Something wicked this way comes – wickedly good, that is.
I’m normally of the opinion that Halloween is a bit of a waste of time… unless it gives me an excuse to break out a brand new nail polish of course – and Deborah Lippmann’s Weird Science is exactly the kind of special sauce that spooky season screams out for!
Posted in Beauty
Tagged best glitter nail polishes, best green nail polishes, best metallic nail polishes, Deborah Lippmann, Deborah Lippmann nail polish, Fantastical Holiday Collection, glitter, gold, green, Halloween manicure, Halloween nail polish, Holiday 2014 Collection, manicure, metallic, nail lacquer, nail polish, nail varnish, NOTD, review, swatch, Weird Science, where to buy Deborah Lippmann in Hong Kong
Over the festive period, I was lucky enough to be invited to quite a few Christmas parties – so I felt it only right to put slightly more effort into my look than my usual pyjamas accessorised with cookie crumbs down the front… so hello new mani!
For Christmas party number one, I went with Essie Dive Bar, an inky blackened teal – very cool, very rock n’ roll, but darkly sophisticated with it. It’s one of those intriguing polish colours that looks black from far away, but reveals glittering depths on closer inspection. It’s super easy to use; like most Essie polishes, it flows onto the nail beautifully and is pretty much opaque in one coat (although I always seem to do two out of habit). I did find it dried a little dull for my tastes though, so I added a slick of top coat to give it a glossier finish. Amazingly enough for a polish this dark, it doesn’t stain either so well done Essie.
Posted in Beauty
Tagged best flakie nail polishes, best flakie top coats, black, Dive Bar, Essie, Essie Dive Bar, Essie Luxeffects Collection, Essie Shine Of The Times, flakies, glitter, Luxeffects Collection, mani, manicure, nail lacquer, nail polish, nail varnish, NOTD, photos, review, Shine Of The Times, swatch, teal
Hail to the Princess Aurora! All of her subjects adore her! Hail to the King, hail to the Queen, hail to the Princess Aurora!
Given that Sleeping Beauty was always my favourite Disney princess, it was always likely I’d feel the urge to buy Zoya’s Aurora nail polish – and yes, I totally buy cosmetics based on the product names. Thankfully, the colour turned out to be pretty stellar.
Posted in Beauty
Tagged Beauty, best glitter nail polishes, best holographic nail polish, cosmetics, glitter, holo, holographic, make-up, mani, manicure, nail lacquer, nail polish, nail varnish, NOTD, Ornate Collection, photo, purple, review, scattered holo, sparkle, swatch, Winter 2012 Ornate Collection, Zoya, Zoya Aurora
So, I have a confession. Last weekend, I painted my own nails for the first time in over a year. For a blog practically founded on a passion for all things polish, this was not ideal. However, if ever there was a polish that was going to get me out of my lacquer blues, it was going to be HARE Polish Bisbee 2.0!
For those not on-board the indie nail polish train yet – come join us on a trip to wondrous faraway lands of glittery, multi-coloured uniqueness! These mysterious places may occasionally be hard to find, but that just makes reaching them all the more sweet… and such is the case with Bisbee, which I had lusted after for about four years before finally getting a taste of its turquoise-and-golden goodness.
Posted in Beauty
Tagged Bisbee, Bisbee 2.0, cosmetics, Etsy nail polish, favourite nail polishes, First Collection, glitter, HARE, HARE Polish, indie, indie nail polish, make-up, nail lacquer, nail polish, nail varnish, Nikole Hanson, photo, review, swatch, turquoise
It seems my love of desserts is starting to spill over into my love of nail polish… nearly every polish I wear these days reminds me of something deliciously edible! So after the blue strawberry slushie of pa AA162, the choc mint milkshake of Deborah Lippmann’s Rockin’ Robin and the cupcake-inspired Nail’s Inc Sprinkles Collection, it’s time for a set of polishes inspired by ice-creams – Etude House’s Sweet Recipe Collection.
