Polished Cousins

Different Dimension - Hey You, Money & Comfortably Numb

2013-05-23T10:04:00.000-04:00

***This polish was provided to me for my honest review. All opinions are my own.***

Happy Thursday! I'm back with another round of Different Dimension polishes today and I'm super excited about them. On Sunday, I showed you a few holos and today I have some glitters. Let's get right to the swatches.

Hey You is described as: a creamy lavender base with purple glitters in a variety of shapes and sizes mixed throughout. This polish is opaque in two coats but may require an extra coat of topcoat. This is definitely my favorite of three because I am such a sucker for lavender polishes. I really wanted a good color pay off so I layered one coat of Hey You over Pomegranate Lacquers Prince Charmer, one of my favorite grayed out lavenders. Hey You is perfectly packed with glitter and I love how this turned out.

The translucent purple hexes are TO DIE FOR.

Money is described as: a white crème/jelly base with neon green, neon yello, gold, black and blue glitters in a variety of shapes and sizes mixed throughout. I layered 2 coats of Money over Essie Who Is The Boss and I love this combo. I'm not usually a green fan but it's so sparkly and fun and I love the big circles.

Comfortably Numb is described as: a clear base with pink shimmer hot pink, and yellow glitters in a variety of shapes and sizes. I'm slightly obsessed with this combo. I layered one coat of Comfortably Numb over China Glaze Dance Baby and it's so fresh and summery. The pink shimmer is just gorgeous and the yellow glitters pop so well over the pink polish.

What do you think of this round of Different Dimension polishes? I'm super impressed with the color combos and the quality.

Different Dimension is available on Etsy and retails for $8.50-$10 for a full size bottle. Make sure to like their Facebook page for updates and specials!

***This polish was provided to me for my honest review. All opinions are my own.***

Fun In The Sun Multi Blogger and Shop Giveaway! 35+ Winners!

2013-05-22T10:08:00.002-04:00

Hello friends!! Another fun giveaway for you, this time hosted by Jen from Musings of the Wife of a Jedi! A HUGE thank you to her for putting this together! There are soooo many prizes up for grabs here because there are so many great blogs involved! We love all these bloggers, and as always am really excited to work with them on this! Our prize is in the US section!

There are 27 US only prizes and 9 US and international prizes up for grabs! You can see all of these listed below! Because of the two categories, there are TWO RAFFLECOPTERS, so please be mindful of which one you fill out. There are tons of entries available, so enter to win and discover some phenomenal new blogs and shops while you're at it! Ends June 12th!

US ONLY Rafflecopter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

US and International Rafflecopter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

US ONLY Prizes

Prize 1 from Things I Love At The Moment

Girly bits Boo-berry, Colorama Gota and Sombra, Jindie Nails Mini Swoon

Prize 2 from Pointless Cafe

ButterLONDON Champers and Poole

Prize 3 from BeautyPopShop

Shop exclusive Maya H2pOp polish and a Do-Mo Panda Coin Purse

Prize 4 from Cosmetish

Coastal Scents Reach Mascara, NYX Butter Gloss in Strawberry Parfait, NYX Lip Cream in Strawberry Parfait, NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Strawberry Milk, Revlon Scented polishes Strawberry and Cherry

Prize 5 from BeautyGnome

$15 Llarowe Gift Certificate

Prize 6 from Princess Polish

China Glaze Bump and Grind and In the Rough

Prize 7 from College Polished

Zoya Yana and Bobbi

Prize 8 from Galactic Lacquer

KBShimmer Vegas Bomb, Pretty & Polished Phoenix, and

Nicole by OPI Strike a Pose and Ladies in the Limelight

Prize 9 from Polished10

Orly Space Cadet, Essie Leading Lady & OPI Meet Me On The Star Ferry

Prize 10 from Beyond Beauty Lounge

THE NEW BLACK NEONS SET

Prize 11 from Manicurator

Dior Vernis Riviera

Prize 12 from Rain Down On Me Beauty

$20 Gift Certificate to Sephora

Prize 13 from Above The Curve Nail Polish

Your choice of ATC colour from bigcartel site

Prize 14 from SoFlaJo

Two full size polishes from upcoming collection

Prize 15 from Jindie Nails

Jindie Nails polish from jindienails.com

Prize 16 from 6 Harts Craft Company

Full size bottle of 6 Harts Bat Crap Crazy and 6 Harts Sea Glass

Prize 17 from Girly bits

Franken Starter Kit

Prize 18 from Lacquistry

Polish from Lacquistry

Prize 19 from Literary Lacquers

Polish from Literary Lacquers

Mystery Prize

Prize 20 from Musings of the Wife of a Jedi

Prize 21 from Polished Cousins

Prize 22 from Pretty In Paint

Prize 23 from The Nail Files

Prize 24 from Colorsutraa

Prize 25 from Jilltastic Nail Design

Prize 26 from Mandie's Manicures

Prize 27 from You Had Me At Makeup

US and International Prizes

Prize A from The Lacquerologist

$15 Gift Card to Llarowe

Prize B from Glisten & Glow

$25 Gift Certificate to Glisten & Glow

Prize C from Puzzled & Polished

Two custom polish pieces

Prize D from My Life In Polish

$20 Gift Certificate to Llarowe

Prize E from Ashley Is Polish Addicted

Illamasqua Raindrops

Prize F from Girly bits

Polish from new upcoming collection

Prize G from Cosmetic Sanctuary

Prize H from Love For Lacquer

Prize I from Musings of the Wife of a Jedi

Pahlish - His Favorite Sundress

2013-05-21T16:33:00.000-04:00

Hey hey! I picked up a few Pahlish colors during her last opening and want to show you one today, His Favorite Sundress. My brother Kingsley (check out his art blog here, he is extremely talented) and I are HUGE Lana Del Rey fans and I knew I needed some of these polishes just for the name. And in her honor, I'm listening to remixes of Blue Jeans while I write this.

His Favorite Sundress is described as: creamy pale coral base with gold shimmer and satin and metallic orange accents. I love this color so much and I wanted to love this polish so much. I don't know...the orange glitters got sort of buried and weren't as prominent as I wanted them to be. But the gold shimmer is to die for and coral looks amazing on my skin (I'm so modest, I know) so overall it's still good.

See how bright the glitter is in the bottle? I wanted my nails to look like that.

What do you think? Are you a Pahlish lover? I know there are some serious fans out there and I can see why!

I'll leave you with my favorite LDR right now...Young and Beautiful. I've been listening to this song on repeat.

