Lights Lacquer Zenon

I started to call Lights Lacquer a new-to-me brand - which it is - but it doesn't really feel new to me, because I was a big KL Polish fan. I think I have maybe around 40 polishes from KL Polish, which was also the creation of YouTuber Kathleen Lights - and Lights Lacquer is basically exactly the same, except with new colors. Lights Lacquer got underway last fall, I think? So coming up on a year ago. I had been watching as colors were released, and there were things I liked, but they're not cheap, and I was able to resist - until now! I still kept myself in control and only bought two polishes. I did a lot of looking at swatches and reviews before I decided, too.

When I say "exactly the same" I mean the bottles are about the same, the brush is the same, the formula is by all accounts basically the same, and it's still Kathleen who's developing the colors. It's just got a new name on it. Behind the scenes I'm sure things are different, but it's a very similar product. Since I really liked KL Polish, "exactly the same" is a good thing.

(As I understand it from what she said on her YouTube channel at the time, the reason for the change was that Kathleen had some partners that helped her fund KL Polish, and gradually they started overruling her on issues about the running of the business. She disagreed with them so strongly that she pulled out of that agreement and started over again, with Lights Lacquer, which she has sole control over.)


So here is one of the polishes I bought: Zenon. (Since this is already getting pretty long, I'll put the other polish up separately tomorrow.)

Zenon is from a new collection, Supernova:

(I didn't get this box because I didn't buy all three of them, but I thought it was super-adorable so I wanted to show you the picture.)

I did get a little flat promo piece, I assume because I did buy one of the polishes from the collection:

 Anyway, I really like this polish, as far as what I can tell from the swatches. The description on the website is a "fuchsia pearl with an ultra fine blue-violet holographic."

Both these swatches are Zenon, but the top swatch has matte top-coat. I just wanted to try it that way, too. The bottom one has top-coat on the tip only, but you really can't tell - or I really can't tell, anyway - where the top-coat ends.

And I just put it on my nails, so here's that too:

You can't see here how sparkly it is. Super pretty. (It seems to look considerably darker or lighter depending on the lighting. Compare the two pictures above!)

Caramello/Last KL polishes?

I did a KL Polish order when they had a one-day promo a couple of weeks ago, and I got five polishes:

L-R, this is Winter Is Coming, 1435, St.Clair, Mother of Dragons, and Caramello. They did a "special edition" for Caramello and Zoey.

The website already looks pretty picked over - lots of polishes are gone and presumably won't be back. The only things that I don't have, are still available, and that I'm particularly interested in having are To The Stars and maybe Havana Nights. If they're still there by the time the prices go down again I might get them. Basically the ones above were all the ones that I was pretty sure I wanted to buy. (I'm not sure I really will wear Caramello, but it's their best-selling color and I wanted to try it.)

It's a bit more brown than I expected - it really is the color of a caramel candy (I think I'm imagining those little Brach's squared-off caramels that used to be in every grocery store here). I held this swatch up in front of my hand and it doesn't look quite impossible, at least.

Azazael - NOTD + swatch

I showed NeVerMind Le Fay the other day, and I mentioned that I had ordered more - well, here is part of that. Since I haven't actually worn Le Fay yet, this one becomes the fist NVM I've worn - Azazael:

This is ONE COAT, y'all, and it's really pretty to boot - medium rose-pink with golden shimmer.

Here is my swatch picture:

This is a really good Valentine polish - shame it's seemingly discontinued. But it's not like there aren't plenty of other pinks around to choose from!

Evercalm

This is what first got me interested in Ren, this little tube of day cream.

I seem to have very sensitive skin these days. (It never occurred to me that sensitive skin was something that you developed with time, but that seems to have been the case for me.) I find Ren Evercalm products to be very soothing on my skin.

So when it was clear that was about to run out, I started trying to figure out if I could afford to repurchase it. The regular size is $48 at Sephora. But I found some deals on Ren's website. Here's the picture of the set I bought from the website:

It was $25, including a full-size of the day cream. That's really a deal. (It looks like it's not quite that cheap now, though.)

