Two Illamasqua Rubber Brights!

So it's obviously no secret that I adore Illamasqua.  They are easily one of my favourite brands, so I love when they release something new and interesting.  I loved Kink, the first of their rubber finish polishes I owned, and so when they came out with more colours I used my birthday money to snap up the ones that interested me.

So today I have Nurture and Serenity, two gorgeous shades of green and blue respectively.  I love these so much.  You'll have to forgive the slight lobster hands, I promise it wasn't nearly as apparently IRL, but I had been baking and I guess I was quite hot.

First up is Serenity, which is bright, very bright, blue.  It's almost like the brightest sky of the summer kind of blue.  It was so lovely on and I can see it beint a great nail art base.  This is two easy coats, dry time was longer than normal but not enough that it would bother me.

I thought I took a glossy shot of this but I don't think I did, haha.

Next is Nurture, which is a bright green colour.  This is my favourite of the ones I bought.  I love green.  You may remember the neon green walls of my former bedroom from old swatches... Well, this is pretty close!  Like before, this is two easy coats. 

Did you guys pick up any Illamasqua rubber brights??

Illamasqua Viridian and Glitterati - You win some, you lose some..

First some news: Guess who's getting a pretty new computer so she can finally blog in style?  THIS GIRL.  My sexy new 21.5 inch iMac should arrive soon and I AM EXCITE.  It will be so nice to be able to edit photos properly instead of having to settle for a crappy online editor because my ancient macbook can barely scroll without extreme difficulty.  Cannot wait.

Now onto the real purpose of this post:  Illamasqua Glitterati and Viridian.  These came in a duo from Sephora that I believe is still available.

First up: Glitterati.  Oh yeah.  This is my kind of polish.  It's a sexy dark purple-y magenta-ish jelly with just the right amount of glitter to be both classy and eye-catching.  The glitter doesn't sink into the base - It's really visible, but without the rough finish.  I have on two coats here and the application was a breeze with no cleanup needed.

I cannot even begin to tell you how much I love this polish, it suits my skin really nicely, and it's really wearable for almost any occasion. It's just FABULOUS.

As usual, all photos are in natural light with no flash.

Now onto Viridian.  I bought two bottles of this, one to give to Robyn for Christmas and one in the duo for me, but I ended up passing both on.  This colour is absolutely amazing, but just not on me.  It's a gorgeous dark green that leans blue and has that fabulous Illamasqua formula, perfectly opaque in two easy coats, few brush strokes, just no complaints.

Except the lobster hands.  OH THE LOBSTER HANDS.  Can someone explain to me how my skin can look incredibly sallow and green one moment(see: Essie Pretty Edgy, which is possibly the least flattering colour on me ever in the history of the world) and then red and awful the next?  Never mind, don't. You'll just depress me.  I know it's not terribly obvious in the photos, but trust me that in person, this was just not a good thing.  Cooler toned ladies should get their hands on this one, it'll suit you much more than it did me!  And I will sit in jealousy.

Illamasqua Cameo + GOBAMA.

So I found it.  I don't know why it took them so long, but I found the world's most perfect blue.  It's magic.  It's like periwinkle and cornflower had a beautiful bouncing blue baby.  It's RIDICULOUS how gorgeous and sexy this blue is.  I can't get over it.

It's a Sephora exclusive, and early indications said it was a US exclusive... But being that I am in Canada and here it is in my hand... It's not US exclusive.

But you know, the REAL REASON for some blue nails today:

Elizabeth Warren. Karen Gillibrand. Claire McCaskill. Tammy Baldwin.  And you know, Barack Obama.  

