Anne Kathleen: Holiday Night Lights

Press Sample

I was quite happy with the polishes I first reviewed for the AK brand but then Leanne sent this set and lemme tell ya, they're pretty flippin' awesome!
These are jellyish glitter polishes that reach opacity in just 2 coats. The yellow is a little sheerer, but still just used 2 coats.
Each polish dries semi matte, but when top coat is added they look like glass Christmas lights all lit up and glowing!! On top of this awesomeness, they ALL glow in the dark when charged up under a regular light-bulb (60W or higher works best) for a few seconds. How could these be any more perfect for the holiday season?

(the purple has been fixed, but my new bottle is not here yet)


I also noticed her labeling - she has a batch number for every polish, and this whole set is vegan and cruelty free.
I've used AK's descriptions for each polish below.

Alumina is a glow in the dark red jelly full of very fine, and small bright red glitters. In the dark Alumina glows dark red after being charged.






Ciana is a glow in the dark orange jelly full of very fine, and small bright orange glitters. In the dark Ciana glows orangish-yellow after being charged.






Lumina is a glow in the dark yellow jelly full of very fine, and small greenish-yellow glitters. In the dark Lumina glows yellow after being charged.






Eliora is a glow in the dark dark green jelly full of very fine, and small bright green glitters. In the dark Eliora glows green after being charged.






I'm not great at taking glow in the dark photos but I was able to capture a few pretty well. This is Eliora, it's kind of a tiffany type blue-green when glowing.



Lenora is a glow in the dark deep blue jelly full of very fine, and small bright blue glitters. In the dark Lenora glows blue after being charged.






I was also able to get a good photo of this one, the brightness of the glow on this one is quite bright!




Nehara is a glow in the dark deep purple jelly full of very fine, and small bright purple glitters. In the dark Nehara glows blue after being charged.






Leanne contacted me before I discovered it, but there was an issue with Nehara's glow and suspension. She has already redone the batch to fix it and is even sending a replacement to me. How's that for customer service?
I found the formulas on all six polishes to be good, with a dab here and there to spread a few glitters. The darker colors may only need one coat, but I used two plus topcoat for photos.

The Holiday Night Lights is launching on December 1 which also coincides with the last day of her sale so you can pick these up at a discounted price! Just use the code TURKEYTURKEY for 25% off all orders (excluding shipping)

These and more available at the Anne Kathleen online store.

Philly Loves Lacquer: Bird Gang Eagles Duo

Press Sample

The Philly Loves Lacquer Bird Gang Eagles duo is glitter packed and gives you options!

The first polish I'm sharing with you is called I-G-G-L-E-S and is a white crelly filled with silver shimmer, and various teal, white, gunmetal, and black glitter shapes. I am usually skeptical when it comes to crelly glitters because usually the application is difficult and takes a certain kind of brushing to get them even. This glitter crelly was phenomenal! I didn't do anything differently or special and in two coats, it was mostly opaque with plenty of glitter dispersed nicely. No patchiness and no dragging. If I could find more crellies like this, I just might be convinced to wear them more often!






The next polish is called Go Birds! and looks to be the same glitter mix as the above polish but in a clear base! The brush loaded up with plenty of glitter to get this done in one coat over black. I had no issues with distribution of glitter and I was happy with the amount too! This would be great over a navy blue, a super light blue, a coppery color, pink, purple, or even green. Such a flexible use topper!






Lastly, I wanted to show you how the duo looks together, so this is one coat of Go Birds! over two coats of I-G-G-L-E-S.



Philly Loves Lacquer shop is having a shopping madness sale on Friday, Nov 28th. The sale is 25% off most items in the shop! It excludes the Love Angeline duo and the custom pick a polish. No code needed!

Literary Lacquers: 2014 Community Collection & I Heard The Bells

Press Sample

Amy of Literary Lacquers started a holiday tradition last year by joining with the community to create a collection of polishes and you may remember my series of posts about them: 1, 2, 3, 4. I was so excited to get to review that collection and thought how awesome it was of Amy to include her fans to make a holiday collection.

Well guess what!! Amy asked me to design a polish for this year's community collaboration!
At that moment my jaw dropped; stunned and speechless at the thought of being part of the collaboration among many other much more talented ladies. And when I first saw the polish Amy created from my idea, I was in tears because Amy went above and beyond what I had expected. It's gorgeous, ya'll.
I have always admired the passion that Amy puts into every bottle and to be a part of something this wonderful really touches my heart. I am honored and very excited! So here's the whole eight piece collection - each and every one of them is very special from inspiration to inception.



I wore two coats of each polish for all photos. These align with the Literary Lacquers formula we've come to expect - consistently smooth, almost buttery easy to control application. I've used the descriptions provided by Amy, but added a little more detail to Lurid Fog, the polish I helped design.

Lurid Fog – Designed by Jen of xoxo, Jen – A slate grey linear holo with a strong purple shimmer from two different sized pigments.
I, admittedly, am not much of a bookworm so I had some help from An She finding a book that fit the idea. The polish represents the choking fog that plagued London in the 19th century which was coal smoke mixed with mist. The following passage from the book, The New Grub Street by George Gissing, was perfect. (thank you An!)

Arrived in Hampstead Road he offered his hand for good-bye.
'I wanted to talk about all sorts of things. But perhaps I shall find you again some day.'
He jumped out, and waved his hat in the lurid fog.

Not only did the polish turn out better than expected but Amy sent an extra bottle to me to do a giveaway along with the LE gift with purchase, I Heard The Bells. The link to the giveaway form is at the bottom of this post.







Fallen Tributes – Designed by Jennifer of 4Boys1Mom Lacquer – Inspired by The Hunger Games, a deep blue linear holo with gold flakes and copper shimmer.






Grasshopper with Cotton Candy Hair – Designed by Cate of @allthegreenpolish – Inspired by The Dresden Files , a bright grasshopper green linear holo with pink and blue flecks






Porco Rosso – Designed by Schette of Schette EssaisBeauté – Inspired by Porco Rosso, a deep red linear holo with taupe and gold flakies






Attic Mice – Designed by Jess of @nailsinthecityy – Inspired by Flowers in the Attic, a medium grey creamy linear holo






Effie’s Trinket – Designed by Heather of Drowning In Polish – Inspired by The Hunger Games, a bright pinky-purple linear holo with pink shimmer






Always Winter Never Christmas – Designed by Kirby of The Mercurial Magpie – Inspired by The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, a silvery blue mega glitter linear holo.
Kirby has pusblished her entry for the collection, so be sure to read more about her inspiration at http://www.themercurialmagpie.com!






The Ruby Thief – Designed by Jenne of Polished Pathology – Inspired by Dinosaurs in the Attic , a ruby pink glass fleck shimmer






I Heard the Bells is a bonus Limited Edition Gift with Purchase. This polish was inspired by the poem I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day and is a bronzy-copper mega glitter holo.






Collection Launch:
1pm Central time, November 28.

Promo details:
I Heard the Bells LE Gift 11/28 - 12/7: With a $24 purchase you will get a mini size. With a $48 purchase you will get a full size. (excluding shipping)
Use coupon code for free US shipping BLACKFRIDAY2014 or INTERNATIONAL2014 for $5 international shipping for purchases over $80.


If you enjoy reading my page, I would also be most grateful if you'd follow me on your favorite social media too!