Rainbow Honey Night Sky Swatch and Review

So if you've been following along, I've got more Rainbow Honey this week and up next is a handful from the latest and greatest collection - Summer Mixtape! And in case you're wondering... HELL YEAH THERE'S A SUMMER MIXTAPE! I am surprised no one is mentioning it either because the mixtape kicks ass! Check it out on Rainbow Honey's Soundcloud here. Does it make more sense for you? Because honestly I found the playlist tied everything together for me. Up on deck first is Rainbow Honey Night Sky.







From Rainbow Honey: Let this mix of stars, moons, and shimmery glitters be the fire in your eyes!

In case you're wondering about the crypticness, "Night Sky" is based on the namesake by a band called Chvrches (whom I've actually shot in concert as well) - they're awesome! Here's a direct link to the song. This is purely a glitter topper and it doesn't have any intention for a build-up potential. For the base colour, I actually used another polish Rainbow Honey had sent me in their pilot Mystery Bags from Christmas 2013. It's only called 'Sample' and I don't believe it was ever officially released. (You can see it alone here.) Application wise, Rainbow Honey Night Sky is a fairly densed glitter topper and all you need is one coat. Finishing it off with a top coat gives it a nice effortlessly pretty look!









I love taming my glitter polishes with a matte look, so here's how it looks with one coat of OPI Matte Top Coat:





Overall, this polish was great. Typically I am not a fan of moon glitter, but the stars and easy application made this one a winner. I wore the matte look to the last wedding of the summer that I had to shoot and it was a big hit with the bridesmaids - fellow lacqueristas they were too!

If you like this polish, check out the rest of the Summer Mixtape collection on Rainbow Honey's website and until August 18th, 2014 - you can use the code MIXTAPE20 to get 20% off your purchase.

What do you think of this "summer mixtape" inspired polish? What would you consider your 'track of the summer'? How would you pair up Night Sky?

Full disclosure: This sample was provided for an unbiased review.

Rainbow Honey July Mystery Bag: Unboxing!

Aloha! I am back! (I imagine that sounds all cool because it sounds like I am back from a restful vacation but alas, it was a hustle month of weddings and I am glad to finally just... stop.) As I hinted last week, I've got a whole week full of Rainbow Honey! They were kind enough to send over a few samples, including this month's mystery bag! I know I post a lot of Rainbow Honey, but in case you want more - be sure to follow them on Facebook and check out their shop! They're offering a wicked cool discount of 20% off your entire purchase with the code: MIXTAPE20.

Also, again if you haven't entered THE GREAT POLISH GIVEAWAY 2014 brought to you by folks of Nail Polish Canada, I've thrown in Rainbow Honey's Midnight Garden into the jackpot. I believe as of today, the jackpot is up to 154 and ends in 16 days. Enter right hurrrrrr.

Also! ALSO. Coming this fall, Rainbow Honey will be working with a Canadian retailer to bring "my people in the land of the north" these lovely Mystery Bags without having to pay the same amount as the bag for shipping - in addition to faster shipping speeds and no duty fees. It's about time? It's about time.

OK enough. Less talk, more rock.

Here's July's Mystery Bag - it looks like each month now has a custom logo, if we're following a trend. Love the cute tiny size of them still.



Ripping off the tissue wrap and sticker reveals a bubble pack with the goods. (See how cute?)



BOOM. All contents unveiled. I'll go through each of them, fear not.



First, here's the card. It's a taller card now, same as last month's:







Here's a transcription:

FRONT:

Rainbow Honey
July's Mystery Bag

INSIDE:

Greetings from the Rainbow Honey Lab!

Thanks for picking up this month's Mystery Bag!
This month's bag includes (Mini/Full):

Deep Heart Sea, (5/15 mL) - (a personal fave around here)... enjoy this new fun polish, filled with white hearts and neon glitters in a sheer blue base with purple shimmer!

Viridis, (5/15 mL) - A new treat of neon green stars accented by pastel glitters in a shimmery base!

Chemical Plant (5/15 mL) - A gourgeous sparkling magenta/violet with sparks of blue and glod shimmer! (Be sure to tell us what you think!)

Midori Eau de Parfum Rollerball, (4/12 mL) - A new summer scent; reminiscent of summer fruits... let us know what you think!

Midori Cuticle Balm, (.15 oz) - Our beloved cuticle balm, enriched with vitamin E, will protect your cuticles and nailbeds! Now in a matching (and delicious) new scent, Midori!

