Digital Nails Pandorica

Sweet sweet completionism, dear readers! I have officially been able to (as of now) swatch and wear all of the holographic jelly polishes by Digital Nails. I just realized that it is one of my go-to indie brands - I will certainly make an effort to expand my horizons! I apologize for my intense fixation. Moving along, I was bestowed upon a mini of Pandorica - a deep deep charcoal grey almost black jelly polish that was so massively dosed with spectraflair that I suspect Digital Nails captured some spare stars to grind into the polish. I used two layers of Pandorica to achieve awesomeness and a later of a 50/50 Nubar Diamont/Essie Good to Go franken top coat mixture. I've never been so thrilled to live in a broiling hot place with no clouds. 

Digital Nails Xiao Mei Mei

This polish was provided to me for the purposes of a review. Of course, this is a review. All of the opinions that follow are my own and based on my experience with the product. 

I'm trying SO HARD to not giggle myself through the couch due to excitement - today I have a BRAND NEW polish to show off. And I mean BRAND SPANKING NEW. Digital Nails put out a four-polish collection named Mal's Gals and they are based on the ladies of Firefly! One of them is called Xiao Mei Mei, which is based off of the adorable engine savant Kaylee. Xiao Mei Mei is a sheer nude-taupey crelly base with oodles of magenta, brown, and copper glitters of all shapes and sizes. Perfectly balanced (like a fine wine or that wood roasted coffee I'm brewing) I'd recommend dabbing on this polish to get it up to opacity in about 2 to 3 coats. If you're anal about VNL (like me) I'd recommend some undies like Essie Au Natural - mainly because I don't want to waste the precious the next time I use this baby! Sorry, combining nerd-doms. I'll stop and show you some pictures. 

Kunimitsu Nail Potions Lucky Goldfish

If there is one thing that I can appreciate above all others when purchasing from an indie maker, it is phenomenal formula. Seriously - it can be as sexy as Joseph Gordon-Levitt in a tailored suit, but if the formula sucks I'm not going to deal with it. Kunimitsu Nail Potions has so far had formula so good that I'm always making odd noises and muttering about buttery goodness. This polish of hers is no exception! Lucky Goldfish is a hurr-iffic cerulean blue jelly with tiny orange hexes and orange microfine glitters. It reminds me of the goldfish that my sister got from a pet store and how it seriously lived longer than it probably should have. Defied all laws of nature, that fish. 

This is two coats of Lucky Goldfish. I already mentioned the glorious glorious 3-free formula. It took two thicker coats to obliterate my VNL, as is the glory of a jelly formula. If I used thinner coats, I'd probably need three. It's not lumpy and it only needs one layer of top coat. Also - look how awesomely distributed that glitter is on my nail. Awesome. AWESOME. 

I had some slight bubbling, which I'm mildly obsessive about. It's totally fine, and it's probably because I got them out of the mail and immediately went to shaking and examining the bottles. And then the true ruler of the house played with them. Here is a pretty shot of the formula.

Please forgive my stupid pinkie nail. He's stupid. I'm also not sure if he used to be a she. I don't really care about the gender of my pinkie nail, it drives me nuts regardless. 

And time to get my matte on.

As usual, this is totally awesome. It's gorgeous and deep and like looking into a pond full of fish. But only orange fish and there are a lot of them. 

As usual, a thumb shot.

And this is Ecco. The true ruler of the apartment.

Okay people, this is the end. If you're looking to get to the Kunimitsu Nail Potions Etsy shop, that was the link you needed to click. She also has a Facebook that you should go like, because she has some awesome stuff up there too. PLEASE TAKE MORE OF MY MONEY. 

What do you guys think of microglitter jellies? Awesome? Or are you a chunky-glitter-a-holic?

A Study in Polish - Misty Mountains

It isn't a secret - I'm a pretty huge nerd. I also like to overlap my geeky subsections, which means that I have a hankering for nerdy themed polishes. I'm a sucker for anything Harry Potter, Tolkien, Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, Dungeons & Dragons - you name it. So when Accio Lacquer posted about A Study in Polish and her various glorious lacquers, I had to stalk them out. I waited and waited until OF COURSE she had a sale. I managed to get two polishes I had been lemming: Misty Mountains and Mind Palace. Misty Mountains is based on The Hobbit and may have elicited various wide eyed stares and giggles from my D&D campaign and coworkers. It's a beautiful dark teal-charcoal grey jelly with oodles of turquoise glitters - micro, hex, and holo! Did I mention there was shimmer? Because yeah, there is that lovely blue shimmer too.

