Black Lace Cosmetics - Until Darkness Dies Collection

Happy Monday, Friends!!

I'm back today with a collection from an up and coming Canadian brand, Black Lace Cosmetics.  BLC has been around for a while but I feel like with the rise of Polish Pickup smaller brands are starting to get more exposure.

The Until Darkness Dies Collection is a five polish collection of mixed finishes and colour families. I always like a mix of finishes so that everyone can find something you like. It has been inspired by Laura Thalassa's book 'Until Darkness Dies'. I love how much of a reader Amber-Marie is and how she is inspired by reading indie books. 

Midnight Siren

Midnight Siren is a green to good to blue duochrome. This polish is super light reflective so I would describe the finish as an almost foil look.  On my skin tone, the gold just pushed its way through and it felt like it danced through green to gold all day.

I used three whisper thin coats of Midnight Siren to reach full opacity. The formula was smooth as satin and dried quickly. Removal was easy as pie though I do recommend a little butter around the cuticles because told gold shimmers just wanted to stick around.

Compelling Magic

Compelling Magic is described as an orange to red to purple multichrome. This one looks like a sunset on the nail and I absolutely love it.  I wasn't expecting just how much and it's my favourite of the collection!

Compelling Magic needed three coats for full opacity. One coat over black also works but I loved it on its own so much that it was worth the extra coat. Applied a little sheer but built up nicely.

Truth or Dare

Truth or Dare is a teal-leaning blue with gold shimmer.  This one reminded me so much of one of my favourite brands of all-time, Bitch by Jaclyn.  The shimmer just catches the light so well.

I needed only two coats of Truth or Dare for full coverage. Due to the shimmer pigment, I did find that it was a little brushstroke-y but floating on the second coat (the brush not actually touching the nail) made it a little less noticeable.

Thief of Souls

Thief of Souls is described as a smokey greyed purple with red shimmer.  I wish I had worn this polish over a black because I don't think my swatches really does it justice.  I would describe it as a greyed out purple jelly with red shimmer swimming in it.  One of those types of colours that is almost impossible to describe and every person would describe it differently.

I used three coats for opacity. My nail line is really strong (because my nail beds are so short and my free edge is so long) so the photos show it much sheerer than it is in person. Three coats provided me with the coverage I felt comfortable with in person.

Three Hundred and Twenty Two Favors

Three Hundred and Twenty Two Favors is a green to purple duochrome in a black base.  I used this polish over a black base coat to really let the green to purple pop.  This is the most popular of the chrome shifts and it's easy to see why. It's such a noticeable, attention grabbing change in colour.  The black creme under it really allowed the chrome to do its thing.

I used one coat of Three Hundred and Twenty Two Favors over a one coat black creme. It went on as smooth as butter and I wore this for days without chipping or wear.

The Until Darkness Dies Collection is available now for $60.00CAD or for $12.50CAD separately.  BlackLace Cosmetics offers free Canadian and US shipping over $60 or a flat rate of $8.00.

Which of these is your favourite?

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Fiendish Fancies - Famous Blue Raincoat (March 2019 PPU Exclusive)

"Leonard Cohen isn't a singer. He's a poet who sings."
-Author unknown

Happy Sunday morning, everyone!  I'm back again today with another polish for this week's upcoming Polish Pickup 'Album Cover' release.

I will be the first person to admit that I am not hugely into Leonard Cohen. I like his music and feel like the above mentioned quote about him being a poet is spot on. I am more familiar with Cohen's poetry than his music thanks to a high school english teacher who used his poems often when introducing new novels and themes.  You cannot argue Cohen's influence and talent, however.  So, I was not one bit surprised to read that Lara over at Fiendish Fancies decided to create a polish based on one of my personal favourites by Cohen, Famous Blue Raincoat. Even better, she decided to use the cover that was done by Jennifer Warnes which includes Cohen's music and lyrics but changed to focus on the female perspective of the song.

Famous Blue Raincoat is a  bright navy blue base filled with gold flakes and a blue shimmer and subtle holo sparkle.  This polish looks different depending on lighting and skin tone, like most blues would.  My fellow bloggers who received this polish really brought out some of the differences of this polish.  My swatches you see here are true to how the colour looked to my eye when wearing it.

Fiendish Fancies' polishes are always the ones that I get stopped about the most by non-nail polish people when I am out and about doing my thing.  I can't remember a time when I was wearing one of Lara's polishes when someone out in the world didn't stop me to ask me what it was.