SinfulShine Comparisons

2013-05-20T14:38:00.000-04:00

Today I'm showing you the SinfulShine colors that are not dupes for other colors, either SinfulColors or some other brand, but may be similar enough so that you can get an idea if you need both or not. (Obviously, I did!) Of all the ones I got, only Alfresco had nothing really close, which surprised me because cornflower blue is one of my favorites!

SinfulShine Alfresco vs SinfulColors Candy Coated — the only reason I compared these two was because they both have little glass flecks in them. Same sort of finish but totally different colors. Alfresco is a gorgeous cornflower blue and I can't believe I have nothing similar in all of my many blues — and no lobster hands!

Two coats each, no top coat

SinfulShine Rendezvous vs SinfulColors Open Seas and Greek Isles — we had a request to compare Rendezvous with Be Happy and Open Seas, but I didn't get Be Happy when the Adventure Island Collection came out because it was too close to Greek Isles, which I did get, so this should do well enough. Greek Isles is the same hue but much darker, while Open Seas is a similar tone but much greener. In the bottle, Greek Isles was very close to Rendezvous but it dries a bit darker.

Two coats, no top coat

SinfulShine At Sea vs SinfulColors Greek Isles and Savage — At Sea is bluer than Rendezvous but it's the same tone as Greek Isles, which is just a bit greener. Savage is a similar hue, but much darker (it also stained, unfortunately.) Savage dries matte, so I added a coat of Seche Vite for the shine for a fair comparison. That is the only polish where I added a top coat in all the SinfulShine comparisons! However, At Sea is a total dupe for Sweet Nothing! It's also extremely close to OPI Can't Find My Czechbook, only not quite as bright.

Two coats, top coat only on Savage

SinfulShine Rebel vs SinfulColors Nirvana and Matte Nirvana — by now this mushroomy taupe has become a staple in just about everyone's nail polish wardrobe so it's not surprising to see another incarnation of it here. I'd say Rebel falls somewhere between Nirvana and Matte Nirvana.

Two coats, no top coat

Again, the difference in the shine between the SinfulShine colors and the regular SinfulColors polishes was barely perceptible and if you use a quick dry top coat, as I always do, you're paying an extra dollar for no real reason. I'd say that if you missed out on any of the LE colors that are duped in this collection, now you have a chance to get it, but if it's one of the core collection (Mardi Gras = Hazard, Tan Lines = Vacation Time, etc.) I'd save my money and get the core one, especially since the SinfulShines are a Walgreens exclusive and Walgreens often has SinfulColors on sale for 99¢!

Different Dimension - Wide Awake, Stronger & Black Dahlia

2013-05-19T06:00:00.000-04:00

***This polish was provided to me for my honest review. All opinions are my own.***

Hey everyone! I have three AMAZING Different Dimension holo polishes to show you today. Different Dimension is a new to Polished Cousins indie brand and I am so impressed. The application was flawless on all three, quick drying time and the colors are stunning. I didn't use a base coat for these swatches since some holos don't play nice with bases and I've had on Wide Awake for 3 days with no chipping or tip wear. On to the pics!

Wide Awake is my favorite of the three, so let's start there. Wide Awake is described as: a light pink scattered holographic polish with hints of different colors reflected in the light (a hot pink 'flash'). It looks amazing by itself or layered over other colors. I have no words, seriously. I just love this polish. I used three coats but could have stopped at 2. It's flawless. Look at it.

This is in my lightbox. In the sun, it's out of control.

Stronger is described as: a blue leaning periwinkle scattered holographic polish with hints of different colors reflected in the light. It looks amazing by itself or layered over other colors. This is such a classy subdued blue that it really speaks to me. Again, I used three coats but could have stopped at 2.

Last but not least, Black Dahlia: a black leaning greyish purple scattered holographic polish with hints of different colors reflected in the light, it also has micro iridescent glitters in it. It looks amazing by itself or layered over other colors. This is one tough ass polish. I love it. The iridescent micro glitters really set this one apart from a blackish gray holo.

Blurred to show the sparkle!

What do you think? Do you need all three? I know I do.

Different Dimension is available on Etsy and retails for $8.50-$10 for a full size bottle. Make sure to like their Facebook page for updates and specials!

***This polish was provided to me for my honest review. All opinions are my own.***

Ellen Sirot Hand Perfection Anti-Aging Hand Care Review and Giveaway!!!!

2013-05-18T00:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Saturday! I an awesome hand care post for you today plus a GIVEAWAY! Ellen Sirot Hand Perfection Anti-Aging Hand Care System is amazing. I've been testing this for a couple months and I am more than pleased with the results. In the past, I may not have paid as much attention to my hands as I should have but taking macro shots of my hands and fingers for the last year has made me realize that my hands look...old. They do. It's ok. This hand care system has helped!

Hand Perfection® is the only Anti-Aging Hand Care treatment line available at mass market. The line consists of a Nourishing Day Cream and Revitalizing Night Cream which when used together, are clinically proven to help turn back the hands of time - guaranteed! The fragrance-free, non-greasy formulas go on smooth and absorb quickly for an invisible, weightless feel. There is also a Nail and Cuticle Treatment which is clinically proven to moisturize the cuticles and help improve the look and feel of the nail bed for an overall healthy and beautiful looking hand.

Before shots:

I've been using the Nourishing Day Cream a few times and day and it is amazing. Lightweight, fragrance free (always a plus, I hate smells!) and the Rejuvenating Night Cream every night. The night cream is thicker but not greasy and silky smooth. There was a bonus cuticle pen included and it's fabulous for on the go. The applicator is a soft felt tip and the oil is very light.

After shots:

Silky Rejuvenating Night Cream

Love!

Hand Perfection is available CVS, Walgreens, Albertsons, Duane Reade, Harmon and other fine stores across the country. Check them out at www.handperfection.com and on Facebook@HandPerfection.

I'm really impressed with the Ellen Sirot Hand Perfection Anti-Aging System. Ellen Sirot is the nation's top hand model and she clearly knows her stuff about hand care. And because I am so impressed with this system, we are giving one away!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Aphrodite True Love & Heartbreak Collection

2013-05-17T12:12:00.000-04:00

***This polish was sent to me for my honest review. All opinions are my own.***

Happy Friday! Today, I have a couple polishes from one of my favorite indie labels, Aphrodite Lacquers! I've had a long standing love affair with Rebecca from Aphrodite and these two polishes only solidified it. Here is a little about the collection from Rebecca: There are 9 colors total: 6 heartbreak colors (the jelly sandwiches in a bottle), and 3 true love colors (the sparkly glittery topcoats). They aren’t necessarily meant to be worn together. I wanted to do 2 different summer looks that I love. First, I love jelly sandwiches in the summer, they look fresh and juicy and the sunshine really gives jelly sandwiches depth. Second, I love a good glitter topcoat in the summer, they look so sparkly and blingy and the sunshine really brings the metallic glitters to life.

First up, I have Happily Ever After, one of the glitter toppers. Basically, these are my favorite colors in a bottle with that amazing Aphrodite shimmer. It can't get any better. Rebecca describes it as: blue and aqua shimmer, with various holo and metallic glitters ranging from purple to blue to teal. I layered one coat over Zoya Kiki and sealed with a coat of Out The Door. So gorgeous.

Love is Lost is a jelly sandwich polish and described as: blueish violet jelly with various sizes and shapes of matte white glitters/ silver holo glitters/ blueish-purple iridescent glitters. This baby is packed full of glitter. I used two coats and would have liked to use three to really saturate the blueish violet color but there was just too much glitter! It still looks amazing and super juicy. I love the blueish purple iridescent glitters so much.

What do you think of my picks from the True Love & Heartbreak Collection?? I think they are beyond gorgeous and I know I will be reaching for Happily Ever After all summer for some sparkly bling.

Aphrodite Lacquer can be purchased on Etsy for $8 for a full size bottle. Rebecca is on vacation right now, so bookmark your pics and get them when she gets back! Check their Facebook page for details and restocking updates.

*This polish was sent to me for my honest review. All opinions are my own.***

SinfulShine Dupes!

2013-05-15T20:17:00.000-04:00

SinfulColors recently came out with a new line of polish, available exclusively at Walgreens, called SinfulShine with Gel Tech and which they claim is five times more glossy than a patent leather shoe! (I love how on their web site, in the tiniest type possible, that claim is qualified with the line "Global Value Brands 2012 Glossmeter study" so you know it's been tested.) I had to drive around to all the Walgreens on the East Coast practically to find one that had them! Good thing I had the Walgreens app on my iPhone that gave me all the locations. After all that, of course, the one near my house finally has them so I went and got a few more, and now I have nearly half of the 32 colors.

Because I'm always drawn to the same colors, naturally there's some overlap with the polishes I already have and I wanted to see just how close the new line was to colors in the regular SinfulColors line, both in color and shininess. It was kind of shocking, actually, how close many of them were. I'm going to break up my review of the SinfulShine line because there are so many, and in this one I'm only showing the ones that are dupes for other SinfulColors polishes, either in their core line or recent LE colors. Surprisingly, a few are exact matches for colors in another brand! Three of those are dupes for Revlon colors, so maybe not so surprising since Revlon now owns SinfulColors.

SinfulShine Tan Lines vs SinfulColors Vacation Time — the difference in color was so slight as to be within allowable differences between batches and both were equally shiny. Total dupes.

Two coats each, no top coat

SinfulShine Royal Flush vs SinfulColors Outrages — again, total dupes and both were single coaters!

One coat each, no top coat

SinfulShine Steel Reserve vs SinfulColors Ardoise — Ardoise is slightly bluer and darker.

Two coats each, no top coat

SinfulShine Bottoms Up vs SinfulColors Rain Storm — Rain Storm is the slightest bit darker. If you are still looking for a less expensive version of Chanel Blue Boy, Bottoms Up would be a great choice!

Two coats each, no top coat

SinfulShine Pragmatic vs SinfulColors Tempest — Tempest is a bit bluer while Pragmatic has subtle shimmers and needed an extra coat to cover, but something gives Pragmatic the edge for me.

Three coats Pragmatic, two coats Tempest, no top coat

SinfulShine Spitfire vs SinfulColors Beverly Hills — Beverly Hills is the tiniest bit bluer but it's close enough to call them dupes, in my opinion.

Two coats each, no top coat

SinfulShine At Sea vs SinfulColors Sweet Nothing — in person, Sweet Nothing is just the tiniest bit darker, but it's barely perceptible. Total dupes! (This was added on 5/19/2013 because Sweet Nothing wasn't in with my other blues!)

Two coats each, no top coat

Now we get to the colors that are dupes of another brand!

SinfulShine Blue Suede Shoes vs Revlon Chic — absolutely exact match! You could paint half your nail with each polish and not be able to tell the difference. I prefer the brush and bottle on the SinfulShine and it's half the price, so Blue Suede Shoes is the winner here!

Two coats each, no top coat

SinfulShine Amazonian vs Revlon Rain Forest — Amazonian seems to have smaller glitters in it so the finished effect is finer, but Rain Forest seems more colorful because of the larger glitters. I did like the brush better on Rain Forest but I prefer the overall look of Amazonian.

Two coats each, no top coat

SinfulShine Break Away vs Revlon First Class — total dupes and both one coaters!

One coat each, no top coat

I can understand the Revlon matches but I was really surprised by this next one — SinfulShine In The Limelight vs Zoya Josie! Josie was a little bit creamier and In The Limelight a little bit brighter. Hard to decide but I think I preferred In The Limelight.

Two coats each, no top coat

The SinfulShine polishes sell for $2.99 versus the $1.99 price of the regular line. Are they worth the extra dollar? For the most part, the "patent leather" shininess was only barely shinier than the regular line, sort of like the kind of syrupy shine you get with jellies. However, if you use a quick dry top coat, as I always do, this extra shine is no great advantage. Who has time to wait hours for it to dry completely? I will most likely keep the SinfulShine colors when I weed out the dupes but that's probably because I paid more for them. Quality-wise, I see no difference so if you don't have a Walgreens in your area, or your Walgreens hasn't gotten in this new line, I wouldn't wring my hands over not being able to get them.

In another post I will show the others I got and compare them to polishes that were similar, but not as exact matches. A couple of them had no matches at all!

Sation- Of Corset I'll Call You

2013-05-14T08:32:00.001-04:00

Happy Tuesday! I just drew the winners for our First Blogiversary giveaway and sent out emails. Don't forget to check your spam folders just in case! I can't wait to get these babies out to the winners.

To celebrate our first prize package from the giveaway, and one of our favorite brands here at Polished Cousins, I have have a fun pink Sation mani for you.

Here is Of Corset I'll Call You, a gorgeous, soft, bubblegum pink jelly from the Miss Antoinette collection. I received this beauty in my April Ipsy Glam Bag. Not familiar with Ipsy? Sign up using my referral link here. For $10 a month, you get AMAZING deluxe samples of beauty products. I've been so happy with my Ipsy subscription. Definitely my favorite monthly subscription service.

I used three coats for the swatch below. As you can see, there's still a bit of VNL (visible nail line) but that's one of my favorite things about a good jelly polish.

