Essie Winter 2014-- Jiggle Hi, Jiggle Low

  Morning, all!!  Remember that blogger from a couple years back who had a compilation of the worst polish names?  Anyway, Jiggle Hi, Jiggle Low is my second top choice from Essie's Winter 2014 collection, and the anchor/namesake of the collection.  One of the articles I read on the subject (and I can't for the life of me remember who wrote it) stated that wearing metallics is a thing again and I was quite clueless... I get exhausted just thinking about following trends.  Anyway (again), if Jiggle Hi, Jiggle Low means metallics are in again, then it's a perfect and gorgeous way to start wearing the trend (if you're into that kind of thing... and even if you're not).  Ironically, it's also one of the more festive and holiday traditional polishes of the collection.

  I've been a fan of gold nails as soon as I discovered that gold polish exists.  Jiggle Hi, Jiggle Low is a champagne gold, more of a foil than a metallic, possessing all of the gleam and none of the streakiness that tend to plague true metallics.  It's basically a white gold base supersaturated with microshimmer and very finely milled buttery yellow gold flecks for added dimension.  It's one of those colors that look like precious, molten metal going on and dries to a bright, dazzling, liquid like finish.

Essie Winter 2014-- Jiggle Hi, Jiggle Low

Zoya Crystal

  Hi friends!!  So a couple years or so ago, I came across a post on Demelza's World {HERE} discussing Europe and Asia exclusive OPI shade Reflecting Pool, its htf status, and the Zoya that's a perfect copy.  I had to get the Zoya, as I'm not one for hunting down/paying exorbitant prices for anything that's not a Nail Prism.
  This is Crystal, a light blue foil generously flecked with buttery gold.  It's gorgeous.

Zoya Crystal

Celestial Cosmetics Beauty OVERLOAD!!!

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  Hi all!!  I'm seriously loving everything coming out of Celestial Cosmetics these days.  I'm not feeling particularly wordy at the moment (maybe a good thing anyway, lol) so let's just get to it :)

  

First up is Chrome Amaranth, a Color4Nails exclusive.  Chrome Amaranth is a bright, light silver foil with red microglitter and holographic red hex glitter that flash magenta and gold.  In the bottle, it looks like it might apply a little thick, but it doesn't.  I used two easy coats and one layer of GlitterDaze Super Smooth Quickdry Keratin topcoat.

12 Days of Christmas Nails!! Day 1: a-England Excalibur (new) + Shimmer Elsa

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Hi everyone!  A few days ago I mentioned something I had planned for December that I was pretty excited for, and I thought I'd launch it today.  Last year I had a handful of polishes that reminded me only of Christmas and I didn't give myself a chance to play with them but this year I'm changing all that. :)  So, I present to you LLPT's 12 Days of Christmas Nails!  The idea is fairly self explanatory.  I'll feature twelve different holiday-ish nail looks before Christmas Day finally hits.  We'll see how far I actually make it but I have some fun stuff I want to share, so I'll just get started, with 12 posts before the 25th being the end goal :)

I'm usually very classic in my choices for day to day polishes but I let myself get a little wild and crazy (comparatively speaking) for the holidays, which are, in part, about adding a little more shimmer and sparkle to your wardrobe.  Today I decided to pair two of my favorite indie companies, a-England and Shimmer, in a sponge tip mani.  I used the new a-England Excalibur, a buttery champagne gold, as my base, and Shimmer Elsa, a champagne gold, cerulean, and ruby red glitter, for my tips.

Ulta Peppermint Bark

Good morning, everyone!!  Lots of people tend to freak out a little at how early Christmas carols are played on the radio, decorations in cities and stores are put up, etc etc. and I used to be like that.  C is a huge Christmas fanatic, though, childlike in his enthusiasm, and over the years of being together that enthusiasm has rubbed off on my skinflint little heart a bit.  Why not listen to carols and decorate early?  The point of it is to make people happy and if busting out your wreaths and tinsel sometime between Halloween and Thanksgiving brings you any amount of joy, have at it and Godspeed.  So, yeah-- this all happened at our house Sunday night.  We were going to hold off for another weekend but we'd been in the stores doing some early Christmas shopping a couple nights before and were totally ready to be fully in the spirit.  Our tree is up and decorated , stockings hung on the mantle, the whole nine yards... in the house, at least.  We'll wait to put lights up until closer to December.

Naturally, I felt like dressing my nails up in something Christmassy after all that, so I pulled out Ulta Peppermint Bark, a gift from a good friend who rightly knew I'd adore this color.  Peppermint Bark is a light rosy pink foil with pale pink, gold, and green shimmer.  I used two coats; probably should have used three... maybe just a little bit lazy, lol.  The formula's great, as most foils are-- one of the easiest finishes to apply.

