Sweet Baby Octopolish!

Apparently, I'm still in a blue polish mood, but a little lighter and more springtime than my last look... indoor, bright CF lighting for all photos Lilac Fairy, from Pahlish's 2019 Russian Ballet Collection, is a soft sky blue with a delicate ruby-pink contrasting shimmer. It's a fairly sheer but buildable crelly formula that came up to opacity in 3 smooth and even coats.  This wore nicely and gave me no troubles with application.  Rating:  4 out of 5 stars.  Equally lovely as a midwinter frosty look or as a springtime change-of-seasons, Lilac Fairy isn't lilac per se but is pretty fairy-esque.  I love contrast shimmers, and this one isn't POW in your face but it is very wearable. Where to buy:  Pahlish usually rotates her collections out within a year or so, and I don't believe you can still buy this direct from her .  Keep an eye out for destashes & blog sales. ~Michelle 

Leaping back to a saturated color, when the man suggested green I picked out this aurora-bomb of color. indoor, bright CF lighting for all photos Utterly delicious.  Lemming Lacquer released Hunger as part of a series dedicated to Florence + The Machine, and this one is inspired by the album cover for Lungs, and I think it's a fantastic match. Hunger is a very teal-leaning saturated green with a fine scattered holo shimmer and loaded in warm ruby to copper aurora shimmer This went on in two smooth coats, and I had no troubles with the brush or formula.  I have to say I'm a fan of these big chunky square bottles - yeah, they take up more room on the shelf, but they feel so sturdy and they're pretty impossible to knock over on your table. In angled lighting, the shimmer shifts over to a deep emerald and completely masks the teal leanings of the base color.  It's a lovely effect that blazes just gloriously in sunlight... but between the dreary weather we're having late...

 One of my fave brands had an absolutely stunning deep blue with rainbowy aurora shimmer, and before I clicked "buy" I thought wait a sec, where have I seen that before... indoor, bright CF lighting for all photos Aaaaaah, yes, that's it.  In yet another example of "stunning things I've left untried for literally years" we have the amazing Mortal Coil, which Laquester released way back in 2017.  I was stunningly in love with the green version, which I wore nearly immediately on arrival , yet somehow never got around to the OG stunner.   This is a very slightly dusty navy blue, lightly dusted with holographic microglitters and filled to the brim with a gorgeous aurora shimmer that shifts red to bronze to green.  My nails were always multiple colors at once and the little holo sparks shone out like stars in a night sky. lookit that shift! This polish is staggeringly beautiful in bright sunlight... of which we had absolutely none after the first day I wore it....

It's the height of summer dragonfly season, and I've been seeing so many beautiful jewels flying around that I was absolutely inspired to bring some with me everywhere I go. On my "jelly donut mani" base of 1 coat Fancy Gloss Got Milk + 1 coat Ethereal White Smoke, I've stamped several different dragonfly images from KADS Flower 015 and any other plate I found with a realistic looking design.  I then filled in the dragonfly bodies were with various holos, some as leadlighting and some as reverse-stamping... but then promptly could not get a bright sunlight photo to show off the sparkle.   I totally loved this look, wearing it for a whole week.  Hope you get out to enjoy some summer sunshine while it lasts! ~Michelle 

Many different brands keep releasing staggeringly gorgeous aurora shimmers that take a slice out of the rainbow to dance across your nails.  I'm trying like anything to not buy multiple versions of what I already have, so pulling this lovely example out this week: indoor, bright CF lighting Lust At Sea was KBShimmer's offering for the August 2021 Elements themed PPU.  It's a deep violet-purple base overflowing with this rainbow-y aurora shimmer that flashes gold to green to peachy to electric blue. window-filtered indirect daylight This color was always visually opaque with two perfect coats IRL, but it's clear in some photos that the base is somewhat sheer, with the dense shimmer that's providing coverage.  It shifts every color of the ocean, with mostly cool-toned gold and aqua sparks. outdoor, bright direct daylight In bright and direct lighting, the purple base takes center stage, with just a flash of icy champagne gold highlights, looking far more medium-purple...

Well it seems I'm all mixed up on my alternating light then dark looks... so I'm pushing "reset" with a paler shade. indoor, bright CF lighting The man said "blue" when I asked for color inspo, and I decided that would be a soft sky blue instead of a big stormy saturated one.   window-filtered indirect daylight Cadillacquer released Trolljegeren for the October 2021 Monsters & Mythicals PPU.  It's a very sheer, barely-there sky blue that's been jam-packed full of aurora shimmer and opaque matte blue hex glitters in at least 2 sizes. window-filtered indirect daylight The formula on this was absolutely superb, with no fishing or placement needed to get the glitters to spread out roughly evenly, and with extremely simple cleanup. indoor, bright CF lighting It's a bit of a chameleon, looking more sparkly and leaning much warmer in bright light when the aurora shimmer is most prominent.  In lower lighting, the aurora takes a back seat to the subtl...