I thought Of Corset I'll Call You needed a little bling, so I went to my Sation drawer in my Helmer and found a pretty pink glitter so add a funky French tip. Miss Pro-Nup has the perfect blend of glitter to give this mani the bling I was looking for. How cute???

Now that our giveaway is over, tell me what your favorite Sation polish is!! You can purchase Sation directly from their website. Like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter too!

And don't forget to sign up for your own Ipsy monthly Glam Bag subscription by using my referral link here!!

China Glaze Texture Collection

2013-05-12T11:16:00.001-04:00

**These polishes were provided by the manufacturer for an unbiased review.

All opinions are my own.**

Happy Mother's Day! Today I have three of the six new polishes from the China Glaze Texture Collection — the lilac (yay!), Unrefined; the orange, Toe-tally Textured; and the green, In The Rough. The collection also includes a blue, pink, and coral so those of you who love those colors needn't feel left out!

The texture on these is a bit different from OPI's Liquid Sand and Zoya's PixieDust collections in that there is no glitter and the grit is somewhere between the two — not as pronounced as Liquid Sand yet not as refined as PixieDust. You can also control the texture to some extent by the number of coats you choose to do. I preferred using a single coat because, while a second coat filled in the untextured area more, it also smoothed the surface to the point where the polish looked curdled rather than textured. I think that may be the texture of the Nails Inc Leather Effect polishes but I don't have any of those to compare, so if you were looking for that kind of finish two coats of the Textures ought to do it for you. For me, a single coat gives an interesting crispy effect, sort of like those snack foods I like to generically call cheese worms. All of the polishes have enough pigment that a single coat covers well and the texture ensures that you wouldn't even notice a bare spot if there happened to be any. Dry time is quick, but I would recommend buffing the tips a bit when it's all dry to remove any bits of grit that may snag on things. Let's get on to the colors!

Speaking of cheese worms, Toe-tally Textured is pretty much the same shade as those crispy, addicting snacks! In the non-textured selection of China Glaze colors, this one is pretty close to Papaya Punch.

Toe-tally Textured, one coat

Unrefined is one of those lilac-y pink shades I love so much. Not surprisingly, this was my favorite of the selection, although Toe-tally Textured was a close second.

Unrefined, one coat

In The Rough is a yellow-green antifreeze kind of color that I find difficult to wear with my skin tone. This could make for interesting texture and color pop in nail art, however.

In The Rough, one coat

Pros: easy application and cleanup and it covers well in one coat, and removal is the same as for a regular finish — no foil needed! The colors available coordinate well with other China Glaze collections so there's lots of opportunity for nail art.

Cons: the texture tends to grab on things, so you may want to buff your nail tips a bit to smooth them.

Overall: I'm not enamored with textured polishes but I do think they make for fun accents and the color selections in the Texture Collection provide a lot of choices.

You can purchase China Glaze polishes at Sally Beauty, Ulta, and other beauty supply stores. Like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter and Instagram!

**These polishes were provided by the manufacturer for an unbiased review.

All opinions are my own.**

Zoya Stunning Collection

2013-05-11T16:08:00.000-04:00

**These polished were provided by the manufacturer for an unbiased review.
All opinions are my own.**

Zoya has released a stunningly bright summer collection named, appropriately, Stunning and a companion to the Irresistible Collection that Erin reviewed a little while ago. These are the cremes, although a few of them also have subtle shimmers in them to make them even more special! Even though they are heavily pigmented, most of them required three coats to cover, but the colors are so, so bee-yoo-tee-ful it's totally worth it!

Let's start with my favorite of the collection, Josie. Not surprisingly, it's the green and Zoya describes it as a "full-coverage, grassy green." I think I might have said "first day of Spring green that you haven't seen since the cold, bleak Winter began" instead because it's just. that. beautiful. If you only get one color from this collection, make it this one. Seriously. Two easy coats for coverage.

Josie, two coats

My second-favorite is the blue, Rocky, also not a surprise. What was a surprise, however, was that this bright neon blue did not give me lobster hands! Finally, a summery blue I can actually wear! Again, two easy coats to cover.

Rocky, two coats

There are two pinks in this collection, Yana and Micky, so you've got options if neon pinks are too much for you to carry off. Yana is the deeper of the two, like the first juicy watermelon of the summer. It has a subtle shimmer that was more apparent in the bottle than on the nail, unfortunately. The first coat was a bit streaky but it leveled out well and the second coat evened it out but there was still visible nail line, so I felt it needed a third coat for full coverage.

Yana, three coats

Micky is the paler pink, a little bit warmer than a bubble gum pink. This was more flattering to my skin tone and the shimmers show up as well on the nail as they do in the bottle. Definitely my choice of the pinks! Like Yana, it needed three coats and for the same reasons.

Micky, three coats

Zoya calls Thandie a citrus orange creme but I'd say it was more of a melon. There were also shimmers in this one but they are so subtle as to be merely a highlight. As with the two pinks, Thandie needed three coats to cover. The brush on this bottle was all flared out so it made application a challenge, but I always check the brushes if I can when I'm buying in a store so I'd recommend doing that yourself.

Thandie, three coats

Darcy is the yellow, a color I find very difficult to wear, especially one as blindingly bright at this one! The formula on this one was problematic, which is not unusual for yellows. It was also streaky, but unlike the pinks and orange, it didn't level out and even with four coats there were bald spots in places. I'm not sure that that's an issue because I think more people tend to use this kind of color in nail art rather than as a straight mani. It would be awfully cute in a dotticure with the other colors!

Darcy, four coats

The whole Stunning collection

Pros: the sunny colors are so bright and summery and they go well together as a collection. Lots of potential for nail art here!

Cons: the formula on some of the colors was not as good as I've usually found with Zoya cremes, most notably the yellow. Normally it only takes two coats to cover and most of these needed at least three.

Overall: a nice summery collection of colors that may take a little more effort in application, but the colors are totally worth it!

Zoya sells for USD$8 and is available at Zoya.com and Ulta stores, nationwide.

Click the link to create a new Zoya account and you'll get a coupon for a FREE Bottle of Zoya Nail Polish. TIP: If you use this coupon and add 2 more polishes to your order, you get free shipping too! The coupon will appear in the "My Coupons/ Promos" section of your "My Account" Page.

Hare- The Monster

2013-05-10T08:21:00.000-04:00

Today I have an awesome indie polish from one of my favorite indie makers, Hare. I love the unique combinations she comes up with and I've never come across a Hare I didn't love. I'm honestly not sure if this polish is still available and I'm really sorry! I know I bought it from Llarowe and it's part of a Halloween collection but that's all I know. I don't see it listed on her site and the Hare Etsy shop is completely empty! I'm also showing it over some undies that are no longer available. Again, I'M SORRY!

