Lilypad Lacquer - Group Custom Review

Hey, guys! I know that I have really been neglecting the blog over the past couple of weeks, and for that, I do sincerely apologize. I'm not being a very responsible blogger, and that just isn't fair to you, the fans. My life has been crazy and hectic lately, and just a few minutes ago I managed to have another pretty big mishap that's going to set me back, but regardless of what's going on, I really need to take some time during the week to do what I love- blogging about awesome polish! That being said, let's get this show on the road!

Up for review today I have my very first group custom, and it is a beaut! I've been told that a few ladies still have yet to receive their custom, and because the name is supposed to be a secret, I'm not going to list it here because it wouldn't be fair to spoil the surprise for anybody. 

This gorgeous group custom was graciously made for us by Lilypad Lacquer. Lilypad Lacquer is another completely amazing Australian indie brand. Lilypad has a massive array of awe-inspiring, unique holographics, duochromes, multichromes, high sparkle colors, chameleon colors, and glitter polishes that are all hand-mixed and hand-poured by the owner. Let's face it- everyone adores Lilypad and people go crazy come restock time. I went a little overboard myself at the most recent restock (thanks to my best polish buddy, Jenn!) and I am now waiting for some new gorgeous Lilypad's to add to my collection. 

Below is a picture of the group custom in direct sunlight. 

The group custom (which has a really cool name) is meant to be an orchid scattered holo. I'd say it's definitely more purple than orchid, but it's really gorgeous nonetheless and I'm so glad it was my very first Lilypad!

The picture below shows the group custom in a lightbox. This picture was also taken three days after the original application, and as you can see it still looks like a fresh mani. There has been no tip wear at all.

For this manicure I applied one coat of ONS Space Shiver basecoat, then I applied two thin coats of the group custom (it's actually a one-coater. Two coats really wasn't necessary). I finished by applying one thick coat of HK Girl Topcoat. As you can see, the results were lovely. :)

The application for this polish was quick and easy, and the formula was fabulous. It had the perfect consistency, didn't apply weird, and dried with no streaks. I also enjoy the brush that came with this a lot. The smell wasn't too pungent, which is also a definite plus in my book. Dry time was very fast, and I didn't have any issues with it being too thick. This is definitely a top notch polish that I will use again and again. 

Below is a picture of the group custom inside, which shows off the holographic nature of the polish.

Even though this was a group custom and will not be available for sale to the public, Lilypad has so many other awesome polishes to choose from, so I highly suggest giving them a try! Amazing stuff, really. The owner is definitely a polish guru! 

If you would like to check out the Lilypad Lacquer store, you can do so by clicking here.

If you want to stay updated on restocks and all things Lilypad, you can 'like' them on Facebook by clicking here.

And that's all for today! I have a busy week ahead of my as I am partaking in my first job shadow this Wednesday which I'm super excited about! I had to purchase some scubs yesterday and I look super professional. ;)

Oh, and today is Dexter's birthday! My wittle puppy is a whole year old! He got a new house for his birthday, but I'm throwing him a party next weekend, so be sure to say "Happy Birthday, Dex!"

See you all in a few days!

-Alexandria

I Love Nail Polish - Dreaming In Violet Review!!

Prepare yourselves... Swatch spam is coming.

But, seriously, welcome back, everybody! And to all of my new followers, I am so happy to have you here! I've been a busy bee this week (what's new) with school and the usual mommy stuff. I've also been a sad panda because yesterday was the first day of spring and it was freezing cold on this godforsaken state. But, this beautiful spring colored polish was just what I needed! I am so incredibly excited about this review because I have been swooning over this polish all day! It's so freaking prettyyyy!!!! 

Tonight we have a review for Dreaming In Violet by I Love Nail Polish, which is part of their insanely gorgeous spring line. I'm not kidding. Every single polish in the spring collection is to die for, and I'm currently in the process of procuring them all, so I'm sure you will all be seeing them reviewed here at some point.

I Love Nail Polish is a nail lacquer boutique located in Las Vegas, Nevada. I Love Nail Polish has a large selection of gorgeous nail polishes- everything from glitter to multichrome to holos. ILNP also has great customer service and super fast shipping! And the fact that the polishes arrive all cutely packaged in customized packages is a nice plus. 

Dreaming In Violet is described as being "a tribute to Pantone's 2014 Color of The Year: Radiant Orchid." I have no idea why they decided to call it Violet, because it is most definitely a really pretty orchid color, but it's gorgeous nonetheless, and I love love love it! It might be my favorite polish out of my entire collection (which is getting up there in size, mind you). Dreaming In Violet is a breathtaking orchid holo that is a must-have for spring this year! I mean, who doesn't love orchid?!

