Native War Paints Pessimistic Protocol Droid

Today the polish I have to share with you is Native War Paints Pessimistic Protocol Droid, based on C-3PO, our favorite uptight protocol droid. He plays the straight man to R2-D2 and yes, is often pessimistic when faced with dire situations. But I guess given all that he's seen and been through, I can understand where he's coming from!

Pessimist Protocol Drois is described as a “holographic gold microglitter with specks of blue in a clear base.” Yup! The first coat was a bit sparse, but it built up nicely and I used three coats to make it opaque. The formula was good, maybe a titch thick but easy to apply. I wore this earlier in the month, but I don't recall having any problems with it at all. The only thing that stands out in my mind is that I do think this glitter was a bit thirsty and I needed to put on two layers of top coat to keep it completely smooth, though the microglitter finish was pretty smooth in and of itself.

Just like C-3PO when he's all shined up, Pessimistic Protocol Droid is suuuuuuper sparkly! It kind of freaked my camera out a little but, but I think you can appreciate it how gorgeous it is. I love how this looks on the nail-- it's a bit darker than a standard C-3PO gold but it's mesmerizing all the same. I couldn't stop staring at my nails while I was wearing it.

Darling Diva These Aren't The Droids You're Looking For

Ok, this technically could have gone in my famous Star Wars quotes section, buutttt it also makes the transition into my next little section: droids!! There are certain droids that have developed their own little personalities within the Star Wars universe and have become steadfast favorites of the fandom. In fact, R2-D2 and C-3PO in the original trilogy are pretty much our entry point into the universe until we meet up with Luke and they play critical roles throughout the series. To start off this week of droid inspired polishes, today I have Darling Diva There Aren't The Droids You're For, based off of R2-D2 and C-3PO and using Obi Wan Kenobi's memorable line from A New Hope.

I would describe These Aren’t The Droids You’re Looking For as a white crelly with blue, red, and gold glitter to represent our favorite droids. I probably should have turned this polish upside down before using it— it had been sitting for awhile and so some of the glitter was sticking the sides of the bottle. So it was a bit difficult to get some of the larger blue glitters out, but that probably would have been remedied if I had prepared better. Being a white crelly, the first coat was a bit sheer, but built up nicely. I did try to place a few glitters, but otherwise didn’t have any problems applying it. I used three coats to get the opacity I wanted.

And how could I resist making it matte?

Love this polish! It’s really cute and I love how the colors represent the droids. It does need a bit of a shake-up prior to use, but was generally easy to apply. I continue to impressed with Darling Diva polishes, and These Aren't The Droids You're Looking For is no exception!

HPB Present Neons and Neutrals: Polka Dots and Gradient

Hey all, taking a quick break from my Star Wars polishes to do the monthly HPB link-up! This month's theme is Neons and Neutrals-- a perennial favorite (for me at least)! I'm not sure what it is, but I love neons popping against a neutral background. It's just one of my favorite nail art themes and I wanted to try and squeeze a manicure in before it was over, even if it's not related to Star Wars!

I used a new to me brand for my neons: Pipedream Polish! The A Night In Vegas collection was a huge hit in the nail world (the words 'break the internet' come to mind) and was highly sought after.... And then it was disconntinued! I did manage to get my hands on a set, which have been sitting around for some months now. I figured now would be the perfect time to break them out! For my neutral I used Essie Cocktails and Coconuts, which is from the 2014 Resort Collection. Then I picked out Light of Day (a neon yellow), High Roller (neon green), and Happy Hour (neon turquoise) for my neons!

First I did a gradient on my ring finger-- this was a little bit difficult because both High Roller and Happy Hour acted fairly sheer when I was trying to sponge them on, but I got it eventually! Maybe not my greatest result, but I still think it looks pretty good! At that point, I was going to try and sponge a gradient over some vinyls on my other nails, but that ended up being a huge fail, so I moved to Plan B: polka dots! While it wasn't my go to, I think it works well and I wanted to have a couple different things going on!

And of course I needed to matte my manicure, because I'm obsessed right now:

My clean up skills are still not the best, even with liquid latex; sorry! Hope you enjoyed this manicure! And take a minute to peruse some of the other bloggers' work!