I'm also not that sorry because I love this mani!!!!!!

First, here are the undies alone. This is OPI Mermaid Tears, a light green turquoise creme from their Pirates of the Caribbean collection. If you can get your hands on this polish, you must! It's one of my favorites.

Two coats of OPI Mermaid Tears

Here is one coat of The Monster over Mermaid Tears. The Monster has a sheer dusty green jelly base with tiny black microglitter and even tinier kelly green microglitter. I had a little trouble capturing the green sparkles in my lightbox so I threw in a blurry shot where you can see it a little better.

Pros- Great formula with even glitter coverage.

Cons- It doesn't seem to be available in any US shops! Restocks can also be a bit stressful so you better be quick.

Overall- I love Hare polish and I want them all. I love this unique glitter and I haven't seen anything else like it.

Hare polish is available for purchase through their Etsy shop, Llarowe (USA), Shoppe Eclecticco (Singapore), and Femme Fatale (Australia). Keep up with new collections by liking them on Facebook and following them on Twitter too!

Zoya Summer 2013 Pixie Dust

2013-05-09T08:28:00.000-04:00

When I got the new summer Zoya Pixie Dust collection in the mail for review, I wanted to try something a little different with them. How well do these girls work for nail art?

In case you haven't seen any Pixie Dust polishes before, they all dry to a semi-gritty, matte, SUPER sparkly finish. I thought they'd be TOO gritty for my taste but they actually dry way more smooth than I thought. If that doesn't make any sense to you, just go out and get one! If you like sparkles, you won't regret it.

Here is three coats of Miranda, a rose sparkle, on her own. I really love the look of this polish and these kinds of rose colors are definitely not what I usually gravitate towards. I wore this mani for 3 days!

I thought Miranda would be a good match for Solange, a gold metal foil. Solange is definitely a YELLOW gold metallic color. What a fitting name. This color just screams "Solange" to me! Gold bling like woah.

I did two coats of Solange on my ring finger and used a sponge eyeshadow applicator to add a gradient of Miranda to the tip. It took a few tries to get the gradient right but I'm pretty happy with the results. There were messy sparkles everywhere. Don't forget to tape around your nails like I did!

Destiny, a tangerine metal sparkle, looks great next to Beatrix, a coral metallic sparkle. Hello summer! I'm kind of obsessed with Destiny. I've worn it by itself twice already!!

I freehanded some triangle French tips and I don't totally love the way it came out. I definitely could have benefitted from using some tape as guides. Without the tape, I had to layer the polish a bit to make corrections and it got pretty thick at the tips.

The last two Pixie Dust polishes in this collection were just screaming to be used together. Stevie, a violet sparkle, is a beautiful lilac shade that says ROBIN all over it. She dies over colors like this. Liberty, a blue sugary sparkle, has a touch of green in it that makes it almost the kind of tealish blue that I love so hard. I used two coats of each as a base for the mani below.

I love this collection so much! I really never expected to love these textured polishes as much as I do. If you haven't tried one yet you really need to. You can purchase Zoya polishes directly from their website or at your local Ulta store. Follow Zoya on Twitter and like them on Facebook too!

**The products featured in this post were provided for an honest review**

piCture pOlish - Majesty

2013-05-07T10:51:00.000-04:00

Happy Tuesday! It's disgusting and raining here in Baltimore so I wanted to show you an amazing, sparkly polish to brighten up this dreary day. piCture pOlish collaborates with amazing bloggers to make their dream polish a few times a year (BLOGGER LIFE GOAL, btw) and Majesty is a collaboration between pp and Sahrish Adeel. When I saw it, I knew I had to have it. Majesty is described as: a taupe/pink/nude with micro gold sparks and holo (scattered) and has NO glitter. Majesty contains a holographic shimmer to create a shade just perfect for everyone for every occasion!

2 coats

I am so in love with this polish. One chipped and nail broke after wearing it for one day and I took the polish off that nail. filed it down and reapplied because I couldn't bear to take it off so soon.

What do you think? Is this a must have for you like it is for me?

Don't forget to enter our THREE giveaways going on now! Links here, here and here.

MAYkover- Ulta Giftcard Giveaway!!

2013-05-07T08:10:00.001-04:00

Guess what? We're participating in ANOTHER giveaway! We just couldn't help ourselves. When the lovely Tish from Cosmetish asked us if we wanted to pitch in on this awesome giveaway prize, we pretty much had to. Who doesn't want a $95 Ulta gift card???? Check out all of the other blogger participating too :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

NOTD: SinfulColors Tempest

2013-05-05T00:00:00.000-04:00

I picked up Tempest a while ago when Walgreens had filled in some empty slots with it in the Sugar Rush display. I'm pretty sure it wasn't part of that collection and it may even now be part of the core line. If so, hurray! because it's a gorgeous color! At this point I think I must have every shade of lilac that SinfulColors puts out. Expect another comparison post...

SinfulColors Tempest

In the range of SinfulColors lilacs, Tempest is darker than Sweet Tooth but not as dark as Verbena. It's a creme finish with no shimmers or glass flecks and it covered in two easy coats. I love these colors so much I think I need to make my summer wardrobe in varying shades of lilac and violet. I hope you all love them as much as I do because you'll probably be seeing a lot of them here!

SpaRitual Meditate Collection

2013-05-04T13:19:00.001-04:00

**These polishes were provided by the manufacturer for an unbiased review.

All opinions are my own.**

(Picture heavy post, so settle in and enjoy!)

I'l start out with the attributes that apply to the entire collection, then make individual comments on each polish where they apply. These polishes from the Meditate Collection were the first SpaRitual polishes I've used and I really like the shape of the bottles and the rubberized, easy to hold caps. The brush is long and narrow and flares out well, so application is a breeze. This entire collection was very sheer, so most needed three coats to cover and, even then, some still had visible nail line. Since this is a very delicate collection, I'm not sure I'd consider that to be a draw-back, though. The colors are gorgeous! The collection is 5-free and, as SpaRitual says, is "infused with Ecocert-certified bamboo for up to 35% stronger nails."

I'll start off with my favorite, Calm & Clear, a lovely pale cool pink jelly. Three coats left some VNL, but it was barely visible in person. I can see this being wonderful in a jelly sandwich with some fairy dust kind of glitters.

Calm & Clear, three coats

Of course I loved the green, Introspective! There was a gold shimmer in the bottle that, unfortunately, did not translate as well on the nail. In the right light and right under your nose you might see it, but it's very subtle. Love the warm, not-quite-minty green!

