Icing By Claire's Deliciously Scrumptious Swatch and Review

Hello everyone and welcome to Cheap Polish Tuesday where we explore and discover polishes found on regular price or on sale for $5 or less! Today's I've got yet another from Icing by Claire's! I said I'd spread these out but honestly, I am having so much fun with these speckled-inspired polishes that I couldn't resist. This is the last of the 3 known available speckled shades! Again, at Icing by Claire's, my fellow Canadians can buy these polishes for $5 each and my American neighbours can get this for $4.50. They have a regular promotion of Buy One, Get One Half Off!

So here's Icing by Claire's Deliciously Scrumptious - C-C-C-C-C-OMBO BREAKER! Not too sure why it doesn't follow in the same suit of "Mint Choco Chip", "Choco Chip" - but instead it gets its own unique name! This polish is a slightly deeper cotton candy pink with solid black micro and hex glitter. Did Deliciously Scrumptious make the speckled polishes three for three? Well, heck yeah it does - another two coater. Here's my swatch with a Seche Vite top coat:







To my knowledge, there isn't a pink shade quite like this in the original Illamasqua speckled shades so this one would be unique! I actually quite like it and for the price, I definitely recommend picking up Mint Choco Chip and this one. Choco Chip is a little bland for most folks but I like it. Great set for less than $15!

I also placed an order for not-so-cheap nail polish on Nail Polish Canada - they had an Enchanted Polish restock - I couldn't resist. Here's one coat of Enchanted Polish Djinn in a Bottle over top of Icing by Claire's Deliciously Scrumptious:



Subtle but I'll find more ways to wear Djinn in a Bottle another time.

Which of these speckled polishes are you favourites? Will you be picking up any of these shades?

Animal Crossing: New Leaf Nintendo 3DS XL Limited Edition Bundle Inspired Nail Art

Oh hey guys, welcome to Shitty Nail Art Monday! It's been a while since I've done one of these, but as some of you might already know, I was coveting the Nintendo 3DS XL Animal Crossing: New Leaf bundle pretty damn hard! I looked everywhere but it was sold out - I ultimately ended up paying a "premium", or "finder's fee" for one on Craigslist, but I am going to go ahead and tell myself that it was worth it, ha! I love my 3DS XL!

So what else did I have to do with the Nintendo 3DS XL Animal Crossing Edition? (Other than the obviously hours of fishing, picking up shells, and shaking trees for monies) - I had to make some nail art! Haha, OH YES I DID!



I wish I had spaced out my pattern a little better but let's face it - I am not that good at nail art; else if I was, it wouldn't be a Shitty Nail Art Monday! For this nail art, I used Zoya Snow White for the white base, and for the pattern, I used Color Club Almost Famous, Joe Fresh Cherry, OPI Jade is the New Black and Quo by Orly Runway Ready. I used exclusively a dotting tool to draw the patterns.



Man, I had no idea how BIG the Nintendo 3DS XL was until I got my own! Wow, it's HUGE! I used to have to play by taking off my glasses and looking at the screen really close, but this screen is so big, I can play it like normal peoples. Check out how GIANT this thing is!





I also neglected that my 3DS XL Animal Crossing Edition has a nice matte finish, so... I had to add one as well. Oops!



And here's a close-up (but I am willing to admit it looks really bad without seeing the reference, haha):



Oy. Have any of you guys picked up Animal Crossing: New Leaf? I am finding it to be SO fun, and kind of see it as being something that the Game Cube version wanted to be, but didn't have the networking capabilities at the time. It's really fun stuff, I am having a blast. If you aren't playing Animal Crossing, what are you playing these days? Or is the weather too nice for video games?