I had the pleasure of spending the entire night watching the polls with my very close group of American girlfriends via the magic of video chat.  Tears were shed, drinks were drunk.  These girls, well, they're some of my best friends.  They're strong, amazing women who have helped me to grow in a million ways I don't think I would've had we not crossed paths.  They helped to spark my interest in politics, and they have taught me what it is to be a strong woman with strong ideals who takes no shit from anyone.  They make me so proud to be a woman.  It pains me to know that there was someone on the ticket who didn't see them the way I see them, but it fills me with joy that for at least another four years, they and their rights are protected.  Women made a huge impact in this election, so I was really glad to be able to watch the election with some pretty great ones, watching some other great ones taking their rightful places in the history books.

Let's remember:  Senate seats, not binders, full of women!

Take Me Out To The Ball Game!

So I love baseball.  I grew up playing T-Ball and then softball, and growing up going to games was one of my favourite things.  My grandmother and I would watch Toronto Blue Jays games from her bad in her nursing home, and my first memory is watching her squeal with glee over Pay Borders and his dirty hat.  I have never been one to really follow or root for a specific team(though obviously my loyalty lies with the Jays for purely nostalgic reasons!) but I just love the sport.

So when my friend Stella and I went to a ball game the other night, our Jays vs the Yankees, I decided that we needed some ballpark nails.  I went with the old Blue Jays logo(the new one is so boring!) and a little itty bitty Yankee logo on my pinky.  We ended up trouncing those Yanks 6-0, though they did kick our asses last night.

But then.... GASP... Tragedy struck!  My nail art brushes and dotting tools, they were missing!  How was I going to do small details without tools?  Well, I  persevered, and I ended up doing the whole design(including the polka dots on the other hand) with the jaggy end of a bent hairpin.  I think I did a pretty good job despite lack of tools :P

Polishes used:  Orly Royal Navy, OPI Big Apple Red(for the shadow on the text and the red on the logo), Color Club French Tip(THE BEST WHITE EVER, I swear it's sorcery how perfect this formula was.  What you see on my middle finger is one thin coat), Illamasqua Serenity, China Glaze Sea Spray, and a plain black stripe rite brush with some sliver glitter.

Pretty proud of my itty bitty maple leaf :P 

Ran out of time so the other hand was just dotty, but I think I did a damn good dotting job given that I was using a craggy old bobby pin!

OPI's My Pointe Exactly + Illamasqua's Raindrops = Perfectness

My Pointe Exactly is the only shade I got from this years soft shades collection from OPI.  I don't LOVE soft shades and I don't wear them a lot but I do like them.  And I like knowing I have some work safe shades.  You know in case I ever get a real job. I was lucky enough to a) Buy Illamasqua Raindrops on sale from Illamsaqua's website for £5. b) Buy it before it was discontinued.

My Pointe Exactly is a sheer gray Jelly. I used 3 coats for the swatch.  Although if I wanted to layer these 2 again.  I would probably only use 2.  The formula was fine.  No problems at all.  I then layered 2 thin goats of Illamasqua's Raindrops on top. Raindrops is a blue/gray, jelly polish full of iridescent flakies.

I think My Pointe Exactly works as perfect underwear for Raindrops. And what girl doesn't like really nice underwear?

Side by side. My Pointe Exactly looks less blue in person.

 It's still a bit sheer with 3 coats as you can see.  But nothing major.

 With Raindrops!

Illamasqua Kink + My new pretty.

So yesterday my mother returned home from church with a present for me.  Apparently someone at our church decided to MAKE MY DAY by giving me the one item that I'd been longing for since the early days of my baking obsession...

A BRITISH RACING GREEN KITCHENAID MIXER.

HAPPIEST DAY OF MY LIFE aside from that one day where I met Laura Linney or the time I bumped into Stephen Schwartz on the street I THINK YES.

So once I was done flipping the hell out and hugging it asking over and over again if she was sure we weren't just borrowing it, I thought that in order to properly show off my new pretty, I should do a matching(ish) manicure.  So I pulled out one of my favourite greens, Illamasqua Kink, and took a few pictures.  Kink is a little bluer, but it's pretty close!

