Rockjewel keeps up the pace with Girly Bits More Cowbells

Almost bought this just for the name, but of course I also liked the look of it. The name is from the Saturday Night Live sketch "More cowbells", so funny! Look it up on Youtube if you don't believe me :-) 
This is only my second Girly Bits, my first was Into The Night, also a lovely polish. I have one more Girly Bits polish waiting in my Helmer, and I suspect that there might be more in the future.

More Cowbells is a beautiful, light steel blue-grey with a soft holo. I think this is a perfect color when you want something a bit low-key but still not boring.

The formula is really good, two coats, no problems with the application. 

Even though it is really beautiful on itself I decided to do some stamping on it. I used three different Kiko Mirror Effect polishes for a gradient stamping. Used a pattern from a MoYou plate, the Sailor 07.

Rockjewel grows Lilypad flowers on ILNP Mega

I Love Nail Polish Mega is clean white polish with a strong linear holo. It is lovely on its own, maybe perfect for a bride? Or if you have a really nice tan it would be fantastic! I don't have that deep tan, but I decided to wear in anyway. 
One of the reasons I put it on was the sunday challenge in a stamping group on Facebook, Adventures In Stamping. The theme was Stamping on holo. I thought Mega would be perfect for a summer inspired nail art. 

I used two coats of Mega. It covered pretty good, but if I should use it on its own I would probably go for three coats, but I still think you might get away with two.
The formula is very good, easy to apply.

I stamped the leaves with Konad Princess Pop Green and the roses with Bubble Yummo from my favorite brand Lilypad Lacquer.

The result was a bit more messy that what I planned for, but I'm still quite content with the result. I think it breathes summer.

Rockjewel reveals a dark and a bright side with Lilypad The Angel Duo

The Angel Duo is a Norway Nails exclusive duo from Lilypad Lacquer. 

The dark polish is called Angel of the night and is a dark, somewhat blackened violet with a scattered holo and a bit of a textured finish. 

The light polish, Angel of the light, is almost white, with some violet tint and lots of shimmer. It has the same textured finish as the dark.

The holo effect is, as said, scattered, and more visible in the light polish. The dark need some more direct lighting to show the effect, but it is still very beautiful. Though difficult to capture in a photo...

I decided to do some stamping on this, shown in the bottom photos. I used Lilypad Almost Famous on Angel of the light, and Vylet silver on Angel of the night. The pattern is from a Cheeky XL plate. I was very happy with this and actually kept it for three days, that's unusual for me.

The formula is really good. I used two coats of both, but I think I might use three of Angel of light next time, there were tendencies to VNL in som angles. Angel of the night was more than opaque in two coats. Easy to apply, and also fairly easy to remove, for being a textured polish.

You can buy the duo here. Norway Nails have an excellent customer service and quick delivery.

Rockjewel had a premonition of the beauty of Nail Pattern Boldness Clairvoyant Visitor

I was a bit indecisive about the collection A Parliament Of Magpies by Nail Pattern Boldness. First look I thought they were stunning, all of them. Next look, naah, too much glitter and a bit strange color combinations. But finally I decided to buy the one I liked the most, Claivoyant Visitor. The color combo was more "normal", and to my taste. The glitters are a mix with gunmetal glitter with accent glitters in pink and magenta. It looks like it has a hint of dark mauve and not only grey. So pretty!

I bought it from Edgy, a Swedish webshop with great selection and quick and excellent service. I definitely think I need to take a third and fourth look at the other polishes in this collection and maybe put some of them on the wanted-list! 

The formula is really good and it is easy to apply. I think that three coats would cover real good on its own, but I chose to use Inglot 368 as "undies". It is a grey-to-mauve creme with some shimmer in, and it fit perfectly for this. Two coats of Clairvoyant Visitor and two coats of Olry Sec'N Dry to smooth out the finish.

These photos do not show the lovely blingy finish, but I promise that it is really stunning!

Rockjewel makes you green with envy with Emily de Molly Jealousy Makes You Nasty

Presenting Jealousy Makes You Nasty by Emily de Molly. Many of the EdM polishes I've seen have been glitter polish. Although most of them are very beautiful, they often have a bit larger glitters than I'm comfortable with on my curved nails. But there are exceptions, polishes with smaller glitters, and then we have the holos! And aren't they stunning? I got a bunch of them from Llarowe a while ago, and also a couple from Norway Nails. Some are a bit sheer, but others are, like JMYN, opaque in two easily applied coats. Thus a really good formula

Jealousy Makes You Nasty is really my kind of green. Green in general is a favorite color, and this type, quite dark with a blue note, is in the top five greens.

As any of Emily de Molly holo polishes this has a really strong holo. As you can se in the photos it shifts mostly in blue and green nuances, but there is also a bit of bronze flash in it.