I also bought the Evercalm Serum, which was also marked down but which I don't seem to have a picture of. (I haven't tried the two minis - one is a glycolic-type mask and the other one is a "firming beauty shot." I'm definitely interested in trying both of those.)

Added: here's the serum:

This sample of primer (called Perfect Canvas) came with my order. I tried it today, finally, and I liked it - at least the feel of it. I'll try to remember to report back on how well it lasted.

Assorted makeup

I got this eyeshadow from the Space.NK sale along with the Terribly polishes. I actually like this little shadow a lot. It's a good color for me as a base.

I believe the color is Pink Ribbon. The brand is Lord & Berry. (I paid maybe $3 for it.)

Then there is this Urban Decay lipstick, which I've had for quite a while - it's the Basquiat line, which I think came and went very quickly. It's not a bad color but I don't really love it as much as I thought I would - isn't that always the way?

This is the end of the box, on which is written the name of the lipstick (which is Exhibition).

Added: this is what happens when I write entries in the middle of the night: I forget the picture that shows the actual product. (Although yeah, it's essentially the color you can see above.)

(Added much later: I didn't love this at first, as I said, but it's grown on me. I really like it a lot now.)

YSL Bleu Cobalt & more

My sister works for a luxury retailer so I periodically get a fun gift box from her. Last year it was mostly home decor, but this year she sent only one decor thing (Mackenzie-Childs coasters) plus a large bottle of Givenchy EauDemoiselle and a YSL nail polish:

It's Bleu Cobalt - as you can see it's a very dark blue with lots of shimmer. It's missing its fancy cap but that doesn't matter to me.

The scent is actually eau de toilette, which suits me because I like my fragrances very light. It smells lovely. And the bottle says 3.3 oz but looks much bigger. (Is "eau de toilette" literally watered down? Because it looks more like it's at least 6 oz.) Anyway, she did good, I like all this.

It's a mystery

So, I'm wearing Hipster Chick and trying to figure out the mystery of Chick Nail Polish. Their website is down (and has been for some time), Llarowe has all their remaining stock on clearance, there hasn't been a tweet on their account in months... I'm trying to decide if that adds up to "out of business." Not necessarily, I guess, but it's not really encouraging, either. I bought a couple of things on Llarowe a month or six weeks ago, then last night when I figured out that it was all marked down to $3 and there was still stuff available, I bought some more. Here's a big swatch spam (from Fashion Polish) with a bunch of the colors - quite a few of those were still there on Llarowe yesterday. No telling how much is actually left, though, or how long it'll be there, so go check it out if you're interested!

I don't have a picture of Hipster Chick yet but I like it. It's a yellow-toned lime with some holo glitter in it; it shouldn't look good on me but to my surprise, it's fine. The other thing I bought on the first go-round was cuticle oil, and it smells so damn good that I ordered another one.


In unrelated news, I did finally get a picture of the two polishes that I got from Karen (of Frazzle and Aniploish):

This is Pahlish Electrique and Smitten Glacial Springs. And thank you again, Karen!

(Ooh, one more thing, I just looked at Fashion Polish's front page and saw Ultra PixieDust. Pretty!)

Holiday haul

This is my Christmas mani - this is Yuletide Treasures, again, this time over Mingle With Kringle:

I love the manicure and hate how my cuticles look there. What's up with that? They don't look like that in person! (The wear on the tips is another matter. Also, my thumb on my right hand was an accent nail with a really thick coat - several coats, really - of Yuletide Treasures.)

OK, so here's what I got for Christmas:

• Elderberry - Nail Pattern Boldness
• Slightly Unstable - Paint Box Polish
• Believe in Believing mini - Pipe Dream Polish
• Vice - Urban Decay
• China Flower and Pink Pineapple - Revlon Paradise Collection (my husband found these at Walgreen's - I'd never seen them before, and they have a completely different bottle than any Revlon I've ever seen!*)
• Zoya Matte Velvet set - Verushka, Savita, and Posh (these were LE and are apparently sold out)
• Zoya Get Even base coat (which I heard is advisable to use in order to get a good application on the matte velvets)
• Alcatraz Rocks - OPI
• OPI Take Ten set of minis (list below)

(Note: the next entry has pictures of most of this!)

