Orly Sweet Peacock + First Laser Mani!!!

So today I have for you Orly Sweet Peacock.  A stunning blue foil.  I originally wasn't going to get this but it came in an uber cheap pack of 3 (That also included Fowl Play and Lucky Duck).

Application was easy as pie (what does that even mean? Baking pie? Eating pie? 3.14?).  Whatever.  The formula was easy as folding a piece of paper in 2.  I got full coverage in 2 coats.  And it dried faster than the speed of light... well slower, but that saying makes more sense.

So after 2 days I decided I wanted to liven it up a bit and I used tape and did my first laser mani!!! Ok well second. Mt first was a disaster of epic proportions.  The only eff ups I had here were you can see on my index finger one of the lasers stops abruptly.  I was using Sally Hanson's Xtream Wear in Ivy League and as some of yo might know the bottles are long as well as the brushes.  Anyways it dripped down from the top (Fun fact:  I started writing this post Friday and on a whim went out for dinner with friends. A glass full of liquor berry's, the same clothes, and 2 days later It's Sunday evening I'm back home picking up from where I left off.) and it pooled when I removed the tape.  Luckily despite that it pooled in to create a crisp line.

I've currently had the many on for almost 6 days now and there is only tip wear!!!  Yay!!!

I change clothes now!!!

It's currently Monday... This post took 4 days from start to finish.  And my nails are significantly shorter.

 

In sunlight

 Natural light - Cloudy

  Natural light - Cloudy

Underwater

Battle of the Graphite dupes... Can you tell them apart?

Today I have a post I was hoping I'd be able to do at some point.. Showing off the two much-touted Graphite dupes together at last.  You know which two I mean:  OPI Number One Nemesis and Jessica Smoky Feather.  I've seen a lot of posts comparing one with Graphite(which Kas owns but I don't), so we know how they stack up in that regard, but what we DON'T know is how they stack up against one another.  So that's what today is about!

Like I tweeted last night, from the bottles alone, they're not dupes.  And on the nail, I think that's also true, but they are close.  I think 99% of you would probably be happy with owning one or the other.  I know which one I prefer.

So, first some bottle shots:

 (artificial light)

 (sunlight)

Okay, here we go!  So, as is the way with posts like these, I am wearing the Jessica on two fingers and the OPI on the other two.  

There are two coats of each, though one of them needs a third.  One is sparklier, one is more foil-y. One is bluer, one is greener.  

Can you tell which polish is which?  See if you're right after the jump.

Essence All Access

Another of my beautiful polishes from Irune!

Canada only just got Essence, but we only have a few shades, so this was really nice to get!  It's a beautiful dark green with blue tones and a blue shimmer that's only visible in certain lights.  I tried to get a blur going on a couple of shots for you guys so you can see the blue tones.

I wasn't sure how I'd feel about this one, because I don't wear a lot of these sorts of shades, but I might have to make an exception for this one, because it's shockingly nice with my skin and really classy.  I would love to have a dress in this colour.

Tried to get a blur going, it only worked a little :P

Do you guys wear a lot of greens like this?  

Any other nice ones I should look for?

Nail mail... FROM SPAIN. And a giveaway reminder/anouncement.

So I never posted about it, but about a month ago I was profiled on brokeandbeautiful.com along with my dear friend and fellow polish addict Irune, who hails from Bilbao, Spain.  Broke and Beautiful is run by two amazing ladies I know, and they wanted to do a post about nails, and naturally we were more than happy to contribute!

Well, Irune decided she needed to thin her polish stash out a little and offered to send me some stuff that I wouldn't be able to get here, including a beautiful Catherine Arley holo that I will show off at a later date!  I was so grateful when I opened the package and saw some pretty great stuff inside.  I will be showing a few of them off over the next few days, so today I will start with the gorgeous Barry M Vivid Purple.

I'd seen this colour before on other blogs, and I love it so so much.  I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it in my package from Irune.  It was on my wish list and she didn't even know, so it filled a huge lemming.  The colour is well, vivid, but wearable, and very flattering, and this is three coats, because at two it was just not camera ready.  Formula was quite good, and it applied smoothly and easily.  This is one I'll be saving(Code: rationing!) for parties and other special occasions.  It's one I want to try layering with.

My dog bumped my pinky before I could take the last picture :P

Are any of you guys fans of Barry M?  