Rockjewel is a felice donna with Darling Diva Bella Donna

I ordered a whole bunch of polishes from Darling Diva's White Witch collection, but i didn't order Bella Donna. I thought it was enough with the other blue polishes so I passed on this. What a fluke that one of the members in my birthday-polish group ordered this for my birthday month! Happy :-D

As the rest of this collection the holo effect is very strong and absolutely stunning! Bella Donna is bright violet, but a lot of the holo effect shifts strongly to different blue notes. I just love it! This could possibly be my most beautiful blue holo polish!

The formula is good! When I swatched it on a stick it looked like it would be necessary with three coats, but on my nails it was enough with two easly applied coats for an opaque result. 

Rockjewel is blown away by Smitten Polish Tornado Skies

Blogsales are great! Especially when you get your hands on a polish as lovely as Tornado Skies by Smitten polish.

Tornado Skies is a medium dark grey cream with a green-turquoise, deep shimmer. In some angles  and lightings it looks like a plain, but really nice, grey cream, in other lightings it has a green tone. Both colors looks great. But of course it is the shimmer that does it. As said it is not always visible, but still not too shy. 

The formula is ok. A bit patchy first coat but smoothe after a second coat. 

I thought this would be nice to stamp on, so I did. I used Lilypad Cayman Island Delight, Messy Mansion MM21, and I put on Gosh Matt Effect topcoat.

Rockjewel telling no lies with Colors By Llarowe The Great Pretender

I was a bit hesitant about this polish. I'd seen some swatches and they were beautiful, but still thought it might not be that different and special. But I still ordered it, need to make the most of the shipping cost :-)

And it is very beautiful! I couldn't capture the deep shimmer in my pictures, but it's there for sure! 

The color is a deep red, leaning to maroon. As said the shimmer is deep, it looks like more than the two coats that were needed for opacity. 
Application was ok. First coat very difficult to get even, but I applied a rich second layer that smoothed out the bald spots. 

Rockjewel feels fortunate with Pretty Jelly Elysian

Lovely Pretty Jelly Elysian is from the Spring Summer 2014 collection. It is a teal-leaning to blue polish with a beautiful, silky, linear holo with some green hints. I ordered this from Edgy Polish, but I have earlier also ordered some Pretty Jellies from Mei Mei. 

The formula is really good, two coats covers perfectly. No problems with the application. I could though wish for a wider brush, but it works ok. 

I can definitely recommend Pretty Jelly! There is a new, beautiful collection out now, Interstellar Dreams, but unfortunately not yet at any of the suppliers, thus at the moment only availble for US. So the rest of us will have to settle for this for now, but that ain't too bad, or what do you think?

Rockjewel feels at home with Pahlish Olea Europaea

Pahlish Olea Europaea took some time to charm me. It is a difficult color, a dark olive/army green, but the fantastic holo convinced me that I needed this. It is medium strong, lovely blue and orange flashes. I really love it! OK, it is a color better suited for fall than summer, but I don't care too much, I go more after my mood than season or weather.


The formula i surprisingly good. Another Pahlish I have was very difficult to apply, but this one went on smoothly. Two coats makes perfect.

Rockjewel stays awake with Emily de Molly Living After Midnight

Got this beauty, Emily de Molly Living After Midnight, from a blogsale. Or rather a bit like a consolation for another polish I wanted but did not get. I'm not too sad, this is really beautiful!

Living After Midnight is a deep red/purple/wine/plum (strike not wanted options) with a very strong linear holo. Lots of blue, strong flashes, stunning!
The formula is really good! Easy application, two coats.

Rockjewel is a late bloomer with Too fancy Lacquer Orchid Of 2014

I do like Too Fancy Lacquer Orchid Of 2014 very much. Too bad it is not reciprocated... I love the greyish-purplish pink but it makes my skin look kind of dirty. Oh well, I can look at the nails instead, they look nice :-D

The holo is linear, not very strong, a creamy-holo, but lovely with those purple and light blue flashes.

The formula is good, a bit thick but a drop or two of thinner will probably fix that. Two coats looks great! 

Rockjewel researches the beauty of Lilypad Lacquer Weird Cyance

Lilypad Lacquer have yet again created a lovely polish! 
This is Weird Cyance, a custom polish for one of the Lilypad-dedicated facebook groups I am a member of.  I actually joined this group after the first sign-up for it, so I was a bit sad. But then a new opportunity to order showed up and I was quick to sign up for it.

I do have a couple of similar Lilypads, but this one has a fantastic pink hue to it that the others don't have (not that they are in any way ugly). Too bad it was impossible to capture in the pictures... You have to settle with a lovely, light cyan color with a perfect scattered holo. Not bad, not bad at all.

The formula is Lilypad quality, two coats makes perfect, easy to apply. 