An InLinkz Link-up

Darling Diva Sith Lady

To wrap up my villains week (though you may see a few more polishes related to this theme if I can get my sith together, hah) I have Darling Diva Sith Lady! I'm honestly not quite sure who this polish refers to-- the first person who comes to mind for me is Asajj Ventress, who was a prominent villain in The Clone Wars series and while she wasn't technically a Sith, was a Dark Force user... so maybe there's another EU person I've missed, but so I'm going with Asajj.

Sith Lady is described as a "gorgeous multichrome that shifts from red through to gold. Add to this a healthy dose of holographic flakes and you have a polish fit for a Sith Lady." The first coat of Sith Lady was a bit sheer, but the second coat made it almost 100% opaque, which tend to be the nature of polishes like this. I added a third coat for good measure, though I probably could have gotten away with two. Not too thick or thin, and it applied easily.

Isn't this stunnning?! I don't think I ever get tired of these holographic duochromes because there is so much going on. It helps that Seattle is having a lot of partly cloudy/sunny weather too, so I can enjoy both finishes throughout the day. In any case, I love how rich this looks!

Here's a quick shot to try and catch the shift (still hard to see, it's more apparent in real life... I wish my photos were better!):

So there you have it! Hope you enjoyed this shifty duochrome beauty! 

Level Up Lacquer Captain Phasma and NerdLacquer Phasma

I guess technically I could have made this a Two-fer Tuesday but instead we get... Two-fer Thursday...? Roll with it! Today I have two polishes dedicated to one of the newer villains in the Star Wars universe-- a lady to boot! Level Up Lacquer Captain Phasma and Nerdlacquer Phasma are inspired by the eponymous lady storm trooper introduced in The Force Awakens, identifiable by her tall stature and shiny chrome armor. I believe she is the first female villain we've seen on the big screen. Unfortunately, her role wasn't that large, so hopefully she gets an expanded role and more depth in future movies.

Captain Phasma is described as a "silver/grey cream with a linear holo effect." I would say that in my experience, this polish definitely has a more jelly like consistency than what I would expect from a creme, so to be a smidge more descriptive, I would call it a stormy grey holographic jelly. The first coat was pretty sheer, and this had a slightly thicker consistency that made it want to drag. I used three coats to make it opaque, though it does still have a squishy appearance on the nail.

Phasma is described as "a 'chrome plus' which contains the usual foily chrome bits plus a crapload of silver, white, and holo microglitter, plus a dash of linear holo which doesn't really display to full effect, but does add a bit of opacity. As you see in the pics, this is like, the sparkliest silver nail
polish ever. Kinda demi-matte velvety-feeling on its own, but very glassy slick with topcoat." The first coat was fairly sheer, but easy to apply. It was a bit on thick side, but wasn't difficult. It dried down quickly to a matte finish and built up nicely.

I like both of these! They are similar but not the same-- again, a lot of creativity from various indie makers! I like the darker, harder color of Captain Phasma and the intense sparkle from Phasma. No complaints here! As I said earlier, I hope Phasma gets an expanded role in future films; it's nice to have women in prominent positions on both sides (good or bad)!

Which one of these is your favorite? 

NerdLacquer Kylo

Now back to actual villains, today's polish, NerdLacquer Kylo, is the bad big fan from the newest film. I'm not sure how spoilery I should get, although probably if you actually cared about spoilers, you've probably already seen the movie, but I'll be careful (I get that it can be hard to see thing in a timely manner, believe me)! Anyway, Kylo Ren is one of the new villains in the new trilogy and spends a lot of time tromping around in all black and a mask, trying to emulate the late, unlamented Darth Vader. I think there was a lot of complaining in the fandom about Kylo not really being an effective villain, or being a lame retread, which I won't get into here: I think Kylo has a lot of potential and actually I found his rages to be quite scary so I hope he gets more complex as the newest trilogy moves forward.

