KBShimmer Toucan Touch This over China Glaze Def Defying

GREEN. Nail polish. Love it! I know you do too. This post celebrates that part of our aesthetic that loves green.

In this post I have for you a fan-tastic green indie polish called Toucan Touch This (tip of the hat to MC Hammer baby!) by KBShimmer. I love this polish SO MUCH! It's an opaque glitter polish, meaning it has a non-see-though pigment-colored base that contains glitter, some of which will be layered over as the polish is applied and some that will sparkle on the surface.

This is what the formulator, Christy Rose of KBShimmer, has to say about Toucan Touch This: "A chartreuse base, almost lime green in color starts this bold polish out. Gold, green, teal, blue, and orange hex glitters, some holographic add a fun punch. Micro teal, orange and blue bars are accented by micro orange glitters. The bar glitter is micro fine, and adds a sparkle  to the polish without the troubles of normal bar glitter. This polish is loaded with glitter, so shake well before application."

To make sure that my nails wouldn't show through without having too many layers of Toucan Touch This, I decided to use a base coat of polish in as similar a color as I could find in my collection. Luckily I happened to win an ebay auction not long ago for an awesome lime green polish from China Glaze called Def Defying. Let's take a look at these two polishes together in the bottle...

KBShimmer Toucan Touch This and China Glaze Def Defying

Nice match, no? I have a few close up pictures of Toucan Touch This in the bottle to show you. See if you can find all the glitters that Christy mentioned!

KBShimmer Toucan Touch This

KBShimmer Toucan Touch This, EXTREME CLOSE UP WHOA

*girly squeal!!*

So I used China Glaze Def Defying as a base for Toucan Touch This and I took a bazillion photos of it on it's own because it's just that tasty. Take a look...

China Glaze Def Defying

China Glaze Def Defying

China Glaze Def Defying

China Glaze Def Defying

See what I mean? Delish! Ok, now for the Toucan Touch This over Def Defying total look, try not to lose it now...

KBShimmer Toucan Touch This over China Glaze Def Defying

KBShimmer Toucan Touch This over China Glaze Def Defying

KBShimmer Toucan Touch This over China Glaze Def Defying

KBShimmer Toucan Touch This over China Glaze Def Defying

KBShimmer Toucan Touch This over China Glaze Def Defying

"the claw"

"the claw," modified version

KBShimmer Toucan Touch This over China Glaze Def Defying, one last look

OMG TDF! For real! *sigh* This polish makes my eyes SO HAPPY. I just adore it, don't you? I'll bring it up with me when I come for your birthday. I have a bunch of polishes to bring. But you know I won't forget this one.

love from one green lover to another,
Aunt Liz

KB Shimmer Lilac Dreams

Now when we go to SEPHORA and look at polishes, we are looking at mainstream polishes. Mainstream polishes are almost always machine-made by medium and large companies, which in turn are often owned by corporations. That doesn't mean they're not good, they are and some are great. It just means that they are made to appeal and sell to the widest possible spectrum of consumers, thus the term "mainstream."

Indie polish makers, on the other hand, are independent of any governing corporation, they make what they want to make when they want to make it with their own two hands. They are artisans and they make artisinal nail polish. You can only buy indie polishes from indie makers (usually, this means online). Every indie polish that's made demonstrates the inspiration and creativity of the artisan who formulated it. That is why they are special and much beloved by nail polish enthusiasts like me (and you too)!

Blah blah blah... ok so in this post I have for you an indie polish called Lilac Dreams. It was made by KBShimmer. It is a dark pastel purple shimmer polish with blue sparks, and it is indeed very shimmery. Here's the bottle...

KBShimmer Lilac Dreams

And to show you just how full of shimmer this polish is, here's an EXTREME CLOSE UP of the polish in the bottle (click the pic to see it even bigger)...

