Monday, July 8, 2013

Model City Polish - Sheena is a Punk Rocker

     Ramones inspired collection? Yes, please! An excuse to sing and dance around the apartment like a lunatic? Count me in! Glitters in a black base? Frak, yeah! Model City Polish Sheena is a Punk Rocker is exactly the type of lacquer that I love wearing. Take a look...


 
     Model City Polish describes Sheena is a Punk Rocker as "a black jelly base filled with bright pink dots, fine silver glitter, and fine silver holographic glitter." They forgot to mention that it's awesome! I've already gushed about my love for black nail polish, and this one is very wearable. I actually had a conversation about this with a middle aged guest while wearing this polish at work. She told me that she also loved the edginess of black polish, but couldn't really wear it at her age without feeling too dark or people assuming she was trying to be goth. She thought that the pink and silver/holo glitter made this polish perfect, balancing out the moodiness with some fun. I'd say she hit the nail on the head! While I'm not a "pink girl", I'm a huge fan of pink and black together. And that silver sparkle in the light? Oh, man.
 


 
     Sheena is a Punk Rocker does have a jelly base, so I decided to layer it. You could build it up with three to four coats, but I don't always like the way black jellies look on their own. (You know, that murky brown/grey/black colour if you don't use enough coats...) I wanted this to be black, without covering up the awesome pink circle glitters or overloading my nails with them. I used one coat of Sheena is a Punk Rocker over Cult Nails Nevermore. It applied easily, and I was happy with the glitter spread and coverage that I got. I did place an extra circle or two onto each nail because I'm picky, but I didn't have to fish for the larger glitter at all. The end result was pretty smooth to the touch, so I only needed a coat of Seche Vite to make things glossy.
 
     Side note: I'm pale, but jeez. Blacks and dark purples sure make me look really pale in some lighting. Holy ghost hands in that last pic! And this is probably the longest you will ever see my nails. I tend to break them at work once they reach a certain length. Sure enough, I snapped a corner completely off on the second day of wearing this polish. Props to you ladies who can keep your nails beautiful and long, but I guess it's just not for me.
 
 
     Sparkle, little holo glitters, sparkle in that kinda sorta sunlight! Yep, I love this polish. True story: I was driving home from work wearing this, and guess what song plays on the radio as I'm pulling into my apartment complex?! Of course I sat in my truck until it finished, then ran inside to tell the BF. Thrusting the bottle into his face, "Do you know what I just heard on the radio?! Look what this polish is called! Look what I'm wearing!" He actually thought it was a really cool occurrence, because the Ramones don't tend to get a lot of radio play. I love him for telling me that my nail polish was meant to be, totally sincerely.
 
     Sheena is a Punk Rocker is currently available from Model City Polish for $8. You can keep up with the brand on Facebook.
 
     End of post bonus for you, lovies, because I assume everyone loves the Ramones as much as I do:
 

 
XOXO,
Riotbettyx

Dollish Polish - Ferb, I Know What We're Gonna Do Today

     I like to have a have an emotional connection to my nail polish. Does that sound weird? Sometimes, a pretty colour or unique finish is enough me want to buy a polish. Other times, it's hearing about a stellar formula or simply a new release from a brand I'm a sucker for. Honestly, though, I would probably buy an average polish if it reminded me of something that I love. (A band, a character from a work of fiction, my cat, the ocean, homophonic puns, et cetera...) Well, today's polish is definitely much better than average and makes me think of my nephew. That means that Dollish Polish Ferb, I Know What We're Gonna Do Today is a double win in my book!

 
 
     Ferb, I Know What We're Gonna Do Today is from Dollish Polish's Cartoon Series. It is inspired by Perry the Platypus from Phineas and Ferb. This polish first caught my eye because of its name. (My nephew is seven and a fan of the show. On one of my recent visits back home, he downloaded a game called "Where's My Perry?" onto my phone for us to play whenever I'm in town. Now, anything Phineas and Ferb makes me think of him.) My interest peaked, I clicked on a preview swatch pic and Oh. My. Glitter. Dollish Polish describes Ferb as "bursting with small and medium turquoise holographic hexagons glitters, accented with golden orange glitters all in a turquoise jelly." Bursting is right! There are certainly a lot of different glitters going on. I love the combination of colours. Definitely a happy day polish. My bottle didn't have a turquoise jelly base as much as a slightly light blue tinted one. That was fine with me, because the almost clear base made this polish perfect for layering, while not changing my base colour too much.
 