Here is a pretty bottle shot. I'd like to say that the formula is pretty boss. I used two coats for opacity and then threw a layer of Seche Vite on top. It was the perfect consistency - thick enough for opacity, but didn't bubble at all when I did a gloopy nail. SUCCESS! 

I did my best to vary the lighting in these swatches - it's hard to determine what a polish REALLY looks like sometimes. At first, I thought this was a super teal polish. Then I put it on and thought that it was reaaaaally grey. It seriously varies on the lighting and probably skin tone. 

More direct sunlight. It makes me look like a lobster. 

Natural lighting, but more shaded.

Ottlamp! I love Ottlamp. 

Different angle.

AAAAAAAAND SUPER CLOSE!

In conclusion, this polish was entirely worth lemming. I highly suggest that you too add it to your wishlist. It's 3-free, superbly formulated, and it gives me the nostalgia. Right now, Misty Mountains is sold out on the A Study in Polish Big Cartel, but to find out what awesome sales she runs, the restocks she has, and to best figure out how to obtain this polish - go follow her on Facebook.

Cirque Tibetan Nights

HI READER! GUESS WHO HAD COFFEE TODAY?! MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. I have a serious case of the coffee-shakes, which reminds me of graduate school and nostalgia. It does make using a matte top coat difficult though. Sads. Moving along now - I have a manicure dedicated to my grandmother and a really awesome polish I snagged when they went on sale. Today, it is Cirque Tibetan Nights. Remember when they had that 40% off sale? You wanna know who jumped on that ship with a full knapsack full o' graduation monies? That's right- ME. BAM! Tibetan Nights is a gorgeous gorgeous deep cerulean cobalt freaking awesome jelly with itsy bitsy glitters of all varieties - including the tiniest bar glitters that remind me of itty bitty silver hairs. Imagine a unicorn's five o' clock shadow. Seriously, this polish looks like constellations in a bottle.

Seriously - I was seeing stars. Application wise, this was a thinner formula. I love thinner formulas, I think they're easier for me to control. Not sure why. I'd recommend 2-3 coats for opacity, certainly 3 for optimal depthy goodness. In my swatches, you see two coats. 

I used a Vivid Lacquer stamping plate and China Glaze Four Leaf Clover to add the hummingbird on my ring finger. It transferred well, which was impressive considering that tiny beak. 

Matte-astical! Look at that gorgeous gorgeous depth. I used Digital Nails Matte-matical! on top to make it all delicious and deep. 

I will say that while this polish was totally gorgeous and worth the price I paid, it did stain an eensie bit. Just enough to tint out the natural yellow of my nails. :P

If you feel like you need this polish, go buy it for $13 here at Cirque's website. Also - here is the Facebook that you can like in order to get updates and piiiiiiictures!

Digital Nails Hook 'em Horns

Disclaimer: This polish was provided for me to review. All of the following opinions are mine and possibly completely ridiculous, including lots of !!!! These are completely my own.

Hello, fellow polish "collectors" and "hobbyists." Today has been probably one of the most awesome days EVER! I started my real-person-salary (very small) and I am wearing one of the most amazing polishes. What is this polish, you ask? Digital Nails Hook 'em Horns. Did I mention I went to the University of Texas for graduate school? Because I did. And all I got was a stinkin' sheet of paper. And a job. And finally - a nail polish. When Raphaelle informed me that she was making a burnt orange holo with the same copious amounts (similar to that of my former student loans) of Spectraflair, I promptly lost my brain and freaked out. Mainly because it didn't exist when I graduated. Hook 'em Horns is a polish that gives me the feels because I have a very uncertain relationship with the color orange, just like how I had one with UT when I didn't get in as an undergraduate. Well - SUCK IT BOTH OF YOU! Hook 'em Horns dominates the fear of the color orange on pale people and I dominated graduate school. BAM! I should probably use pictures instead of words. 