Etude House is a Korean cosmetics brand famous for cutesy girlie designs and playful fun packaging – and their adorable ice-cream cone nail polish bottles have got to be some of their best work yet! The first one I have to show you is probably my favourite of the bunch, Mint Choco Chip… and yes, how did you guess, it involves yet another variant on all things turquoise!
Posted in Beauty, Pretty Things
Tagged cosmetics, Etude House, Etude House ice cream nail polish, glitter, ice-cream nail polish, Korean cosmetics, Korean make-up, make-up, Mint Choco Chip, nail lacquer, nail polish, nail varnish, photo, Pretty Things, review, swatch, Sweet Recipe Collection, turquoise, where to buy Etude House in Hong Kong
I’ve gone dotty!
Well, the ‘gone’ bit might be questionable (some might argue it’s more a case of ‘always has been’) but I’m totally seeing spots at the moment – and of course, it’s all because of nail polish! Hot on the heels of the blue strawberry slushie that was pa AA162, I finally managed to get my mitts on Deborah Lippmann’s Rockin’ Robin to continue my dotty delirium.
Posted in Beauty
Tagged aqua, Beauty, cosmetics, Deborah Lippmann, glitter, make-up, nail lacquer, nail polish, nail varnish, pastel, photos, review, Rockin' Robin, Staccato Collection, swatch, swatches, turquoise
Nails Inc’s Sprinkles Collection of polishes continues to raid the kitchen pantry for delicious inspiration – if Sweets Way was the hundreds and thousands on top of a cupcake, then Sugar House Lane is cookies n’ cream in a chocolate sundae!
Sugar House Lane is a lip-smacking combination of black and silver glitter in a creamy milk coffee brown base – think an Oreo milkshake and you’re pretty much there (and now you’ve got me thinking about Oreo milkshakes… mmm)!
Posted in Beauty
Tagged Beauty, best glitter nail polishes, cosmetics, glitter, make-up, nail lacquer, nail polish, nail varnish, Nails Inc, photos, review, Sprinkles Collection, Sugar House Lane, swatch
Sugar and spice and all things nice… that’s what Nails Inc Sweets Way is made of!
Sweets Way is part of Nails Inc’s awesome Sprinkles Collection of nail polishes. As soon as I saw these swoon-worthy sweeties online, I knew I had to have them – and since Nails Inc isn’t sold in Hong Kong, the lovely Jenn sent them to me! And I am so SO happy she did, because I am even more in love with them in real life!
Zoya FeiFei is absolutely one of my favourite polishes of last year. It’s blue, it’s silver, it’s black, it’s gold… ugh, screw it, it’s just awesome!
FeiFei is such an amazingly multi-faceted colour – like a sexy sparkling chameleon. It’s even good enough to make me overlook the fact that its name sounds like Canto for fat; in fact, “Fei Fei” literally was the nickname given to a chubby Hong Kong TV personality of yore, Lydia Shum… and I’m pretty sure my auntie has been know to call me it a few times too!
Cometh summer, cometh turquoise. I’m actually obsessed with turquoise all of the time anyway (see here for proof), yet as soon as the sun starts shining, my world turns totally aqua – so Deborah Lippmann’s Just Dance, part of her Holiday 2011 Dance Music mini trio set, seemed perfect for my turquoise turn!
Posted in Beauty
Tagged Beauty, cosmetics, Dance Music mini trio, Deborah Lippmann, glitter, Holiday 2011 Collection, Just Dance, make-up, nail lacquer, nail polish, nail varnish, review, swatch, turquoise
I'm Rachel Read, a Hong Kong-based freelance writer and editor, make-up addict and general layabout. I'm powered by bacon, cupcakes, nail polish and the needs of two cute Yorkies.
All products/meals were paid for by me, unless otherwise stated.
Contact me at
rachelmread+ttlg@gmail.com
Photo by Sabrina Sikora Photography
© Rachel Mary Read and Through The Looking Glass, 2010-20.
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Through The Looking Glass 