Introspective, three coats

Bottle shimmer

Energy is a pale, bright pastel blue that, alas, gave me a bad case of lobster hands. I love these colors, but they don't love me back! This was almost a crelly finish, but slightly more opaque.

Energy, three coats

Quietness is the most creme-like of the collection, only needing two coats to cover. I think I'd describe it as an almond color that would make a great nude nail color on some people, although it's a bit too yellow for my skin tone. Great finish!

Quietness, two coats

The last two are interesting because they are matte finishes and they have shimmer/glitters in them! I can totally see these being in the running for a wedding mani, Anna!

Applying Transcend was fascinating because it was somewhat thicker than the other colors and the way the glitters caught the light, it was as if I were brushing latte foam on my nails. It really made me want to take a coffee break during swatching! It dries matte but the tiny, tiny glitters catch the light and give your nails a subtle glow. I've never seen a polish quite like this! The application was a bit streaky and left a few bald spots that weren't terribly obvious, so if that bothers you a third coat should fix that.

Transcend, two coats

Bottle shimmer

If this were a wedding collection, Peace & Harmony would definitely be the bride. Also a matte, this one has glass flecks instead of glitter creating the shimmer so the overall effect is like a sheer chiffon. Even though it's in no way a pearlized finish, it does give a pearl effect that is stunning. Again, this formula was a bit streaky, but careful application and/or a third coat should solve that.

Peace & Harmony, two coats

Bottle shimmer

Pros: The bottle shape and rubberized cap are easy to hold and use and the brush easily applies the color. The colors are so beautiful and delicate!

Cons: The mattes were a bit streaky and didn't level well so you really need to do a careful application with those. Also, the tiny gold glitter in Transcend really clings to the skin so you need to be careful when you remove it — I had to use a sugar scrub afterward and still some glitters stubbornly refused to go away.

Overall: A great release for spring/summer and I think the colors and finishes will see this collection in a lot of wedding parties this year!

SpaRitual polishes can be purchased at the Pharmaca website and Sephora stores and website.

**These polishes were provided by the manufacturer for an unbiased review.

All opinions are my own.**

Rainbow Honey- The Robot Collection

2013-05-03T00:00:00.000-04:00

Today I have the newest collection from Rainbow Honey to show you. The Robot Collection consists of six lacquers, five of them are "formulated with specially coated aluminum flakes. The metallic lacquers of the Robot Collection are simultaneously sparkly, reflective, and smooth!" The collection also includes a black and white glitter topper. I was pretty excited so see these when they arrived for review.

These shiny metallic foils were just asking to be played with. So I tried out some nail art!

Two thin coats of Bitty Love Bot- sparkling metallic aqua and an accent nail of Lucky Bot- sparkling metallic agave. It was shiny any fun but I tried adding a gradient with a makeup sponge. The gradient worked but I ended up with a little bit of a textured look.

When I looked at Femme Bot- sparkling metallic peony, Dusty Bot- sparkling metallic lavender, and Skyward Bot- sparkling metallic cerulean, I knew these polishes needed to be color blocked. For my first attempt, I decided to go freehand. I love the way it came out!

The last polish in this collection, Yoshimi- a truly mod combination of back and white glitters. Of course Yoshimi looks great over the Robot Collection but I wanted to show you what it looks like over a creme so you can see all of the glitters. Here is one coat over Alessandro- Sweet Blackberry.

See the little iridescent glitters in there? So cute.

Pros- These polishes arrived in Rainbow Honey's new tall, thin mini bottles. I usually HATE minis and these were so much easier to work with! The brush is practically full sized and the polish applied easily. All of the metallic polishes went on in two thin coats.

Cons- You can see in my color block mani that if I didn't go over the same area exactly, I got a bit of a texture layer thing going on. This polish is completely made up of sparkly metallic particles so there's no wonder they can get a little bunched up if you're not careful!

Overall- This is the first metallic collection I've seen come from an indie and I love it! I'm not sure if Yoshimi is a good fit for the collection but I don't care, I like it! I wish more indies would switch to usable mini bottles too :)

Rainbow Honey polishes can be purchased on their website. Keep up with new collections by liking them on Facebook and following their blog!

**The products featured in this post were provided for an honest review**

China Glaze Hologlam Part 3

2013-05-02T00:00:00.000-04:00

I was so so so excited to see this new holographic collection coming out from China Glaze! I'm a bit of a holo junkie and I really loved the first swatches I saw of this collection. I about fell over when they arrived in the mail for review!

A lot of people have been comparing this collection to the always loved, OMG collection China Glaze released in 2009. I think it was 2009, please correct me if I'm wrong! The OMG collection was super duper IN YOUR FACE holo and, of course, those polishes are insanely hard to find for a reasonable price. In comes the Hologlam collection!

Ok, ok. The Hologlam collection isn't nearly as holo as the OMG collection was. I've read the holo pigments got crazy expensive and most polish companies couldn't even keep up with making them for a reasonable retail price. So the Hologlam collection has a less intense holo shine but I still love it. In the right light, these polishes WOW! It's still linear and holo but subtle at the same time. A great combo if you're new to holo polishes and trying to figure out if it's something you want to wear or not.

These polishes apply best with no base coat, no top coat, and two coats of polish. For a girl who paints her nails nearly every day, this was stupidly difficult to accomplish!

This post is super picture heavy because I tried to take as many pictures I could of these manis!

First up is Don't Be a Luna-tic, a light dusty sea foam green holo.

My bottle label was a little crooked!

Here is When Stars Collide, a dark plum holo. Definitely my favorite from the collection.

Pros- A gorgeous subtle linear holo? Ain't nothin' wrong with that.

Cons- I tried applying these with my favorite Nail Tek II basecoat and it was a DISASTER. Guys, really, follow the directions. Don't use a basecoat.

Overall- I was nervous this collection wouldn't be "holo enough" for me. What was I thinking? Holo is holo and I love it all. Thank you China Glaze for another awesome collection!

You can purchase China Glaze polishes at Sally Beauty, Ulta, and other beauty supply stores. Like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter and Instagram!

Spring Fling Giveaway!

2013-05-01T16:09:00.001-04:00

Spring Fling Giveaway!!!

Today we are launching an ENORMOUS giveaway from bloggers and indie makers alike.

This rafflecopter will run from today until Memorial Day, upon which time fourty-four winners will be chosen.

This is open to both US Residents and International, however not all prizes are available to international entries. I will note each prize as such below.

Onto the Prizes!