Also yes, I did file my nails down again.  Kas, Robyn, Eliza(an illustrious commenter from the drunk post) and I are going on a trip and I want my nails to be beautiful in time for that, so I did a final file and now I'm letting them grow til then and pampering them.

Kink was one of the three first Illamasquas I owned(bought them together), along with Throb and Load.  My bottle has a wonky lid, but aside from that it's one of my favourite polishes.  It goes on smoothly in two thin coats and dries to a pleather-like finish.  Usually I wear it that way, but I also like it with a coat of top coat, as above.  

Have a great day, polish-aholics!

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.

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?

Queen Street subway nails!

So I also decided to enter the contest over at More Nail Polish.  Thanks to the wonderful who suggested it, I had a lot of fun doing these nails and I wore them for three days!

I decided to base mine on something from home, which is the Queen Street subway station in Toronto, Ontario.  If you've never been, there are some large murals in the subway that are done in beautiful, bright colours.  I've always thought they were really neat, so I decided that I would base my nails on the murals.

They're not terribly amazing or exciting, but I did have a few customers at work notice and recognise the art, so that was kind of neat!  Really I just had fun doing them, and I hope you guys like them as much as I did!

So we'll start with the inspiration pictures and move on to the nails! 

Polishes used: 

Urban Outfitters Bandeau

Essie Too Too Hot

Finger Paints Outta Sight Orange

Sinful Colors Let's Meet

OPI Strawberry Margarita

OPI Suzi Loves Cowboys
White striper(missing label)

China Glaze Dress Me Up

OPI Did It On Em

OPI Green-Wich Village

Fashion Bug Shamrock

China Glaze Mediterranean Charm

Essie Borrowed and Blue

Illamasqua Kink

OPI Dating a Royal

China Glaze White on White
China Glaze Pelican Grey

Enjoy!

New contributer!

Hi polish fanatics!

I'm George, and I'm Kas's best friend and fellow polish addict who will now be contributing here!  I had my own blog briefly, but we decided it was silly to be separate, so I'm moving over here!

A little about me:  In addition to nails and nail-related posts, I'm a skincare junkie, so I will be posting reviews for skincare products too.  I love glitter, bright colours, and all things eye-catching, so my posts will be leaning more toward the crazier end of the scale.  I have a few neutrals that are basically relegated to the "job interviews and tea with the queen" part of my polish rack.  The gaudier, the more I'll love it.

So, to introduce you all to me and my style, here are some recent favourite manicures from me!

Valentine's Day.  Very subdued for me but still cute.  Still mastering small details on my non-dominant hand, so the other middle finger had a larger heart and spots.  Obviously took this pre-cleanup.  Polishes used:  Illamasqua Load and Illamasqua Throb.  Couldn't resist those names!

 Dots - These are quite old, and I used OPI's Fly and Did It On Em from the Nicki Minaj collection. 

China Glaze Ruby Pumps and Pure Ice Crushed.  Pure Ice Crackles are the best I've found.  Excellent formula cracks like a dream. 

Explosions with OPI's Fly and Did It On Em.  In case you couldn't tell, I'm a little obsessed with these colours.  Another pre-cleanup shot. 

Excuse the old blackberry picture!  These were my NYE 2011 nails.  Polishes used:  Zoya Julieanne, OPI Last Friday Night, Sally Hansen Urban Chic(China Glaze Fairy Dust is a dupe), and Orly Glitz and Glamour. 

Goldfish scale nails with Finger Paints Outta Sight Orange, China Glaze Solar Flare(Milani Gold is a dupe), and OPI Y'all Come Back Y'Hear. 

This one was a surprise!  Julep Taylor with a single coat of OPI Servin' Up Sparkle.  The glitter changed the colour of Taylor, which is rather periwinkle.  It was such an odd and profound shift! 

OPI Crown Me Already over OPI Lucerne-Tainly Look Marvellous.  This is my go-to for when I want to be blinding!

Until next time, George.