Lou It Yourself Some Like It Hutt

Today I have the punnily titled Some Like It Hutt by Lou It Yourself (now Bluebird Lacquer). This was another polish from the Light and Dark Side duos that were released as a collaboration between Lou It Yourself and Native Wars Paints in the lead up to Rogue One! The name, Some Like It Hutt, is a play off the species of the same name. In the Star Wars universe, Hutts are giant slug-like creatures with a penchant for gambling, slavery, and various other criminal activities.

The formula of Some Like It Hutt was great, no issues! It flowed on the nail really well and was very nicely pigmented. The first coat had a few thin spots, but two coats looked good! I think I did a third coat, which was overkill, but it still looks really nice. I think two coats would have been fine. I didn't have any issues with this; it was easy!

I ended up loving this one. It looked very chic on the nail. Even though it's May, the dark grey base was lovely and the shimmer really livened it up! I also appreciate that even with the dark base, the shimmer didn't get lost. I loved wearing this-- I wore it for only a short time so I'll definitely be picking this up again when the weather gets cooler!

Sassy Pants Polish Saber the Moment

Oh man, running late again! I had a very busy weekend solo parenting and it appears summer has finally arrived in Seattle, so I've been exhausted (and hot)! Today I have the last polish from the Nouveau Geek Star Wars themed box (from *last* May)-- Sassy Pants Polish Saber the Moment. The name gives me a give chuckle-- great pun. Saber the Moment is a shimmery sky metal that almost leans a bit metallic, and is based off the color of Anakin and Luke and now Rey's lightsaber.

Sadly, though the color of the polish is pretty, the formula on this was a real bummer. It was a bit on the sheer side (you can see some visible nail line) and dried to matte/satin finish. Because of the shimmer it had a bit of a metallic feel to it and was a titch streaky. And unfortunately, perhaps due to some thicker coats in attempt to make it more opaque, I got a ton of bubbles. UGH. I was really disappointed with how this looked.

While I don't mind the color, the formula was a huge let down here and I really wasn't happy with how the final product ended up looking, especially with the bubbles. It's possibly I didn't fully mix the polish before applying it, as it had definitely separated a bit while it had been sitting in a drawer, so maybe it would be better on a second wear. I don't know. The bubbles really killed it for me, though perhaps mixing it better and applying thinner coats would have helped the opacity and bubbles. So this was kind of let down, though I will try to revisit it in the future in hopes that I can redeem it!

Native Wars Paints Midiclorian Count

Whoops, I'm running a little late with this today! Rounding out the week, today I have Native War Paints Midiclorian Count to share with you! In the Star Wars universe, midiclorians are what allows a person to sense and use the Force. When this concept was introduced back in The Phantom Menace it ticked a lot of fans off. Personally, I don't have any issue with this at all. As a biologist, it makes sense that there might be some biological reason why some people might be more Force-sensitive than others and also explains why the Force is in all living things. But on to our polish! Midiclorian Count is a silvery nude with a strong blue shimmer and holographic sparkle.

It probably doesn't come as a surprise that this starts out a little bit sheer, given the light base color. At first I was a bit worried, but Midiclorian Count builds up nicely. I used three coats here to get the opacity I wanted. But aside from being a bit sheer, I didn't have many issues with this. It is a bit on thick side, but definitely not unworkable.

This is another great one! I love the shimmer and the holo here! This has a lovely ethereal quality to it. The color is deceiving-- I love thought it was more white at first, but definitely has a strong grey tone to it. In any case, I think it's lovely and unusual-- I don't think I have anything quite like this in my extensive collection!

Happy Friday and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Pahlish Star Wars Trio

Ok, strap yourselves in for a long, picture heavy post! Today I have a trio of Star Wars themed polishes from Pahlish that were released around Thanksgiving back in 2015, right before The Force Awakens was released. These are all jelly based polishes with a combination of glitters and flakies in them! They are based on various locations from the original trilogy!