Midori Cooling Gel, (1/4 oz) - A brand new product for us; a cooling gel enriched with aloe to protect you during the hot summer days! Let us know what you think!

BACK:

We hope you've enjoyed this month's look at some of our upcoming products! And since it's no longer a mystery, tell us what you loved the most - and tag your posts to make sure we see them!

#RainbowHoney
#RainbowHoneyLab
#RainbowHoneyMysteryBag

Thank you again for being such a loyal fan! Love,
The Rainbow Honey Lab
(see you next month!)

fb.com/rainbowhoneycosmetics
instagram: @rainbowhoney
twitter: @rainbow_honey

And in addition to the card, a mini flyer promoting the new Summer Mixtape collection also came! Of course, shipping from eastern US to western Canada is sometimes lame and by the time I received this Mystery Bag, the collection was already released and happening! Fear not, though - again, coming this fall, Rainbow Honey will be working with a (still yet to be named) Canadian retailer to bring faster shipping and no duty fees.





Check out that discount swag. Again, until August 18th, you can use MIXTAPE20 for 20% off your purchase. Holy bajesus, seriously.

Here's the little mini Midori cooling gel. It's pretty freaking cute.



Here's some hilarious photos of me using it. (I couldn't stop laughing and making sound effects. I'd like to see you try to resist!):





(You totally made the "PLOP!" sound in your head, TELL ME I'M NOT ALONE!)

The cooling gel is pretty nice. It takes forever to dry, which is great because if you're really hot, what you can do is sit in front of a fan with the cooling gel, and it just cools you down forever. I also found that it wasn't in any way sticky, which was a concern of mine since most aloe gels can be sticky. This also has a slight bit of "Rainbow Honey signature" shimmer (I swear they must have literally tonnes of it), so if you want to make "sparkle like a vampire" jokes, you totally can. You can see a hint of shimmer below. (Sorry not my nails):



Next up is the Midori scented Eau de Parfum. Midori is described as "reminiscent of summer fruits", which I totally get. I thought there was a hint of coconut too but there are definitive notes of passionfruit! Love these rollerballs. Very fun scent but need some reapplication throughout the day, which I don't mind because I honestly don't want a scent on me the whole day. For those of you who are familiar with Rainbow Honey's other scents - I find that Midori is more mild and subtle than Summer Juice. Summer Juice is far more sweeter and stronger.



And one of my fave Mystery Bag items - the Midori cuticle balm - it should be no secret that I LOVE Rainbow Honey cuticle balms. They are a staple in my nail care, and a godsend for my swatchfests. In fact, I used this guy all throughout my Rainbow Honey swatching. I think I still prefer the skinnier "cuticle sticks" but I feel like this format might offer more product. Definitely a change I don't mind making.

Here's the packaging:





How does it stack up? Pretty good! Love that it's not a greasy format. Usually between polish removing and the next polish, I will use the cuticle balms liberally and then just use a tissue to wipe off the excess. No greasy look here! Scent is pretty good too - again a nice mild fruit ode. I dig it.

Don't mind the ridges on my naked nails, but you can see that there isn't a greasy look to my hands!





Lastly, my favourite part - the mini nail lacquers by Rainbow Honey.

This month's mystery bag included Deep Heart Sea, Viridis, and Chemical Plant.







Here's a swatch of Chemical Plant. I found the formula is thickened quite easily as well as not being self-levelling but this may be due to that I have a fan running in my room (seriously guys, summer is so hot). Asides from the slightly thick formula (which can always be corrected by thinner), I was pretty impressed that I only needed two coats! Pretty damn opaque.



Here's a swatch of Viridis. It's pretty cute. I knew the seemingly green jelly base would be super sheer but I wanted to swatch it without any undies any way. I feel like this polish would kick ass over black or a contrasting glitter bomb like a dark blue! (GLITTER ON TOP OF GLITTER, WHY NOT!)



And lastly, but certainly not least... A swatch of Deep Heart Sea. I have to admit I wasn't sold on it right away because jellies are never a certain sell to me but it definitely grew on me pretty quick! I can see why this one is a crowd favourite. Application was a bit tough because the glitters are actually quite generously packed! Some dabbing and placement tactics are needed but it's quite the pay off. It can be a bit thirsty for top coat so make sure to give it some top coat love!



