Swatch: Illamasqua Raindrops

The product in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

Hi gang! How are you doing? We both had a snow day today, although the storm turned out to be much less terrible than expected. Overall, this winter has been so much nicer than last year here in Boston! (That was by far the worst winter I've ever experienced!!)

Today I want to show you the polish I wore last week. Illamasqua Raindrops is, I believe, pretty famous in polish land. I grabbed it when they were having a sale recently (I never would have paid full price, way too expensive!). It's a pale blue-toned grey crelly with white glass flecks. Despite the name, it reminds me more of snow than rain!

Illamasqua Raindrops. Three coats with Out the Door topcoat.

The formula was on the runny, sheer side. I needed three coats for opacity. I also ended up with flooded cuticles, so apply carefully! I have to say that this polish had some pretty great wear time--normally I get chips within a day or two, but this stuff kept plugging along all week with just some tipwear! I don't know if that's typical of Illamasqua's formula, but I like it!

You can get Raindrops at Illamasqua.com (they ship to the US).

Have a great week!

The product in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

Swatch: Starrily Poisoned Apple

The product in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

Long time no talk!! Happy New Year everyone! One of my New Year's resolutions was to make sure to have my nails done for every class session this semester. Last semester I hardly did my nails at all, and I felt very naked. :-P This time around I want to have better time management in general (doesn't everyone say that??) and part of that means doing my nails and BLOGGING! This afternoon is my first class, so here I am with today's mani (and very short nails). Hope you like it!

This is Starrily Poisoned Apple. It's a gorgeous, pigmented dark red (almost cranberry) linear holo with some added holo glitter. So sexy and vampy! I don't often wear red polish, but this type of cool-toned shade is right up my alley.

I had no complaints at all about the formula. The brush is fairly wide, so make sure to wipe it off well before polishing or you'll get messy cuticles. And since this is a red, it can be a pain to clean up. Luckily the polish isn't runny at all.

Right now the Starrily shop is closed, but keep an eye out for this one!

The product in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

ALIQUID Lacquer's Second Fantastiversary GIVEAWAY!

Hello there! Let's ignore the fact that I haven't posted anything in two months, shall we? (In fact, I've barely even done my nails at all in that time, which is super depressing!) I'm here with awesome news today, which is that ALIQUID Lacquer is officially two years old. :-D

Can you believe that?? I had never expected that I would ending up owning a business, much less keep it up this long, but here we are! I can't express how grateful I am to everyone who has purchased from me, swatched for me and otherwise supported this little endeavor.

Oh, did I mention I'm about to turn 30 too?? That's even crazier! I was just getting used to thinking of myself as a twenty-something!

I'm going to have sales going in the shop every day until Cyber Monday--today you can get 30% off the When in Rome collection, so go check it out!

I also released a new polish for the occasion. It's called Old Dog, New Tricks, and I'm pretty fond of it:

OK, on to the part you've been waiting for...the GIVEAWAY!!

I'm giving away three polishes of the winner's choice. This is open internationally and runs until 11:59 PM on November 30. Cheating entries will be deleted! The winner will have 48 hours to respond to my email.

Good luck my polishing friends :-)



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Guest post at Polish Those Nails!

Hi gang! Oh man, I'm such a terrible blogger. I've barely even done my own nails this month. It's been a combination of starting grad school, getting a HUGE response to my fall collection (which was awesome, but having to pour, pack and ship over 60 orders was a little scary!), and then getting stomach flu last weekend. Fun times!

I did do some fun Greece-inspired nail art that's featured today over at Polish Those Nails, so please go take a look! It was so nice for Marisa to ask me!

Swatch: Zoya Cecilia

The product in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

Hi gang! I wanted to quickly show you the polish I wore on my first day of classes last week! This is Zoya Cecilia, a bright turquoise creme. It's from the latest summer collection, but I think it works great for early fall as well!

Zoya Cecilia. Two coats with Out the Door topcoat.

The formula was unfortunately a bit thick and sticky. (That might have been partly due to the high temperature/humidity in my office.) So make sure not to overload your brush. On the bright side, it was nearly a one-coater.

I'm going to try to do some nail art for class this week. Gotta make a good impression!

The product in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

August's Museum-Worthy Manis!

Hi folks! Today was my first day of classes...very weird to be back in a classroom again, especially as the topics are completely new to me!

I finally have my favorite nail art from August to share with you. Lots of summery manis this month! Please make sure to visit the original artists' posts and leave a nice comment!

1. My Picture Polish by Glitterfingersss

Yep, those flowers are freehanded! I'm drooling over these nails. I love florals in unexpected colors--these have a very mermaid-y vibe to me.

2. Beach Landscape by PiggieLuv

Don't you want to be on that beach right now? Impeccable landscape as usual, right down to the tiny footprints!

3. Nails Literally on Fire by Simply Nailogical

Actually, I think a more accurate title for this mani would be "fire literally on nails", but I digress! Simply Nailogical always has something interesting going on with gradients. I can't stop staring at this one!

4. Park Guell Inspired by Nailbees

This mani reminds me of a really fancy swimming pool! This is one of those techniques that's relatively straightforward but turns out stunning (which means I have to try it at some point!).

5. Reverse Stamp Floral by Manicurator

These are some absolutely immaculate stamping decals! Love the abstract floral pattern. This mani also makes me appreciate how well the Zoya Island Fun collection goes together!


Honorable mention: Abstract Stained Glass by Fashion Polish

August's Gimme That Polish!

Happy September everyone! Of course I have to start the month with my top five lemmings from last month! This time I have some "weird" colors on the list--they always seem to come out more in the fall, which is fine by me! Make sure to visit the original bloggers' posts for more info.

1. Frenzy Polish - All Magic Comes With a Price

Ooh, love this odd nude/glitter combo! It definitely evokes the supernatural. Plus, this one is inspired by Once Upon a Time, one of my favorite TV shows! (Frenzy Polish shop | swatch by The Mercurial Magpie)

2. Sindie Pop - Golden Raspberries

Mmmmm, this one looks good enough to eat! The added shimmer really makes it. (Sindie Pop shop | swatch by The Mercurial Magpie)

3. Femme Fatale - Always Tea-Time

Femme Fatale continues their streak of amazing collections! I love the contrast between dull and saturated here. (Femme Fatale shop | swatch by Very Emily)

4. I Love Nail Polish - Spiced Eggnog

Everyone else is probably going nuts over ILNP's amazing holos from their fall collection, but this is the one that jumped out at me. It does look just like eggnog, doesn't it? (ILNP shop | swatch by Very Emily)

5. Sayuri Nail Lacquer - Never Truly Lost

Let's just revel for a moment in this vampiness of this polish. I'm definitely getting in the mood for fall now! (Sayuri shop | swatch by Very Emily)


Honorable mention: Potion Polish - Rainy Day on the Couch