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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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...

Rockjewel twinkles with Lilypad Lacquer Nightsky Rift

Lilypad Lacquer Nightsky Rift is the second Femme Fatale exclusive. It's a blueberry-aubergine colored polish with steel blue holo to turquoise flashes. The holo is mostly linear but I would say that there are som scattered holo too. It's a stunner in the right lighting, and beautiful all the time, never dull. It appears a bit less aubergine in the photos that it really is. 

Excellent formula, two coats is perfect. It is really lovely and shimmering!

Rockjewel connects Australia and Canada: Girly Bits and Lilypad Lacquer

Stretching across oceans and continents! OK, not so much... But at least combining two beautiful polishes from opposites sides of our globe. Very appropriate on this the last day of the 2014 Olympic Games.

I wanted to try and get a deep glitter feel with Girly Bits Into The Night. It is a black/grey base with small holo glitters that shine in all colors of the rainbow! 
I think it might be opaque in three coats, but I wanted to try with "undies" and only one or two coats of Into The Night. I did not want a pure black polish so I chose Lilypad Lacquer Rainbows in Space, a black, linear holo polish, as base. Two coats of that and one coat of Into The Night on that. Both polishes behaved very well, easy application, no problems at all.
Topped this with two coats of Orly Sec'N Dry. Exactly the effect I wanted! I get a feeling of more depth with this holo under than with a plain black polish. In the right lighting it is absolutely stunning. 

These pics do not live up to how it looks in real life, not even close! I think I managed to capture some of it though. What do you think? 

Rockjewel celebrates the Swedish Olympic participants!

OK, we didn't win against Canada in the Olympic hockey final, but silver is also a precious metal to be proud of! And Sweden have done the best Olympic winter games ever, 15 medals!! Most of them to the cross-country skiing-team, but also medals to the curling teams, Anna Holmlund in ski-cross and as said the hockey-team. Well done!!

I celebrate with a fantastic blue holo nail polish from Lilypad Lacquer: A Balt Out Of The Blue, a gold holo from Jade: Mystic Gold topped with a shimmering polish with glitter from Darling Diva: Stripper Pole.
I will probably do a full manicure of all each one of these three polishes so I will not say anything specific about them at this point, except that all three are fabolous! 

Rockjewel is a sweet tooth with Lilypad Lacquer Chocolate Truffle

Presenting a Femme Fatale Cosmetics exclusive Lilypad Lacquer today. I got both of them, Nightsky Rift and Chocolate Truffle. Both are really beautiful! 
Today it is Chocolate Truffle on display. It is a dark rich brown, like dark, bitter chocolate, with a strong linear holo that flashes in many colors. 

No need to mention the formula, impeccable as always. Could be a one-coater but i used two. Sally Hansen Hard as nails as base coat and Orly Sec'N Dry on top. I have found that this combination works very well for me and my nails.

I took photos with both one and two layer of diffuser to try and catch both the beautiful chocolate brown color and the stunning holo.

Rockjewel dives deep with Lilypad Lacquer Deep Sea Dreaming

It was a tough choice Monday night. I had three candidates, all Lilypads: To Dance With a Peacock, Cayman Island Delight and Deep Sea Dreaming. Finally I chose Deep Sea Dreaming. 
It is a surprising nail polish. The color is a stunning, deep teal with massive shimmer. The surprising thing is that in pale daylight it shows an entirely different side, it becomes a duo-chrome polish that shifts from the deep teal to darker blue, almost blurple. Fantastic! Too bad I was in my car and couldn't capture this side of it. Maybe next time.

Formula excellent, could be a one-coater but I used two coats as usual. No topcoat on these photos.

Rockjewel in awe over Lilypad Lacquer Wild Orchid

We have all done this I think. The first time you see a swatch you say "Wow, fantastic. Need this!!". Then you look at the swatch again and say, "Naahh, maybe it is not that fantastic...". 
I was like this with Lilypad Lacquer Wild Orchid. First I was charmed by the deep, dark aubergine nail polish with a not so distinct linear holo effect. Second time I looked at the same photos I thought that it is just a deep dark aubergine nail polish with a not so distinct linear holo effect. As it happens I still took a chance and ordered it since Lilypad never disappoints me, the nail polishes are always in the range of beautiful-to-absolutely marvellous. 

I guess that you will think "This is just a deep dark aubergine nail polish with a not so distinct holo effect" when you see my photos. 
After I put this on yesterday I thought "Wow, fantastic, marvellous, beautiful!!"
It IS a not so distinct linear holo effect. It IS very deep dark aubergine. Anyone who will look at my nails will probably see just a dark, maybe even black, nail polish. But I see its inner soul, it is only for me, in the right light. OK, I exaggerate this a bit, but it is not far from the truth. I paint my nails primarily for myself. It is of course nice when other people can see the beauty, but it is not necessary.

It is a true one-coater. I think this will also be perfect for stamping.
It applies like butter on hot toast. The only downside is that top coat actually hides some of the holo effect, something that almost never happens with Lilypad polishes. I will probably still use top coat for better durability, but these photos were taken without.

A bit strange lighting here, but i shows the hidden holo

Rockjewel with pearls on fingers, Lilypad Lacquer Green Pearl

Next chapter in the Lilypad Lacquer success story: Green Pearl! I got Black Pearl a while ago and was happy to see that Nicole made an entire collection of Pearls. When they were released I hesitated which one/ones to choose so I missed out on Red Pearl but got Green Pearl, the second on my wishlist. When Red Pearl returned in the latest restock I missed out on it again! I hope I will get another chance :-) 

Green Pearl did not disappoint me. It is a beautiful polish! It has both a fairly strong linear holo effect and a lovely, "sprinkly" metallic look, depending on light. On top of that it also have a kind of both scattered and linear holo in all rainbow colors. I tried to capture that with a few photos with a direct flash, without diffuser, but I think the best way must be in direct sunshine. Take a look here at the fantastic photos on Almost Famous Nails blog to see what that looks like.

Two effortless coats of Green Pearl, Orly Sec'N Dry on top. Love the formula, as always. 

Flash without diffuser

Another with direct flash