franken-polish "Woodland Whispers"

I remember making this polish as if in a dream; a vague, carefree wandering through color, without destination or objective.  The result was thoroughly surprising- a new favorite!  Looking back, I don't know what possessed me to mix teal, orchid pink, violet, and blackened olivine gold together, but I hope it possesses me again because DANG.  Sometimes your brain just needs to get out of the way and let the muse take over.

This polish makes me think of fairies in the forest, wings flickering covertly through leaves while tiny voices reach out to each other and intertwine in the mist.  Secretive.  Elusive.  Ethereal.

 

>>> woodland whispers <<<

 

Springtime Giveaway!!! Sephora Formula X "Inspiring" + Nails Inc. London "Floral Street Mews"

In two months from this very day, I will have finished my last college exam, quarter, degree EVER (hopefully ever, anyway).  TWO MONTHS.  There is still so much to do before that time but my joy of anticipation cannot be eclipsed.

Two months left of school for me... so how about two polishes of springtime joy for you??!!  IT'S GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

Happy April, by the way!  It's been pretty quiet on Tiny Twinklings lately, and likely the crickets will only keep chirping these next couple months as I careen towards graduation.  Many readers will know by this time that I am an architecture student at the University of Oregon, and am currently hammering out my thesis studio project (topic: architecture for happiness / typology: community center / location: Anchorage, AK).  The enormous importance of this project, by necessity and yet to my dismay, has begun to preclude energies dedicated to this beloved blog, but I wanted to assure my darling readers that however infrequently I manage to get posts up in this final, frantic interval of college, once the mortar board has flown, Tiny Twinklings will be BACK.

This giveaway is my way of thanking you, my precious Twinklings, for sticking with me through the thick and thin of my first half year of blogging!  Your thoughts and comments especially bring an amazing community energy to Tiny Twinklings, and so I owe a very special thank you to many dear, familiar faces out there.

I also want to extend my warmest welcome to new faces bringing fresh life to this blog- twinkle on!!  Since Tiny Twinklings' inception, my greatest rewards have been the wonderful and invaluable opportunities to come to know some of my fellow nairies, and as this adventure continues I am very excited to know more and more of you, so welcome, welcome!!!

I have been impatiently looking forward to hosting a giveaway for what feels like a VERY long time, so let's get started, shall we??!

The prize: a cheerful and charming duet of old spring favorites, as the season comes into full bloom!!  One lucky reader will win Sephora Formula X "Inspiring" (a pearlescent turquoise shimmer) and Nails Inc. London "Floral Street Mews" (a floral glitter topper with peach, white, and sky blue pearl glitters in hexes and blossoms).  This first giveaway will be open to the United States only.  (To my 9% international readers, joining us from as far away as Iraq to Lithuania to Belgium to South Africa: first of all, WOW!  I am so honored to have you with us, and am determined to improve my giveaway sophistication so that all my highly-valued Twinklings will have the opportunity to win fun things in the future!!)

This giveaway will be open for two weeks, starting now until Saturday, April 25, 2015 at 11:59PM Pacific Time.  You must be 18 years of age or older to enter, please.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck, Twinklings!! ♥

I wish I thought to bring my own bottles of these beautiful flower-ful polishes with me to Oregon to model for you, but alas!  In addition to an enormous deficit of time, I also broke a nail to the quick the other week (the nubs are growing back surprisingly quick, but for a while there I didn't even recognize my own hands!), and then last week broke one of my full-spectrum lamps; idk what the deal is, it's just been one big hot mess around here.  So I've just been casually enjoying my favorite season for polish (I'm really such a spring), and dreaming of summer... and freedom :)

XOXO
Marisa + Sprinklepuff

These prizes are provided and were purchased by me for the purposes of this giveaway.