First up is Two Moon Sunset. I find the name a little confusing because I think the maker actually means the binary sunset we see on Tatooine. That's my story and I'm sticking to it! Two Moon Sunset has a red base with red and platinum flakes, microglitters and shimmer. I used three coats here but I think two would have been fine. The jelly base is a little thick but this goes on very easily and dries quickly.

Next up is Winds of the Cloud City, based on Bespin from The Empire Strikes Back. This one has a blue jelly base with blue and platinum flakes, microglitter, and shimmer. I used three coats here but probably could have gotten away with two.

And lastly we have The Forest Moon, based on the planet Endor from Return of the Jedi. As the name probably suggests, The Forest Moon is a green based polish with platinum and green flakies and green microglitters. I found that this to be a little thicker and I needed three coats to make sure it was even and opaque.

These are just simply gorgeous and even a year and a half later they still have good formula and are easy to use. I love all of them; it's hard to pick a favorite! If I have to choose, The Forest Moon wins by just the smallest of margins because I love the mix of flakies and glitter-- it has the most depth to it! But these are all great and lovely!

Lou It Yourself Bye, Felucia

I was scrambling to find another polish based off a Star Wars planet and remembered I had Lou It Yourself (now Bluebird Lacquer) Bye, Felucia sitting my stash. This was released towards the end of last year in the lead up to the release of Rogue One. The polishes were all Star Wars themed, of course, but not specifically related to Rogue One.

Bye, Felucia is named after a jungle planet we only see briefly in Revenge of the Sith, when Jedi Master Aalya Secura is gunned down by her clone troopers, but we do see the planet Felucia several times through out the Clone Wars series as it was involved in several conflicts through the war. Bye, Felucia is a deep blue with a strong red copper shimmer running through it. This is nicely pigmented and not too thin or too thick-- the first coat went on a little sheer but two coats covered very nice. In fact, I went to apply my typical third coat and decided that it would be overkill. So only two here!

Welp, this ticks all my buttons. Blue? Check. Shimmer? Check! Holographic? Check! So all around we have a winner. The red shimmer lends a slight purple tone to this polish, but overall it still looks blue. The holo sparkle is subtle, but doesn't disappear. So I love this, full stop. Definitely one of my favorite that I've shown you so far!

Darling Diva Cloud City

In line with The Lando System from yesterday, I have another polish inspired by Bespin: Darling Diva Cloud City. Rather than the colors we see in the movie, this polish captures the feeling of a soaring, wide open sky. Cloud City is a medium sky blue holographic that includes pink shimmer and multicolored iridescent flakies.

Cloud City has a jellyish consistency and was a little thick while also being a little on the sheer side. That said, it goes on pretty easily and is pretty forgiving. I did need to use three coats to make it mostly opaque, though there was still some visible nail line even after three coats. If you really dislike anything sheer, you could definitely layer this, but I think it looks very pretty and delicate alone. 

And for good measure, here's an iPhone photo so you can see the flakies, though the lighting is not great:

This is really pretty! I like how the same inspiration can result in two very different looking polishes. This color is so soft and pretty and I love the combination of finishes-- I think they work pretty well together without competing too much. I would say that the flakies kind of disappear in the shimmer and holographic finishes most of the time, but do come out with the right conditions and give this some added dimension. Lovely!

Shleee Polish Scarif and Destruction of Jedha

I'm starting out the week with a two-fer! Today I have two newer polishes from Shleee Polish, and they are both inspired by new planets from the newest Star Wars movie, Rogue One! First up is Scarif, which is a tropical planet that housed the plans for the Imperial projects, including the Death Star.

Scarif is a light sky blue creme with a gorgeous gold and pink shimmer. I was really pleased with the formula-- it was nicely pigmented and went on very smoothly and easily. I used three coats here, though you might be able to get away with two depending on your polishing style. It was an easy three coats and went on very quickly. I loved how this looked on my nails and I didn't want to take it off!