Yeah, yeah, I know. Phenomenal. It made my camera whimper in fear. Hook 'em Horns is a burnt orange jelly with stupidly irrational amounts of Spectraflair. Also, yes it is color accurate, a UT Snuggie was utilized in development and then I compared to a sweater of mine. It's a three (thin) coater for opacity but you can throw two coats over undies if you so desire. I'd have a recommendation, but I literally own two orange polishes and they would be undesirable as undies. The ridiculous shine you see comes from the Poshe top coat - only one coat necessary - Hook 'em Horns wasn't hungry at all. The formula on this was RAD. It was  pretty darn self-leveling with even coverage after two coats and super easy for me to control (and I was using a baby brush!). As always - Digital Nails satisfies and then makes me feel like a glutton for wanting more unbelievably gorgeous polish. 

I heard some of the best pictures of polish are taken in cars. I tested this theory. Look at DEM RAINBOWS.

Shade.

SUPER CLOSE

ANOTHER SUPER CLOSE.

Finally, I included a video. Really, even after all of these pictures - there is zero comparison to the gorgeosity of this polish in real life. 

There we have it. Once again, Digital Nails is an enlightening experience in color and craftsmanship. I have yet to be disappointed! Hook 'em Horns will be released in the Digital Nails restock this Friday (June 7th). It runs a reasonable $13. Buy this off her Etsy site. You also need to click that link and you should go like her on Facebook immediately. She'll be able to provide more updates for this lovely polish and other really awesome things.

Disclaimer: This polish was provided for me to review. All of the following opinions are mine and possibly completely ridiculous, including lots of !!!! These are completely my own.

Emerald And Ash Helix Nebula

Dear internet: I LOVE SPACE. I have loved space since I was a small child and I had a space themed birthday party when I was four years old. I even refused to allow people to wear alien deedly-bopper headband thingamajigs because I didn't think that aliens would have pom poms for antennas. I painted our solar system (when Pluto was a planet) and made a mobile in elementary school at some point. Yes, it was color accurate. TLDR: I LOVE SPACE. Which brings me to Emerald & Ash's Hubble-Inspired Collection. There is one named Deep Field, and another called Dark Matter. I ended up buying Helix Nebula. She doesn't state that it was inspired by a picture taken by the Hubble, BUT IT IS SPACE THEMED AND FOR THAT I LOVE IT. For reference, here is a link to Nasa's picture of the Helix Nebula. She put all of that in a 11 mL bottle of happiness. And, might I add, those bottle of happiness are cubical and adorable. PSA PEOPLE: I PAID FOR THIS BAD BOY. 

Helic Nebula is a black jelly jam-packed with blue and pink flecked shiny/shimmery bits that really are out to burst your retinas. It also is chock full of four different sizes of holographic hex glitters, methinks of the light gold/silver variety.

So - this is ONE coat (painted, not dabbed - although if I wore more than one coat I would recommend the dabbalicious method) of Helix Nebula on top of Illamasqua Baptiste **not my picture**. The reason I used undies is this: this is an 11 mL bottle and I tend to use heavy coats, as well as a new paranoia I have of running out of it, and because my new calling in life is to find perfect undies for everything. Ash mailed me Baptiste as a birthday present, as one of her favorite purples because it glows from within. I therefore decided it was worthy of being undies for her creation. Please, disregard the cat hair. She is fluffy and wanted love. Nothing I can do. Really. I am her pet. Also - I used Seche as a top coat and with the awful shrinkage that followed, regretted that decision.

SPACE ON MY NAILS. And that GLITTER PAY OFF! I really should have thrown another coat on there, simply because the depth would have melted my corneas into a pile of really happy goo. 

I had NO issue whatsoever with glitter payout or formula. I dabbed my pinkie and ring finger, and then painted my pointer and middle finger. Pretty great, regardless of application method. 

Also, I'd like to note that her glitter ratio was pretty rad and very space-y. I didn't have to fish for the larger hex glitters, and they just lept from the brush to my nail. I also had quite a few floating around on my fingers, but not too many either!

Holographic goodness.

Really, I should stop taking pictures now.

Eventually.

Rationale behind this picture: On the swatch wheel is three coats of Helix Nebula dabbed on. I wanted to compare it to my thumb for underwear comparison, glitter comparison, and so you all could see what three coats looked like. And yes, it took three coats for opacity. Hence - why I use panties. Also, for a fresh feeling. Other undies I'd want to try are OPI Ink and Nubar Indigo Illusion. And a Digital Nails I acquired that you and the universe have not seen yet. 

