Nine Realms by Crowstoes : Vanaheim

Hello Ladies :)  Tonight we're continuing with the incredible 9 Realms collection by Crowstoes.  Tonight's offering is a simply astonishing polish - "Vanaheim".  In Norse Mythology, Vanaheim is the home of the Vanir, an ancient breed of sorcerer gods.  I don't know much about that, but I think there might be some sorcery involved in the making of this polish...

Vanaheim by Crowstoes  - artificial light

Vanaheim is a glittering fusion of emerald, gold, bronze, and tiny flecks of sky blue.  I'm at a bit of a loss to describe the finish of this one - its predominantly made up of tiny foil glitter particles, suspended in an emerald base, and this makes it a duochrome.  In some swatches here (like the above), you can see this clearly coming across as a deep metallic shimmer, and in others the foil glitter finish is dominant.  However you choose to describe it the effect is simply stunning and this is one of my favourite polishes of the whole year.  For me, this polish was like the skin of a magnificent dragon, the green and gold combined with the iridescent glitter would be perfect as dragon skin.   

Dragon skin

In these swatches I'm wearing two coats over my usual NE base and beneath a generous layer of HK Girl topcoat.  The finish was totally smooth, no bumpy lumps on this dragon.  Application, formula and wear time were also all top notch as you'd expect from Crowstoes.



Vanaheim by Crowstoes - 9 Realms - artificial light

In these swatches (above) you can see the deep emerald shade that dominates in direct lighting (top), and the burnished olive gold (bottom) that appears in side-on lighting conditions.  I really love this antique gold shade, I find that a lot more interesting than a straight gold shade and it works beautifully in transition with the emerald.

Vanaheim by Crowstoes - 9 Realms - natural light

The swatches above and below here show this shade in natural light, which is quite different and equally lovely.  The green is a bright jewel tone that really pops on the nail, and the gold is a much deeper bronze.  This was one of those polishes that I just couldn't keep my eyes off, and I was really sorry to remove.  Usually when I try a new shade I stop noticing it so much after a few days and I'm excited to try the next shade in my untried pile.   But with Vanaheim I could have quite happily gone straight back to it.

Vanaheim by Crowstoes - natural light

I seem to say quite often on here that I'm not really a green person, and it is one of the least represented colours in my stash, but all the greens I post about I then say I really like.  I still don't think I'm a green person, but I think I like the right kind of green, and Vanaheim certainly fits the bill.

I bought my bottle for £10.25 from Rainbow Connection (link in the suppliers page) and I'm really glad I did.  This was my 'wildcard' polish to make my total high enough to qualify for the cheap postage rate and it ended up being my favourite of the bunch.  Vanaheim and Huginn and Muninn would be my two top picks for the collection.

Nine Realms by Crowstoes : Huginn and Muninn

Hello Ladies! Tonight I have a real treat of a polish to share with you, from a collection that is one of my absolute favourites of 2014 and in fact, ever.  There are two standout collections for me this year - the Picture Polish LE duochromes, and the 9 Realms collection by Crowstoes.  As a brand, Crowstoes stand head and shoulders above the rest for me.  The creativity behind each collection is just on a whole other level, so any new collection is something to get excited about, and boy did I get excited about this one!   Over the next few posts I'll be sharing with you all the polishes I picked up, and I'm starting with my favourite: Huginn and Muninn.

Art Credit: Jarnsaxe@DeviantArt

The 9 Realms collection is inspired by Norse mythology. In Norse legend, Huginn ('thought') and Muninn ('memory') are the raven avatars of the god Odin, they flew throughout the world and brought knowledge back to Odin.  The polish of the same name is a stunning multichrome in shades of royal purple, forest green and earthy brown:

Huginn and Muninn by Crowstoes - 9 Realms - natural light (shade)

Pictured here I'm wearing two thin coats over black, but from swatches I've seen you can achieve the same effect with three coats and no undies. The colour combination on this is strikingly beautiful, and quite unlike any other multichrome in my collection.  The green and purple complement each other beautifully, and the combination really drew to my mind the image of a mystical forest with dark green shade and purple autumn leaves, and the beady eye of a raven peering out from the canopy:

Art Credit: Ninjatic@DeviantArt

The multichrome effect is most apparent in natural light and shade.  Under artificial lighting one colour tends to dominate, depending on the direction of the light relative to the nail surface:

Upper Row and Lower Left: Artificial light, Lower right: natural light (shade)

In the swatch above you can see the gorgeous royal purple, the golden brown and green transitional shade, and the rich emerald.  In the lower right corner is a swatch taken in natural light and you can see the purple and green clearly together on the nail. In artificial lighting, at direct angles (ie most of the time) it's the purple shade that dominates, with the green appearing at higher angles/along the curved nail edge.

Huginn and Muninn by Crowstoes - 9 Realms - artificial light

This swatch captures the closeup detail of the two main colours at the opposing ends of the multichrome spectrum.  In the purple you can clearly see royal blue and magenta shimmer, and the green is a combination of forest green, teal and gold.  Quite how they managed to pack so much depth into one polish is a mystery to me.  I couldn't love this polish more, it's utter perfection.