I think this was a pretty kickass intro to the brand.

And now a little note from both of us:

This is just a reminder that there's only 2 weeks left to enter our Chanel and other awesome stuff giveaway.

This is also a reminder that WE DO CHECK THE ENTRIES. It's one thing to make a mistake and miss something, and we can spot that pretty easily. It's another thing to say you posted us in your giveaway sidebar and not even have one. When we find someone who lied we delete ALL your entries. 

Kas and George

Simple Freddie Mercury? + Important Question

If you've been following this blog you'll notice that I think Take That is an okay man band. They're decent and I think with a bit more time they can be stars. But when it comes down to music there is one band that reigns.

Queen.

You can not get better than Queen.  I either have, or have heard every single Queen song.  If there's a concert bootleg out there, I've heard it.  For the most part I could tell you 1) What song was being played at a concert recording within the first few seconds 2) Even if I have 20 versions of one song I can tell you exactly where that specific version is from.

I especially love Freddie Mercury.  I think he was an AMAZINGLY talented musician and writer.  And the way he could hold an audience in the palm of his hand was just mind blowing.

Today I did a simple Freddie Mercury manicure (But I should make it clear that I would never describe him as simple.  Fabulous diva would be a good jumping off point).  I used some of his outfits as inspiration.  Can you guess what outfits I used(The index finger can be a few)? And if you like Queen what are some of your fav songs? Mine are Seven Seas of Rhye, Don't Stop Me Now, The Prophets Song,  I Want It All and Barcelona (Technically not Queen just Freddie), to name a few.  I could go on.

Random Freddie Story!

When someone found out I loved Freddie they said "You know he's gay?".  Yes good Sir. That's the problem.  He will have no interest in me because he's gay.  We can get past the whole he's been dead for 20 years thing though.

Question:  What nail polishes can I buy at Charles De Gaulle Airport? This is clearly important.

Ps. Freddie's outfits from thumb to pinky in case you want to know.  1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

Sinful Colors Bali Mist - Hmmmmmm...

I can honestly say Bali Mist looks like someone put too much vodka in the punch.  Granted if this was punch and there was too much vodka I wouldn't complain.  There would also be no punch left. But sadly this is not a delightfully alcoholic drink.

Bali Mist is a bright pink duochrome. But on it's own is a disappointment.  I used 3 coats and it was still uber sheer, and had lots of VNL.  And on the nail you would have never known that it was duochrome. So I decided to put one coat over black.  That is when the magic happened. It turned into a pinkish, purple that shifted green.  In natural light it kinda reminded me of Essances Where Is The Party?

This is a polish that I would definitely not wear alone.  I think I will try layering it over different colours.  A purple maybe?  Who knows.  I'm crazy like that!

 

Now that's something to look at!

 

Pretty, oui?

Cult Nails Quench

So I just got a nice box of nail mail from Cult Nails, and I wanted to try something out.  I picked up Seduction, Quench(x2, one for Kas!), and another bottle of Wicked Fast in their $5 sale.

So in this post you'll notice two things:  My short nails, and the henna on my ring finger.  My nail broke at my old job and so I needed to cut them all down :(  I'm hoping they grow quickly because as you'll seel, I'm not the greatest at dealing with nubbins.  I also went and got some henna on my hand with a friend who had an Indian wedding to go to, but I didn't realise til it was too late that I put it on my swatching hand.  So you will get little glimpses of my henna hand for the next little while.

Quench is a GORGEOUS blood red jelly(though it's a LITTLE on the opaque side for a jelly) that applies like butter.  Seriously, if there's such thing as the perfect formula, I think this is it.  I'm hoping it doesn't thicken too much with time because it's really wonderful to work with.  On my middle finger, you'll see that I decided to see how Quench would work for a jelly sandwich(or candy mani), and  as you'll see, the result is... Underwhelming.  I used one coat of OPI Servin' Up Sparkle in between two layers of Quench.

I really, really love this red.  It's a great shade that looks classic and modern at once, with a really nice shine.  The jelly finish makes it really fun to play with.  I used two coats for these swatches, but in the future I'll use three as I had a TINY bit of VNL in some lights.  The colour is really hard to capture.  It's amazing.

Cult Nails Quench - 2 coats, no topcoat, over Cult Nails Get It On.

