Literary Lacquers As The Waltz Was Ending + Love You Forever: I can't angry blog.

This post was actually originally written yesterday, and the whole thing started out as a rant at something I was mad about.  Now I generally love sharing with you guys stuff about me, but when I read it over it was not only did a write something that came off as VERY angry.  It came off something personal that I didn't want to tell someone, but I still wanted them to find out about.  Subsequently it made writing the actual review near impossible, because I just wasn't in the right head space.  So I had to step away and come back to this.  I didn't want to write a sub par review because of things that had nothing to do with it.  So lesson learnt, I can't and wont blog angry.

Jacquie

Jacquie

Jacquie

Today I have 2 polishes for you.  Both Literary Lacquers, and both from the community collection.

First up I have As The Waltz Was Ending, created by Lacey from My Boyfriend Hates Makeup.  And is inspired by one of her favourite books As the Waltz Was Ending by Emma MacAlik Butterworth. "An autobiographical account of a young girl whose ballet career with the Vienna State Opera was interrupted by the invasion of the Nazis and who later had to fight for her life during the Russian occupation."  To check out why Lacy chose this book go here.

ATWWE is a pink-purple liner holo.  And I'll be honest with you, it was so hard to photograph.  It always came out more purple than pink.  But the shots I did end up with are very close.  I used 3 coats and the formula was typical of a Literary Lacquer holo...  Perfect.

Sunlight

 Indoor FLASH *AH-HA*

Next up I have my favourite of the four polishes from this collection I have reviewed called Love You Forever.  It was created by Crisdee and her daughter Keera, and was inspired by the Robert Munsch children's book Love You Forever. "It tells the story of the evolving relationship between a boy and his mother."  If you would like to see the full story behind why they chose this book check it out here.

Love You Forever is a sky blue linear polish.  And man oh man is it beautiful.  Again like ATWWE, I used 3 coats and the formula was perfect.

Overall I love Literary Lacquers holo polishes.  They aren't super holo indoors, but they come to life in sunlight.  And while they may not be super holo indoors, that's ok with me, because the colours are all so beautiful.  Even when you can't see the holo in full effect, the colour itself can stand on it's own.

If you would like a bottle of one of these, or any other Literary Lacquer, head on over to the LL etsy page!  The bottles retail for $10 USD each.

Do you own any Literary Lacquer holo's?  Aren't they amazing???

*Products sent for honest review

Literary Lacquers Goodnight Moon: First foray into shaped glitter

I had lobster poutine the other day.  It was amazing.  The end.

Today I have another Literary Lacquers for you guys, it's Goodnight Moon, created by Tami of The Manicured Mermaid, and based on the Children's of the same name.  A book about a child saying goodnight to everything (Read full story of inspiration here).  And I'll be honest, I've never read it and I never had it read to me.  Is that weird?

Good night moon is a sheer blue jelly polish, filled with holographic glitter, silver hex glitter and of course silver and blue moon shaped glitter.  I applied one coat over Cult Nails Time Travler, a deep navy TARDIS blue.  I did have some problems getting the moons out though,  I kept having to shake and fish for them.  That being said overall I did really like this polish, and I have some nail art planned for it!

If you would like a bottle of this you should head on over to Literary Lacquers and grab a bottle for $10 USD.

ETA - Wait no.  This is the second foray into shaped glitter :P

*Product sent for honest review

Literary Lacquers Thermodynamics - The only thing I understand about Thermodynamics is you should wear this over black. DO IT!

This polish is Thermodynamics from Literary Lacquers Community Collection.  It was created by Alex of Sparkly Vernis.

Now normally I like starting off Literary Lacquers posts with a bit of info on the book the polish was based on.  Amy reads science books, and one thing she said she could read about all day is Energy and Work.  Yesterday I couldn't tell you what that meant, today I still can't.  I honestly tried to understand it.  I even used Wikipedia, trusted encyclopedia of Universities throughout the world.  It was if I was reading the words and they immediately fell out my ears.  So I gave up and accepted the fact that science wasn't my thing...minus genetics when I was in school...and pig dissections.