Huginn and Muninn by Crowstoes - 9 Realms - natural light

I can confidently say that Huginn and Muninn will make it into my top 3 polishes for the year 2014. It has as sold out faster than any of the other 9 Realms shades but is not LE so keep your eyes peeled for restocks.  I picked mine up from Rainbow Connection for £10.25.

Dragon by A-England

Hello ladies! Continuing the A-England love-in, today's offering is the beautiful Dragon from the 'Legend' collection:

Dragon - by A England - artificial light

I'm not a fan of green polished in general but this one is a doozy.  A gorgeous shade of sage/emerald with gold and teal flecks to give it an amazing depth.  This really does look like the skin of a dragon (and on that theme, just wait till you see my swatches of Crowstoes Vanaheim! Yowza!).  The lovely soft holographic finish is a really pretty touch and it really comes alive in sunlight (see below).

Dragon - by A England - sun light

 This is two coats, with NE base and Essie Good to Go topcoat.  As ever, no issues with formula or application.  This polish (like all A-England's) also dries to a really nice glossy finish all on its own, so I add the topcoat only to extend weartime.

Dragon - by A England - artificial light

 In this closeup you can see the gold and teal particles that are threaded through this shade to give it that extra bling factor.  The gold adds fire (especially in sunlight) and the teal really lifts the green.  Like when you add coffee to a chocolate cake to make it taste more chocolaty, somehow the teal makes the green seem greener.

Dragon - by A England - artificial light

I picked up my bottle in a sale at http://www.a-england.co.uk/ for £6.  Adina holds these sorts of sales once or twice a year, and it's a great time to expand your collection.  Keep an eye out around Christmas time, alternatively you can check out the 'gem of the month' where each month one shade is at £6.  It's an absolute fricking steal for a polish of this quality.

Masterpiece - by Cadillacquer

Hello ladies! Today I have a perfect Halloween polish to share with you - "Masterpiece" by Swiss indie brand Cadillacquer.  This polish was part of the Cadillacquer 'Dexter' collection back in 2013.  Here I'm wearing two coats on top of NE base and beneath HK Girl topcoat.

Cadillacquer "Masterpiece" - artificial light

Masterpiece reminds me of zombies...I love the combination of green crelly base and ruby red shiny glitters.  It looks like blood spattered decaying flesh - and what girl wouldn't love that?  I'm a massive fan of all things zombie, so I had to have this.  I know that this is not what the maker intended, but having never seen an episode of Dexter I have no idea what the connection was supposed to be...

I got caught in a zombie apocalypse and it RUINED my mani! AAARRRHHHHGG!

Cadillacquer "Masterpiece" - artificial light

Formula and application were both excellent, and glitter placement was no problem. The glitter particles are red hexes of varying size, and they do seem to love to stick to the sides of the bottle, as you can see here. No amount of shaking would shift them but this polish is so packed with glitters that it's no problem to get plenty of them on the nail.  Not sure what will happen over time though if these settle...it might take some mighty shaking to resuspend them....



Cadillacquer "Masterpiece" - sunlight

I was impressed with the quality of the Cadillacquer polish, and this finish is really something quite unique (except for the other Cadillacquer polish that I'll show you in a later post...).   I bought my bottle from Rainbow Connection for £9.50.

Eleka Nahmen by Smitten Polish

Hello ladies!  With the arrival of Spring, and St Patrick's Day around the corner I have the perfect nail polish for you - "Eleka Nahmen" by Smitten Polish.  This is from the "words of magic" collection which take their inspiration from spells and incantations used in popular films and culture.  After a bit of googling I found that "Eleka Nahmen" is a quote from witchy musical "Wicked".

Eleka Nahmen by Smitten Polish - artificial light

Eleka Nahmen is one of the most phenomenal polishes I have ever seen, let alone worn.  Like its collection mate (and a personal favourite of mine) Klaatu Barada Nikto this polish has an astonishing amount of sparkle.  On the nail it's simply mesmerising.  Here I'm wearing my customary two coats, atop NE base and beneath SV topcoat.

Eleka Nahmen by Smitten Polish - artificial light

This is a lime neon jelly packed solid with ultra-sparkly holo glitter in shades of green and a surprisingly lovely sky blue that really gives this polish an extra pop.  On the nail it looks like crushed emeralds.  I'm actually not a fan of green at all, it's my least favourite colour, and I absolutely love this polish which goes to show just how special it is.  In the shade, with no direct light hitting it, this polish looks like a really fun neon lime polish with the glitters giving it a speckled look.  But 99% of the time, in all types of light, this is a total glitter bomb.

Like Klaatu Barada Nikto the formula is really rather hard to work with due to the glitter content.  It has huge 'clump and drag' issues which can be overcome by using generous coats, and not going over the same strip twice until its mostly dry. Also be warned - this must have topcoat.  On its own this dries to a matt, gritty looking finish, almost like a textured polish, but with a single coat of Seche its transformed.  It's not a 'thirsty' glitter, one coat of topcoat will do the trick for a smooth glossy finish.

Eleka Nahmen by Smitten Polish - glitter bomb!

