Elevation Polish ‘Haba Xueshan’ and Cirque ‘Never Nude’

Hiiiii everybody. So. I haven’t posted in a little while and confession time: I have totally not been taking care of my nails and have chewed them down to nubbins and they look ridiculously awful. Oh well, I’m sharing pictures of them anyway! Because this polish combo is just too awesome not to share with you all. I’m talking about Cirque’s ‘Never Nude’ topped with Elevation Polish’s ‘Haba Xueshan.’

Now imagine this on super elegant, pretty nails when you look at this picture:

Ermahgerd. I love it so much. I actually wore this on my nails for like four days straight, and I typically get antsy and want new polish on after a day.

I kept trying to wear Cirque ‘Never Nude’ on its own, and I just didn’t love it for some reason, but couldn’t figure out why. My husband finally pointed out what it was: “That looks like a formal polish,” he remarked. “Like you’re going to a ball or something.” And that’s totally what it was. It was too elegant for me, especially when all I wear is jeans and Minnetonkas on a daily basis.

So that’s when I decided to top it with Elevation Polish ‘Haba Xueshan,’ and it suddenly all came together. Topping the champagne-colored holo with this salt-and-pepper matte glitter gave it a kick of quirky.

My only complaint about Elevation Polish’s ‘Haba Xueshan’ is that when someone asked me what polish I was wearing I would be like, “Uh…ha. I have no idea how to pronounce what I’m wearing right now. But it looks good, right?”

Elevation Polish can be found here, and Cirque Polish here. They both ship promptly and are fantastic quality.

Have a happy weekend everyone! I’m sorry for the lack of posts lately. I’m sure no one’s even noticed but I feel bad for the inconsistency! I’ve been busy on other writing projects and my nails haven’t gotten enough attention as of late. Anyways, happy Saturday and don’t forget to do something that makes you smile today!

St. George by A England

Alohaaaaa polish people! It’s a breezy summer day in SoCal and I have had a lot of coffee and feel the kind of hyperfeel that makes me want to skip down the beach belting songs from The Sound of Music. But because that is generally considered uncool behavior, instead I’ll channel that energy into this blog post. Hurrah! EVERYBODY DANCE NOW.

Okay, sorry. I am totally going to be cool now. Reining it in!

So today I have St. George by indie maker A England. Oh St. George. You are gorgeous.

St. George in direct sunlight.

After the first swipe of this polish on my nail I paused, leaned back and blurted out, “Oh, snap.” It’s a freaking one-coater, people. THIS IS ONE COAT ON MY NAILS.

St. George indoors (low-light), continuing its reign of awesomeness.

There’s a rich depth to this polish – the way the scattered holos interact with the deep, dark teal is mesmerizing. I couldn’t truly capture the intriguing complexity of this polish with my camera – just trust me that you’ll know what I mean once you try this polish in person. It’s stunning.

For UK residents, A England can be found at their personal website. For the rest of us, you can find A England at Llarowe, or check A England’s Where to Buy. I have tried several A England polishes now and I can tell you they are some of the highest quality polishes I have come across. I have yet to be disappointed!

Now excuse me. I can feel my coffee fading and I must replenish. Then I think I’m going to do some double-time tae bo in my living room or climb a tree or something. Whoosh! Zoom! Polish Fox out.

Love Letter to Kurt Vonnegut by Scofflaw Nail Varnish

Are you guys sick of Scofflaws yet? Because I have one more to show you. I’m sorry, I just can’t help it! I’ve been on such a Scofflaw kick lately – they’re just great quality and so much fun.

So today I have one final Scofflaw to share with you – a limited edition, blue-grey, literary inspired polish called “Love Letter To Kurt Vonnegut.”

Two coats, smoothed with topcoat.

Even though I have yet to really connect with Vonnegut like some people do (I feel like it will happen for me some day! I just need more time to understand him), I couldn’t resist buying this polish since I am a giant literature nerd.

It actually dried with a bit of a textured finish, and I was surprised to find I liked that about it. I’m not a huge fan of the ‘sand’ polish movement going around right now – it’s so in-your-face lumpy and bumpy and kind of gives me the jeebies. But this was a very subtle sort of pebbly texture. You can see what I mean in this second picture:

Two coats, no topcoat (slightly textured finish).

It’s nice, right? Really subtle and actually pretty cool.