Next up, we have the Destruction of Jedha, and sorry, the title of the polish is a slight spoiler if you haven't seen the movie. (Which you should, because it's really good.) The planet of Jedha is place of pilgrimage for those who believe in the Force and also a place where the Empire was mining kyber crystals to power the Death Star. As a polish, the Destruction of Jedha is a green based polish that shifts purple and is packed with multicolor flakies! The formula was good-- this went on easily and the flakies were dispersed well throughout the base. I did used my standard three coats, but probably could have gotten away with two.

I really love both of these! The colors are gorgeous and I love that they have different finishes. Scarif definitely recalls the lush, blue waters of the tropics and Destruction of Jedha shifts between many different colors, capturing the frozen desert. It's hard to pick a favorite, though Scarif holds a slight edge because I love a good blue and the shimmer!

Shleee Polish Hoth

Hey all! I'm back! Did you miss me? It's honestly been nice having some time off because I've been busy with a new project-- my very own Star Wars podcast! I was invited to co-host a new podcast called Fans of the Force! It's exciting, if a little nerve-wracking-- but I'm having a lot of fun talking everything Star Wars!

Kicking off my second annual Star Wars month, I'm starting with some polishes based off the planets in a Galaxy Far, Far Away! Today I have Hoth by Shleee Polish. If you have never watched the movies (and you should), Hotlh is home of the Rebel Alliance in The Empire Strikes Back is covered with snow and ice. To capture that, Hoth is a mix of light blue and silver microglitter in a clear base.

Because this is microglitter mix in a clear (or slightly tinted) base, it's not incredibly opaque when first applied. I used three coats and the finish product is mostly opaque, but not totally so. The silver microglitter is super reflective, so it's pretty difficult to notice in real life. This polish is a little thick, but not terribly so. It builds up pretty nicely, though you might want to use two layers of top coat, as the glitter tends to eat it and one coat wasn't quite smooth enough for my liking.

This is a beautiful way to capture the icy coldness of the planet Hoth. I do wish it was a bit more opaque, but in all honesty, Hoth was so reflective that you couldn't really tell. While these aren't my favorite type of polishes, this wasn't too bad. I like that Shleee Polish releases Star Wars polishes on a regular basis, and I will have more to show you later!

Native War Paints Real Life Cart Jacking

This poor post-- I've literally been trying to get it up for weeks and it keeps getting rescheduled and rescheduled because I forget to finish it. No longer! Today I have one of the Black Friday polishes that Native War Paints released, Real Life Cart Jacking. I actually missed this the first time around but there was some leftover stock that was released in December so I decided to grab this one because it was the one I was most intrigued by. 

Real Life Cart Jacking is described as a "dark burgundy with turquoise shimmer." Yes! Some pictures make this look more red, but in truth it's a deep red with plummy brown tones to it. The turquoise shimmer is strong (and gorgeous). The formula was a pretty good, nicely pigmented but not too thick. I used my usual three coats but probably could have gotten away with two. I didn't have any issues with this.

Again, this wasn't quite what I expected, but I still like it. My photos make it look more purple than it was in real life, and though it does have purple tones you can definitely tell it's red. Apparently my camera had other ideas. I thought it would be more red, but I find the plummy red brown color very attractive as well and it works well with the turquoise shimmer. Definitely a more unique polish in my collection! 

Colors by Llarowe Blue Steel

This week is a mini Colors by Llarowe week on the blog-- today I have Blue Steel, the January 2017 POTM to share with you! Blue Steel is described as a "blue to green deep charcoal based scattered holo with intense gold to green shimmer." This steely blue is perfect for the cloudy, cold days of January.

I didn't have any problems with Blue Steel and it was on par with most the CbLs I have. A touch thick but not in a bad way; this went on smoothly and easily. It's nicely pigmented and I probably could have gotten away with two coats but I used my standard three.