This photo is the most colour accurate.

Do you like Cult Nails?  

What(if anything) did you get in the $5 sale? 

I will be posting a review of Cult Nails Get It On and Wicked Fast before too long.  

Have any of you used them?  What did you think?

Hunger Games Nails Aka A Whole Lotta Whip Pan

Sort of.

This is going to be a quick post because I have to go out in 8 minutes!

Anywho, just for the record I have read the first book... It was ok.  And I have never seen the movie.  I'm sure I will one day. These nails are based on my friends description of the film. Which was "Lots of whip pans and a guy dressed up as a rock.  Which is the best part of the film".

So I tried to make my fingers look like a forest kind of would in a whip pan shot. And I did a rock with eyes for my accent nail.

Sorry the pic is kinda blah.  I took the pics quickly.  If you wanna know what I used just ask.

 1 minute to spare!  Gotta run!!!

OPI Crown Me Already

Just a reminder to follow us on twitter at ValkyrieNails!  There will be some very special stuff going on there in the future and if you're on twitter, you won't want to miss out.

Now HERE's a polish that I'm not surprised I love.  Obnoxious silver glitter?  Sign me up!  When the Miss Universe collection came out, I saw this and knew it would be mine.  I love the wide variety of glitter in this polish, and I love that it looks like I have a disco ball on my nails.  It just reflects so much light and almost glows.

Photos do this no justice, it truly is stunning in person.  This is one of my favourite manicures to do because it makes me feel like a fancy pirate princess.  I think it was Scrangie who said this looks like a treasure chest and she was totally right.  It's so magical.

This is two thin coats over one thin coat of China Glaze Icicle.  I tend to wear it like that just to cover up any bald spots.

Just look at the sparkle!

Do any of you own Crown Me Already?  How do you wear it?  What's your favourite glitter?

OPI Pink Friday

So I've said it before here and I'll say it again:  I like bright, crazy colours, preferably with glitter.  I like things that make people stare.   So it came as a major surprise to me when I fell in love with this colour.  OPI's Pink Friday from the Nicki Minaj collection is my perfect pink.  It's a gorgeous bubblegum shade that is both bright enough for my taste, but also muted enough to wear to work(or I think so :P).  

I loved the texture, so creamy and lovely.  It applied easily and built up nicely in three coats.  Thicker coats and I could've done two.  It's SUCH a gorgeous colour, totally backup-worthy in my opinion.

While on the subject:  I LOVED the Nicki Minaj collection, but funnily enough I only bought the cremes!  I got Metallic 4 Life, but realised that it was just not me, so I passed it onto Kas.  Bar glitter leaves me cold, so I left Save Me as well.  But the cremes... Oh the cremes.  OPI has reignited the love for cremes that lay dormant in me for so long.  This is what I need, more beautiful brights with such wonderful formulas.  Absolutely thrilled with that collection.

I have no idea why this is upside down.  But I have to go to work so DEAL WITH IT :P

What did you guys pick up from the Nicki Minaj collection?  And can someone explain to me why people like bar glitter?  It looks like fur!  And not in a fun way D:

Take That Part 2

This post was inevitable.  And in case you didn't know I have a mild love for Take That.

I got my inspiration from Take That Presents:  The Circus Live.

This is my right hand.  I'm surprised by how much I like it. 

 

My right hand is based on the Clown Medley.  At first I did colourful french manis in the colours of their hats.  But it didn't look all that interesting to be honest.  So I did it again and used the colours of their hats but used dots instead.  And my thumb is their jacket/pants. The horizontal lines look kind of shaky.  I find they are much harder to do than vertical for some reason.

 

Mark, Jason, Gary, Howard :D, (Robbie had yet to rejoin the band at this point).  Now you can fill out the Take That question in our giveaway!

If you want to know what colours I use feel free to ask.  I would put them but I don't remember all of the right now.

So I'm going to go now.  I had too much to drink last night.  But I'll leave you with the the Clown Medley, and a BIG yay for all our new followers.  Almost 200! Anyhoo...I sleep now.

How many coats of polish do you think this took???

5?  10?  15?  30?  If you guess those you were wrong.  Actually if you guessed anything that wasn't 53 you were wrong.  Yes that is 53 coats of polish (and would the base coat sort of count as 54?)

