Zoya Lulu + Axolotls!!

     Today's animal is kind of weird, because people breed them for pet-keeping and research purposes, so it's probably not actually going to disappear from the Earth altogether. But the wild type of it is very endangered. Meet the ridiculously adorable and Pokemon-esque Axolotl, also known as the Mexican Walking Fish. And I guess people who breed them as pets call them Water Dragons:

They don't all look like that...they can also be golden, grey, black, brown, and olive green, but I think this kind is the cutest.

But anyway, these lovable little guys are amphibians native to Mexico, and are friendly and gentle. That's why people like to keep them as pets...they're like goldfish, but are cooler, smarter, and have better personalities. However, they are dying out at a rapid pace in the wild, due to water pollution in their habitats and intrusive species eating all their babies. 

  I didn't have a color that would match the Axolotl exactly, but the closest thing I had was Zoya Lulu:

Lulu is a pale peach jelly.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

      Lulu is beautiful. The color is demure without boring and pale without being stark. I also love the soft, dreamy, and appropriately squishy texture of the finish. This is actually the kind of finish that I would have preferred for Diamond Cosmetics Tranquility.

     However, Lulu's formula was pretty bad. It was very thin and sheer, and I had trouble with streaking and uneveness. I ended up needing four coats (and even five on some fingers) to get enough coverage and smoothness for my satisfaction. Bleh.

And that's all! Thanks for reading!

Earth Week!

       So as many of you know, Earth Day is only in a few days. Lots of people don't care about Earth Day, but I love it, hence Earth Week! Last year, I did a green and blue theme, but with St. Patrick's Day like just happening and the blue theme that I did last week, that was like no. So instead, I'm going to do a week of colors inspired by some of the gorgeous but endangered life forms on our planet.
       To start, I chose to do one of  my most favorite animals in all of life, the snow leopard.

Ahh I love these thingies. God was totally wearing his sexy pants when he cooked them up. They live in the mountains of Asia, and don't like people. Sadly for them though, people are killing them for their gorgeous pelts and their habitats are being taken over by humans, who want to use the land for growing ugly and uninteresting animals like yaks and buffalo. Isn't that stupid? Like how is this:

better than this:

?!

Ugh, look at the yak's eyes. It even looks dumb.

Also, cat breeders? Please start coming up with a cat that resembles a miniature snow leopard. I swear, you'll make like a million dollars. Okay thanks. 

Anyway, here's the nail look I came up with:

I used two coats of Color Club Pretty in Platinum for the base, stamped/drew on the spots with Color Cub Where's the Soiree?, and filled in the spots with Sally Hansen Blue Me Away and a dotting tool (read:bobby pin). 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunligh, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Did it come out rather ooglay? Yeah. :(

Should I have taken more time with it? Yeah. :(

Is it sad that a simple leopard print mani came out so ooglay? Yeah. :(

Does it shame the snow leopard? Hell yeah. :(

But I tried.¯\(°_°)/¯

Thanks for reading, and have a great day! :D

BB Couture Cleopatra

Okay, so first off, can we just sit for a minute and bask in the knowledge that Locavore will be returning to RBL's lineup at some point in the future? Ahh my heart is filed with exultation....I am truly the happiest of campers.  ^_____^


But in other news, this is the last day of Autism Awareness Week here at The Phalanges Files, and even though I didn't do alll the days in the week, I think it was pretty fun! To close it out, I decided to go with Cleopatra from BB Couture's Infamous Lovers Collection. 

Cleopatra is stuck somewhere between teal green and cerulean blue and features a fine azure blue shimmer. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     I like Cleopatra. The main color is beautiful, unusual, and will flatter many skin tones, and the shimmer is beautiful. The only thing with it is that I wish it were more complex. Cleopatra was such a fascinating and multi-faceted character, and a polish based on her should reflect that. This one definitely does not. 

   On the upside though, the formula on Cleopatra was good. It was smooth and controllable, and I only needed two coats for full opacity. 

