Monday 29 July 2013

Manicure Monday: Midnight Snow

Hello Princesses!

This Monday I'm loving I Love Nail Polish's Up to Snow Good!

After last Thursdays somewhat fail swatches, I really wanted to create a mani with Up to Snow Good that I really loved, but also something not so obvious (like pastels, white, or mint green)

Then the idea of midnight snow came to my mind. 
I've never really spent much time around snow, but I went skiing once when I was 12! I can only vaguely remember the trip, but I do remember how beautiful it was when it was ever so lightly snowing.

I created this mani by layering ILNP's Up to Snow Good over Skinfood's Black Nail Polish. Up to Snow Good has so many different glitters and flakes I had to scrape some off to make this mani look more effective!

You can check out my review of the rest of my I Love Nail Polish collection Here!

 What's your favorite winter polish?

Friday 26 July 2013

Review: I Love Nail Polish

Hello Princesses!

Today I'm going to be reviewing one of my very favorite Indie Nail Polish Boutiques; I Love Nail Polish!

 This post is going to be super long and picture heavy, so consider yourself warned! ;)

Founded in 2012, ILNP started out as a hobby that quickly turned into a unique way to express a passion for detail, color, and all things fashion.

 I found this store through my NZ Polish Addicts group on facebook (of course) and was immediately tempted into buying some polish by looking through the Ultra Mini selection! I absolutely love buying sample's or mini versions of products. The mini bottles are good for about 3 - 4 mani's and by that time I know if I want to purchase the full sized bottles! 

I find the ILNP store incredibly easy to navigate, and it has a really classic pretty theme! The home screen highlights new products or sale products (or both!) 

Shipping is slightly more expensive, but really fast, taking only 8 days to reach NZ. The polishes are super secure and are bubble wrapped twice as well as being in adorable individual boxes! ILNP even have personalized tissue paper to wrap everything in.




Now onto the polishes! All of the holographic polishes have been photographed with flash and without. The glitter toppers are all swatched in the order; One coat, Full coat, and two different colour bases. ^^

Blue Steel
 I originally ordered Blue Steel, but due to a mix up in my order I received 1st and 15th instead, which I found quite hilarious because I didn't realize until just now as I was writing this and checking my links were correct. I have no regrets about this at all. I never ever would have picked green on my own, but this polish is just amazing! I'm so glad I didn't miss out on seeing this one in person.

  1st and 15th
1st and 15th is a spectacular bright green holographic nail polish that sparkles like nothing else! It's like finding money on the ground! Jam packed with holographic pigment, 1st and 15th falls into ILNP's "Ultra Holo" class of holographic nail polishes.
(With Flash)
This polish sparkles like nobody's business, it was actually harder for me to get the "non flash" photo than it was to capture the holo effect on the flash photo. It's just gorgeous!
 

11:59
11:59 is an elegant black glitter nail polish accented with the perfect amount of gold glitters and shreds. This polish looks great on top of so many different base colors -- make sure you experiment! 
Conservative girl that I am, I paired 11.59 with a nude and a black polish, though it looks absolutely amazing over anything that you pair it with! It has so many small golden glitters in the base that with just one coat it looks great!


A Touch of Mint
An amazingly delicate mint colored nail polish, A Touch of Mint is exactly what you're looking for! A Touch of Mint is loaded with SpectraFlair holographic pigments that add a very subtle holographic sparkle in the right lighting. Keep in mind that this polish is very light in color and that the holographic effect is affected by this. If you're looking for a subtle holographic nail polish, A touch of Mint will satisfy your taste buds.
(With Flash)
This is a very gorgeous subtle polish, in the most delicate shade of mint. I've used up about 2/3rds of the bottle and will definitely be purchasing the full size! 


 Angel Burp
Angel Burp is a beautifully soft pink nail polish comprised of a unique collection of translucent glitters. I've added a bit of iridescent glitter to the mix to soften the neighboring pinks and the result is adorably feminine. The iridescent glitters in the mix change from a soft blue to an even softer yellow depending on the angle. Hope you love this little cherub of a polish :)
The first time I used this polish I was shocked to see teeny bubbles in the suspension base! This was my first ever case of bubbling polish, so I sent Barbra an email, she responded suggesting that I use a couple of drops of nail polish thinner, and that worked perfectly! I'm so super duper happy! ^^
I featured this polish on my previous Manicure Monday, and I don't think I've ever had so many compliments on a mani before! This polish amazing, and I've seen some other girls using it over non pastel colours and it still looks amazing! The iridescent glitters change colour depending on what colour is underneath them and what angle the light is on, and the pink isn't overwhelming which makes this polish so versatile! It's probably one of my favorite nail polishes at the moment!  