I was seriously bored, schoolwork was done, it was too late to go out and start anything so I had nothing better to do with my time than to do this.  To be honest I had actually thought of trying this before.  Just layering as much polish as I could just for the heck of it.

 

What I'm trying to say is if you have a dream.  Just go for it.

                                     

Most useful post ever.  You're welcome.

Don't worry real posts coming soon.

ETA:  This took over 2 hours to do and I actually stopped because the polish started to make me feel ill.  I had it on for just over 3 hours and it was super easy to remove because it NEVER dried.  I used a tissue to take most of it off.  And there's everything from creams to full on chunky glitters in there.

Illamasqua Nomad and some news!

So I've been a little missing lately because life has been crazazy, but I am making my triumphant return!

First things first:  Varnished Valkyrie is now on twitter!  FOLLOW US for all kinds of surprises, I promise they'll be well worth your while.

Secondly:  I broke a nail on the weekend, so I have nubbins for the time being.  Luckily my nails grow fairly quickly, so I should be back to normal in no time.  I have a few swatches from before, but there may be some nubbin posts in your future.  Just an FYI :P

And finally:  Some swatches of the beautiful Illamasqua Nomad!  As you know if you've picked up on a few things, we are Canadian, so there are a few brands that we can't really get here, and until recently Illamasqua was one of them.  Canadian Sephora stores now carry Illamasqua polishes, but not the makeup.  Oh well, it's a small step in the right direction!  For now I'll be saving the lion's share of my Illamasqua purchases for visits to the USA as it's cheaper, but I made an exception for this collection, which is one of the nicest colours I've found this spring.

One thing I love about Illamasqua is how they put out comparatively few products, but what they do put out is generally of absolutely fabulous quality.  I wish some other brands would take their cues from them.  Illamasqua is the longest lasting polish I've found, I've worn it for five days with tip wear and no chips, which is beyond amazing wear for me.  It's absolutely excellent.

So Illamasqua describes this shade as a "bright jade" and I think that's pretty apt.  This colour is stunning in person, really one that needs to be seen.  The colour is bright and gorgeous, but not obnoxious.  It's not mint, it's not aqua, it's the perfect bright jade.  Just amazing.  It was opaque in two coats, no dragging, and the formula practically applied itself.  Perfect.

Do we have any Illamasqua fans here?  What's your favourite shade of theirs?  Will you be picking up Stance or Nomad from this collection?

OPI Over The Taupe

 Let's talk nudes for a second guys guys.

1) Always, always, ALWAYS lock your phone.  You don't want people rummaging.
2) I wish there were more nude polish collections that also had darker skin in mind.  The few nudes I have are random browns, from random collections. And most nude collections look far better on lighter skin.

Anywhoo just a simple swatch today! Over The Taupe is green... It's not, it's taupe. OPI made this easy for me. It's a taupe cream.  It reminds me of coffee!  I used 3 coats in the photos.  The sad thing is I love this colour but have only worn it out once, yet I've done I think 5 manicures with it.  Most of the time I either ended up not going out or taking it off because I changed my mind.

I added black tips(OPI Black Onyx) in an attempt to look classy with a side of badass. I'm pretty sure that was a success.

ALSO before I forget (because I keep forgetting and just remembered when I saw the first comment to this post!) Thank you Stephanie over at A Little Polish for the The Liebster Award! Everyone needs to go and check out her blog!

62 Follower Giveaway!!!!

Yay guys the time has finally arrived!!! It's our first giveaway!!! So here is what you as a viewer could win.

Mattese Elite Revolution - Gray with a light linear holo effect.  Color Club Revvvolution's little sister.

Warpaint Beauty Matte Top Coat - We've used it before.  Great quality. Holds its own against Essie.

China Glaze Techno - Crazy, retina burning, hodgepodge of small and large holo glitter.

A slightly better look at the glitter.  But this is crazy holo in real life.

Oh and this ol' thing. 

Chanel Peridot - Gold amazingness.  We know there's lots of dupes coming out but let's be honest.  Who doesn't like  saying "Chanel, my dear" when someone asks what you're wearing.

Rules are simple.  The giveaway is international.  UNLESS you somewhere where nail polish is not allowed to be shipped.  Also we would prefer that you be 16+.  If we catch anyone cheating all your entries will be disqualified.  Contest ends May 9th at midnight EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway