Sunday, February 26, 2017

Road to Polish Con: Week 12

xoxoJen - Official Polish Con Blogger
Unable to attend Polish Con NYC 2017?
Never fear! The creators and vendors of the event got together and are creating polishes available for sale to everyone before the Con! How cool is that? The releases are done weekly on Sundays at 8am Central and run through the following Saturday.

Today's launch features week 12 polishes from Dollish Polish and Drip Drop.

Whistling Showtunes
A gunmetal grey super linear holo with purpley/pink shifting micro flakes. I wore two easy coats with topcoat.

xoxoJen's swatch of Drip Drop Whistling Showtunes
xoxoJen's swatch of Drip Drop Whistling Showtunes
xoxoJen's swatch of Drip Drop Whistling Showtunes

New York State of Mind
Toxic Avenger V2? I think so! This polish starts with an olive green jelly base, packed with shifting shimmer flecks from gold to pink and holographic pigment. This mix makes the polish look totally different in different lighting situations. I wore two (heavy handed) coats for opacity and topcoat for shine.

xoxoJen's swatch of Dollish Polish NY State of Mind
xoxoJen's swatch of Dollish Polish NY State of Mind
xoxoJen's swatch of Dollish Polish NY State of Mind
xoxoJen's swatch of Dollish Polish NY State of Mind

Still wondering about whether this is Toxic Avenger V2? Decide for yourself!
For those of you that aren't familiar with Toxic Avenger, it was one of the very first polishes in the indie world that was holo and multi-chromatic/shifting. It was stocked at Dolly's shop several times, and I kept putting off the purchase because I thought it would be available for a while, but then the supplier discontinued what Dolly used to make it. The last batch sold out of the shop before I could blink, and I missed it. Finding it on the second hand market was really difficult. No one was willing to give it up and when they did, the price was astronomical. After maybe a year, I was able to find a mini at a message board that I was able to swap for.

So if you are even remotely interested in NY State of Mind, pick it up! You'll be glad you did, it's gorgeous!

xoxoJen's comparison of Dollish Polish NY State of Mind and Toxic Avenger
xoxoJen's comparison of Dollish Polish NY State of Mind and Toxic Avenger
xoxoJen's comparison of Dollish Polish NY State of Mind and Toxic Avenger
xoxoJen's comparison of Dollish Polish NY State of Mind and Toxic Avenger
xoxoJen's comparison of Dollish Polish NY State of Mind and Toxic Avenger
xoxoJen's comparison of Dollish Polish NY State of Mind and Toxic Avenger
xoxoJen's comparison of Dollish Polish NY State of Mind and Toxic Avenger
xoxoJen's comparison of Dollish Polish NY State of Mind and Toxic Avenger

I hope you've enjoyed the review and photos - grab yours Sunday morning after 8am Central over at http://polishconvention.bigcartel.com/products - don't delay, they'll be pulled down on Saturday night!

Recap of previous weeks:
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11


Friday, February 24, 2017

Ye Olde Clean Up Brush

So, who keeps their old splayed out, frayed up clean up brushes?

xoxoJen's old clean up brush

Anyone?

xoxoJen's old clean up brush


Well, I do and I'll tell you why.
I use it to scrub polish out of my cuticles after removal.
For whatever reason, sometimes after I've removed a polish there will be a translucent bit of polish left in the cuticle area that the cotton pad just doesn't take off. An old splayed out clean up brush comes in really handy to be able to apply pressure to the cuticle and sort of scrub without worry of damaging the brush!

Now lemme ask again - Who keeps their old splayed out, frayed up clean up brushes?



Thursday, February 23, 2017

Literary Lacuqers: March Pop Up


It's that time again for the Literary Lacquers monthly pop up shop! In last month's review I talked about her new business plan, and I'm loving it so far! The March release will showcase a total of six polishes, one a throwback and another brand new which I am sharing below. I have previously reviewed the other four which are: Felix Felicis, Avada Kedavra, Mirror of Galadriel and Color of Magic (formerly named Octarine).

xoxoJen's swatch collage of Literary Lacquers March Pop Up Shop

Amortentia (the newbie of the bunch)
A champagne rose gold almost metallic holo with glass flakies. Inspired by the love potion in Harry Potter, and designed with Rachel McNulty for her geeky wedding.
Opaque in one coat, super sparkly and such an elegant celebratory shade. While it is not necessarily limited edition, Amy has no current plans to stock it again after this pop up. So if you love it, grab it while you can.

