Sunday, November 25, 2012

Indie-licious Review: Darling Diva Polish

Hello!

Today I have five beautiful polishes to show you from Darling Diva polish. I recently fell in love with their Christmas collection, which is inspired by A Christmas Story, one of my favorite movies. When I saw they had a polish called 'Fuuuuuudgee!!!', I almost lost it, I laughed so hard. And when I saw how pretty it was, I knew I had to have it. Then I saw Sheer Poetry...and between the two I couldn't hit click fast enough.

(Oh, I should probably warn you--this post will be PICTURE HEAVY!! But completely worth it.)

Sheer Poetry is a light avocado green holographic polish with red micro glitter and red glitter squares. The holo is a light linear holo with a scattered element to it, too. If you love holos and you love Christmas, this is the perfect polish for you. When you wear it alone, it gives a cool retro Christmas feel, sort of like the colors and feel you see in 'How The Grinch Stole Christmas":


Darling Diva Sheer Poetry



Blurred to show the sparkle :)
This is three coats with Seche Vite on top, and it applied beautifully, no issues whatsoever. What really surprised me, however, was the wear--I wore it like this for three days and didn't get one chip. That never happens with regular polish, let alone holos which I normally can't wear for three hours without a chip!

But maybe you prefer your Christmas greens a little darker...Well, no worry! I also tried it over Color Club Date Night; here is two coats over that green:

Darling Diva Sheer Poetry over Color Club Date Night

Closer up :)


In complete shade--it was hard to find light that didn't have at least some sparkle and holo effect.

Oh. My. Goodness. How pretty is that? I wore this to a birthday gathering in a dark pub in the city, and even in that dim light, there was still sparkle to this. If there is any light around, it will pick it up and you'll get shine. The line in the linear holo that you see isn't here strongly, but the gorgeous holo scatter holds up and is just gorgeous. ::sighs with pleasure::

Next up is Fuuuuuuudgee!!!!!!. If you aren't familiar with this scene in the movie, you can see the moment in all of its glory here...poor Ralphie:




As for the polish, it's a clear-based polish with micro glitters, medium hex glitters, and square glitters. They are primarily metallic colors, with a sprinkling of other colors mixed in. It does remind me of those awesome fudges with cool stuff in them, or of fruitcake (I'm one of those strange people that actually loves fruitcake). Take a look:

Darling Diva Fuuuuuuudgee!!!!!! over China Glaze Bending Over Backward



This is one coat over China Glaze Bending Over Backward, with no special dabbing or fishing, just brushed on. Application was very nice, but what I love best about this polish is it's a well-thought-out combination of glitters that gives a very pleasing effect with different colors and textures, without it being a crazy glitter bomb. It has style and sass. It also has elegance and class, as you can see here in a gradient I did over China Glaze Hook and Line:


Fuuuuuuudgee!!!!!! over China Glaze Hook And Line



Sparkle wonder powers unite!
 I honestly can't imagine a color this polish wouldn't look beautiful over. So versatile!

Next up is Seriously Serious, a glitter polish made of very small glitter in purple and greenish-blue. The polish-maker warn you not to put this over purple, because it won't show the colors well, so I tried it over a light metallic green, and I love the effect:

One coat of Darling Diva Seriously Serious over Finger Paints Be Leaf It Or Not
Two coats of Seriously Serious

Blurred to see the sparkle

I like it with one coat for a soft wash of sparkle, but I really adore it with two coats, because of the saturated effect it gives. The proportions of the colors in this glitter are very well-executed, and the effect is mesmerizing. It's hard to see the full impact of this polish in the first two pictures, so I took a blurry shot so you can see the beautiful sparkle a bit better. Application was perfect, and I can't wait to play with this more. :)

Next up is Dook At Me, a holographic topcoat with a spray of holographic square glitters. I love the name on this--it's named after the polish maker's niece, who says 'Dook at me' instead of 'Look at me'; I love the story behind it both because it's so darned cute, but also because this polish captures the fairy-princess magic of being a young child. There are a lot of holographic top coats out there in polish-land, but this one is just a little bit more special...when the polish is indoors and the holographic sparkle doesn't show up so much, the square glitters give it extra flash, and that makes the polish special in all lights, not just the ones that bring out the linear holo.

First let me show you a picture of the undie alone, for comparison purposes; notice how in the shade shot the topcoat lets the near-duochrome finish of this polish shine through, and doesn't cover it like many holo topcoats would:

Finger Paints Art You Blue?


Darling Diva Dook At Me over Finger Paints Art You Blue?

Darling Diva Dook At Me from an angle to show the linearity


Dook At Me in the shade; how pretty is that??

I didn't know what to expect  from this polish, but was so excited at how pretty it looked, I forgot to clean up my cuticles for the shot. Bad, bad polish reviewer. :(

Finally, I'll end on a very high note with Auld Lang Syne, aptly named because it would be perfect for New Year's Eve manicures. This is a gold holographic topper that has just enough larger glitters to give it a splash of texture that makes it extra-special. The sparkle is amazing and the color of the gold is rich. I couldn't help but try it over several polishes, and then I couldn't choose which one to show you, so I'm going to show them all! Unfortunately, this was a very frustrating polish to photograph; it's so much sparklier and holographier than it shows here!

First, here it is over China Glaze Running In Circles:

Darling Diva Auld Lang Syne over Running In Circles in direct sun




Blurred to show the holo sparkle

Next I have it over Color Club Model Behavior:

Darling Diva Auld Lang Syne over Model Behavior 











And finally, my favorite combination, layered over a-England Perceval:

Darling Diva Auld Lang Syne over a-England Perceval

This is the truest representation of how the colors look together :)



Blurred for your holographic sparkle entertainment

 All of these photos have one coat of Auld Lang Syne--I didn't feel a need for a second, the sparkle was so pretty with just one, but I can't wait to do gradients with a thicker layering of it. Application was really great, although if you want to guarantee a large gold hex on each nail, you may need to fish a bit for it. But who cares, with a polish this pretty!

You can find these polishes at the Darling Diva Etsy shop by clicking here. There a so many more gorgeous polishes to explore there as well--so many I can't wait to get my hands on, including several really unique holographic polishes. The polishes range in price depending on the components, and are comparable to other independent polish makers. Take a look, I promise you won't be sorry. :)

Thanks for taking a look!

Xoxox,
M.

(Sheer Poetry and Fuuuuuuudgee!!!!!! were purchased with my own money. The other polishes were sent for review.)

2 comments:

  1. I love Darling Diva polishes. She is always so obliging and great with the customer service. I have bought a lot if mini polishes from her because there is so much I like and want to try.

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