Purple Friday: Lollipop Posse Lacquer A Party for Calming All Your Nerves

Hey all! My probable last Purple Friday post! Tomorrow is the big day-- UW meets Alabama in the Peach Bowl as part of the college football playoffs! I feel like there's a lot riding on us to do well because the rest of the Pac-12 has been playing very poorly in their bowl games (overall the conference is 1-2 right now... not a pretty picture). The Dawgs are big underdogs in this game and most don't expect us to have a chance. I'm waffling being pessimistic (Alabama is so good, no one can beat them!) and optimistic (if anyone can beat them, Chris Peterson can!). Hard to know! Needless to say, my husband and I have a baby-sitter all lined up so we can go off and cheer on the Dawgs with some adult beverages. Hoping it's a good game, regardless of the outcome-- though of course I want the Dawgs to pull off the big upset! Let it be known that my husband picked this polish because of the name (which I picked because of the color, of course)-- it was this or one other polish so we'll see if this brings UW any luck!

This is my first experience with Lollipop Posse Lacquer.  I felt like the shipping took a really time, though to be fair I did order Thanksgiving Weekend, which is a busy time with sales and such. A Party for Calming All Your Nerves is from the Christmas Kiki collection and is described as a " matte, royal purple shade filled with blue-violet shifting shimmer." Yes, that's pretty spot on. The first coat was a bit sheer, but it built up. I wish it had been a bit more opaque but it wasn't bad. I used three coats here and there is maybe a hint of visible nail line but you can't really see it. In applying it again I might try to use slightly more polish on the second and third coats to really make it opaque. 

 Apparently I forgot to take pictures of my other hand pose without top coat! Whoops! I will try to get some later. I did add a top coat and you can really see how the shimmer pop!

This is a gorgeous color! I'm a little sad that it started off sheer but was happy it built up! The color is pretty stunning and I love both the matte and shiny finishes of this! The shimmer is really strong and I'm a sucker for that.

Go Dawgs! Beat the Crimson Tide! 

Level Up Lacquer Rebel Scum

I meant to sneak this in on Friday but forgot my SC card and was otherwise lazy or busy (mostly busy) this weekend, so you're getting this first thing Monday morning instead! It's no secret I'm a huge Star Wars fan (do you remember my month of Star Wars inspired nail polishes?!) so of course I have been eagerly anticipating Rogue One. This year my husband and I saw it right away and I loved it! It's very intense and emotional and I can't wait to see it again (one or two or three times). So I figured that I needed some sort of manicure to help celebrate. Looking through my stash, I grabbed a polish I didn't get to back in May; Level Up Lacquer Rebel Scum! It seemed appropriate given that the plot of this new movie revolves around the rebels stealing the plans to the Death Star.

Rebel Scum is inspired by the orange flight suits that rebel pilots wear. It's a shimmery orange jelly with white hexes and squares and gold triangle glitter. I was kind of afraid this would be sheer and the glitters would be a nightmare to apply-- I was partly right. I honestly think if I had been more on the ball and not waited until 10pm on Thursday night, I would have had fewer issues. The glitter in this polish sank and so my initial coat was mostly just base and almost no glitter. I finally turned it upside down and allowed the glitters to redistribute it was much easier to grab them with the brush and get them on my nail. So really I think it's mainly because this polish has been sitting around for many months and not because the polish is bad. I needed three coats to achieve the level of opacity I wanted and there is still a bit of VNL.

I like Rebel Scum for its Star Wars inspiration, though this definitely isn't a polish I would wear every day. (I like orange polish, of course, but am not a big glitter fan on a regular basis.) This is really spot on, given the inspiration! It's too bad the glitter settled but it was easily remedied with shaking the polish up. Overall I'm glad I was able to throw together a manicure that was a Star Wars manicure so I could see Rogue One in style!

Happy Monday all! Did you guys have busy weekends or did you get to do something fun and relaxing?

Daily Hues Alexandra

I can't remember what week it was now, but back in November I skipped a Purple Friday post because I was feeling pretty sick and didn't have the energy to paint my nails or blog about it. Thankfully, the polish I had applied before I got sick managed to hold up and was close enough to being purple that I just rolled with it for the football game (which the Huskies won, so I guess it worked, hah). Now I'll finally get around to showing you the polish, Daily Hues Alexandra. This was actually a group custom for the Facebook fan group. And now it looks like Daily Hues is going on a hiatus, if not closing, due to life/work. Another sad day for PNW polish fanatics; I feel like a lot of local makers are closing up shop, which sucks! Daily Hues did have some growing pains in the beginning which also didn't help, but I have enjoyed a good relationship with the maker Jenn and never experienced any issues myself.