Different Dimension "Luck & Leprechauns"

Happy Saint Patrick's Day, loves!  Really slipping this one under the wire...  But you know how it is!  I could never resist a good festive polish, and this one is very special indeed.  Wearing it, I can just feel the leprechaun formations soaring over the violently-violet World Cup Stadium, little lanterns aglow, a shower of gold raining down over the Irish supporters, the arc of a rainbow bowing up towards the star-studded sky, the great shimmering shamrock rising over Ireland's end...  We're talking Quidditch now, in case you weren't following :)  March always lures my imaginings and daydreams to the British Isles, and I think I can feel a Harry Potter audiobook binge-listen coming on...

(Queue Ludo Bagman's voice:) "And with that, I GIVE YOU... DIFFERENT DIMENSION!"

Okay, so it's not quite so snappy as "I GIVE YOU... POTTER!", but I'd bet that any nail addict out there gets the same rousting rush of exhilaration all the same.  Tee hee.

"Luck & Leprechauns" glitter gradient over "My Lucky Clover"

Candie's Nail Polish "My Lucky Charm"

*  *  *

Happy happy Monday, lads and bonny lasses!  I should be studying for my final tomorrow, and I have been, but it's just been so sunny outside... and the impending spring break that is just beyond this exam has me so bouncy and energized... and idk, I'm just having the darndest time focusing, so I'm kinda hoping to drum up a little luck ;)  I would say that tomorrow would be a fabulous time for a little Felix Felicis, but with the luck o' the Irish strong in spirit hopefully even I, with nary a drop of Irish or even Celtic blood in my veins, will be able to glean a little off for some focus power.  With the kind of scattered energy I've been buzzing about with, I could certainly use it to compensate! :)

And that brings us to today's festive mani... you wanted green, and so here it is: a green jolly enough to make a leprechaun skip!  Just sprinkle on a little gold glitter, and I'm guessing that you could make all kinds of little magical, albeit mischievous friends on the morrow.

Fair Maiden Polish "Change Your Fate"

Happy Friday the 13th, again!!  In the Celtic spirit of upcoming St. Patrick's Day, I just had to share with you this powerfully pretty polish inspired by Scottish princess Merida of Brave, and, fittingly enough, part of Fair Maiden's debut collection titled *Be Your Own Heroine*.  Merida was indeed her own heroine, and if this teal tribute was an arrow, it would be flying straight true to the heart and free spirit of The Bear & The Bow (as the story was originally called!).

Merida the Brave

*     *    *    *  *  *   *    *     *

Can't you just see the moss-dappled mountain glade, blankets of heather cushioning your footfalls as your breath parts the curtains of mist lingering in the early morning chill...?  The shadows are yet deep in the gathering dawn, and through their nocturnal curls a tiny ephemeral light flickers and skips: the ever-elusive dance of the will-o'-the-wisp.  And along their shivering path... fate awaits.

*     *    *    *  *  *   *    *     *

a rare two-faced bottle!! :)

KBShimmer "Ins and Sprouts" + Rescue Beauty Lounge "Locavore"

Hello again, darlings!!  It hasn't even been three weeks, but it feels like an age has passed since I last made blogging happen.  My goal was to post once a week, but even that has felt like the final insurmountable obstacle in the mountain of schoolwork I have been scaling, slowly but surely :/  In the meantime, I have been accumulating DROVES of swatches, and am looking forward to doing some spring cleaning here on Tiny Twinklings over spring break.  If you love titanic posts storming with swatches,  I will have just the thing in a few weeks!

"Locavore" + "Ins & Sprouts"

My boyfriend's darling mother, Lynne, loves green, and has requested some verdant hues to get us all in the spirit for St. Patrick's Day!  As you know, I am all about celebrating the season in color, and so I am beyond happy to oblige.  As soon as March struck, I started in on my selected chute of greens with a vengeance.  Today's feature is one that I looked forward to most, while still enjoying my romantic roses and lavenders for February, and I just had to wear it immediately.  My dearest NPBFF, Lacquer Slacker Liz, posted a divine manicure yesterday with the most charming yellow-green holographic, Fancy Gloss "Lilypad", in the midst of so many beautiful Rescue Beauty Lounge, and this compound effort is my return tribute :)

"Ins & Sprouts"

"Locavore" + "Ins & Sprouts"

Girly Bits "The Power of Love"

Happy, happy Valentine's Day!!  May your day be full of affection and love, be it romantic, filial, friendly, and/or of the self ♥

[P.S. - I happened upon this lovely feathered family in the Kastellet fortress gardens of Copenhagen; with its palaces, roses, swans, and fairy tales, not to mention the royal hearts which gild the coins, it is one of the most romantic cities I have ever visited.]