Moving on to the polish, Kylo is described as a "glowy and menacing wicked blood red with flame and violet (violent?) shimmer and black microglitter." I like that this polish is red and not a predictable black (given that Kylo idolizes Darth Vader)-- I feel like the red captures Kylo Ren's rage, frustration and insecurity a lot better. Formula-wise, this was good! Nice consistency, not too thick or too thin, with a good distribution of glitter/shimmer and it went on easily and built up nicely. I used three coats. The shimmer adds so much depth to this polish, I love it! I especially love I can actually see the violet shimmer, as I feel like it could be overwhelmed by all the red.

In the end, I like Kylo a lot better as a polish than the unfortunate Hocchhh Kssshhhhh from Monday, though overall Darth Vader still beats Kylo Ren out as a better villain; time will tell if Kylo really steps up to the plate as a villain. Hopefully, like his namesake polish here, he gets more depth and interest!

Level Up Lacquer The Dark Side

We're still looking at the villains of Star Wars, but today I'm taking a slight shift to focus on the power that binds them all together: The Dark Side (of the Force). While not all the villains in the SW universe are Force users, the leaders like Darth Sidious and Darth Vader have a strong connection to the Dark Side and it is a thread that runs through all the movies. To this end, Level Up Lacquer made a polish, The Dark Side, to give her interpretation of this power.

The Dark Side is described as a "black jelly with a purple red shimmer and red and black holographic glitters. This polish looks great over black, or can be built up over several coats." This is pretty accurate! The polish is really really really sheer with just one coat; I was a little freaked out when I first applied it but decided to soldier on. It built up nicely once the foundation was laid, so to speak, and subsequent coats had more glitter and gave a nice final look. I used three coats here.

And because I now have a matte top coat I like and is readily accessible (seriously, organize people!), I'm pretty much matting all my glitters. Why not?!

I'll be honest, I was really worried when I first applied it. But I kept going and was ultimately rewarded, so whew! This is a very pretty polish and I love the mix of glitters. I continue to enjoy the polishes I bought from Level Up Lacquer-- I look forward to showing you some more later!

NerdLacquer Hocchhh Kssshhhhh

Technically this could be a quote, I suppose, but I'm using NerdLacquer Hocchhh Kssshhhhh to kick off a week of Star Wars Villains! And today we're starting with the biggest and baddest villain of them all, Darth Vader! *cue Imperial March* "Hocchhh Kssshhhhh" is supposed to be the sound of Darth Vader's breathing. Say it out loud and it will totally make sense (well, as long as you have actually seen Darth Vader before). But Darth Vader is the most intimidating, fearsome villain the Star Wars universe has produced and made a huge stir when he first appeared on screenin A New Hope.

Hocchhh Kssshhhhh is described as a "sheer black with black hex, black square, black bar, and black micro glitter, finished off with big charcoal holo hex. The micro holo shimmer scattered throughout is The Force." It is on the sheer side, but does build up. I didn't have the easiest time applying it-- the glitters wanted to clump together and I had a difficult time spreading it around.

I decided it might be easier to see the different glitters if I matted Hocchhh Kssshhhhh, so I picked up a new matte top coat (Revlon) and it's working much better than my Zoya one, so I think there's something off with the my bottle and it's not just user error. Anyway, matte: 

Ok, I have to be honest... I was not in love with this as I wanted to be. The first coat was pretty sheer (which is in the description) and the glitters were a bit clumpy and it was a little thick and hard to spread around. Plus... I just don't know if the glitter mix really speaks to me. I think it looks pretty but I just don't love it. Which is a shame, but it is what it is!

Darling Diva I'd Just As Soon Kiss A Wookiee

Ok, last but not least, today I have Darling Diva I'd Just As Soon Kiss A Wookiee. This is my last Darling Diva polish for a little bit, but you can obviously tell which collection most of the quotes came from. This is another line from ESB, when Han is trying to get Leia to admit she has feelings for him, and Leia isn't quite ready to take that step yet, hah.

I'd Just As Soon Kiss A Wookiee is a grape purple jelly that is packed with holographic shimmer and glitter. The formula is definitely a touch thick, which makes it a little difficult to work with because it wants to drag a little bit-- not helped by the fact that I had a very busy week and swatched this quickly instead of wearing it as a full manicure and taking a bit more time. Despite that, it dries fairly quickly and was easy to build up. I used three coats here.