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Entry from So You Think You Can Paint

Enchanted Polish Djinn in a Bottle and OPI Rainbow Connection

US only

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Entry from Midnight Manicures

$30.00 Gift Card to Ninja Polish

International + US

Image Courtesy of ninjapolish.com

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Entry from Tipsy Turvy Nails

1 Full Sized Bottle of Nail Polish (Name TBD)
US Only

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Entry from Possibly Polished

2 Sally Hansen Complete Salon polishes in Barely Blue Bell and Purple Posy, 2 Sheets of Broadway Nail Art Stickers and a Chapstick

US + International

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Entry from Cameo Colours Lacquer

Two bottles of Cameo Colours Lacquers polish: Right Round and Ishtar

US Only

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Entry from Color Sutraa

Surprise Beauty Goodie Bag including some of my Spring Favorites!

US + International

Image Courtesy of www.entertainedorganizer.com

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Entry from Peer Pressure Polish

$15 Gift Card to Ninja Polish

US + International

Image Courtesy of ninjapolish.com

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Entry from Wishes of a Blue Eyed Girl

2 bottles of Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers, It's Smaller on the Outside and Morning Light

US Only

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Entry from Linda's Polish Emporium

Orly Oh Cabana Boy, China Glaze Watermelon Rind, Julep Janel, Mash Smiley Palette

US Only

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Entry from Confessions of a Sarcastic Mom

Set of Color Club scented minis, toe separators, nail art stickers, tweezers

US Only

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Entry from Nail Addicted Sisters

Sally Hansen Dries Instantly Top Coat, Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Golden Rule, Ulta Purple Haze

US + International

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Entry from A Little Polish

3 Hard Candy Polishes

US Only

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Entry from Just One More Bottle

Zoya Liberty, Zoya Stevie, Zoya Top and Base coat
US Only

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Entry from Nailbed Dreams

$25 Sally Beauty Supply Gift Card
US Only

Image Courtesy of sallybeautysupply.com

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Entry from Liesl Loves Pretty Things

$10 Ulta OR $10 Sephora gift card
US + International

Images Courtesy of ulta.com and sephora.com

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Entry from iHeartPrettyPolish

$15 Gift Card to Llarowe, Ninja Polish, Ulta, or Sephora
US + International

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Entry from The Polish Bar

Two Bottles of the Polish Bar Polishes: In Full Bloom and Shiny Pebbles
US Only

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Entry from Chaos and Crocodiles

Fireside Nights, Harmonious (Clear Edition), and Bwahaha!

US Only

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Entry from Make Up Mom 123

2 Elevation Nail Polishes; One is a Custom by Lulu and the other is a Sample

US + International

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Entry from All This Polish

4 colors from the Essie Neon Collection 2013

US Only

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Entry from Color Me So Crazy

The New Black- Runway Color Baromoter 8-Piece Set

US Only

Image Courtesy of sephora.com

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Entry from Rain Down On Me Beauty

20.00 gift card to Sephora

US Only

Image Courtesy of sephora.com

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Entry from Creative Nail Design by Sue

$25.00 gift card to Sephora

US + International

Image Courtesy of sephora.com

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Entry from Beauty Fiends

$20 Llarowe gift certificate

US + International

Image Courtesy of llarowe.com

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Entry from Franken-cense

Mystery Prize!

US Only

Image Courtesy of www.entertainedorganizer.com

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Entry from Lit From Within

Cult Nails Tied Up (Discontinued), Glitter Gal Copper 3D, Sinful Colors Green Ocean and Butter London Fairy Cake

US + International

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Entry from The Life, Times and Lacquers of Lilmoon

Set of Julie G Gumdrops

US Only

Image Courtesy of groupon.com

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Entry from A Fresh Coat of (Nail) Paint

Choice of China Glaze Sunsational Jellies or Creme Set

US Only

Image Courtesy of China Glaze

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Entry from Polished Cousins

2 Shimmer Polishes - Mary and Tammy (bottles are brand new)

US Only

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Entry from Sassy Shelly

$15 Ninja Polish Gift Certificate

US + International

Image Courtesy of ninjapolish.com

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Entry From Frugal Polish

2 Sinful Colors Nail Art polishes, toe separators and Color Club Hot Couture.

US Only

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Entry from Caitlin's Creative Corner

Max Factor Fantasy Fire, Finger Paints Asylum and Motley, Gosh Purple Heart, and StarGazer 133

US Only

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Entry from Polished 10

(1) HITS MTV set & (1) HITS Mari Moon MultiGirl Unique Set

US Only

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Entry from Beauty Gnome

$15 Llarowe Gift Certificate

US Only

Image Courtesy of llarowe.com

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Entry from xoxo, Jen

xoxojen.com le collab from Urban Lacquer, a new full bottle of Vivid Lacquer's Lunar Eclipse, Two dongdong minis, Vivid Lacquer plate #006

US Only

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Entry from Southern Sparkle Nail Art

Rimmel London 60 Second Nail Lacquer in Mintilicious, I Lilac You, Pink-A-Boo, Sunny Days, and Hot Chilli Pepper

US Only

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Entry from Cuticle Pusher

OPI - Meet Me On The Star Ferry

US + International

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Entry from Accio Lacquer

Orly French manicure set, Full size bottle of Lucky 13 Lacquer A Leaf on the Wind, Full size bottle of Digital Nails Convergent, Full size bottle of Digital Nails Sorry I'm Not Made of Sugar, Full size bottle of Digital Nails Matte-matical, and a nail buffer

US Only

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Entry from Digital Nails

Your choice of any three Digital Nails polishes and a Custom Polish

US Only

Image Courtesy of Digital Nails

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Entry from Plump and Polished

$20 Etsy Gift Certificate

US + International

Image Courtesy of etsy.com

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Entry from Adventures in Polishland

Fabulous & Affordable Beauty Pack!

US Only

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Entry from Morning Nailspiration

2 Layla Magnetics- Turquoise Wave and Purple Galaxy

US Only

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Entry from Jindie Nails

Three Jindie Nails polishes of your choice!

US Only

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Entry from Puzzled and Polished

A custom set of two polished pieces made just for you!

US + International

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Entry from Sasha Says Nails

$25.00 Gift Card to Sephora

US Only

Image Courtesy of sephora.com

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Entry Information

a Rafflecopter giveaway

butter LONDON - Bobby Dazzler

2013-05-01T15:16:00.001-04:00

***This polish was sent for review. All opinions are my own.***

Hey! Today I have a polish from the butter LONDON Summer Holiday 2013 Collection to show you. Bobby Dazzler is an opaque silver chrome polish. I had some issues trying to swatch this polish so after a couple tries, I found that no base coat works best. I also went without topcoat to show the true finish of the polish. It's definitely a chrome satin finish and I love the look without top coat.

