A Box, Indied: February 2014

So I just found out I have jury duty AGAIN. Seriously, I am 27 and this is my third subpoena are you really f-ing kidding me? You might be asking, how can you have been called three times because I thought it was only every seven years? Well let me explain, there is an extra-stupid bull-crap court you can get called for in between regular jury duty, I think it's federal or something. All I know is I had to be on-call last summer for three months. Screw you, Justice, I don't have time for this. Anyway, I need to stop before I give myself an aneurysm.

How about some swatches? February's A Box, Indied from Llarowe was prety epic. Here's some quick swatches.

Black Cat Lacquer
He Loves Me Not

Different Dimension
Cupid Is Stupid

Dollish Polish
Heartbreaker

Jindie Nails
Dead Roses

Colors by Llarowe
Yo, Cupid, Take A Hike!

March's A Box, Indied is launched today. It's a Mardi Gras theme and has my favorite ever brand this time around--HARE polish!

Products:
Llarowe

Have you loved your cuticles today?

Llarowe's A Box, Indied for January 2013

Since I missed reviewing the December box I wasn't sure how helpful this swatch posts would be for something you can't easily get anymore. However I sort of feel it is my duty to do the swatches for those few that see a bottle on a blog sale and want to know what they look like. I took these pictures on different days a week apart from each other. It's kind of interesting to see how long my nails grow in a week (with filing!) by the end of the post though. Anyway, here are the polishes from Llarowe's A Box, Indied for January 2013.

First up is Freak Show Polish Fire In The Sky. I wasn't thrilled by the last one I tried (Harvest Hayride) so I wasn't sure I'd like this one. It seems like this brand puts bars in everything, too, which you know how I feel about bars. Personal preference aside though it is a pretty nice polish! Glitter spread easily, nice color combination, and the short bars make it more bearable for me personally haha.

Freak Show Polish
Fire In The Sky over OPI Tomorrow Never Dies

Freak Show Polish
Fire In The Sky over OPI Tomorrow Never Dies

Next is Wicked Polish Dropping Balls. Love! I used three thin coats. Tons of glitters in here and nice coverage by the jelly base. And the name is awesome which is always a bonus.

Wicked Polish
Dropping Balls

Wicked Polish
Dropping Balls

Liquid Sky Lacquer New Beginnings might be my favorite from this box. I used three thin coats for this glorious polish. I love the subtle scattered holo, the pale blue, the assortment of glitters... sigh. The perfect winter polish. 

Liquid Sky Lacquer
New Beginnings

Liquid Sky Lacquer
New Beginnings

Dollish Polish Auld Lang Syne is a lovely green-tinted gold metallic holo. I wasn't sure about this one at first as far as being a color I could pull off, but I ended up loving it. Bonus--work appropriate! I used three thin coats. 

Dollish Polish
Auld Lang Syne

Dollish Polish
Auld Lang Syne

Lastly is Different Dimension Frozen Fairy Floss. This is definitely a fish and dab polish... but look how pretty! So delicate and so many awesome glitters including snowflakes. I used Essie Who Is The Boss? for my undies. Love.

Different Dimension
Frozen Fairy Floss

Different Dimension
Frozen Fairy Floss

Overall I feel like this is the first A Box, Indied that blew me away. I am perfectly in love with the polishes and they scream January to me. You can purchase your own box at Llarowe, looks like there might be some left still, too!

Have you loved your cuticles today?

November 2013: Llarowe's A Box, Indied

So even though I was sooo tired I still had to swatch all of these right away when I got my box earlier this week. I am annoyed though at some of my pictures--my pinky nail is still looking all wonky. I had a major nail accident in June this year and I'm still training it to grow in right, blah. Anyway....

I wasn't super excited for the A Box, Indied from Llarowe for November, but I am such a sucker for exclusive and LE polishes. This is very picture heavy, read on to see what I thought after the break!

Different Dimension: Fall 2013 Holos

Holos have exploded in all their rainbow-y goodness on the indie market. Different Dimension came out with quite a few holos for this Fall and Halloween. DD was actually one of my first indie brand purchases. I remember seeing some swatches and reading a review on a blog, and I decided to try them because there was a coupon code. I still remember thinking it was SO MUCH money haha! Now I'm like $10 for a bottle? That is so reasonable!

Formula: I used 3 coats for all of these. I probably could have done just two coats, but I did add a thin third one just to make sure they were good for the photos. I did not need any black undies or special basecoat, I just used my CND Sticky which was closest at hand.

Photo notes: I take my photos in a light box with two halogen bulbs and a fluorescent light. There was some natural light when I took these in my dining room (my dining room table is a photo studio, it makes the room look lovely...). I can’t depend on sunlight where I live so for the sake of consistency I’m sticking with the lightbox. The holo effect was still pretty strong and was even more so in the sun when I wore them! Here are my holo picks.

Chocolate

3 coats, 1 coat HK Girl Topcoat

I somehow did not have any brown holos in my stash so this was a welcome addition. It's the color of a latte, yum. I daresay this could be work appropriate!

Lucky

3 coats, no topcoat

Fuchsia holo. Not a unique color and I realized I did dupe myself, but still a great polish. I’m keeping this one and passing on the similar color I had.

Nessie’s Revenge

3 coats, no topcoat

 So I pretty much love all the greens and this is no exception. Perfect grass-green holo. Get it. I wore this with some gold studs and it was awesome!

You can purchase Different Dimension polishes and find a stockist near you on their etsy site here. Looks like all of these and Dueling Unicorns (a purple holo) are all in stock as we speak!

Do you remember the old days of indies before all the crazy restocks? Are you feeling any holo burnout?
Moisturize!

Different Dimension Fall & Halloween Glitters

Today I've got my picks of the glitter toppers from Different Dimension's Fall and Halloween offerings. These glitters are nothing short of fantastical and packed with so many unique glitters--stars, hearts, moons, dots and more!

Fall 2013: Mystified

Shown over OPI My Very First Knockwurst and Sinful Colors Nirvana

Mystified is made up of caramel, brown, and lavender glitters. This is so girly and gorgeous, I wore it after I was finished swatching. Mystified applied very easily, I used one coat with a little dabbing to fill in on some nails.

Halloween 2013: I Ate His Liver With Some Fava Beans And A Nice Chianti

Shown over Orly Coachella Dweller

Not only does the name completely creep me out, it is so long! In my spread sheet I just refer to it as "IAHLWSFBAANC."

IAHLWSFBAANC is green, purple, and black glitters in pretty much every shape and finish available. My camera is a simple point and shoot so I think it had a hard time focusing on all the different glitters. I applied this one by dabbing a blob onto the middle of my nail and pushing the glitters around where I wanted them, then did a little fishing and dabbing to fill in. It was actually very easy and all the glitters laid well on the nail.

Halloween 2013: Have The Lambs Stopped Screaming?

Shown over Sally Hansen CSM Ressurection

This is another one where the name creeps me out, I refer to it as Lambs hehe. Lambs is described by Different Dimension as a "deconstructed monarch butterfly" which is a perfect description. These glitters are Black, White, and Orange in all different shapes, sizes, and finishes with holographic dust. I used the same application technique for this one as with IAHLWSFBAANC. My lightbox kills holos but you can still see how prevalent the sparkle is. I loved the undies I chose for this, I will for sure be wearing this again!

For more information and to purchase Different Dimension polish, you can visit their etsy shop.

So what do you think? Do you like seeing the glitters over a couple different colors or would you prefer all one color? Or maybe just over black and/or white? Let me know!
Love those cuticles ;-)