What do you need to know?! That Helix Nebula was a smooth rocket ship ride to my childhood and an excuse to browse pictures on the NASA website? That I am obviously not destined to be an astronaut because I couldn't paint my nails in zero gravity? Oh - Helix Nebula is available for $6.50 at the Emerald & Ash website! There is also an Etsy! Don't forget to like it on Facebook because of spoilers and stuff! Also - they are all 3 free, animal and cruelty free, yadda yadda yadda. 

And here is a collage. Why not, right?

Nubar Reclaim and Zoya Maya

Hello bloggiverse! I have an announcement: I AM RED AND PATCHY. This is very important. I was abducted by my family to go to the beach from Wednesday to this morning. It was very exciting - I have more pictures of birds and the cat in the rental condo place than people, and that's cool. Which  brings me to the polish(es) I will bring you tonight! Nubar Reclaim and Zoya Maya. Now, I do not have bottle shots today, mainly because I forgot Reclaim in the apartment and Maya I took pictures of in a super-classy hotel bedroom at 1 AM. I bought Reclaim when people were selling it on Amazon for $6.81 (WIN!) and I consider it a birthday present to myself! Maya is a super lovely gift. THANK YOU AMAZING GRAD SCHOOL FRIEND. Now - PICTURES! 

TWO COATS. TWO GLORIOUS EMERALD AMAZING COATS. Nubar Reclaim - you have my holographic heart. And I'm sure I even dulled it when I threw on a top coat too. It also doesn't have that chalky-holo look that linear holos sometimes end up with. 

Thank you for planting flowers, father. I have documented it - WITH MY NAILS.

In the shade. It's a perfect emerald green! I even love the color WITHOUT the rainbows.

I wanted to get a little bit closer.... and freakin' A is this pretty. I never wanted to take it off, but sand kind of told me I had to. 

Here we go. Stay tuned - at the end of this post I will have a video! But what do you need to know about Nubar Reclaim? I recommend stalking on Amazon or your local blogsales. Or, any of them really. It's kind of worth it. It's a 3-free polish, and the formula was second only to polish-godliness. 

Zoya Maya is a cool-toned coral jelly polish. What you see here is three coats. I still have some VNL on my thumb (not pictured because awful bathroom shots are awful and shameful). I only took two pictures because it was 1 AM and I was tired, sandy, and splotchy. But no way was I going to the beach the next day with a bad manicure. It took a bit longer for Maya to dry because I needed thick coats for opacity. I'd like to try it out with undies, but I'd need to find a matching coral. OR I could throw in some glitter. Eheheheh. Ideas. 

Anyway, here is my squishy jelly love. The formula was pretty amazing on it and easy to control - I had no cuticle flooding that wasn't caffeine related. I should also mention that it is grandma-approved. Zoya Maya is available for purchase at Amazon and the Zoya Website. Zoya is 4-free, if that matters to you. 

BONUS: VIDEO OF NUBAR RECLAIM

I'll pepper in pictures I took from my beach trip throughout my next posts: there are kitties and pelicans and my grandma with seagulls! 

HARE Polish Electric Flame

Dearest devoted readers (although I'm sure you all aren't on the edges of your seats awaiting whatever polish  I have on this very second) I do so apologize for my lack of updates the past two days. THE HORROR! Unfortunately, I was in a car accident on Wednesday (not my fault) and the car was totaled and everyone had a lovely case of whiplash, soreness, and so on. Very not so good. Have no fear - I am in fact alive and will be getting further medical attention. They also provided me with medication to help with the fantastic muscle spasms/headache/neckpain/general post-accident misery. Also - my whole family is in town for graduation! Which is tomorrow! HUZZAH! I AM ONLY MILDLY OVERWHELMED. Thank goodness for polish. Regardless - I DO have a polish for everyone today! In the most recent restock I nabbed two HARE Polishes. I have for you today - Electric Flame. Now, I am not super into orange. In fact, this may be the third orange polish at all that I own in my 300+ collection. WHAT IS THIS MADNESS?! Electric Flame is a bright orangey peachish sorbet colored crelly with purple and blue glass flecky bits and iridescent blue glitters! I figured this would be a great polish for me to try out orange. And guess what? IT WAS A SUCCESS! 