 
 
     Ferb, I Know What We're Gonna Do Today applied like a dream. It went on smoothly, with even glitter coverage. No clumping glitter or need for placement/dabbing. I liked that it applied like an effortless jelly, unlike similar glitters that come in your typical clear suspension base. One coat would have been perfectly fine, but I wanted a little more sparkle. Shown is two coats of Ferb over OPI Can’t Find My Czechbook. One coat each of Gelous and Seche Vite for a glassy shine. I feel like you could layer the Dollish Polish to opacity on its own with three or four coats, but I think putting it over a base polish makes the individual glitters pop. It also helps with removal, which wasn't too bad, considering the amount of glitter.
 
 
 
     I wore this mani for five days. Yes, five. I didn't want to take it off. I wore it for two nights at work, a day of packing and traveling, and two more of playtime with my nephew. So much abuse and this combo still wore like iron. I had absolutely no tipwear and only had a tiny chip on my dominant hand at the end of the last day. I made sure to wear this particular polish on my trip to see my family so that I could show my nephew. I tell him things that I don't tell other people, so he knows about my love of polish. I'm glad that we got to bond over this one.
 
     Ferb, I Know What We're Gonna Do Today is currently available from Dollish Polish for $10. Llarowe also has it in stock for $11. Hope everyone has a great Monday!
 
XOXO,
Riotbettyx




Monday, July 1, 2013

Contrary Polish - Better Together

     Lately, I've been wanting to wear grey nail polish. All the time. Here's the deal: I love any variation of black polish. Blue is my favourite colour, and I'm a fan of how the darker shades look on me. I feel the need to own all the blue/greens. (Oh my glob. So many teals/aquas/mints/et cetera.) Purple is my comfortable go-to. Grey, though... This infatuation is pretty new. Dark greys. Light greys. Cremes. Shimmers. Some glitter thrown in for good measure. I want to wear it every day. Maybe because it's neutral without being boring. Edgy, but not in-your-face. Maybe because I want to wear pastels during the winter and vampy colours in the summer. Grey seems like a perfect compromise colour. Anyway. Onwards...

     Today's grey is Contrary Polish Better Together, from the Spring 2013 Love Lyrics Collection. In the glitter-bombed indie world, Contrary Polish stands out for its shimmer. See for yourself.

 
 
     Better Together is a blue-leaning grey with turquoise shimmer. I wish I had some nice direct sunlight pics to show off the pretty shimmer, but I don't. I sleep in pretty late, and the daily round of afternoon thunderstorms has normally started by the time I pull out my camera. (Oh, Florida Summer weather... I'm already a bad blogger, and you just make it worse.) You can still see some shimmer in the pics I do have, though. Kinda glowy on the nail, and definitely there in the bottle. I feel like this is a very classy shade of grey, and I felt mellow and composed while wearing it.
 
 
 
 

     The formula of Better Together is good. It felt a little thicker than some of my other Contrary Polishes, but not bad thick. More like, nice and creamy thick, which made it easy to control. Application was easy, and I only needed two coats for opacity. Seche Vite helped bring out the shimmer. (Yes, I still haven't tried out a different top coat. I'm working on that.) This polish went through two days of abuse at work, with no chipping and only minor tipwear to report.
 
 
 
     Even if grey polish isn't your thing, I really recommend checking out Contrary Polish. Their formulas are excellent. The beautiful contrasting shimmer is a welcome change if you're like me and love sparkle, but hate removing glitter. I'm a fan of how some of the shades are more muted or dusty, and they have some gorgeous blues. Better Together is currently available from Llarowe for $11. You can catch a sneak peek of some about to be released new pretties on the Contrary Polish Facebook page.
 
     Finally, because I feel like I should...
 

 
 XOXO,
Riotbettyx