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. 

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.

Binky London Swatch and Review

Binky London Pelham Pink and Sloane Silver

Binky London is a new brand that just released in the UK last week. I have a few samples to show you, let's start with a pink, since pink is one of my favourite nail colours....... the brighter the better, lol! This one is called Pelham Pink and it's from Binky's Gel Collection. It's a bright pink with great coverage, easy application and a super high gloss - this swatch is just two coats, no topcoat!

Binky London Pelham Pink 

Here's a macro to show how dense and rich the colour is in this one. I love both the colour and finish on this polish.

Binky London Pelham Pink 

Next up is Beaufort Burgundy - a rich deep burgundy, pretty much what it says on the tin. I loved this colour, I wore it alone last week for a couple of days and then I used it as the base for a Christmas nail art design (watch this space for that one!). I did use Seche Vite with this polish, mostly because I didn't want to wait around for it to dry.

Binky London Beaufort Burgundy

Binky London Beaufort Burgundy

Just two coats again though, the coverage on these colours is really good. And one other thing, the brushes are a super shape, quite big, but flat and rounded (if you are an artist, they're a filbert shape) - this makes it really easy to paint a neat edge around the cuticles. I didn't need any clean up with these, not even this burgundy shade.

Next is a St Tropez Taupe, a pretty nude with a slight shimmer. Two coats again.

Binky London St Tropez Taupe

And finally (for tonight, I have other colours I'll be posting about in the next week or two) here is Sloane Square Silver. It's a silver foil............. I'm not the greatest fan of foil and metallic polishes on their own but I do love them for stamping! The moment I saw the consistency of this polish, I knew it would be perfect for stamping. I decided to add a gradient in this shade to really put it through its paces - and it came out with flying colours! I stamped first with an image from Bundle Monster plate BM-311 over Pelham Pink, then added the gradient with a slightly damp sponge. Binky London Sloane Square Silver is just PERFECT for stamping and blending. My promotional package included some other foils and I can't wait to try them out in nail art designs!

Binky London Pelham Pink and Sloane Silver

Binky London Pelham Pink and Sloane Silver

Overall I'm really impressed with this line. OK, the colours aren't that adventurous, but they are good staples for any collection. What I like most is the formula and application, which are superb. And the shape of the brush.

These polishes were sent for review. You can buy Binky London polishes from Escentual.com; they are £4.95. There are twelve colours in two colour collections. I have the other eight polishes (which include a glitter topper and a colour shifting topper) lined up on desk ready to try!

Gosh Frosted Sand - Silver & Purple

GOSH Frosted Silver and Frosted Purple

I'm not sure about textured polishes, so I've held off buying any of the OPI Liquid Sands, since none of the colours yet have really called to me, but when I saw these 'Frosted Sands' shades from GOSH in Superdrug the other day I couldn't resist. Especially as they were buy one get one for half price - so I bought two! There are just three colours in the range, Frosted Silver, Frosted Gold and Frosted Purple. Frosted Purple is actually a very pretty lavendery-gunmetal. I really don't get along with gold nail polish at all, so the choice of two from the three colours was very easy for me!

I decided to try them together as a gradient; I applied one coat of Frosted Purple, then added the gradient with the two colours painted directly on a damp make-up sponge. I went over the gradient twice to get a good density of colour, but even so the mani was very quick and easy to apply. And the two colours are made for each other!

GOSH Frosted Silver and Frosted Purple

Here are a few macro shots to show the texture a bit better.  I really like how the texture worked out on the mani; I'm not sure if it would be quite so good if I'd just brushed the polish on but the sponge application technique isn't a lot of extra effort even if you're only wearing a single colour, so I'll probably sponge the last coat if I wear either of these colours alone in future.  I'll certainly be checking out the GOSH stand again to see if they release any other textured colours; I like these a lot!

GOSH Frosted Silver and Frosted Purple

I purchased GOSH Frosted Silver and Frosted Purple from my local Superdrug last week.