The ALU Archives focuses on older, beloved shades from the All Lacquered Up stash.

First of all, thank you to everyone who messaged, commented, tweeted me about my overly obvious absence. You’re so sweet to worry about me. I’ve been out the past three days due to a pinched nerve. It’s a recurring issue I’ve been dealing with for the past twelve years or so and when it flares up I just have to rest the pain away. I’m not 100% but I’m well enough to sit up for short periods of time. So while I’m feeling up to it, I thought I’d share a couple polishes from the Archives.

A while back I told you that Beauty.com is now carrying Pop Beauty Nail Glams and I ordered a few but never posted them. Check out Ocean and Mandarin after the jump!

Pop Beauty Nail Glams are 3 Free (including Formaldehyde Resin) though it seems that at some point the formula and packaging changed a bit as one bottle lists Camphor as an ingredient and the other doesn’t. So if Camphor is an issue for you, make sure you check the bottle. The formula on these were spot on; well pigmented, smooth and fairly thin in spite of its 3 Free status. Normally I show polishes with no top coat but because Mandarin is a neon, which dries matte, I threw on a glossy top coat.

Ocean is a vibrant ultramarine hue. The metallic shimmer does leave minor brush strokes but they’re not overly distracting. I ended up applying three thin coats but you could get away with two medium coats.

Mandarin is like a greased pig, VERY hard to capture. Imagine a radioactive slightly underripe orange and you get close to what this neon orange-yellow creme looks like in person. There are a lot of neons on the market and I HATE most of them for two very good reasons. 1. They are eye searingly painful to look at. 2. They apply terribly; thick, streaky nonsense. Mandarin is in its own class. If you’ve yet to find the perfect neon, try this!

Pop Beauty Nail Glams retail for $14 on Beauty.com.

Which of you have Nail Glams in your stash? What are your favorite colors? Do your bottles list Camphor as an ingredient and when did you buy it? Did I inspire any of you to snag some bottles for yourself? Share!

That’s right fanatics, Pop Beauty is having a SALE on Nail Glams! Many thanks to our friends at BeautyTicket.com for notifying us of this exclusive offer. You get 25% off at PopBeauty.co.uk AND only pay domestic shipping rates!! Too good to be true, no? Though what I want to know is which one of you ganked the last Lilac?? I’ve been crushing on it hardcore and Beauty.com doesn’t carry it. Whoever you are, boo on you! Anywhoodle, as I try to get over my obvious bitterness about an out of stock Lilac, head on over the the Pop Beauty site and use code BEAUTYTICKET to receive your discount and shipping offer. This offer expires 7/1/09 so with hope Lilac will be back in stock before then.

Happy Shopping!

Did I just make an amazing discovery or am I a little slow on the uptake? Beauty.com is carrying Pop Beauty Nail Glams!! No need to pay international shipping on the Pop Beauty site, head on over to Beauty.com where the shipping is FREE!!

I just ordered Orange, Ocean and Mandarin for $14/ea. I was sad to see they don’t carry Lilac but hopefully that will change soon. If you missed my post about their gorgeous Grass and Berry shades, check them out HERE.

Beauty.com also carries butter London, Lippmann and NARS polishes so it’s a total one stop shop.

I’m sure most of you are familiar with the Pop Beauty brand from seeing it at Sephora, right? Sadly the makeup isn’t carried at Sephora anymore but did you know the brand makes polish? I know I didn’t. It wasn’t until the beyond fabulous Tamar from Fashion Binge recommended I check them out that I discovered this amazing line. Nail Glam from Pop Beauty is a range of Big 3 Free (including formaldehyde resin) lacquers that come in a rainbow of vibrant shades including an AH-MAZING fluorescent GREEN!

To quote the Pop Beauty site, “Each Nail Glam shade is non-occlusive so it won’t stain nails and contains nylon creating a strengthening non chip barrier.” Can I just say that with the two shades I tested, the formula WOWED me. It’s smooth, flows easily with a jelly-ish texture yet it’s so so pigmented. After five days on my nails, only a bit of tip wear was showing.

Application tip: Extend your dry time even if using Seche Vite. I found that though the top coat was completely dry, the lacquer underneath was still moving like cellophane wrap on pudding. So tack on a couple minutes and test a nail for movement.

Berry is a vivid rosy hue, it’s a bit darker in person. Kids, this one is so pigmented that I only used one coat. That’s right, one coat!
Grass is… well you know about me and greens so I instantly swooned over this kicky neon green. Though unlike most neons, it didn’t dry uber-matte. I’m showing it without top coat. Crazy, no? Neons are incredibly hard to capture on camera so you can just imagine how much brighter this beauty is to the naked eye.
Pop Beauty makes so many lustworthy shades that I’m already plotting which ones I’ll try next. A few of the polishes on my list include Lilac, Ocean, Mandarin, Orange, Turquoise and Violetta.

Oh and they have new colors coming out for Summer. Check it! Another purple? I’m so on it!
Pop Beauty Nail Glam nail colour ($14) is available on the Pop Beauty website and in stores at the new CVS Beauty 360 locations. Unfortunately there are only two Beauty 360s at the moment but hopefully they’ll be popping up in more states soon.

Has anyone tried Nail Glam before? What did you think?