One of my favourite ladies who dwells over at Adventures of a Mad Scientist made me something gorgeous. She also made gorgeous earrings, but I did not take their picture yet!
Fantasy Fire necklace *swoon*
I heart you muchly Lauren! <3
Monday, November 12, 2012
Adventures of a Mad Scientist Makes Beautiful Things
I'm trying to take some decent pictures of the Pretty Serious Monster Mash collection and Emma Louise. We shall see.. All I have is indoor lighting to work with and some pretty lacking camera skills. Cross fingers people! Cross toes.. Cross eyes? In the meantime.. check out this baby!
One of my favourite ladies who dwells over at Adventures of a Mad Scientist made me something gorgeous. She also made gorgeous earrings, but I did not take their picture yet!
Fantasy Fire necklace *swoon*
I heart you muchly Lauren! <3
One of my favourite ladies who dwells over at Adventures of a Mad Scientist made me something gorgeous. She also made gorgeous earrings, but I did not take their picture yet!
Fantasy Fire necklace *swoon*
I heart you muchly Lauren! <3
Sunday, November 11, 2012
A Few From Syn Cosmetics
I ordered these back when Syn was having a flash sale. I think they were 40% off. They announced it on their Facebook page which you might want to like. Judging by this message at the top of their site currently "Keep an eye on the Facebook page, most of these are going to be discontinued within the next 2 weeks to bring in bigger and better selections :)" they will likely be having another sale soon. Also.. it looks like they are bringing in more stock which is fabulous.
Bitter Glitter over Pretty Serious Gargoyle Ganache. This one wasn't my favourite. I thought I would like it more. I need to try it over some pastels methinks.
Here is Black and Blew over ManGlaze Royal Matterimoaning. I loved this one.
I got decent shots of the bases of these next two so you are looking at them!
Color Club Factory Girl 3 coats
2 coats of Synthetic Ice
Color Club Wild Child 4 coats (surprisingly not too bad to apply said 4 coats)
2 coats of I'm Glowing Home which is kind of like a mashup between Connect the Dots and Ninja Vs. Pirate. I didn't put topcoat on this one.
This was the best picture I got of it glowing in the dark. My nails look totally wonky, but they didn't in the other pics I took. Sadly yes, this is the BEST picture I got. Must reswatch.
btw it glows BLUE. Love.
I quite liked these polishes. As with any chunky glitter they required a bit of manipulation and dabbing, but I didn't find them difficult to apply at all. Bitter Glitter was a bit low, I would have preferred it be totally full obviously, but it didn't bother me enough to mention it or as for a replacement. On that note, the customer service was great. It had been a while and I hadn't gotten my order so I emailed and was taken care of. They emailed back a while after to make sure I got them as well. I will be trying this brand again!
You can purchase Syn Cosmetic polishes on their website. The polishes run from $9.99 to $10.99 (glow in the darks), but keep your eyes peeled on their facebook page for sales.
Bitter Glitter over Pretty Serious Gargoyle Ganache. This one wasn't my favourite. I thought I would like it more. I need to try it over some pastels methinks.
Here is Black and Blew over ManGlaze Royal Matterimoaning. I loved this one.
I got decent shots of the bases of these next two so you are looking at them!
Color Club Factory Girl 3 coats
2 coats of Synthetic Ice
Color Club Wild Child 4 coats (surprisingly not too bad to apply said 4 coats)
2 coats of I'm Glowing Home which is kind of like a mashup between Connect the Dots and Ninja Vs. Pirate. I didn't put topcoat on this one.
This was the best picture I got of it glowing in the dark. My nails look totally wonky, but they didn't in the other pics I took. Sadly yes, this is the BEST picture I got. Must reswatch.
btw it glows BLUE. Love.
I quite liked these polishes. As with any chunky glitter they required a bit of manipulation and dabbing, but I didn't find them difficult to apply at all. Bitter Glitter was a bit low, I would have preferred it be totally full obviously, but it didn't bother me enough to mention it or as for a replacement. On that note, the customer service was great. It had been a while and I hadn't gotten my order so I emailed and was taken care of. They emailed back a while after to make sure I got them as well. I will be trying this brand again!