(Look how pretty! Eep!)

For this manicure I applied my ONS Space Shiver basecoat, after which I applied two thin coats of Dreaming In Violet to achieve full opacity. I finished by applying one thick coat of HK Girl topcoat, and this was my result. Gah! This is the most perfectly pretty polish I've ever seen! 

The formula that I Love Nail Polish uses is positively fantastic, and I adore their consistency. I currently own five polishes from ILNP and the formula for each one is very close to being the same. The formula is that perfect not-too-thick-but-not-too-thin formula that I love so much, and it applies sooo smooth. I Love Nail Polish's also includes a rubberized grip on the brush handles, which is very convenient and helps a lot with application precision. The brush itself works like a charm and is one of the better nail polish brushes that I've used, and I'm sure we can all appreciate that the smell isn't too overpowering! 

I would easily rate Dreaming In Violet a 10 out of 10 (if not more, because I am clearly obsessed)! In fact, I think you all need to try this polish! 

The picture below shows the holographic effect of Dreaming In Violet.

If you would like to check out I Love Nail Polish you can do so by clicking here.

If you want to stay updated on all things I Love Nail Polish, you can follow them on Facebook by clicking here.

Here's your daily dose of Dexter! He's so stinkin' cute!

And that's all for this evening, folks! Thank you for stopping by, and if you like what you see, you can follow me on my other social media outlets! I'll have more fun polish stuff for you soon!

-Alexandria

Pretty Bitch Polish - Cold Shower Review

Good evening, gals and guys! Welcome back to Pop Polish Passion! I'm so glad you are all here! This evening's review is going to be short and sweet, because I am one tired Passionista. Tonight's review was actually meant to include three polishes, but I've had several awful nail mishaps today, so I suppose we'll have to make this into a two-parter. 

Up for review tonight, we have one of my all-time favorite polish brands! Pretty Bitch Polish is a fabulous indie brand based out of Pennsylvania! The owner, and Head Pretty Bitch, Jaclyn, is a lovely lady who is very sweet and interactive with her fans. Jaclyn makes magnificent polishes that have risqué names such as Kiss Me... Down There, Fuck Fuck Fuckity Fuck (my current favorite), and Sex Swing. I really, really adore these polishes and their dirty names! Pretty Bitch Polishes are hand-mixed, 5-free polishes with bad-ass names. These bitches have attitude for sure!

Cold Shower is a deep sky blue scattered holographic polish with gold shimmer and scattered gold microglitters. It is super unique and really gorgeous. The gold shimmer and glitters in this polish go amazingly well with the Sky blue color, and even though this type and color of polish isn't one I would normally be interested in, I really wanted to give it a try.

I would also like to mention that this polish was ROAK'd to me by an anonymous member of the Pretty Bitch Polish Collectors group on Facebook. Even though I don't know who gifted me this polish, I still wanted to mention it here because I am just so thankful and appreciative. I was gifted two polishes by two different anonymous ladies, and it was such a wonderful shock after an especially rough couple of weeks. The kindness and caring of the indie nail polish community is a truly beautiful thing and I'm so grateful that I get to be a part of it!

For my Cold Shower manicure I used ONS Space Shiver basecoat with three thin coats of Cold Shower. I topped it off with one thick coat of HK Girl topcoat. I think the results were really nice, and although I noticed that Cold Shower was a bit thinner in consistency than my Cold As Ice polish (see review for more information) it was not thin to the point of runny-ness and was still easy to apply. Jac is a polish goddess and she has an amazing formula, so I definitely suggest ordering a Pretty Bitch to try if you haven't already done so! I also really like the brush and bottle for this polish- the brush was nice and made for an easy application. The scent isn't too strong, either. 

Pretty Bitch Polish is very consistent with her polishes, which is big for me, and I'm so excited that my collection is growing! I plan to place another order during the April restock, which will include a line of pastel holos for Spring (I'm so excited about these new polishes!!). 

If you would like to check out the Pretty Bitch Polish website, you can do so by clicking here.

If you want to keep up on all things Pretty Bitch, you can do so by liking them on Facebook here.

And here's a picture of my handsome (pain in the ass) boyfriend and my handsome (super pain in the ass) puppy, Dexter, taking a nap. :)

That's all for tonight! Seeing as my nails are so effed up right now, I'm thinking of doing a post about my ever-growing collection and maybe some storage ideas tomorrow. But, don't quote me on that! I've gotten some really nice nail mail over the past couple of weeks that I'm super excited to share with you all! Thank you for stopping by, and as always, if you like what you see please follow me on all of my social media outlets!

