Polished Criminails: November 2012

Wednesday, 28 November 2012

Swatch: China Glaze - Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away Collection

Hi ladies! I have an exciting post for you today featuring the brand new China Glaze collection! Before I get into the swatches, I have a little bit of information on the Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away Collection taken from China Glazes' Press Release;

China Glaze and Ardell Introduce Exclusive Collections Inspired by Paramount Pictures’ new 3D Film, “Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away”

"China Glaze and Ardell announced today their partnership with Paramount Pictures to offer exclusive collections of nail polishes and eyelashes inspired by the upcoming 3D film, "Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away" in theaters December 21st.

From the big top to the big screen, visionary filmmaker James Cameron and writer/director Andrew Adamson invite you on an all new 3D adventure: "Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away." A young couple who is separated must journey through the astonishing and dreamlike worlds of Cirque du Soleil to find each other as audiences experience the immersive 3D technology that will allow them to leap, soar, swim and dance with the performers.

The new China Glaze and Ardell "Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away" inspired nail polish and eyelash collections will bring to life the wonderfully exotic artistry that is presented throughout the film. The China Glaze nail polish collection combines rich crèmes, soft shimmers and bold glitters to create 12 limited edition shades."

I just want to say also, that the weather in the UK has been dreadful lately, there's been NO sunshine whatsoever, just thick, black rain clouds. Which means all of the photos you see in this post have been taken inside a light box, resulting in some of the polishes being 'dulled down' due to the lack of natural lighting. I'm still trying to figure out the best settings to use with the light box too but I have tried to make them all as colour accurate as I can!

Since this is going to be a very picture heavy post, swatches are after the jump!

CLICK ME TO SEE MORE

Monday, 26 November 2012

Shimmer Swatch Series: Karen

Hi ladies! You may notice something a little different about my blog? I spent the day trying to give it a new look, I'm somewhat happy with it, but it still needs a few adjustments. Unfortunately, I am a complete spaz when it comes to HTML/Web design, so it is only one of the pre-made layouts, but hey! No one's perfect right!? So, if you were one of the people who came to my blog at some point today and had a little panic that it was suddenly set to private, that would be why!

Continuing on with my Shimmer Swatch Series, I have Karen to show you this time around. As with all Shimmer polishes, Karen is a full blown glitter bomb. Described by Cindy, the creator, as a "Lavender pink with a hint a plum Glitter Polish" but as you can see, there's a lot more going on in this little bottle of happiness. Karen is also packed with Holographic squared & hex glitters in a clear base. As with all of my previous Shimmer swatches, one coat of Karen has been layered over Jessica - Midnight Affair. The things I love most about Shimmer are how dense the glitters are and easy they apply and also that every bottle is consistent with the previous. Cindy is truly a master of her art!

Shimmer Polish is now back in business after taking a short haitus for some serious R&R, so if you want to have your own bottle of Karen head on over to Etsy to snag one for yourself at just $12 each! Whilst you're there, take a look at the other amazing polishes Shimmer has to offer, you won't be disappointed! As always, remember to keep checking Shimmer Polish Facebook page for the latest information and swatches!

Wednesday, 21 November 2012

Shimmer Swatch Series: Alice

Hi ladies! I'm back with another instalment of my Shimmer Swatch Series, this time I want to show you the gorgeous Alice.

Before I get into the swatches, I just want to apologise for my absence recently, truth be told, I have been SO unmotivated to swatch or blog about anything lately, I have no idea what has brought this on, but something is seriously up. So I will try and get as many old swatches up as I can and in the meantime, try and get my blogging mojo back! I just hope you'll all still be around when I return full force!

Alice is packed full of various sized Silver Holographic glitters in a clear base. I was actually a little giddy to discover Alice also has Silver star glitters inside too! Unfortunately, it's been nothing but rainy and miserable in the UK lately, so I was unable to capture the Holographic glitters properly on my nails, however as you'll see below, in a bottle macro I took a while back, they are very prominent. I layered 1 thick coat of Alice over 2 coats of Models Own - Grey Day for the photos below.