In case the rest of this review wasn't clue enough, I highly recommend this polish.  It's utter amazeballs.  I picked up my bottle from Rainbow Connection UK (link on suppliers page) for £8.20.  Sadly it doesn't look like its in stock at the moment - but Klaatu Barada Nikto is in stock and I would also highly recommend getting your mitts on that one!

I'll also have one final polish from the magic words collection for you another day - they purple offering "Imperio".  Until then, happy St Patricks day!

Picture Polish Aurora

Greetings Ladies!  Allow me to introduce you to one of my favourite polishes of all time....Picture Polish "Aurora"....

Picture Polish Aurora

Aurora is, bar none, the most astonishing multi-chrome polish I have ever seen.  Like its name suggests, this polish is the embodiment of the Northern Lights.  The colour shift is predominantly Emerald - Magenta - Purple but there are hints of blue and gold peeking through.  As if all that wasn't excitement enough this polish is also packed with multichrome glitter that is similar to Ozotic 528 (hardly a big surprise given that Picture Polish is made by the same company as the now-discontinued Ozotic).

Picture Polish Aurora - one bottle, a rainbow of colour

Pictured here I'm wearing a couple of coats of Aurora over a plain black polish ('Just Black' by No.7) to make the colour shift pop.  As usual, there's NE base underneath is all and HK Girl topcoat to finish it off.

Picture Polish Aurora - a chameleon polish

This polish simply has to be seen to be believed.  Sadly this is really limited edition.  Originally it was announced there would only be 800 bottles worldwide and that customers would be limited to purchasing one bottle each.  Nail polish addicts worldwide went absolutely crazy trying to get hold of it and it sold out in tens of minutes.  Then miraculously they announced that a further 1000 bottles were going to be made available.  That's some smart marketing right there...

Picture Polish Aurora - natural light

The best colour shift is seen in natural light, in the shade.  It's then that you see several colours on the nail at once and it's 10x more beautiful than this crappy phone camera picture suggests.  In fact it was so pretty that I actually had to drive with gloves on because the effect was so distracting I was worried I was going to crash my car.  I'm absolutely serious about that.  This here is crash your car nail porn. In artificial light, most of the time this polish appears one colour, but whichever colour it picks is GORGEOUS...sit back and enjoy the show:

Picture Polish Aurora - artificial light

This emerald green shade is the dominant colour, and its a beautiful jewel tone, I'd love a polish that was just this single colour all the time. 

and it's also a lovely royal blue....

and a fabulous magenta/purple....

It's so many colours, and all of them gorgeous. What I loved about this polish were those moments when three or more colours were on the nail at the same time, the combination of the green and the pink is just astonishing. 

I bought my bottle from Sally Magpies (link on supplier's page) for £13.50.  There will apparently be a restock of this shade sometime in March (at Sally's and at Rainbow Connection).  So get your clicking figures at the ready ladies because you're not going to want to miss this. 

I predict that this will be my favourite polish of 2014...

Also check out collection-mates Borealis, Gravity, Altered State, Solar Flare & Illusionist.

Spring Greens



This week's manicure was a spring inspired combination of the mettalic shimmer "Metamorphosis" by Color Club and the gorgeous topcoat "Platinum Wishes" by Jessica.  Just look at how pretty these are in the bottle....



Jessica "Platinum Wishes" and Color Club "Metamorphosis"


This was my first experience of both brands, and I was very pleased with the application, formula and brushes.  The Color Club brush was narrower, but easy to use.  Metamorphosis is gorgeous on its own as a lovely sparkly mettalic shade.  It's very sheer, so I used three generous coats to get full opacity.  This polish was from a TK Maxx bargain hunt where I grabbed an 8 bottle set of the "Take Wing" collection which are all butterfly wing inspired mettalics, for a stonking £8.  That's how much a single bottle retails for online here in the UK.

Jessica "Platinum Wishes" and Color Club "Metamorphosis" - Artificial Light

Pictured here we have Nail Envy basecoat, three coats of Metamorphosis, two coats of Platinum Wishes and one coat of Seche Vite.  I think two coats of Seche would have been better as this still had a grainy feel to it, but by that time it was late at night and I couldn't be bothered waiting for another coat of polish to dry.  It's a hard life sometimes.
The Jessica glitter coat looks like a total glitter bomb in the bottle, with a mixture of bronze, gold, teal and blue round glitters that remind me of the colours of a peacock.  This would look gorgeous layered over quite a few different shades with that range of colours in there.  It does come out more sparse on the nail than you'd expect from the bottle, but with patience you could build this up to get the effect you want.

Jessica "Platinum Wishes" and Color Club "Metamorphosis" - Natural Light

A word of warning though - I have never had so much trouble removing a polish in my life!  I was at it for over half an hour, used two different brands of remover AND the foil method and was beginning to think amputation was the only answer.  I don't know which of the polishes was more to blame, or whether it was just the sheer number of coats, but this sucker was a b*tch to get off and my fingers were left a charming shade of green afterwards.  Still it was pretty while it lasted.  Spring might not be happening here in Scotland but it was happening on my nails this week :)