Rockjewel sings an alluring song with I Love Nail Polish Sirene

It is so difficult to describe the multichrome polishes, It is equally difficult to capture all the beauty of them in a photo. 
I have a bunch of multichrome polishes by now, mainly from Dance Legend and I Love Nail Polish. Some with holo effect added. I like them all a lot. Both brands are beautiful, good formula etc. etc.
This one is ILNP Sirene. It might be my favorite with all the color shifting, at least for now! It ranges from an icy turquoise to a deep forrest green, with burgundy and a zillion other nuances in between. I really love it!
As said, good formula. Some bald patches on the first coat but a second rich coat fixed that. 
Too bad I didn't get any outdoors photos, maybe next time.

Rockjewel gaining strength with Arcane Lacquer The Power The Passion

The Power The Passion by Arcane Lacquer was one of many polishes I bought at the latest sale at Norway Nails. I think this was in the sales section so it was already at a very reasonable price, and the sale cut that price with 50%. A bargain!

It is a beautiful deep dark blue-ish purple with multi-colored micro-glitter. I love this kind of polish, they are like starry skies. In the right lighting it looks like it is really deep, much deeper than the mere millimeter on the nails.

Easily applied, two coats gives opacity. It is lovely without topcoat, a bit of matte finish, but even more beautiful with topcoat. I used two coats of Orly Sec'N Dry. If you have a thicker topcoat, like Seche Vite or similar, on coat might be enough.

Rockjewel had hopes fulfilled with Dance Legend Wow Prism High Hopes

When I first saw photos of the Wow Prism collection by dance Legend I thought it looked nice, but I wasn't overwhelmed. Still decided to order Posion and was surprised that it was so much more beautiful irl. 

I bought High Hopes from Llarowe a while ago, if I remember correctly it was on sale. I'm as impressed by this as with Poison, lots of shimmer, beautiful scattered holo with lovely color shifts. 

The formula is excellent, most DL-polishes are like that. Almost a one-coater but two makes perfect. Another good feature is that it almost looks like a glitter polish, but not any problems removing it. 
As always I use Sally Hansen Hard as Nails as basecoat and Orly Sec'N Dry as topcoat.

I took pictures both outside in the sun and inside with artificial lighting. 

Rockjewel tips the fez for stunning Colors by Llarowe Young Turks

I tried once, it sold out. I tried a second time, same thing. I finally did get this polish, on the third try, happy as a kid :-)
Who can blame me for being persistent, it is really stunning! It is a clean turquoise with a fantastic linear holo, and a kind of satin shimmer. 

The formula is really good! Two easliy applied coats is enough, and the polish ends up where it is supposed too, not too runny, not too gooey.

Rockjewel scales it up with MckFresh Lady Scales

Lady Scales by MckFresh was included in May edition of What's In-die Box. I really love this sort of dusty green color, if you can say dusty about a polish with loads of shimmer. A proof of my love is that I a couple of weeks before I got this polish I bought Formula X Star Power, a polish with exactly the same color. 

The polish is a bit sheer, but I think three coats on its own would give ok opacity. I actually used the Formula X Star Power as undies. Star Power has a bit of textured finish so the result with both that and the texture from Lady Scales created a nice finish. Still I put topcoat on to smooth it out a bit and enhance the sparkly effect. I was really pleased with the result! Take a look!

Rockjewel puts Jax's bike on the nails, Harley Dyna by Celestial

I must admit, I haven't seen Sons of Anarchy. I intend to. Maybe a SOA marathon soon? Until then I can enjoy a Harley Dyna. Luckily not the bike, I would look ridiculous on it. The nail polish by Celestial suits me much better.

Harley Dyna is a black jelly polish packed with glitter in various colors and sizes, only small glitters, perfect for me. It is really shiny and sparkling, really beautiful.

The application is easy, the glitters is evenly distributed without effort. I did this mani a couple of weeks ago so I'm not sure if this is two or three coats, probably three since it is a jelly base. 

Rockjewel jumps on the TARDIS train with Above The Curve Donna

Above The Curve is a new brand to me. I don't remember if I happened to stumple upon it, or if it was a friend who found it. Either way I decided to order some, and another friend joined in,  she is a big fan of Dr Who. I must admit that I'm not. Dr Who is entertaining, but I seldom become a fervid fan of any tv series, I like a lot of them but I seldom follow any of them slavishly.
However... I think I can become an avid fan of Above The Curve! 
So far I have tried Diablos 2.0 and this: Donna. With the Diablos I was a bit tired when I put it on and I didn't want to eternalize the sloppy result, I will do a better job next time. But I managed to put Donna on my nails without major disaster, at least a good enough result :-)

Donna has a very good formula, two coats covers, and the application is quite easy. For the record Diablos 2.0 was as easy and opaque as Donna so I guess that this is common for all Above The Curve polishes. We'll see when I try the other three. The holo effect is medium strong, mostly scattered but in sharper lighting a bit linear holo is also present.
I have also seen swatches from some of the polishes my friend ordered, I might need some of them too. And maybe some from the new ultra holo collection, they are lovely.