-Alexandria

Aly's Dream Polish - Tiffanytea and Cheeky Lychee Review

Okay, lovelies, tonight's blog post isn't going to be as in depth as my posts usually are (I'm sure you are all jumping for joy right now at not having to read one of my very long, drawn out ramblings). The reason for this is the fact that a.) I have already done a very in depth review of Aly's (see my previous review on Aly's if you would like more information) and b.) it has been a very long day (I'm flipping exhausted). 

I know that I haven't been posting as much as I should (or could), and I just want you all to know that I will be working very hard to remedy this. Being a full time mom, girlfriend, pet owner, and college student is very time consuming, and lately I've simply been too exhausted to even think about swatching or writing up a review. But, no more, I say! Anyhow, I'm pretty sure you guys are ready for me to get to the good part...

Aly's Dream Polish! Fabulous indie polish maker located right here in the good ol' U.S. Of A! I'm pretty sure that everyone who has ever tried Aly's can attest to the fact that her polishes are top notch, and so freaking pretty. All of Aly's lacquers are handmade with cosmetic grade/high quality craft materials and are 4-free. Aly's has a ton of breathtakingly gorgeous colors. Such an amazing selection, and absolutely worth a look!

Since I live in Maine, and instead of having nice Spring weather, we just got a massive snow storm last night, I thought a Spring-ish looking mani would make me feel better. And what says Spring time better than pastels? The polishes I used for this manicure are Aly's Dream Polish Tiffanytea with Cheeky Lychee as an accent. Both of these polishes are part of the Macaron Collection, which I am absolutely in love with and am in the process of procuring.

Tiffanytea is a Tiffany blue holographic nail polish. It has a scattered, light holographic effect. 

Cheeky Lychee is a pastel pink holographic nail polish with scattered holo.

For this manicure I used my ONS basecoat. I then applied two relatively thin coats of Tiffanytea with two thin coats of Cheeky Lychee on my ring finger to achieve full opacity. I finished off by applying one thick coat of my HK Girl topcoat.

Both of these polishes were beautifully made, with great formulas. They are both very thin, but not enough to be runny, and application with these polishes was very easy. These polishes do not have a strong odor, and I really love the applicator brushes for these. I also really enjoy the fact that Aly's nail polishes are very consistent. I have four Aly's Dream Polishes right now and all of them apply the same and have the same finish. These polishes are just amazing! 

And there you have it, folks! The total awesomeness that is Aly's Dream Polish! I will definitely be a lifetime customer, simply because of the consistency that Aly offers. Consistency, in my opinion, is extremely important. I can't wait to add more of these beauties to my collection!

You can visit the Aly's Dream Polish website by clicking here. 

If you want to stay up to date on new things happening at Aly's, you can like them on Facebook by clicking here.

And, here's your daily dose of Dexter! Here is a picture of him after he had just eaten an entire chihuahua-sized cheeseburger. He was pooped!

That's all for tonight, ladies and gents! If you like what you see, click the follow button on the right hand side! If you really, really like it, click the 'Like' button on the right side of this page! I will have more polish-y goodness for you guys really soon!

-Alexandria

Colors by Llarowe - Beat It Review

Welcome, readers, to another episode of Pop Polish Passion (the blog)! Now, I know what you're all thinking- "Why hasn't this crazy woman done a blog post all week?!"- and I would just like to apologize for my absence. I've had the swatches for this post ready for days, but my son got sick and then, of course, I caught what he had. So, I've been feeling like a big bucket of crap all week long, and haven't even been able to muster up the energy to write up this review. But, alas, I am now feeling well enough to (hopefully) get the writing juices flowing so you all can read something remotely enjoyable. 

Colors by Llarowe is a very respected and loved brand in the indie world. Everyone wants CbL polishes, and it can get a little crazy at restock/release time. So, as an avid indie polish connoisseur, of course it was necessary for me to try one of these beauties! And, as usual, I was not unimpressed! All Colors by Llarowe polishes are hand-blended in large batches. They are 5-free and cruelty-free (which is SO important)!

Beat It is described as being a charcoal linear holo with a blue flash, but I found that it looked more like it was just a straight blue holo. The swatches on Llarowe were not really representative of how the polish actually looks in person. My photos really don't do this polish justice, either. Apparently it's just a tough one to capture. 