Although Cindy is currently on vacation and is closed until November 26th, Shimmer retails at $12 for 15ml and you can even create your own custom polish for $15! You can find everything you need to know about the latest offers, releases and swatches for Shimmer polish via her Etsy, Facebook and Blog.

Wednesday, 14 November 2012

Swatch: Dandy Nails - Fakes & Fibbers

Hi ladies! I have another one of my Dandy Nails custom polishes to show you today! This time it's one that is currently up for grabs as part of my 2,000 follower giveaway! Now, I'd love to take credit for the name and colours for this polish, but it was actually the idea of a friend of mine, Harry David. Fakes & Fibbers is actually the name of one of his songs, and he wanted the polish to be Black & Gold. So I put the idea to Sandy of Dandy Nails and this is what she came up with! For those of you who like Acoustic, catchy music, you should definitely check out Harry, you can listen to a selection of his songs on his Soundcloud and if you like what you hear, give him a little like on Facebook & Twitter and let him know I sent you over there!

Fakes & Fibbers is a clear base packed with micro Silver & Black glitter, with larger Black & Gold hex glitter. I layered one medium coat over Jessica - Wedding Gown without a base or top coat for the photos below.

What do you think to Fakes & Fibbers? Remember this polish could be yours just go to my giveaway at the side of my page and enter for your chance to win! Although this has solely been made for the giveaway and my personal use, it's not available at Dandy Nails, however you can purchase even more awesome polishes from Dandy Nails directly from her Etsy shop, which will be having a full restock on 16th November, for $8 each!

Monday, 12 November 2012

Swatch: Dandy Nails - Your Guardian Angel

Hi ladies! I have a very special polish to show you today, which I have been debating on whether I should actually show it, since it's such a personal polish - but it's just TOO pretty to hide away. A couple of years ago now, I lost my best friend in a car accident, it was probably the most difficult time of my life, I didn't want to go out or do anything remotely fun because I wasn't able to share it with the person which meant most to me in my life. It was a really dark time in my life, but there was one song, which was actually one of our favourite songs, that somehow managed to pull me from my spiralling depression and get back out into the world, that song was The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Your Guardian Angel. Yes, the song itself is actually rather sad/depressing, but you've gotta love irony, right?
Since I already have a tattoo in remembrance of her (which is actually a part of the song on my foot *apologies if you don't like feet*) I thought I would get a polish for her too, as we went together to purchase our first ever bottles! So Sandy of Dandy Nails was kind enough to design a custom polish for me when I approached her to make Fakes & Fibbers and This Charming Man for the giveaway. I gave her the rough idea of what I wanted - a pure White glitter polish and she worked her creative genius and created a bottle of nail polish which exceeded ALL of my expectations. Want to see what it looks like?

Your Guardian Angel is a Clear base packed with various sized White hex glitters, White bar glitters and tiny Silver glitters. The pictures don't do this polish the justice it deserves, the added Silver glitters just brings the whole polish together and adds that little bit of sparkle when it catches the light. I'm honestly in love and haven't taken this mani off in DAYS. I layered one coat (I did a thicker coat for my Ring & Pinkie fingers to show the density) of Your Guardian Angel over 2 coats of W7 - Black without a base/top coat for the photos above.

I just want to say a MASSIVE thank you to Sandy for creating this beautiful polish for me, even if I was a pain in the ass at times! Although Sandy isn't currently offering customs in her store, her Limited Edition Halloween polishes are still available for purchase via her Etsy shop and she will also be having a full restock soon! You can purchase a Dandy Nails polish of your own for just $8 each! Completely worth it for the quality of her polishes - that woman is a GOD I tell you! You can also keep up with her latest releases and restocks by liking Dandy Nails Facebook page!