Zoya Zenith Collection-- Holiday/Winter 2013

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Hi everyone!!   First off, I want to say THANK YOU to all you veterans for your service and sacrifice.  You are, and always will be, one of the greatest things about this country.

Zoya's holiday/winter collection is a particularly exciting one because rather than steep themselves in the trappings of most holiday themed collections, they went full on winter, with a twist.  The six-polish set is comprised of cold foils and metallics, dark, sparkling scattered holos, and one unique topper that gives the foils and metallics a decidedly and very cool sci-fi feel.

Imitation Is The Sincerest Form Of Flattery

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...though some things are oft imitated, never duplicated. ;)

My good friend Candice of Mommy Does Her Nails has had a (usually) weekly feature on her blog for going on two years, one in which her husband goes through her stash and chooses a selection of polishes with which she is to create nail art.  It's the coolest challenge.  The point of it is to stump her and I just really think that's impossible.

Candice always has a call out at the bottom of each HP post to involve a guy in your own life and do one of these challenges yourself, and to please feel more than welcome email her your results for a future blog feature and to share on her facebook page.  In light of recent events (and perhaps inspiration to regularly wear more than one color on my nailses at a time) I decided to finally pay homage to the original.

C knows better than to actually challenge me with stuff that may or may not look nice next to each other on a color wheel, so he chose some gorgeous colors meant for a fall themed mani.  Clockwise from the left are Zoya Maria Luisa, Zoya Flynn, Zoya Hunter, and Butter London Sunbaker.

Three of these colors are from the Zoya fall collections so it obvi wasn't hard to make them look gorgeous together.  C's addition of the bright and fiery Sunbaker was genius, though.  I love the pop of harvest sunset golden-orange it provides, also proving Butter London's summer offering to be wonderfully versatile.

In closing, this was TOTALLY fun and I can't wait to collab with my sweetheart to to more of these.  I hope some of you all are inspired to join up, blog not required!  Just shoot an email to Candice, aka The Master, via her blog page and she'll be happy to feature ya.

Thank you for reading and have an awesome day!! ♥

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Not-So-Random Sunday Swatches

*BadAss Polish press sample

It's a cool and stormy Sunday here and I've got black tea with cream in hand and a purring baby Beau on my lap.  Life is good.  

I love pulling out old pretties and reshowing them and I've been particularly excited to have carte blanche the past few days and shop my stash a little.  NARS Storm Bird is one of my very favorites.   Its classic yet edgy nimbus grey is just perfect for this time of year and its formula is impeccable.  I used two coats.

I did this layering combo a few weeks ago and loved it.  I don't know why I didn't post about it then but I really felt like wearing it again, so here it is, lol.  BadAss Polish looks to be making a resurgence, if the rumblings on their facebook page is any indication.  Dusk was one of their first releases, a cerulean blue and gold glitter in a clear base that jazzes up whatever blue toned polish it touches.  My friend Christine at Polished Marvels gifted me with Max Factor Graffiti (from the same collection as Fantasy Fire, incidentally) a while back and its shimmery, watery teal foil is a gorgeous backdrop to Dusk.  I used two coats of Graffiti and one of Dusk, plus two thin layers of topcoat.

I love this duo so much!  I could stare at it all day (and I likely will, lol).  And with that, my creative juices are about tapped out and I'm going to go squeeze in a workout, get some chores done, and take a nap.

Have a cozy day and thank you for reading. ♥♥

*BadAss Polish press sample

Esmaltes da Kelly I Love Zombies & Dhiren

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Hello!!  Next up in my little lineup of Awesome Brazilian Indies is Esmaltes da Kelly.  Before I get into the polishes, lookit the little bottles!  They're soooo adorable!

Seriously, who doesn't love great packaging?  Adorably personalized labels, black satin bow... these are just the cutest, lol.  Okay, on to the polish.

I do not love zombies, in fact I think they're disgusting and the whole pop culture obsession with them absurd.  This polish is forgiven its name because it's so unusually pretty.

I Love Zombies is a warm, gold toned mossy green foil along the lines of Butter London Wallis.  I Love Zombies has a smattering of monochromatic hex glitters that flash holo and take the foil to a slightly whimsical level.  It's a super saturated color and applies beautifully.  I used two coats of polish and one layer of topcoat.

