A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

OH HAI MOST PRETTY POLISH IN THE WORLD.  WHERE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?

You know, it’s funny.  The nail polish community online have been crying out for moar holos, moar party glitters, and moar duochromes from the industry leaders for a few years now.  We haven’t really seen anything significant come from these requests and so something very interesting has happened… the rule of the indie/franken brigade is now upon us!  You might still be looking to OPI, China Glaze, Zoya et al to see where the polish trends are heading, and if so… you’re looking in the wrong place.

Get. on. Etsy.

I picked up this Darling Diva Polish in Space Beetle a few weeks ago and it’s the most beautiful colour-shifting holographic that I own.  Ok, it might be the only one, whatever – I don’t have a 9359435 billion nail polishes (well, not quite).

Ain’t she beautiful?  Trust me, she’s even better in sunlight.

I know that she’s been compared to Dollish Polish’s Toxic Avenger… of which, I know very little about – so I’m just going to take this polish on its own merits and tell you why you need to go and buy it.  I don’t think it’s going to be a tough job to be honest.

Space Beetle is a linear holographic-slash-duochrome that’s absolutely packed with prismatic bounty.  The highlights flash the most delightful candyfloss pink which is what makes this so unique.  The swatches show the polish applied over a bare nail, two coats – both of which, applied faultlessly.

I haven’t tried layering it yet, but I can’t wait – I’m curious to see what effect those pink flashes have on a variety of base colours.

Darling Diva Polish Space Beetle (£7.86) is available to buy online from the Darling Diva Polish Etsy shop which ships internationally.  I have my beady eye on Ceylon next (I’m a sucker for a Periwinkle!)

…it would probably be a lot less stinky/toxic than this one!

However, I was bored and looking at a bottle of Instant Boost Skin Tonic when I decided that I wanted to do another franken polish.  The British brand are known for the packaging’s calming hue and I thought I’d have a go at replicating the iconic shade.  I think I did rather well (if I do say so myself!)

Mine is just a hint less green, a tiny hint – but enough to annoy me. (YOU’VE DONE IT WRONG!)

Still, it looks very pretty and now I’ve totally accessorised my skincare!

Sad?  Me?  Sod off.  You know that Liz Earle-coloured nail polish is the coolest thing you’ve seen all week (ignore the fact it’s Monday).

I always remember my Mum accusing me of ‘gilding the lily’ – taking something that was already lovely and needlessly attempting to improve it.  I can’t remember what the context would have been, I’ve never been a crafty/arty person so I’m assuming it was probably something silly like decorating biscuits.  No doubt, I was pouring sprinkles ontop of silver balls on top of pink icing.

Anyway, that phrase came to mind when I had to physically restrain myself from adding MOAR pigments/polishes/sparkles to my first polish Franken – and so the name has stuck.

For my first, I used some stuffs that I didn’t mind wasting.  An old ASOS by Ciate paint called Pixie… a jade creme that is infinitely dupable.  A Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in Night Lights that looks amazing in the bottle (holo) but is watery and pretty crappy on the nails.  Then I decided I wanted to give the green a warm, golden edge and dug out a pair of pigments that I hoped would do just that.

The result works.  Almost.  The BellaPierre pigment in Celebration (the copper one) isn’t as finely-milled as I would have hoped and gives the polish a lumpy feel which is a shame.  The other, golden-olive pigment which I believe was from a now-defunct indie brand worked beautifully in the polish and gave it a mossy, golden sheen.

The above shows two coats and a layer of top coat.  The scattered holo is really understated and gives more of a multi-dimensional, multi-coloured sparkle than any holo ‘effect’.  Now, I need to do some more!  I want some Spectraflair pigment!  Oh God, not another addiction!

What do you think?  Be kind, it’s my first!