I'm a bit bummed I only got to swatch this-- I'll definitely be returning to it in the future because it's so pretty. The formula was not my favorite, but I probably need some more time to play with it instead of trying to swatch it in a hurry. The color is gorgeous, and definitely deserves a full manicure. I'm so glad I picked this one up, plus the name will always make me laugh!

With that, I'm wrapping up the quote section of my Star Wars polishes... join me next week for villains!

Darling Diva Scruffy Looking Nerf Herder

Today's polish, Darling Diva Scruffy Looking Nerf Herder is technically only part of a quote, but it counts (or I'm counting it, anyway). It's the last part of a quote from Leia, who is describing Han as a "stuck-up... half-witted... scruffy looking nerf herder!" to which Han woundedly replies: "who's scruffy looking?" Classic. (This is another quote from ESB, which truly yielded some of the best lines in the original trilogy and series in general.)

Scruffy Looking Nerf Herder is described as a "complex brick red holo is full of sparkle and depth." As a brick red, there are definitely brown tones to this polish, and I think the balance is pretty even between the red and the brown (I feel like my photos lean slightly brown, but in real life I think the red is the more dominant tone). The formula was a breeze. Not too thick or too thin, and it applied easily without any issue.

I fell in love with this polish, even though I did not expect to. Yes, it's pretty, but I didn't think I would full on love it. Scruffy Looking Nerf Herder is bold, sexy, and vampy-- without being too much of any of those. It's very wearable and I wore it upwards of 3 days, which is pretty unusual for me (though it also had to do with not being able to change my polish at all during that period). In any case, I think this color is perfect for a polish describing Han Solo (even if it is sarcastic) and it's another one of my (surprise) favorites from this collection.

Darling Diva I Know

Oh this one... Of course I had to include Darling Diva I Know in my famous quotes section (and of course, also from ESB). The line "I know" came about as an ad lib-- rumor has it that Lucas had written a more cliched response for Han when Leia announces she loves him just prior to Han being frozen in carbonite but when they went to film the scene, Harrison Ford either forgot his line or decided spur of the moment that Han Solo would say something sassy, and "I know" became a part of film history. (The story also goes that Lucas wasn't very happy about it, but was overruled... and sorry Lucas, but it's honestly a lot better than some sappy response.)

I Know is a deep metallic magenta holo with blue microglitter in it. Because it is more metallic in nature, it does want to leave streaks when you have excess polish on your brush/nail, but they are pretty easy to take care of. The formula was a little bit on the thick side, but not bad. It was pretty easy to apply in general, though I think it did thicken up a bit as I was using it. Still, it went on easily enough. My only quibble is that it dried a little bumpy looking, either because of the microglitter or maybe my coats were too thick (I think it's the microglitter but maybe someone has a better explanation). It's a small quibble. I used three coats in all, though I feel like you could probably get away with two. 

I think I Know is just gorgeous. For some reason, to me, this color just works for the quote. I'm not quite sure why that is, because this isn't a color that's prevalent in the movie at all. Maybe it's because it's a romantic color, but not totally traditional? We'll go with that. I love how deep and rich it is, and the blue microglitter gives it some added depth and interest. It feels right!

Darling Diva Do or Do Not, There Is No Try

Today's famous quote also comes from The Empire Strikes Back! (Actually, lot of my quote inspired polishes are based off ESB... But given that it's the best movie in the series, perhaps it's not a surprise.) Darling Diva Do Or Do Not, There Is No Try is spoken by Yoda to Luke, during his brief training on Dagobah. Luke still doesn't believe in The Force and anticipates failure. It's a great moment. And a classic line you can still hear repeated to this day. Believe, I plan on using this on my boys when they are older.

