Red Coat Tuesday: Pahlish Blood of the Mountain

Holy wow, you guys!  I'm going on almost a full month of blogging!  I can't believe it!  I really do think that moving away from my uber detailed review has been helpful in the long run...  While I do miss the info dump, I'm hoping I still give you guys enough information to really get the gist of a polish.

Purchased myself.

Guess what time it is???  It's #RedCoatTueday!  I totally missed the premiere last week, so this is my first mani getting back into the swing of things.  I'm also missing the link up, so I'll add that as soon as I get it.  This week's episode!!!  Omg!!!  All I'll say is Jason.  Mmm mmm mmm, Jason, hah!  Ok, sorry, let's get back on track and take a look at tonight's offering, Pahlish Blood of the Mountain with an accent of Lynnderella Tidy Whities.

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First, the rules!

• Paint your nails red, do your lips red, do a shadow design in red, or do anything beauty related that is mostly red.
• Add your blog and photo to the inlinkz!  If you don't have a blog but do have an IG, you can check this link for directions on how to use your IG for inlinkz.  If you don't have a blog or IG, you can just add your photo to the linkup or send it to Color Me So Crazy, and she will get them up for you!
• Use the #RedCoatTuesday tag when you share your photos on IG, Twitter, or Facebook!

Let me just say this up front...  I'm not in love with this combo by any means.  It was one of those things where I thought it would look good in my head, but as soon as it was on my nails I knew I was wrong.  Oh well!  I'm not going to let perfectly good photos go to waste!  Let's take a look, shall we?

Blood of the Mountain is a burgundy/ox blood linear holographic with golden flakies and some on-tone red holo glitters.  Application was a bit rough.  BotM has a super thick consistency, so it was a bit gloopy for me.  The consistency made it difficult to apply, so it looks (and was) quite a bit thicker than I usually like.

Thankfully, it was self-leveling, so it looks smooth even though it was anything but when I applied it.  Because it's a thicker formula, it also took some time to dry.  Lastly, it dried a bit textured and rough because of all of the extra flakies and glitters in it.  I'm used to this and don't mind it, though.  I only needed to use one coat of KBShimmer's Clearly on Top to give it a glossy look.

Tidy Whities is a white shimmered base packed with rainbow iridescent glitters as well as large (read chunky) matte and satin white glitters in various shapes and sizes.  The shimmered base gives it a bit of a milky feel even though it's not really a crelly or colored base.  It's just so extremely shimmered that it didn't really play well with the red undies.

Application was much like many other Lynnderellas, meaning that it's so packed with glitter that it's a bit thick, dense, and required dabbing to get even coverage.  The glitters were so densely packed into the bottle that they were very easy to get out - even the larger shapes.  The bar glitters didn't curl up, either, which is fantastic, because they usually do and that drives me insane.  I used an extra coat of topcoat to make it smooth and glossy.

You can purchase Lynnderellas at their shops here and here.  You can purchase Pahlish at her shop here.  So, what do you think?  You like?  Are you a PLL fan?  If you are, do you spend most of your time each episode screaming and throwing things at the TV because those girls are just soooo dumb?  Yeah, thought so, lol.  And that's why it's a guilty pleasure!

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Oldie but Goodie: Old Swatch Roundup

It's time for the next installment of the Old Swatch Roundup!  I've got a MILLION photos of gorgeous polishes that need to be reviewed, but I've taken so long to actually do anything with these photos that I don't remember anything about the actual polish!  D'oh!  My solution?  I'll just toss a bunch of older swatches into one post a month without an actual review!  By the way, I've been keeping notes on application for all of the recent swatches I've done to ensure that I don't forget when it's time for the review.  I can't let my laziness deter from proper reviews!  Ok, let's take a look!

Purchased By Me

Hot Look BMX Bandit topped with Lynnderella Forget You Not

OPI Suzi Skis the Pyrenees Suede

OPI Russian Navy Suede

Butter London Black Knight

Koh Cloudy

Candeo Spruce over Koh Cloudy

Essie She's Picture Perfect

China Glaze Crystal Ball

Dollish Three Best Friends that Anyone Could Have over Essie She's Picture Perfect

China Glaze Let's Do It in 3-D

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!  For those who don't, happy belated Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Merry Festivus, Happy Solstice, Happy Yule, and just a plain old Happy End of the Year to everyone!  Normally, I do comparisons on Thursdays, but I'm going to show you guys a few of my Christmas manis from this year instead!

Purchased, Gifted, or Made by Me

Christmas Ornament Mani

I used three Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers as well as a gold Sephora pen for this design.  For the undies, I used Untrodden Snow.  For the holly and leaves, I used Mickey Smith Defending the Earth and You Just Want to Mate?!  I modeled this manicure after my all time favorite ornament that we used as our inspiration for all of the decorations in our house!

Christmas Tree Mani

I apologize for the photos on this one because, honestly, I took them with my iPhone, lol!  Here, I used Literary Lacquer's 1000 Christmas Trees and Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Grandpa.  To make the Christmas Tree, I used some striping tape and the LL.

Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy Mani

For this manicure, I decided I'd go with something bright, flamboyant, and not quite Christmasy, per se.  For this mani, I used Smitten's In October We Wear Pink topped with accents of Lynnderella Sugar Plum Pink from the 2012 advent LE collection.  This is another pic taken with my phone, which I haven't quite mastered due to my shaky hands.