That's all for this month's Mystery Bag. I know I was late to the party but again... Shipping to Canada always equals balls. This is a totally scientific term, by the way. Rainbow Honey has also changed their "free shipping qualification" on their online shop from $50 to $75 for us Canadians, but let's again just rejoice that Rainbow Honey is actually changing their ways this fall and switching over to a Canadian retailer. They claim that all products on their site will be available so I hope all the cuticle sticks and limited edition mystery boxes count as well. I'm looking forward to it! And again, make sure you use MIXTAPE20 if you plan on pulling the trigger on any purchases until August 18th!

What do you make of this month's Mystery Bag? What are your faves?

Full disclosure: This sample was provided for an unbiased review.

Aqua Gold Half Moon Nail Art (Made with China Glaze Aquadelic and Essie Good as Gold)

Hey guys, I am back! Well, sort of! I was supposed to be back yesterday but I had a bunch of work to do, so alas, I made this post for today. Things are still super busy and my last wedding of the summer will be tomorrow. I imagine that I'll still be busy but I'm getting some things ready for a full week next week starting on Tuesday. Spoiler alert: Are you ready to see some of the new Rainbow Honey collection? Tune in next week! Also, if you haven't already, enter the Great Polish Giveaway of 2014 brought to you by our pals at Nail Polish Canada.

So I've been working away all month and if you remember my obsession with outlining my nails - that obsession has now been replaced by HALF MOON NAILS. Oh my lord guys, I CANNOT STOP. It's so easy too: Find a good colour combination, make sure the top colour is a one coater, get some reinforcement stickers, DONE. I'll be posting a HOWTO: Half Moon probably in the next while but I figure to show off some! Here's one I did with Essie Good As Gold and China Glaze Aquadelic. Awesome combination and definitely kept my spirits up when I was shooting!



I'm looking forward to sharing ALL THE RAINBOW HONEY! next week and I've missed you guys. Please tell me how you've been, and seriously: What are your current nail addictions? Mine are half moons, it was outlining - what are you guys obsessing over? (I've also been obsessing over The IT Crowd and Chris O'Dowd but that's another story!) See you next week!

The Great Polish Giveaway of 2014! by Nail Polish Canada

I wanted to check-in and say hello, so I figured - what better way to do it than with a giveaway? Yup, good ol Claw of Cthulhu added her pickin' to the jackpot: Rainbow Honey Midnight Fountain.



In case you're not familiar with Nail Polish Canada, they're the best (in my opinion) source of nail polish online. They've grown substantially over the last few years and I remember my experiences shopping with them from when they had just started to my order with them earlier this year. Probably some of the best customer service you'll deal with and the most engaging social media on Facebook and Twitter. They definitely get my seal of approval!


Anyhow, this GREAT POLISH GIVEAWAY OF 2014 (sorry I had to go CAPSLOCK crazy) is brought to you by Nail Polish Canada partnered with the lovely folks of Cirque Colors, NCLA, and piCture pOlish. It's going to be crazy.

To enter, just use the Rafflecopter widget on Nail Polish Canada's page here.

For EXTRA! BONUS! EXCITE! entries, use my SPECIAL UNIQUE SNOWFLAKE RAFFLECOPTER BELOW:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

In case you don't remember my nail polish pick - Rainbow Honey Midnight Fountain - it was the first to grace the Iron Throne here. (My initial pick was actually Iron Throne's A England Briar Rose but someone beat me to the punch, ha!) Here's a little reminder:











Sold? I know you are. Here's my Rafflecopter widget again in case you're lazy to scroll up. I know I am.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Anyway, I hope you're all well. I am... Sort of. Well? Sort of? I dunno guys. Since I've been gone, I shot two weddings (got chewed out by one of my clients since she wanted me to shoot like someone else? (why they didn't hire the other photographer, I don't know, I feel tricked)), had my driver side wall blown while I was driving 110 kph on a busy Seattle highway, got sick, started watching the IT Crowd and Hannibal, and basically done three - not one, not two, but THREE - half moon 'manis' (I AM SO ADDICTED, IT'S MY NEW NAIL OUTLINING, ZOMG). It's only been like a week. A week without Claw of Cthulhu, and I am falling apart!~ [insert dramatic clinging onto blog here]

But! Hey it's all over now (sort of, not really) and I've got some really fun stuff to post when I get back. (OK I lied, it's just a bunch of half moons.) Just joking, I totally got my custom nail polish from Digital Nails last week and I exploded. Can't wait to show it off! Soon enough!