Well, when you do one hand light and the other dark, it throws the whole "alternate each mani between those" plan to the wind, so I decided to reset with a fresh, light color.  indoor, bright CF lighting Arctic Chill was a custom made for Ethereal Lacquer's fan group back in 2020.  It's basically the super bright aurora shimmer that's very much a part of her house style loaded into a delicate aqua-blue base. outdoor, direct sunlight In any degree of sunlight, this is a stunner - super fiery, sparking bronze-red to gold in direct light, and shifting over to green at angles. outdoor, direct sunlight The base is quite sheer, as is evidenced by air bubble easily visible in the bottle shots, and I'm wearing 3 coats to get to the degree of opacity you see here. indoor, bright CF lighting The sheerness means this would would be perfectly effective as a topper over any color that complimented the base color (blues, aquas, greens, and cool-leaning purples). outdoor, di...

Swinging over to a rich, dark, dramatic color after my neutral palate cleanser... indoor, bright CF lighting Every month so many makers release utterly gorgeous creations on Polish Pickup that it's real easy to go broke buying all the amazing one-time things.  But I, my dears, am valiantly attempting to stick to a no-buy as much as possible, so it's time to shop my stash, and here's what I found. window-filtered daylight My first go-round with Lolipop Posse Lacquer, The Final Sacrifice was released with PPU back in February 2020.  It's an inky-dark navy blue filled with finely milled aurora shimmer and lightly dusted with ultra-small holo dust, inspired by the cover of Florence + the Machine's debut album, Lungs,  I love that album and I loved the swatch pics, so this was a must-buy that of course sat on Mount Untried ever since. outdoor, bright daylight To allow that shimmer to shine forth, the formula was a little thinner than expected, and TFS needed 2.5 coats to...

I knew that I wanted my next saturated dark shade to be a purple, and lately I've seen a few swatches of rich, vampy aurora shimmer purples that had me shopping my stash instead of clicking "buy now"... indoor, bright CF lighting UNFFF YASSSSS.  Exactly what I'm looking for. outdoor, bright afternoon daylight Lupercalia was the ancient Roman festival of cleansing, fertility, and wild abandon, so this lushly sensuous purple is absolutely perfect for its name.  A deep royal purple absolutely filled with finely milled red-to-gold aurora shimmer, it most often looks to be a plummy wine. indoor, bright CF lighting I'm wearing 3 coats here for full opacity, and each coat went on smoothly and trouble-free.   outdoor, bright daylight This polish is a stunner in sunlight, and just as beautiful in everyday indoor lighting.  Lupercalia is gorgeous with my skintone, and yet at the same time I think it'd be beautiful on most everyone as long as you enjoy colors this rich a...

This series has been rather fun, ricocheting back and forth from light to dark.  After my last super vampy but not quite black, I rebounded all the way over to iridescent white. all photos indoors with bright CF lighting Shleee Polish has been a huge fave of mine for a couple of years now.  She's absolutely a master at shimmery sparkle that contrasts beautifully (but never clashes) with a different base color, and I keep being lured into her weekly releases though I'm trying my darndest to stick to a no-buy otherwise. Ghostly Snapshot is a barely mint-tinted white crelly base, jam packed with a lovely coarse-milled aurora shimmer that shifts from spring pink in direct light to gold at slight angles, then on over to vibrant metallic spring green at steeper angles.  I'm wearing 3 coats here to bring this to full opacity. I was fairly hard on my hands this week, and the weather is utter crap, so I have only bottle shots indoors and no outdoor sunshine.  Also, these phot...

 A couple of years ago, in order to reach into my stash more, I went for a few months alternating a bright/nontraditional polish color with a neutral one.  I think this year (at least for a while) I'm going to try something similar, alternating between a dark polish and a light one. indoor, CF lighting After my black NYE mani, first up in the lighter side is this glowy and soft confection from Bee's Knees Lacquer. outdoor, late afternoon daylight Mora was originally a prototype for Indie Expo Canada, then became a gift with purchase during a sale event.  When a free polish arrives at your house that's both green and aurora-shifty, you are winning at life! outdoor, shady daylight Mora is a very sheer jade green jelly that is packed with a very fine-milled aurora shimmer that appears as a glowy shine in low light, a bright sparkly ruddy gold in brighter light, and shifts to minty green at angles. outdoor, angled afternoon daylight Mora is quite sheer - I'm showing 3 coats...