A Couple Comparisons - Hot Pinks and Teal Blues

Hello friends! I don't have much to post today- sun has been spotty and with all the Colors by Llarowe round-up posts I have done recently I actually have already posted most of my recent manis - odd! I know I probably have post-worthy pictures tucked away somewhere on my computer, but ever since I got my new computer (which was all the way back in October, alas) my file organization has been a little jumbled - maybe someday I'll find the inspiration to straighten it out. But I have had fun posting daily the past few days, and I don't really want to break my streak! So while it's not much, enjoy a couple comparisons I did recently, as well as a mani I did with the ...comparees.

Aly's Dream Polish Deep Steel Blue is a dark, navy-ish teal with a strong scatter holo effect. By comparison, Steel Blue is more of a sky blue-leaning teal, with that same strong holo effect. Application is great! A little sheer at the first coat but builds easily in three. Obviously here I did mostly Deep Steel Blue in an accent of Steel Blue with Deep Steel Blue polka dots.

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Someone in a nail polish comparison group I'm in on Facebook wanted to see the two pretties above compared with Enchanted Polish August 2013, which is also a blue-ish teal holo. It is most close to Steel Blue, but is a little darker, leans more green, and of course has a linear holo effect instead of scattered.

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It really is not that similar to Deep Steel Blue at all - Deep Steel Blue seems much bluer and of course much darker than both of them, as shown below. And overall, the formulas are a different, though both are good - the EP is heavier and more creme-based and covers completely in two coats, vs. the slightly more sheer ADPs that need three. Basically all three polishes are different enough that if you like teal polish you need them all :)

indoors, Ott Lite

Another comparison that was requested was Colors by Llarowe It's Shocking (which can be seen on its own here), which is a warm-leaning hot pink linear holo) and Enchanted Polish Disco Barbie, which is a more cool-toned hot pink scatter holo. Obviously by looking at the picture Disco Barbie is much cooler-toned than It's Shocking, and appears brighter. Though Disco Barbie is typically called a scatter holo and It's Shocking is definitely linear, the holo effect doesn't seem that different in the below photo - neither are terribly strong but definitely are visible. They clearly are quite different and pink lovers definitely will want both of these as well :)

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It was really fun doing comparisons like this! I don't think I've ever done a comparison post on my blog before, but I would definitely be interested in doing more in the future! If any one has any requests just let me know in the comments - as long as I have the polishes I would be happy to give it a go! ;)

Have a fantastic day! ♥ 

Superbowl Sunday - Colors by Llarowe Seahawks Duo

Happy Superbowl Sunday! Are you guys going to watch the game tonight? I doubt I will - was a bit under the weather the past few days and have stuff to work on to get caught up in school, alas. But that doesn't mean I can't join in on the fun with team color manis! Now I don't really have a preference among the two teams - but when I saw that Colors by Llarowe was going to have two Superbowl sets I totally fell in love with the Seahawks set - so I guess that means I'm cheering for Seattle tonight!

left to right: Legion of Boom, Seahawk Lime

Seahawks Lime is a lime green linear holo. The holo is super strong for this one! I love lime greens - as you can see I have a touch of the lobster thing going on in my shade picture, but I don't think it looked that bad in person, and it didn't show up at all in sun. Application was like all CbL holos like this - a bit thick but easy to manage.

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On my nails:
3 coats Colors by Llarowe Seahawks Lime
1 coat Seche Vite

Legion of Boom (or Legion of Doom, lol, as I originally thought it was) is a dark teal-leaning blue packed with silver, blue, and lime microglitter. This polish is kind of hard to describe - I think it is primarily made of glitter in a jelly base? but in the sun it gives off the effect of a blindingly rainbowtastic scatter holo. I adore this polish to bits! I love the slight green cast, since I have a lot of bright blue glittery polishes but none this shade of sorta-teal. And of course I just can't get enough of this polish's sparkle! Application was no trouble here either; could have gotten away with just two coats but did three since I forgot to wrap my tips at first. Also I think I could have just one coat of topcoat to smooth out the texture, but I did two just to be safe.

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On my nails:
1 coat Innisfree Eco Peel-off base coat
3 coats Colors by Llarowe Legion of Boom
2 coats Seche Vite

Totally loved both of these! Gorgeous colors that match the Seahawks perfectly. Glad I will have the perfect mani on tonight - even if I can't watch the game I will be celebrating in glittery style.

To check out Colors by Llarowe check out the Llarowe site and Facebook - and the brand new Colors by Llarowe page on Facebook as well!

Have a super day! ♥

Salt 'n Pepper Skittles

Hello friends! Today I have a fun skittles mani to share with you. Since I pretty much have polish coming out of my ears I have a lot of untrieds sitting around - so lately I have been doing skittle manis a bunch so that I can play with multiple polishes at a time. I did that recently with several polishes from Enchanted Polish. I started out with Horizontal Running, a bubblegum pink creme holo, Water for Unicorns, a bright sky blue creme holo, and Mercy, a dusty purple creme holo. To tie it all together I topped it all off with Seven Nation Army, a mix of white and black microglitter in a sheer holo shimmery base. Take a look!