Digital Nails Wow Swatch and Review

WOW. Alright so I have a confession to make: Every time I want to talk about this nail polish... Without fail, I type in "WOW". The correct name of this polish is Wow. Wow. I digress - this is my final post before my two week break from Claw of Cthulhu. I might be in and out on surprise but as of right now, I don't plan to return until the 22nd. I think. I'll write up a bit of a sell out speech after this post, but without further adieu... Wow. I've been saving this one until the end for a reason.

If you lurve this polish or any of the other Digital Nails polishes I've shared on this blog, be sure to check out the Digital Nails Etsy shop, and follow them on Facebook for more news!

This is... Digital Nails Wow.

Pleased to meet you.



Yep, I wasn't kidding. Here's a macro and a bottle shot:





From Digital Nails: Much Rainbow! Many Sparkle! So silver. Wow.

Back in January, someone linked that 2048 game on Facebook and many of us were instantly hooked! Well, what is better than regular 2048? DOGE 2048! I can't tell you how many hours I spent matching little Doge tiles in hopes of getting the final yellow starburst Doge... I digress. This polish was inspired by the rainbow tile doge, and every doge meme that is out there, warning us in its brightly colored comic sans font that we have seen something awesome, or awful. Doge has no boundaries, only bad grammar. We love you, Doge!

This polish has been a long time coming! SILVER HOLO POLISH! You guys, seriously. It took me around 15 prototypes before I got this recipe perfect. My pain is your pleasure in this case! The name of this one is Doge's favorite way to describe incredible and unbelievable things, like the amount of laundry I have piled up, the amount of coffee I have consumed today, and freaky rainbow-y nail polish. As all holos that use Spectraflair go, the best rainbows come in the sunshine, and this polish reads as a dusty demure silver in some lighting. Bust out that light on your phone and show your uninterested co-worker just how fabulous this polish really is.

Have fun with this one!

It will come shipped gift ready, in a white box with colorful packing material.
This and all of my other polishes are 5 Free, which means I never use toluene, formaldehyde resin, formaldehyde, camphor or Dibutyl Phthalate. It is also vegan and cruelty free.

So.

Sorry guys, I am so in love with this polish magic.

But let's talk real talk and be real for a second... Holographic polishes. Sure they're pretty indoors... But outdoors is another story. It PUKES rainbows. On your nails. That's where I am pretty in love. Remember my theory about how the Doge collection is pretty much a summer collection? That's because all the polishes eat up the sun.

So with that said, here's some more photos of my Wow swatch in the sun:







Application wise, there is no fuss with this. It applied well in two coats and in regards to base and top coat, I didn't use anything special. I always hear about some sort of special aqua base being better to bring out holo goodness, but I don't own any. I've just got OPI Nail Envy Matte underneath and Seche Vite over top and I didn't see any issues with it dulling.

Alright now we can simmer back down as I'll show you how it looks in a lightbox. Admittedly, it's far more silver showy than the rainbow vomit in the sun. Apples and oranges with light, though! - Definitely an unfair comparison. On y va!













And one outside the lightbox because for whatever reason, there's some slight rainbow shifting here. Obviously not as strong but, y'know.



And if you can remember from early on this week, here's a bit of Much Glitter over top of Wow:





Nail art wise, this silver holo is pretty easy to pair up with. You can wear it alone, you can wear it with a crazy ass glitter topper like Much Glitter. It would look great with any colour nail art studs. Black stamping over top would look lovely. Colour blocking... Also nice.

Overall, I really love this polish but this is speaking as a person who hasn't worn a silver holographic polish before. I know in regards to uniqueness, a silver holo isn't that crazy innovative but... It's based on Doge, and the linear holographicness is SO impressive.

Do you have any silver holos in your polish stash? How does WOW stack up? Does anyone else believe me that Doge is totally a summer collection?

Again, I'll be returning in two weeks! If you'd like to follow along, be sure to join my blog via Google Friend Connect on the sidebar. I'm also on Bloglovin. And Facebook. I also sometimes write semi-offensive tweets and World Cup banter over on Twitter. Lastly, I am also on Instagram! All of these links can always be found on the right sidebar, at the top!

Full disclosure: This sample was provided for an unbiased review.