DODNTINT (yes, another abbreviation) is described as a "dirty green apple base full of holo, metallic flakies of assorted colors and sizes and rose gold shimmer." Check! This polish has sooooo much going on, it's a joy to look at! Someone call CoverGirl; this is real Star Wars inspired polish. I love that the flakies, holo and shimmer add a ton of depth to this polish; it's unique and interesting. Formula was great; maybe a tad thick but easy to apply. The first coat was a touch sheer, but not too bad, and it built up nicely. I used three coats to achieve the look I wanted, though I probably could have gotten away with two.

I wanted to matte this, but either my Zoya Matte Velvet topcoat is not good or I don't know how to apply matte topcoat (is there a trick I don't know?!) because I am having issues with it actually matting anything. Soooooo sorry, missed opportunity there. I'm sure this would look awesome matteified.

While I am not a fan of greens, I love the complexity of this polish. Plus, the murky green of the base works so well for Yoda and the Dagobah swamp where he resides. Verdict: love it, why aren't all polishes this cool?!

Colors by Llarow Luke, I Am Your Father

Today's famous Star Wars quote polish is actually a misquote, but whatever. Colors by Llarowe Luke, I Am Your Father is based off what might possibly be the most famous (and most misquoted) line out of the Star Wars movies. The actual line is "no, I am your father!" but it certainly sounds more dramatic with the name in front of it. This is the last polish from the May 2015 A Box, Indied. This was such a revelation when The Empire Strikes Back came out and shapes a lot of what happens in Return of the Jedi.

Luke, I Am Your Father is an inky black holographic polish with black microglitter (though the microglitter is a bit hard to see when the polish is opaque). The holographic finish has a strong blue flash and has a strong linear flash. For a CbL polish, I found this to be a bit on the sheer side, which is a bit unusual but it wasn't difficult to work with. It applied easily and built up nicely; I found I needed three coats to get the opacity I wanted. 

Of course, Seattle has had gorgeous weather-- up until the night I applied this! So I wasn't able to get any photos in the sunlight, argh. But I did grab a quick photo with my iPhone so you can (maybe) see the blue tones to it.

This was a really gorgeous polish and I think fits the quote perfectly. The darkness of the polish with the sparkle of the holo-- it works so well! I really like how even in lower lighting conditions you could still see the holo and it was really gorgeous in natural light as well. This is a winner in my books!

Darling Diva Help Me Obi Wan Kenobi, You're My Only Hope

To kick off this week of Star Wars polishes, I'm focusing on famous quotes from the series. Today's polish (and quote) is Darling Diva Help Me Obi Wan Kenobi, You're My Only Hope. I don't know if this is the most famous line from the series (wait for tomorrow's quote) but I would argue that this is the line of dialogue that eventually propels Luke on his hero's journey and sets up the plot for the first movie.

HMOWKYMOH (yes, I'm abbreviating it because that is a mouthful [handful?] to type repeatedly) is described as a "soft white polish full of blue shimmer and holo sparkle." It is also described as being sheer, and I would say this is a spot-on description all the way around. The formula is good, though-- a touch on the thick side but easy to apply. And it is indeed sheer, but builds up nicely. I used three coats and while it isn't completely opaque, has a nice delicate look to it without being too thick. Personally, I think this polish benefits from not being 100% opaque and so I don't mind that there is some visible nail line. You could layer this over a light color if you wanted it to be opaque.

This polish is so gorgeous; I fell completely in love with it. It has a very ethereal feel to it, just like Princess Leia's hologram in the movie (and also a bit translucent). It's soft and delicate and looked very elegant and ladylike. I felt like a hand model while I was wearing it, hah! I think this is one of my favorite polishes so far! 

CoverGirl Speed of Light

And here's the last of my polishes inspired by the Millennium Falcon, CoverGirl Speed of Light. Ok, honestly, I don't know if Speed of Light was inspired by the Falcon, but here's my reasoning: this shade of grey reminds me of putty grey color they used for all the ship models back when they were making the original trilogy in the 70's and 80's. One of which is the Falcon... ok, maybe it's a tenuous connection at best but that's my story and I'm sticking to it! You can't tell me otherwise!