xoxoJen's swatch of Literary Lacquers Amortentia
xoxoJen's swatch of Literary Lacquers Amortentia
xoxoJen's swatch of Literary Lacquers Amortentia

Midsummer Night's Dream (updated formula)
Deep blue jelly, with small gold squares, black hexes, and holographic gold hexes.
One of the first polishes created by Amy, its namesake was also the name of the collection. It has been reformulated and is absolutely beautiful. I wore two coats with gelous and topcoat for a smooth glassy shine.

xoxoJen's swatch of Literary Lacquers Midsummer Night's Dream
xoxoJen's swatch of Literary Lacquers Midsummer Night's Dream
xoxoJen's swatch of Literary Lacquers Midsummer Night's Dream

The shop opens on Friday, March 3, 8pm MST and will close Sunday, March 5, midnight MST.
Polishes will be restocked periodically when they sell out through the end of the weekend. So if something is sold out, keep checking back until after the shop closes on March 5!

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Emily de Molly: Showdown

The moment I saw Showdown, I knew it was special and I had to have it. I had not ever seen a tinted jelly polish as sparkly and flakie as this and haven't seen anything else even close to it since. Absolutely unique in my collection and possibly in the whole nail polish market. If you don't have this, you need it. Trust.

xoxoJen's swatch of Emily de Molly Showdown
xoxoJen's swatch of Emily de Molly Showdown
xoxoJen's swatch of Emily de Molly Showdown

Formula was excellent as with all EdM polishes and two coats was opaque enough for this gal.

I hope you have enjoyed the review and swatches! And yes, this polish is still available!
Visit EdM's store and pick up a beautiful polish or five!

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

My Indie Polish: Hello Toronto (partial)

My Indie Polish has launched a 12 piece set called Hello Toronto, of which I'm sharing four.



Candi
A deep plum with glitters and mini ucc flakies. I wore two coats and topcoat for a glossy shine. The formula was smooth and easy to apply.

xoxoJen's swatch of My Indie Polish Candi
xoxoJen's swatch of My Indie Polish Candi
xoxoJen's swatch of My Indie Polish Candi

Kensington Market
A creamy bright lilac with hidden holographic shimmer. Such a beautifully done polish. It looks like a cream, but has that hidden holo shimmer that only you might know about. The holo adds dimension and it sparkles in the sunlight. Is this the new trend? Hidden holo? Cause I am absolutely LOVING it! Nothing like this in my collection. Formula was creamy smooth and opaque in two coats.

xoxoJen's swatch of My Indie Polish Kensington Market
xoxoJen's swatch of My Indie Polish Kensington Market
xoxoJen's swatch of My Indie Polish Kensington Market

Rouge Beach
An iridescent blue textured glitter polish. I wore two coats in the photos below and it was almost opaque. I think one more coat would do it if you want a dense glittery look. I kind of like letting the nail show through a little. The formula was fluid and easy to apply. I wore a coat of gelous and then topcoat for a smooth glassy look.

xoxoJen's swatch of My Indie Polish Rouge Beach
xoxoJen's swatch of My Indie Polish Rouge Beach
xoxoJen's swatch of My Indie Polish Rouge Beach

The CNE
A dark blue jelly with a smattering of multichrome flakies throughout. So squishy, this polish! I can't even. I wore two coats with topcoat, formula was great.

xoxoJen's swatch of My Indie Polish The CNE
xoxoJen's swatch of My Indie Polish The CNE
xoxoJen's swatch of My Indie Polish The CNE

The polish formula is fantastic, smooth and buttery just like I like! Wear time is great so far, going on four days with no chips.
I hope you've enjoyed my review, now head on over to My Indie Polish to see the rest and pick up a few of your own!


Sunday, February 19, 2017

Road to Polish Con: Week 11

xoxoJen - Official Polish Con Blogger
Unable to attend Polish Con NYC 2017?
Never fear! The creators and vendors of the event got together and are creating polishes available for sale to everyone before the Con! How cool is that? The releases are done weekly on Sundays at 8am Central and run through the following Saturday.

Today's launch features week 11 polishes from Nine Zero and Le Polish.