Rockjewel wants a whole bracelet with Lilypad Lacquer Red Pearl

Long time, no Lilypad. But now it is high time to go back to the roots, I mean back to my favorite brand: Lilypad Lacquer.  
This is one of the pearl polishes, Read Pearl. I have three of them (I think...) and they are similar in finish but still different enough, all leaning a bit to the color that their names indicate. Having said that, I think this polish leans a bit more to red-purple than pure red, and that is not a bad thing. 
The fantastic thing about these Pearl polishes is that it is almost impossible to decide if they are dark, light or something in between. It all depends on the lighting and angle: I tried to pick out photos to show the different looks, but it was not easy to capture.

As always the formula is excellent! Two coats, easily applied, covers perfectly. The linear holo effect is stunning, with a lovely color shift. 

Rockjewel drinks Mojito with Colors by Llarowe Mojito

Mojito is one of my favorite drinks. What's not to like about it? Rum, lime and mint leaves, really fresh! Of course I must have a polish with the name Mojito, especially since it is as beautiful as this is, by Colors by Llarowe. 


The formula is good, two easily applied coats is perfect. As always I used Sally Hansen Hard as Nails as base coat and Orly Sec'N Dry as top coat.

These pictures were taken outdoors, not something I do very often. I normally take my pictures in the evening so it is not often I have this good conditions, a lovely sunny day.

Rockjewel is not scared off by the lovely Pretty Jelly House of Usher

Pretty Jelly is a new brand for me. Ordered three of them from Mei Mei's Signatures and I am glad I did! They look great!
House of Usher is not overwhelming in holo or stunning color, but this polish have a beautiful finish and a lovely color shift in the scattered holo.
The base is a medium purple-grey, shifting in dark purple nuances and also a tiny hint of pink and silver.

The formula is good, two coats covers and application is quite easy. There are some new Pretty Jelly that I really want, and now I know it's good quality. 

Rockjewel polish with Polish polish Wibo, a polish from Poland

Excuse the bad grammar and the play on words, but I couldn't resist :-D

This is a polish I bought in Krakow last summer. Lovely city, visit if you have a chance! Interesting city, old history, modern history, good food, shopping and much more.

I bought a lot of nail polish, many of them of this brand, Wibo. The quality is good, and since they cost nearly nothing it is defnitely worth buying a lot, complete your collection with basic colors and also fun colors and finishes. 
Tnis Wibo polish is from the Last & Shine collection. A periwinkle blue with at fine shimmer finish. The formula is good, two coats. A few bald spots after first coat but easily fixed with the second coat.

Rockjewel welcomes spring with Darling Diva A Christmas Story

OK, it's the wrong season. I know. I don't care, shiny things are suitable anytime, anyday. 

This is A Christmas Story by Darling Diva. I don't know how many times I put in the shopping cart, removed it and then put it back again. It was like "Oh it is lovely" "No, it's too much glitter" "Ooohhh shinyyyy" "No wrong time of year" again and again. Finally I let it come to my home, and it is shiny! And beautiful! These pictures are not even close to what it looks like irl. 

The formula is good, easy to apply. It is possible to get opacity with three coates, but I chose to put on Inglot No. 924 as undies and then two coats of ACS. 

I think it has just the right proportion of green glitter in the red. Or what do you think? 

Rockjewel goes on and on with Arcane Lacquer Infinity

It has been too long since my last blog post. I have put on polish and taken photos during these weeks, but haven't had the time to fix the photos and write the blog posts. Now I have six folders with photos waiting to be published, better get on with the work. I hope I will be able to put them all up during next week.

I start with a lovely glitter polish from Arcane Lacquer, Infinity. First I didn't want to buy it, I think glitter polishes are beautiful but seldom use them since they are so difficult to remove. It is a lot easier with peel-off base, but I need to test that a few more times to see how long it lasts. Don't want to arrive at a party with only half o my nails painted ;-)
As you understand I went ahead and bought it anyway. I love this color so I could not resist. 

The formula is really good. A bit gooey, but no problems at all to get the glitter evenly placed on the nail. Good coverage, two coats is enough, no undercoat. I put two coats of Orly Sec'n Dry to get a smooth finish, if you use Seche Vite one coat is probably enough. And it is beautiful without top coat too.
You can buy the polish from Arcane Lacquer Etsy shop. 

Rockjewel wishes everybody a Happy Easter with Darling Diva and Model City

Wasn't planning on doing an Easter mani, but then I remembered that I recently got a lovely green polish and a lovely yellow polish so I changed my mind. 

I gladly admit that I'm not the best nail artist so I settled for some dots. Good enough for me.

