Swap Goodies from Portugal

I did another swap with Akuma Kanji, my friend I've never met who writes Under the Gravity's Nails. Look at all these goodies she sent:



Not in the photo above are some lovely photo cards of Portugal she sent along with a letter she wrote which included extra information about all the polishes, which is why I'll be able to tell you about them as we look at the detail photos.

The Cliché lineup, which I am told is their fall collection:



Left to right above: Nunca Se Sabe (You Never Know), Atitude (Attitude), Mostarda (Mustard—I am loving the pretty ugliness of this one), Atira Te (Go for It), Orquidea (Orchid), Silencio (Silence).

The Andreia Pocket colors—130, 127, 131, 12:



From Incocos—Beijinho (Sweet Little Kiss), Chi Coracao (Tight Hug), Ternura (Sweetness), Miminho (Little Sweet Nothing), and Meninas Purpurinas (Glitter Girls, which I can't wait to use).



Rounding out the polishes are a quartet from H&M and a new to me brand called Purple (kinda confusing but I love it). Left to right: H&M Matte Metallic Purple Metal and Blue Metal, Purple #77 Emerald, H&M Scented Rose Pink and Green Apple.



I am hoping I get a chance to try some of these very soon; it'll just be hard to decide which one to grab first! Right now I'm out of my usual environment, visiting my mom in Illinois and helping her get her house sorted out so we can put it on the market sooner rather than later. It's been more draining a process than I anticipated, so I don't think I'm going to be doing all the posts I'd planned to this week. Guess I'll have to see how the rest of the days go.

Cliché Look and New York

Thanks to a swap I did with Akuma Kanji of Under the Gravity's Nails, today I have some polishes from Portugal to share. First though, here's a peek at the whole bunch of stuff that she sent, including the wonderful little notes she attached to everything. The Christmas sweets are long gone now—I ate them up, even the crumbs from the few that got crushed in the mail. The polishes will last a lot longer; there are goodies from all sorts of brands I can't get here: Inocos, Yes Love, Andreia, Cliché, DERMExcellence, and Love Me.



As usual when faced with a whole lot of new polishes, I had trouble deciding where to start. I decided to go with the most neutral one to give my eyes a rest from all the glitzy holiday stuff that I've been swatching, so I grabbed Cliché Look, which I know comes from the Moda collection thanks to the helpful note that came with it. This is a medium taupe with golden shimmer, very elegant. I used three coats, no topcoat, for these swatches. I might have been able to stop at two, but I was trying to camouflage the repair I did to my middle nail after I ripped the tip nearly off while ill-advisedly changing the sheets on our bed with bare nails (not even a treatment coat—dumb, dumb, dumb).





The gold shimmer pops in low light:



Of course, being me, I could not resist the glitter she sent, Cliché New York, so added a coat of that on top of Look. Per the note attached to it, this is from the Glamour collection and is a failed dupe of Risqué Cobertura Encantada, which is a flakie, not a glitter, but I don't mind, because I don't believe I have a glitter quite like this one. It's got a very sheer orange base with small glitter in bright green and copper and orange and gold. It'll be perfect for autumn.







I am so happy to have these in my stash; thanks Akuma Kanji!