Glam Polish The Power of the Dark Side

Today I have the other, villainous half of the April Glam Polish duo. Inspired by Darth Vader, one of the most famous (infamous?) villains to grace our screens, Darth Vader. Tall and imposing, you definitely don't want to run afoul of him, especially as he goes around Force-choking people who displease him.

The Power of the Dark Side is described as a "black jelly with a mix of iridescent flakies, rainbow holographic microglitter, shifting iridescent glitter and fine holo microglitter." With the jelly formula, this was a little sheer but built up very nicely. I used three coats for the look I wanted but you might be able to get away with two! The flakies and glitters are packed in there so you don't have to worry about any distribution issues. This was easy to work with! 

I am generally not a fan of very vampy "goth" polishes-- it just isn't my natural aesthetic! That said, I do like how colorful the flakies are in the dark base. While this is definitely dark, it's also fun and has a lot of character, which I like. I don't tend to reach for darker polishes a lot, but I really appreciate how the color doesn't get lost here. Definitely one of my favorite dark side based polishes! 

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!

Love Angeline 06/16

Today I have another pretty (and pretty unique) polish to share with you: 06/16 is the June monthly LE Polish from Love Angeline. I feel like this is the first monthly from Love, Angeline that I am showing you, though I have others to show you! I am just behind, as per usual. This is a good place to start, though, because I absolutely love this color! 

06/16 is described as an "orangey-copper with hints of red and flashes of pink. Along with gold holo microglitters and gold micro flakies!" To me, this polish read as a coppery rose pink but I think both descriptions fit! The formula on this was good; thick but not too thick and it applied easily. I think I used three coats but probably could have gotten away with two coats. I think I've discovered one thing that is kind of annoying about my Love, Angeline polishes. I find the brush to be a bit floppy, which then makes the polish feel a little thicker. It's not that big of a deal, just something I've noticed. 

So pretty, right? I love the color and this is pretty unique to my polish collection. It was hard to stop staring at my nails while I was wearing it because it's super sparkly. One of my favorites for this year, for sure! 

Thanksgiving Mani: Nine Zero Stuffed

Happy Thanksgiving all! Hope everyone has a nice day and long weekend planned! My parents are coming for dinner at our house, which will probably be chaos, but oh well! Hopefully the turkey turns out! As a quick Thanksgiving mani, I decided to whip out a new-to-me brand, Nine Zero Lacquer! I saw swatches of the brand's Thanksgiving trio and knew I had to have them. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, so it's great to see it getting some love! For this mani, I went simple and pulled out Stuffed to use. Stuffed is described as a "gold holographic micro glitter with warm, seasonal glitters mixed in." The primary glitter I see added in is burgundy, but there's some red and possibly orange in there too. When I first applied this, I tried painting it on like I would any normal polish, but the glitter placement was a little sparse, so I ended up dabbing a first coat on the nail to get good coverage, then painted on a second and third coat like normal (with maybe a bit of dabbing to cover any thin spots). But it was super easy to use, packed with glitter, dried quickly, and I think you could also use this as a glitter topper if you didn't want to do just straight up glitter. Winner winner turkey dinner! It was a bit of a thirsty glitter, though, and I did need two layers of top coat (I am currently using the Essence gel top coat) to give it a smooth finish. All in all, an excellent polish and it works perfectly for the holiday! I'm excited to have discovered this brand and look forward to sharing more of their polishes with you!

Artificial light (flash): 

Stuffed is bling-tastic thanks to all the gold holographic glitter-- really shines! It freaked out my camera a little-- I should mattify and take a photo to capture it a bit better. Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone!