Lacquer or Leave Her!: Cult Nails

Showing posts with label Cult Nails. Show all posts

Thursday, July 2, 2015

My top 5 indie polishes!

(Nothing to disclose)

Hello!

A bunch of my fellow blogging buddies and I decided to do a link-up of our five favorite indie polishes. Some of us are doing are favorites from this year, some are doing our all-time favorites--so here are my five all-time favorite indie polishes, in alphabetical order.

Cult Nails: Coveted

I went back and forth about whether to include this polish or Iconic, because they're a tie for me; in the end I chose Coveted because I've featured Iconic before. And there's just so much I love about this beauty--the dark-grass shade of the green, the glowy sparkle, the squishy jelly, the flakie shards. It was one of the first indie polishes I absolutely...Coveted. Sadly, Cult Nails has closed their doors, but you may be able to find this baby in blog sales...:)

Cult Nails Coveted

Elevation Polish Gobi

Gobi is an ethereal beauty that defies description. It's a soft caramel jelly holo with a soft mint green flash. It looks like it glows from within, like it's radiating the light of angels. It's the most amazing neutral, sophisticated and understated, while still being special and eye-catching. It's breath-taking. This polish isn't currently available, but you can find tons of other amazing polish in the Elevation shop.

Elevation Polish Gobi

InDecisive Bloodstone

Ah, Bloodstone. Beautiful anytime, but possibly the most perfect Christmas polish ever made. Deep pine green sprinkled with red, gold and green glitters, with a subtle sprinkle of gold shimmer throughout. It has a vintage feel, like winter in an English manor house. If the ladies of Downton Abbey had worn nail polish, they'd have loved this. And, and: she's still making this one, and you can find it here.

InDecisive Polish Bloodstone

Lucky 13 Lacquer But I Want To Fight! & Fool Of A Took

Yes, okay, this is technically two polishes, but they were released as a twin set, so I'm counting them as one. These two polishes represent Merry and Pippin from the Lord Of the Rings books/movies, and I think they capture the spirit of the hobbits well, with a touch of whimsy in them both. But I Want To Fight! is a dusty grape jelly with green holo glitters; it's pretty with just a bit of twinkly sparkle. Fool Of A Took is a muted avocado with purple glitter that has made it into my Halloween nail art several times, and is fun even when it's not October. These are no longer available, but there are plenty of other beauties that are in the Lucky 13 shop.

Lucky13 Lacquer But I Want To Fight!

Lucky13 Lacquer Fool Of A Took

LynBDesigns Do I Look Like A Frolicker?

This polish is a tangerine jelly with pink-purple flakies; together they give the polish a coral summer-sunset-sky look that's like nothing I've seen elsewhere. It's summery and feminine and it feels like it has just the right amount of magic splashed in. Art in a bottle. You can find LynBDesigns here.

LynBDesigns Do I Look Like A Frolicker?

Mentality Tenderness

(Um, Michelle? I think this is more than five polishes, even with your little cheat about the twin polish set from Lucky13 Lacquer...) (Shhhhh...quiet...nobody needs to know that, keep it to yourself!)

*Ahem*. This polish. THIS polish. THIS. POLISH. Deep regal purple with an amazing scatter of holo throughout. Nothing more needs to be said. Just enjoy and try not to drool everywhere. You can find Mentality's shop here.

Mentality Tenderness

Sweet Heart Polish Hurry Ba-ack!

(Um, Michelle? I think you're pushing this pretend-this-is-only-five-polishes thing a little far...) (Hey! If Douglas Adams could put out a trilogy that had five books, I can do a post of my five favorite indie polishes that has eight polishes! Work with me here!!)

Hurry Ba-ack! was a limited edition polish in honor of the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland, and I think it is easily the funnest polish (most fun polish?) I've ever seen, hands down, indie or no. I love the combination of the bright glitters in the squishy jelly, with the healthy dose of shimmer added in. I love that it captures the vibe of the ride, at least for me. I never thought I'd call a black-based polish 'happy', but it is. It's happy and it's fun, and it makes me smile. I loved it so much that although I was originally sent a mini for review, I bought myself a full-sized bottle. LOVE. This was a limited edition polish, but you can find her other beauties here. :)

Sweet Heart Polish Hurry Ba-ack!

Narrowing it down to five was crazy difficult, I had at least 30 more I wanted to include. So I'm thinking maybe I need to do this by season or something in the future, give myself an excuse to pull out pics of more awesome polishes! But there are my top indie polishes today, at this moment. Wait, maybe I should have put in...focus, Michelle, focus!! Don't forget to check out what the other bloggers chose in the link-up below. :)

So what do you think of my choices? Any there you love? And what's your favorite indie polish of all time?

Happy polishing!
M.

An InLinkz Link-up

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Before & After: Stripes 'n' Kitties!

Hello!!

I've learned the sad lesson that beautiful nails and vigorous play with my dog don't go well together...sigh...I now have a case of the right-hand nubbins again, and even though I've tried to file them down as best I could, they still look a teensy bit janky.

Can something look a teensy bit janky? Idk. I'm gonna go with it.

Today's theme in the Crumpet Nail Tart's Got Polish challenge is 'Stripes'! Hey, vertical stripes make things look longer, right?

Because nail bloggers tend to always be showing new (or at least new-to-them) polish and tend to neglect the old beauties in their collection, this challenge is about using polish you've had for a long time, ideally over a year. I am so happy about having an excuse to blog about some old favorites, I can't even tell you. :)

For this one, I pulled out Cult Nails Iconic, a blood-rust color with very subtle rust-gold flakes in it:

You can see that the flakes are very subtle, and show up a little more or less depending on the sort of light you're in. This is the sort of flakie that is definitely work appropriate but still gives you a little dose of happy when you look at your nails. :)

For my nail art, I wanted to go for a Victorian-room sort of feel, so I drew on some scroll-type stripes with a Mash nail art pen, and put on some rose decals I bought somewhere ages ago (sorry, the packaging is long gone, so I don't remember the brand, but I'd guess Kiss). And since no cozy home is complete without a cat, so I pulled out some kitty water decals that Born Pretty Store sent me for review:

I was very happy with how extremely easy to use these are--you cut them out, submerge them in water for about 20 seconds, slide off the design, and position it on your nail. Cover with topcoat, and you're done, done, done. And these are very thin, unlike some other decals that are on thicker plastic which make them more difficult to position; These went on easily and stayed put where I wanted them to once I dabbed the water off.

Here is the final look:

What do you think? I am annoyed that the nails are a bit messed up, but I do think the design is cute, fun, and very fast to do. :)

If you like these decals, you can find them by clicking here; there are a ton more designs besides. I have a discount coupon for Born Pretty Store that my readers can use (not an affiliate link):

In fact...drumroll please...enough people have used my code that Born Pretty Store is hosting a giveaway on my site for a $20 gift certificate to their store! I'll have that giveaway all set up by the end of the week. :)

Thanks for stopping by, and don't forget to look at the other manicures linked below. :)

Hugs and loves,
M.

Friday, December 6, 2013

Review: Jamberry Matte Topcoat

Hello!

I have been on a continuing quest for a matte topcoat that comes even close to China Glaze's Matte Magic, since the only form of this I've been able to find is the teeny little bottles, for not so teeny little prices. The only ones I've seen that seem to do as good of a job are from brands that are not cruelty-free, so they are a no-no for me.

So, I was very eager to try out Jamberry's matte topcoat when I was given the chance to review one of their topcoats, since this is a brand that I can feel good about buying from.

But of course, the question is...does it mattify the way I want it to? I have tested it out over a variety of polish types to see what it will do...Let's take a look:

First, let's take a look at it over Cult Nails Coveted:

Jamberry matte topcoat over Cult Nails Coveted

The index and middle fingers have Jamberry matte topcoat, while the ring and pinkie do not. The matted nails have that cloudy look that changes the finish but not the color perfectly. The matte creates that nice contrast with the flakies underneath that gives them a different dimension and light, and also allows the teeny glimmers of light to come through in the rest of the polish.

Next I tried it overPicture Polish Mallard:

Jamberry matte topcoat over Picture Polish Mallard

The matte also did a dramatic job here; it creates a wax finish without dimming the flakes. This is a very dark polish to start with, so there isn't as much light coming through as in Coveted, but notice that the different colors in the flakies are all still showing their gorgeousness.

Next, something a little brighter--Hare Polish Asteroid Turf:

Hare Polish Asteroid Turf

Jamberry matte topcoat over Hare Polish Asteroid Turf

This is my favorite way to wear matte topcoat, over a polish that has a high contrast between the base color and the glitter. And the Jamberry passed my test here--this is exactly what I want a matte topcoat to do, to give that flat finish without decreasing the beauty of the polish beneath. These glitters still sing out, and the base color looks smooth and deep. Dare I say it? I prefer this polish with the matte topcoat over the regular topcoat. It looks like a beautiful meadow filled with little purple wildflowers this way. :)

How about a similar glitter that doesn't have quite so much direct contrast? Here it is over InDecisive Lacquer Zea Mays

InDecisive Nail Lacquer Zea Mays

Jamberry Matte Topcoat over InDecisive Nail Lacquer Zea Mays

Just...just...yeah. Do I even need to say it? All of the skill that the maker put into designing the glitter blend and its relationship to the base color remains...but is enhanced. It feels lush, rich, lovely.

And finally, what about a plain old creme? Let's take a look at it over Jamberry's own Cardinal:

Jamberry Cardinal

Jamberry matte topcoat over Jamberry Cardinal

This show best how evenly the topcoat applies; I've tried other matte topcoats that were a bit patchy, but this goes on and dries perfectly.

Jamberry's matte topcoat exceeded all of my expectations, and I feel comfortable putting it into the same category as my personal standard-bearer, China Glaze Matte Magic. If you're looking for a good matte topcoat that is 5-free, cruelty-free, and works extremely well, you can check it out by clicking here. And check out their nail lacquers, they're excellent as well. :)

Hugs and loves!
M.

(Matte topcoat and Cardinal provided for review. All other polishes from my personal collection.)