For this particular manicure I used my usual ONS Space Shiver basecoat. And, I would just like to add that I will be branching out and trying some different base coats very soon. I'm particularly interested in trying some of the peel-off basecoats, which a lot of people like to use for glitter polishes. Anywho, I then applied two pretty thin coats of Beat It. Finally, I applied one thick coat of HK Girl topcoat (which I am still very much in love with). 

Before I ever purchased my first Colors by Llarowe Polish I had been told by several people that the formula was very thick and that I would want to add some thinner to it to help it apply better. That scared me a little bit, to be honest. If I'm paying a bunch of money for one nail polish, I don't want to have to go and spend even more money on thinner just so I can use said polish. I'm happy to report that Beat It was the perfect consistency (I prefer my polish to be a little on the thicker side) and it applied like a dream without having to add any thinner. 

The formula for this polish is great and it applies very smooth. I also love it when a polish will reach opacity in as little as 1-2 coats and this is definitely one of those polishes. Beat It also dried fairly quick and had a lovely finish, even without the addition of topcoat. I've dealt with some nail polishes that applied just... Weird, and I love that Beat It was not one of those nail polishes. I would also like to note that Beat It wore very well and had no tip wear or chips after five days of wear. I'd easily give this nail polish a 10 out of 10.

The picture below shows the holographic nature of Beat It.

I am now in love with Colors by Llarowe and I will absolutely be purchasing more in the future! 

If you want to check out Colors by Llarowe you can do so by clicking here. And if you would like to stay caught up on the newest releases from Colors by Llarowe, you can like them on Facebook by clicking here.

That's it for tonight's review, lovelies! As usual, thank you so much for stopping by, and if you like what you saw please follow my blog or you can follow me on other social media platforms by clicking the links on the sidebar! I love to interact with my fans, so join me on my Facebook page and we can have some chitchats. 

Coming up next for Pop Polish Passion, we will have more awesome reviews (duh), also, as it's finally starting to get warm here in Maine, I will be attempting to take pictures of my swatches outside in the natural sunlight whenever possible, especially now that I won't freeze my hiney off! I know that I keep saying I'm going to have nail art up soon, but I really mean it this time. I wanted to try and perfect my swatching before I moved on to something else, and I think I'm getting pretty close, so keep an eye out for some fun nail art posts in the near future! I love you guys!

-Alexandria

Ethereal Lacquer - Phantasm Review

Good evening, polish lovers! I don't know about you, but I've had a very productive day today, and I'm feeling pretty damn accomplished. As I mentioned in my last post, I started new classes today! I'm taking Introduction To Medical Assisting and Pharmacology. They seem pretty awesome so far and I'm loving the fact that I don't have night classes for awhile! It leaves me with plenty of time to focus what I love- my nail polish blog! On the other hand, I'm exhausted because I got up much earlier than usual today because I have a sick little boy on my hands, so please bare with me here. I might ramble and i may make a few editing mistakes before I have a chance to look at this post again tomorrow.

Anyhow, we have another fabulous indie brand up for review tonight! Woo hoo! Ethereal Lacquer is an artisanal nail polish company that makes 3-free nail Polish. They are from The Empire State, and their mission is to create fun colors for people who love nail polish as much as they do! Ethereal has some really unique colors (which I love) and they are all breathtakingly gorgeous.

The Ethereal polish we have up for review tonight is called Phantasm. Phantasm is a multichrome holographic polish that shifts from turquoise (I'd say more of a royal blue- I see no turquoise at all) to violet with flashes of Amber. This polish is meant to be layered over a black undercoat, but as I said previously, I like to show my readers exactly what they're buying (which is code for "I don't own any black polish right now").

For this manicure I started out by applying a coat of my ONS Space Shiver basecoat. I then applied three very thin coats of Phantasm. Finally, I added one thick coat of my (amazing) HK Girl topcoat! Pretty basic stuff, but I just want to make sure everyone knows how to do this, because.... Well, you never know!

This polish really has a gorgeous multichrome quality. I've had a big obsession with multichromes recently, so I love this! The formula for Phantasm is very thin and smooth. The application was simple and it dried incredibly fast. Although I do generally like my polishes to be on the thicker side, the polish applied so nicely that I really didn't mind at all. It was thin, yes, but not to the point of it being runny. I'd easily give the formula a 9 out of 10.

Ethereal Lacquer is a company that is held in very high regard in the indie world, and I can certainly understand why. I am absolutely looking forward to expanding my Ethereal collection! 

Phantasm is so sparkly and colorful. It reminds me of something mystical from a fairy tale or something of the like. Definitely a fantastic color that gives you a nice, light and airy feeling. I got so many compliments on my nails today while I was wearing Phantasm. Good job, Ethereal!