Lilac Dreams macro shot baby

You can see that the primary color of the polish, the purple, is made of many many tiny shimmery bits. When you paint your nail, all the shimmery bits lay flat on your nail with their surfaces aligned, so you get a kind of metallic foily type of finish. And of course then there are the blue sparks. So cool, who doesn't love a blue spark?

Wanna see it on? Ok!

KBShimmer Lilac Dreams on the nail, or whatever they say

I was nervous applying this polish. I don't know why, there's no reason for it. I mean, why get nervous about nail polish? I don't know, but I did. All I could think about were those bazillions of shimmery bits getting away from me to pool at my cuticles and smear across my fingertips and guess what? That's what they did. Can you say, self-fulfilling prophecy? I think I need to work on my attitude. 

More pics!

blue sparks are awesome!

modified version of "the claw"

KBShimmer Lilac Dreams out the house y'all

So the day after I put this polish on I decided to experiment with some toppers. Toppers are polishes that are made to go over another polish. I picked out two. One is an all glitter polish in a clear base made by China Glaze called Prism. 

China Glaze Prism

The other is a flakie, a clear polish containing flakes of iridescent material, made by Confetti Cosmetics called Ice Ice Baby. *snicker*

Confetti Cosmetics Ice Ice Baby -- see the flakes?

I wanted to see them both, I couldn't choose, so I added Prism on my left hand and and Ice Ice Baby on my right. For Prism, since it's a glitter polish, I wiped most of the polish off the brush at the bottle neck and then lightly brushed it onto the tips of my nails. I let that dry and then did it again and again until I had the amount of sparkle I wanted. The photos don't show the sparkle very well because the silver glitter shows up as gray to the camera, but you get the idea...

KBShimmer Lilac Dreams with China Glaze Prism tips, and iris

KBShimmer Lilac Dreams with China Glaze Prism tip

Since Ice Ice Baby is transparent, I applied one coat directly over Lilac Dreams. The flakies in Ice Ice Baby are blue, and I thought it did a good job enhancing the blue spark look of Lilac Dreams. See what you think...

KBShimmer Lilac Dreams with Confetti Cosmetics Ice Ice Baby, and iris

KBShimmer Lilac Dreams with Confetti Cosmetics Ice Ice Baby--blue sparkiness abounds!

Like!

I think the Ice Ice Baby topper is the best, don't you? The glitter in Prism makes it kind of more dimensional (and verrry very sparkly at night, whoa!) than the Lilac Dreams needs. In other words, the amount of shimmer in Lilac Dreams gives it a very reflective foily finish, which the glitter in Prism interferes with a little too much. 

My, I certainly am talkative. Must be because I'm drinking beer. Hah! Just kidding... not. 

*burrrrp* *teehee*


Ok my intrepid little fashionista, stay tuned. I think I'll do a GREEN polish with lots of photos and not a lot of yak for my next post.

love,
Aunt Liz

Impala Azul Pavao and Deborah Lippmann Across The Universe

Across The Universe is one of two what I call "big glitter" polishes that I own from Deborah Lippmann and they are both gorgeous. Got them on ebay, of course. Actually, I got the other one (called "Today Was A Fairy Tale," I think) first, and I did a manicure with it and took photos before I even got Across The Universe. So I'm kinda showing them out of order. That should tell you which I like best, eh? No really, I love them both! I'll try and do a post with Today Was A Fairy Tale soon.

Let's look at the pictures, shall we?

Impala Azul Pavao and Deborah Lippmann Across The Universe

I wanted to use a base coat for Across The Universe so that I wouldn't have to apply tons of coats for it to be non-see-through, and I decided to use Azul Pavao. Azul Pavao is a Brazilian polish. I got a bunch of Impala polishes on ebay all from one seller. Impala makes excellent polishes and don't you just adore the shape of their bottles! Azul Pavao is a deep blue green jelly polish, meaning it is translucent. I applied two coats for a base but I forgot to take pictures of it alone, my bad. When that was dry, I applied two coats of Across The Universe. Finally I added a coat of Seche Vite clear fast dry topcoat. And here's the result...
 

