Indigo Bananas Gravity Falls Collection Pt. 2

Happy Monday everyone! Hope you all had fantastic weekends. I had a pretty good one, spent a loooong time yesterday swatching like crazy for the blog!

*Press Samples*

A few weeks ago I reviewed with you all the first three polishes from the Indigo Bananas Gravity Falls Collection and today I have the other three in the collection for you! To recap, Gravity Falls is an animated Disney show that chronicles the adventures of twin siblings Mabel and Dipper in the mysterious town of Gravity Falls, Oregon. I've never watched it but it sound super cute! Surprisingly, even though this is a crelly, only took two coats for opacity.

This collection is out and available now in full (15 ml for $12) and small (8 ml for $7.25) sizes, a super big plus in my book! So let's get to it shall we?!









First up we have Indigo Bananas Carpet Diem, a super gorgeous beige crelly polish that pack a punch in the character and dimension department! This is a nude polish that leans slightly yellow on my skin tone, but could be the ultimate mannequin hands for others! The nude creme-jelly base is packed with gold, copper, pale green and violet crystal (almost iridescent) flakies and small holographic microglitter. Love this polish, it is a beauty both in indirect lighting and in direct sun!









Next up we have the lovely Indigo Bananas Little Big Dipper, a lovely dark blue holo with matching blue microglitter creating the ultimate bling and shine. This is the ultimate shade of denim in my opinion, which is the ultimate shade of blue because it matches my wardrobe all the time (I reeeeealllly like to wear jeans). I applied three coats (applies like buttah) for this opacity, but most could get away with two.









Finally we have Indigo Bananas Holy Matrignomey. This is very similar to Little Big Dipper above, but a silver holographic polish with matching microglitter.  Same application as LBD, three coats for this opacity and glides on smooth like buttah. All swatches in this post are shown with top coat. I love how glam this polish is. I'm looking forward to pairing it with black and wearing out for a night out on the town this holiday season! Screams disco ball to me for some reason!

So which of these is your favorite? Hard for me to choose among all of these, I can see wearing them all for different occasions!

You can look for Indigo Bananas news on their Facebook page and Instagram account, and if you are an Indigo Bananas lover, you should totally join us in the We're Bananas for Indigo Bananas Facebook fan group, the more the merrier!

Great Lakes Lacquer November LE Duo

Good morning everyone, today I have a lovely duo for you that pair so well together!

*Press Samples*

I have been swatching for Great Lakes Lacquer for some time now and I have to day I really am in love with this pair, might be my most favorite from Great Lakes Lacquer yet! These polishes have a nice personal inspiration behind them, but pair so well together and remind me of the sea in the winter months.

So you aren't wondering through my entire post, these lovelies will be available in the Great Lakes Lacquer Etsy Shop at 3 p.m. EST Oct. 31 and will be on sale until Nov. 1 2 p.m. EST. Don't forget the lovely duo (see review here) from from Oct. will be expiring around the time of this launch and those too are definite must-haves!









First up we have Great Lakes Lacquer Thanksgiving Bay. This is a gorgeous green-leaning blue with beautiful green sparkles that shine in direct light and are a hidden treasure in the blue base of the polish. The formula on this was perfection – two coats for opacity.

Now as always, Mariah, the maker behind Great Lakes Lacquer, always has such wonderful things to say about the inspiration behind her polishes:

November signals the coming of the Holidays for many.  It’s a time to remember, a time to give thanks, and time to spend with family.  It also marks my wedding anniversary.  To the man who has stuck by me, supported me, and pushed me to be my best, thank you.  We spent our honeymoon over on the west coast of Michigan, driving along the lake.









Second we have a gorgeous sparkler, perfect as we transition toward holiday parties, Great Lakes Lacquer Freer Sand. This is a gorgeous champagne leaning golden microglitter, that packs a punch in the sparkle department. This polish was opaque in two coats and amazing for a microglitter, not topcoat hungry! The formula was on the thick side, but Mariah said she plans to thin it a little before release, and I didn't really find it difficult to apply.

