Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Swatch and Review: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer!


Hey y'all! Today on the blog I have some more polishes from Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer to share with you! In addition to her newest collection that I swatched last week (read that one here), I have one of her former Destination Duos and an earlier winter release that are still available in the shop. I'm going to show you the Sand And Surf Destination Polish duo which was a collaboration with Ellagee first and the single at the end. 

First of all, can we talk about the darling way the Destination Polishes came packaged? For $20, you get both full sized polishes, plus some cute little shell decals, and a magnet from Ellagee that says "I'm not going to buy any more nail polish, Oh look! NAIL POLISH!" I definitely chuckled when I pulled the magnet out because that exact scenario happens to me all too often. Okay, enough about the packaging, let's get into the polish! 



I started with the Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer of the duo - this one is called Shimmering Sandcastles. This ivory nude creme is filled with green microflakies and silver, blue, aqua, and gold shimmers  which unfortunately, I struggled to capture with my camera. They were much more apparent in person! I really loved the color of this one, it definitely reminded me of the sparkling sand on the beaches in the summer sun. The formula self leveled nicely but had the application of a matte polish. It was a bit on the difficult side to apply due to its thickness, however I was able to even out the streakiness by the second coat. All Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers are intended to be opaque in 1-2 coats which lends them to the thicker side but that is easily remedied with a bit of thinner. Again, this one dries on the matte/satin side but a glossy topcoat will fix that right up if you don't prefer the matte look. My swatch shows 2 coats plus topcoat. 

Shimmering Sandcastles in direct artificial lighting

Shimmering Sandcastles in direct sunlight
Macro of Shimmering Sandcastles in direct sunlight 
 The second polish in the Sand and Surf duo is the Ellagee polish called Rhythm of the Surf. This one is a turquoise blue jelly filled with shades of white, blue, turquoise, and shifting iridescent glitters. Since this was a thinner jelly, I struggled to get it opaque with no VNL. Even after 3 coats I could still see my smile line so I decided to put it over a white base! The glitters all came out smoothly and laid flat on the nail. I had no issues with getting the glitter out - no fishing required! I loved the look over white and I instantly became wistful for summer time and vacations to the ocean. My swatch shows two coats over a white base plus topcoat.


Ellagee Rhythm of the Surf in direct artificial lighting

Rhythm of the Surf in direct sunlight 

Rhythm of the Surf macro in direct sunlight 
I did a nail art look with the duo and added some of the decals to complete it! I started with 2 coats of Shimmering Sandcastles on my index, middle, and pinkie and 2 coats of Rhythm of the Surf over a white base on my ring finger. Once everything was dry to the touch, I cut very closely around each of the shells that I wanted to use and laid it face down (decal touching the nail with white backing facing me) and used a q-tip to soak the paper backing. I rubbed the q-tip against the back of the decal to press it down for about 30 seconds. I peeled off the backing and voila! A seashell on my nail! I will note that while these do remove with polish remover, they don't dissolve with acetone during cleanup so don't get them too close to the edge of your nail or cuticle line as i did on my index finger because they cannot be cleaned up like other water decals. I added a quick dry topcoat to everything and placed 3 turquoise studs on my pinkie to tie everything together. I absolutely adored this mani and wore it for about a week!


Last, but most certainly not least, I have the single prior release called Untrodden Snow. This beauty is a white creme with blue flash and blue shimmers. I absolutely loved the way this polish looked on me. So strikingly white with the surprise blue flash in different lighting. Untrodden Snow has a thicker consistency as well as its meant to be opaque in 1-2 coats so I had to be careful to let the first coat dry completely before adding the second to avoid streaks. Although application was a tad tricky, the formula self leveled nicely, leaving no pooling or streaks behind after the second coat. My swatch shows two coats plus topcoat. Untrodden Snow retails for $5 (mini) or $8.50 (full sized). 

Untrodden Snow in direct artificial lighting 
Untrodden Snow in direct sunlight
Untrodden Snow macro in direct sunlight

If you're interested in picking up any of the polishes I reviewed in this post, they are all currently available in the Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer shop HERE. You can also sign up for the BEGL newsletter, follow BEGL on Instagram and Facebook, or request to join us in the fan group on Facebook for more news and upcoming releases!

Thanks for reading!

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12 comments:

  1. Gorgeous swatches and great review. I really appreciate it when I can get a good sense of what the formula is like when I read a review.

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  2. These are super pretty. Sometimes I struggle showing off the super nudes, but you did a great job.

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  3. Great swatches! I love BEGL, great brand!

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  4. Love that seashell nail art! Totally adorable. :)

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  5. Very pretty duo! I love your shell mani, super cute.

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  6. This is a lovely duo and your mani is cute!!

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  7. Beautiful colours and love your mani ♡

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  8. I think Rhythm of the Surf looks fantastic with an undie, great call, it really comes to life that way!

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