Tacky Winter Sweater

I did another untraditional mani, but this time I went with a polish based off of the love of tacky winter sweaters, which happens to be the name of this polish!  BEGL Tacky Winter Sweater is a hot pink crelly base packed with snowflakes, diamonds, and glitters in various other shapes.  And yet another mani taken with my phone instead of my real camera!

Matte Glitter Gradient

For this mani, I used OPI Feel the Mo-heat-toes Green topped with a glitter gradient with Lynnderella Merry Ferry, and then topped with NYC Matte Topcoat.  Again, I apologize for this photo because I took it on my phone!  Here, I'm showing off my mani with a lovely beer by the Bruery called Seven Swans a Swimming, which is an amazing Belgian Quad!

Christmas Skittles

It's a very Lynnderella Christmas!  For this look, I used BEGLs, and RBL, an OPI, an EvP, and a metric-butt ton of Lynnderellas!  From thumb to pinkie - OPI L.A.M.B. topped with Lynnderella Change; BEGL Grandpa topped with Lynnderella Happy Holodaze; BEGL Siren's a Special Snowflake topped with Lynnderella Holo-day Hearts; RBL Gondoliere topped with Lynnderella Fire in the Jelly; and Elevation Wuyi Mountain topped with Lynnderella the Mindful Heart.

Candy Cane Tape Mani 

For this mani, I decided to go with a classic look that I've been seeing around town (i.e. on IG by Nail Polish Wars and Pointless Cafe- I know there have been more, but I can't find them now!).  I used two coats of Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Dogwood because it has that shimmer that really makes it look candy-like.  I then topped it with Seche Vite, used my striping tape to tape off some lines, and topped that with BEGL You Just Want to Mate?! and another coat of Seche Vite.

I hope that everyone has a lovely and safe holiday season!  May your new year be better than you expect and happier than you hope!

The Polish Bar: Winter 2014 Collection Release

Tonight, I have some pretty fantastic polishes for you.  I pretty much love everything that The Polish Bar sends me, and that's for good reason!  Her holos are the glossiest and shiniest holos around.  I have no idea how she does it, but they are all as shiny as glass.  Her Winter Collection is no exception!  It will be available December 1 at her shop.  So, instead of wasting your time, let's get to the pics and reviews!  There are tons of photos, so make sure you click on the pics to enlarge them!

Press Sample

Starlight

Seriously, that name pretty much sums it up!  It's a lovely white-silver holographic with a rainbow of iridescent microflakies that give this baby more depth.  The flakies are very apparent in person, but I just couldn't get my camera to cooperate!  I used four coats for my photos, but I probably could have used just three for full opacity.  The maker suggests using it on its own as well as over other polishes as a holo topcoat.  Dry time is average, and I needed only a little bit of cleanup, probably due to the little brush from the mini bottle.  

Without topcoat, it does have a nice shine, but it's not nearly as glossy as the other holos from this collection.  Actually, all of my Polish Bar holos have a gorgeous glassy shine without topcoat!  I do end up adding a quick dry topper, though, since I have very little patience.  Here, I've added one coat of Alter Ego She Shines.

Mystic Sky

Mystic Sky is a navy blue holo with silver microshimmers.  It's a tad thicker than Starlight, but it still had pretty good application.  The tiny brush did make it a little more difficult to get an even application, but her full size brushes are AMAZING.  

Dry time is fairly quick, so you'll need to work quickly to get this stuff on your nails, otherwise it will drag a little.  Also, you should wait until the previous coat is dry before applying the next one, which will ensure that you don't have any clumping or dragging.  I used three coats for full opacity.  If you can only get one from this collection, this would be my first choice - followed closely by Starlight.

Star Voyage

Star Voyage is a lovely berry red holographic with a gold microshimmer.   Much like with Mystic Sky, it is on the thicker side.  The mini brush made evening it out a little difficult, but I know (and love) her full size brushes will make application smooth and easy.  I was in a bit of a hurry, so I did have to do some minimal cleanup.  

I used three coats for full opacity, but I left the topcoat off of this one so you can see the shine.  Although, it is a bit difficult to see how glossy it is in full sun.  Dry time is about average without a quick dry topcoat.

Cosmic Sea

Cosmic Sea is a green holographic polish with green, pink, purple, and blue holographic glitters.  If you're still looking for a Christmas mani, I would seriously recommend Cosmic Sea!  It looks like a Christmas tree with lights and ornaments on it.  It's a sheer almost jelly polish, so you can see the depth of glitter and holo together very easily.  

Although it is a sheerer and thinner formula, I was easily able to build it up in three coats.  I used one coat of She Shines, and everything was smooth and glossy.  I probably could have forgone the topcoat, but I was in a rush and didn't want it to smudge while I was taking photos.

Dream Galaxy

Dream Galaxy is a lovely indigo linear holographic base with green, blue, pink, purple, and burgundy metallic and holographic glitters.  Much like with Cosmic Sea, it is a thinner and sheerer formula than the other holos. 

I was able to build it up easily in three coats.  Cleanup was easy and didn't stain my skin like a lot of blues tend to do.  Dry time is average.

As I stated above, these lovely polishes will be available at her shop starting Monday, December 1st.  Make sure you follow The Polish Bar's Facebook and Instagram for news and updates!  Which are you most excited to grab?