Stella Chroma October Polish Pickup Exclusive: Playing With My Emotions, Smokey!

Hullo out there!  Happy hump day!  My morning wasn't the greatest, and I have 2 sick kids dealing with nasty coughs right now.  But you know what...I heard Ice Cube Today Was A Good Day on the radio AGAIN today!!  I think it's a sign that I am indeed having a good week!  And really, minus cranky, sick kids I can't complain.  And right now I have a totally awesome polish to share with you that was created for the Villain themed October Polish Pickup.  Stella Chroma was inspired by Big Worm from Friday (best movie EVER!).  He just wants his money or his stash back, can you really fault him for that?  This polish is Playing With My Emotions, Smokey! and it will be available from 10/5 - 10/8 for $12, no cap.  Alright, let's check it out, shall we?

*press sample*

Polish Pickup: Shop, Facebook

Stella Chroma: Shop, Facebook, Stella Chromatics Facebook Fan Group, Instagram

Pahlish & Elevation Polish Collaboration: The Venetian Duo

Good afternoon (or evening to those of you on the West & East coasts).  It's only 4pm here.  I'm definitely enjoying this laid back island lifestyle.  But my love for polish is too strong and I just had to swatch - but this collaboration duo is a real stunna so I'm glad I brought it along!  Phalish and Elevation Polish have done a few collaboration duos before (Shannon and Lulu are very tight IRL friends so it's only natural that they'd want to do these fantastic duos) and we are all the more lucky for it because both brands are really amazing.  The August collaboration is The Venetian Duo, and  both polishes are gorgeous.  I have had the pleasure of going to Venice and this duo captures both the classy and historical qualities of the architecture and overall feel of that beautiful city on the water.  The Venetian Duo will be available in the Pahlish shop on 8/2 at 7pm CST and in the Elevation shop on 8/7 at 9pm CST.  The duo will be $22, not including shipping.  Alright, I know you're not here for my banter so let's look at pictures (apologies for no macros - I don't have my lens with me)!

*press sample*

Elevation Polish: Shop, Facebook, Blog, Instagram

Pahlish: Shop, Facebook, Instagram

Here's a pic of both bottles together; Elevation Polish The Merchant's Son and Pahlish The Wayfarer.  Even just looking at the bottles you can tell how perfectly they compliment each other!

Elevation Polish came up with The Merchant's Son, a light turquoise creme base polish with a very subtle teal shimmer.  It reminds me of the pretty, brightly painted houses along the canals in Venice.  This polish is also a thermal!  The shift is very slight, it basically turns to a darker turquoise shade when cold.  But since I am in Hawaii there is no cold.  I even attempted to capture it with bowls of water but it wasn't working so well - you can see a very little color change at my nail tips in most of the pictures though.  You can check out the thermal change over on Ehmkay Nails post HERE!  The Merchant's Son was a bit sheer with the first coat but it built up to perfect coverage in 3 coats.  And the color - AH-MAY-ZING!  I truly adore the color and the shimmer.  Lulu really does subtle so well!  I have on 1 layer of topcoat to finish.  

And now the Pahlish contribution to the duo.  I fell hard for The Wayfarer.  You'll see why shortly.  The Wayfarer is a beautiful blend of silver chrome flakies, possibly some ultra chrome flakies and  some iridescent shimmer and glitter.  Simple (thought not really) and stunning!  The Wayfarer is very pretty with a very old world vibe.  It's kind of burnished gold and silver and all things renaissance.  Anyways, the formula was top notch!  I had perfect coverage with 1 coat.  Of course this is layered over The Merchant's Son.  I finished up with 1 layer of topcoat.   Perfect Summer duo, period.