Lynnderella Very Pretty Vampire

For Valentine's Day, I like to break out my "va-va-voom" polishes - the polishes I find drop dead sexy.  Last year I chose Deborah Lippmann Ruby Red Slippers, a polish I ADORED and really need to wear again!  The hubby really liked that one, and I wasn't sure how I was going to top it for this year, until...LYNNDERELLA!

I went with Very Pretty Vampire from her Early Halloween collection.  Now you'll have to forgive me for two things.  One, that the dominant hand has returned due to the catastrophe mentioned here.  For some reason dominant hand, although being "dominant," is not very photogenic.  I don't know why.  It just won't pose right, so these photos look a little wonky.  Two, I am HORRIBLE at describing Lynnderella polishes.  They're so unique and complex that I can hardly grasp the words.  I'll just let the photos do the talking this time.  Definitely click to enlarge them to see all the complexity and beauty in that glitter!

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Le sigh.  She's beautiful, isn't she?  My photos don't even do it justice.  This is two coats over Zoya Valerie - literally the PERFECT polish to pair this with.  Thanks to the lovely cilucia for the inspiration (and amazing photos)!  The application was a breeze, even for a chunky glitter, and the outcome is just beautiful.  The hubby was definitely impressed!

Speaking of Valerie, I wanted to show you that one on its own.  I actually wore this as a fully manicure just because I had heard such great things about it.  And for good reason - it's gorgeous!  This one would make a perfect Valentine's Day manicure just on its own!

Application was great, and this is just two coats.  If you're looking for the perfect base for Very Pretty Vampire, this is IT!  You could also try Zoya Jem (since it's a VERY near dupe) if you don't own Valerie, or if Zoyas just aren't your thing, Orly Rococo-a-Go-Go is another option.

Va-va-voom, indeed!!  ;-)

I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day, whether you're celebrating with that special someone or rocking it on your own!  Sending love and warm wishes your way!  :-)

Another Look: A-England Saint George

I typically don't like to go out of order when I show you my manicures.  It may be about two weeks behind, but you typically see them in exactly the order that I wore them.  I also know that Jessie just showed you guys a ton of A-Englands, but I really couldn't help myself.  I could hardly wait to put on Saint George, and it was so awesome I just couldn't wait two weeks to share it with you!

You can see Jessie's original post with Saint George here.  Her photos were so drool-worthy I was DYING to get my hands on it!  Or it on my hands...hehe.  Saint George is a gorgeous (GORGEOUS) teal with a subtle scattered holographic finish.  The depth of this color is unbelievable.  You have to see it in person.  Sometimes it leans more green and sometimes more blue, but either way it's beautiful.  The holo effect isn't super strong, but it's noticeable even indoors.  It just gives it this amazing depth.  The formula is also just as amazing.  Flawless application, and perfect coverage in two thin coats.  Check it out!

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I. DIE.  It really is that awesome, I promise you.  I beg you guys to forgive me.  I had full intentions of also getting sunlight photos for you, but fate had another plan.  I put on Saint George during the Super Bowl, so it was dark out.  It was going to be sunny the next day so no problem, right?  Yeeeeah, I was closing up the reception window at work when my hand slipped off, taking a huge chunk out of two of my nails.  And the polish.  My soul was crushed.  I hardly got to fully enjoy Saint George before it got ruined, but it was still so gorgeous I refused to take it off.  Yeah, I wore it chipped up for about two days.  When you guys start seeing the dominant hand popping back into my photos, you'll know why.  My apologies in advance.

Anyway, enough of my rambling.  If you don't already own Saint George, GO. RUN. NOW.  You NEED it.  Your soul NEEEEEEEDS it!  This is happiness in a bottle, and you can nab it for $12 from shop.llarowe.com as soon as they come back in stock!

I promise to try not to overload you guys on A-Englands, but they're just too pretty to resist!  :-)

You Know Your Co-Blogger Loves You When...

This is so epic it deserves its own post.  Seriously.  So Jessie and I got together over the weekend.  She told me my birthday gift had come in, so we decided to make a day out of brunch at Mimi's Cafe (a huge favorite of both of ours!) and custom lip gloss-making!  The hubby even tagged along for good measure.  :-)

So we order brunch and Jessie gives me my birthday gift wrapped in the cutest monkey wrapping paper I've ever seen...

*dies* My very own Avalon and Tristam!!!  I'm literally beaming with excitement over these guys, but it doesn't stop there...

Oh, what do we have here?  Awesome Birchbox goodies?  Nay...this was something 1,000 times more epic!!!

Let's take a peeksie, shall we?

*dies a thousand deds*  O....M....G.  My words were literally "NO YOU DID NOT."  That's the entire new A-England Legends collection.  All of them.  Words escape me.

THANK YOU, JESSIE!!!!!  You're an amazing co-blogger and friend, and I'm so happy to have you as both!  :-D

(Hope you guys aren't tired of this collection yet, 'cause Jessie made me promise to wear them all in a reasonable amount of time.  I didn't waste any time, and tried my first one the next day!  Stay tuned!)