ANYWAY... Alexandra was a group custom based on this photo:

The result is a really pretty polish! Alexandra is a rich pink toned purple orchid creme with golden shimmer with a dash of holo as well! The formula was good; a titch thick but easy to apply and I didn't struggle with it at all. I used three coats because of course I did, but I feel like two would have been sufficient for most people!

So pretty! I really like this! This is one of those shades that seems to be universally flattering and is really beautiful. I am bummed that Daily Hues is most likely going out of business but at least this gorgeous polish is mine!

Great Lakes Lacquer Leaves In The Lake

Ugh, running so behind right now! I can't remember to actually write any of my posts! That's annoying, sorry! Today I have a really pretty polish to share with you, Great Lakes Lacquer Leaves In The Lake. This was a limited edition polish released in September as an exclusive for Polish Con, which took place in Chicago. Luckily it was also released for a short time in the Great Lakes store, so even those of us that couldn't make it to Polish Con got to participate a little!

Leaves In The Lake is a deep blue jelly stuffed full of multicolor flakies. Being a jelly, the first coat was definitely sheer, but the flakies are pretty dense and easy to get out. This builds up really pretty nicely but you definitely need three coats to eliminate VNL if you're not going to layer it over a base color. But I didn't really have any troubles; even the flakies were pretty well behaved and only wanted to migrate a little.

This photographed looking a little thin on the tips, which I think is due to the jelly base of the polish; in real life, there was maybe a hint of VNL but nothing all that bothersome and it looked pretty opaque to the eye. I love that this polish really does look like fall leaves in the water. Plus, I love flakies so it's not a huge surprise that this appeals to me.

Happy Thursday! We're almost at the weekend!

Colors by Llarow Fall Is Coming

Hey, two CbL polishes back to back! Today I have the October POTM to share with you: Fall Is Coming! Fall is already here (and almost over!) but that's no reason not to share this gorgeous polish with you! And I actually wore it in November anyway, so there you go!

Fall is Coming is described as a "reddened berry plum linear holo with a pink to gold shift." Yes! Jewel tone colors like this are perfect for fall (and winter) and so this is a great choice for a color in the latter months of the year! Like most CbL's, this had a good formula-- a touch on the thick side but easy to apply and went on smoothly. I honestly don't remember how many coats I wore-- pretty sure it was three but probably could have gotten away with two!

I love colors like this. Rich but also feminine and so very flattering! It not be totally unique but it's still beautiful! I certainly do love this one and it's probably one of my favorite POTM from CbL this year!

Colors by Lllarowe Turning Leaves

Today I have the Colors by Llarowe November Polish of the Month, Turning Leaves. I actually meant to post this last week but time escaped me and I never got around to it. That seems pretty typical this month! I definitely spent some of this weekend panicking about getting ready for Christmas, but am feeling a bit better after we got our tree up and (mostly) decorated and I started baking some cookies. Now to finish the shopping and wrapping! On to the polish!

Turning Leaves is a deep reddish brown linear holographic polish. This color definitely captures the richness of fall. I would say that Turning Leaves looks more red in the bottle, and though there is a definite red tone it definitely looked more brown on the nail. I didn't have any issues with this polish-- like most CbL's it was a little thick but in the good, easy to apply way. I only needed two coats and probably could have gotten away with one if I had been careful but blah blah I can never do that anyway! So two coats! I wore this for longer than my normal two days over the Thanksgiving holiday and it held up pretty well.

I love browns like Turning Leaves. It's deep and rich-- there's a lot of depth here so it's not just a blah brown. I love the slight red tone it has, and of course the holographic finish never disappoints and really makes this a true beauty! It's dark but never looked black. Great formula, wore well, and probably one of my favorite browns this year-- if I've even worn that many browns at all!

Happy Monday! Are you busy getting ready for the holidays?

Great Lakes Lacquer All Those Dreadful Little Cuts

I wore this back in October when I was in WI visiting my grandmother-- I wanted a neutral polish that would go with a lot but was also interesting. I mean, I do love a good creme, but I knew I would be wearing this for several days so I wanted a little more! Enter Great Lakes Lacquer All Those Dreadful Little Cuts, which was a limited edition polish and a collaboration with another blogger, Polished Pathology. All Those Dreadful Little Cuts is a deep grey creme with a strong silver shimmer and smattering of red flakies.

The formula of this was pretty good, from what I recall (especially since it's been almost two months since I wore it)! I think I used three coats here in an attempt to ensure the longevity of the polish (which I wore for... four days in a row, which is practically unheard of). I probably could have gotten away with two; this polish was pretty opaque. I definitely didn't have any issues with this-- it went on easily and smoothly!

