; Plisherrific: January 2018

Jan 29, 2018

Helping Hand - BeautyBigBang Nail Polish Holder Display J1413


Hello all! We were recently contacted by BeautyBigBang to test out some of their products and review them on our blog. We received our first parcel recently so we're jumping into it!

[BeautyBigBang nail polish holder]
First up is something I've been meaning to try out for a while. This is item J1413 - the Nail Polish Holder Display, a handy little gadget you can use to put your polish bottles in when they are starting to run out need a bit of tipping to let you get your brush nicely coated.

It comes packed safely in a cardboard box and isn't too large at all, so it won't take up too much space. The angle of the arm is adjustable where those screws are, and the clip section is a sturdy plastic, with a flat black elastic band around the middle for a secure grip.

[Left to right: OPI, Sally Hansen, Emily de Molly]
I decided to test out a few different bottles to check out if the grip was strong enough and if it could take the weight of these bottle. I tried an OPI bottle (rounded), a Sally Hansen (rounded square) and an Emily de Molly (squared). 

I was really impressed! All bottles were held up quite well and the holder base was large enough that it would not tip over easily even with these almost full bottles. I did find that with the square bottle, you get a better grip if you turn it diagonal so that the pointy sides of the square are against the black elastic band.

And here's an example of a different angle you can set it at, when you're really trying to mop up the leftovers in your polish!

Now I am more likely to run out of nail polish base and topcoats, so I pulled out a mostly used bottle of topcoat to demonstrate. 

There you go! Even though it's a bit hidden by the holder clip, you can see how the polish level is tilted in the holder, and the brush now sits more fully in the topcoat.

Overall, I think this is a pretty useful gadget if you're tired of having to cap and tilt your bottle in between nails. You can find this particular one here! We also have a handy 10% off code above that you can use, so don't forget to check out the other items at BeautyBigBang!


Jan 25, 2018

Rippling Change - Dance Legend Wind of Change, Composure, Hex

I'm trying something new here! So this is a result of combining colour changing nail polish with dry 'water marbling' mani. What do you think?

[Ripple Changes]
I kind of love the result. And the look of it just changes all the time, which keeps it even more interesting.

So, how I started was to apply 'water marbling' on my silicone nail art mat. I go into more detail on my method in this post.  I tried a couple different colours and drew two different patterns just so I could get a feel of the nail polishes and which colours would go well together.


[Water marble on silicone nail art mat]
Here's the mani peeled off the silicone nail art mat. I chose 9 with the same colours, and one for an accent nail to see how it would end up looking on my nails. The nail polishes I used were Dance Legend Wind of Change, Dance Legend Composure, and Dance Legend Hex. It's a Dance Legend theme!

Wind of Change is a blue to purple thermal colour changing nail polish with scattered holo microglitter. Ev and I have reviewed that in the past here and here.

I can't believe I don't have a swatch and review of Dance Legend Composure. I'll remedy that as soon as I have access to my nail polishes again, because that's a gorgeous nail polish. Composure is a pale gold to medium pink thermal colour change polish with larger silver flecks.

I also used Dance Legend Hex, a dusty red to almost-black rusty red thermal colour change nail polish which you can see a review of here.

I'll go through how I paired them below.

[Dance Legend Wind of Change
Dance Legend Composure]
Here, I was mainly feeling warm, so you can see just a slight colour change. You can see a more obvious colour change in the first picture of this post, up above. For this, I have paired Wind of Change with Composure. Composure is pale gold, almost silver against my nail bed, and is slightly pink at the tips of my nails. Wind of Change is blue against my nail bed, with a hint of purple towards the tips of my nails. I love how this looks.


[Accent nail: Dance Legend Hex, Dance Legend Composure
Other nails: Dance Legend Wind of Change, Dance Legend Composure]
On my other hand, there's the same pairing of Wind of Change with Composure, but for the accent nail, I have paired Composure with Hex instead. So you can see Hex is the part that is dusty red against the nail bed and a very deep red towards the tips. The contrast for Composure against Hex is more obvious when warm.


[Dance Legend Wind of Change
Dance Legend Composure]
In comparison, this is how the mani looked when I was feeling pretty cold during the day. Everything has colour changed. The contrast of Wind of Change's purple against Composure's pink is not very obvious here.


[Dance Legend Wind of Change
Dance Legend Composure]
Here's how the mani look when it was very cold, later that night. By the way, this mani was done when it was still winter last year, so the colour change was very prominent. You can see the difference in colour between the two different polishes much more clearly now. Wind of Change's purple was very deep and Composure's pink was pretty bright as well under the colder temperature.