Rainbow Honey "Summer of 199X" Magic Cake Swatch and Review (Over Rainbow Honey Kawako, Rainbow Honey Oni, OPI Black Onyx, Zoya Snow White, OPI Care To Danse)

It's Friday for real this time here on Claw of Cthulhu and I am ending the week with the last of my sample pack from Rainbow Honey's latest collection "The Summer of 199X", based on Super Nintendo's Earthbound. I hope you're all enjoying these so far and remember, if you are interested, TONIGHT there is an exclusive pre-order on Rainbow Honey's website for RH customers! Check their Facebook page to keep yourself posted!

Anyway. It's time for Rainbow Honey Magic Cake. I nearly died when I saw the press release with this glitter on it and was so happy to be able to see it in person. I can tell you right now, it's probably in my Top 3 of "Must Have" polishes from this collection.



... Who's that karate kid standing on top of the bottle? As you know, all the polishes of The Summer of 199X are based on characters and things in the game Earthbound. Now Magic Cake is "a cake made from "leftover ingredients" which invokes a vision of distorted and colorful scenery. This cake allows the player to briefly take control of Poo. After this scene, Poo will join the party." It's definitely an ode to special brownies, which the Vancouver part of me can laugh heartily at! (Source). Anyhoo, Rainbow Honey describes Magic Cake as "Turn any manicure into a neon blast with these bright glitters; word on the street is this cake will make you trip!" Again, I just love the cheeky reference to the "psychodelic" nature of magic cake!

Specifically, this glitter contains mostly magenta, lime and sky blue glitters - the magenta and lime glitters range from small square to oversize hex, and then sky blue glitters are mostly multisized hex. There is also bits of opalescent flakies. It's subtle enough to have the neon glitters really take the spotlight! I feel like Magic Cake is the technicolour version of Yoshimi! Formula-wise, the topper is packed enough for a fun look with one coat. You could add two coats to turn things up louder, but I personally like it fine with one coat.

Here's Rainbow Honey Magic Cake over top of OPI Black Onyx and a Zoya Snow White highlight:







..... Aaaaaand matted with Essie Matte About You:





I wanted to see how this would work in a jelly sandwich, but I personally think I screwed it up. I used OPI Care to Danse? three layers to start with as a base, and then two layers on top of Magic Cake. I really should have left it at one!







And matted with Essie Matte About You, it still doesn't look that good... But I think it's my fault for sloppy application and the 2 layers on top. Gah:





And just for funsies, I combined The Summer of 199X Magic Cake with fall's Yokai collection. I know, I know, I do all the unorthodox things. This doesn't look that good but...:





And matted (which looks the slightest bit better):





Anyway, not the best combinations but I do love Magic Cake over a plain black and white. Not the best in my jelly sandwich, or over a fall colour, but I am willing to bet that Magic Cake will look great over anything in the Summer of 199X collection. Here is Magic Cake again over Apple Kid and Tessie:

























Alright, I've been working 12 days in a row and I'm spent. I'll be sleeping in through the afternoon tomorrow hopefully! But before I do that, I'll be picking up the entire Summer of 199X collection on Rainbow Honey's website tonight. Last copypasta:

The Summer of 199X Collection will be officially released on 6/21/2013 at 12:01AM EST and it will be available at www.rainbowhoney.com and participating retail partners around the globe!

We’ll have an exclusive 24-hour pre-sale for rainbow honey customers on 6/14/2013, 12:01AM EST.

The Summer of 199X Collection will be available as:
- Complete full-size (15ml, $90) or mini-size (4ml, $40) collection
- Part I or Part II, full-size (15ml, $45ea) or mini-size (4ml, $20ea) sets
- and full-size bottles (15ml, $10ea)

Rainbow Honey will also be offering FREE Shipping and a FREE Limited Edition Lacquer on all orders of $50 or more (US & Canada only).

And again, if you know where I can get a copy of the Animal Crossing New Leah Nintendo 3DS XL bundle, please let me know. I want nothing more than to snuggle in bed all day and play video games right about now. What do you think of Magic Cake? Too loud? What kind of polish would you layer it over?