The picture below shows the holographic nature of Phantasm.

You can visit Ethereal Lacquer by clicking here.

There you have it, Passionistas! The beauty that is Ethereal's Phantasm! I hope you all enjoyed, and I sincerely thanking you for stopping by to read my crap! We've got more fun stuff coming up very soon on Pop Polish Passion!  

-Miss Pop Polish Passion

Polish Me Silly - Steel My Heart and Tease Me Review

Hello again, dear readers! Another day, another blog post. I am in an awesome mood today because I got my report card and found out that I passed both of my classes! Woo hoo for me! I start my new classes on Monday, and I'm taking Pharmacology and Intro To Medical Assisting. My classes will also be much earlier in the day this mod, which should leave me plenty of time to do some blog posts during the week! But enough about me, I'm assuming you came here for nail polish, and nail polish is what you shall receive.

For tonight's review we have an indie company from the U.S. called Polish Me Silly. Polish Me Silly is a mother/daughter team that once went by the name of Lush Lacquer. This is really all of the information that I know about Polish Me Silly. I have, however, messaged back and forth with the owners (Karin and Lexi) and they have very good customer service. I had an issue with the consistency of the polishes I ordered (which I'm chalking up to the fact that the Polish shipped during extreme weather conditions) and Karin and Lexi promptly remedied the situation. Thanks so much, ladies!

The first polish up for review this evening is Steel My Heart. Steel My Heart is a multichrome color shifting polish that shifts from a variety of steel blue to other shades of blue to lavender, purple, and fuschia and finally to silver with pink and blue flakies. This is an extremely unique and beautiful polish! 

I've been told (not by Polish Me Silly) that this kind of chrome polish is meant to be worn with a black undercoat. I did not use any kind of undie in my swatches, simply because I feel that it can be misleading to people who might only be looking to see swatches, and not actually read my blog. I also want my readers to get the best possible idea of what a Polish will look like without adding any "extras" into the mix.

The picture below shows one coat of my new bottle of Steel My Heart with one coat of the old bottle of Steel My Heart on my ring finger.

The formula for Steel My Heart (the new bottle) is extremely thin. Although I generally like polishes that are on the thicker side, my original issue with the first bottle of Steel My Heart that I received was that it took a very long time to dry and I had a hard time with the application, and as I said before, I don't believe Polish Me Silly was at fault for any of those issues. The application for Steel My Heart was very easy, and all in all, I really enjoyed the formula. 

The picture below is four coats of Steal My Heart vs. two coats of the old bottle on my ring finger. Please note that this Polish has more of a silvery tone to it in person.

For this manicure I used my usual ONS Space Shiver base coat. I then applied four thin coats of Steel My Heart (except for the ring finger where I applied two coats of the old bottle). Finally I applied one coat of my (new! Squee!) HK Girl fast dry topcoat (which is AMAZING!!). And that's it! This nail polish does take a few minutes to dry, so if you're like me and forget your nails are wet and smack your nails off of everything... Well, just try and sit still!

Next up on the list we have Tease Me, which is also part of Polish Me Silly's Meet My Chromies Collection! Tease Me is an orchid colored duochrome. It shifts colors starting with a variety of purples to a variety of pink hues. It has a soft shimmer of blue and pink. Black base coat is recommended is recommended for this polish, however I did not use an undie for this one, either. 

The picture below shows three coats of the new bottle of Tease Me on the pointer and middle fingers, with four coats of the old bottle on the ring and pinkie fingers.

For this manicure I used my ONS Space Shiver basecoat (again). I then applied three rather thick coats of Tease Me, and lastly, I applied one generous coat of my HK Girl (I <3 you, HK Girl!). As far as formula is concerned for this polish, the first bottle was very very thin, and the second bottle I received was slightly thicker, but still thin and manageable. This nail polish was very easy to apply, and has a gorgeous hue. I will be swatching both of these polishes over black in the future, only because I'm interested in seeing how much of a difference it makes! 

And that's all for Polish Me Silly! I really enjoyed both of these polishes, and I love the fact that they are so unique! Polish Me Silly has a relatively new line called Meet My Chromies (which includes both polishes I reviewed this evening) that has a ton of other beautiful polishes! Seriously, when I ordered these polishes it took me over an hour to figure out what to get, because all of the polishes in this collection are so unique and just fabulous. Good job, Polish Me Silly, and keep up the good work!

You can check out Polish Me Silly by clicking here.

Here's a picture of my sweet wittle Dexter when he was just a baby. :)

Thank you so much for stopping by, lovelies! I'll have more fun stuff for you tomorrow!

-Alexandria