The worst, most disappointing review you will ever read. We tried.

Hello friends! Today I want to show you a beautiful flakie polish from Born Pretty Store. I want to, but I really can't.

Dazzling Starry Magical Multicolored Shell Glitter Nail Art Polish Varnish in colour #4 is a "classic" flakie with a standard orange-green shift and hits of fuschia, giving it a bit more interest than most regular flakies. This polish has a slightly purple-tinted base, so it looks best over darker or well-saturated colours.

Now, let me tell you, I absolutely suck at taking photos. I blow hard at colour accuracy. My lighting is never quite right. My hands can never stay still enough to get the right angles. THIS POLISH WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO PHOTOGRAPH. Kas came over and we worked on this for 2 hours. We were ready to give up on life. So I need you to trust me when I say that in real life, it's absolutely gorgeous.

My base colour here is OPI Lincoln Park After Dark.

 We tried to take comparison shots for you, with Essie Shine of the Times. We failed. Base colour is NOPI Fell From The Tree. You can kinda see how the Sweet polish has that hint of pink.

HEY LOOK AT THE BOTTLE IT'S REALLY PRETTY

This is really all I can show you. All of our other photos represent failure on a mass scale and I'm deeply ashamed.

So if you believe me when I say this polish actually is really great, head over to Born Pretty Store and grab a bottle for only $8.99! Don't forget our coupon code for 10% off.

*Product sent for honest review

**We know we suck. We'll try harder next time. We're really sorry.

The Cooling of the Embers - Flakie layering inspired by a song.

So like a lot of you, I've been following other bloggers doing the 30 day challenge, but I haven't been an active participant.  But then the other night I went to a concert and had an idea for an "inspired by a song" manicure.  I will also be doing a manicure inspired by my favourite movie, but I'm waiting til my nails are longer... So here we go!  Cookies if any of you have already recognised the title of the song......

So one of my favourite singers is Missy Higgins, a gorgeous Aussie lady with a voice like warm honey and milk(Anyone?  Just me?  Okay...).  She was in Toronto the other night with Katie Herzig and Butterfly Boucher.  Missy's latest album, The Ol' Razzle Dazzle, came out not long ago, and one of the songs, The Cooling Of The Embers, really struck me.  It's about dealing with dementia in a loved one, so not the cheeriest music in the world, but I love the beautiful imagery of a fire burning itself out, the embers cooling slowly.

I started with one coat of one of my favourite reds, OPI Big Apple Red, and then added one thin coat each of Cult Nails Seduction, Nubar 2010, and Finger Paints Twisted.  I do own the mythical Cult Nails Clairvoyant, but I decided to leave it out of this mani.  The three together really added to the "fire burning out" look.  The main colour shift is orange to yellow to red, with flashes of green and blue, like white hot embers.  I'm excited to see it in sunlight in the morning.

You might ask yourself, are 6 photos too many?  Not when a manicure is as magical as this!

And you're only half here 

like someone left a frail body and took the rest 

But I remember when you were strong 
Never wanted help from no-one

What you've become is not who I remember

Is this the cooling of the embers? 

Orly's Fowl Play: I don't get you.

I don't get it guys.

Fowl Play is a deep purple jelly based polish (it reminds me of Blackcurrant Ribena if it we made with glitter and a dash of poison).  It's full of  micro glitter, a bit of blue glitter and of course duochrome flakies.  It was opaque in 3 coats.

I feel like this is another polish I can't get an erection over.  Don't get me wrong I don't hate it(great for  fall days when I have really don't know what polish to wear) but I find it underwhelming.  The only place it comes to life is in the sun.  When you can actually see everything.  And I hate the sun.  And even then I almost expect more umph.  This is yet another polish that I don't get what people see in it sometimes.

This polish is probably another reason I don't LOVE flakies.

This polish is also apparently almost a dupe for OPI's Merry Midnight.  So if you do like this or you liked Merry Midnight and either want a backup (and don't want to spend eBay money on it) or you just missed out on it.  I would suggest buying Fowl Play.  And you don't have to worry about ever running out because it's part of their permanent collection.

All photos taken in the sun/natural light.  Minus second last photo (indoor + flash).

Ruby Kisses-Steel Magnolia + OPI-I Lily Love You = Times Square After Midnight

So the only reason I bought I Lily Love you is because back when I was in NYC last September I was going to a taping of Anderson Coopers talk show and I wanted to change my nails up.  George had ILLY you and And I had Steel Magnolia.  I don't know why but I decided to layer them.  I loved it! It reminded me of photos I had seen of Times Square after midnight, after the confetti, and after every one had left. Well minus all the disgusting garbage.

Steel Magnolia is a charcoal gray packed with silver shimmer (that flashes the dreaded teal).  The formula is fantastic.  To EASY coats.

ILLY is a very pale pink jelly packed with iridescent flakies and glitter of all shapes and sizes.  I used two coats on my nails.  This was a mega bitch to take of.  One of the worst polishes to remove in my opinion.

 You can see the teal here.

And a bit here.

 With I Lily Love You.

 Wish the photos were a bit better.

But I didn't notice till after I took it off and uploaded the photos.