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

Rainbow Honey "Summer of 199X" Tessie Swatch and Review (Bonus: Rainbow Honey Magic Cake, Rainbow Honey The Worst Possible Thing)

Usually Thursdays are Fridays here but I'm continuing the week with more samples from Rainbow Honey's latest and greatest "The Summer of 199X" collection inspired by Earthbound for Super Nintendo. If you haven't been following their Facebook page, just get you to speed, here's a copypasta from the press release:

"Another video game that holds a special place in my heart! I wanted this collection to bring me back into the game, and I think each new lacquer takes me to a special moment or reminds me of a certain boss that resulted in one too many Game Over's... Part I is made up of 5 new glitterbombs bursting with shimmer and color - they all layer to opacity but can be used over other colors as well. Part II is 3 new shimmer-dusted cremes and 2 new glitter toppers that give each creme a bold or sweet look. I am so excited to add these all to our lineup!" – Dee

I'm excited too, so without much further adieu, I bring you Rainbow Honey Tessie!



In Earthbound, Tessie is a "friendly, long-necked monster which lets Jeff Andonuts and the Bubble Monkey ride on her back to cross Lake Tess in Winters; Tessie was inspired by Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster." (Source). From the press release, Rainbow Honey describes Tessie as: "No need to join the Tessie-Watching Club when you can have this dusty and shimmery periwinkle creme at your fingertips." I'm not actually sure if it would describe this polish as dusty, as usually that term means slightly desaturated, but I do think this polish is actually quite vibrant against my skin tone and leans into a pastel purple with a periwinkle shimmer spirit. That's my take on it, anyhoo.

Formula-wise, Tessie follows the same smooth, flat application as Apple Kid. No complaints whatsoever and covers beautifully in two coats. Rainbow Honey Tessie has a natural shine to it too. Here's my swatch in two coats with no top coat:







Rainbow Honey Tessie is beautiful on its own but it definitely is an invitation to play with glitter toppers. Here's the beautiful Rainbow Honey Magic Cake, which is also a part of The Summer of 199X collection. I thought this combination would look odd, but I actually ended up loving it - I am guessing it's due to Tessie lending another colour to the palette and letting the neon really POP! I used one coat of Seche Vite Top coat:







Here's what the combination looks matted with Essie Matte About You. I love it both ways:







And of course, my exploration of Rainbow Honey wouldn't be complete without exploring other past collections, so I decided to head back to where I first discovered Rainbow Honey - the Equestria collection. Here's one coat of The Worst Possible Thing over top of Rainbow Honey Tessie with a layer of Seche Vite top coat:







Here it is matte-fied and I really love it this way. Really gives a highlight to all the glitters, something I think Rarity would love:







Although I think I might already own a polish similar to this one, I really love the shimmer and the great formula is a huge selling feature. That natural shine is great and I'll personally be picking up and am more than happy to add it to my collection. If you're interested in this polish, here's some helpful copypasta information from the press release:

The Summer of 199X Collection will be officially released on 6/21/2013 at 12:01AM EST and it will be available at www.rainbowhoney.com and participating retail partners around the globe!

We’ll have an exclusive 24-hour pre-sale for rainbow honey customers on 6/14/2013, 12:01AM EST.

The Summer of 199X Collection will be available as:
- Complete full-size (15ml, $90) or mini-size (4ml, $40) collection
- Part I or Part II, full-size (15ml, $45ea) or mini-size (4ml, $20ea) sets
- and full-size bottles (15ml, $10ea)

Rainbow Honey will also be offering FREE Shipping and a FREE Limited Edition Lacquer on all orders of $50 or more (US & Canada only).

Isn't Tessie the cutest lochness monster ever? This polish does perfect justice to the source! Also, does anyone know where I can find the goddamn Nintendo 3DS XL Animal Crossing New Leaf bundle? I WANT IT AND IT'S SOLD OUT EVERYWHERE! What glitter topper do you think looks best over Tessie?

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