R&R Lacquers Assemble II Collection

I have two fabulous shades from R&R Lacquers new collection to show you! These are shimmery neutrals; much as I love my creamy pastels and brights I appreciate a change sometimes!

First, let's check out Odinson, which is fine charcoal glitter in a clear base with some larger silver and red glitters... this one is named for the gorgeous god of Thunder - Rachel and Rebecca's tribute to Thor.

R&R Lacquers Odinson

Cazzy swatched this over a grey base, and it looks super (check out her post here) so I thought I'd try something different, and just use it on its own without undies. This is three coats, with two coats of topcoat (Seche Vite) to smooth it out. Formula on this is great - no fishing for the bigger glitters and the microglitter base spreads smoothly over the nail without any clumping. In real life, this was pretty much full coverage and I love how the bigger glitters peep out through the microglitter!

R&R Lacquers Odinson

Then we have Big Phil, which is a soft greenish grey with a strong gold shimmer... this one is a tribute to SHIELD agent Phil Coulson; the Avenger who never was an Avenger. 

R&R Lacquers Big Phil

At some angles, this has an almost duochrome touch, with a hit of soft slately blue grey around the edges. Not so visible in this front-on view, but it's still a lovely colour, very delicate and quite work appropriate.

R&R Lacquers Big Phil

The formula on this one was a little trickier than some polishes, it is quite thick, but so long as you get a good brushful it flows easily over the nail. I used three cots here - I could probably have got away with two though but three coats is a sort of habit! Big Phil dries without shine - not a problem for me since I always use Seche Vite topcoat.

R&R Lacquers Big Phil

Just look at that gold shimmer!

R&R Lacquers Big Phil

These polishes were provided for review, they are available now from R&R Lacquers Etsy shop. You can get more information on the brand and links to other reviews by following R&R Lacquers facebook page. 

Lacquistry Amazeballz Extra Fine

I got the amazing Lacquistry Amazeballz polish just in time for New Year 2014, and now there's Amazeballz Extra Fine... the same metallic particles, but much finer... so the effect is much denser and blingier. This stuff is seriously stunning!

The rest of this post is just pictures - this polish leaves me pretty much speechless! My nails look like they are made from metal wearing this. Two thin coats plus Seche Vite because I didn't want to smudge it; the application and clean up was very easy.

Lacquistry Amazeballz Extra Fine

Lacquistry Amazeballz Extra Fine

I purchased Amazeballz Extra Fine from the Lacquistry Etsy Shop; she ships internationally and my polish took about a week to get from Arizona to the UK.

Mentality 12K Gold

Mentality 12K Gold

I like gold leaf nail art a lot, although I always use torn up bits of real gold leaf to get a more dramatic look (as in this mani here). I've been around for silver or white gold leaf for ages, so when I spotted Mentality's 12K Gold topcoat, which is white gold leaf,  I couldn't wait to try it. I've bought a few Mentality polishes recently (mattes and microglitters), and I've been really impressed with the colours and formula. And the price is also extremely reasonable!

Mentality 12K Gold

I used just one coat of Mentality 12K Gold over Rescue Beauty Lounge Jane for this mani. 12K Gold is incredibly easy to use, no need to fish around for the gold leaf in the bottle. One coat of Seche Vite to finish this off, and I had a subtle and elegant design that I've been wearing for the last four days. I think 12K Gold would look fab over a dark plum or navy base, or over a bright colour. I'll be sure to be trying other combinations soon!

Mentality 12K Gold

I purchased Mentality 12K Gold from Sally Magpies. Mentality have their own website and shop, it's just so much easier to buy from Sally in the UK!

Binky London Swatch and Review - part 3

Binky London Grosvenor Gold and Pimlico Purple

These are the last four of the new Binky London range I've been trying out. Firstly, let's look at the two metallic colours, Pimlico Purple and Grosvenor Gold. I wanted to put these through their paces with stamping, since the silver metallic I reviewed earlier, Sloane Square Silver, stamped so magnificently. Here's the full mani I stamped, using a new plate from MoYou London, Explorer Collection #5. I love this stamping plate - I'm not going to turn this post into a review of the stamping plate but I will say that these overall-design stamping plates are fantastic for longer nails!

Binky London Grosvenor Gold and Pimlico Purple

To start, I painted my ring finger with Pimlico Purple and the rest with Grosvenor Gold. On their own, both of these are pretty shades; I think I'd describe Grosvenor Gold as more of a champagne colour than a full on gold. The fomula is good - very dense so it covers quickly and its easy to handle.

This is two coats (both colours). Metallic shades like these always tend to show brush strokes, so this  doesn't concern me in the least with this product - if I was going to wear a shade like this on it's own than I apply the second coat with a fine, slightly dampened makeup sponge (see my application of Sloane Square Silver for how this looks) to avoid this. As I was going to be adding nail art over this base, I didn't bother with this here.

The polishes stamp superbly - look at the small open circles on my index finger! This is Pimlico Purple stamping over Grosvenor Gold. My little finger is also stamped with Pimlico Purple; the wide band with tiny slits in has printed perfectly onto my nail! On my ring finger the colours are reversed, Grosvenor Gold is stamped onto the base of Pimlico Purple but that worked really well too.

Perfect polishes for stamping! I can see these three getting a lot of use from me in nail art in the future :)

And lastly, ...well, I like to save the best until last! My favourite colour in the whole collection has to be Parsons Green. I love teal nail polish, and this is a superb example. The colour is rich and deep, and the application is perfect. This mani is two coats, with Seche Vite quick drying topcoat to seal and shine. The first two pictures are in my diffuser, the last one in direct light from the window. What a perfect colour!

OK, that's not quite everything............. as Binky London also released a colour shifting topcoat, Paris Pearl. Paris Pearl looks like a white polish in the bottle but its actually a clear topper with a strong pink shimmer. I added one coat of Paris Pearl to Parsons Green and look what happens............

Binky London Parsons Green with Paris Pearl Topcoat

The magenta flash looks wonderful against the dark teal base, but I bet this would look fantastic over black or a near-black shade too! Awesomesauce!

My earlier reviews of the other polishes in the Binky London range are here and here. Overall I'm really impressed with the brand, the formula and brush are great. My favourite shades in the range are Parsons Green and Raffles Red, and I think the metallic shades (Sloane Square Silver, Grosvenor Gold and Pimlico Purple) are amazing polishes for stamping. I'm looking forward to seeing what the brand come up with next - I'm hoping there are some more adventurous shades in the next collection.

My bottles are press samples sent for review, but they are available to purchase from Escentual.

Models Own ~ DogsTrust Charity Polish and Giveaway!

Models Own Dogs Trust Charity Polish '25 Carat Gold'

Today's post is something a bit different and  bit special. The polish I have to show you is Models Own 25 Carat Gold, which was created by Models Own for Dogs Trust to celebrate the 35th anniversary of that slogan we're probably all familiar with.........  'a dog is for life...not just for Christmas'. Now Christmas is over this message about responsible dog ownership is even more important. Dogs Trust is asking dog lovers to spread the idea of stopping to think 'am I in a position to socialise, train and look after a dog for the rest of its life?'. Its a hard question, but potential dog owners do need to think about this. I have a rescue dog myself (actually my auntie rescued her first, but then became ill and died four years ago, so I took Tess on at that point) and there is a lot of work and commitment required, but a lot of fun too!

Dogs Trust is the biggest dog welfare charity in the UK and looks after 16,000 dogs every year in its 18 rehoming centres around the country. You can find out more about Dogs Trust at their website, or their Facebook page, or on Twitter.

Let's have a look at the polish, because if you like it and decide to buy a bottle, all profits from every bottle are donated to Dogs Trust. Dogs Trust corporate colours are yellow / gold, so I guess the colour is based on that. Its a warm gold shimmer:

Models Own Dogs Trust Charity Polish '25 Carat Gold'

I was surprised how nicely this applied, and how much I liked it once it was on my nails. There are only a couple of colours that I don't think really suit me, and gold is one of them, but I really rather like this. I used two thin coats, then dabbed on a third coat with a fine, slightly dampened makeup sponge. I almost always use this application technique for polishes with a strong shimmer, as I hate to see brushstrokes on my nails. It worked a treat with this! Here's a straight on shot

And slightly to an angle, you can really see how the colour glows:

Models Own Dogs Trust Charity Polish '25 Carat Gold'

Then I decided to add a bit of dog-themed nail art! I added a tip gradient in white, and stamped on white paw prints for an accent nail.

Models Own Dogs Trust Charity Polish '25 Carat Gold'

This polish was sent for review, but it can be purchased direct from Dogs Trust  for £5.50. All profits go direct to the charity.

....................... and - I have five bottles of this lovely polish to give away! I'm sorry, but I have to limit this to UK entrants only because of Royal Mail shipping restrictions (nail polish can't be posted out of the UK). Enter with the Rafflecopter below :)





a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy New Year - NOTD Lacquistry Amazeballz !

Lacquistry Amazeballz

This is amazing stuff - pretty much what it says on the bottle really! And it arrived just in time for New Year :)

It's quite hard to capture how stunning it is in real life on the camera though; I can't stop staring at my nails because they look like some sort of shiny metal! When the camera focuses on the polish, it shows that it's actually tiny shards of metallic.....stuff; not sure what really, it certainly isn't glitter because the polish goes on smoothly and dries as smooth as glass, even without topcoat. 

This could be used as a topper with one coat I suppose, but I used four coats here to get this full coverage. To be honest three would have done, especially if you have shorter nails.

Wonderful. I think this polish is truly unique, I've never seen anything quite like it before. I had intended to do nail art over it, but it seems too fabulous to cover up.

I purchased Amazeballz from Lacquistry's Etsy shop, shipping was super quick and it arrived here in the UK in under two weeks.