BEGL July Releases!

Provided for Review and Made Myself

Wow.  I don't even know what to say except, hi?  I'm back, sort of?  I would love nothing more than to get back into my normal groove of blogging, especially because I was on a roll before I fell off the face of the earth, but I'm not sure how steady I can be.  However, I wanted to make sure to share a few items that will be up for sale today at my shop!  The Fan Favorites Collection will also see a small restock today at 3:30 pm edt, so make sure you grab yours as soon as they're up!  They will likely go fast!  

Alright, let's take a look at the new releases!  This will be a picture heavy post, so bear with me and click on the photos to enlarge them!  First up, let's take a look at this month's Destination Duo Collaboration!  The Destination Polish Duo Collection was actually an idea thought up during a conversation with Morgan of a rhyming dictionary.  The thought was that we’d take one photo from one of our vacations/travels and each come up with our take on the photo.  In the end, we will each have a polish that draws inspiration from the same photo.  Each duo will be a collaboration between myself and another indie maker. This month’s Destination Duo is with the ever amazing Amy of Literary Lacquers.  We chose this photo of a sunset over the ocean that I took while spending time at St. George’s Island in Florida.  Included in this set will be:

Literary Lacquer's Gulf Coast Twilight, Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer's Happy Hour at the Blue Parrot, and beachy cocktail water slide decals.

Let's start first with the Lit Laq. Gulf Coast Twilight is described as a soft dusky twilight purple linear holo with iridescent gold flakies and a touch of orange shimmer. Application was great as always with Lit Laq, and it had a nice fluid consistency without the dragging you see with many holos. It was also thick enough that it didn't flood my cuticles or require much cleanup. I used three coats with one coat of KBShimmer's Clearly on Top, but I probably could've used only two coats if I weren't taking photos. Unless where specified, these were taken outside on the lake in the direct sunshine. The blurry one was taken indoors but in full sun.

Next, we've got the BEGL portion of the duo - Happy Hour at the Blue Parrot. This is a juicy sunny orange jelly with purple and copper shimmers. This is a true jelly, so you'll need to either use undies or use a few extra coats. I tried to make this one a little less thick than my normal consistency since jellies tend to gum up when exposed to the air for long periods of time. As such, it's a tad more fluid than I tend to like and required a touch more cleanup than my normal lacquers. Here, I've used four thin coats for my photos, but I truly could've gotten away with only three. I did wait a few minutes between application of coats, so I didn't have any issues with dragging, balding, or self-leveling, so you may want to make sure to take your time to ensure a perfect application. It dries ever so slightly dull, so I used one coat of KBShimmer's Clearly on Top. Even though it's an orange polish, I didn't have any issues with staining of my nails or the skin around when I cleaned up and removed the polish. All photos are taken under a daylight lamp.

The decals are two each of five different designs for a total of 10 images. I won't be reviewing them as I didn't get very good photos of the one I wore before it got destroyed by the lake. The box will cost $25 shipped domestically.  You will be able to purchase the box at both shops.  International customers can purchase their boxes for $22 plus a shipping fee. You can purchase a set at both my shop and Lit Laq's shop here.

Next up is the next polish in the monthly numbered limited edition Siren Series, Siren Channels the 80s. As always, this is a super LE batch, so make sure you are there on time to grab your bottles! These are limited to one bottle per household and all orders over that amount will be cancelled and refunded. Luckily, my shop has a cart hold, so you should be able to stash one in your cart for up to 10 minutes while you pickup the other items you're hoping to grab! Siren Channels the 80s is a neon/fluorescent green crelly packed with silver holo, gold holo, lime holo, and rainbow iridescent microglitters. Here, I've used three coats for full coverage. I made the consistency of this one similar to Happy Hour to ensure that it won't gum up while you're working. I would still recommend, though, that you wait between layers to ensure an even application. It dries a tad satin and with a slight textured finish, but one coat of KBShimmer's Clearly on Top really smoothed it out and shined it up nicely. All photos are taken under a daylight lamp.

So, there you have it! Everything in today's post will be available to purchase today at 3:30 pm edt. Here are the important links for both Literary Lacquers and Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer!

Literary Lacquers:

www.literarylacquers.com  |  https://www.facebook.com/LiteraryLacquers   |  https://instagram.com/literarylacquers/    |  Facebook group (Literary (&) Lacquers: https://www.facebook.com/groups/223352961152042/   

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer:

www.blueeyedgirllacquer.bigcartel.com  |  www.facebook.com/blueeyedgirllacquer  |  www.instagram.com/blueeyedlawyer  |  www.twitter.com/blueeyedlawyer  |  https://www.pinterest.com/beglsales/  |  Facebook group (BEGLove): https://www.facebook.com/groups/146025098891405/

Are you planning to pick up anything from today's sale? Which are you most excited about?

Comparison Thursday: Peachy-Orange OPI Holos

This week's comparison is a look at a few peach and orange holos I have from OPI.  All of these are discontinued and hard to find, unfortunately, but I still wanted to show them to you guys anyway.  Mainly because I wanted to see how they compared, so you guys get to reap the benefit!  Let's take a look.

Purchased myself.