You can purchase Syn Cosmetic polishes on their website. The polishes run from $9.99 to $10.99 (glow in the darks), but keep your eyes peeled on their facebook page for sales.
Friday, November 9, 2012
Guest Post - Pied Polish Piper and Glimmer by Erica
Ooh speaking of guest posts. Here is my most Bestest BFF in the whole of the land. Miss Moxie herself the Pied Polish Piper. She is doing a review of six polishes from Glimmer by Erica. I love glitter! I also love Mox <3 She is the glitter that runneth through my veins. Enjoy!
Ahoy hoy folks! Reece, the lovely owner of this blog, recently asked me if I'd like to do a guest post on Spit & Polish...I jumped at the opportunity! So thanks, pal, for having me here; I am honored!
I would like to take a quick moment to apologize in advance for any gnarly and/or stained cuticles. I don't usually do swatch-a-thons but I did a swatch-a-thon today for this post and my nails aren't used to this kind of abuse lol. My hat's off to the MANY bloggers out there who sit down and swatch entire collections at a time, you are far more patient than I ever could be.
I first caught wind of Glimmer by Erica on More Nail Polish's blog this past summer. I was intrigued, so peeked around on GbE's etsy shop because I was in a hauling mood. I picked up the following polishes: Punky Patty, Shrinking Violet, Rainbow Star Sprinkles, Trick or Treat, Spicy Pumpkin and Spectral.
Before I review these polishes, I just want to speak for a moment about etsy and ebay sellers and "shipping and handling" charges. Now, I understand that many online sellers/retailers make the bulk of their profit from charging an additional premium for "shipping and handling" of items. However, I don't care to be blatantly ripped off when buying an item online. I realize there are certainly costs associated with creating/bottling/etc a hand-made polish; however, if there were no profits to be made simply by doing so, no one would be selling indie polishes. When I placed my order with Glimmer by Erica, I noticed that the initial shipping and handling cost for the first bottle of polish was $6.00 USD. That's pricey, but fine, right? Each additional polish I ordered was slapped with an additional shipping and handling fee of $2.50 USD PER bottle. I paid $18.50 USD on a $60.00 polish order. It is not difficult for me to go to usps.com and weigh 6 bottles of polish to estimate how much shipping to me should actually cost (hint, not $18.50). I misplaced my shipping box but the USPS sticker indicated that the seller had paid $6 - $8 USD to ship these polishes to me. I was charged an additional $10 - $12 USD for shipment. My question is...why? As I said, I understand it takes time and resources to make and bottle polish; however, shouldn't that be reflected in the cost of the polish not the cost of shipment? I did some digging around on other etsy sellers and their shipping rates seemed far more reasonable. For example: HARE Polish charges $6.00 USD for the first bottle of polish and $0.25 USD for each additional bottle of polish purchased. Pahlish charges $3.00 USD for the first bottle of polish and $1.00 USD for each additional bottle of polished purchased. I could go on as I found other example of etsy sellers whose shipping charges were more reasonable, but I think I've made my point.
So, in light of the shipping costs, I expected these polishes to knock my socks off. Did they though? Read on to find out....
Spectral Ok, now this polish I do LOVE. Spectral is a beautiful mix of large and small purple, blue and silver hex glitters. This is 2 coats of Spectral over 3 coats of China Glaze Recycle.
Spicy Pumpkin This polish was a last second add-on to my order; an impulse purchase, if you will. And I ended up LOVING this one as well. A pretty mix of large, medium and small orange and red hex glitters. This is definitely a fall polish! Pictured is 1 coat of Spicy Pumpkin over 1 coat of OPI Chatters Me Up (dupes for Chatters Me Up include Orly Rococo-a-go go and Zoya Valerie).
Trick or Treat I was surprised by this one. I wasn't sure I would like it, but I do. I dig it. Very Halloween, as its name indicates! It is an interesting mix of small orange hex glitters with medium sized purple hex glitters. It also has large yellow hex glitters and large red square glitters thrown in for good measure. Pictured is 1 coat of Trick or Treat over 1 coat of American Apparel Hassid (amazing black one-coater, fyi).
