Lacquer Legion Weird Science!!

Hello lovelies! I'm sorry I have been gone for so long! I was on vacation in Germany, and then I was recovering from my vacation, and then I fell down the stairs and broke my tailbone! It's been an adventurous couple of weeks.

Today I have some nail art for you! There is a group called the Lacquer Legion that has weekly prompts for nail art. They've got some pretty cool stuff. I'll post some more information at the end of the post in case anyone wants to check it out. This week's theme is WEIRD SCIENCE, which, for those of you who know me, is PERFECT! I am a scientist (and a huge nerd), so this is right up my alley!



I have never participated in a LL prompt before, mainly because I don't consider my skills up to par with everyone else's, but I couldn't pass this week's up. So here I give you: EBOLA NAILS.

Ebola is a virus that causes a range of symptoms, most famously violent hemorrhagic bleeding from various orifices. It is transmitted from person to person by contact with bodily fluids, typically when a family is preparing a body for burial or when health providers are caring for an infected person. There is no ebola in the United States, except for a stray imported case once in a blue moon, but there is a very large outbreak occurring in Western Africa at the moment. It is a really unpleasant disease clinically speaking, but from a microbiologist and epidemiologist perspective, it is absolutely fascinating! So that's why I used it as my inspiration. The color scheme is from this picture:

This is false color, but I thought it was pretty and I had the right colors so I went with it. :P I used two different techniques to achieve my look. First, I painted on two coats of Sinful Colors' Tokyo Pearl, which gave me the nice bright white microscope light background I needed. Next, I used a makeup sponge to dot on Sinful Colors' Dream On. The purple isn't an exact match, but I wanted something that was translucent but wouldn't be totally lost on the white. Then I made my own nail decals of the virus itself!! This is the cool part. I learned this from a post on the blog Lucy's Stash but can't remember when she posted it.... Anyway.

1. Grab a sandwich baggie! Then paint a clear coat of polish on in a little area. I used Sally Hansen's No Chip topcoat, which was a good choice here but might not be for every time. I'll explain in a moment. Let that dry.

2. Paint on your design on top of the clear you just painted. I used a dotting tool to draw the outline of the virus in black (KBShimmer's Eclipse), and then a small paint brush to paint OPI's Barefoot in Barcelona on top of that. Let it dry again.

3. Take some tweezers to peel the clear polish off of the baggie. It will look like this:

4. Lay the decal on your nail and press it down with your finger. It will stick but the edges won't lay down flat, which is fine.

5. Cover with top coat! Voila! You're done! I used one coat of Seche Vite to seal it. Now, something to note, the Sally Hansen topcoat is not 3-free, and SV is. This caused wrinkling and bubbling of the decal, which worked well for the microscope look but might really piss you off if you're going for a nice smooth look. Next time I'll try making the decals with SV itself or trying a basecoat. 

So that's it! I hope you enjoy my ebola nails!

And as promised, more on the Lacquer Legion (the description of which I stole from one of my favorite blogs, Work Play Polish)

The Lacquer Legion, conceived by Sarah of Chalkboard Nails (work/play/polish, The Nailasaurus, and Rebecca Likes Nails are admins), releases a new nail art prompt every month. Join the fun by posting your mani on the designated day using the assigned hashtag. There’s no commitment…participate as much or as little as you’d like. Get involved in the community and show your stuff! Everyone is welcome! Follow The Lacquer Legion on Facebook for upcoming prompts and info.

Shiro Cosmetics - Part 2!

I am back with my second review of Shiro Cosmetics! This is the other half of the stash I got a few weeks ago. These are from the Avengers Collection! Shiro of course released them right after I had purchased my first batch from the Legends Collection, so I had to have them added on. TRAGEDY, I know.

So today I have Cognitive Recalibration, Genius Billionaire Playboy Philanthropist, He Loves His Hammer, Burdened with a Glorious Purpose, I Understood That Reference, and A Push in the Right Direction. There is also Enormous Green Rage Monster, Glowstick of Destiny, Something Sweet as Pain, and The Man is Playing Galaga in the collection, but I didn't get those because at that point I felt I'd already ordered a few too many. >.<

Let's get started!

