Showing posts with label glitter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label glitter. Show all posts

piCture pOlish: Siren Song


Yay it is mid-week!
By way of an update, I have already mixed up enough polish to fill most of the pre-orders for the Catching Fire collection. I am expecting a shipment of the mini bottles today and I will be able to start pouring and packing them - hopefully by the end of the week! I also aim to get the Christmas duos done by this week so I can get them to you before Christmas! :D Pre-orders for the Christmas duos close tomorrow at 9am, SGT.

Enough side tracking! Today, I have another beauty to share with you:


Siren Song. 2 thin coats.

piCture pOlish's Siren Song is a beautiful seafoam green filled with micro silver glitters that give it a most delicate shimmery look. It is no secret that I love seafoam greens and this is just perfect! I must admit I love the name and the tagline too. Rebecca really did a great job with this one.

Application is a little streaky on the first coat but it evens out on the second. The glitters tend to stick to the side of the bottle so I would recommend a good shake before application.

So what do you think of Siren Song?

Siren Song is available at piCture pOlish's website and through its network members. You can follow piCture pOlish on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook for more updates and new releases as well!

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**Products were provided for our honest review. Please see our disclosure policy for more information.**
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The Polish Well: Christmas Duo!



Happy weekends everyone!
Even though it is a gloomy rainy Saturday, I am still riding on a high from my most amazing nail mail week - you can catch a glimpse of the pretties that I've hauled on my Instagram page.

Since I can't do any swatching today, I looked through my pictures and I stumbled upon a prototype that I've made a while back during Halloween. I did not release it then because I've received a number of comments that it was more suited for Christmas! One thing led to another and before I knew it, I had mixed up another prototype to go with it as a Christmas duo.


Naughty or Nice.
A daring shade of deep berry-leaning red filled with holographic sparkles and a dash of holiday gold. Sparkly reds are Christmas classics so I simply had to try making one myself. More pictures below.

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Bottle shot - macro
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Shot under direct sunlight
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Trim the Tree.
A forest green filled with yellow and hot orange / red glitters. I hardly do contrasting colours myself but this one grew on me the more I stared at it.

So what do you think of these two colours? What do you like to wear on your nails for Christmas?

Pre-order Information:

As before, I will be making these polishes available for pre-orders from Sunday, 17 November, 9am SGT until 21 November, 9am SGT.

If you wish to place an order for the older colours, you may also include them in your order list and I will see if I have any available stock for you.

All colours will be available in the following sizes:
12ml @ US$10 each
5ml @ US$4 each

All orders will be mailed via Registered Mail and shipping rates are as follows:
International: US$6 for the first 12ml / US$3 for the first 5ml + US$2 for each subsequent 12ml + US$1 for each subsequent 5ml
Singapore: flat rate of US$4
IF YOU HAVE PLACED AN EARLY PRE-ORDER FOR THE CATCHING FIRE COLLECTION THAT IS STILL BEING PROCESSED, PLEASE INDICATE IN THE "REMARKS" SECTION AND I WILL COMBINE YOUR ORDERS FOR YOU.

Please note that pre-orders will be filled as quickly as I can (but I cannot guarantee they will reach you before Christmas!) and they will be filled on a first-come-first-served basis according to the timestamp on the pre-order form.


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The Polish Well: Catching Fire



Hands up those who are excited about the upcoming Hunger Games: Catching Fire movie!! *sticks arms up and jumps around wildly*

Ever since I've read the books last year, I have been completely hooked onto this series and there was no turning back. So when I found out that Catching Fire movie was scheduled for release this 21 November, I jumped right into bed that same evening and re-read the Catching Fire book in one night. Naturally, with the story swimming around in my head, my brain went on turbo mode and before I knew it, I'd already made up my mind to do a mini Catching Fire collection. :P