[Dance Legend Wind of Change
Dance Legend Composure]
Here's another daytime photo of the mani to show how different fingers can have different looks as well, just depending on which one feels colder.

This was such a delightful mani for me! :D  The only downside is that as you know, it does use a bit more nail polish to do water marbling than just plain straight application. But I don't think it made such a huge dent, and the end result is worth it!

Jan 22, 2018

Holiday Fractals - Emily de Molly Empty Journal, Hit the Bottle Snowed In, Born Pretty Celebration BPX-L008


I know Jme and I are in super blazing hot Down Under (it's currently 43'C at the time of writing this post; that's 109'F if you're wondering!), but that doesn't stop me from getting into the snowy holiday manicures!

[Tis the season]
Exhibit 1! Perhaps having an icy cold manicure will fool me into cooling down a bit in this heat...

[Bottle to nail: Emily de Molly Empty Journal (2 coats)]
Last week's gorgeously glowy polish was Emily de Molly Empty Journal - a bright blue foil packed to the brim with blue-to-purple duochrome shimmer.

[Base: Emily de Molly Empty Journal (2 coats);
Stamping: Hit the Bottle Snowed In, Born Pretty Celebration BPX-L008]
From the very festive Born Pretty Celebration BPX-L008 stamping plate, I stamped the snowflake, stars and bauble design using Hit the Bottle Snowed In (how apt!), a white creme stamping polish.

[Base: Emily de Molly Empty Journal (2 coats);
Stamping: Hit the Bottle Snowed In, Born Pretty Celebration BPX-L008]
Ah, I'm so happy with this - the colours went together well and the stamping picked up all the intricate details first go each time. I love it when things just fall together just right!


Jan 15, 2018

Set Phasers - Emily de Molly Empty Journal


I have an amazingly glowy polish to show y'all today!

[Bottle to nail: Emily de Molly Empty Journal (2 coats)]
This is Emily de Molly Empty Journal - an amazing blue foil with duochrome blue-to-purple shimmer. My camera just couldn't keep up with all this glowy goodness!

[2 coats: Emily de Molly Empty Journal]
This was two coats - excellent formula as always from Emily de Molly. Quick dry time, great coverage and really eye-catching colour.

[2 coats: Emily de Molly Empty Journal]
Also, it lasts forever! This lasted over two weeks with some tip wear before I removed it for a new shade.

[2 coats: Emily de Molly Empty Journal]
Here you can see the blue-purple duochrome shimmer coming through at an angle. Definitely an amazing colour and one I'm happy to have in my collection!


Jan 11, 2018

Floral Green - Decals

Hello hello, happy 2018, everyone! I'm glad Ev posted a proper New Year's post because I don't have anything properly ready. It's been pretty busy and I haven't had time to do anything much with my nails. I guess this post is just to show that when you're in a rush, decals are a great way to slap on something quick while ensuring your nails look interesting.

[Floral Green]
The decals were a gift so I'm not sure where they're from. Honestly, I haven't noticed much difference between cheaper and pricier decals. The cheapest of the cheaps do look pixelated so that's the only thing to watch out for. Otherwise, most decals have similar qualities.

Jan 8, 2018

Space Age - Dance Legend Wow Prism Just Another Star


Happy 2018! It's that time again, and I've remembered to check out the brand new Pantone Colour of the Year... =)

[Pantone Color of the Year 2018 - Ultra Violet 18-3838]
Here it is - Ultra Violet! The actual swatch seems to be a slightly dusty violet shade but I loved the galaxy illustration they've got going on here.

[Bottle to nail: Dance Legend Just Another Star (3 coats)]
The shade I chose for this is from the Dance Legend Wow Prism holographic collection - this one is Just Another Star. These polishes feature a large particle scattered holo which really brings the galaxy theme to mind.

[3 coats: Dance Legend Just Another Star]
In terms of shade, this one is a pretty true purple, not really leaning red or blue. The formula is a bit on the thin watery side so I needed three coats to get a nice rich colour. On the plus side, it self-levels well and dries quickly to a nice smooth finish.

[3 coats: Dance Legend Just Another Star]
The holo particles do not stick up at all! In diffuse light, they look like a mild silver sparkle, giving the shade an overall dusty look. However, with direct lighting or sunlight....

[3 coats: Dance Legend Just Another Star]
Voila! Sparkles galore! I think I didn't swatch this for a while because of the sheerness, but I have to say, dry time is short enough that it's not a big deal to do three coats.

Alrighty then, that's our first post of 2018 - perhaps the idea is that perseverance is key! =p