And now for Mariah's inspiration:

As we were traveling up and down the coast, following the lake, we noticed that the cabins and houses on the other side of the road really didn’t have lawns of grass so to speak.  The blowing winds had created sandboxes of the yards across the way.  One owner had stuck a sign in a particularly large pile stating “Freer Sand”.  A humorous jab at a frustrating situation, perhaps?  It will always be a part of our marriage vocabulary.





My favorite part about this duo is how well they go together, then minute I saw them I just knew I had to pair them together in a look! For this I just did a simple waterfall mani using Freer Sand over Thanksgiving Bay, I thought the look turned out great!

I'll repeat the details again for y'all so you don't have to scroll up, both of these beauties  will be available at the Great Lakes Lacquers Etsy site at 3:00 p.m. EST Saturday Oct. 31. And don't forget to keep up on the latest and greatest things Great Lakes Lacquers on Facebook and Instagram. We even have a Facebook Fan Group too, come join in on the fun!

Hope you guys all had a terrific weekend, I was up in the country enjoying apple and pumpkin season with another couple friend of mine. It's an annual trip we take every year, we apple pick, get pumpkins for Halloween and grab pies to freeze for the holidays!

Great Lakes Lacquer September LEs

Hey everyone, today I have two very special polishes to share with you from Great Lakes Lacquer.

*Press Samples*

This are the two September Limited Edition Polishes from Great Lakes Lacquer. And just like her Friends Pt. 1 collection, see partial review here, Mariah created the first polish with a very special lady in mind.





This is Great Lakes Lacquer Mother's Mauve, and you guessed it, it is inspired by Mariah's mom! Let's take a moment to see what she has to say about this beauty!

My Mom’s birthday is September.  She’s a lady with a heart of gold; one of those ladies that is a Mom to everyone.  All of my close friends have called her Mom and do to this day.  This color is a dedication to her.  In my teenage years, I remember her bedroom being an explosion in mauve.  All tones of mauve.  She tells me that it needs to lean more pink but this is the color I remember.  See?Still Mom.



This polish is a lovely purple leaning mauve with beautiful golden shimmer and some very subtle scattered holo finish. The polish was on the thicker side, but not difficult to work with, this is opaque in two coats.


Ignore these bubbles, it was SUPER hot when I was swatching these, I blame the fan for this!



This next beauty if Great Lakes Lacquer Harvest Moon 2015: Come Reap, inspired by the season and apparently a book!

In traditional folklore, the Harvest Moon is the one that comes closest to the autumnal equinox.  This year’s Harvest Moon lands on September 28th.  In years of old, the light of the Harvest Moon illuminated fields so that farmers could continue harvesting that year’s bounty.  It signified the reaping of hard work and a close to the growing season.  A time of celebrating and a time of reflecting on what has been sewn, it is the end of one stage in nature and the beginning of another.  For those of you who recognize the phrase in the name from a book, there will be more to come by next year’s Harvest Moon.



This is a lovely red jelly holo polish that leans just a bit orange in my opinion. Orange leaning reds are my absolute favorites and I looooooved this one to death. The polish is thicker in consistency, for best results I would wait a few minutes between coats. I do believe I needed 3 coats for opacity, but I bet most could get away with two.

Great Lakes Lacquer is available from their Etsy Shop Monday August 31 at 7 p.m. EST so that customers will have a chance to snag both August and September LEs in one purchase! How cool is that?!

So do either of these tickle your fancy?! I think I like the red slightly better, but only slightly! These are both beautiful!

DazzleGlaze Sailing Excursion Collection

Hello everyone, today I have a new-to-me indie to share with you. Candace of DazzleGlaze recently contacted me and asked if I wanted to swatch one of her latest collections, and though I haven't previously ever tried DazzleGlaze before, I thought, why not?!

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She sent me five polishes, creme and shimmer, which make up the DazzleGlaze Sailing Excursion Collection, which releases this Saturday. So let's get to the swatches shall we?







First up we have a beautiful teal shimmer, this is DazzleGlaze Sea Shanty. This is a gorgeous green leaning teal shimmer very subtle blue sparkle undertone. The formula was great, medium viscosity and opaque in two coats. And the super plus? I did not experience any staining, which is hard to come by when it comes to teal polishes!