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the-polish-well-the-wedding-dress1The Wedding Dress. (3 thin coats)
Heavy white silk with a low neckline and tight waist and sleeves that fall from my wrists to the floor. And pearls. Everywhere pearls. Stitched into the dress and in ropes at my throat and forming the crown for the veil.
A sheer white base filled with delicate shimmers and small silvery holo glitters. I nearly tore my hair out in frustration trying to capture this colour accurately. None of my pictures does it any justice. The glitters are more obvious and sparkly in real life. Under the light, it shimmers and glimmers with tiny holo sparkles. I am really happy with how it turned out.
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the-polish-well-roses-and-blood1Roses and Blood. (3 thin coats)
The smell of roses and blood has grown stronger now that only a desk separates us. There's a rose in President Snow's lapel, which at least suggests a source of the flower perfume, but it must be genetically enhanced, because no real rose reeks like that. As for the blood ... I don't know.
A delicate white base lightly tainted with red shimmers and a whiff of tiny bright red glitters. At least that is what I imagine President Snow's scent would be like in a nail polish bottle. Don't worry, I left it unscented.
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the-polish-well-no-nightmares1No Nightmares. (3 coats)
When I open my eyes, it's early afternoon. My head rests on Peeta's arm. I don't remember him coming in last night. I turn, being careful not to disturb him, but he's already awake.
“No nightmares,” he says.
“What?” I ask.
“You didn't have any nightmares last night,” he says.
He's right. For the first time in ages I've slept through the night.
Oh Peeta! You make me melt ♥ No Nightmares is a light blue-grey filled with delicate sprinkles of purple and blue micro-glitter and light shimmers. A beautiful accident for I did not set out to create this colour. For some reason, it gave me a warm, safe and fuzzy feeling - just like what I imagine Katniss would feel on a night like this with Peeta.

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the-polish-well-breaking-out1Breaking Out. 4 thin coats but also opaque on 3 thin coats.
A flash of white runs up the wire, and for just a moment, the dome bursts into a dazzling blue light. I'm thrown backward to the ground, body useless, paralyzed, eyes frozen wide, as feathery bits of matter rain down on me. I can't reach Peeta. I can't even reach my pearl. My eyes strain to capture one last image of beauty to take with me.
Right before the explosions begin, I find a star.
A deep blue jelly filled with silvery shimmers and micro-flakes that glow a a bright blue against the dark base. I tried very very hard to put in a lightning in the bottle but the closest I could get was how I imagine the night sky to look on the day of their break out. My camera freaked out a little from the shimmers buried in the base and I couldn't get a clearer picture of the delicate shimmery effect. You can see it on the swatchstick here. 3 coats are sufficient for opacity but I used four coats in the swatch above for a deeper blue.

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the-polish-well-catching-fire2Catching Fire. 3 thin coats.
I look down, fascinated, as my ensemble slowly comes to life, first with a soft golden light but gradually transforming to the orange-red of burning coal. I look as if I have been coated in glowing embers — no, that I am a glowing ember straight from our fireplace.
A sheer black base filled with glowy red glitters and copper/gold shimmers for that glowing ember look where the glitters catch the light. Not as fiery as a fire but burning within nonetheless.



So, what do you think of this collection? Which one(s) caught your eye?

PRE-ORDER INFO:

As with the other collections, the Catching Fire collection will be made available for pre-orders from tomorrow, 10 November 2013 at 7pm SGT.


  • Colours are available in the following sizes:
    • 12ml - US$10 each
    • 5ml - US4 each
  • Shipping rates are as follows:
    • International:
      • US$6 for the first 12ml / US$3 for the first 5ml
      • US$2 for each subsequent 12ml
      • US$1 for each subsequent 5ml
    • Singapore: Flat rate of US$4
  • This pre-order ends 17 November 2013 at 7pm SGT
  • Form embedded at the end of this post.


If you wish to place an order for the older colours, you may include them in your order list and I will see if I have any available stock for you.

GIVEAWAY:

To celebrate reaching 10k followers on Instagram, I am also holding a giveaway on Instagram! One lucky winner will walk away with a set of minis of this Catching fire collection. Please feel free to hop over to IG to participate in the giveaway :) Rules are available in this post.

May the odds be ever in your favour <3

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My Ten Friends: Astrochicken & Zero-G


Happy Sunday everyone!
So sorry for the brief absence! I had been busy with the pre-orders earlier so I didn't have the time to swatch/blog. I really ought to plan my posts in advance >< Anyway, I am happy to say that I have shipped out half of the orders and the other half are packed and ready to be mailed out this week! Keep a lookout at your inbox for email notifications with your tracking numbers!
Thank you for making this pre-order such a success!

With the pre-orders out of the way, I can finally do some swatching and blogging! Boy have I missed playing with all the pretties sitting in my drawers! I have some serious backlog by now so let's jump right into it, shall we?

Today, I have some pretties from a new-to-me indie brand - My Ten Friends - given to me by the lovely Denise from Dazzled!


