I applied three effortless coats of Girly Bits Food Fight over my regular Base Coat. The consistency is signature jelly and the glitters flow well dispensed and easily onto the nail. The dry time is fast to normal and the surface is slightly uneven due to the glitters. But surprise, surprise, this is no Top Coat eater - one coat of Glisten&Glow HK Girl was enough to keep that guy shiny and smooth for three days.

Final thoughts: I mean WOW, just WOW - what an absolute marvel that is!!! And I have to admit that I probably would not have bothered getting it if I would have seen pictures of the bottle only and if it would not have been part of A Box Indied and oh boy, what I would have missed.....

I subscribe to Llarowe's A Box Indied which means that you get one box a month holding five items of Indie wonders for 50 US Dollars. So far, this splurge was worth every penny - I discovered so many beautiful polishes and great brands that I probably would have given a pass elsewise.

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

Dance Legend Enamel Color No 332

Hello my dear nailpolish friends!!! I admit I have been dragging my feet writing up posts, there were just too many ideas tumbling round my head and I could not get myself to decide on what to show you. Also I had some quite awesome stuff on my nails which kept me from swatching - I just could not get myself removing the pretties - one of them is todays pick Dance Legend Enamel Color No 332. Now there was quite a hype in the nailpolish universe about the Dance Legend Multi Chromes, about their holos, prisms, new prisms and so on. But that brand has also an incredible amount of cream, crelly and jelly collections that get a lot less attention outside Russia or so it seems to me. Cruising Llarowe's site some weeks back I stumbled over No. 332 in their Enamel Color line, a perfect grass green high shine cream and since I have been whining and complaining about the lack of straight forward green creams available I had to snag that little beauty:

and one picture taken indoors in daylight

I applied three coats of Dance Legend No 332 over my regular Base Coat. The formula is a hybrid between a cream and a crelly like the pigmentation is that of a cream, the consistency that of a crelly. I had a little struggle with some polish flooding on my index (as you can still see in my pictures, no amount of clean-up or editing pictures would get all traces erased). This is mostly due to the long brush of Dance Legend polishes paired with the formula and me not wiping off the brush at the rim of the bottle carefully. Of course you could get away at two coats - it provides a decent opacity - but I just wanted to get more saturation and vibrancy from that green and went for a third coat. The dry time was pretty decent and the finish pretty shiny. I finished this mani with KBShimmer Clearly on Top.

And then I wanted to add something make-upey: Yun from The Polish Hideout stated in a comment that she likes to read my thoughts on make-up as she also is loving simple and fast best, just like me. Today I want to share one of my holy grail/staple items that is both fast and efficient: colorless lipliner. Mine is from Dior - I use it since many years and while now a lot cheaper alternatives pop up left and right, I sort of stayed faithful with it. Why a clear lipliner? Because IMO you end up every so often missing just that one color of liner in your collection that you would need. Now this little guy here has solved me from ever ranting about the right color of liner again. No matter what I put on my lips, this is my liner. Not to mention that the Dior Universal Lipliner Pencil really gets the job done. It prevents ANY lip color from bleeding on me. At the same time my lips don't look unfinished or "border-less" if you know what I mean. It cannot get better than that, right?

Here you see me about halfway through the day having just reapplied some Gloss Volupte without repainting my contours and look how it works - no staining around the edges from my earlier application. But as said, I am not correcting the shape of my lips - this might have quite some impact

Please note that this is just my very own opinion based on the experience I made with this product over the years and I do not correct the shape of my lips but just frame them to prevent the lip product to flow all over my face. I also haven't tried any other brands, so I cannot really tell if this is any better or worse than cheaper stuff or other high-end brands.

I ordered Dance Legend Enamel Color No 332 with Llarowe.

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