Deborah Lippmann Across The Universe

Oh so pretty my prrrrecioussss.... LOL. Across The Universe has large green and blue hex glitters and blue shimmers in a dark ocean blue jelly base. When you layer coats the blue jelly covers some of the glitter and gives it a slighty different color and look so that by adding layers you get a look where the glitters appear to be swimming in the blue. It's hard to see this in the photos, it's really much better in person. I took a movie of it, but I don't know how to upload it yet. I hope I get a chance to show you this when I visit! Here's a close up of my thumb nail...
 

layers of glittery goodness!

You can see the tiny blue shimmers pretty well in that photo. So I wore this for a day and decided I'd add an accent nail. What is an accent nail, you may ask. An accent nail is when you add a coat of a different but complimentary polish to one (usually the ring finger) or more (like maybe the thumb too) of your nails. Festive! And you get to pair up colors, which is always fun. So I looked at some of my newest polish arrivals, and there was China Glaze Water You Waiting For (hat tip to Lady GaGa, maybe?). Water You Waiting For is an all glitter polish: blue, green and I think there may be some purple in there too. It's hard to see in my (dark) photo.

China Glaze Water You Waiting For

Water You Waiting For, sixth from the left, and Across The Universe, seventh from the left

As you can see, I swatched it on a palette wheel next to Across The Universe and they looked pretty good together. I actually took that photo through the magnifying lens of a big lighted studio task lamp that we attached to the kitchen table. I love painting my nails there under this lamp!

Anyway, I added a coat of Water You Waiting For to my ring fingers. First though here is the "before" look...
 

at the bathroom window

Now here is the "after" look...

at the bathroom window with glittery accent nail

What do you think? I like it! Not sure I like it better than Across The Universe by itself, it's just different. However! I thought, not different enough. So I added a matte topcoat to the Water You Waiting for nails and here's what I got...

add a coat of matte topcoat and voila!

Even better with the matte topcoat, no? I think so too! I love adding a matte topcoat to glitters, it makes them glowy and mozaic-like up close.

the final look: Across The Universe with matte accent nail Water You Waiting For

close up closer *teehee*

So that's that. I weeded the pen in this polish (forgot my gloves, d'oh) and I've been filing my nails so it's time to go take it off. Not that I'm looking forward to that because glitter polish is hard to remove. But if I don't take it off, I can't put more on now can I? And we must have MORE!

love,
Aunt Liz

p.s. Don't my cuticles look a little better now? I've been working on them.  

Shimmer Polish Tiffany over Color Club Foil Me Once

So Eleanor I thought I'd make a blog and post my polish looks for your viewing pleasure, what do you think? I think it'll probably be a mess at first. Hopefully I'll get better with practice.

I did this look with Tiffany, a handmade indie nail polish that I bought from Shimmer Polish on etsy. This is polish is all pale pink and light blue glitter in a clear base. That's a lot of glitter! If you want an opaque look you must either apply multiple layers or use another polish as a base coat and top that with the glitter polish, which is what I did. 

Coincidentally, I happened to get the perfect base coat in the mail (an ebay purchase) right around the same time that Tiffany arrived Sometimes things just turn out like they should, you know? I wish I could say the same about my polishing technique. Anyway, the base coat is called Foil Me Once, and it's a pink foil or metallic polish by Color Club.

Let's get to the photos, m'kay?

 

Shimmer Polish Tiffany and Color Club Foil Me Once

close up of the bottles

pinkish and glittery, eh?

wow my cuticle looks scrumptious... NOT

Later on, I added a matte topcoat, which I thought looked pretty cool.

Shimmer Tiffany over Foil Me Once with matte topcoat

Like!

"the claw"

 Well there you go, hope you like it. I'll try to make another post soon!

love,
Aunt Liz