Oh yeaa.. They look gorgeous, don't they? My mum walked into my room when I was swatching a bunch of polishes and Astrochicken immediately caught her eye. Her taste in polish is awfully trendy and bold for a woman her age. I am so proud of her ;)

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my-ten-friends-astrochicken1Astrochicken. 3 thin coats.
A sheer yellow base packed with shimmers and a handful of red, lime green and gold glitters in various sizes. As delicious as it may look, I had a nagging suspicion that it is not actually inspired by some space cuisine. So, I had a quick look at google and viola~ The word “astrochicken” is a name given to an egg-like spacecraft imagined by Freeman Dyson, a theoretical physicist, which would be launched into space where it would hatch and move around exploring space. At least, that is what I got from Wikipedia. The rest of the words were beyond me #_# Interesting concept huh? If it were ever constructed, I hope it would look as delicious as this polish does ;)


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Zero-G. 3 thin coats.
A sheer black base that simply explodes with silver holo glittery goodness that defy gravity - from hexes to shards. One of those that give you instant galaxy nails. The base is an interesting one and I am not quite sure how to explain it. It is actually a load of tiny black particles suspended in a lightly tinted base. It is apparent on the first coat but it builds up to opacity very quickly on the second/third coat.




Application was good. Although the formula is slightly on the thick side, it is still easy to control and the glitters spread evenly on the nails without any dabbing or placement. No fishing needed to get the glitters out of the bottle either.

So what do you think of these two colours? What are your favourite My Ten Friends' colours?

My Ten Friends polishes are available on their website or through stockists like Dazzled. For more information and updates, you may wish to follow My Ten Friends on Facebook and Twitter.

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**Products were provided for our honest review. Please see our disclosure policy for more information.**
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The Polish Well: Halloween 2013 - Coraline and more!



Dear broadband, *clears throat to sing* how do I live without you~?
So our internet has been down for the past two days and it is driving us insane. But because I am flying off for a holiday this weekend (whooooohooo), I've decided to tether to my precious mobile broadband for a quickie post tonight to show you none other than... my mini halloween collection based on the movie - Coraline!

Oops! Missing a family shot because it slipped my mind so let's just jump to individual swatches shall we?


Coraline.
A deep blue jelly with a slight green tinge filled with turquoise sparkles and blue-green flecks for the spunky blue nails that Coraline sports. I love the depth of this but be warned - it is a stainer.

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To the Other World.
A mysterious and inviting deep blue with blue and purple sparkles that give it a glow-from-within look. This was inspired by the tunnel to the other world - when the other mother was still playing nice of course. One of the more glowy blues that I have in my collection. I wore this as a full manicure once and received quite a few compliments - even my sister thought it looks good and she rarely compliments my frankens ;)

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Let Me Go!
A mix of gold sparkles in various shades buried in a rich dark chocolate base inspired by the tunnel when Coraline tries to escape. I do love myself some dark browns especially during this time of the year <3

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Evil Witch.
For the other mother of course. A deep green jelly with a mix of green glitters and delicate gold sprinkles. I have been meaning to mix a good green for ages but never really found the right colour mix until recently. Can you tell that dark greens are my weakness?


Hmm... perhaps these are not as halloween-y as I'd hoped it would be. Nonetheless, these colours are very wearable any time of the year and that's always a plus in my books ;)

Interested? Here's the release info:-

  • I will be accepting pre-orders for this collection from Sunday, 13 October, 9am SGT to the following Sunday 20 October, 9am SGT. 
  • Only available in 12ml sizes at US$10 each
  • Limited edition - will not be restocked in the foreseeable future
  • Shipping at US$6 + US$1 for each subsequent (SG - flat rate of US$4)
  • Link to pre-order form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1MZdJZ4_qmM7ywfNjGuU3OVdNH_Oze7TtiDQo9mVtJEQ/viewform (will only be activated during the dates and times stated above)
  • If you have an outstanding pre-order with me, please add a note in the remarks field and I will combine your orders for you. 

Other colours that will be made available:

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Wrath. (re-release)
Finally... after what seemed like ages, I am finally able to recreate this popular shade from my first collection. A vampy blood red jelly filled with red, gold and black glitters of various shapes and sizes. You likey? ;)

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Rose.
A delicate white jelly filled with pink glitters in two shades and a sprinkling of tiny gold sparkles. Inspired by Lee Hi's song of the same name (you need to listen to it - it is hauntingly beautiful). A random bout of inspiration that turned into a shade that I really love.


Yup! That's all from me for now. I need to get myself some rest before my holiday!