And that's all for today! Thanks for reading, and have a great Monday! :D

A-England Tristam

        Okay, so after a minor detour and a pit stop due to slavery work, the blue train is back on track! For you guys today, I have Tristam from A-England's Mythicals Collection. 

Tristam is a saturated navy blue with a moderate to strong scattered holographic effect.

My camera killed some of the holo though, sorry! 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Ahh my bottle is such a hot mess. :(

        Tristam is amazing. I actually think it's better than Lady of the Lake. I love how rich and full the base color is, and the shimmer is lovely. In sunlight, it shows off its holo-ness, and in regular light, it looks more like stars in a clear night sky. The holo effect is not the strongest, but it's more than satisfactory, and even under florescent lights, I can see rainbow flashes.  

     In terms of formula, Tristam's quality was right up there with many other high-end brands. I only needed two silky smooth coats for a perfect finish, and there was almost no clean up, because  the polish went exactly where I told it to go. And polish companies, please take note. If you want to interpret a timeless myth using nail polish, THIS is how you  do it. Yes, I am talking to you, BB Couture. I am talking to you. 

Finally, if you've been lemming A-England, make sure you run over to their facebook page and give them a big like. Today is the last day to get in on their 20% off sale, and you'll have to like them to get the code! Also, you don't want to miss out on any future goodies.

I'll be getting King Arthur myself. And maybe even Merlin too, because life has been rough lately and I deserve a damn treat. ^_^;

And that's all! Thanks for reading! 

Rescue Beauty Lounge Bring It Back Spam

       Tomorrow is Rescue Beauty Lounge's second Bring it Back vote, which is an opportunity for all polish fanatics to get together and bring back three discontinued RBLs from the dead. I have a few of the contenders in my stash, and decided to make a little post featuring all of them. Hopefully, this will help some folks who are still on the fence about which ones to pick.


First up, we have Scrangie.

Scrangie is hard as hell to photograph, so the picture doesn't do it justice at all. I hate Scrangie for that.  Anyway, It's much prettier in person...the shimmer is stronger than how it looks here.

A closer look at Scrangie's shimmer. 

Next is Recycle.

I love Recycle. It's the perfect forest green creme. 

Although I admit that I'm surprised to see it in the running. I thought it was a core color. Are there no RBL core colors? Honestly, I think that Ji should bring it back regardless of how the vote goes. I feel like Recycle is such an RBL staple, you know? 

Third is Catherine:

Closer look at Catherine's shimmer.

Bottle pic.

    Catherine is pretty, and in the right light, you can get lots of pop from all the colors of shimmer. However, I found it to be rather flat in a multitude of other lighting conditions, which keeps me from loving it completely. 

And then we have Anne:

Closer look at Anne's shimmer. You may have to enlarge this to see, but there's pink stuff in there.

    Anne is gorgeouss....I love the contrast of the pink and gold shimmer against the murkiness of the base, and I like that it always has some depth, no matter what the light is. I went back and forth on buying this, but I will always be grateful that I sucked it up and bought Anne when I did. 

Next we come to Frugalista:

 I'm a sucker for glitterbombs, and Frugalista is a really nice one. The color scheme is elegant and fashionable,    and in sunlight, my nails explode into sparkles.

Lastly, we have Locavore. It's last because it's the best. ^_^

Locavore is the love of my nail polish life. Like, if I could marry a polish, Locavore would be a serious contender. It's so pretty and blingtastic, and the colors in it are amazingg. This gorgeous guy was brutally beaten and ROBBED in the last vote, but hopefully, history shan't repeat itself.  

Ooh, last minute addition. Starfish Patrick is also coming to the party!

This beauty is one of my favorite RBL's. Love it!

And that is it! Personally, I'm hoping to see Anne, Locavore, and Recycle as the winners, although I would also accept 360, Moxie, or Frugalista in Anne or Recycle's place. Locavore  is non-negotiable. 

Do youuu know who you're gonna vote for? O_O