Day 17 Featuring Deborah Lippmann Dancing In The Dark

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers!  Just a quick post this morning to continue with my 30 Days of Untrieds!  I will actually be showing you this whole collection later today, as well as possible dupe comparisons, but for now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above:  3 coats of Dancing in the Dark

Above:  Macro shot of Dancing in the Dark

Glitter + Holo + Deborah Lippmann = perfection!  Dancing in the Dark is an amazing charcoal grey jelly polish jam packed with grey glitter and slightly larger pieces of holographic glitter!  It's incredible!  Even on this rainy New York day, my nails are glowing!  It took me three coats to achieve full opacity but part of that has to do with the fact that this is a mini bottle and whenever I use mini brushes, it takes me a few extra strokes to get the polish opaque!  I really hope that Deborah Lippmann comes out with this in a full size because it's gorgeous!  It's the perfect winter polish with the dark grey base and then the holographic glitter just really pops!


What do you think of this polish?  Do you love it like I do?  Are you excited to see the full collection and dupe comparison later?

Day 16 Featuring Mattese Elite Mysterious

Good Afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  If you all recall, last Friday I posted up the teaser photos for the new Mattese Elite Winter Wonderland Collection found at Ricky's.  Being the crafty little nail polish hunter that I am, I've been stalking the stores since Friday and lo and behold, I found the whole collection yesterday!  Now you'll all have to wait until next Monday to get the full swatches and reviews so I can take the proper pictures this weekend when the weather clears up, but I do have one for you today!  So now, without further ado, on to the nail polish!

Above:  3 coats of Mysterious over 1 coat OPI Nail Envy

Above:  macro shot


Do you see what I see?  HOLOGRAPHIC!!!  I had no idea!  The promo shots did not do this collection justice, because there are TWO scattered holographic polishes in it!  Mysterious is a light blue glitter in a sheer base that is packed with holographic glitter particles!  It's so glittery!  My nails are seriously mesmerizing today!  The polish is a bit sheer so it took me three coats to get virtually opaque, but when I do the full review of the collection I'll show you how it builds up.  All in all, I think this polish is awesome!


As always, check out the other lovely bloggers participating in the challenge:

Always Polished
The Polished Momma
Addicted to the Allure of Beauty
Follow The Yellow Polished Road
Something Creative
Good Lack Nail
Adventures in Acetone
Nails Adored
Fierce Makeup and Nails
Cherry Glam Girl
Lucky Lacquers
Haute Lacquer
Nailed To The T
Glazed Talons
Shadow's Nail Art
Je Taime Lacquer
Limited Addiction Nails
Nailtopia
Pretty and Polished

What did you think of Mysterious?  Is it a must have?  Do you have any Mattese Elite polishes?

Nails Inc. Autumn 2011 Collection Swatches and Review

Good morning my fellow Lacquered Lovers!  Now I know, this is a Fall collection and I've already been showing you Winter collections, but I fell behind on my swatching!  nails inc. is a great British brand that is now carried in Sephora (yay!)

This cute 4 pack was $25 if I remember correctly and unfortunately is no longer available as a set but the colors are in their core line!  So now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above:  2 coats of Charing Cross

Charing Cross is a gorgeous, true red cream!  I love it!  It's a tiny bit on the lighter side, but I just love the brightness and how vibrant this shade is!  Fully opaque in 2 coats, I just loved this shade!

Above:  2 coats of Paddington

Paddington is a gorgeous blackened teal.  Depending on the light it looks grey, teal or very dark blue.  I love it!  It's so versatile and perfect for Fall!

Above:  2 coats of St. Pancras

St. Pancras was by far my favorite of this collection!  It is a gorgeous, deep, vampy red wine shade.  I love vampy colors in the winter and fall and this one is just stunning!  I love that it doesn't get too purple, you can clearly see it's red, and it's not so blackened that you can't tell it's a color!  Gorgeous!

Above:  2 coats of Fenchurch Street

Would it be weird to describe this shade as almost pumpkin?  Fenchurch Street is a dusty, deep orange shade.  Not my favorite color just because it looks a bit weird on my skin but for orange lovers out there, it's great!

All in all, I love Nails Inc.  I think their formula is fantastic, I love that they are all opaque in two coats and they have such a bright, shiny finish even without topcoat!  I also love how pigmented they are, all the colors really make a statement.

What do you think of these shades?  Do you have any Nails Inc. that you love?

SpaRitual Health, Wealth and Happiness Swatch and Review!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  For today in the 30 Days of Untrieds, I have another fabulous nail polish from SpaRitual to show you!  I am seriously loving this brand!  There are a lot of pictures so beware!  And now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above:  3 coats of SpaRitual Health, Wealth and Happiness over 1 coat OPI Nail Envy

DUOCHROME!!!  This polish is amazing.  Health, Wealth and Happiness is a deep violet base that's packed with so much blue shimmer that it turns into a duochrome!  How fun!  And it's so shiny!  The formula was a bit thin, so I had to use three coats to get to full opaqueness however you could easily layer this over a dark color and get even more of a duochrome effect!  Let's look at more pictures:

It's so pretty!  I honestly love SpaRitual.  I think their formula is great, their colors have so much pigment, they are easy to apply and just gorgeous!  I can't wait to try more!