Take Ten set includes minis of:

1. Pirouette My Whistle
2. Alpine Snow
3. Bubble Bath
4. Tickle My France-y
5. You Don't Know Jacques
6. Cajun Shrimp
7. Big Apple Red
8. German-icure by OPI
9. Malaga Wine
10. Lincoln Park After Dark

(A lot of nail junkies probably have many of these colors already, but I didn't have a single one. I really haven't bought OPI much in the past few years.)

*I found a lot of references to the Revlon Parfumerie line online, though - apparently this is just something new-ish that I managed to miss until now.

I took Mingle With Kringle off just now, and wow, it stains a bit. I am now experimenting with Elderberry over Savita. Will report back.

Happy Holiglaze!

What I'm currently wearing: Sation Holiday Spirit, a multicolor fine glitter, over Illamasqua Viridian. Before that, it was Holiday Spirit over black (the last of my bottle of Hard As Nails Jet Black - but I still have other blacks, I've been actively trying to use that one up on nail wheels and such this fall). Viridian is a really beautiful dark green and I like it, but it's beginning to chip. And I don't know what I'm wearing next, exactly, but I'm pretty sure it will be China Glaze! since I got a baker's dozen of them in the mail today.

I think I had said previously that the China Glaze holiday polishes were a set of 15, but it was 13 polishes that came in the mail. I think I just miscounted, or double-counted, when I said it was 15. I think a dozen plus the one top-coat is the full set. Anyway, they are lovely, and thanks to Jessika of Polish Insomniac for hosting the giveaway. (Yay for free stuff!) Also, I guess for once I have to do a DISCLAIMER when I talk about these: they were given to me for free, obviously - although not specifically for review - directly from China Glaze. (Even though they weren't sent for review, I'm sure I will end up telling you what I think about them anyway, because I have opinions, and usually lots of them - that's what I have a blog for, right?)

Did I say that these are the first China Glaze polishes I have ever owned? Isn't that kind of unbelievable, given how much time I spend obsessing about nail polish? They are probably about the last really major U.S. nail polish brand that I haven't tried. (Not because I have anything against them or anything - more because you can buy Orly and OPI in the grocery stores around here, but not China Glaze. You have to brave Ulta for that, and I try to avoid Ulta for fear of what I'll leave there with, if you know what I mean) So anyway, I am expecting to adore these, with the possible exception of the texture one, which I have heard very mixed things about. Some people seem to like it fine, but others seem to hate it with, well, quite a lot of passion. "Cottage cheese" is one of the more common descriptions I've seen.

Jessika kindly gave me permission to use her picture so you can see all the thumbnails:

I got a mini of Travel in Colour, the topper, plus full bottles of the other 12. (Jessika's full swatch post is here.)

Cougar Attack and VitaSurge

I've been wearing Cougar Attack (I kind of hate the name, but I love the polish) for over a week now, I think - first on its own and then over SC Rich in Heart, which is a really dark brown. I'm not sure how many coats I had on in the last mani, but I think it was a bunch. At least 2 coats of brown and possibly 3 of CA, not to mention base and top coat. It lasted about 5 days, and then today about half of one nail finally cracked off in one big piece. Which I can't say is really surprising with that many coats. My nails are now marinating with Sally Hansen VitaSurge and cuticle oil slathered all over them, and then I think I'm going to do something orange, since it's getting really close to Halloween. I have to trot out the orange at least once a year!

Here are two shots of Cougar Attack/Rich in Heart:

On its own, CA is a lot lighter, of course. I didn't get any pictures of that, though.

Back to VitaSurge - I bought it on impulse because it was on sale, but I was happy to find a good review of it on YouTube. Of course I'd already bought it by then, so I didn't bother to look any further. If nothing else, that video confirmed for me that you're supposed to rub it in rather than just letting it dry - apparently it says so on the tiny illegible print on the bottle. (I think I need to invest in a magnifying glass since this is about the third time this month I've complained about not being able to read things on a label.)