 Babes in Toyland
This lovely lacquer was made using the perfect variety of green, fuschia, blue, and gold glitters. I wanted to create something colorful and fun to include in my winter collection and Babes In Toyland came out just right! Babes In Toyland looks great layered over just about anything.
This is such a fun polish! It reminds me of the rainbow fish book I used to read when I was a child. ^^
 It has a great glitter distribution, you don't have to double dip or fish around to get the right gliters, I love it!


Chloe
(With Flash)
Chloe has been discontinued, but she was a beautiful subtle purple holo polish. She will be missed.


Ginger Spiced Latte 
This tasty goodness was brewed up using a combination of coppers, gold, and caramel glitters. Ginger Spice Latte is a yummy & comforting polish that just works. Layer it over a neutral color and you'll be drooling over your fingertips almost immediately!
 
 I particularly love this polish in full colour, it's a gorgeous gold colour that's not quite as attention seeking as a full gold mani, but still shines! It also looks great layered over neutrals, or as an accent nail in pastel mani's!   


Glass Slipper 
Glass Slipper is a simple and elegant pink and teal glitter nail polish accented with just the right amount of silver to make you say "WOW!" This nail polish is absolutely gorgeous yet very subtle. Glass slipper looks wonderful over lighter colors (try pastels!!).
You can see that my bottle has bubbled up, but that's already been fixed with a drop of polish thinner! ^^ This polish is incredibly pretty, and looks amazing over darker colours as well as pastels!


Grande Sunset 
Grande Sunset is a stunning coral nail polish infused with a generous amount of SpectraFlair holographic pigments. Photos don't do this nail polish justice! You have to see this in person in the sun to truly appreciate how pretty it is!
(With Flash)
This polish is so pretty! In different room lighting it can lean towards a pink coral or an orange coral. The photo's don't do it justice at all, this is a polish you need to see in real life!


Little Mermaid 
Little Mermaid is a super fun and vibrant glitter topper created using a mix of blue in different hues, silver sticks and pink prism glitters. If you're looking for the perfect mermaid nail polish, you've found it! Layer Little Mermaid over a blue base to get an amazing shimmery blue ocean look right on your fingertips!
This polish is mermaids in a bottle! I'm not sure if I even need to add anything to the summarize this polish. Its amazing. Buy it. 


My Cat Suit 
All black. Holographic. Oh yes! My Cat Suit is a straight to the point black polish stuffed with SpectraFlair holographic pigments. The absolute black color of this polish really lets the holographic effect pop! You'll be staring at your nails all day!
 
 (With Flash)

 
(My cat suit and 11.59)
I stared at my nails all day long that's for sure! My Cat Suit looks amazing in real life and on camera! The holographic rainbows are just transfixing!


Up to Snow Good 
 Up to Snow good is made up of a variety of translucent, teal, blue, white, aqua, prism and pearl glitters. The polish reminds me of those mints that we all tried to bite on in the dark to make spark. I never could get that to happen… must have been a conspiracy to get gullible children to buy mints instead of chocolate. 
I'm not in love with these photo's, but I'm totally in love with the polish! I vow to create an amazing mani with this polish!


Holographic Polishes
 I absolutely love the range of holo polishes ILNP has! They range from ultra holo's (jam packed with holo goodness) and normal holo's (more subtle holo effect) with colour ranges to satisfy everyone! The consistency of these polishes are fantastic, and I especially love that they are available in the mini size! 5/5


Glitter Toppers
 The glitter toppers are quite something! I like how ILNP have put a lot of thought into their range, including polishes like Little Mermaid and Up to Snow Good which are more themed than plain singular glitters. The consistency of the suspension base is not always even, leaning more towards the thicker side which can result in teeny bubbles (like we saw with Angel Burp!) Thankfully this is quickly and easily remedied by a couple of drops of nail polish thinner. 4.5/5





ILNP Store
 I had an amazing experience shopping with ILNP! There are gorgeous polishes to chose from, frequent sales, and Barbra is super nice and helpful! I emailed her about the bubbles in Angel Burp and she replied within 12 hours, and even offered me a replacement! ILNP also sends super sweet emails when you sign up with them that include discount codes (yay!) The only negative aspect I can find about the store is that the shipping is a little more expensive than usual. I find that the shipping is better quality than what I would usually get from overseas, and faster, so I'm pretty happy to pay for that ^^ 4.5/5



Currently on my wish list are;
 A Twist of Lemon
Bunny Tails 
Sniffany 
Strawberry Creme 
A Few Shah 
Cashmere Sweater
 Pixie Dust 

I can't wait to order from ILNP again! There's still a lot of polishes with 40% off, so go and have a look while the sale is still on! 
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