VIP? Not Me! 
 A cool pink metallic foil polish with subtle holo. I wore two coats with topcoat, but with care I think one coat would do well, it's quite opaque.

xoxoJen's swatch of Nine Zero VIP? Not Me!
xoxoJen's swatch of Nine Zero VIP? Not Me!
xoxoJen's swatch of Nine Zero VIP? Not Me!

Polish Con't Go
A creamy chocolate milk nude/neutral with flecks of gold and copper shimmer and a scattering of holo. I wore two coats with topcoat and while it has chunky flecks in it, there was no noticeable texture.

xoxoJen's swatch of LE Polish Polish Con't Go
xoxoJen's swatch of LE Polish Polish Con't Go
xoxoJen's swatch of LE Polish Polish Con't Go

I hope you've enjoyed the review and photos - grab yours Sunday morning after 8am Central over at http://polishconvention.bigcartel.com/products - don't delay, they'll be pulled down on Saturday night!

Recap of previous weeks:
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Native War Paints: Copper Penny


Native War Paints has created the Copper Penny collection, inspired by their Road to Polish Con polish, Broklyn. Each polish in the Copper Penny collection is packed full of copper shimmer. If you love shimmery things, you won't want to miss these. The pr-eorder for the Copper Penny collection begins on 2/17 and runs through 2/26.

xoxoJen's swatch of Native War Paints Copper Penny

Moneypenny is a pale lilac with copper shimmer. It's beautiful and delicate, and a perfect springtime shade. The bright lighting of my set up washes out the copper shimmer in straight on photos, but it is definitely visible in most lighting situations.

xoxoJen's swatch of Native War Paints Moneypenny
xoxoJen's swatch of Native War Paints Moneypenny
xoxoJen's swatch of Native War Paints Moneypenny

I was inspired to try decal making and decided to stamp too. The result made me happy since I love pandas and the color purple.

xoxoJen's swatch of Native War Paints Moneypenny Nailart

Copper Mugs and Moscow Mules is a super pale grey with copper shimmer. Like the shade above, the shimmer is difficult to see in my light set up, but is more apparent in most lighting.

xoxoJen's swatch of Native War Paints Copper Mugs
xoxoJen's swatch of Native War Paints Copper Mugs
xoxoJen's swatch of Native War Paints Copper Mugs

It was close to Valentine's day when I stamped this one, and I had to try out my signature stamp to see how it looked. What do you think?



Penny, Penny, Penny is a vibrant fuchsia with copper shipper. Shades of raspberry leaning pink tend to go well with my skin coloring and this is no exception. I enjoyed this color quite a bit!

xoxoJen's swatch of Native War Paints Penny Penny Penny
xoxoJen's swatch of Native War Paints Penny Penny Penny
xoxoJen's swatch of Native War Paints Penny Penny Penny

My Favorite Copper Sweater is the copper shimmer version of NWP's My Favorite Sweater and My Favorite Sweater and Jeans. A teal with copper shimmer that dries matte. I wore a glossy top coat for shine.

xoxoJen's swatch of Native War Paints My Favorite Copper Sweater
xoxoJen's swatch of Native War Paints My Favorite Copper Sweater
xoxoJen's swatch of Native War Paints My Favorite Copper Sweater

Penny for your thoughts is a deep purple with copper shimmer. This is my favorite shade of the bunch. It looks smokey and mysterious, plus it's purple. Absolutely stunning and color morphing depending on the lighting. I'm still wearing this shade.

xoxoJen's swatch of Native War Paints Penny for your thoughts
xoxoJen's swatch of Native War Paints Penny for your thoughts
xoxoJen's swatch of Native War Paints Penny for your thoughts


Copperpot is a dark blue with copper shimmer. The base is so dark that I thought this was a slate grey before having read the description. The copper shimmer pops against the dark base.

xoxoJen's swatch of Native War Paints Copperpot
xoxoJen's swatch of Native War Paints Copperpot
xoxoJen's swatch of Native War Paints Copperpot

I wore two coats of each shade, but with the thickish formula you may be able to get away with one on the darker shades in the collection. I'm challenged when it comes to polishing with thicker consistency polishes, so I added some thinner to them. It's kind of cool that the polishes have this flexibility in that we can choose to add thinner or keep it thick. If my review was helpful, leave a comment and follow me on facebook for more reviews.