Here's an outdoor shot to give you another look at this beauty:

I love this. I'm always a sucker for blue and I love the platinum flash. I also like the softer holographic finish here. It's just so lovely and was a dream to wear. It looked so good! I really enjoy the

Native War Paint Brokelyn

Today I have one of the Polish Con exclusives-- these are polishes that are being released weekly as a lead up to the Polish Con being held in April in New York. This polish is Brokelyn by Native War Paints, a play on the location (Brooklyn) and how broke all the attendees are going to be when it's done, hah! I am not attending myself but I am pleased that they makers are releasing these polishes up to everyone prior to the event because not everyone can get there!

Brokelyn is a deep blue with a strong copper shimmer. The formula was good; this is nicely pigment and goes on smoothly and easily and wasn't too thin or too thick. I believe I ended up using three coats just to make sure everything was as opaque as I wanted it to be-- most people could probably get away with two coats if so inclined!

I also got a photo in the sun (with my phone) to showcase the amazing shimmer:

SHIMMAAAAAAAA!! *cough* Anyway...

This was a little darker than I was expecting but the shimmer is wonderful. I will say it disappeared a bit in low light but really was stunning in sunlight. The shimmer also dulls the blue pigment a bit and gives it almost a purple/grey tone but it's a small quibble because I think it's really pretty!

Enchanted Polish October 2016

A couple weeks ago I was really on a green kick and lucked out because I had several very lovely green polishes just waiting to be taken for a spin! Today I have one of the Enchanted Polish monthly mysteries to share with you, October 2016. This year the mystery polishes are all shimmers (as opposed to her usual holographics) and as a shimmer fan, I'm loving it! October 2016 is a serene sea green creme with a strong blue shimmer.

The formula on the first coat was a little thin; a bit thinner than I would have expected, but not difficult to use. I used three coat here to reach the level of opacity I wanted. Two coats might have worked, but I wanted to make sure I didn't have any thin spots. The shimmer is gorgeous and strong and doesn't get lost in the deeper base color, as you can see from my photos!

I loved this polish more than I expected! To me, it looks like glass and I love it so so much. I have warmed up to green polish a lot as I have blogged-- well it's still not usually the first color I reach for, there are a lot of gorgeous greens out there and I would add October 2016 to that list. This goes on the list for one of my favorite polishes of last year! The blue shimmer combined with the base is just such a lovely combination and I can't get enough of it!

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! 

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! 

Fairytale Finish Enchanted F

A little while ago Amanda of Fairytale Finish announced she was selling mystery polishes on her site called "Enchanted Polishes" (not be confused with the brand) and so I decided to buy one because, hey, why not?! The polish I got is called Enchanted F so I'm guessing they are lettered? Now that she has announced she is closing up shop I suspect this was a way to clean out prototypes etc, but regardless, mystery polishes are always a fun surprise!

Enchanted F is a denim blue polish silver and holographic glitter of various sizes throughout. The base does have a touch of purple to it, but I would say overall is still pretty blue. The formula is good, as far as I recall-- sometimes polishes like this can be thick and while maybe it tended to lean that way, was still easy to work with. I can't remember exactly, but I am pretty sure I only used two coats here! I don't like to build up glitter polishes too much unless they a) have a white base or b) are super sheer because they tend to get gloopy (due to the thicker formula) so I'm pretty sure two is what I went for here.

While I tend not to be a glitter person, I really liked this polish! It helps that it's blue, for one, because I pretty much love all things blue. The base color is gorgeous and I think the silver/holographic glitter really works with the base. All around this was a winner for me and I'm very happy I picked it up!

Different Dimension Periwinkle Posies

Ahahahahaha... when I decided to change my posting schedule, I apparently also decided to just forget that I actually needed to write posts! Whoops! It happens, right?! This post was supposed to go up last week but I completely forgot to write so.... you're getting it now! Better late than never! Today I have Different Dimension Perwinkle Posies to share with you; this was a group custom for the Different Dimension FB group and after dithering for awhile, I was able to snag it. Periwinkle Posies is an icy blue periwinkle (to me it seems more blue than periwinkle, honestly) with silver holographic and blue flakies scattered through out.

This started out on the sheer side but built up nicely. I think you get away with just two coats but I used three to make sure I didn't have any thin spots, especially because my nails were longer. The formula, though, was great and I had absolutely no issues. It went on smoothly and easily!

This is super pretty; how can you not love it? This is a color that works at any time of year and it's so pretty. I'm really pleased with this! Different Dimension polishes are always gorgeous and this was no exception!

Enchanted Polish Future Reflections

Today I have I an older polish to share with you-- Enchanted Polish Future Reflections was originally released waaaay back in 2013, but I was pretty new to the indie polish scene back then and did not get my hands on this until late 2015/early 2016 when it was re-released (and now seems to be permanently stocked?). At least, these polishes certainly don't sell out as fast as they used to, due to the influx of other indie nail polish brands on the market!

Future Reflections is uselessly described as an ultra holo duochrome on the Enchanted Polish site, and I was say that it's blue to purple duochrome with a linear holographic finish. There's maybe a faint touch of green in there too. Because I wore this back in February and it is now *coughcough* September, my notes are sparse (truthfully, nonexistant) so I don't remember much about the formula except that it didn't give me any particular troubles. EP's tend have pretty good formulas, so I'm sure it was on par with her usual standards. I used either two or three coats, but I can't remember. Maybe two because my nails are shorter here, haha!

 Here's more of a look at the shift:

And you can maybe see some green here:

Overall I thought this polish was really fantastic. Holographic duochromes are some of my favorites for wearing in the fall/winter months because the shift comes out in the grey weather and the holo stands out if we get some sun! Either way, you win! This was lovely and easy to work with and I'm definitely going to be pull these types of polishes out more this year!

Colors by Llarowe I'll Be At The Lake POTM July 2016

Today I have the July POTM from Colors by Llarowe, I'll Be At The Lake. I guess this is kind of a theme, as yesterday's polish was also from July and here we are at the end of August. I'll Be At The Lake is described as a "bright blue metallic base with intense aqua shimmer and pink to purple shifting shimmer with a sprinkling of holo." This polish has an almost metallic or foil feel to it from the shimmer and does have flashes of pink/purple at certain angles. The holo is pretty low key, but adds another dimension of interest to this polish, so there's a lot going on here!

I didn't have any issues with this polish. This was a little thinner than what most CbL polishes tend to be, but was still easy to use and apply. I used three coats to get the finish I wanted. You can see just a hint of visible nail line on my ring finger, but I honestly don't think it was noticeable in real life.  

I had a hell of a time photographing this baby, and sadly I think it looks much better in person than in my photos, womp womp.

You can see how glowy it is! Despite my inability to capture this on camera, this polish was really stunning in real life. I hope you can appreciate some of its beauty despite my less than stellar photography attempts!

Daily Hues Blake (Holo)

Let's end the week with something sparkly, just because! Today's polish, Blake (Holo) was released as part of the Daily Hues Spring Collection and is an "upgraded" version of Blake, which is a bright cobalt blue creme... so the holo edition is the cobalt blue base with added holo. I would say the addition does dull the color a little, but it still looks pretty darn gorgeous even if it doesn't have the same vibrancy of the original. 

I'll be honest; it's been awhile since I wore this so I don't quite remember everything about it. As far as I can recall, I didn't have any problems with Blake (H) while I was applying it! It went on smoothly and I used two or possibly three coats (probably three because that's how I roll). 

So pretty, right? I don't think my photos really do it justice-- do you ever have those days (or weeks) where you feel like nothing clicks? That's how I felt when trying to photograph this; every shot was slightly off and not quite in focus. I did think this color was quite gorgeous, so I wish my photos were better! I don't really this is color is all that unique these days, but it's super pretty so I don't care!