Look how lovely that is! I wore three coats of polish and still had an eensie bit of VNL. I'm totally "at peach" (haha pun) with it, because I can't get over the iridescence of it. The formula was dreamy at worst, and was relatively self-leveling. This polish was a bit on the thick-ish side, but it made it easier to apply, if that makes sense. Very controllable. I kind of love it. I also think that I was used to having a floody-cuticle hot mess from some super sheer and thin jellies. Hare Polish does an amazing crelly - of the five I have, they're all amazing. I only used one layer of Poshe, and so the tip has some little divots. Also - if there are grey bits, it's because I got lazy when removing a grey flakie polish the day of. WHOOPSIES. In retrospect, I'd probably use two layers of top coat. P.S. AWESOME NEWS ABOUT DRY TIME! I accidentally fell asleep (drowsiness is a wonderful side effect) and this polish dried so fast (even with a heaping layer of Poshe) that I didn't even have sheet marks after my impromptu nap. 

Bottle shot, baby! Look how luscious this guy is! I WISH I HADN'T FALLEN ASLEEP. I would have matted it. CRAP. WELL. DAMN. 

Isn't it lovely? I adore it. So. What else do you need to know other than this polish looks like pureed phosphorescent deep sea fish stuck in a blender of peaches, melons, and mangos? Oh. Where to buy it. Well. You can get it on Llarowe. And also the HARE Polish Etsy. But that's sold out. Poo. So you can obviously follow them on Facebook to find out when there is a restock. And for good measure: website.

SO THAT'S ALL FOLKS! I'm off to do a graduation mani! 

Digital Nails Ultimate Ginger; Glitter Gradient

Well, it's been a whole few days since I wore a Digital Nails polish. WHAT?! A few DAYS?! Insanity. Especially considering my love of Digital Nails. Moving on now. I used some birthday monies to get a whole heck of a lot of the Ladies of Who collection, including this one: Ultimate Ginger. Albeit, I finally made it to the episode that Ultimate Ginger refers to. I cried. Like a blubbery blubbery loon. There was snot. Anyway, the second that I got around to swatching and doing something with this polish I realized that yes, while I could wear it on it's own (it was opaque in two thicker coats for me) that I had the perfect undies. Now, readers - the quest for perfect undies for a jelly/crelly worshiped polish is incredibly hard and arduous. To have the perfect undies fall into my lap? NO WAY. As it turns out - OPI Can't Find My Czechbook (a gift for my birthday!) was absolutely perfect. And I love glitter gradients. So I did one. 

There is is ladies and gentlemen. Two coats of Ultimate Ginger on my ring finger. I used two coats of OPI Can't Find My Czechbook on the rest. Then I dabbed a thiiiiiin coat of Ultimate Ginger on those four babies halfway up my nail. Then, I dabbed another coat a quarter way up my nail. Add one coat of random clear polish and a layer of Poshe - TA DA! Done. The formula on both of these were great. No opacity issues AT ALL. No bubbling or balding either. And if you can't tell - the glitter pay off for Ultimate Ginger is siiiiiiickening. 

I should probably describe Ultimate Ginger for you, as is proper and appropriate in a review. It is a delicious light blue crelly with tiny turquoise sparkly glitter, matte marigold hexes in various sizes, shiny orange hexes, bigger matte white hexes, sparse emerald green hexes, and most likely there are still probably some I am missing. SO MUCH GLITTER!

Seriously - how perfect are these undies? 

So - when I got these it was made explicitly clear that I MUST MATTE ULTIMATE GINGER. If I didn't, the universe might implode. Or Matt Smith might shave his head. Oh wait - WE'RE TOO LATE FOR THAT. So I matted it. And oh man - it's gorgeous. 

CLOSE UP! 

It's the "lets matte that polish" trilobite! :D

Well - that's all she wrote! So what do you need to know? Where to get these? If you've read any of my other posts you should know by now that Ultimate Ginger is available on Digital Nails' Etsy site. And there is also a Facebook you should go like immediately.  

OPI Can't Find My Czechbook is available in retail stores such as Ulta for $9, my HEB for some reason for $7.98, certified dealers or whatnot for whatever they're selling them for, and online at Amazon.com.