A-England Week! Morgan Le Fay

Well in all fairness, I am showing you Morgan Le Fay over Galahad.  Morgan Le Fay is a opalescent pearly top coat meant to be worn over other polishes.  She gives this silvery white sheen to the polish.  If you look closely enough in real life, you can see a small rainbow of colors reflect in the sun.  This is a really fun top coat, it would be great for spring.  I'm showing 1 coat of Morgan Le Fay over Galahad.

Pretty cool right?  I kind of wonder how close it is to Essie Pearl Perfection?  I'll have to do a comparison the next time I wear this.  Anyway, that brings my A-England Week to a close.  How did you like it?  Any other theme weeks you would like to see?

And in case you missed it this week, you can get A-England polishes direct from their website with free shipping, or from Llarowe when she has them in stock.  They go for $12 a piece.

A-England Week! Galahad

Helloooooooooo gorgeous!!!!!  Galahad, I love you, and your mysterious blue dusty ways.  You lean a bit turquoise, and only require 1 coat.  Your formula is super pigmented and your finish is uber glossy.  You are the most amazing creme ever.  Let's admire your beauty.

A-England Galahad

A-England Galahad

A-England Galahad

A-England Galahad

In all seriousness, I was very very very happy with Galahad.  It's a dusty blue leaning turquoise that goes on like butter and is so pigmented!  These pictures are without top coat!  Can you believe it?  If you are in need of a good dusty turquoise, stop your search now.  You can get Galahad today on A-England's website or wait till he comes back in stock on Llarowe for $12.

A-England Week! Avalon

Remember when I showed you Lynnderella's Love Potion No. 99 and didn't tell you what purple I wore it over?  Well A-England's Avalon was it.  Strangely enough, I'm not crazy about this one.  The shimmer in it is pretty special, but this is a very warm-toned purple (even though some of my pictures wouldn't show that).  My skin is pretty cool, so this just wasn't as lovely as it should have been.  I used 2 coats here.  This was actually my first time wearing A-England ever, and I wore it with the base/top coat combo that's been really working for me lately.  I start with Barielle Hydrating Ridge Filler with Silk Fiber, then polish, the Barielle Manicure Extender.  My nails have been a lot happier lately with less peeling!  However this combination would not let Avalon dry.  Not matter how long I wanted (we are talking 2 hours).  It was dry to the touch, but the slightest nudge would dent this manicure.  Hence the glittery top coat!

So the first set is very color inaccurate.  It is NOT this blue.

A-England Avalon

A-England Avalon

A-England Avalon

This picture shows it the most color accurate, but totally kills the depth of this polish.

A-England Avalon

Finally, a happy medium.  This is pretty close to what it looks like in real life.  Not as blue, but oh so shimmery!

A-England Avalon

A-England Avalon

A-England Avalon is part of the first collection A-England produced called the Mythicals and is readily available from Llarowe or A-England's website for around $12.  If you love warm-toned purples, definitely picked this one up.

Oh - and sorry I didn't post this yesterday, I was doing my taxes and totally forgot.  Oh well. At least I made it (almost) through January!!!!

Stash Swap, Part II: China Glaze Glittering Garland

Remember back in December when I showed you guys Orly Meet Me Under the Mistletoe?  I wasn't too thrilled with it, because for me it leaned a little too blue.  I thought China Glaze Glittering Garland may have been a better choice, but I never had the opportunity to pick up a bottle to try.  Rach to the rescue!!  She just so happened to have Glittering Garland and offered it to me for our stash swap.  WIN!

Glittering Garland is super similar to Meet Me Under the Mistletoe.  It's a green that falls somewhere between foil and glass-fleck.  Probably closer to glass-fleck.  This one's less of a pine green and more of an evergreen...green.  It's much more yellow, so it's more flattering for warm-toned girls like me.  The major difference though is the formula.  Glittering Garland is WAY more pigmented, and it only took me two coats (compared to three) to reach full opacity.  The application was fantastic, and it went on like a breeze. 

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YESSSSSSSSSSSS!  Much much better!  This is exactly what I wanted Meet Me Under the Mistletoe to be!  Don't get me wrong, it was lovely, but this one is just much more flattering for my skin tone.  And the depth is just amazing.  A huge thanks to Rach for having just exactly what I needed!  :-)

I'm such a doofus.  I totally meant to take my own comparison shots of these two polishes on the nail before I removed it.  I don't know what happened.  Too many episodes of Stark Trek:  The Next Generation or something.  I completely forgot.  Forgive me!  But here's a side-by-side comparison of the two.  Glittering Garland on the left, Meet Me Under the Mistletoe on the right.

SO glad I got to try this one!  Definitely satisfied my craving!  Again, a HUGE thank you to Rach for (again) letting me play in her stash and keep her polishes for a couple of weeks!  You're awesome!  It's always a blast! 

You guys KNOW we've already started to plan Round 3, right?  ;-)  Can't wait!!