The green one is Darling Diva Landslide, a grass-green linear holo from The White Witch Collection. The formula is almost like glue, a bit gooey and difficult to get in the right place. At least it seemed like that at first, but it somehow floated out over the nail so with two coats I got an almost perfect finish. 

The holo is strong and flashes mostly in yellow, at least in indoors lighting. It is a bit more linear that it appears in these pics. I bought this from Darling Diva's own shop.

The yellow polish is Corn Maze by Model City. It is a scattered, with a touch of linear, holo. It really is corn yellow with gold shimmer. The formula of this was better, but in this was actually more difficult to get even, it was a bit streaky even after the second coat. Nothing disturbing though, it is lovely anyway.

I bought this polish from Edgy, a Swedish shop with a wide range of indie polish brands. 

Rockjewel flying high with Darling Diva Nightbird

OK, I do have a couple of dark blue polishes. But they are not the same as this Darling Diva Nightbird. Maybe similar, but definitely not the same. Definitely. Not the same. Similar. I swear. Just kidding, it is actually not that similar, Nightbird is a fair bit darker than for example Beautiful Mistake by Love Thy Polish (which by the way is also stunning).

I absolutely love this really midnight blue holo. Couldn't stop looking at my nails, especially in the sun! 

It has a pretty strong holo effect but it still keeps its dark base color. with flashes in medium blue and a hint of purple. In a couple of the photos it looks like it is much lighter than it really is, but in these you can see the purple hint.

The formula isn't fantastic but manageable. A bit gooey, although good coverage. Opaque and a smooth finish with two coats.

Rockjewel with another oldie but real goodie Lilypad Lacquer Ruby Slippers

Ruby Slippers is another one of the polishes I got in my first order from Lilypad Lacquer. Today it is almost a year ago time flies when you have a lot of lovey nail polishes.
Ruby Slippers is a beautiful raspberry polish with at medium strong holo effect. It leans a bit to pink, but it is still more red than pink. The photos show the holo a bit more blue than it is. Yes, there is blue in it, but I would say that the red and pink hues are more dominant irl.
Doesn't matter, it is a stunning nail polish! I think I must wear it more often.

Of course the formula is A+, easy to apply and opaque in two coats. 

Rockjewel goes wrooooom with Darling Diva GTO

Couldn't resist this even though I normally avoid glitter polishes with medium to large glitter particles in clear base, but GTO from Darling Diva was impossible to resist. It is from the Muscle Car Diva Collection and there are a few more from that collection that I thought about but actually could resist: Charger, Chevelle and maybe 'Cuda. Maybe next time...

GTO is sooo green and glittery so it ended up on my nails. I'm not really sure when I can use this, not a polish I would use at work, at least not when meeting customers. Don't want to distract them from the meeting agenda. Or do I... ;-)
Well it will be perfect for party!

As with many of the polishes of this type it is jelly-ish and a bit tricky to put on and get an even and smooth surface. I would say though that this was a bit easier than other polishes I've tried so far. It is packed with glitter so it was enough with two coats to get full opacity. I will though put on undies in a similar green color next time to avoid the uneven edges around cuticles and tips. 

PARTYYYYY...

Rockjewel is glowing with Indigo Bananas Son of Fire

I have been looking at Indigo Bananas for a long time. They have a polish with the name Cake or Death. Too bad that it is nice but not fabolous so I have yet not ordered it. One day... 

Instead I started up my Indigo Banana collection with Son of Fire, a wonderful orange-coral chromie with mild linear holo. I must admit that it took some time before I finally decided to buy it. Orange is, as you know, not the best color for me, but sometimes I can't resist a nice orange.

This one is fantastic! 

The color shifts from a light orange over really bright orange, copper and a hint of red. The holo is not the strongest but still very visible even in indoors lighting. I think I managed to capture it quite well in some of the photos.
The formula was a bit too thin, but not at all impossible to handle. Enough pigments though to still be a two-coater.

Rockjewel feels energized with Glitter Gal High Voltage

What's not to like with this nail polish? It is lilac and purple, it sparkles, it does not have large glitter flakes. However it was at first not among those I chose from a blogsale, but after thinking about it for a while I added it anyway. No regrets there, it is a lovely polish.

The formula is good, first coat a bit uneven but second coats smooths it all out and gives a nice finish. The holo-particles are large and scattered which gives a beautiful depth and fantastic sparkle. It is truly stunning in the sun, showing flashes of not only lilac and purple hues but also light blue, pink, peach and turquoise. And even better is that it glitters like a glitter flakes polish but is really easy to remove. 

There are lots and lots of beautiful Glitter Gal polishes. I have Brain Freeze and Belgian Chocolate already and I will most certainly get some more of the brighter Glitter Gals in the future.