Rainbow Star Sprinkles Man...I loved Rainbow Brite as a kid, such a great show! Anyhoo, this polish IS Rainbow Brite in a bottle! I really do like this one. I know that multicolored glitter polishes are/have been kind of overdone lately (Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday and its bajillion dupes comes to mind); however, Rainbow Star Sprinkles really catches my eye because the glitters in it are so bright and vibrant compared to the other multicolored glitters out there! I do enjoy the fact that Erica ensured to put every color of the rainbow in to this polish. It has red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple hex glitters with smaller silver holographic hex glitters. This is 1 coat of Rainbow Star Sprinkles over 1 coat of American Apparel Hassid. I like the result; however, I do feel it would look even better with a second or third coat of Rainbow Star Sprinkles.
Shrinking Violet is also part of Erica's Rainbow Brite collection. This polish consists of purple hex glitters and smaller silver holographic hex glitters. While this polish isn't as complex as some of the other polishes I ordered, I quite like this one...it's very pretty. Pictured is 1 coat of Shrinking Violet over 1 coat of American Apparel Hassid. This is another polish that I feel would have benefitted from another coat and/or maybe better underwear selection on my part.
Punky Patty Punky Patty was another polish part of the Rainbow Brite collection. This was the polish I was most excited to order from Erica initially. It is a nice polish, but I was a bit let down with this one. In the bottle, you can see there are green, yellow and blue hex glitters and smaller silver holographic hex glitters. When I went to apply Punky Patty, it was mostly only the green glitters that transferred on to my nails. I was really hoping for more of the blue and yellow glitters to transfer as well. I tried a couple of tricks I've used in the past for getting out stubborn glitters but nothing was working. I was bummed! I'm wearing 1 coat of Punky Patty over 1 coat of China Glaze Glittering Garland (which stained on me something fierce).
Overall, I am pleased with the quality of these polishes. The color combinations are unique and the application is smooth compared to other glitters out there (no thinner required). I still dabbed these polishes on because it is my preferred method of applying all larger/denser glitters, but I think one could certainly get away with swiping them on. Are these polishes worth the additional shipping and handling fees? I'm not sure. While I absolutely adore Spectral, Spicy Pumpkin and Rainbow Star Sprinkles, I am uncertain whether or not I would be willing to place another order in the future simply due to the higher-than-average shipping costs. I wasn't as blown away as I was hoping to be. Anyway, thanks for taking a moment to read my loooong guest post! And thank you, once more, to Reece for having me!
To which Reece replied: No thank YOU my lovely for being a most welcome guest on the old blag!
I must add that the Pied Polish Pier is also a Canadian; thus, the no bueno shipping costs were to Canada.
Go visit my Mox on her blog, the Pied Polish Piper.
Ahoy hoy folks! Reece, the lovely owner of this blog, recently asked me if I'd like to do a guest post on Spit & Polish...I jumped at the opportunity! So thanks, pal, for having me here; I am honored!
I would like to take a quick moment to apologize in advance for any gnarly and/or stained cuticles. I don't usually do swatch-a-thons but I did a swatch-a-thon today for this post and my nails aren't used to this kind of abuse lol. My hat's off to the MANY bloggers out there who sit down and swatch entire collections at a time, you are far more patient than I ever could be.
I first caught wind of Glimmer by Erica on More Nail Polish's blog this past summer. I was intrigued, so peeked around on GbE's etsy shop because I was in a hauling mood. I picked up the following polishes: Punky Patty, Shrinking Violet, Rainbow Star Sprinkles, Trick or Treat, Spicy Pumpkin and Spectral.