What do you think of these colours? Did any catch your eye? :D

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Cirque: Cape Liz & Hellebore


Hello loves!

I apologise for not blogging as often as I would like. Life got in the way again by way of a new camera and polish supplies! I finally caved in and got myself a sexy Olympus E-P5 last Saturday and spent that Sunday fiddling with it. I have yet to switch my camera for blogging though because I still need to get a macro lens / macro converter for my new camera. I spent this weekend in my lab mixing up some new colours with my new batch of supplies and I must say I am loving the supplies so far ^_^ For a glimpse of what I've been up to, you can hop over to my Instagram where I update more regularly ;)

Anyhow, I've dug up two swatches from my old camera to share with you - my very first Cirque polishes!



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Cape Liz. 3 thin coats.
A beautiful light blue-grey with blue and pink shimmer. I super love how delicate it is. Of course, I also love that it does not make me look too washed-out.

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Hellebore. 3 thin coats.
A clear base glitter filled with light green glitters in various sizes complete with a scattering of lavender glitters. Technically a glitter bomb but it looks so very delicate on the nails. Dries gritty but two coats of top coat restored its shine and sparkles.






This is my first experience with Cirque and I must say that I am very impressed. Although it is an indie handmade polish, every inch of its being exudes style and glamour of the highest class - from the quality of the lacquer right down to the packaging. The only gripe that I have is that the polishes are scented. I can't quite pinpoint the scent but it gives me a slight headache because I am rather sensitive to some fragrances (yup, I can only wear certain types of perfume for that reason). That said, not everyone is sensitive to scents so I don't think it is of any issue to most of you.

Cirque is available on their website as well as through their stockists such as Dazzled. They ship internationally so my sincere apologies to your wallets in advance. ;)


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**Products were provided for our honest review. Please see our disclosure policy for more information.**
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Pretty & Polished: May Flowers


Happy weekend!

Thank you all for participating in the giveaway! I apologise for the delay in the announcement of the giveaway winner here as I did not have the time to schedule a post. But if you have been following me on Instagram, you would have already known that a lucky winner has been chosen and she is:

Alison Morrison

Alison has already replied to my email but here's a huge congratulations to you again! I have just finished packing your prize and will be sending them out this coming week. I sure hope you will like them ^_^

Today, I have a short and quick post before I take a break after all that shaking and mixing.

A while ago, I received an exciting email about a new stockist that will be based in Hong Kong! Fast forward a few weeks later, DAZZLED is now officially open!

Here's a self-introduction from the founder, Denise:
DAZZLED was born from the passion and obsession of nail colours of founder, Denise - From a nail biter to total obsession. We strive to provide the gorgeous nail polishes to all ladies in Asia from around the world. Here you can find a wide range of indie polish brands just in one stop, with a more affordable shipping price and less waiting time.
I am always happy to hear from ex-nail biters because their stories are so inspiring and a huge motivation for all of us to keep our nails healthy and strong. Of course, I am even happier that Denise has taken her passion to the next level to bring in gorgeous polishes for us all! ;)

Although Dazzled is still new to the polish community, Denise has already gathered a strong line-up with brands such as a-england, Cirque, Happy Hands, NailNation 3000, Pretty & Polished and more!

Denise has kindly sent me some polishes to share with you and boy did they blow my mind when I opened the package. Pretty & Polished's May Flowers was the first that I've tried:


**random rant: Is it just me or does Blogger change the colour of my picture above? It looks really different from the picture in my local drive! >:( Thankfully Flickr doesn't alter my pictures (below).**

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May Flowers. 3 thin coats.
Eek! My very first thermal polish! May Flowers has a mix of pink, hot pink, purple, yellow, green glitters in hexes and dots (and even flowers! I didn't manage to get any on my nails but you can see it in the swatch sticks above) in a creme base that shifts from a delicate mint-green when warm to a bright green when cold. In the swatch above, I dunked my index and ring finger in cold water and my middle and pinky in warm water to show the different colours.

When left to its ordinary state, the thermal effect gave my short nails a very subtle gradient french tip effect. Love it so much!

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Of course, the effect is more obvious if you have more free-edge but I wasn't ready to sport long nails myself ;)

The formula is perfect. Application was very easy and fuss-free except that the larger glitters (the flowers!) need some fishing.

So what do you think of this or thermal polishes in general?

Pretty & Polished is now available at Dazzled. Denise currently offers flat rate shipping within Asia with free shipping for orders above a certain value. Do hop over to their website to check it out. You may also follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more updates!

