Sunday, October 12, 2014

Aurora Lacquers Chakra Prism Collection


Hello lovelies! I've been on a full blown hiatus lately! After the flight home from Alaska the wind was taken from my sails after such a long Summer of work - I just wanted to enjoy the SUN for awhile and pretend the rainy Summer never happened. I'm so thankful for Tennessee weather. <3 

Though if there is anything that can bring me out of hiding, it's an Aurora Lacquers' collection release. This rainbow-tastic collection is named the Chakra Prism Collection and it is JUST GORGEOUS! I love having all these little bottles lined up on display in my bedroom. (and it's only the second full collection I own, next to my Gwen Stefani by OPI collection. She was my childhood idol. I needed it.)

Ok, let's dive on in! 


For each polish I used two easy coats and a top coat to add a little extra shine. Each polish applied smoothly and was packed to the brim with holographic pigment.


Muladhara Strength is a Silky red linear holo. This was a dream to apply and the holo was completely fantastic. Can you see that rainbow shift in the bottle in the picture above? 



Swadhisthana Desire is a Bright orange jelly linear holo. Though not until I read the description on Aurora Lacquers did I think "jelly." This was a fairly opaque polish in just two coats and totally packs a punch. This will be a really wonderful color for Halloween! 
One thing was the holographic pigment liked to settle on the bottom of the bottle. I turned mine upside down for around and hour but the bottle was so full of polish (a good thing!) that it didn't fall very easily so I ended up shaking it up to mix the pigment and letting it settle before I applied it. However, I have a mini bottle, so I'm sure a larger bottle would mix easier. (September, one of the masterminds behind Aurora Lacquers, includes two mixing balls in each full size bottle her polishes!)



Manipura Virtue is a Shimmery golden-yellow scattered holo. This is such a sunny color and an interesting one, too. In some lights it's yellow, in others golden and in others it's a chartreuse. 
(I was going to insert a joke about it being a chameleon with the "comma, comma, comma Chameleon song... turns out it's really "Karma Chameleon" Yeah, that's right. Karma. Learn something new everyday!)



Anahata Amour is a Earth green linear holo. This true green holo is spectacular! The holographic is so strong and lovely. I own nothing like this and it was definitely filled a hole in my collection. Pure love. 
This polish had some similar settling as Swadhisthana Desire (The orange) but nothing a little shaking/mixing won't fix.



Vishuddha Dream is a True blue linear holo. This is a lovely sky blue polish and unlike any blue I own - it's just so... (for lack of a better word) BLUE! I feel that it is described perfectly, a true blue, right on the mark.



Anja Vision is a Indigo linear holo with light blue and lilac shimmer. I really adore this Indigo beauty. In certain flashes you can see blue and in others you see purple. It's really a hidden gem in this collection as it's not blue nor purple, but I feel could be overlooked because it's similar to Vishuddha Dream. However, Anja Vision has a personality all it's own with winks of color hidden beneath those indigo sparkles.



Sahasrara Bliss is a Violet linear holo with lilac shimmer. This polish isn't a surprise favorite of mine. I knew it was a favorite when I first saw it! (Is it a surprise that I like purple?!) I love, love this color so much. It's a perfect purple with a subtle lilac shimmer throughout. Ugh. I love this color so much.  It's much punchier than the Aurora Lacquers' Siren's Aura purple from the Mystic Mermaid collection. You definitely need both!



Prism of Clarity is a A shimmery clear glitter topper filled with silver holo triangles and a rainbow of iridescent glitters. When I first saw this polish all I could say was "YAAASSSS!" And I was not disappointed when I layered it over Vishuddha Dream. The triangle glitters are perfection, the iridescent glitters look like magical unicorn cellophane and this polish is pure love. It's what Zoya's Monet wishes it were.

I had to do some fishing for the triangles as the majority had fallen in love with one wall of the polish bottle, though, after some separation anxiety, I was able to coax some holographic triangles onto my fingies. Pure love.


Lastly, I wanted to do a quick comparison between Anja Vision and Vishuddha Dream. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to quite capture the subtle differences in these polishes as well as I had hoped. Anja Vision really does have these incredible flashes of blue and violet, while dream is a pure "true blue" holographic.  



And that's all folks! If you're still reading, I don't blame you! ;) wasn't that collection gorgeous? I really loved the entire Chakra concept behind it. She could have easily just created a rainbow collection, but she took it a step further and connected these colors to a really cool concept. Let's hope each of these colors empowers your Chakras! 
Hint, hint, there will be a small give away in the near future, so check back soon! <3 If you'd like to purchase these lovelies, you can check out the links below. Each holographic is $12 and the glitter is $10 for a .15ml bottle.

Shop

 ♥ Pooka
Blogger Tricks

Monday, September 15, 2014

31 Day Nail Art Challenge 2.0: Day 5 Black and White

Purchased by Me

Hello friends! A real quick update before I jump into day five. Some of you may have noticed I missed posting on Saturday. Due to some unusual circumstances, we (Fiance and I) were set to leave Alaska on Saturday, but we were made to leave our cabin (pack and move everything) on Friday. So we were pretty frantically packing and preparing to leave an entire day before we thought we had to. Luckily for us, we made some pretty awesome friends that not only let us stay the night but helped us move all of our stuff. So on Friday when I was supposed to be preparing a post, I was packing my stuff from the past 4 months (including shipping close to 100 polishes! Eek!) 

Onto the art! Today's prompt is Black and White. I once saw someone do a book. I believe chalkboard nails? If you know the link, please send it to me! Obviously, her's was a million times better, but I wanted to try something similar. 

Thursday, September 11, 2014

31 Day Nail Art Challenge 2.0: Day 4 Primary or Secondary


It's day 4 and I chose primary colors: red, orange, and blue. I was afraid this would look too patriotic, but I'm actually happy with how it turned out, even if it is stereotypical "nautical." It gave me a chance to use this awesome golden yellow from Amazing Chic Nails again! :D

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Two Moons Negative Space Nail Art


Hi ladies. I'm finishing out my last days in Alaska doing lots of nail art! It's so dreary and cold here that all I want to do is stay inside. So, I guess that's good for my blog, I can stock up on some posts! We ride the Alaska Railroad on Saturday and fly out late Sunday night to visit the fiance's parents in Indiana, so I'm excited to get some family time in and of course visit with my cutie kitties Milk and Roomi. ♥ 


Today I did a two moon manicure that i've seen around recently. Chalkboard nails did a color blocking design similar to this, but I chose to do some negative space.


I freehanded each moon, the bottom is Julep Rebecca and the tip is Julep Winter. Unfortunately, I have a little bit of staining... but eh... it happens? :) This was my first negative space manicure and I don't know quite how I feel about it! I liked it a LOT more after the OPI Matte Top Coat. It was kind of fun and mod and different, but I think I'll try less "nail" next time I do negative space.


Here's a quick shot of the glossy version. Matte looked SO. Much. Better.

What are you're thoughts on negative space manicures? Let me know below :D

♥ Pooka

Monday, September 8, 2014

31 Day Nail Art Challenge 2.0: Day 3 Blue or Violet


Today is day 3 of the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge 2.0: Blue or Violet. I chose blue <3



I ended up really liking this manicure... besides the pinky... I thought I may like more dots, but as it turns out, I didn't. For the base I used Colors by Llarowe Young Turks. I stamped using MdU White and MoYou Suki 06. (Please excuse my dry-looking cuticles. I thought I had removed all the white from the stamp, yet some remains!)


I used a dotting tool and Orly Luxe to create the "studs." Again, excuse the pinky, I got dot crazy. ;) 



That wraps up day 3. To see more day 3 challenge manicures check out the hashtag #31DC2 on Instagram and for more info on the challenge or to find out how to participate check out this post by Will Paint Nails for Food. She gives all the deets! 

You can also see the other manicures I created for this challenge by clicking here.

♥ Pooka

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Colors by Llarowe: At Last

Happy Saturday everyone! I know for most of you the day is long gone, however, in Alaska it's only 6pm and sunny outside. I'm sitting on the deck after work and writing up a little post for this beautiful polish! We leave in exactly one week and I am so excited to be home, we've had fun this Summer but it's been a long 4 months. When we get home I am going to get a REAL light box to take awesome photos. :D .... and probably some cat photos, too. ;) 

Thursday, September 4, 2014

31 Day Nail Art Challenge 2.0: Day 2 Yellow or Green


It's time for day 2 of the nail art challenge. Yellow or Green and I chose green!  I'm blogging and babysitting today. Some friends needed someone to watch their little girl so here I sit, watching her eat rice cakes and "dippin'." So cute! It's been so long since I've been a sitter! 

As far as the manicure, unfortunately for me, all these pictures turned out a little blurry. Not terrible, but not as crisp as they usually are. I don't really understand because I haven't changed any settings on my camera or my light box set up, so it's a little frustrating. None the less, it's a pretty manicure so I decided to share it.

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

CrowsToes Indian Summer

Happy hump day, hope everyone is having a lovely Wednesday. Lucky for me it's my Saturday! (As a server, you always get weird weekends.) Though in personal news, I'm finishing my final week at my current job and going to be headed home to Tennessee very soon! I'm very excited to see my kitties again (and family, too, of course)!

Today I am sharing a swatch of CrowsToes Indian Summer



This is my first polish from this brand and I love it! Shown in three coats, this polish is a strong multi chrome shifting from purple, to blue, to a prominent red.


I tried to capture all the shifts here, but honestly it's even more shifty than I could photograph here. It's absolutely stunning. If you only own one multi chrome, I suggest that Indian Summer be it!


Since this purchase I've added quite a few more CrowsToes to my wish list. They really just have some unique polishes.

You can up to date with CrowsToes with the links below
♥ Facebook or shop at ♥ Llarowe 

P.S. Llarowe is having a CrowsToes restock TODAY September 3rd 12:00pm MDT and again at 7:00pm MDT! You can snag your own bottle of Indian Summer :D

♥ Pooka

Monday, September 1, 2014

31 Day Nail Art Challenge 2.0: Day 1 Red or Orange


Wow, that's a long title. But here's the deal, I'm participating in another challenge! Last time I tried a challenge it didn't turn out so well. I lasted 8 days. D: Yikes! However, this one is a little more lenient, we're only posting two days a week: Mondays and Thursdays, so that will be 8 looks a month! For me, with my limited internet situation, this schedule will work out a lot better AND I'll be able to put more time into each look because I won't be so worried about "pumping out posts." It's called the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge 2.0. It's a spin off or "enhancement" of the 31 Day Challenge that lots of bloggers will be doing this month. You can find out all the details here at Will Paint Nails for Food. It was curated by three talented bloggers! 

You can participate too on any platform, Facebook, instagram, blogger, what ever you use. We're using the hashtag #31DC2 

Day one is Red or Orange (Full schedule listed at the end of this post!)


For this look I used Julep Myriam, black acrylic paint, and Orly Luxe. (Olry Rage's golden sister)


I just used a striping brush to create an X on my nail in black then outlined it with Luxe, pretty simple but it makes a statement! :)



What do you think of this nail art? Pretty simple right? Will you be participating in this challenge, too? Let me know in the comments so I can follow you and see your creations!

You can also see the other manicures I created for this challenge by clicking here.

♥ Pooka

Sunday, August 31, 2014

Pahlish: La Belle Endormie

Coocoo les filles! Today I'm featuring my very first Pahlish. Pahlish is an indie brand that is new to me, but not to many of you, I believe she is pretty popular! However, I'm still kind of new to the indie world, so lots of them are new to me!

I'm going to be honest, this was an impulse purchase, I saw a swatch and said I NEED THAT! and then bought it. That's pretty much the entire story. ;)