Before I review these polishes, I just want to speak for a moment about etsy and ebay sellers and "shipping and handling" charges. Now, I understand that many online sellers/retailers make the bulk of their profit from charging an additional premium for "shipping and handling" of items. However, I don't care to be blatantly ripped off when buying an item online. I realize there are certainly costs associated with creating/bottling/etc a hand-made polish; however, if there were no profits to be made simply by doing so, no one would be selling indie polishes. When I placed my order with Glimmer by Erica, I noticed that the initial shipping and handling cost for the first bottle of polish was $6.00 USD. That's pricey, but fine, right? Each additional polish I ordered was slapped with an additional shipping and handling fee of $2.50 USD PER bottle. I paid $18.50 USD on a $60.00 polish order. It is not difficult for me to go to usps.com and weigh 6 bottles of polish to estimate how much shipping to me should actually cost (hint, not $18.50). I misplaced my shipping box but the USPS sticker indicated that the seller had paid $6 - $8 USD to ship these polishes to me. I was charged an additional $10 - $12 USD for shipment. My question is...why? As I said, I understand it takes time and resources to make and bottle polish; however, shouldn't that be reflected in the cost of the polish not the cost of shipment? I did some digging around on other etsy sellers and their shipping rates seemed far more reasonable. For example: HARE Polish charges $6.00 USD for the first bottle of polish and $0.25 USD for each additional bottle of polish purchased. Pahlish charges $3.00 USD for the first bottle of polish and $1.00 USD for each additional bottle of polished purchased. I could go on as I found other example of etsy sellers whose shipping charges were more reasonable, but I think I've made my point.
So, in light of the shipping costs, I expected these polishes to knock my socks off. Did they though? Read on to find out....
Spectral Ok, now this polish I do LOVE. Spectral is a beautiful mix of large and small purple, blue and silver hex glitters. This is 2 coats of Spectral over 3 coats of China Glaze Recycle.
Spicy Pumpkin This polish was a last second add-on to my order; an impulse purchase, if you will. And I ended up LOVING this one as well. A pretty mix of large, medium and small orange and red hex glitters. This is definitely a fall polish! Pictured is 1 coat of Spicy Pumpkin over 1 coat of OPI Chatters Me Up (dupes for Chatters Me Up include Orly Rococo-a-go go and Zoya Valerie).
Trick or Treat I was surprised by this one. I wasn't sure I would like it, but I do. I dig it. Very Halloween, as its name indicates! It is an interesting mix of small orange hex glitters with medium sized purple hex glitters. It also has large yellow hex glitters and large red square glitters thrown in for good measure. Pictured is 1 coat of Trick or Treat over 1 coat of American Apparel Hassid (amazing black one-coater, fyi).
Rainbow Star Sprinkles Man...I loved Rainbow Brite as a kid, such a great show! Anyhoo, this polish IS Rainbow Brite in a bottle! I really do like this one. I know that multicolored glitter polishes are/have been kind of overdone lately (Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday and its bajillion dupes comes to mind); however, Rainbow Star Sprinkles really catches my eye because the glitters in it are so bright and vibrant compared to the other multicolored glitters out there! I do enjoy the fact that Erica ensured to put every color of the rainbow in to this polish. It has red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple hex glitters with smaller silver holographic hex glitters. This is 1 coat of Rainbow Star Sprinkles over 1 coat of American Apparel Hassid. I like the result; however, I do feel it would look even better with a second or third coat of Rainbow Star Sprinkles.
Shrinking Violet is also part of Erica's Rainbow Brite collection. This polish consists of purple hex glitters and smaller silver holographic hex glitters. While this polish isn't as complex as some of the other polishes I ordered, I quite like this one...it's very pretty. Pictured is 1 coat of Shrinking Violet over 1 coat of American Apparel Hassid. This is another polish that I feel would have benefitted from another coat and/or maybe better underwear selection on my part.
Punky Patty Punky Patty was another polish part of the Rainbow Brite collection. This was the polish I was most excited to order from Erica initially. It is a nice polish, but I was a bit let down with this one. In the bottle, you can see there are green, yellow and blue hex glitters and smaller silver holographic hex glitters. When I went to apply Punky Patty, it was mostly only the green glitters that transferred on to my nails. I was really hoping for more of the blue and yellow glitters to transfer as well. I tried a couple of tricks I've used in the past for getting out stubborn glitters but nothing was working. I was bummed! I'm wearing 1 coat of Punky Patty over 1 coat of China Glaze Glittering Garland (which stained on me something fierce).
