Contrary Polish The Islands Trio

Contrary Polish is a new to me brand. The owner Carrie was so nice and sent me a whole bunch to share with you. Today, I have a newer collection from her called The Islands.

The first photo for each polish is taken in the shade. That way, you can see what the shimmer looks like out of direct sun. They're all visible and not at all of the hidden variety.

Aruba. Three coats. Teal blue with green shimmer. The colour is closest to the second photo. The shimmer in this one is the most subtle out of the three, but I think that's mostly because its complementary to the base instead of being contrasting.

Anna Maria. Three coats. Dark blue-teal with gold shimmer. This one was darker and more blue than I expected it to be from the bottle. I love the way it looks though. That gold shimmer is so perfect. I want it in a whole collection!

Santorini. Three coats. Royal blue with flaky shimmer. The shimmer bits are slightly larger than the other two which are much finer. This one is my favourite of the trio. The blue is so, so perfect. I have this on as a pedi right now... the sandals are finally starting to come out for the season ahead!

The formulas on these were all impeccable  Really smooth and free flowing. Almost opaque at two coats but all needed three to be completely even. Full size Contrary Polish is available at Llarowe and minis directly from Contrary Polish.

Pretty Serious In The Night Collection

The ever lovely Kaz sent me the six polishes from her new In The Night collection which I have for you today. Unfortunately, I don't know much about the video game it's based on.... but now I'm holding out for a collection based on Bust-a-Groove. Kaz?! :D Just kidding.

Into Dreams. Two coats. Deep purple shimmer with pink flecks. Leans more fuchsia than most of my purple shimmers. And like most purples, it is more red-leaning than my pictures show.

Nightopia. Three coats. It was fine at two but I think the third coat gave it more depth. Blue-teal with gold shimmer. Slightly heavier in shimmer when compared to Bloom Bianca/San Fransisco but it's got that same gorgeous green tinge at the edges that I love so much.

Claris. Three coats. Cool pink jelly with gold glass-fleck shimmer. So nice. The pink reminds me of an artificially flavoured and coloured strawberry milkshake! And the gold shimmer warms it enough for me that my hands don't look grey.

Dream Delight. Two coats. Dense silver glitter in a smoky blue tinted base. The tinted base makes it take on an overall gunmetal shade as well as giving the look of depth in between all the tiny glitters.

Nightmaren. Two coats. Bright red with gold shimmer. This is not as pigmented as a lot of red shimmers which actually works to its advantage. The shimmer doesn't get lost in all the red and actually reads gold. Awesome!

Elliot. Two coats. Bright medium blue with white-silver flaky shimmer. The blue is really saturated and there is no VNL in real life, contrary to what my pictures show.


The Pretty Serious In The Night collection is available now at www.pretty-serious.com. There are also a couple of lip glosses and a loose eyeshadow in the collection as well to match with Into Dreams and Claris.

Lynnderella Kabbalah Bracelet

You know what we all need? A nice warm bowl of Kabbalah! .... If anyone got that reference, a million brownie points and a great big squee to you!

Lynnderella Kabbalah Bracelet. Over China Glaze Branding Iron. This is one thin coat. And when I say thin, I mean there was almost nothing on the brush--Kabbalah Bracelet is very dense. Short red strings, multi-coloured holo hexes and microglitter. Really fabulous. I love it.

And here is Branding Iron. Dark, glowy red-brown shimmer. I wish I had sun to show off the amazingness of the shimmer.

Lynnderella is available via eBay here.

Cult Nails Let Me Fly and Nail-Venturous Magpie Feathers

Firstly, I did some Blog Housekeeping over the last couple of days and you may have noticed a few minor design changes. I made myself a new header and sidebar buttons. I love the way they turned out but holy hell... let's just say html coding is definitely NOT my calling.

Also, after a few requests, I've added the option for e-mail subscription to the blog. If you'd like to receive updates via e-mail go ahead and click the subscribe button in the sidebar --->

Now onto the polish.

Cult Nails Let Me Fly. Two coats. A muted teal with green and pink shimmer that looks white on the nail. The first picture is more colour accurate. It has a bit of a 'stormy sea' kind of feel to it. Very nice formula.

With a coat of Nail-Venturous Magpie Feathers. A mix of silver, blues and brown. I do love blue and brown together. The large brown hexes curl but that doesn't bother me since they're quite sparse. Also my nails have a strong curve to them so if I lay the glitters down concave and poke them a little, they're fine.

L'Oreal Majestic Green and Lynnderella She Lived in a Swamp

Kristy sent me this pretty a little while ago. I still need to haul my butt over to Priceline so I can pick up a few of these new L'Oreals. They look very promising if this is anything to go by.

Majestic Green. Two coats. Majestic indeed! It's a very yellow pea green with heavy gold shimmer - so heavy it's almost metallic in finish. This can pull darker and more olive-y in different lights but most of the time, it is really bright and zingy. Love this so much.

With a coat of Lynnderella She Lived in a Swamp. Ugly-pretty, glittery goodness! I decided to be matchy-matchy the day I wore this and also had my pea green socks on. Yes, all you fashionable ladies out there feel free to throw stones my way LOL. I did get some "nice socks" comments from strangers though :)

Slow Saturday Spam

I am spending my day cuddled up inside watching the crappy weather go by outside. Riveting stuff.

I have quite a huge backlog of swatches and NOTDs to share. So how about a spam post? Haven't done one of them in while.

Rainbow Honey Sakura Matsuri. One coat over one of Sally Hansen First Blush. Pretty flowers! The iridescent glitters give it a delicate, twinkly feel.

China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy. Three coats. One of my favourite neons. Such a fascinating shade.

With a layer of Nostalgic Lacquer Jem. Not sure I'm a fan although it might just be my choice of base.

CrowsToes Cheshire. One coat over China Glaze Let's Groove. At least.. I think it's Let's Groove. The more I look at the pictures the less I think it is. My favourite part of Cheshire are those dashes of gold.

Essie Sew Psyched. Two coats. Sorry about the scuff marks. I was late for a dinner one night and I realised my nails were naked. The horror! I managed to do this mani, get dressed and do my makeup in less than 15 minutes!

Candeo Orchid. Two coats. Orchids are my favourite type of flower. Mine are currently in bloom! I want to try my luck with microwave drying a few blooms this year.

Sportsgirl Nude. Two coats. A peachy-nude with hidden pink shimmer. It's like Ulta3 Blossom Fever with a much better formula. Looks really good with my skin - no lobster hands!

With a coat of Lush Lacquer Party Hearty. There were a ton of hearts in there so no fishing required. Only thing is... I couldn't work out whether I thought it was ugly or not!

Darling Diva Polish Sparkler. One coat over TBN Blue Fluoro. I quite liked the colour combination of this one. And the subtle iridescent base was a nice touch.

China Glaze Let's Groove stamped with 2030. Plate m65. I really love this design. Pretty roses!

Zoya Kylie. Three coats. Gifted to me by a sweet friend. It's my perfect soft pink - no lobster or zombie hands here! I feel as though I have been looking for this shade for years. Seemingly ordinary and even slightly boring, yet.... perfect.