Dhiren, as a quick google search revealed to me, is a Sanskrit name meaning "strong one".  The polish is delicate and adorable and I feel I can safely assume it was inspired by a little one bearing that name.  Dhiren is a glitter topper filled with tiny, shimmery teal glitters, and small and medium sized matte cerulean, pale pink, carnation pink, and goldenrod colored hexes in a clear base.  It applies smoothly and evenly, is self leveling, and the glitters come out easily and plentifully.  I used one coat of Dhiren over OPI Don't Burst My Bubble, with one layer of topcoat.

Esmaltes da Kelly polishes retail for $8 each and are available for sale internationally through color4nails.com.

Like color4nails on facebook to stay up to date on specials and new releases.

Thank you for reading and have a marvelous day!! ♥♥

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A-England Excalibur (revamped) + Cat Spam!!!

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It's official, I have a new brand crush and it is A-England.  The concepts, the energy, the colors...  All it took was one bite and I'm hooked.  I've been googling swatches since I put Briar Rose on my nails and now I've got two more colors on order.  In the meantime, I get to show you the revamped version of Excalibur.

Originally, A-England launched Excalibur as a bright platinum chrome.  The new version is a buttery champagne gold with an abundance of yellow gold glitters and flakes.  I LOVE gold foils, especially during the summer, and this one is just stunningly elegant and multifaceted.  The formula is perfect.  Two coats covers the nail beautifully and there are no brushstrokes.  I used one layer of topcoat, as usual.

Both versions of A-England Excalibur, as well as the rest of the A-England line, are available for sale internationally through Color4Nails for $10 each.  Orders are taken through email at color4nails21@gmail.com.

And now, as promised and anticipated (I'm sure), cat spam featuring Baby Beau freaking out in his little cat tower.

 Thanks for reading and have a lovely day! ♥

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Zoya Rikki

Hi again, you get an LLPT twofer today ;)  

I've been stalking my local Ulta since Mother's Day for the Zoya summer collections, Irresistible and Stunning.  They finally got them in this Sunday, like I think maybe they *just* unboxed them when I swooped right on in, lol.

A few of the polishes in these collections have musical names and aside from being gorgeous colors, the two greens are reminiscent of songs from one of my very favorite groups, Steely Dan.  This one is Rikki (as in, Rikki Don't Lose That Number), from the Irresistible collection.

Rikki is a cool, medium moss green foil.  It's a hard color to accurately describe.  There's a bit of yellow in here (which keeps it from giving me lobster hands, always a good thing) and enough blue to take it to the hunter green side of the spectrum.  It's a lighter blue, so the effect is a gorgeous and perfectly summer wearable and unique green.  It's got green, yellow, and a small smattering of copper shimmers.

If some of the foils from the last few collections have been a bit thick, Zoya's returned to perfect form with this one.  Rikki's got a formula of perfectly workable consistency and is beautiful in two coats.

Wearing a Zoya foil is such a treat, to me.  They look so magical going on, are so easy to apply, and have such an amazing finish.

I can safely say now that Zoya Rikki is available at your local Ulta for $8.  It's also available on Zoya's website.  Ulta is having a B2G1 sale this week, so I picked up a small bottle of Zoya Remove to try.  I've been a pure acetone devotee since I started painting my nails but if there's something that removes polishes like this with the same ease and with less dehydration, I'm all for it.  I'll report back with my thoughts, but I know a lot of you gals love it and I'd love to hear why.

Thanks for reading and may the day be gentle with you ♥

Orly Rage

Good morning!!  My lovely friend Essie's been tempting me with Orly Rage for months and I finally pulled the trigger on this gorgeous foil this last weekend.

Ever since rose gold jewelry arrived on the scene a few years ago, I've been a little obsessed (I had to show it with my favorite rose gold hoops, lol), and Rage is the perfect way to wear the gorgeous tone on nails.  This one's got an abundance of silver shimmer, giving it a little more of an elegant appearance than its chromelike counterparts.  I love it.  It's a little more neutral than the flashy gold and silver foils I'm also fond of wearing, making it a smidge more demure even as it commands attention.  I used two coats here.  The formula is exceptional and if you don't have this beauty in your collection, I highly recommend it.  It's lovely for glitter layering, too, as I'm learning, but more on that later. :)

Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful day! ♥♥

Zoya Raven + Trixie

I was going through Zoya's fb fan uploads the other day and was inspired to wear the lovely Trixie again, and because I haven't worn black in far too long, I decided to do both.  Ha!

Raven was my first Zoya, along with Holly, and Trixie was third, I think... a huge lemming I satisfied when Ulta started carrying some older Zoyas.  Raven's not your typical black creme (if there even is such a thing) because of the silver microshimmer laced throughout.  Trixie is, of course, a light silver foil and kind of makes me feel like Anthony Keidis singing Give it Away, lol.

I used two coats of each.

