Let's get to know: Literary Lacquers, part 2

                                      

In the stunning conclusion to my first blogger review pack, I have two gorgeous purple polishes to show you!

"Castle Dracula"

**These polishes were provided to me for free in exchange for a fair and honest review!**


Link to part 1


In Bram stoker's "Dracula", Mina is a virtuous victorian girl who unknowingly becomes the center of Count Dracula's affections, and slowly comes to realize their relationship is much older and deeper than she could ever imagine.

I realized I had never watched Dracula before, so I made the time after my son went to sleep... Wow! This movie has amazing cinematography, and is a darkly sensual take on an old story. I enjoyed the origin story of Count Dracula, and I have always had a soft spot for Winona Ryder, who plays the wide eyed Mina. It has given me a deeper appreciation behind this polish's inspiration, and I find myself enjoying it's subtleties even more now.

                                        "I have crossed oceans of time to find you."

Mina and the Count

On the Etsy page, this polish is described as:

"...a blackened violet packed with violet shimmer and glitter, it truly comes alive in the sun with a stunning deep purple flash."

 That is so apt! In the sun you see a deep purple pool of deep violet and almost silver glitter, stacked in a wonderfuly dense way.  I wasn't sure how I was going to like this one but I actually love it. There is so much depth to this polish, and the application was really easy. The glitter practically flew from the brush to my nail! I even got a compliment on it from a friend who gave us a couch today, which doesn't happen often since I am stuck at home most of the time with the baby. I wanted to vamp this one up so I decided to try out a similar color gemstone - I am not sure how I like it. I definitely think a lighter gemstone pops more, but this does have a nice matchy feel to it. What do you think, match the color or try to find one that stands out? Please let me know in the comments if you have a preference when you use gems!

Our next polish is based on a book series I have never read before, but that sounds very exciting ( and a little naughty!) "If it pleases you" is a beautiful plum linear holo based on The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, by Anne Rice ( originally under a psuedonym). Amy doesn't stick to the clean parts of literature for her inspiration, and I am impressed by that. This polish is a part of her collection titled "The Good Parts Collection - Erotic fiction from Fanny Hill to 50 Shades." While I admit to blushing at the racier parts of novels, it is fun to see polish inspired by them!

This is the least NSFW cover I could find!

                                    

                                 

While this polish is described as having full coverage with two coats, I like to use similar colored bases for holos. I was looking through all my purples and decided that "Marilla's Amethyst Brooch" by Literary Lacquers was actually a good fit - and this is a great way to do a sort of bonus review! This is a beautiful shimmery pastel purple, which Amy describes as...

 "... an amethyst shimmer polish with a pink to orange flash. The orange will show up best in lower lighting. This polish looks especially awesome under fluorescent lighting (you're welcome, fellow office dwellers!) "  

"... Do you think amethysts can be the souls of good violets?" - Anne Shirley, Anne of Green Gables

This polish is based on the beloved amethyst brooch worn by Marilla, Anne's guardian in Anne of Green Gables. When it goes missing Anne has some explaining to do! I did some googling and found some pictures of amethysts - it is easy to see why Anne was in love with it. What a lovely stone!  

After that dried I applied two thin coats of "If it pleases you". I love purples obviously, and holos always have my heart, so this is definitely one of my favorite polishes of all time! It dries beautifully and a top coat does not impede the linear rainbows that pop out at all opportunities. I really love how it catches even the lowest of light and gives a little happiness to your day! (Can you tell I really really love holos?) I think I might have to pick up a full sized bottle of this polish to call my own.

If you read my blog regularly you might remember I threw all 4 of the polishes on top of the polish I already had on the day I received them. I think having a light base vs. a dark base does have an effect on how "If it pleases you" looks, so I thought I would include that picture again! It is pictured on my thumb and pinkie here.

Thumb and pinkie: If it pleases you. Pointer: "Love-in-idleness", middle:  "Midsummer night's dream", and my ring finger has "Mina", all on top of OPI "Ink."

Please wake up, I want to do kinky stuff to you!

Overall, Literary Lacquers polish has a great formula, with smooth application and quick drying times. She offers a nice range of polish styles that is sure to appeal to you no matter what your preference for style. I love her inspirations, and really look forward to whatever direction she takes things next! If you are interested in picking up some of these beautiful polishes for yourself, you can check out her Etsy Shop here, or take a look at her Overall beauty page here. She also has a facebook page if you would like to keep up with restocks and get to know the girl behind it all. Thanks for taking the time to read this review, please follow me or check back later for more nail adventures.