Meanwhile, stay tuned for more swatches coming your way! ♥

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**Products were provided for our honest review. Please see our disclosure policy for more information.**
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The Polish Well: BANG!


Happy Sunday everyone!
I can't believe the long weekend (we had 2 days of public holidays on thursday and friday) passed by so quickly. I still don't feel adequately rested! T_T

Anyway, I thought I would share some of my new concoctions on the blog today. It has been quite a while but I've finally finalised a new collection that is based on one of my favourite korean bands - Big Bang! I was introduced to Big Bang by my sister earlier this year and have since been hooked onto quite a number of their songs. The idea of a collection came about way back in March when I had a sudden bout of inspiration and created Hallelujah. Since then, I have mulled over the rest of the colours and I am happy to say that I've finally made some headway. Take a look:

p.s. you can click on the lyrics to enjoy the lovely songs on youtube :)



Fantastic Baby.
A berry red jelly filled with an assortment of glitters - holos, reds, purples, circles, squares, hexes and a sprinkling of shimmer. I had such hard time coming up with a colour for this song. Every ounce of my instinct told me to throw a bunch of silver holo glitters together for the dance number but I wasn't sure if I could come up with a mix that is better than what is already available in the market. In the end, I scoured through the lyrics and settled on "heartbeat" for my colour inspiration. Even then, it took me several tries before I came up with this. Quite happy with the squishy look. :P


Ego.
Red with gold and holo shimmer. Slightly darker than what it looks in this picture. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to capture much of the shimmer in the picture either - it is slightly more visible IRL :(


Love Dust.
A soft greyish-blue mint with subtle holo. This was partly born from my obsession with turquoises and mint and partly from Deborah's (lovevarnish) request for a soft mint holo. I took a look at the bottle after the shaking and mixing and "Haru Haru" immediately came to mind.


Monster.
A sage green with rose flecks and subtle green shimmer. This is not new to the blog and some of you might already know that this was from my feeble attempt at duping Butter London's Two Fingered Salute. I've since gotten my hands on the real deal and they are definitely not dupes. While the base colours are almost, if not exactly, identical, the shimmer and flecks are completely different. Nonetheless, I really like this lab creation and it seems to fit with the song so I've decided to keep it in this collection. :P


Lies.
A deep teal with a mix of aqua blue and green shimmer. Another song that gave me a difficult time but I am glad I finally had an eureka moment.


Bad Boy.
A deep blue with a mix of copper, blue and purple shimmer. This was another song that was very challenging to put in a bottle. In the end, I went with the colours of a beautiful sunrise that I happened to catch. I think this one needs a bit more shimmer for the colours to pop.


Tonight.
A deep plum jelly with gold, royal blue and purple shimmer-flecks. This was an accidental mix that came about because I was curious what I would get if I mixed all my shimmers together. I didn't go further than these three colours when I fell in love and abandoned my initial quest. I will toy with that again in future - though I suspect it may not look fantastic.


Hallelujah.
A mix of holo silver, gunmetal and lavendar glitters and with a smattering of purple shimmer falling within the depths of the black jelly. My very first colour of the collection and one which I still love.


Blue.
A slate grey with blue, green and silver shimmer. Inspired by the very first Big Bang song that I fell for. My sister had been playing Big Bang songs for ages but this was the very first that caught my attention. Unlikely most other korean songs that my sister played, this was unusually mellow and emotional. Till now, it is still one of my favourite songs by Big Bang so there was no way I could leave this song out. 


Phew. That was quite a whole lot of polishes, wasn't it? 
Now that you've seen them, which one(s) caught your eye?

As you might have noticed, I have temporarily placed my shop on hiatus and I am no longer taking any orders at the moment. Although I've enjoyed creating these new colours, I have yet to firm up any plans for my store so these polishes (together with the other colours) are not available for sale at the moment. I will post an update once I have a plan. 

So why am I showing these new colours to you, you ask? 
Well... apart from the fact that I couldn't wait to show you my creations, I've also decided to throw a small giveaway to celebrate my birthday this week! ^_^

The prize? The entire unreleased BANG! collection (minis) for one lucky winner!

The giveaway is open on this blog (details in the rafflecopter widget) and on Instagram (details on my IG post). All entries will be collated for the draw so you need not enter twice - duplicate entries will be deleted before the draw.
The usual rules apply so fire away!
Giveaway closes in a week's time on 18 August 2013 at 12am, SGT. Good luck!

Giveaway has ended


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