I do think this polish is nice looking, but it didn't really wow me, unfortunately. I'm not quite sure why-- I think it was a little darker and more metallic looking on my nails which I didn't love as much as I wanted to. But really, that's life. I mean, I really do love the pictures of it, I just didn't love it on my nails as much. I don't know! I wish the base were maybe just a few shades lighter, but it's a minor complaint. You can see the red flakies, though they get a bit overwhelmed by the silver shimmer.

All in all, not one of my favorite polishes of the year, but still very pretty!

Darling Diva Andromeda

I was feeling the need for something different and so reached for a red, because I feel like it's been awhile since I a wore a good red polish. I love a good red polish but find I tend not to wear it during the fall because I'm more fixated on purple and football season. But even I need a break everyonce and awhile! Today's polish, Darling Diva Andromeda, was a custom polish from Fantasmic Flakies FB group. Andromeda is described as a "red berry polish flashes from brick red through purple berry with a soft linear holo and blue to red multichrome flakies."

The first coat went on pretty sheer, but it did build up nicely despite give me some initial worry. Two coats wasn't quite enough for me due my wide nail beds, so I used three-- which I probably would have anyway. The larger flakies did want to drag to the edge of my nail,  but it wasn't a huge issue and otherwise (aside from the sheerness on the first coat) there weren't any issues with Andromeda because application was fine aside from those two minor things! As you can see in my photos, the final product is well worth it!

Andromeda is so so gorgeous! While I was worried because the first coat was a little sheer, I was really happy with the finished product. The color is deep and beautiful, and the holographic finish and flakies give it depth. It's definitely a unique polish to  my collection!

Hope everyone's week is off to a good start! 

Purple Friday: Different Dimension Aster Purple Dome

We did! We stomped the Cougars in the Apple Cup just as I hoped (and maybe was praying for, haha) and by doing so, claimed the Pac-12 North crown. After the last regular season Pac-12 games were played on Saturday, we're facing Colorado in the Pac-12 Championship game that happens to be tonight! While we'd love to be there in person cheering on the Dawgs, traveling to California wasn't in the cards this time around. But we are fortunate that our regular babysitter was available and she's going to watch the kids so we can have a nice date night and watch the game! Colorado will definitely present a challenge-- they started in the Pac-12 as one of the worst programs but have turned it around, as evidenced by the fact that they won the Pac-12 South and are currently ranked in the top 10 themselves. I'm not really sure what to expect from this game-- I definitely know Colorado will not be push over, but I'm also not sure their defense can match ours, which may give us the edge (I hope)! But they have a very good offense and the Dawgs will have to work hard to keep them contained. Fingers crossed! I suspect I will have severe anxiety over this game as the day goes on!

While I was searching  my extensive collection of purple polishes (and I do mean extensive), I was having a hard time deciding which purple I felt I should pick for the championship game. Nothing seemed quite right (and I had swatched several) until I pulled out Different Dimension Aster Purple Dome. This was a fan group custom that was released sometime this past spring and I was hoping that the purple with gold combo would be what I was looking for: BINGO! Exactly I what I was hoping for. Aster Purple Dome is a deep grape purple creme with gold and holographic glitter scattered through out. I had no issues with this; it went on smoothly and the glitter is perfectly distributed. And I only needed two coats! TWO! Practically unheard of for me, you guys!

In the bottle, I thought this might lean too blue, so I was really happy when I applied Aster Purple Dome and it was a nice rich purple. I love how smoothly this went on. The gold and holographic glitter takes it to the next level. Purple and gold is always a great combo, so it's not really surprise that I love this! I love how deep the purple is-- it is definitely blue leaning but I have no problem seeing that it's purple.

As a final note, the name on this is totally confusing. I've seen it as Aster Dome Purple (another review) and Aster Purple Dome (on my bottle/order) so I picked the latter because seems to be more common.

Go Dawgs! Beat the Buffs! 

Native War Paints End of Summer

I initially meant to post this, uh, two weeks ago(?!) but I started getting sick and felt so terrible that I couldn't muster the energy to finish the post. Frankly, I'm still recovering from whatever the heck bug this is-- it's really done a number on me! Here's another polish dealing with transition of summer to fall, the appropriately titled End of Summer by Native War Paints. I believe this was their Labor Day mystery polish which I got because I'm a sucker like that, haha! End of Summer is a stormy blue (or denim blue? Take your pick!) with with a silver/gold shimmer running through out it.

I wore End of Summer while ago so of course I can't remember all the details, but I don't recall any issues with this polish! I used definitely two, probably three coats of this and it was easy to work with. I do think the shimmer gave it a bit of a metallic-y feel to it, so I had to be careful not to overload my brush with polish to avoid any streaks, but as you can see, I didn't have any problems with that!

I think this is super pretty, though I did wish the shimmer was a bit more prominent on the nail. It's a small nit to pick! But the color is so pretty that I don't really care. This gorgeous color works all year round!

Just a quickie post today-- happy Thursday all!