Overall, I am pleased with the quality of these polishes. The color combinations are unique and the application is smooth compared to other glitters out there (no thinner required). I still dabbed these polishes on because it is my preferred method of applying all larger/denser glitters, but I think one could certainly get away with swiping them on. Are these polishes worth the additional shipping and handling fees? I'm not sure. While I absolutely adore Spectral, Spicy Pumpkin and Rainbow Star Sprinkles, I am uncertain whether or not I would be willing to place another order in the future simply due to the higher-than-average shipping costs. I wasn't as blown away as I was hoping to be. Anyway, thanks for taking a moment to read my loooong guest post! And thank you, once more, to Reece for having me!
To which Reece replied: No thank YOU my lovely for being a most welcome guest on the old blag!
I must add that the Pied Polish Pier is also a Canadian; thus, the no bueno shipping costs were to Canada.
Go visit my Mox on her blog, the Pied Polish Piper.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Pretty Serious - They Came From Beyond Space Preview
I got in on the presale for these babies. CANNOT wait for them to arrive.
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...
Just kidding.
Zooming in from the furthest reaches of the darkest corners of the cosmos, Pretty Serious Cosmetics is proud to unveil our newest mini collection: THEY CAME FROM BEYOND SPACE!
This out of this world mini collection consists of a trio of fabulous multichrome foils that are guaranteed to put stars in your eyes.
ATOMIC BRAIN is a brain melting purple multichrome foil with extraordinary colour shifts from rich purple through to pink, plum, gold and olive bronze.
GALAXY INVADER is a mind blowing blue multichrome foil with spectacular flashes of royal blue through to aqua and purple.
PHANTOM PLANET is a startling pale green multichrome foil with a stunning aqua and blue shift.
I know what you're thinking. When? Where? How? Why?
The when is November 10th, 9am AEST. The where is pretty-serious.com. The how is our secret. The why is because we love you!
RRP is $9.95, with a 10% discount for buying all three shades! Pretty Serious Cosmetics also ships worldwide. Check out our site for more details.
Bottle volume is 11ml/0.37 fl.oz. Pretty Serious Cosmetics is 100% Vegan and Cruelty Free.
I am a GUEST!
I borked my attempted swatching of the Pretty Serious Monster Mash collection last weekend and ran out of daylight. I do plan to swatch them this coming weekend though! I also have a few glitters from Syn Cosmetics to fiddle with.
In lieu of an actual post from me. Go see a guest post I did on Sparkly Vernis!
Thanks so much for the opportunity Alex! <3
Saturday, November 3, 2012
CrowsToes Christmas Collection 2012
Man, Lauri has outdone herself. This collection is ridiculous! RIDICULOUS. Frigging gorgeous.
This is a limited edition collection that will be available in a around a week or 2. I think that is perfect. Holiday parties start popping up around November. Who wouldn't want to have ridiculous blinged out nails?
Llarowe's exclusives will be:
A Christmas Crow
Her Goose Got Cooked
Jingle Balls
Overall Beauty's exclusives will be:
Bah F@#$%*g Humbug
Blue Christmas
Holly and Hellfire, Making Christmas and Maxxed Out will be available at both.
Lauri is keeping the Halloween Collection core! Huzzah! Mmm Frog's Breath..
On to the pictures! I am not going to mess around with many words. I started swatching at like noon and it is 6:20 now and I'm just getting to posting. I did take a break to grab some groceries, but I live 2 blocks from the store. Ah well, it was a labour of love!
If you frequent my blog you are used to 60 trillion pictures of the same shiz. Apologies if this irritates you.. wait no wtf. Don't look if you don't like it! Alternately, email me and give me some recs for some new hand poses. My hand vogue is getting stale :\
Pictures are taken in several different lights. Outdoor lighting is overcast and pissing rain. HOORAY!
A Christmas Crow - 1 coat over Essie Wicked which is why my cuticles are all stainy and bloody looking :\
Apparently I only got one decent (aside from stray glitter.. I see you there *glares) shot of the duo-crow-m in this polish which is absolutely stunning.
I lied, not all are 2 coats. This is 1 coat.
I hate how sometimes my nails look uneven because of how I'm holding the bottle. I just double checked and my nails are all the same dang length!