The color of this polish is also just gorgeous. It’s a velvety blue with undertones of periwinkle and grey – it’s a very calming shade. There are glinting gold flecks and tiny black glitter peppered throughout.

This polish is a limited edition and is already sold out at Scofflaw Varnish’s etsy shop, but it will be sold at Llarowe. So sign up for an email notification or keep an eye on restock dates for Llarowe if you’re interested, because this polish will go fast.

Later gators!

‘Huangshan’ by Elevation Polish

Hi all! So today I’ve got a bright and sunny polish to share with you – Elevation Polish’s ‘Huangshan,’ aka the polish I have no idea how to pronounce but is pretty to look at.

This is one coat ‘Huangshan’ over OPI ‘My Paprika Is Hotter Than Yours.’ It goes on smoothly and the yellow glitters just POP instantly.

Huangshan is a polish that stands out – definitely not one to wear if you are looking for something subtle. It’s not often you see a neon yellow glitter topper (by not often, I mean I never had before this), and it definitely catches people’s eyes.

It reminds me of bright summer afternoons, it reminded my husband of halloween, and it reminded a friend and coworker of mine of spin art (blast from the past! remember making spin art as a kid?). I love the wide range of ideas this polish evokes from different people.

This was my first experience with Elevation Polish, and I’m definitely pleased. I can’t wait to try this polish over a dark color next. Check out Elevation Polish’s bigcartel site if you want to see Huangshan and more!

A Scofflaw Trio

Hey guys! Remember me? I like to talk about indie polish and fight bears*? Anyways, I haven’t been around in a while. I’ve been off, doing non-polish related things. But I missed you all during my mini hiatus, and I missed making you listen to me blather on about indies, and I know you missed me too so WORRY NO MORE! I’m back with a big post featuring Scofflaw Nail Varnish. You may all heave a collective sigh of relief.

Up first I’ve got ‘Love Letter To Bea Arthur.’ I feel like this polish doesn’t get the love it deserves. It always seems to sell slower than other Scofflaws, and I don’t see it featured very often on blogs. Which is crazypants, because it’s awesome. It’s a spectacular ‘neutral’ or ‘nude’ that I could see being flattering on a lot of skin tones.

Do you know how hard it is to find a neutral that doesn’t fall into grandmother or boring territory? It’s difficult. Most of the times when I try a ‘neutral’ polish, my nails end up looking like they’ve closed their eyes and are napping. But ‘Love Letter To Bea Arthur’ is classy. My nails have shrugged on a dusty rose silk gown with layers of gold and plum peeking through; they’re sashaying all over town like a madam. This polish will make you feel fancy, but subtle-fancy. Try wearing it while smoking a long-stemmed cigarette and sighing, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”

(Also, I feel like I need to admit that I have absolutely no idea who Bea Arthur is. But I’m not googling it, because I like the imaginary classy lady I have made up in my head to go with this polish.)

Next up: David Bowie’s Bulge. Rawr.

For some reason, my camera refused to accurately capture this polish, but I didn’t realize until much later when I had uploaded the photos to my laptop. I imagine my camera snickering in the corner like, “Oh, you wanted pictures of this awesome dusty coral-red-orange polish? HAHA! Sorry, can’t do that for you. Hate you mucho! Muah!” Stupid camera.

That aside, this has become one of my absolute favorite polishes in my collection, and that’s not just because I am an insane David Bowie fan.

It’s a gorgeous polish – the hue is strikingly unique, a sort of faded, burned-out red. Yet, even while appearing ‘faded,’ it still pops with an eye-catching intensity on the fingers. I got several compliments when wearing this polish. And I’m talking compliments from other people, not just myself when I would wash my hands in front of a mirror and notice my nails and exclaim, “DAYUM GIRL! Your nails look GOOD!”

I wish I could have more accurately captured this elusive shade on camera, but seriously: one of my top ten favorites now.

Okay, I have one more Scofflaw to talk about, but I didn’t realize how excited I would be about blogging to you all again and I have talked way more than I meant to, so I’ll try to keep this last review short. This is Flotsam & Jetsam:

Sea green with turquoise and purple shards mixed in, making it sweet with a bite. The base color is delicate, but the shards give it an edge, and it’s all perfectly balanced. For some reason, it reminds of the eighties. I could imagine Jem of ‘Jem & The Holograms’ wearing this while working her undercover day job.

Jem is my NAME!