Rockjewel challenges DNA with ILNP Mutagen (H)

Times like these I wish I had a better camera, and better photo lighting. I also wish I was a better photographer. The part with a better equipment is fixable, but the part that depends on my skills might be a bit more difficult to fix...
Well, one does the best one can, under existing circumstances.
As with this polish, ILNP Mutagen (H), and other polishes like it. The chromies, duo-, multi-, ultra- and so on, are always difficult to capture with the camera, and with me behind the camera... You can fill in the rest yourself.

Mutagen (H) is a holographic ultra-chrome that also comes in a non-holographic version. I bought both. Not sure if it is necessary to own both, but they are both beautiful. The polish shifts mostly in green hues, but in different angles and lightings it shows dark blue, plum, purple, pink, silver, sage green. The shifts do not stand out that much, but the predominant color and shimmer is beautiful as is. And when the lighting is right the effect is lovely! The holo effect is medium strong, mostly light blue flashes and gold and silver shimmer. 

The formula is good, two coats are what I used to get it opaque. A little bit streaky, but nothing that bothers me too much. 

Rockjewel wears the ultimate wow-polish Lilypad Lacquer True Blood

This is THE nail polish!! I say it again: THE nail polish! There should be a warning triangle on the bottle: "Don't wear this polish while operating heavy machinery" or something like that. It is totally impossible to stop looking at it.

This is my first indie love, True Blood from Lilypad Lacquer. Also included in my first order of indie polish. I was so lucky to get this, and I didn't even have to struggle for it, no waiting in line online at a webshop, no nervous moment when checking out the shopping cart to see if the polishes are still available or not. 
I happened to stumbled upon Lilypad's Etsy store one day and was stunned! So many beautiful nail polishes! I took my time, returned to the store again and again. Finally, after a couple of weeks I decided that I dared to order. I think I ordered three or four, and a couple of friends joined and filled up to the flat rate 7 polishes limit.

Rockjewel strutting around with Lilypad Lacquer To Dance With a Peacock

I have a problem... And now you say "Only one problem???" OK, I have more, but only one I would like to admit to today. It is about the most fabulous polishes I own. I crave them, I am lucky enough to get them; I long for them to arrive and when they arrive I am so happy and.... put them in my untrieds drawer... It's like I don't dare to use them, or want to save them for a special occasion or so. The stupid thing is that there are not many special occasions in my life, at least not as many as my "special" nail polishes. Ergo: I need to do something about this. Force myself to take one of these fantastic polishes and put them on for an ordinary tuesday. Or thursday, or other ordinary day.

This week I actually managed to use one of these polishes on a tuesday. I do have to admit that it wasn't really an ordinary tuesday, I had a *date* with some really good and fun friends. In honour of the day, and the good friends, I chose to put Lilypad Lacquer To Dance With a Peacock on my nails. And, to use a worn out acronym, OMG!!!!! Up on my top five list! 

To start with, this is one of my favorite colors in any area, not only nail polish. I love this dark teal! Add a stunning linear holo to this and I scream HOME RUN!! The color spans from a really dark teal, over both blue an green tones. Added to that a lovely rainbow effect.

Created by Nicole of Lilypad Lacquer not only the color, effects and the finish are perfect, also the formula is fantastic. Two coats of perfect-ness! 

Rockjewel in search of the dark side with Lilypad Lacquer Dirty Soul

We all have dark sides, I know I have. ;-)

Lilypad Lacquer Dirty Soul is a polish with a name that should speak to these darker sides, but it might be a bit too beautiful for that. The base is a clean grey and added to that is a medium-grained scattered holo. In some angles there also seems to be a bit of linear holo, but the scattered holo is definitely dominant.  

The holo is fairly strong and flashes in turquoise, pink and copper. There is a "dirty" side of this polish too, but it only shows in indoors lighting. It is actually a really nice, deep grey color, still with a little bit of shimmer visible.

Rockjewel thinks of raspberries with Darling Diva Rooms on Fire

Raspberry, raspberry, raspberry... It is a strange name for a berry. Could it be because of the small thorns on the stems maybe? 

Never mind, Darling Diva Rooms on Fire is a beautiful raspberry polish with a really strong, blurple-flashing holo, and no rasp at all. It is from the White Witch Collection, from which I realise I own most of them... Well, they are beautiful, all with strong holo and stunning colors. Rooms on Fire is no exception.

The formula is good, two coats for perfect, opaque finish. Some minor issues with gooey-ness on the first coat, but nothing that caused too much problems. I personally think that the DD brusehes are a bit thin, I prefer a bit wider, flat brush. Still it is not difficult to apply the polish, it works fine.

Rockjewel presents Spring on a budget with polish from Nordic Cap and Gina Tricot

Yes I love indie polish and high end polish brands, but I'm not at all prejudiced against any polish. For example I own a lot of low-budget polishes. Here in Sweden nail polish from well-known brands, like OPI, Sally Hansen, Essie, are quite expensive. As a really nice counterweight we do have some less expensive brands, and also one real low-price brand, with Swedish origin.