Today we're headed to a timeshare thingie which ought to be incredibly boring, so comment lots so I have something to do for those 90 minutes, k?

Thanks for reading! :D

Max Factor Fotd!

Good morning!  My UK hookup/awesome uncle got a free gift with purchase when he bought me my last batch of Max Factor nail polishes.  It's a holiday look set complete with a full size lipstick, eyeshadow, and nail polish (full size for Max Factor is mini for anyone else, but that's okay) and a mini mascara.  This is the look I've been sporting the past couple days.

Clockwise from center, Max Factor Glossfinity in Angel Nails, Earth Spirits shadow in Terra Firma, lipstick in Lilac Wine (isn't that the prettiest name?), and Masterpiece mascara in black.

Lilac Wine is a light, mauvey lilac with gold shimmer.  It's not a color I'd ever choose for myself but looked really promising, so I was really excited to try it on.  It ended up being a little on the frosty side, and while I love a good frost on my nails, that's where it should stay.  Still, it's a pretty enough color and had decent staying power.  Of course, I had to reapply after lunch, but I didn't find myself completely bare-lipped after I finished my afternoon tea.

  The wand for Masterpiece mascara is one of those rubbery things that seem to be all the rage, at least amongst drugstore cosmetics.  I'd never tried a wand like this, and it doesn't look terribly full to me, and since I'm all about volumizing, I didn't hold much hope for this.  I ended up loving it, though.  It separates and lengthens so beautifully, doesn't flake off, even with my oily skin, and isn't terribly uncomfortable at the end of a long day.

I didn't take a closeup of the shadow, so sorry....  Terra Firma is a red based brown matte shadow, plain and simple.  The suggestion on the little insert paper says to use your fingertips to really press this color in, which I assume is because it's not overly pigmented.  I used a brush on day two and found the payoff to be just as good with a prettier, softer effect.  They suggest you line your eyes with this, too, so that's what I did.

The jury's still out on this one.  It highlighted my eyes nicely enough, but the red based brown isn't the most flattering shade on me.  The formula's nice, though, with little fallout.

This is Angel Nails, a silvery gold foil with a hint of rose that didn't come out to play here but really surprised me when I moved into certain light yesterday.  It's not an original color, but it is pretty and works well with the rest of the look.  Glossfinity claims to last seven days, and so far we're on day two with no tipwear.  This is particularly impressive on my nails at this length, which generally do not like to hold color for over 24 hours.  Formula is typical max Factor thin with a great application.  I used three coats.

Aaand, here are some shots o' the full look :)

 The best self portraits are taken while making a face.  This is not saying much.

Day two.  See how much nicer the shadow looks when I've got a brush to apply with?

One with the nails. 

The whole idea is a soft focus, natural and understatedly festive look, which is definitely accomplished.  It's a pretty little set and while the lip and eye colors aren't my cup of tea, it was fun to fall for a new mascara and fun to try a polish beyond their Special Effects line.

Thanks for reading and have a lovely day :)

Zoya Carly, Satinified

Good morning!!  This'll be a short post (as in, less talking from me, lol) because I've already worn this polish and talked about it.  It's Zoya Carly, the gorgeously unsummery dark purple foil from this summer's Surf collection.  Simona from Light Your Nails and Christina from Amoki's Corner both mentioned how chic Carly would look mattified, and I had to agree.  Here it is with my Essence Soft Touch topper (I'm really starting to love this thing!).  This is two coats Carly, one coat Soft Touch.

I'm totally in love with how this looks.  You know how mattes tend to chip way earlier than glossy polishes (or so I'm told)?  This topcoat seems to be the exception.  The only reason I redid my mani from yesterday was because I wasn't happy with my paint job and it didn't make for very nice photos, lol.

So there you go!  Thank you for reading, have an awesome day. <3

Zoya Carly

Good morning!!  If you read yesterday's post then you know I wasn't wild about my first attempt at a white holo.  So, I changed my color for the weekend. :)  A while back I realized purple was lacking in my stash, so I picked up Zoya Carly from the Surf collection, and am just now getting around to wearing it.  Why'd I wait so long?  Carly's gorgeous, and, surprisingly, because it wasn't one I was initially going to bother with, has become my favorite from that collection (okay, tied with Kimber).  This is two coats.

Carly is a plum purple foil, red-leaning and warm, a beautiful and unexpected dark color for summer.  I like to follow seasonal trends, somewhat, and I love dark colors, so I'm not sure why this one didn't show up on my radar sooner.  Putting it on was one of those "Ooh!  Aahhh!!" moments. lol.

That's all!  Thank you for reading, have an amazing weekend, and I'll see you next back on track with the letter I. <3