Passionate purples and lovely lavenders are some of my favorites for this occasion, but this exquisite lilac with ethereal elfin qualities occupies its own sphere in my polish-loving heart.  "The Power of Love", indeed!  I predict that even hearts hardened against the season's sappy pinks and reds will warm for this magical lacquer, like a love goddess's dream.

au naturel (no topcoat)

glossy (two layers topcoat)

* ♥ * ♥ * ♥ *

Rainbow Honey: January 2015 Mystery Bag!

Hello there, fairy friends!  Long time, no nothing, I know.  It has been a busy and wonderful week, exploring Portland and the Oregon Coast with my darling man, but as he returned to Montana so did I return to reality (including the dwindling window of primary relevance for this post, haha).  I now have both a mystery bag subscription and my change-of-address in order, so next month should be much more timely, Twinklings!!  And so, on that harried note, I present the January Mystery Bag (WHEEE)!!

Hare Polish "Wonderland Wanderlust"

Hello, darlings!!  I have a very special polish to show you today, and not just because it is a Hare Polish, a rare "vintage" harkening back from the Bohemian Holiday collection in 2013.  No, this is a particular treasure because this very bottle was first swatched and so lovingly described by an extraordinary lady and blogger that I admire so much: Lacquer Slacker Liz!!  The final memory-laden paragraphs of her "Wonderland Wonderlust" review actually made my breath catch; there are few things I love better than concise prose that evokes such insight, such feeling, with a poetic and elegantly understated clarity, as Liz does so well in her exquisite recollections.  There is something about artistic expressions that are so en pointe, so precise, that manage to inspire the greatest emotive response in me with the most minimal explication... these are the things that I find the most enrapturing.  It's something that I love about nail polish, and color in general: it is so simple and unassuming a thing, and yet it speaks volumes, tells stories, weaves images.  In architecture we call it doing the most with the least, and it is a beautiful balance indeed.

This polish strikes this balance and tells its tale with captivating ease.  Wandering in wonderlands, especially in winter, is one of my most favorite pastimes, and Hare Polish mastermind Nikole represents it brilliantly with this woodland tapestry, nearly cognizant with its imagery of red berries and rustling botanicals, of shifting lights through the trees as the sky deepens into heavy dusk.

May & Freyja, cavorting in wonderland

FREYJA CUDDLE CHARGE

Lorac : Party Eye Shadow Palette {Ulta Exclusive}

Happy New Year, angels, and a Merry Tenth Day of Christmas, too!  If you're celebrating all the way up to Three King's Day on Tuesday, and are needing to elevate your holiday eye look, I might take a peek at Lorac's new Party Palette (released exclusively at Ulta on December 26). 

Serum No. 5 "Holly Dazed" + Candy Lacquer "Rudolph's Rum Punch" Holiday NOTD

Happy Third Day of Christmas, Twinklings!!  Anyone got their three French hens yet?  Just kidding, I'm totally afraid of chickens.  As cute as French hens do sound in theory, I really can't get over their dinosaur claws and rubber wobble gobbles.  Though I do have to say, when I was forced to pet a barred Plymouth Rock hen a few weeks ago, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that their feathers are amazingly, incredibly soft.  I was almost okay with those hens.  What I am not okay with are the demon chickens that live next door to my boyfriend's house, who will chase each other down like the hounds of freaking hell if one finds a kibble or worm or something.

