Friday, April 25, 2014

Nire's Desire: Techno Collection -Phase Two


Erin from Nire's Desire sent three of the six polishes from her Phase Two of the Techno Collection. The set was created to make the perfect ombre manicure.

Levitate
is a beautiful medium shade of turquoise with bright turquoise shimmer and holographic particles. The holo is subtle in most lighting but more vibrant in the sunlight. Erin said that she was so happy with this color that she felt as if she were floating - and I would bet that's how it got its name! I wore two coats with topcoat for the photos.

xoxoJen's swatch of Levitate from Nire's Deisre
xoxoJen's swatch of Levitate from Nire's Deisre
xoxoJen's swatch of Levitate from Nire's Deisre

Crush is a beautiful royal blue with purple and silvery blue sparks and holographic pigment. It's such a vibrant color that it looks like it's glowing! Check the bottle in those photos and you'll see what I mean, its really difficult to capture but I did my best! The polish went on like butter in two coats.
Erin changed up the packaging recently, and I love the new flat brushes. They allow easy control of where the polish lands on the nail and help make those nice straight edges around the curve of the nail. She also has new easy to read bottle labeling and sexy curvy bottles!

xoxoJen's swatch of Crush from Nire's Desire
xoxoJen's swatch of Crush from Nire's Desire
xoxoJen's swatch of Crush from Nire's Desire

For An Angel is my favorite of the three. It's a bluish purple with blue and pink sparkles that add depth to the holographic polish. I keep looking at the bottle and thinking Erin must have magical pixies helping her make this polish! It's a beaut, and a one coater! Yep, I just wore one coat and topcoat for the photos.

xoxoJen's swatch of For An Angel from Nire's Desire
xoxoJen's swatch of For An Angel from Nire's Desire
xoxoJen's swatch of For An Angel from Nire's Desire

This is my second review of the Nire's Desire brand and I am pleasantly surprised with the packaging improvements she's made in what seems to me like such a short time. Her formula is consistently good and she is very open to any sort of feedback. I enjoy working with her and hope that you've enjoyed the review and photos!

You can see the rest of the Phase Two collection and grab your own set at Erin's shop: Nire's Desire.
Be sure to follow the brand on facebook.


xoxo, Jen signature

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Liquid Sky Lacquer: Wyld Pixie and Tripindicular


I have been on the hunt for an almost purple pink, and its been impossible to find. I had high hopes for Tripindicular when I spotted it at Liquid Sky Lacquer's shop. I bought it immediately and was super excited to have it in my hands.

It arrived, and it was more of a coral color, like LSL's Glistening Coral. I wrote to Carolyn because I wondered if I'd gotten a mislabeled bottle. In a week she replied and assured me that I had the correct product so I let her know that I was disappointed and she replied almost immediately and offered to send another color to me.
I let her know about my endless hunt for the perfect magenta/berry color with very vibrant linear holo and I sent a quickly made collage of images to help demonstrate the color I was after.

xoxoJen's magenta collage

She replied and offered to mix up a color for me based on those images! I couldn't believe what I was reading! How awesome is that of her? I can see why her company gets rave reviews! She sent the polish to me in just a few days and it was not an exact match but nonetheless gorgeous! In bright sunlight it leans more blue and is at it closest match to the collage; however, in other lighting it sometimes leans a little more to the red side, even bordering on a burgundy-ish color. I don't have anything else like it. The name she chose for it was super cute too, Wyld Pixie -- and here she is!

xoxoJen's swatch of Wyld Pixie by Liquid Sky Lacquer

I wore two coats with topcoat in the photos above. The formula is smooth as a baby and that holo!
OMG THE HOLO.
It lights up like a Christmas tree, even in dim lighting. I have the room lights off right now so my only light is the computer monitor. Holding my hand about two feet from it, I can't really tell what shade is on my nails but I can STILL tell that there's a holo rainbow on them. Pretty amazing!

xoxoJen's swatch of Wyld Pixie by Liquid Sky Lacquer

I suggested that she release it in her shop and I just noticed yesterday that it was released on April 19th!

xoxoJen's swatch of Wyld Pixie by Liquid Sky Lacquer

A quick comparison of Wyld Pixie (index/pinky) and Tripindicular (middle/ring). Trip has that beautiful shade of purple popping out of the holo rainbow and has a very peachy/coral pink base! These two polishes are quite different shades, eh? Need them both? I think so. :)

xoxoJen's swatch of Wyld Pixie and Tripindicular by Liquid Sky Lacquer

Many thanks and big bear hugs to Carolyn! :D

Get your awesome holos at the Liquid Sky Lacquer Shop! Follow her on Facebook too!

xoxo, Jen signature

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Literary Lacquer: Ultimate Outlaw Collection [3]


And the final three from the Literary Lacquer Ultimate Outlaw collection are just as beautiful as the first five! If you want to see those, check part 1 and part 2.

As with the other parts, I'll put the inspiration and Amy's notes in the blockquote, and my comments outside it. Let's get started!