I do have another nail wheel or two coming soon, hopefully - reds and after that, oranges and browns. (I have most of the rest done, after that, too - the pale pinks, one for black/white/gray, and half a wheel full of burgundy-ish colors, plus an overflow wheel for the ones I'd done previously. All that's left to swatch is some top coats and such.)

Stash additions

Apparently I got so involved in the whole nail wheel business that I forgot to post this lovely picture:

...which is recent additions to my stash, many of which I have worn already. I think I've worn everything except Mermaid's Tale and Girls on Film, at this point. I've had Quick Jeanius on for several days now, and before that I wore F*ck and Run over Unforgettable Heart. (Next time I want to try it on its own, actually - maybe I'll do that next!)

For the record, here is what's in this picture (by columns going left to right, since that's basically how I arranged them):

• (1st column) Quick Jeanius - which as noted already, is navy-blue shimmer with some purple in it
• (2nd column) Baby Bellini - very similar to the other Cocktail Colours, sheer and shimmery
• Mermaid's Tale, blue and green glitter, I think this is supposed to be a dupe for some Lippman - is it Mermaid's Dream? I am too lazy to look it up right now (Later: Oh! It's actually a near-dupe for Across the Universe, apparently.)
• (3rd column - all Nostalgic Nail Lacquers) Girls On Film - pink and purple glitter in a paler pink base
• As If! - black, white, and pink matte confetti of various sizes, in a clear base
• F*ck and Run (I'm not editing myself there, that's how she spells it) - red jelly packed with red & pink shimmer

I guess I should say for the record that while I purchased all of these on my own, as I always do, I did get a free upgrade to full-size on the Nostalgics even though I paid for minis for a couple of them. I don't know that she has any idea that I'm a blogger, anyway (and I am a pretty damn obscure blogger, at that), so I'm really guessing that that was just because she's clearing out these colors. Anyway, I am happy enough with them that I just placed another order, which you will of course hear about in great detail later. (It's only a couple of bottles, and sale ones at that. I've been relatively good lately.)

Another nail wheel coming soon.

Assorted new purchases

I am so bad with the purchases lately... I just bought some Nostalgic Nail Lacquer, mostly just because I like the names! (Well, I also like the polish but I love the names...) I got As If! (from the Clueless collection, of course), F*ck and Run, and Girls on Film. I did get mini size for two of them. (I know a lot of people have to have full-size, but actually I love minis. How often do you actually use up a full-size polish? I usually don't, anyway.)

And here is the last collection of stuff I bought lately, aside from the Sephora haul which I've already posted pictures of. This is stuff I got from Amazon, drugstore.com, Walmart and H-E-B. (Some of it I've had for a couple of weeks, some was backordered - that was the Seche - and some is newer.)

The first two came from Wal-Mart, the rest of that row from the grocery store (H-E-B, that is) except for the Seche Restore, which was Amazon. The Colorstay base coat on the bottom row was from a drugstore.com purchase in which I convinced myself that it was "needed" to get free shipping. (Only then I added some sinus medicine which put me wayyy over the free shipping limit, - and then didn't take the Colorstay out again, of course.)

The color polishes here are (L-R):

• Hard Candy Crush on Lava
• Diamond Strength Royal Invite
• Diamond Strength Private I
• CG Glosstini in Sangria
• Nicole by OPI Gumdrops in Cinna-man Of My Dreams

I've got a whole stash of untrieds now that I'm "saving" for fall - in this bunch, Cinna-man Of My Dreams, in particular, and maybe Crush on Lava too. I am going to try to make myself wear my summery colors for the next couple of weeks. Generally our weather doesn't really break until sometime well into October, so I try to wait until Oct. 1st, at least, to break out the serious fall colors.

So far no love for Ali - although I've had a couple of people say "I'd love to have it, but..." Go see if you do! It was probably a mistake to say, "I don't like this so I'm giving it away" rather than phrase it in more positive terms. It really is a pretty color, or I wouldn't've bought it in the first place! (Also, I just don't seem to be loving pink this year, or even fuchsia, which is a huge change for me. I'm not sure what's up with that.)