Shiro Cosmetics - From L to R: Cognitive Recalibration, Genius Billionaire Playboy Philanthropist, He Loves His Hammer, Burdened with a Glorious Purpose, I Understood that Reference, A Push in the Right Direction.

 Cognitive Recalibration - "Medium burgundy with a strong blue shift." This might be my favorite of the bunch. Named for Hawkeye, it is a beautiful wine colored purple that has a blue shift and some blue sparkles. It's closer to an indigo shift if you ask me. Anyway, this shadow goes on so nicely and has great coverage. It lasts all day and plays well with a bunch of other colors! There really isn't much else to say about this one, aside from perfection! It's a shame I don't like Hawkeye more...

"You better call it Coulson, 'cause I'm starting to root for this guy." - image from Unleash the Fanboy

Genius Billionaire Playboy Philanthropist - "Metallic copper-tinted gold with a subtle red shift. Twelve percent inspired by Pepper Potts." This is a really shiny orangy-gold. It is the perfect summer color. Uniformly shimmery, it goes on smoothly and sticks around all day. Definitely flashy, definitely fun! Totally worthy of Tony Stark. :)

 "Big man in a suit of armour. Take that off, what are you?" "Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist..." - image from HongKiat

He Loves His Hammer - "Silvery pewter with complex red tones, very difficult to photograph." Boy ain't that the truth! Pewter is definitely an apt description. It is very shiny in the sun, and sort of a dull grey otherwise. It is darker that I thought when I put it on. I like it, and it goes on smoothly. The name makes me giggle, although I think "What's a Mew Mew?" would have worked too. And while I think this shadow does great justice to Thor's armor, I'm going to give you some eye candy instead. You're welcome.

Yum. - GIF from Comic Book Movie

Burdened with a Glorious Purpose - "Blackened semi-metallic olive-gold." I'm finding today that Shiro's descriptions are pretty spot on. This color is 100% Loki! It is definitely olive green with a lovely gold overlay. This one also looks like armor. It is a very smooth application and I didn't notice any staining with my eye primer, which I'm always a little worried about with super pigmented dark colors like this. If you love greens then you should definitely invest in this shadow. I think it could be pretty versatile, especially if used as an eyeliner too!

"I never wanted the throne. I only ever wanted to be your equal." - image from Business Insider

I Understood that Reference - "Deep patriotic blue with red duochrome and subtle white sparkles." This one is interesting. It is a super pigmented royal blue with a red shift. I've used this one on my eye and wasn't thrilled with its application. It doesn't go on smoothly, so you really have to make sure that you don't get a patchy look with some super dark parts and then spots with no color. Also the shift doesn't tend to spread evenly, which you can see in the sunlight picture below. It's great for a patriotic look especially when paired with He Loves His Hammer and a matte red shadow. Not my favorite though and when I order full sizes of some of these, I won't be picking this one up. Haha, I guess it's really rigid and uptight, just like its namesake, Captain America.

"For truth and justice!" - image from Comic Vine

A Push in the Right Direction  - "Deep brown-black with blue duochrome." This is a curious shadow as well. I thought it seemed more black when I ordered it and that it would make another good eyeliner color. You can see that it is brown in the baggie but it is a super deep, rich chocolaty brown. The blue duochrome REALLY picks up in the light and seems to be pretty evenly distributed. It seemed a little chalky in consistency which made it more difficult to put on and have an even application, just like the last shadow. But it is definitely unique! I'll need to try this out on my eye to pass a final judgment, but on the whole I think I like it. Unlike Nick Fury, who I can't ever trust...

 "...There's no pain would prise his need from him." "A lot of guys think that. Until the pain starts." - image from UK Marvel

So there you have it! Once again a set of stellar eyeshadows! I just love Shiro Cosmetics! Their website is beautiful, their customer service is phenomenal, and their products are amazing. I've been very happy so far with all of my shadows (and have in fact bought three more since the first review post), and could not recommend them more highly!

Shiro Cosmetics Shop | Shiro Cosmetics Facebook

Sinful Colors Professional - 24/7

Hi everyone!

I hope you all had a great July 4th and are enjoying the rest of the weekend. I went to Philadelphia to visit my family, and they gave me some early birthday gifts! One of which was my very first polish from the Sinful Colors Professional line.