Ether Binge, inspired by Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson, a shimmering aquamarine holo with blue-green glass fleck.
The trunk of the car looked like a mobile police narcotics lab. We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers . . . and also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls . . . Not that we needed all that for the trip, but once you get locked into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can. The only thing that really worried me was the ether. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge. And I knew we'd get into that rotten stuff pretty soon.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas chronicles (semi-autobiographically) the Las Vegas adventures of Raoul Duke and his attorney, Dr. Gonzo, as they chase the American Dream and ponder the failure of the 1960s counter-cultural movement in a drug-fueled hallucination-filled haze. On assignment from a sports magazine to cover "the fabulous Mint 400"--a free-for-all biker's race in the heart of the Nevada desert--the duo stumbles through Vegas in hallucinatory hopes of finding the American dream (two truck-stop waitresses tell them it's nearby, but can't remember if it's on the right or the left). They never get the story, but they do commit the only sins in Vegas: "burning the locals, abusing the tourists, terrifying the help."

Ether Binge is a beautiful bright turquoise - the perfect color for spring or summer! Looking at the polish certainly takes me to the land of daydreams! Imagining the perfect island paradise with rainbows and waters the color of..Oh! polish, yes yes. :) I wore three coats for full opacity, as I found this one to be just a touch on the sheer side. Formula was great, went on like butter!

xoxoJen's swatch of Ether Binge by Literary Lacquers
xoxoJen's swatch of Ether Binge by Literary Lacquers
xoxoJen's swatch of Ether Binge by Literary Lacquers

The Ultimate Outlaw, inspired by Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins, a sapphire blue holo.
Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won't adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is to sign on as its accomplice. Instead of vowing to honor and obey, maybe we should swear to aid and abet.

This quote is the inspiration for the entire collection; it was one of my very favorite books when I was in my late teens.. Robbins fascinated me as a young adult with his fast and loose writing style and penchant for outlaw philosophy. Still Life with Woodpecker chronicles the love affair of two redheads, Bernard Mickey Wrangle, the outlaw bomber philosopher (who is insistent upon explaining the difference between an outlaw and a criminal) and Leigh-Cheri Furstenberg-Barcalona, the environmentalist princess. The two arrive separately in Hawaii for the Care Fest, a gathering of environmental leaders and environmentalists in general (she to participate, he to blow it up), and they meet and fall in love. One part fairy tale, one part philosophical treatise on aspects of love and how to make it stay, and one part an exploration of the boundary between self and other and what happens when you attempt to transcend those boundaries, this book attempts to answer many of the perplexities of life.

The collections namesake, Ultimate Outlaw, is simply gorgeous. A perfect holographic shade of blue. In some lighting situations, it almost has a smokiness to it but in bright lighting its straight up blue. I am in love with it! I wore two coats, formula was awesome as usual!

xoxoJen's swatch of Ultimate Outlaw by Literary Lacquers
xoxoJen's swatch of Ultimate Outlaw by Literary Lacquers
xoxoJen's swatch of Ultimate Outlaw by Literary Lacquers

Everything You Love, inspired by The Color Purple by Alice Walker, a deep smoky lilac holo.
Oh, she say. God love all them feelings. That’s some of the best stuff God did. And when you know God loves ‘em you enjoys ‘em a lot more. You can just relax, go with everything that’s going, and praise God by liking what you like. God don’t think it dirty? I ast. Naw, she say. God made it. Listen, God love everything you love—and a mess of stuff you don’t.

The Color Purple chronicles the struggle of several black women in rural Georgia in the first half of the twentieth century. Upon publication in 1982, the book generated tremendous controversy, instigating debates about black cultural representation. Critics complained that the novel reaffirmed old racist stereotypes and focused too heavily on sexism instead of addressing American racism. Feminists praised the book as a feminist fable of the power of strong female relationships and the idea that gender and sexuality are not as simple as we may believe. The heated disputes surrounding The Color Purple are a testimony to the resounding effects the work has had on cultural and racial discourse in the United States.

And I saved one of my very favorites for last, Everything You Love. It stands up to its name for me, for sure! its a smokey purple shade that, in some lights, leans more violet and sometimes looks more mauve. Quite the enigma! I wore two coats, and just like the rest of the collection, the formula was superb.

xoxoJen's swatch of Everything You Love by Literary Lacquers
xoxoJen's swatch of Everything You Love by Literary Lacquers
xoxoJen's swatch of Everything You Love by Literary Lacquers


You may already know that I love purple and green together, so how could I resist not topping it with Two At The Very Most? I previously reviewed the topper over Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster and I'm Drinking Stars if you'd like to see its versatility. I think this glitter topper goes well over just about any shade, and I especially love it over Everything You Love!

xoxoJen's swatch of Everything You Love by Literary Lacquers
xoxoJen's swatch of Everything You Love by Literary Lacquers
xoxoJen's swatch of Everything You Love by Literary Lacquers


The entire Ultimate Outlaw Collection is available now at the Literary Lacquers shop! Which ones are your favorites?

xoxo, Jen signature