Some would say that low price equals low quality, and sometimes that is true. But even though I don't have that much experience in this area I have noticed that the quality of even the most expensive polish brands span from lousy to perfect. 

Today I present two polishes with lovely spring colors. And they go together very well. One of them is the real low-budget brand, Nordic Cap Star Nails. It can be found in many ordinary supermarkets and costs no more than $1.50. Many nice colors and different finishes. Generally acceptable quality, some are really good and some not so good. 

Rockjewel thinks of Skagen with Lilypad Lacquer Where Oceans meet

As far as I know I have been at two places where oceans meet: Skagen in Denmark and Cape Agulhas in South Africa. 

The trip to South Africa was spectacular and I would very much like to return some day. I have been back in the country on business, but that was in the northern parts. Lovely that too, with safari and all, but the Cape area is special. A dream vacation would be a week in Umlani Bush Camp in the Timbavati Reserve followed byt two weeks in the Cape area. Must buy a lottery ticket...

Back to Skagen. This trip was not that spectacular but still left me with a lot of nice memories. I was there many years ago for an extended weekend with an old friend and our mothers. It was a really nice and relaxing weekend and since my friend's mother is no longer with us and my mother is old and her memory is deteriorating it is always nice to think back to this weekend when both of them where still with us in body and mind.

Rockjewel is starstruck by Femme Fatale Starfall

Starfall is my second polish from Femme Fatale. It has a kind of foggy, dusty tone of purple that I really, really love!! It is quite dark but has a light side too, very strange... It shifts from a dusty pink-purple to a dark blurple and has a fine-grained, semi-strong, linear holo. 

Since this is probably one of my top three favorite colors, Starfall should be put on my top three list. Unfortunately the formula is not as perfect as for example Lilypad's, it is a bit gooey. It might be fixed with a few drops of thinner, it's at least worth the try.

So if it does not end up on my top three list, where does it go?  I would definitely say that it is in top ten, at least. Maybe even top five, if thinner can fix the formula. 

Rockjewel turns businesslike with Jindie Nails Just Claws

This polish just happened to find its way to me in an order from somewhere... Cannot for the world remember which shop it was. Or maybe a swap/sale? No I think it was a shop. It's not important though because I like it :-)

Just Claws is my first encounter with Jindie Nails polish, and it was a pleasant one. Most of JN polishes have too much and too big glitter particles for my taste, but there are some really nice holos that I would like to own. To be fair, some of the "particle polishes", the ones with smaller glitter in, are quite nice too.

The color is a beautiful pink with tones in the purple and even a little in the orange direction. In the right lighting it is stunning, with a quite strong, both scattered and linear holo. In ordinary indoors light it is a quite ordinary finish but still a really nice and sweet pink that can offend no one and can be accepted by everyone. A color that says "I care about my nails but I want everyone in this meeting to listen to me and not look at my nails, at least most of the time."

The formula is good, could be a one-coater if it weren't for a few bald spots after the first coat. Could be my base coat that is the problem, but if so then it is worth it. Not going to change that. Anyway, this is not a big problem at all, after the second coat it looks perfect. Take a look!

Rockjewel goes D.U.I. with Dance Legend Chameleon Knight

I put it on. I thought it was a bit boring. OK, it was shiny, it shifted a bit in blackened gold and bronze, but nothing like swatches I have seen of it. Decided to wear it for one day anyway.

The morning after i got into my car and drove away to work. It was not full sun, thin clouds let the sun shine through a bit. I was driving, concentrating on the road and all of a sudden I caught a glimpse in the corner of my eye. Something fantastic! Silver, blue, gold, bronze, blurple! It was really, really difficult to keep my eyes on the road and the traffic, my nails were screaming for attention with all this beauty! Lots of ohhs and aaahhs, hoping for traffic lights to turn red so I could take another good look at it. 
Of course I could not resist showing this lovely-ness to some of my colleagues (those that appreciate beautiful nail polish) and got yet another bunch of ooohhs and ahhhs.

The formula is good. It's not sheer, but two coats are needed. It gets a bit streaky but this is not a big problem. The only real issue I have with this is that every little irregularity on the nail shows. A good ridgefiller is probably the solution, I think I need to buy one... 

Then the task of trying to catch this with the camera. Not possible... When I saw the photos I decided not to blog about this polish at all, but I picked out a few pics anyway that I think at least are ok, and here they are.
Don't let them discourage you from buying this polish, or any other polish from the Chamelion collection, they are truly beautiful!

Rockjewel gets no nightmare with Darling Diva Dreams

This will be a quick one, time to go to bed. But first some photos of one of my latest Darling Diva polishes, Dreams from The White Witch Collection. Lots of lovely holo polishes in that collection and now I own some of them.


