August is Indie Month Day 4!

I'm so sorry this post is late! I had a migraine keep me down most of the day and only now am getting around to trying to get a few things done before heading back to bed.

Today I've got A England Tristam for you, a gorgeous shade of deep blue with amazing soft holographic effect. The application from A England is always amazing, these poslishes are self leveling and usually one coat is enough.

This is two coats of Tristam, no top coat.

The photos have really done a great job of catching the different faces of this polish which changes in certain lights from a deep blue to a blurple.

Indoors with flash.

Indoors, indirect sunlight.

Indoors with flash under halogen lights.

August is Indie Month Day 3!

Day 3 is a little bit more of a bright and fun polish. Today I've got Suess from Whimsical Ideas by Pam on. This is what I would probably call a bright blue jelly with different glitter pieces that remind you very much of the Cat in the Hat overall.

This is two coats, no top coat. Once again, I probably should have gone for a third coat. The glitter application was easy and quite even on all but one of my nails where I just didn't seem to get any. You can see there are silver/white and red hexes in different sizes as well as smaller glitter pieces scattered throughout.

Apologies for the cuticles getting a little dry at this point. I did several swatches all at once and they weren't quite pleased with me.

Honestly I love this color. I don't wear glitter polish nearly as much as I should because I always enjoy it when I do. This is an absolutely stunning shade of blue and it makes me smile when I look down and think of my childhood. Fun and playful, as nail polish should be!

Great formula, easy application, just a tiny bit of trouble with the glitters being uneven on one finger. I'm sure a third coat could have fixed that. The staying power is decent, three days was how long I wore this in the past.

Indoors with flash.

Indoors, indirect sunlight.

Indoors under halogen lights with flash.

August is Indie Month Day 2!

Day 2 of Indie Month. Today I have for you Arcane Lacquer (once again chosen by randomizer) in the color Dreary Days. This is two coats with no top coat.

The formula is nice, however quite sheer as you can see. On the nail (without the bright lights) two coats was relatively opaque to a point I felt comfortable. Once the flash/lights were on, it becomes clear that the jelly base is still pretty patchy. A third coat would have evened this out to perfection.

It goes on smooth and the glitters distribute very evenly as you can see, there was no mussing with the glitters at all here.

This is a grey-blue jelly with various glitter pieces in black, silver and blue. It really does remind me of a grey cloudy day. Maybe even something more heinous like a tornado with all those particles floating around in it.

The staying power of this polish is great, I have worn it in the past for four days with minimal tip wear and no chipping. Again as I change my nail color too often I cannot state the full length this polish might wear.

The glitters in this polish are not particularly shiny, but they do give a very nice speckling effect. I like this polish, but glitters don't get enough use from me (because they are just too much of a pain to remove).

For more information about Indie Month and to check out what the other participants are wearing, click here.

Indoors with flash.

The above photo is the most true to it's natural color state, a blueish grey base with more glitter packed in than you can imagine.

Indoors, indirect sunlight.

With flash under halogen lights.

August Is Indie Month Day 1!

For day #1 of August is Indie Month, randomizer.org chose for me #2 - which corresponds to I Love Nail Polish brand. For more information about Indie Month and to check out what the other participants are wearing today, click here. 

I present you with ILNP - Charmingly Purple, a lavender/lilac linear holo.

This is two coats, with no top coat as I won't be leaving this n very long and it dries to quite a shiny finish on its own. The formula is buttery and glides on very smooth. I really like the way these polishes go on.

The staying power of ILNP has been 2-3 days in my past experience with minimal tip wear. I don't usually wear my polish longer than that so I can't say how long it lasts truly.

Indoors, indirect sunlight.

 The color on this first photo is the exact color this polish shows in shade/indirect light. You can also catch a bit of the holo flame on my pinky finger.

Indoors, natural lighting.

Indoors with flash.

With flash under halogen lights.

Of the photos I took, this one is probably the most color accurate under bright lighting and shows off the strong linear holo quite well.

August Is Indie Month! Daily Nail Challenge!

Along with a number of other bloggers/instagramers/tweeters, this month I plan to participate in a daily nail challenge. I will be unable to participate during the 23-26 and possibly the 29-31.

There will be no repeated colors, though some brands will appear more than once. I own at current count (and as some arrive throughout the month) 19 different Indie brands of nail polish, listed in my chart above. I will try to ensure each brand gets featured once. As new pretties arrive, I will very likely need to try them immediately (despite brand) and may have to wear a couple of them for more than a single day. ;)

Later today, I will be doing my mani with ILNP in Charmingly Purple. Brand chosen by randomizer.org (#2) and color selected by me.

Find me on Twitter and Instagram!

Other Participants

We Didn't Miss It (blog), miss_tina (insta)
Nailing It (blog)
Mercy123 (twitter)
Kitties and Polish Forever (blog), Taymoorby (insta), Taymoorby (twitter)
Rianneeff (twitter)
LoveThisLacquer (tumblr), LoveThisLacquer (insta), LoveThisLacquer (twitter)

NOTD - Fun With Toppers

I have so many untrieds right now I've been doing different colors on each hand. This one is so striking. I wish that I could truly capture the sheen of Hurt No Living Thing but you get a hint of it in the pictures I've chosen. I think it might be time to build a light box. I'm thinking about doing a 30 day challenge in the near future - I want to use more of my polishes.

Anyway, on to my NOTD!
Left hand is Colors by Llarowe Smokin' In The Boys Room - a gorgeous smoke grey jelly that went on very smooth and evened out to an opaque finish in 3 coats.
Right hand is Colors by Llarowe Liquor Is Quicker - a very beautiful purple hinting blue crelly that went on smooth and was opaque in 3 coats.
I have topped my thumb and ring fingers with Colors by Llarowe Leather and Lace in one thin coat - this is a gorgeous linear holographic topcoat that adds amazing shimmer and shine with minimal greying.
The other fingers are topped with one coat of A England Hurt No Living Thing which is a sheer smokey color with pink-purple shifting shimmer.
All topped with HK Girl the new topcoat I have been using and loving after hearing so much about it. It certainly does live up to it's name and I will definitely be purchasing more of this!

Pictures!

Liquor Is Quicker topped with Hurt No Living Thing and Leather & Lace. Taken with Flash.

 Smokin' In The Boys Room topped with Hurt No Living Thing and Leather & Lace. Taken with flash.

NOTD - AEngland Princess Tears and Colors by Llarowe Paper Moon

Indoors, at night, with flash, this is the most accurate in the way of being true to color I think.

This one shows off the holo flame so nicely, I couldn't not include it. Colors are a bit washed out by the flash though.

And one with regular flash, which takes on a very blue tone. But showed the flashiness of both polishes very nicely.