Famous Blue Raincoat is almost a one coater polish. I used two coats for the purpose of photography but I probably could have gotten away with just one.  It did dry down to what I would call a demi-matte finish.  Not matte enough to be called a matte but enough that I wanted to use the topcoat to really bring out the depth of the flakes in this polish.  Fiendish Fancies wears really well on me and I got 5 days without any noticeable wear before I changed it.

Low light

Famous Blue Raincoat will be available from Polish Pickup starting March 1st until March 4th. There is a cap of 100 bottles (US/Canada) and 20 bottles (UK) and will retail for $12.

Do you think Lara captured the spirit of Cohen's song?

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Man in Black - My Indie Polish (March 2019 PPU Exclusive)

There's a man goin' 'round takin' names

And he decides who to free and who to blame

Everybody won't be treated all the same

There'll be a golden ladder reachin' down

When the man comes around

-The Man Comes Around, Johnny Cash, American IV

If I was forced to name my favourite album of all time.....more than Pearl Jam, more than U2, more than the Rolling Stones....it would be American IV by Johnny Cash. Other than the song I posted above, it's an album of cover songs sung by Cash. Generally speaking, I'm not much one for cover songs.  This album, though? It transcends covers and Cash actually takes songs written and turns them into his own, and in many cases better than the originals.  Don't believe me? Just listen to 'Hurt'.

Okay, now that I have gone off and waxed poetic about my love for this album, you'll understand my excitement when Tanya of My Indie Polish reached out to see if I was interested in swatching her Cash-inspired offering for March 2019's Polish Pickup theme of 'Album Covers'.

Man in Black is a black crelly filled with silver flakes and a subdued holo sparkle.

Okay, so.  I am not much of a black nail polish fan usually. Probably because in my teen years I exclusively wore black nail polish so these days I enjoy the sparkle and pops of colour.  HOWEVER. This polish is sheer understated perfection. Johnny Cash isn't an over the top guy. He wore black. He loved being at home with his wife. He believed in God. All in all, he was a pretty understated guy himself. I cannot think of a better designed polish to represent the Man in Black.  The crelly base allows the flakes to swim under the surface and the addition of the slight holo is just enough to bring in that sparkle that Johnny always had.

I am a fan of My Indie Polish's formula.  Tanya has been in the business for over seven years, so it's no surprise that she knows what it takes to make a good, easily applied formula.  The first coat is slightly translucent but the second coat achieved complete opacity.  My skin around my fingers tends to hold colour (not the nails, but the skin) so I always use a coat of an oil-based balm before removal to prevent staining, and I had no issues with that. Removal was easy-peasy.

Man in Black will be available from Polish Pickup from March 1st - March 4th and will be priced at $12.50.  I do not believe that there is a cap to this polish but will update if that changes.

Final verdict - I love this polish like Johnny loved June.

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My Indie Polish - Seven Year Switch

Hey, hey everyone!

I know that things have been quieter again lately but I am hoping to get back into the swing of things again. After an insanely busy summer that included moving and an emergency surgery (both of which wreaked havoc on my nails), I feel like I am beginning to settle into my new job and have enough time to devote to some blogging interests again.

And boy, oh boy, am I back with a doozy of a polish to show you all today.

My Indie Polish - Seven Year Switch

Some of you may know that I have a Facebook group for thermal nail polish lovers called Holy Shift. Every now and again, polishes are created and offered specifically for members of this group. When Tanya of My Indie Polish contacted me about a thermal flakie with a very strong multichrome shifting shimmer, I was intrigued to see it.  The results are fabulous.

Seven Year Switch is a deep forest green to white thermal base with colour shifting flakes and a strong purple to green shifting duochrome shimmer.  It sounds complex and it is.  This is a stunning polish and I literally gasped out loud when I put it on for the first time.  The thermal shift is a strong one, and then combined with the shifting shimmer it becomes one of those really special polishes.

I half expected the warm state to be almost translucent on my nails but with a few coats I didn't have much visible nail line.

I used three thin coats of Seven Year Switch for the opacity that you see here. It applied easily and the formula smoothed onto the nail without any issues. It is a really reactive thermal, so it shifted between cold to warm and into transition throughout the day.  Excellent formula with a stunning result.

Seven Year Switch will be available tomorrow, October 1st at 9am EDT.  It will be priced at $16CAD plus shipping.  This polish is in VERY limited supply. As in, only 20 bottles will be available kind of limited. Once it's gone, that's it. There won't be more, so I recommend you jump on this one if you want a bottle.

Will you be grabbing this beauty?

My Indie Polish 

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