Hi Goddesses
A couple of weeks ago, the lovely Elizabeth from Tough As Nails Lacquer offered to send me a couple of polishes to review. I'd wanted to try her polishes for a while, but she doesn't ship to the UK, so I literally squealed with excitement.
As I've mentioned, I was on an unlucky roll with polishes for review, everyone was sending me green or white, but thankfully I got a pink, a black and an orange - let's get swatching shall we ?
I started with this, DAMN GURL, a gorgeous pinky purply fuschia-y glitter. Total bomb.
Just look at how it sparkles !! I layered it over KIKO 278, a lovely sparkly purple that totally played into the hands of the glitter.
I just love how Damn Gurl fizzes on the nail, and how many facets she has. This isn't just a random bunch of glitters, there's artistry in this. Totally gorgeous.
Next I tried Spacing Out, which is basically a galaxy in a bottle. This is not a polish I would usually buy, as I struggle with really dark colours, but nevertheless, there is beauty here.
Spacing Out is a black jelly with all sorts of blue and silvery glitters in it. I chose to wear it layered over Barry M Navy (to take the edge of the black), and I like the dimension this gave it, bringing out greeny tinges and glimmers.
It's hard reviewing a polish you wouldn't wear in real life, but I can assure you, it's not a cop out when I say, I really like this, it's just not for me. I might not buy it, but I can still admire the glitter mix, the smooth application and the gorgeous squelch of colours.
And finally, Shut Your Sweet Potato Pie Hole. This was the one I was most excited to try, but I ended up being slightly disappointed - NOT because of the polish, but I just couldn't get it to dazzle like it does in the bottle.
This is a stunning orange glitterbomb, a cosmic marmalade, and initially I thought it was a topper, like Damn Gurl. In these photos, I layered it over various bases - China Glaze Velvet Bow on the thumb (way too dark), Barry M Block Orange on the index and middle, and then CG Life Preserver on the ring and pinkie.
I wasn't totally happy with my photos, and I just couldn't work out why, and then a few days later I saw THIS post from my friend Victoria at Manicurator. Ggggrrrrr look how shiny it is !! She had worn her SYSPPH on it's own, and it was soupy enough to reach opacity in 2 to 3 coats.
So, back to the drawing board. Nice. Nicer, but still not as glossy as Vic's photos.
The other thing that was intriguing me was how much SYSPPH reminded me of NerdLacquer Regeneration. Same complexity of glitters, and I remember the same disappointment of not being able to get my Nerd as shiny as I wanted. Unfortunately my swatch photos of it are REALLY bad, but with the sadness that is the disappearance of Amanda, this may be a great way to get your Nerd fix.
All 3 polishes applied easily with no lumping, bumping or drama. The glitter was even and went where I wanted it to without any foraging techniques! It's the complexity of these glitters I most like - they aren't just a random blend, there is genuine thought and creativity here.
Tough As Nails has her Etsy shop here and a Facebook page here. Her polishes are $9 for a full bottle and $5.50 for a mini. These polishes were sent to me for my honest review.
Enjoy xx :)