I'm pretty sure my feelings on the CoverGirl x Star Wars collaboration are well-known, but can be summed in a word: disappointing. The colors they picked didn't see very special or unique (at least with the nail polishes) and honestly, given what indie makers have been able to do with the Star Wars theme, it lacks any sort of creativity or originality. Lucas pushed the boundaries of movie making back in the 70's when he first made Star Wars and this whole collection is just blah! Not that it stopped me from buying a few things with the Star Wars logo on them, but overall, this was a collection that could have been amazing and groundbreaking and instead was completely lackluster. Wasted opportunities!!

But I'll spare you my ranting; let's get back to Speed of Light! This polish is what I would call a putty grey creme. It's a little bit of a chameleon-- in some lights it looks more grey and in other it takes on a putty beige tone. The formula was just ok-- it's a little bit on the thin/watery side, though was pigmented well enough. It did want to streak a bit as a put it on, though it seemed to level off ok if I used a light touch. I ended up using three coats.

I'll be honest: I'm not terribly overwhelmed by Speed of Light. It's an ok neutral and the only thing that really makes me love it is my nostalgia for the old models in the original trilogy. I'm not quite sure why CoverGirl picked this color, but they did. I don't think it looks great with my skin tone, which doesn't help either.

And with that I will have a one day break tomorrow and be back on Monday with some polishes based off famous quotes from the Star Wars movies! 

NerdLacquer But She's Got It Where It Counts

I debated put this polish in the famous Star Wars quotes section, but technically this quote is a little more obscure so I figured I would pair it with yesterday's Dollish Polish Millennium Falcon, because NerdLacquer But She's Got It Where It Counts comes from Han defending his ship to Luke, who is a bit dismayed when he sees it in A New Hope and calls her a piece of junk. (Though seriously, Luke?! You've never even left Tatooine so let's cool it with the judgements, mmkay?)

NerdLacquer But She's Got It Where It Counts is described as a "concrete grey with silver microshimmer, plus silver, white, charcoal and rust glitter." Despite having this polish for at least a year already and the fact that it's been sitting in a drawer for awhile, it was still pretty easy to use! I did give it a few good rolls and turn it upside down for a time to redistribute pigment and glitter, but didn't have any issues getting glitter out of the bottle. The formula wasn't too thick or too thin, there was nice glitter distribution and you could either do three thin coats or two thicker coats depending on the look you wanted. I ended up doing two coats because a) it covered pretty well and b) I was lazy and didn't want to do a third. I think it looks fine with two.

I felt like this polish needed to matted, because... it's based on a junky looking old spaceship. Of course it needs to be matted! But could I find a freaking bottle of matte topcoat? Hell no. (Hmmm I think this is why people organize their shit.) But finally I found my Zoya Matte Velvet topcoat and went to town. (Side note: I found a needed a couple coats of this to really matte it... also, you're only getting three fingers because I messed up my pinky!)

This is a funky combo of glitters but I think it really accurately captures the feeling of the Millennium Falcon. She may not the shiniest ship on the block, but she's unique and beautiful in her own way and that counts for a hell of a lot more! 

Dollish Polish Millennium Falcon

Switching gears again, the next few polishes are dedicated to one of the most iconic science fiction star ships out there: the Millennium Falcon! (Or if you've ever watched Robot Chicken, the Aluminum Falcon... just watch the video below.)

ANYWAY.... the Millennium Falcon. Iconic space ship won on a gamble. Might not be appealing to the eye, but she is more than the sum of her parts! Dollish Polish Millennium Falcon is described as a "bright silver with loads of holographic glitter, which bursts into a rainbow of colors when the light catches it." Yes, that covers it! This version of the Millennium Falcon is the ship at its best-- shiny, fast-- the best damn ship in the galaxy. 

The formula on this was pretty good! It was a little sheer on the first coat, but built up nicely. I used three coats to make sure I had the coverage I wanted. It's sooooo sparkly and gorgeous. 

I don't really think my photos do this justice, but hopefully you can appreciate how sparkly this is! Granted, the Falcon isn't as beautiful as this polish, but I imagine this is how Han sees her. And frankly, probably how fans saw her when she showed up in The Force Awakens. I love how shiny and sparkly this is!