Darling Diva polishes have a really good formula. Dreams is no exception. Ok, the first coat seems to be quite sheer, but it is still enough with two coats.
The holo is linear and strong, the color is a deep, but not to dark, color. You can see a lighter, cornflower blue, as well as a stronger blue color. Really beautiful. The photos do not show as much of the cornflower as I wanted.

Rockjewel votes for sample to be permanent at The Devil Wears Polish

My intentions for today's blog was to show Dark Choclate Raspberry from The Devil Wears Polish. Unfortunately the photos were a total failure! The lovely chocolate color with the raspberry shimmer turned into an almost blurple color with not so much shimmer. 

Instead I decided to try the bonus polish I got with the shipment. Big thanks for that TDWP, from all three of us! :-) And it is soooo beautiful!!

The _name_ is Prototype Sample... I am trying to come up with a better name, I'm going to try and convince TDWP to put this into production, it is so lovely!!

Rockjewel feels intoxicated with Dance Legend Wow Prism Poison

Got some really nice shipments this week. One was from Dance Legend. Normally you must be prepared for a long wait when ordering from Dance Legend but this time it was actually a bit shorter shipping time than the order we placed in October last year. I think this took 4 weeks from placing the order until it arrived. That's fair I think. Last time it took about 6 weeks. You can get these polishes from other suppliers, but they only carry a chosen selection of the DL polishes. I think it is worth the wait when you can choose among all these beauties.

The quality of the Dance Legend polishes is generally high. The quality of the swatch photos in the store is also very high BUT... the photos do not always show all the beauty you can find in these polishes. 

Sometimes you buy polishes after seeing some really beautiful swatch pics and maybe get a little bit, but only a little, disappointed when you put it on your own nails. Almost always the polish is still lovely and there are no regrets buying it, but still... With time you learn that this is the way it is, and the expectations get a bit more realistic.

When it comes to Dance Legend it is sometimes the opposite, especially with the holos. As I said the pics are really beautiul, but many of the polishes are even more beautiful in real life.

Rockjewel needs no sweets with Mentality Gumdrop

Mentality gumdrop is a polish that reminds me of a sort of Swedish candy called blue fish. It is a hard candy with a specific, salty licorice taste. It is really tasty as it is, and it is also popular to make candy shots with. It's quite easy. Just put some candy in vodka and let it melt down. Drink it as shots. 

Well, back to the reason for this blog post: Mentality Gumdrop. It's a polish from the Candy Jelly Holo collection. I got this in a blogsale and it is a real sweety. I would love to get some more from the same collection. And from other Mentality collections...

Rockjewel relaxes with Lilypad Lacquer Sunset At Sea

Lilypad Lacquer is not only about holo polish, and here is a  beauty to prove that. This is Sunset At Sea, a duo/multi-chrome polish that spans from a dark blurple to brick red and even a hint towards mustard. 

I have a few more from this collection, they all seem to be equally gorgeous! I will show them all in due time :-)

The formula is good, but unlike the LP holos this needs 3, maybe even coats on its own to be opaque. I used white undies here (which unfortunately shows in the pics...) and then two coats of Sunset... It is really beautiful on its own, but white or black undies lifts the colors yet another notch. 

I didnt do a good job with this mani. Messy, not a good cleanup etc. etc. etc. But if you can look at the polish, and only the polish, I'd be grateful :-)

Rockjewel prepares for spring with Lilypad Lacquer Rose Gold

Rose Gold from Lilypad Lacquer was the last one that slipped into the latest shipment from Australia. I wanted Vintage Rose but that was sold out so I took this instead. It is not "my" color at all, and it is not the best color on my winter pale fingers, but nevertheless it is a really beautiful polish! I long for some suntan on my hands, I think this polish will be stunning then.

Rose Gold has a nice, shimmering finish. A lovely, mostly scattered holo, a bit more visible than in the photos.
Perfect formula as always, two coats in these pictures. And please try to disregard the pale skin...

Rockjewel heartily welcomes Lilypad Lacquer Heart To Heart

Continuing my quest for testing all my untrieds it's time for Heart To Heart. It is a deep, deep blood red nail polish with a blue flashing, linear holo effect. It is one of those polishes... Those polishes that are VERY difficult to catch the beauty of with a camera. The almost jelly-lika red base does not show much, the holo effect shows a lot and is beautiful, but takes over the red a bit.
Nevertheless it is a fabulously vampy polish that I fell deeply in love with. That one too... Lots of Lilypads on my top list :-)

The holo effect is a bit less visible in ordinary lighting, like grey daylight or lamplight, than some of the other Lilypad holos, but the deep red color is more prominent instead. I don't mind. At all! 
When I swatched Heart To Heart I was a bit worried that it might need three coats to be opaque, the base looked a bit jelly-ish. But behold, two coats were perfect and enough!

As I said it was impossible to catch all of the beauty on the pictures but at least I tried...