And now that I have ruined the Twelve Days of Christmas, I thought I'd show you one of my favorite holiday manis from before I went back to Illinois/dropped off the face of the interwebs.  You know, to cheer you back up :)

Serum No. 5 "Holly Dazed" + Candy Lacquer "Rudolph's Rum Punch"

 

❄ * ♥ * ❄ * ♥ * ❄

Lucky 13 Lacquer : "An Act of True Love" & "Let It Go" {Frozen: Day 4}

"Let it go, let it go // I am one with the wind and sky // Let it go, let it go // You'll never see me cry

Here I stand // and here I'll stay // Let the storm rage on!"

Lucky 13 Lacquer is a "nerdy, nostalgic, and unique nail polish brand" handmade in Vancouver, Washington- which to me means HOORAY, my orders will arrive INSTANTLY when I'm living in Portland, Oregon for six months starting January!  :)  Lucky 13 Lacquer makes a boatload of amazing lacquers for us nerds, but I about fainted from happiness when Kyoti Jess announced the *Let It Go* collection for winter 2014.

Elsa & Anna

Serum No. 5 - fall polish swatches [Twilight Sparks, Sleepy Holo, Second Spring]

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower." - Albert Camus 

Happy Sunday, Twinklings!!  I've had these swatches sitting around for aaa-ages, and it suddenly occurred to me that I could maybe, I dunno, do something with them :)

Serum No. 5:  a few spontaneous polishes from various fall collections

Rainbow Honey: November Mystery Bag swatches and sniffs

Here it is, darlings!!  This mystery bag is a most perfect ensemble of hue, scent, and product "to get ready to face the colder months!"  I succumbed to the flu this weekend { :( }, and receiving this on the other end felt like a care package curated with get-well vibes!  I also am loving this mystery bag because it reminds me very much of my beloved Copenhagen, which is fitting as it was inspired by "modern life and our planet's natural light show".  Yellow bricks, black lacquer roofs, cozy sweaters, warm tea, the many harbors and canals, the purity of Nordic architecture, and of course, the golden candlelight so emblematic of hygge.  Jeg elsker dig, København.

Rainbow Honey November Mystery Bag

Rainbow Honey "Aurora" + "Mint Flavor"

M.A.C. Cosmetics: A Novel Romance Collection swatches "Before Dawn" & "Midnight Storm" (feat. "Girl Trouble")

Hello loves!!  M.A.C. released their early fall collection A Novel Romance back in August, but I'm much more in the mood for them now than I was in the sultry days of late summer.  Once I was acclimated to deep, cozy colors again, I knew that I needed these because I just love the concept of this collection.  It's page-turning perfection, right on down sickeningly sappy promotional images.  Yup, nailed it.

M.A.C. A Novel Romance "Before Dawn" & "Midnight Storm" (feat. "Girl Trouble")

Rainbow Honey : The Yokai Collection : "Kitsune" & "Hebi" swatches

Hello, goddesses!  Many of you have been waaaiiiiting and waaiiiting for the Yokai, and as of this month they have returned, and doubled!  Last fall Rainbow Honey released the first three Yokai, and I'm so happy that you're here to help me welcome Part 2.  In case you were wondering, yokai are "a class of supernatural monsters in Japanese folklore".  The word yokai comes from the kanji for "bewitching, attractive, calamity" and "appartion, mystery, suspicious". (Thanks, Wikipedia.)  The pair I have for you today deliver on all counts (especially attractive)!  I thought they made particularly bewitching couples when paired with some of the polishes from the September Mystery Bag <3

Rainbow Honey : The Yokai + guests from the September Mystery Bag

Essence Cosmetics : Dark Romance Collection

Calling all vampires!!  Essence's Dark Romance Collection is all about thrilling trysts in Gothic castles, and forbidden love in haunted ruins... Jane Austen's wide-eyed heroine Catherine Morland of Northanger Abbey would be all about this, what with her naive fascination with Gothic novels bordering on hallucinatory obsession.  The Brontë sisters would undoubtedly approve as well.  But do be sure to accessorize properly with a shadowy gloss and unearthly lacquer when you curl up with Wuthering Heights, or maybe Jane Eyre, for a good October thrill... ;)  A spiced tea will be in order as well.  Purrrrr...