Sinful Colors Professional is, obviously, a professional-style nail lacquer, but it is super affordable ($1.99 or less!) and can be found in many stores like Rite Aid, Target, and Walmart. I also like them because they're 3-Free. That means no Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Formaldehyde, or Toluene. I try to only purchase 3-Free polishes now but every once in a while I'll pick up a cheapy at the drug store that has them. Anyway, for a really nice explanation go check out this post at All Lacquered Up.

I was pretty excited to try this brand out because I've seen it at Target and the colors look beautiful. The color that I got was 24/7, which is a neon pink. And when I say neon, I mean looks like it would totally fluoresce in the dark, super 90's glow-y, Barbie pink. And I love it! It looks more bubblegum here, but trust me.

While I think the color is great, and perfect for summer, I'm not sure how I feel about the formula. I don't know if it is because it is "professional" or not. I'm honestly not sure what that means. But this was really streaky and didn't level itself well. And I had to use four coats to reach opacity. FOUR COATS! I used KBShimmer's Basic Training base coat with this, and I wonder if I had used a ridge filler if it would have helped. Once I realized that I needed to use a lot of color the application went a little more smoothly. Also, only do three swipes on your nails. Middle, right, left. You're going to want to go for more, but don't do it. Because this polish dries SUPER quickly and doing more will gunk it up. So even though I had to use four coats, each was dry by the time I'd gotten to the last nail. I used Sally Hansen No Chip top coat in an attempt to smooth the polish out, which it did, but I swear I am never using this crap again. It always causes my polish to CRACK. This is because the polish is 3-Free and the topcoat is not, which is great when you want to smear 3-Free polish, but not great for the mobility of the polish on the nail. Make not of this readers. (I usually use Seche Vite if you're interested, which I'll pretend you are because you're reading this).

Overall I'd say the jury is still out on this brand. I love how the color looks finished, but the application was just weird. Not at all like the nice creamy applications I'm used to. However, because the price is so ridiculous, I think I'll go out and buy some more! Because you know, for science and all....

One other thing I wanted to review. My mom also gave me Sally Hansen's No More Mistakes Manicure Clean-Up Pen. Which is great because I'm usually really anal about my cuticles being polish-free.

I actually managed to keep my cuticles pretty clean during this manicure (of course...), but this took care of the few mistakes I made. It looks like a highlighter, and you just rub it on the errant polish and poof! No more mistakes! If you aren't a very meticulous polisher, I would highly recommend picking this up. You can also use a nail or small paint brush dipped in nail polish remover, but this is nice and clean and portable.

So that's it my friends. Like I said, you can go pick up Sinful Colors at Target or Rite Aid (among other places), and they're only $1.99! If you try any of these colors out, let me know in the comments!

Let's do this! Shiro Cosmetics - The Legends Collection

Hi everyone! I am finally starting up my own nail polish and makeup review blog! I figure I've annoyed the kind people on Facebook long enough (although if they think they're not going to see frequent posts for my blog they're sorely mistaken! Bwahahaha!).

This will be a post as I can sort of blog. I usually do some fun nail art at least once a week, so that is my goal for now. I also enjoy sharing the love when I find new products or brands, so there will be some of that too! Please "Like" my Facebook page Specular Reflection!!

So for the first post, I am going to show you some eye shadow from Shiro Cosmetics! This was my first time ordering from them and I think they're great! Caitlin the owner is super sweet and happily modified my order (they released the Avengers collection after I'd placed my original order, so I HAD to add them on!), and she totally supports my weird obsession with Legend of Zelda, which was the inspiration for the today's shadows!

So without further ado:

Shiro Cosmetics - ALL the things!!!

Aren't they lovely?! On the left we have five shadows from the Legends Collection! And those are what I will be reviewing today. The top are two freebies Shiro threw in (I love freebies and therefore I love Shiro even more). And on the left are some of the Avengers Collection. Yes!

The Legends Collection - Natural Light

I seriously can't get over how delightful these are. From left to right we have:

Angry Cuccos - "super pale ghostly desaturated green over a strong red shift." To me it looks like a pale pale pale lavender or a baby pink. I don't get any green, but it is definitely very spectral (see what I did there? Hah!) I think it will look really nice over things, or maybe as a blending shadow. Possibilities...