Day at the Peach, DS Vintage, Coral Reef, DS Couture

I wanted to make sure that the holo flames weren't adversely affected by the use of topcoat, so I went without.  No topcoat on any of the polishes equals awful dry times.  

Day at the Peach

DatP has a super thin consistency.  Because of this thin consistency, it has a tendency to pool, but the smaller brush makes it easier to apply.  It's one of the older Summer for Shore Collection polishes, so it's got a fine holo particle.  Surprisingly, it was opaque in two coats, but I used three for my photos. I thought that it would take much more to build to opacity since the consistency was so runny.  And as I mentioned earlier, the dry time long without a quick dry topcoat.

DS Vintage

DS Vintage is one of the newer polishes, so it's got the new brush style.  The fat OPI brush makes application a little difficult on short nails, which is why I detest those fat flat brushes.  As compared to DatP, it's got a bit thicker consistency, so it's less likely to pool.  The DS line all have a larger holo particle than the Summer for Shore collection.  It's closest in color to DatP, but they're definitely not dupes.  It was easily opaque at two coats.  Again, dry time was long because I didn't use a quick dry topcoat.

Coral Reef

CR is another Summer for Shore polish, so it's a bit thin like DatP, but it doesn't pool as much.  It's very orange as compared to the others in this grouping.  CR has a fine holo particle like the rest of the Summer for Shore collection.  It's opaque in two coats, but I used three for my photos.  It's probably obvious now, but dry time was long because no topcoat.

DS Couture

DS Couture is one of the newer bottles so it's got that thicker OPI brush, which makes application difficult, like with Vintage.  It's on the thicker side, but there is still a tendency to pool on my skin.  Couture is the most red of the bunch.  It's also the most pigmented, and was easily opaque in one coat.  However, I used two coats for my photos.  Dry time was long, but not quite as bad as the others because I was able to do thinner coats due to the high pigmentation in this polish.

So, there you have it!  Those are all of my peachy-orange OPI holos.  I think my favorite is Couture because it's just so vibrant and fun.  Which is your favorite?

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Halloween Release October 5 at 3:30 pm edt

Man! Life has had me pretty much chained to the computer the past three weeks! Working extra extra hours at my day job because of an insane (and totally unreasonable) deadline. Plus, there's so much going on with Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers this month, that I've been scrambling to get all caught up with that! Phew! Talk about an intense month! So, my apologies for being so absent - even on my Facebook and IG! I legit barely have time to eat food much less take pics of my nails! Bah!  

Anyway, enough of my excuses... Let's take a look at the good stuff - the new Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Halloween Collection, What Wouldn't I Do?, which draws inspiration from one of my favorite movies, Practical Magic.  There are 5 polishes in this collection, but only 4 will be sold individually.  There will be one collection limited edition that will only be available if you purchase the full set.  The holo will be $12 (full)| $6 (mini), the glitters and shimmer will be $8.50 (full) | $5 (mini), and the full collection will be $41.75 (full) | $24 (mini). Ok, so let's get this party started!! Oh, and there are a few kinda sorta spoilers, so proceed with caution! This post is very photo heavy, so I left them on the smaller side. Make sure to click the photo to see it in greater detail!

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Deathwatch Beetle

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Black microglitter with green, orange, and purple accents. Here, I've worn three coats with and without topcoat. I could've probably been fine with just two coats, but I'm always worried that my photos will capture a bald spot that my naked eye didn't see. Dry time is quick, but be aware that this does have a textured finish. You may need two coats of topcoat to tame this bad boy.

Amas Veritas Spell

Deep green jelly with blue/green iridescent shifting microglitters. Here, I've worn it as three coats with one coat of topcoat. You don't need any extra topcoat to smooth the glitters. This is a jelly, so keep in mind that you may want to slow down your application so you don't get any clumping.

Blood on the Moon

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Orange linear holographic with purple shimmers. Here, I've worn two coats with one coat of topcoat. It was almost fully opaque in one coat! The purple shimmers are being shy in my photos, but they are very apparent in person. NOTE: this polish *may* stain your nails a tad. It stained mine a bit, but I wore it without a basecoat. I've asked some of the bloggers who reviewed this one, and they said they didn't have any issues with staining, so I'm wondering if it's just a me problem. Either way, make sure you take care when you wear Blood on the Moon, and use a base coat especially if you know that your nails are prone to staining!

And now to show the shimmers a little better:

I Wished For You, Too

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Deep purple with orange and green shimmer. This is almost jelly-like in application, so it can tend to get a little thick. I wore three coats with one coat of topcoat.

Collection LE: Belladonna

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White and neon multiglitter toppcoat with all sorts of shapes including flowers, diamonds, skulls, rectangles, squares, and stars. I fashioned the aesthetic of this one after sugar skulls, and I thought that it was also fitting for Belladonna. If you've seen the movie, you may know why. For the individual swatches, I'm wearing it over Deathwatch Beetle and Sordid End (for the macro).  

Belladonna is extremely versatile, so I've shown it in a slideshow below over several other BEGLs. Use the arrows on the sides to scroll through.

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So, there you have it!  The What Wouldn't I Do? collection will go on sale at my Big Cartel shop this Sunday, 10/5, at 3:30 pm edt!  They will be retired after this restock, so grab them while you can!!!  Keep up to date with the BEGL comings and goings by following me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

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