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outdoors, shade

On my nails:
1 coat Innisfree Eco Peel-off base coat
2 coats each Enchanted Polish Horizontal Running/Mercy/Water for Unicorns
1 coat Enchanted Polish Seven Nation Army
1 coat KB Shimmer Clearly On Top

I am really glad I started doing more skittles lately; aside from getting a chance to use more of my polishes I love how it gives me more of an opportunity to be creative with my nails than just one color, even when I don't have time to do actual legit nail art. I used to not be a fan of skittles because I thought they typically didn't look very put together, but I think the key to that is using polishes with the same kind of finish (in this case, creme holos). Of course putting the same effect topcoat over everything helps pull it together also (and has the bonus of getting to use even more polish all in one go - win win!)

You can find Enchanted Polish at their website, Mei Mei's Signatures, Nail Polish Canada, and Pshiiit Boutique and be sure to check out their Facebook~

Have an enchanting day! ♥ 

Several More Colors by Llarowe Pretties

Hi guys! Today I will wrap up what has been somewhat of a Colors by Llarowe streak here on the blog - that is, until the sun decides to come out and play, and I can photograph more of the pretties, of course :)

Again, to save us both from writing and reading the same thing over and over again, unless specified each pic is of three coats + Seche Vite.

left to right, up to down: Vamp, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Dora the Explora,
It's Spring Somewhere, & Piece of Me

Dora the Explora (aka Cherry Bomb) is a deep red jelly base full of various sparkly hexes and large holo dots. This one is actually deeper in color than the photos show - I remember thinking it was more vampy than bright, on my skin at least. I love the sparkle to this one, and how the glitters peek through the jelly base.

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Piece of Me is a dusty teal holo. This is a creme-based holo so the rainbow is a little more subtle but super lovely. I don't believe I have any other holos quite this shade of teal, so definitely unique in my collection!

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It's Spring Somewhere is an orangey-coral jelly packed with golden shimmer. This one is a little sheer so I used four coats here. As I am sure most of my US readers know weather has been absurd all over the country this winter, so I took the opportunity to wear this baby on one of the 50 degree days in a sea of -10 ones. And cheerful and springy it definitely is! I don't typically wear oranges that much but I love how bright and shimmery this one is.

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 Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is a deep navy blue jelly packed with silver microglitter. This one is meant to be a dupe of the much-coveted and equally difficult to find Essie Starry Starry Night. I actually do have SSN, but have yet to compare them on my own - check out Pointless Cafe's review to see how they match up. It definitely does look like a twinkling night sky - super pretty! I recall SSN being much more difficult to work with as well (sheer and runny), so it honestly might be better than the original, since it has a great formula.

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And lastly for now, Vamp is a deep red holo. Vampy it is for sure! Nothing much to say here; it has a crazy holo effect and a great formula, like pretty much all CbL holos I have tried.

outdoors, sun

outdoors, shade

And that's that! I am totally enamored with CbL these days - plan on taking a bit of a break in the next two weeks to do all Valentine's, all the time, but can't wait to play with more of these pretties soon!

To check out Colors by Llarowe check out the Llarowe site and Facebook - and the brand new Colors by Llarowe page on Facebook as well!

Have a magical day! ♥
 

Moar Colors by Llarowe Beauties!

Hello friends! My apologies for once again having a bit of a delay between my last post and now... since I was dreadfully ill on New Year's I am planning to honor New Year's Resolution time on February 1st, and one of my resolutions is to post at least three times a week. We will see how I do... always good to have a goal though, right? :)

Today I have some more lovely Colors by Llarowe holos to share with you! Like I said before (or I should have said, anyway - definitely was thinking it!) CbL has become one of my favorite brands as of late, and they are definitely worth writing about. On to the pretties!

As with my last round-up of gorgeous CbLs, I will save time by mentioning here that everything you see here is three coats with Seche Vite on top.

left to right: Paper Moon; Feelings, Whoa Whoa Whoa; Shy-Ann

Feelings, Whoa Whoa Whoa is a slightly dusty dark purple holo. So beautiful, I love this one! Super holo, too! Application was no problem here, of course - I typically find CbLs a touch thick but easy to apply.

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Paper Moon is another purple holo, but much lighter and more lavender-y. This one is insanely holo, as I'm sure you can tell from my picture! I am a sucker for purples so I initially thought I didn't need this one just because I do have other light purples, but this one is definitely unique, both in color shade and crazy level of holo - in short, you definitely need this one if you like purple at all. It's magical.

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Lastly, I have the lovely Shy-Ann, which is a deep pink holo with micro-sparkle added in for extra special twinkle. Since it does seem to have some glitter in the mix it dries a little bumpy so topcoat is something you will want to use here, but it is definitely worth the effort - super gorgeous! I love this one.

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Obviously, I love all of these beauties :) I am so glad I started paying more attention to the Colors by Llarowe brand as of late - they have excellent formula and the colors are all so lovely! There will be more posts dedicated to these babies soon - look forward to them! :)

To check out Colors by Llarowe check out the Llarowe site and Facebook - and the brand new Colors by Llarowe page on Facebook as well!

Have a magical day! ♥