Brand of the Year Part 1 - Literary Lacquers

Hi Goddesses

When I started thinking about my end of the year posts, I realised quite quickly that there were 3 brands who had dominated the year for me.  It didn't seem fair to just include them within the other posts, so here today is the first of my Brand of The Year posts.


Literary Lacquers has dominated my year.  I love Amy to pieces and her understanding of what makes a good polish is poetic.   If you haven't yet read my Crumpet Chats To piece with her, I really recommend you do - it's one of my favourites.


So, why do I love Literary Lacquers?
* well, she's made some of the best holos of the year (see below)
* she's not a glitterholic
* her polishes are very classic and re-wearable - even I have worn her polishes more than once!
* she makes a quality product at a great price
* there is no restock madness


Ok and here's the gooey bit - I really feel her polishes are made with love, rather than churned out as a cash cow.  If you're a fan, you'll know Amy draws her inspiration from books, so every polish is rooted in something that means a lot to her emotionally or culturally, and for me, that's a huge part of what gives this brand its unique feel.


So here, in no particular are my FAVOURITE Literary Lacquers of the Year.  I've been quite brutal and limited it to 8.  And one final word - I haven't yet swatched all of the Community Collection, so none of those polishes are in this list, although they probably deserve to be.


If It Pleases You



THIS was the moment I knew Literary Lacquers was the brand for me :)   Stunning purple holo, but built on a brown, rather than blue, base.   Just drop dead gorgeous.


Greatest Treasures



Technically, this came out in 2012, but I didn't get my paws on it and blog about it until January.  This is just a sensational colour.  So deeply pigmented and glorious and happy and juicy and  .... hhhhmmmm, I really should wear this again.


Bionic Mmmm Detector



This is soooo not a Crumpet-y polish, yet I lost my heart to it anyway.  Blackened teal base with the most amazing glitter mix.  This also looked a knockout with matte top coat.


Roissey



I don't think this polish was very appreciated when it was released, but I loved it, from the shimmery incandescence of the blue to the shards of glitter.  Needs undies, but utterly glorious.


Zipless



Although I've fallen out of love with glitter, I always have room to love a fire coloured glitter, and this just lit up like a bonfire on the nails.


More Like Fire Than Light



THE orange polish of the year (which couldn't be featured in the orange post because it was going to get loved in this one).  This is bright, instensely linear and a dead on dupe for the other equal best orange holo of all time, Enkelini Lainey Lou.

I'm Drinking Stars



For no other reason than how UNUSUAL it is - beigey golden holoey goodness - cold yet warm, silver yet gold - what are you???  lol




Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster



Wow, I really wish I had the words.  This polish blew me away.  Intensely pigmented, super duper holo, added sparkle - just an utter gem of a polish.  My favourite LL of the year.

Have you fallen in love with Literary Lacquer this year?  What was your favourite LL polish ?

Matte Week - Literary Lacquers Bionic Mmmm Detector and some Ants!

Hi Goddesses

It's time for another Theme Week with Emma,  Ashley and Kerrie and this week's theme is Matte, if for no other reason than Mmmmmatte Mmmmmay sounded funny :)

I have to say I am really guilty of not matting my manis enough.  I look at other blogs who do it more frequently, and gasp at how sometimes it's the perfect extra touch.  I think part of the reason is that I use the Essie matte polish and I am not a huge Essie fan (subconsciously maybe I just "can't" reach for the bottle lol), so I am really looking forward to getting my paws on the OPI version.

This mani is a total accident, and it really only came about because the base polish was so beautiful that I couldn't bear to take it off.  This is Literary Lacquers Bionic Mmmm Detector which you saw HERE, with some stamping over the top.

The stamping is this great ant design from MJ3.  I think they're ants rather than beetles - aren't they?    The character of an insect seemed to sit really well with the murkiness of the polish.

The matte coat, wow.  I loved BMD before, but you can't deny that the matte takes it to a whole other level.   Everything is magnified.  The teal becomes more alive, the shapes of the glitters are more defined.  Wow.  It just WORKS.

Enjoy xx :)

Literary Lacquers - My Secret Garden, John Thomas Lady Jane and Bionic Mmmm-Detector

Hi Goddesses

And welcome to the last post featuring polishes from Literary Lacquers' The Good Parts Collection.  For this one, I'm combining 3 polishes, and there's a bit of a funny story to explain why ....

When Amy sends me polishes, she sends me a mixture of full  sized and mini bottles.  I used to think this was random or to reduce shipping costs, but no.   Amy sends me minis of the polishes she knows I will not love, and full sizes of the ones she knows will make me drool.  Funny thing?  She gets it SPOT ON.  So here are the 3 where she sent me minis :)  And yup, there's a lot of green in this here post :)

Let's start with My Secret Garden.  This is a delicate pastel matte glitterbomb.   Whilst these aren't my favourite colours for a glitter, I loved that it was in a base full of shimmer.   This is named after the book of the same name by Nancy Friday.

I pondered long and hard on what to layer this over.  Eventually I decided, if it's a garden, and these are the petals, there needs to be green!  So I chose Barry M Lime Green, and I think it plays off those colours awesomely.

Next is the one that even Amy knew I wouldn't like lol - the green!  This is John Thomas / Lady Jane, which takes its inspiration from Lady Chatterley's Lover (a disappointing read, in my opinion).

Something weird seems to happen when I review green polishes.  It's as if every cell in my body protests against it, and my application becomes sloppy, my coverage is uneven ... it's almost funny.  So no, I didn't like this one, but if you're a green lover you'll like that there are different shades of green in here.

And finally .... Bionic Mmmm-Detector.   Hilarious name!  This one comes from Vox by Nicholson Baker.  Read this - this entire book is one long anonymous phone sex conversation over a 1-900 number .. the book gained notoriety as the book famously given to President Clinton by his young intern, Monica Lewinsky.

Ok - now the part that will really blow your mind.   This is awesome !!!  Yes, it has teal in it, and green glitters, and it's a blackened base (all of them things I hate) but wow wow wow this works so well.  Will you LOOK at it :)

This polish is just witchy deviant perfection.   I can imagine witches wearing this, and letting it chip as their looks decay and their toads decompose.  It's fabulous!   It also looks great with a matte top coat - keep any eye out for that in the next few weeks!  3 coats of Stu-UH-ning!

I want to say a big thank you to Amy for sending me these polishes.  I honestly can't remember when I've loved an entire collection more.  The holos blew me away and the 2 blues are perfection.  Oh, and don't forget Zipless ....  They are all available to buy HERE, and you can follow Amy on Facebook HERE.

Enjoy xx :)