I didn't think I would love this but I do like the way it turned out. Very space age and cool. What do you think? What are your picks from the Summer Holiday Collection?

You can purchase butter LONDON directly from their website, and at Sephora, Ulta, and Nordstrom stores. Keep up with the latest collections and sales by liking butter LONDON on Facebook!

***This polish was sent for review. All opinions are my own.***

Zoya Irresistible Collection

2013-04-30T07:00:00.000-04:00

***This polish was provided for my honest review. All opinions are my own.***

Hi everyone! Zoya released three amazing collections for Summer 2013 - Irresistible, Stunning and Summer Pixie Dusts. The Irresistible Collection is made up of gorgeous foil metallic shades that complement the colors in the Stunning creme collection. I can't get over how much I love them all. I used Rejuvacote base, 2 coats of polish and Out The Door top coat for all the swatches shown. Let's get to the pics, I have a ton!

Amy is described as: a full-coverage, red orange foil metallic. This is a hot color for summer!

My first thought when I saw Amy was this looks like China Glaze Riveting from the Hunger Games collection. So here is a quick comparison shot. Amy is on my ring finer and Riveting is on my pinkie and middle. Not dupes, but close. Amy is definitely more complex and has more gold in it. If you are going to get one, get Amy.

Bobbi is described as: a full-coverage, hot magenta pink foil metallic. I didn't really love this in the bottle even though this is totally an Erin Color but when I got it on my nails, I changed my mind. Super sexy!

Hazel is described as: a full-coverage, blue green foil metallic. Hazel was a surprise favorite for me. I am not a blue polish girl by any means but Hazel is just so cool. I see almost a copper foil in it. I really love this.

Kerry is described as: a full-coverage, yellow gold foil metallic. Kerry was also a not so surprise favorite. I love gold and I'm really in love with bright yellow gold right now. This one is stunning!

Rikki is described as: a full-coverage fern green foil metallic. I'm not a green polish fan but I still liked the way this turned out. Fern green is a great color description.

Tinsley is described as: a full-coverage, rose gold foil metallic. Oh, Tinsley! How do I love thee?? Hands down, my favorite of the collection! I wore this polish for four days and I really had no desire to take it off. It's edgy but girly and rose gold just DOES it. Love!

Pros: As usual, Zoya impresses! I love the range of colors. The foil metallic screams 'sparkle summer' to me.

Cons: My only con is the removal. The fine glitter particles will stick on your skin for a day or so afterwards. I used Qtica Sugar Scrub to get it off and was happy with the results.

Overall: I love them!!!

Zoya retails for $8 and is available on zoya.com and in stores at Ulta, nationwide.

Click the link to create a new Zoya account and you'll get a coupon for a FREE Bottle of Zoya Nail Polish. TIP: If you use this coupon and add 2 more polishes to your order, you get free shipping too! The coupon will appear in the "My Coupons/ Promos" section of your "My Account" Page.

***This polish was provided for my honest review. All opinions are my own.***

Alessandro- Sweet Blackberry

2013-04-29T09:23:00.000-04:00

Today I have a gorgeous new polish to show you guys from Alessandro. Alessandro is partnered with Tweezerman and this new line of nail products. I was pretty excited to get the opportunity to review one of the colors for you.

Sweet Blackberry is a deep dusty rose with a silver shimmer throughout. With the first coat, I was so happy to see that I got the same shimmer from the bottle on the nail! The brush is wide and not too fat and the formula of this polish was AM MAZ ZING. Seriously, guys. Buttery and smooth, it practically poured itself on my nail and I barely had to do any cleanup. I used two coats for the swatch below.

Pros- Amazing formula and bottle shimmer showing up 100% on the nail?? I can't WAIT to try more.

Cons- The square top of this bottle does not come off to reveal a smaller top underneath like most square tops do. If you don't like working with larger tops, this might bother you. I thought the dents in the bottle helped a lot too.

Overall- I was so pleasantly surprised by this polish. The color is not my favorite on me but I was so impressed that I can't wait to try more!

You can purchase Alessandro directly from their website. Keep with with products by liking them on Facebook, and following them on Twitter and Instagram.

**The product featured in this post was provided for an honest review**

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips - Candy Stripe

2013-04-26T11:05:00.004-04:00

Hi everyone! Happy Friday!! I have a super fun mani to share with you today. I was thrilled when we got the opportunity to review Sally Hansen Nail Salon Effect Real Nail Polish Strips. I've never used a nail polish strip before and since I'm TERRIBLE at nail art I was so excited to look like I had done something creative on my nails with basically zero effort. You just pick one that fits your nail shape (there are a ton of sizes in each package), peel off a backing and press on to your nail. File the free edge and you're good to go!

The Candy Stripe set is a gorgeous silver and pinkish lavender ombre. I knew I wanted to use them as accent nails so I did my ring and middle finger with Candy Stripe and the rest of my nails with 3 coats of Essie To Buy Or Not To Buy. I used no base or top coat with this manicure and wore it for 3 days. The nail strips still looked completely perfect but my polish chipped on my other nails so had to take it off! Removal was simple, just regular nail polish remover and it comes right off as easy as any polish.

I love this mani so much! I have a set of pink leopard print nail strips that I'm dying to use. Look out for that post soon! Don't forget to enter our giveaway!

***This product was sent to me for an honest review. All opinions are my own.***

Butter London- Shandy

2013-04-24T07:13:00.002-04:00

***This polish was provided for review. All opinions are my own.***

Good morning! Today I have another gorgeous butter LONDON creme polish to show you guys. butter LONDON knows how to do cremes. The formula is one of my favorites. Shandy is a little bit yellow leaning as a nude, but it still definitely works next to my skin tone. I used butter LONDON Nail Foundation Base Coat, two coats of Shandy, and one coat of butter LONDON Hardware P.D. Topcoat for the swatches below.

I wanted to try to spice this nude mani up a bit so I added a thin French tip with butter LONDON Jack the Lad. What do you think? My ring finger ended up a little crooked but I like it overall!

Pros- Easy creamy smooth typical butter LONDON formula. I love it.

Cons- This is obviously not an ideal "nude" for everyone. I'd love to see it against different skin tones.

Overall- Another win from butter LONDON. Give me all the cremes!!

You can purchase butter LONDON directly from their website, and at Sephora, Ulta, and Nordstrom stores. Keep up with the latest collections and sales by liking butter LONDON on Facebook!

***This polish was provided for review. All opinions are my own.***