Thursday, 8 November 2012

Swatch: Lacquistry - Polished Criminails

Hi ladies! I seem to be doing 'giveaway' themed posts recently, so I thought I may as well carry on by showing you a custom I had made by Lacquistry! I always wanted a 'Polished Criminails' polish made, because quite frankly I'm proud of my little baby's success. Never in a million years did I think my little corner of the interwebs would have as many followers as I do, especially after a year of blogging, I hope I can continue making posts which are of interest to you all!
So, back to the post! I wanted a polish that reflected the name, so I went for the classic 'criminal' image, Orange and Black & White, based off of Orange Jumpsuits and the classic 'Robber' attire, and Jenna absolutely nailed it.
Polished Criminails is a clear base packed with various sized and shades of matte Orange hex glitters and Black & White bar glitters. For the photos below I layered 2 coats of Polished Criminails over 2 coats of Essence - Movie Star, without a base or top coat.

There are only two bottles of Polished Criminails in the world! My own, and the one I am giving away in my 2,000 follower giveaway, so be sure to enter that if you want to win a bottle of your very own! Just click the '2,000' photo on the right side of my blog!

Wednesday, 7 November 2012

Swatch: Tough As Nails - Spacing Out

Hi ladies! I have the last of my Tough As Nails polishes to show you today, all of which can be found in my 2,000 follower giveaway!! I've shown you Teal Me About It and It's All Over Now, so here is Spacing Out!
Spacing Out is a Black Jelly base packed with various sized Teal & Holographic hex glitters. Spacing Out can be worn alone or over a dark base colour, for the photos below I layered one coat of Spacing Out over W7 - Black, without a base or top coat.

You can purchase Teal Me About It, It's All Over Now and Spacing Out, along with a selection of other polishes, directly from Tough As Nails etsy store for $9 for a 15ml bottle or $5.50 for a 7ml bottle. Unfortunately, Tough As Nails isn't currently available for purchase outside of the US and Canada, but be sure to keep an eye out on her Facebook and Twitter for updates on possible international shipping!

Tuesday, 6 November 2012

Swatch: Tough As Nail - It's All Over Now

Hi ladies! I have another Tough As Nails polish to show you today, which I am currently giving away the full sized version in my 2,000 follower giveaway!!
I won't bore you with a HUGE intro, so let's jump straight into the swatch!

It's All Over Now is a mixture of Purple, Lavender, Aqua, White and Iridescent glitters in a milky Grey base. This polish can be layered up to be worn alone or you can layer it over a base, which is what I did for the swatches below, this is 2 coats of It's All Over Now over OPI - My Boyfriend Scales Walls without a base or top coat.

You can purchase It's All Over Now, along with a selection of other polishes, directly from Tough As Nails etsy store for $9 for a 15ml bottle or $5.50 for a 7ml bottle. Unfortunately, Tough As Nails isn't currently available for purchase outside of the US and Canada, but be sure to keep an eye out on her Facebook and Twitter for updates on possible international shipping!

Monday, 5 November 2012

POLISHED CRIMINAILS 2,000 FOLLOWERS & 1 YEAR BLOGIVERSARY INDIE GIVEAWAY!!

Hi ladies! As you may have seen, Polished Criminails recently hit 2,000 followers, which is a HUGE achievement in my opinion, as well as that my little blog also turned 1 years old on October 3rd. In anticipation for both of these milestones, I have been gathering up as many indie polishes as I can from various brands and online retailers as I can. Each of the polishes you will see below, have been kindly donated for this giveaway by either the creator themselves, or a stockist of those particular polishes. So I want to say a massive THANK YOU to everyone who is a part of this collaborative indie giveaway!

THE RULES & IMPORTANT INFORMATION;

As always, before I show you the prizes, there's a few rules and bits of information you should know;

There will be 3 winners; 1 from Europe (including the UK), 1 International winner (except US/Canada) and 1 winner from US/Canada.
You will see there are 3 options on the giveaway regarding the country you live in, you MUST ONLY ENTER THE ONE WHICH APPLIES TO YOU. I will be checking each winners entries before they are announced, if there has been more than one entered, you will be disqualified.
The giveaway is going to be a MYSTERY GRAB BAG, this means that you WILL NOT know which polishes you have until you receive the prizes.
If you are a chosen winner and there are any polishes in the giveaway you already have, please let me know in the returning e-mail.
The giveaway will be open for 45 days, and will end on Thursday 20th December 2012