As always, check out the other lovely bloggers participating in the challenge:

Always Polished
The Polished Momma
Addicted to the Allure of Beauty
Follow The Yellow Polished Road
Something Creative
Good Lack Nail
Adventures in Acetone
Nails Adored
Fierce Makeup and Nails
Cherry Glam Girl
Lucky Lacquers
Haute Lacquer
Nailed To The T
Glazed Talons
Shadow's Nail Art
Je Taime Lacquer
Limited Addiction Nails
Nailtopia
Pretty and Polished


What did you think of Health, Wealth and Happiness? What are some other SpaRitual polishes you have and love? Do you love duochromes like I do?

MAC Unconditionally Fabulous vs. China Glaze Snow Globe

Good morning my fellow lacquered lovers! Today I have a "versus" post for you! Now we all hate dupes, because it's frustrating when you are super excited about a new polish only to discover that you have an EXACT duplicate of it already in your collection but by another brand! So, I hope this post will help everyone avoid unnecessary dupes! Yesterday I showed you MAC Unconditionally Fabulous and I promised to do a comparison with China Glaze Snow Globe. Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Can you tell the difference yet?

First, let's look at each polish on its own with no base coat:

Above:  1 coat of MAC Unconditionally Fabulous

Unconditionally Fabulous is a ton of iridescent glitter (you can see pink, purple, blue, green and orange) in a sheer jelly base, almost clear.  There is a LOT of glitter in this polish!  I have no idea how many coats you'd need to make this opaque, but I'm guessing it would be a lot.  Luckily this polish is not too thick as some glitters can become and it really easy to work with.

Above:  1 coat of China Glaze Snow Globe
Snow Globe is iridescent glitter that's suspended in a clear jelly base.  The glitter is much more sparse than in Unconditionally Fabulous and the glitter itself seems more transparent.  You can still make out some colors (blue, pink, orange, green) but it's much more pale.

Let's take a look at them side by side:

Can you tell which one is which?  They are both a base of one coat of Wet N Wild Black Creme (the best one coat black cream in my opinion) with one coat of the glitter on top.  Give up?

The pointer and ring finger are China Glaze Snow Globe and the middle and pinkie finger are MAC Unconditionally Fabulous.  As you can see, there is a LOT more glitter and coverage in one coat of Unconditionally Fabulous than there is in one coat of Snow Globe.  I'm guessing you could build up Snow Globe in 2 or 3 coats, but you'd have to allow time to dry in between coats so the glitter doesn't get all smushed around.  It also appears to me that Unconditionally Fabulous has more colors in it that really pop when layered on a dark color.  It stands out a bit more where Snow Globe is far more subtle.


So, are they dupes?  They are close, but they aren't exact.  Snow Globe seems to me to be the weaker, not as spunky little sister to Unconditionally Fabulous.  If you don't want to shell out the cash for Unconditionally Fabulous, Snow Globe makes a good second place, and if you want a more subtle look with less sparkle, Snow Globe is the way to go.  I do think there are enough subtle difference to justify having both (at least that's what I'm telling myself) but do you NEED both?  Probably not.  If you guys would like, I can see how many coats of Snow Globe it would take to get the same glitter bomb effect of Unconditionally Fabulous, just let me know in the comments!  Snow Globe is part of China Glaze's Holiday 2011 Let It Snow Collection and Unconditionally Fabulous is one of MAC's limited edition Glitter and Ice 2011 polishes.

What do you think of these two?  Are they dupes?  Are they different enough to justify both?  Which do you prefer?

Day 14 Featuring MAC Unconditionally Fabulous

Good morning Lacquered Lovers!  I know, I know, I missed days 12 and 13 and I apologize, but I swear I had a good excuse!  I spent my weekend swatching some AMAZING new collections and polishes for you guys, including dupe posts and a lot of glitter, so no chance to do an actual manicure for myself!  In fact, I was so focused on swatching, that I forgot to take a picture of the base coat of the manicure I'm about to show you, so don't hate me!  But now, without further ado, on to the polish!!!

Above:  1 coat MAC Unconditionally Fabulous over 2 coats Color Club Cold Metal

Swoon!  I'm in love!  First, I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of Cold Metal on its own because it is a gorgeous deep blue foil!  I promise to get pictures of it soon!  But Unconditionally Fabulous (and seriously, how awesome is that name?) is stunning!  Multi-colored iridescent glitter in both circular and hexagonal shape in a sheer jelly makes for a stunning winter wonderland manicure!  Now, some of you may be thinking "this looks like China Glaze Snow Globe" and don't you worry!  I have that comparison coming up for you later today!  All in all I love this polish from the Glitter and Ice Holiday 2011 Collection!  It's definitely a layering polish and I can't wait to try out different combinations!

As always, check out the other lovely bloggers participating in the challenge:

Always Polished
The Polished Momma
Addicted to the Allure of Beauty
Follow The Yellow Polished Road
Something Creative
Good Lack Nail
Adventures in Acetone
Nails Adored
Fierce Makeup and Nails
Cherry Glam Girl
Lucky Lacquers
Haute Lacquer
Nailed To The T
Glazed Talons
Shadow's Nail Art
Je Taime Lacquer
Limited Addiction Nails
Nailtopia
Pretty and Polished


What did you think of Unconditionally Fabulous? Must have or pass?

Super Exclusive Sneak Peek for Mattese Elite!

Ok Lacquered Lovers, this is something I rarely do, but I was so so excited to get this picture of the new Mattese Elite Winter Wonderland Collection that I just had to share it with you all!

I can't wait for this collection to come out next week!  I know I for one will be stalking Ricky's to grab these glittery beauties up!  Mattesse Elite has had some great collections this year, and as soon as I can get these I'll swatch them for you!  In the meantime, Ricky's is having some great deals on their website for those of you who don't live in a city that has a store you can go to, so check out the site HERE for some awesome stuff!