Blue Christmas, 2 coats over Kleancolor Metallic Aqua *grumbles at stupid stray glitter*
Her Goose Got Cooked, 2 coats over OPI Pros and Bronze
Holly and Hellfire, 2 coats over Kleancolor Metallic Red
You can better see the bigger pinky/red holo hex in this shot.
Jingle Balls, 2 coats over OPI Here Today Aragon Tomorrow Suede. The stars were a bit shy in this one. I did manage to grab a couple though! I do see lots of stars in the bottle. Luck of the draw I suppose ;)
Making Christmas, 1 super thin coat over ManGlaze Mayonnaise. This polish will build up nicely as it is quite dense, but I purposefully took almost all off the brush to give the look of peppermint bark NOM!
Maxxed Out is probably my favourite, 2 coats over Barielle Gold Digger. Can't afford to cover yourself in jewels? You can afford to look like your nails were dipped in Scrooge's vault!
*phew* I am in lurve with this collection. These polishes were gifted to my from the lovely Lauri. I haven't really given an opinion have I? *cough* my opinion is that these are all gorgeous glitters. I did not have issues with any of the formulas. If she had not given them to me I would have possibly cut someone to get them *shifty eyes*, but thankfully she did! *puts half carved shiv back under loose brick*
This is a limited edition collection that will be available in a around a week or 2. I think that is perfect. Holiday parties start popping up around November. Who wouldn't want to have ridiculous blinged out nails?
Llarowe's exclusives will be:
A Christmas Crow
Her Goose Got Cooked
Jingle Balls
Overall Beauty's exclusives will be:
Bah F@#$%*g Humbug
Blue Christmas
Holly and Hellfire, Making Christmas and Maxxed Out will be available at both.
Lauri is keeping the Halloween Collection core! Huzzah! Mmm Frog's Breath..
On to the pictures! I am not going to mess around with many words. I started swatching at like noon and it is 6:20 now and I'm just getting to posting. I did take a break to grab some groceries, but I live 2 blocks from the store. Ah well, it was a labour of love!
If you frequent my blog you are used to 60 trillion pictures of the same shiz. Apologies if this irritates you.. wait no wtf. Don't look if you don't like it! Alternately, email me and give me some recs for some new hand poses. My hand vogue is getting stale :\
Pictures are taken in several different lights. Outdoor lighting is overcast and pissing rain. HOORAY!
A Christmas Crow - 1 coat over Essie Wicked which is why my cuticles are all stainy and bloody looking :\
Apparently I only got one decent (aside from stray glitter.. I see you there *glares) shot of the duo-crow-m in this polish which is absolutely stunning.
Bah F@#$%*g Humbug, 2 coats over OPI Just Spotted the Lizard
I lied, not all are 2 coats. This is 1 coat.
I hate how sometimes my nails look uneven because of how I'm holding the bottle. I just double checked and my nails are all the same dang length!
Blue Christmas, 2 coats over Kleancolor Metallic Aqua *grumbles at stupid stray glitter*
Her Goose Got Cooked, 2 coats over OPI Pros and Bronze
Holly and Hellfire, 2 coats over Kleancolor Metallic Red
You can better see the bigger pinky/red holo hex in this shot.
Jingle Balls, 2 coats over OPI Here Today Aragon Tomorrow Suede. The stars were a bit shy in this one. I did manage to grab a couple though! I do see lots of stars in the bottle. Luck of the draw I suppose ;)
Making Christmas, 1 super thin coat over ManGlaze Mayonnaise. This polish will build up nicely as it is quite dense, but I purposefully took almost all off the brush to give the look of peppermint bark NOM!
Maxxed Out is probably my favourite, 2 coats over Barielle Gold Digger. Can't afford to cover yourself in jewels? You can afford to look like your nails were dipped in Scrooge's vault!
(this Scrooge)
*phew* I am in lurve with this collection. These polishes were gifted to my from the lovely Lauri. I haven't really given an opinion have I? *cough* my opinion is that these are all gorgeous glitters. I did not have issues with any of the formulas. If she had not given them to me I would have possibly cut someone to get them *shifty eyes*, but thankfully she did! *puts half carved shiv back under loose brick*
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