Anyways, less about piggies and more about polish!  Thermodynamics is described as a sheer cherry red jelly polish with a blue glass fleck and a touch of blue iridescent glitter.  Although I would say it was more of a pinkish red.  I used 4 coats due to bumping my hand and covering it up with an extra coat.  But you really only need 3 if you want it pretty much opaque(there may be some visible nail line).  Then I layered 2 coats over one coat of black.  I'll be honest, this isn't really my type of polish, but over black ASDFGHJKL!!!!!  All the particles stand out a bit more and it kind of has this duochrome-y feel to it.

With no undies

 FLASH *AH-HA*

 Over black

When I was done I decided to add some nail art.  This is equatsion, it's where k_B is the Boltzmann constant, and Ω denotes the volume of macrostate in the phase space or otherwise called thermodynamic probability...you know...that. *blinks*

If you would like a bottle of this, head on over to Literary Lacquers page.  A bottle of this .5oz polish is only $10 USD.

*Product sent for honest review

Nail Polish Canada Nail Art Challenge. Week 2 - Decorations: Finally the perfect opportunity to do my half naked, sexy, Christmas, Merman nails.

So I meant to do these nail a couple days ago.  BUT as usual my laptop was messing up again.  This is probably old news on this blog, there always is something wrong with it.  I was lucky that this time I was able to resolve the problem in a somewhat timely manner, thanks to my friend who keeps me warm during the long winters night...the internet. 

So this week is the second in Nail Polish Canada's Holiday nail polish challenge.  This was actually really easy for me to choose what I wanted to do.  A few years back I remember seeing a company(Diamonds of the Sea) that made Christmas tree ornaments, and they had a whole series that is mainly different sexy mermen.  Amazing, I know.  While they are all tree ornaments I decided to stick close to the Christmas spirit and do Jingle Merman(Although Officer Ripped Merman was a close second).  The description of him on the website is as follows:

Jingle Merman Christmas Ornament joins the December Diamonds Merman Collection. Come sit on Santa's lap and let's talk about the first thing that pops up. Just saying'… that sounds like Jingle Bells to my ear.

Hahaha!!!


So for the nails I used everything from nail polish, to acrylic paint, to glitter.  My thumb and pinky are both part of his tail, my ring finger are his abs, middle finger his Santa hat, and finally my index finger says 'Been Nice?'.  I wanted to say 'Naughty' but I don't have the skills to write a word that long on my nails.

Anyways if you like that, please go over here and vote (varnishedvalkyrie.blogspot.ca) for this sexy merman.

Literary Lacquers Green Gables: Green, Glorious Green!

When I saw all 6 of the polishes from Literary Lacquers Anne of Green Gables collection this was the polish I knew just from looking at I would love!  It's kind of weird because overall I'm not much of a green person, but when it comes to polish I cannot get enough! Just like I can't get enough lobster.  Prince Edward Island loves some lobster...perfect segue.

Green Gables is named after a 19th century farm in PEI where the story takes place in and around. Not only is it a part of the book but it's a real farm on PEI.  The author  Lucy Maud Montgomery drew inspiration from it. 

Green Gables(the polish) is a forest green, linear, holographic polish.  The formula was a bit on the thin side.  I needed 3 coats for opacity, but I didn't mind because they were all thin coats and it dried super fast.  Like all of Literary Lacquers holos this looks stunning in the sun but the colour itself can stand on it's own if there is no sun around.

Bonus:  Amy of Literary lacquers posted this link on her facebook page.  It's a ton of different formats to download Anne of Green Gables(or you can even just read it online).  So if you haven't read it yet go and e-stuff it(or however one gets this stuff) into your reading device.

Anyways this was the last of the polish from Literary Lacquers Anne of Green Gables collection.  If you would like to buy Green Gables or any of the other polishes I have reviewed in the past week head on over to Literary Lacquers etsy page.  They each retail for $10.48 Canadian or $57.63 for the whole set of 6.  Thank you Amy for letting me review these.  They are all fantastic!  Can't wait to see what you get inspired by next!

*Product sent for honest review.

ALSO this is kinda random but this is the perfect post for it.  I don't know if you guys know about this but a few months ago an unauthorized publisher came out with a new cover for the book.  No.  She's a redhead!  And also what is that?  Someones instagram shot? And why is she being sexy? C'mon!

One of these things is not like the other.

Literary Lacquers Raspberry Cordial: Yes I am wearing a bright pink polish.

So I'm feeling much better.  My sore throat is gone but I keep sneezing!  Argh!

Enough about me.  Let's move on to a more important issue...The sun.  I got these polishes last Tuesday and there has not been sun out since then.  Normally I would like that,  but not when I have pretty holos to show!  Today the sun FINALLY decided to show its silly, hydrogen filled face.  Huzzah!

Today I have for you Raspberry Cordial.  Raspberry Cordial(check out this recipe) is what Anne thinks she serves to her best friend Diana Berry.  But in reality it was actually current wine, that of course made Diana drunk.  This happened to me once.  But it was rum...And I knew it was rum.

The polish is a bright pink linear holographic, with larger scattered holographic glitter as well as pink glitter.  Because of that it sort of reminds me a lot of Laters, Baby from Literary Lacquers The Good stuff collection.  I used 3 coats for full opacity, but you could get away with 2 or even a layer over a pink cream.  Now I'm not one for pink polishes(out of over 300 posts this is the 3rd time I've even reviewed a pink polish), but I really like this one.  I was standing in a dimly lit room and I could still see the larger scattered holo sparkling.  If you are a fan of pink this is something you need.  Consider this an order you pink lovers!

If you would like a bottle of Raspberry Cordial go over to Literary Lacquers etsy page.  The full size bottle retail for $10.61 Canadian.

First 2 photos in varying degrees of sunlight

 Last 2 photos are in natural lighting.

*Product sent for honest review 

Literary Lacquers Anne With an E: Aren't you the little surprise!

You know how there's always that one polish in a collection that you look at and say "I have nothing again you, you're pretty, but...I dunno.  I just don't think we're gonna click."  And then the more you look at in in the bottle the more your mind starts to say "Actually I think I do like you!".  I had these feeling followed by "I know what polish would look FANTASTIC with you" and "I'm hungry."

Little book info first!  Anne With an E is how Anne insists her name is spelt as it looks better than Ann without the E.

Now the polish!  It's medium silver and multicoloured iridescent, hex glitter.  As well as some large and super tiny multicoloured iridescent, hex glitter.  You can pretty much put this over any base.  Over a lighter colour you get this whimsical, fairy tale feel,  And over darker colours you get this cosmic feel.

The first colour I tried it on was Essence Sweet as Candy.  I knew these two HAD to be layered together.  I thought their creaminess would mesh perfectly together.  I used one coat on these ones.  I decided for my darker polish to use H&M Plum.  As I wanted something dark that wasn't black.  On this I used 2 coats.  You should know on the darker polish you could see the creamy base.  Not so much after the first coat, but after the second.  I would say if you are using more than one coat of this over a dark colour be careful.  The milkiness looks fin but if you're not careful it may look patchy.

I think I can safely say this polish is amazing!  Even as someone who dosn't wear soft colours a lot I think this is a great look and I have a dress that goes PERFECTLY with it!

If you would like a bottle of Anne With an E go over to Literary Lacquers etsy page.  The full size bottle retail for $10.61 Canadian.  Hopefully the sun will come out tomorrow and I'll be able to photograph the last 2 polishes! Ps. Annie.

*Product sent for honest review.

Literary Lacquers Marilla's Amethyst Brooch: Any excuse to whip out my googly eyed amethyst

Blah, I'm getting sick :(.  My throat is raw and overall I just feel really yucky.  And to top it all off I'm cold.  Poop.  My problems aside lets move on to another one of Literary Lacquers polishes from the new Anne of Green Gables collection.

Today I have Marilla's Amethyst Brooch.  Now the name of the polish gives two things away. 1)It was a brooch that belonged to Marilla, the lady who along with her brother adopted Anne.  It was a favourite of hers.  2) The colour of the polish is Amethyst.  Well if you really want to get specific Literary Lacquers describes it as Amethyst shimmer with a pink to orange color-shifting flash.  I only needed 2 coats for full opacity but you may need 3 depending on how thick or thin your coats are.  While getting the orange shimmer to show may be a bit trickier the pink is very evident.  This polish kind of reminds me of Essence Color & Go Oh My Glitter.  This polish is like Oh My Glitter's complex, mature sister.  Overall this is a colour I really like.  It's glowy, fun, not afraid to show it, and at the same time is not obnoxious.

And just so you know he last 2 photos are with my chunk of raw amethyst.  And yes, the amethyst has googly eyes.  Because what 16 year old doesn't want a rock with googly eyes for her birthday!  I think it makes the rock even more beautiful.

Anyways if you would like Marilla's Amethyst Brooch go over to Literary Lacquers etsy page.  The full size bottle retail for $10.61 Canadian.

First 2 photos natural light, last 4 light box.

*Product sent for honest review.

Literary Lacquers Carrots Carrots and Lake of Shining Waters: Warning! Very Canadian Post!

One of my earliest memories is actually Anne of Green Gables related!  My mum took me to see Anne of Green Gables The Musical when I was 5 and after the show I told I thought Gilbert was very attractive.  She then waited until the guy who played him came out and told him I found him attractive.  This is why I don't talk to her about men anymore.  Seriously.

So back to the polish! This Literary Lacquers collection based off of Anne of Green Gables(but if you have been reading this post you already knew that).  Written by Lucy Maud Montgomery it is about the adventures of  Anne Shirley a young orphan girl mistakenly sent to Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, a middle-aged brother and sister who have a farm on Prince Edward Island and who had intended to adopt a boy to help them. There's actually five sequels following the first book written by Ms Montgomery they follow Anne from childhood(Aged 11) till adulthood(aged 40).

First I have Lake of Shining Waters.  This is what Anne decided to call Berry's Lake when she refused to call it that.  Lake of Shining Waters is a teal linear holo.  Like all of the holos from Literary Lacquers application was flawless in 2 coats, and it dried super fast.  Sorry about the lack of sun photos the sun wont be out for a couple days but I still wanted to show at least one of the holos(Yes there's more that I'll hopefully be able to show you with some sun).  But even though you can only see a tiny bit of holo it is very clear that even when the holo isn't out in full force the colour itself stands on its own.

Next up is Carrots Carrots.  Carrots is what Gilbert Blythe, a classmate(who goes on to be much more) call's her to get her attention.  I should add she has red hair just so you don't think he's some boy that calls people vegetables.  The polish is a creamy orange base and it's full of medium white matte glitter, and small, medium and large carrot coloured glitter.  I used 3 easy coats for full opacity.  And despite the 3 coats the glitter was never drowned out.  The layers gave the polish depth.  While I like the colour I'm not sure it works great in my skin(I have a complicated relationship with orange).  BUT for those of you who can rock this colour this glitter in a soft base look is very on trend.

If you would like to snag these go over to Literary Lacquers Etsy page.  Full size bottles sell for $10.63 Canadian!  I can't wait to show you the rest!  Fingers crossed the sun comes out!

*Product was sent for honest review.

BTW I hope this post touched everyone on a personal level!  So personal it embedded itself your soul.

And the winner is... *drum roll*

First of all thank you all for entering!  It's nice to see so many people who love reading! So long story short we got over 50 entries(amazing guys) and we(George, Kas and Robyn) read them all and cut it down to 9 for Amy to read.  Then she choose a winner and runners up(just in case something happened and we needed a new winner).  So who is the winner you ask?

Onemused - Jackaroo polish!!!

 

 Onemused(aka Olivia) will have 24 hours to respond!

And then for runners up

Jen - Hobbit polish based on Smaug
Thea Adam - Tiffany Aching polish

And now a message from Amy:

Honestly I would love to make all three of these! The rest of the ideas were awesome too, it was truly difficult to choose.

I ultimately chose Onemused as the winner because I love the book, Jackaroo by Cynthia Voight, and the polish sounds like the most interesting challenge to me, a gold/green duochrome holo. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it for the last few days, actually, and I already bought Jackaroo for my Kindle to re-read it.

Thank you to everyone for your beautiful, creative ideas!

Amy

Note: Sorry I meant to post this yesterday but I got home late and could barely keep my eyes open. - Kas

Ps.  In case you were curious these were the top 9(in alphabetical order):

Behappyandbuypolish
Caro Dee
Iroshi Windwalker
Jen
Jen Sky Walker
noxy minogue
Onemused
Rainbowify Me
Thea Adam

Congrats to all of you and everyone else who entered! Hope to see you for our next giveaway!