This lovely red shimmer is DazzleGlaze Captain of the Catamaran. This color is a super happy red, with almost slightly pink undertones, like a rose red. The formula in this was also very similar to Sea Shanty, it was a medium viscosity and opaque in two coats. No staining.







This light blue polish is DazzleGlaze Blue Sky Marina and it is the ultimate sky colored blue (sorry that wasn't very creative). I put this on before looking at the name and I was all, 'wow, looks so much like the sky on a sunny day,' which is what I totally think the maker was going for! This was also opaque in two coats, with a medium viscosity formula. No problems with application.







And finally we have DazzleGlaze Between Wind & Water. This polish is complex with gorgeous hidden shimmer, unfortunately it just does not translate on to the nail. Check out the hidden shimmer in this bottle shot below.



So the shimmer is definitely in this polish, but once on the nail it is pretty undetectable. The formula was also a little difficult to work with. It was thick and did not self level well. It took three coats for opacity. For the best application I would wait a few minutes between coats.







This lovely blue is DazzleGlaze North Star Compass. This cobalt polish is more complex and has a gorgeous hidden blue and violet shimmer This was definitely one of my favorite polishes of the collection, besides the teal. This was more of a sheerer but thick formula, not difficult to make work, but took three coats to be opaque.

The Sailing Excursion Collection retails for $8 each and is available on the DazzleGlaze website and the DazzleGlaze Etsy site.

Overall I was pretty impressed with this brand and I would definitely check out some of this collection if it catches your eye. So dish with me, have you ever tried DazzleGlaze? Which of these five polishes is your favorite?!?

Great Lakes Lacquer Review

Today I have a review of a brand new brand that has been making quite a splash in the world of indie polishes this year!

*Press Samples*

I have two polishes to share with you today from Great Lakes Lacquers first collection, The Friends Collection Pt. 1. Mariah, the genius behind these polishes, created a collection of polishes inspired by her friends! How sweet is that?!! I think that is so cool! How awesome would it be to have a polish inspired by your personality?! 

So let's get to the swatches of these awesome polishes shall we?!

First up we have The Triathlon Trainer. This polish is a gorgeous blue jelly polish packed with all sorts of beautiful shimmer and multichrome flakies. I love looking into the depths of this polish and finding more and more layers of beauty to it. It sparkles bright in the light and then shows its depth in the shade. Lovely inside and out. And for a jelly, I only needed two coats for this opacity and it applied like a dream.

Let's hear a little about the inspiration behind the polish shall we?

The athletic. She’s as active as you can get and sometimes, it annoys the crap out of you. Why can’t I have that kind of energy or drive? Haha. This lady runs and walks and runs some more. But her favorite is swimming. Her love of water really is apparent. Her scuba dives are awesome. She’s even swum with a Whale Shark. I’m eating my own heart out thinking about it.









This beauty is Krazzzzie Fast Fingered Gamer Girl. This is a gorgeous green leaning turqouise creme polish with gorgeous shades of violet flakies creating a vivid purple flash. This polish has it going on! This formula was on the thicker side, but not difficult to work with. Just work in thinner layers and you are fine and the polish is opaque in two coats.

And now a word from the maker about the inspiration behind this polish!

This lady is the one you want on your team when you go raiding on WoW or any other role playing game on the net. She’s also a good one to have by your side during nail polish restocks, cuz that girl can snatch anything. She’s also just the sweetest thing on earth (with a bit of attitude on the side) and just a bit shy. Did I mention pretty nails? Gosh yes. Luckily she can deliver the nail polish she enabled you on because she’s krazzie fast.

Overall I am very impressed with Mariah at Great Lakes Lacquer, she has been super professional to work with and she is also very sweet! She also has some awesome monthly polishes, and I have the next two to share with you toward the end of the month. I've been seriously eyeing the August ones and after how impressed I was with the quality of these, I might just have to snatch those up too!

These polishes are available now in the Great Lakes Lacquer Etsy Shop. Don't forget to follow this brand on Facebook and Instagram for more details on upcoming releases you won't want to miss out on! Oh and she has a Facebook fan group too, so if you like Great Lakes Lacquer, you should totally join in on the fun there too!

Have you checked out this brand yet?! What have been some of your favorites so far!?