Totally radical.

SO. Anybody still here? If you are, let me close by saying this: you’re awesome, Scofflaw Nail Varnish is fantastic, and if you want to get Scofflaw on your totally tubular nails, you can find it at her etsy shop or Llarowe.

*Just kidding about the fighting bears part. I actually really like bears and don’t like fighting anything except for my husband when he tries telling me that pizza is not the best food in the world. Now look at this gif of an adorable bear with a mushroom.

DON’T FIGHT BEARS. They just want to eat mushrooms.

‘Deep Field’ by Emerald & Ash

I love space. It’s giant, it’s sparkly (I know, I’m getting pretty scientific here), it’s full of things we’re still learning about and it stretches the imagination. Sometimes on a really clear night I’ll stare up at the stars and feel that same sense of wonderment I felt as a kid, just totally wonderstruck by the vastness of night sky.

So when I first saw ‘Deep Field’ by Emerald & Ash, I knew I wanted it. Inspired by the photograph ‘Hubble Deep Field’ taken from observations by the Hubble Space Telescope, this polish is truly the best translation of space to lacquer I have ever seen. Check out the comparison – on the left is the original photograph ‘Hubble Deep Field,’ and on the right is Emerald & Ash’s ‘Deep Field’ polish:

That is just all kinds of awesome.

In fact, this polish is so awesome it’s almost…out of this world! Heh heh. Sorry, I couldn’t resist. Space puns are the best puns.

Adorable bottle, too!

Emerald & Ash just opened up shop a few weeks ago, but I have been a fan of hers for a while now. Her shop has been a long time in the planning, and her polishes have undergone a lot of use and testing before being listed. The quality of ‘Deep Field’ can attest to that – it’s a stunning choice of glitters, the base flows smoothly, and the quality of the polish overall is fantastic.

In addition to all that, Ashley (maker of Emerald & Ash) is extremely active in the nail polish community and just a nice person overall. Back when I was just getting into nail polish and learning what ‘indies’ even were, she took the time to tell me about different indie brands and different tips and things to look out for. So I’ve been thrilled to see how fantastic her polish is – she has put a lot of work, time and creativity into each one and it truly shows.

Emerald & Ash polishes can be found at her website, and ship promptly. Also, for any polish sold from her Armed Forces collection, $1 will be donated to the USO. So if you need a reason to buy new polish, there you go!

‘Let Them Eat…What?’ by Hare Polish

Hi all! I’ve been gone for a couple of very full weeks, but I am back now with a new polish to show you – ‘Let Them Eat…What?’ by Hare Polish.

‘Let Them Eat…What?’ is from Hare Polish’s most recent collection, The Last Queen Of France. There’s a lot of pretty polishes in this collection, but for some reason when I saw ‘Let Them Eat…What?’ it struck me on some weird emotional level. I think I must have had a stuffed animal resembling the colors of this polish when I was really little or something – the soft base combined with the pink and bright pop of orange stirs up this random nostalgia in me. And, uh, aside from that it’s just a cute polish.

I was shocked by how easily this polish applied considering what a glitter bomb it is. None of the glitter dragged – I usually have to dab a bit or push glitter with the brush to get it to settle perfectly, but this went on easy from the go. Awesome work on Hare Polish’s part!

Hare Polish has been one of my favorite brands since I first started getting into indies, and remains a favorite of mine today. It’s very cool to see how her products have continued to improve and grow with each collection; based off of my experience with ‘Let Them Eat…What?,’ I have a feeling The Last Queen Of France may be her best collection to date.

Her polishes can be found at her etsy shop, but they often sell out fast. I would recommend check out Llarowe - in addition to her new collection, Llarowe also carries polishes from her previous collections as well. They often sell out there as well, but you can sign up for email notifications so if there’s one you want you’ll know when it comes back in!

Wee Beasties by Scofflaw Nail Varnish

I changed my blog look! What do you guys think? Also, I’m doing a blog sale at the moment so check it out if you’re interested.

All right, now on to the varnish. I told you I would have greens coming up! So here we have ‘Wee Beasties,’ by Scofflaw Nail Varnish.

Wee Beasties is a dusty green base with a complimentary smeckling of glitters, ranging from gold and pale red to antiqued pink and burnt copper. It’s a creative and yet somehow calming combination, like standing at the edge of a green field specked with flowers on a warm afternoon and taking in a long, deep breath.