A Giveaway Where The Polish Is Custom Made And The Points Don't Matter

And yes, this is a REAL giveaway :P

 Image courtesy of Literary Lacquers

As you probably remember a few weeks ago I reviewed a bunch of polishes from Literary Lacquers The Good Parts Collection.  And if you were keeping up with that you'll also remember that Literary Lacquers polishes are based on literature(Check out all the polishes here on Etsy).   And as we all know *books + nail polish = awesome (The math doesn't lie).  Long Story short along with the lovely Amy who runs Literary Lacquers we have come up with a pretty awesome giveaway.

In the comments section all yo have to do is tell us about your favourite book(or just one you really like) in a single paragraph.  Then in that same comment describe what your idea of a nail polish inspired by that book or inspired by something in the book would look like (Only needs to be a sentence or two).  When the contest is over we over at Varnished Valkyrie will choose our top entries.  From there Amy will choose the winner, and sh will work with you in creating your own one of a kind polish!

Here are all the rules(PLEASE READ):

1)This is NOT a random draw giveaway.  Rafflecopter is just easy to use.  ALL the questions are mandatory.
2)This is international.  Unless you live somewhere where you know it wont be allowed.  In that case please do not enter.
3)We would rather you be over 18.
4)Don't worry your paragraph's wont be graded, spelling errors will not be penalized and all that jazz. Our favourites will be chosen based on how interesting you make your book sound.
5)Contest Ends May 3rd at Midnight EST.  Winner will be announced by May 6th at the latest.
6)Winner will have 24hrs to respond as usual and we will give you details on what to do next from there.
7)Have fun. <----It feels ominous with a period.
ETA- 8)Amy from Literary Lacquers is currently working on some Anne of Green Gables polish as we speak.  That being said if that series is your favourite please choose another book just to make it fair for you. Thanks!

Also just a note.  Don't expect the polish to be shipped out the next day.  It is custom made :P

Anyways here's the Rafflecopter!  Go Nuts!  Feel free to ask questions!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*If you actually put nail polish on your books that may not be awesome at all.  Math can be deceptive.  

Literary Lacquers - If It Pleases You: Magic in a bottle

I'll be honest with you.  Up until now I didn't review the polishes from Literary Lacquers, The Good Parts collection in any specific order.  Minus this.  And when I got the box containing all the polishes I tried all of them on a finger.  Minus this.  I did not want to waste a drop of it's magic.  The minute I saw If It Pleases You I KNEW it was my favourite.  I knew it had to be shared last.  And I knew that I could not bring myself to just swatch it and take it off.  It had to be a full mani.

If It Pleases You is bases on Anne Rice's The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty published under the pseudonym A.N Roquelaure.   The first book in a trilogy.  Inspired by Sleeping beauty, it's an erotic BDMS novel.  About Beauty who is awakened by her prince after 100 years in might I say a very fun way. And as Amy of Literary Lacquers explains "If it please you is what Beauty is taught to answer questions by her master".   Another book to add to my wishlist.  Also this trilogy has actually outearned Interview With The Vampire.

This polish is a stunning, unique, dark plum linear holographic polish.  And I don't know if this makes sense but it had a softness to it.  Indoors it's mainly plum with flashes of holo depending on the lighting.  And in the sun the holo really comes out to play!  It went on it 2 coats and application was as smooth as the finest draught beer you have ever tasted.  I have been wearing this for 3 days now and I only have a minor chip on the tip of my index finger.  But I blame that partially on me, partially on an aggressive wall.  I just love this.  I find most of the times when you think of holos you think of things like "Loud", "obnoxious", "MY RETINAS!!!".  None of these words come to mind with this.  I think of words like "Bold", "Sexy", "Classy".  It feels like a sophisticated holo.  Amazing colour and just enough holo that it doesn't take away from that.  If you can only get one bottle from this collection get this.

You guys should also know that since this was the last of the Literary Lacquers I was reviewing I really wanted to swatch there wearing the wrist restraints I own in case of intruders.  But someone forgot where they put them.  Ugh boys...am I right?

 Photos all taken in sun or natural light

You can find this polish and all the other polishes I reviewed over at Literary Lacquers Etsy shop here.   The polishes(15ml bottles) retail for $10USD.  And follow Literary Lacquers on facebook.  You can also go over there fro a chance to win the ENTIRE COLLECTION!  I can't wait to see what polishes Literary Lacquers comes up with next!

*Products were sent for honest review.