As Essence is a German company, the Dark Romance Collection was actually released as early as January 2014 in various parts of Europe (definitely Poland and Romania), but only just debuted in the United States.  According to the Essence website it was supposed to be a September limited edition release, but it only hit my local Fred Meyers on October 2 so it would seem that schedule has been pushed back a month.  I immediately pounced on every item Fred Meyer is carrying (except for the tattoos, they were a bit too biker chick for my taste) though the full collection also has one more each of the eyeshadow quad, lipstick ("Painted Love"), and nail polish (a gray), as I recall.  Ah well, I'll take whatever I can get!  I LOVE Essence's Limited Edition collections (though I rarely get to avail myself of them, seeing as they are available so sparingly in the U.S.); they do them monthly, and yet they are always consummately imaginative and original.  The themes are quite wide-ranging and the packaging is always adorable.  Not only that, the products generally quite excellent (at minimum, they are above average for a drugstore line), and are amazingly inexpensive!!  So much love for this brand, I has.

Oh, you demand to see this stupendously seductive collection, do you?  Well, okay.

 ...

Clinique : Party Pretty Box {shadow palette, chubby stick for lips, mascara, quickliner for eyes, nail enamel, eye cream}

Happy weekend, goddesses!  If you haven't already, it's about time that you heard about Clinique's Limited Edition box for Fall 2014, Party Pretty.  I couldn't believe what an amazing deal this is, and was delighted that it includes some favorites of mine.

Clinique Party Pretty

 

Lilypad Lacquer : The Seasons of Change Collection : "Wintery Bliss"

Happy Monday, Twinklings!!  I have so many beautiful things to share with you, and so little time to do so!  It was my birthday this past Friday (!), and between a magical woodland walk, ice skating, and beating le boyfriend at croquet (unprecedented!), it was a wondrous, magical day.  A bittersweet one too, because the next morning I was on my way back to Oregon for my last year of college.  But this year, I'm really trying to embrace the present, and find happiness in the moment.  Through the years of long distance, I am finally learning that it is a choice that I can make.  I'll always be happier with my better half, but I'm realizing that if I just wait for happiness to be granted to me when the stars all align... well, then it will be long-awaited and short-lived.  Happiness is created and nurtured, not achieved or acquired.  And therein lies the foundation of my thesis work this year :)

Lilypad Lacquer "Wintery Bliss"

Speaking of happiness, Lilypad Lacquer has been busy unveiling a ton of gorgeous polishes in the past couple weeks and they will all make your color lover heart trill with joy (and your pocketbook tremble in fear).  Several Llarowe exclusives, including the eagerly-anticipated Seasons of Change collection, debuted with a huuuggge Llarowe launch Tuesday September 16, and I mean it must have been monstrous, because it took a full week for my package to ship out.  It was quite unusual for Llarowe; even on sale days, I've never experienced anything near such a long processing period.  It was making me quite anxious; I was afraid that it wouldn't arrive before I had to move, but then "Wintery Bliss" arrived Friday morning, just in time for my birthday manicure!!

Lilypad Lacquer "Wintery Bliss"

Lilypad Lacquer "Wintery Bliss"

Candy Lacquer "Nouveau Riche"

Something about autumn puts me in the mood for a masquerade ball.  (Because I've attended so many and am just so impatient for the next.)  Yoohoo, chamber maid?  Do please fetch the butler to fetch the manservant to fetch the coachman to ready the pumpkin carriage; I have an appointment.  With destiny.  And the ball's snack table.  Oh yes, if I was in Ever After I would quite unabashedly be Jacqueline.  Only with Danielle's dress (and shoes!!!) because, swoon.  But in all seriousness, if there is anything more bewitching than a romantic stroll through a midnight garden strung with fairy lights, while a decadent ballroom spills golden light and lilting music and the sparkling rustle of masked dancers...  then it would have to be "Nouveau Riche".

Candy Lacquer "Nouveau Riche"