The packaging for Scofflaw Nail Varnish is fantastic. You can tell that every detail was well thought out. One particular element that I love is that every one of the polishes has a different image at the bottom of the bottle to go along with the name. Look at the little beastie on the Wee Beasties label! Awww. :3

This is the second Scofflaw polish I have tried, and I continue to impressed. Once again application was excellent, and it dried quickly. Some customers complained of her polishes smelling strange but I find I actually really like the smell – it’s the like the old smell of an antique trunk, or even the inside of a used bookstore. It’s actually a perk in my opinion.

Scofflaw Nail Varnish has a restock scheduled for March 17 at noon (CST), so keep an eye on her etsy shop because I am certain they are going to sell out quickly again.

Until next time, faithful readers! I hope you all have an exciting Tuesday. Eat something delicious and do a little dance on your break!

‘Chinese Lanterns’ by Lumina Lacquer

Happy Saturday all! The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and I’m finally starting to feel a bit better. Woohoo! But I shall resist getting sidetracked. On to polish related things!

Today it’s all about ‘Chinese Lanterns’ by indie maker Lumina Lacquer. It’s a jam packed glitter topper in a clear base.

One thick coat ‘Chinese Lanterns’ over Essie ‘School of Hard Knocks.’

Hearts? Check. Giant circles? Check. Little hexes? Check check. Bajillion different colors and sizes? CHECCCKKKK.

I layered this over a dusky color first, something that might resemble lanterns against an early evening sky. I was blown away by how much glitter comes out with absolutely no fishing involved. Every brush stroke was thick with glitter (thick in a really good way, not a gloopy way).

For my second base color, I wanted something that resembled warm candlelight, like the light that glows within the paper globe of a Chinese lantern.

One thick coat ‘Chinese Lanterns’ over A England ‘Holy Grail.’

I absolutely love how this polish looks over a lighter color like this. It made all the colors in ‘Chinese Lanterns’ pop and come to life. It’s an incredibly lively and vibrant combination.

This is my first Lumina Lacquer and overall I have absolutely no complaints. It was shipped to me quickly and was very easy to apply. One thing to note – the last time Lumina Lacquer did a restock, ‘Chinese Lanterns’ sold out quickly. So if it’s one you’re interested in, I would follow her facebook for restock updates. And check out her shop for other polishes she makes!

‘Dipping Chocolate’ by Model City Polish

I am sick AGAIN! This has been the season of me getting sick over and over and frankly I am sick of being sick. Harrumph.

Ahem, excuse me. Whining over now!

The nice thing about being sick is that it is giving me time to go through the pictures I have taken in the last week and start drafting more posts. Which is good, because today I have an awesome polish I have been wanting to share with you all for several days now but just haven’t had the time – a gorgeous holo called ‘Dipping Chocolate’ by Model City Polish.

Oh my GAH. The rainbow is strong in this one.

As soon as I tried Dipping Chocolate on I knew it would become one of my go-to polishes. A gorgeous, rich brown that would probably be flattering on any skin tone, with a kerblam amount of rainbow mixed in? OH lawd.

If tree sprites wore nail polish, this is the one they would wear. They would prance around the forest in their willowy dresses and clap their hands, flashing rainbow in the sunlight. Also, I don’t know a lot about tree sprites.

I apologize for not having a bottle shot in this post, but I actually took these pictures in the middle of hiking when my husband suggested I get a shot of my nails ‘in nature.’ He’s big into sports and not at all into polish, so when he takes the time to remark on my polish and suggest getting a picture of it, that’s a rare moment. That’s how awesome Dipping Chocolate is.

Also, can I emphasize that I took these pictures in the middle of hiking?? These pictures were after I had been wearing this polish for two days and had: a) driven for eight straight hours across California b) carried a bunch of luggage around c) went hiking in the woods and around a giant lake. This polish could fight an angry grizzly bear and walk out unharmed.

Nina (maker of Model City Polish) is very active in the nail polish community, which makes her even more awesome in my book. I’ve seen her donate to giveaways, share reviews and tips with others, and generally just be a super nice and supportive person. So I am stoked that I was finally able to try her polish and even more stoked (but not surprised, given what I’d heard from others) when I found out first hand how fantastic her polish is.

You can find her polishes at her etsy shop, and her facebook is here if you want to like it for updates. Check it out!