Unicorn Pee Galore! Cirque 'Coronation' vs Tonic 'Serendipity'

Are you a fan of Unicorn Pee?

If you're wondering what on earth I am blathering on about, here's a link to a reddit thread about it. It's basically a famous pigment with a distinct red-to-green shift that originally appeared in the nail polish Clarins 230, and later a dupe by Max Factor called 'Fantasy Fire'. I own Fantasy Fire, which has since been re-released under the same name but without the 'pee'. 

The nail polish community affectionately referred to this rare, gorgeous pigment as 'unicorn pee' or 'UP' for short due to its magical look. The pigment's sale has been discontinued as it started to be used in US currency I believe, although there are many similar pigments of a larger particle size available for sale. These are called 'aurora pigments' or 'UP dupes', and dupes with a different colour shift, like green to pink, or blue to purple, are termed 'UP siblings'. 

However, some of the older polish brands have had some hoarded original pigment which always creates a real splash, and high demand, when released in new polishes. In the last year the Indie Polish world got very excited over the limited editions of Cirque 'Coronation' and Tonic Polish's 'Serendipity' (from their Unicorn Pee collection) which contained the OG pigment. I wanted to photograph them side by side to show the pigment in different colour bases. 

Indirect Sunlight / Natural Shade

Q: How many nail polish bottles can an IKEA Helmer drawer fit?

Answer: Depends on the bottle! 

I measured my drawers (well, I double-checked them against IKEA's online measurements) and my bottles. I then did a little diagram in Illustrator by making shapes to scale of each bottle footprint. 

Not every bottle per shape are exactly the same. They might deviate by a couple of millimetres but they were close enough for an accurate depiction. I tried to fit as many of each shape as possible into the drawer space. Here are the results.

Femme Fatale July 2018 COTM and FOTM - Swatch & Review

Today I have two very gorgeous polishes from Femme Fatale to show you. They are the Colour of the Month (COTM) and Fiend of the Month (FOTM) for July 2018. The Fiend of the Month is named for Femme Fatale's Facebook fan group, Femme Fatale Fiends, and is exclusive to group members.

I have details on pricing and how to purchase at the end of the post.

Collage of bottle shots of Autumn Aspens, Femme Fatale FOTM July 2018

Collage of bottle shots of Coniferae, Femme Fatale COTM July 2018

Fancy Gloss 'Pocketful of Pansies' (Thermal)

A couple of weeks ago I placed a small order with Fancy Gloss, a US indie polish brand known for their amazing thermals and formula. They have monthly restocks and new releases and there was a sale on so I had to nab some polishes I had been eyeing for a while.

I picked up 3 thermals; images here are swatches from Jackie, Fancy Gloss' owner & creator. They were what was used on the website listing.

From L-R: A Pocketful of Pansies, Seraphinite, and Black Thermal Top Coat

Today I have some pictures of A Pocketful of Pansies with some nail art! This polish is sooo beautifully squishy, and I used just 2 thin coats in these photos. You do have to work fast as the polish dries quickly to get a smooth, even coat. No overworking here!

Transitioning state of 'A Pocketful of Pansies' from Fancy Gloss.

Return to Blogging / MckFresh June Polish Pickup

Unfortunately my health has been very up and down these last few months, along with some family commitments so I haven't been present on this blog. I'm going to get back into the swing of things with MckFresh Nail Attire's Polish Pickup exclusive shade for June 2018!

How I clean up after Nail Smooshes / Watermarbles / Decals (Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me Earlier)

This is a very rough, phone camera tutorial of me cleaning up the following mani:

I see a lot of questions in facebook groups asking how, and apart from the general 'acetone and a brush' response I couldn't find something that went into detail. I'm writing this from a 'what I wish someone had told me' point of view - by no means am I any sort of expert at how to do this. This is just how I do my clean up, and it took me a while to learn to get a clean, neat line.

Anyway, enough rambling. Without further word vomit, I present the inaugural 'Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me Earlier' (TIWSHTME).

♥♥♥

NAIL ART ROUND-UP - Halloween 2017 + UPDATE

I've been incredibly slack about posting here but I've been a busy bee throughout the month of October doing lots of Halloween nail art. This is a quick round up of my manis - you can see more pics on my instagram using the #bilbypawshalloween17 

I've also decided to try and use this blog as more of a waffling / how-to set-up that is going to move a bit away from the image-based, "look here is this thing I did" format. That's what I'm using Instagram for. I know a lot of bloggers do this to try and monetise their blogs / get stats on hits but I'm not that. I will never be a swatcher who can do a quick turn around because of my health.