The cuccos... Don't make them angry. Image from meanwhale.tumbler.com

Destiny's Princess - "Shimmery, bright bubblegum pink with gold undertones." I have this one on right now actually. It is a nice coral-y pink (I don't know that I've ever had gum this color) with gold throughout. I like this a lot because the gold is evenly distributed, so you get a nice, uniform shine to it. It doesn't clump up when you put it on and goes on nicely.

Princess Zelda - Image from IGN

Majora's Mask - "Vivid blurple with orange shimmer and tons of red, green, and yellow sparks." Guys. Seriously. First off, I love purple. I have way more purple shadows than anyone needs. But THIS one is special. In fact, it might be my new favorite. You look at it and it's like, yeah. Purple. Whatevs. But when you put it on? ZOMG! The color! The blue-purple base is a nice rich, saturated color. And then there are so many sparkles! The dimension of this really surprised me. Honestly my picture doesn't do it justice. If you like purple shadow though, go buy this one right now. I'll wait here.

Majora's mask... So super creepy. Image from http://www.wiizelda.net/

Skull Kid - "Medium brown with strong green shimmer and orange and purple sparks." Again, this one is CRAZY sparkly!! The base is a dirt brown (which I say in the best way). It is actually a really nice neutral color. But then Shiro Cosmetics threw in all the sparkles! I like it because they're not heavy sparkles, so there isn't much fallout when you put it on. The glitter is nicely distributed and stays put. I'll be interested to see how it wears all day. This was another of my favorites from this bunch.

Skull Kid - Image from Shiro Cosmetics

Ganondorf - "Velvety black with strong dark red shimmer." I'd honestly say this is more of a deep blood-in-the-moonlight red with a black shift. It seriously looks like dried blood, which is probably from Ganondorf smacking the shit out of you for not owning this shadow (Notice his cape matches, because he doesn't want to have to get it dry cleaned every time he owns someone). I LOVE IT! It isn't glittery like the last two, but in the light it is a beautiful deep red with some gold shifting in it. Another really deep, multi-dimensional shadow.

Ganondorf - the most badassy badass to ever badass. Image from Wikimedia

The last two were freebies that were thrown in my order, and I am super pumped about them. The first is from Game of Thrones (read the books, watched the show, am obsessed).

Mother of Dragons - "Silvered royal purple over a blood-red base." Again I would say this is more of a red/purple shift to silver. Or maybe not. But it is gorgeous. Especially when the light hits it, it really shines. It is a really densely pigmented and on my eye it took on more of a purpley-reddish color, but when I pulled it out of the bag it was definitely more of a tarnished silver color. So this is probably one that you'll have to wear and figure out for yourself reader!

Daenerys Stormborn of the House Tergaryen, the First of Her Name, the Unburnt, Queen of Meereen, Queen of the Andals and the Rhoynar and the First Men, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Chains, and Mother of Dragons - Image from Shiro Cosmetics

Benthos - "Deep matte navy." This shadow is actually from a company called Detrivore, which is sold through Shiro Cosmetics. And it is true to its description! It is a nice matte navy, with almost a clay-like texture, even though it is a loose powder. Very interesting. It is very dark and actually stained my arm when I swatched it, even with a base... I think this would be stunning as a liner. 

From my favorite book Starfish, by Peter Watts. One of the chapters is titled "Benthos". Image from trashotron

Here are a few more photos so you can get a better idea of what they look like:

I am so in love with these shadows and I can't wait to use them all! Shiro Cosmetics is based out of Portland and all of their shadows are handmade and are vegan and cruelty free! You can buy sample bags for $1 (and they're really generous), a 1.0g mini jar for $3.50, or a full-sized 2.0g jar for $6. Let me tell you that those are great prices and these shadows will last you for a long time! I swatched them over Concrete Minerals Electric Eye Primer, and I'd recommend a base for all of these to really make them pop.

Shiro Cosmetics Shop | Shiro Cosmetics Facebook

Look for the Avengers swatches sometime next week!!