I don’t even know how it happened.  I was minding my own business – doing nails, obviously – and somehow suddenly found myself in the Men’s section in Macy’s shopping for shorts with my husband.  Did I agree to this?  Was I so involved in what I was doing that I accidentally okayed to hang out amongst the khakis and the polos for nigh on no telling how long?

I do not like shopping.  I may be the only female on the planet to ever say this, but I just don’t.  Who wants to put clothes on just to go roam aimlessly around a shopping mall, surrounded by a crowd of strangers, trying on outfits in the dressing room that a) look better on the rack and b) make you feel bad about yourself?  It’s always that way when when I’m shopping.  I have one of those bodies that look good in about 27% of the things I want to wear.  So shopping, for me, is always a self-esteem meltdown waiting to happen.

However, this time around it was for my husband who was needing clothes for a business trip.  I don’t like this kind of shopping much better.  Did you know they sell zero nail polish in the men’s clothing department?  I know!  It’s so rude.

The only thing good that came about from this trip was a message from Anya with Lucky 13 Lacquer, asking if I’d like to review a few of their polishes.  Ummm, is this Silly Question Day?  Of course I would.

Here is Once Upon a Dream:

Welp, I’m in love.  How gorgeous is this powder blue?  (Very.)  It’s delicate and elegant and all things princess-y.  See that pink shift?  Ugh.  I bet she looks fabulous in all the dressing rooms.  No self-esteem issue here.

But then, there’s holo:

That’s not even in focus, and she still looks pretty dang good.  According to Anya, this polish was inspired by Sleeping Beauty’s dress, caught in the middle of a faerie fight.  I don’t even know what a faerie fight even is, but I’m about 97.947684%  sure I want one.  

Check out this macro:

My eyes!  My eyes!  Too much prettiness in one place.  This polish was a smooooooth two coat perfect little sweetheart.  And I love her.

There’s a gold shift in there too, which makes it even better.  How can we top this?  Is it even possible?

Barely, but yes.  Here’s No Such Thing as True Love:

Less delicate and a billion times more fierce.  Loving this dark plum holo and that amazing green/purple shift.  I’ve always been drawn to darker polishes, so naturally it’s my favorite of the two.  But there’s something more to it than that.  She’s rebellious.  A little dangerous.  Kinda naughty.

You know, my complete opposite.  Unless you count the fact I can make one wine cooler last over 3 hours, then I’d say I won’t be winning any bad girl contests anytime soon.  But this polish makes me feel like I could.

Under the lamps:

Anya was inspired by Maleficent on this one, and I’d say she nailed it.  She’s minxy and magical.  And a bit of a B.

Let’s take a moment for some close-ups:

  

A perfect two coat formula on this one as well.  It’s truly stunning.  You NEED.  That’s not an exaggeration.  Food, water and these two polishes.  Then you’ve officially succeeded at life.

Okay, and maybe some Netflix.  But then after that, you’re all set.

Both of these polishes make up the Once Upon a Dream duo.  You want one, you get the other as well.  That way, there’s no hard decision to make.  I love that!  I don’t enjoy making choices sometimes.  I need other people to do it for me.  Or you end up with over 800+ nail polish bottles.  Decision making (otherwise known as practical constraint) goes out the window with me.  On the other hand, if I leave it up to my husband to help me decide, he’d be like Don’t you already have a purple polish?  And a pink one? A red one?  Well of course I do.  BUT THAT IS NOT THE POINT.

Forget it.  I’ll do my own decision making from now on.  He’s zero fun.

I also received a couple of necessities.  Their Elemental Ward quick dry top coat and the Pop & Peel temporary base coat.

I used the top coat in all of my swatches here, and it’s a nice one.  Definitely dries to the touch in under a minute or so and is very glossy.  So happy to have it!  Couldn’t tell you how it stands up to peeling, tip wear and chips cuz as a bonafide crazy person, I polish my nails like 18 times a day.

As for the Pop & Peel, I loved it!  I use a peel off base coat with every single mani, even the basic manis where I’ve only used a creme polish, no glitter.  I am lazy and refuse to remove nail polish with remover and a cotton ball.  Too much effort involved.  Plus, how will I ever entertain myself on my commute home from work if I can’t peel off my nail polish while I’m supposed to have my hands on the steering wheel?

The instructions for this one is to soak your hands in really hot water for 30 seconds, then peel the polish off with an orange stick under the water.  Those instructions are most likely there for a reason of which I have not yet discovered since I didn’t read them until after I peeled my polish off the old fashioned way with my fingers.  Still worked though.  I’m either a genius or incredibly stupid, but regardless, toots for me!

Last polish I received was a new addition to their Lucky Ladies core collection.  It’s this most amazing neon green called Pretty Like Poison:

As you can see, it’s not your average neon.  It’s loaded with these awesome silver shards that I never knew I needed (but I did!).  They’re so dang cool!  Definitely adds another level to how much I love this shade.  They’re distracting but in a good way.  Unless your boss is trying to talk to you, or maybe you are trying to give a speech to the members of Congress or something.  In that case, it might be best to reserve use of this polish on days when no one plans to talk to you, or when you are wearing pajamas for 16 hours straight, even to Starbucks.  

I just love how those shards catch the light.  You see what I mean by distracting?  You forgot you were reading this blog, didn’t you?  Cuz I forgot I was even writing it.

The round up:

Both the Once Upon a Dream duo and the Lucky Ladies addition will be available at Lucky 13 Lacquers tomorrow so make sure you put it on your to-do list.  Remember, food, water and these polishes.  And Netflix.  Okay, Starbucks too.  Hell, it’ll be Monday.  Get you a Leonardo DiCaprio while you’re at it.  Treat yourself.  You deserve it.

Later, loves.