The PolishAholic

Orly Spring 2012 Cool Romance Collection Swatches

2012-02-01T04:22:00.000-08:00

Hi guys! Are we Spring collection-ed out yet? Almost? I hope not yet because I have another one for you today! This one is Orly's Cool Romance Collection! I haven't heard a ton about this collection, in fact everything I did hear about it said "out in January" and well, January came and went and I never saw it out anywhere. I'm glad I was able to grab it at ISSE this past weekend, it's a beautiful collection!

Click the read more button below for swatches & reviews of each shade!

Artificial Sweetener is a light pink with a subtle silvery shimmer. I almost didn't get this one, it didn't look like much in the bottle but once it was on the nail it's beautiful! Reminds me a bit of OPI's Pedal Faster Suzi but it's much softer looking and with a lot less obvious shimmer. The formula was nice, a little thick but easy to apply. I used 2 coats for the photos below.

For anyone wondering, this was bought solely for the name since I didn't love it in the bottle. No Doubt is pretty much my favorite thing since sliced bread and my favorite song of theirs is called Artificial Sweetener. I have music notes going around my wrist that are a line from that song!

Faint of Heart is a light brown/grey with a really interesting finish. This shade is what I like to call "donkey grey", sometimes it looks brown, sometimes grey. I didn't notice in the bottle but the finish on this is very different and unusual. It's not flat creme but it's not a shimmer. I don't even know how to describe it...reminds me a bit of Misa Grey Matters but it isn't as noticeable as it was with that polish. To see what the heck I'm talking about please look at the third photo below lol! The formula on this one was also a little thick but easy to apply...I used 2 coats!

Jealous, Much? is a light minty green. Original? Nope but I still love it! The formula was just okay, it was on the streaky side but I kind of expected that. I used 3 coats to even everything out!

Shade

Prelude To A Kiss is a peachy creme! Another beautiful peach for spring...I am a fan! The formula was just okay...I'm calling it a careful 2 coater. It was a little bit streaky but I did a thick-ish second coat and all was well!

Shade

Since it was requested here is Prelude To A Kiss vs Essie A Crewed Interest. I used 2 coats for the Orly and 3 for the Essie. Color wise almost spot on here, the Essie is a touch darker but I don't think regular folks would even notice the difference. Formula wise the Orly is better...it's also cheaper and the bottle is bigger...I think it's the winner all around!

Steel Your Heart is a metallic steel grey. meh...I'm sorry, I just don't like shades like this. I try really hard to love them (as you can tell since I buy them over and over) but I just can't do it. The brush strokes drive me crazy. It also feels SO out of place in this collection...like they needed a 6th polish and just threw this in because it was laying around somewhere. Formula wise it was on the thick side but it was easy to apply, I used 2 coats.

You're Blushing is a light purple taupe. I feel like I've got this polish a billion times over but I love it every time. Purplish taupe polishes like this are so flattering and easy to wear. The formula on this was seriously flawless, almost a 1 coater!

Overall I do like this collection, a lot of the shades feel done but they are ones that I always like. My favorites are Artificial Sweetener, Faint of Heart and Prelude To A Kiss.

Availability wise I have no idea when these will be in stores like Ulta or Sally Beauty...I would guess sometime in February but I don't know an exact date! I tried to ask at the Orly booth at ISSE but they were so crazy over there at the time that she couldn't answer me :(

Nubar Spring 2012 Jellybeans Collection Swatches

2012-01-31T04:20:00.000-08:00

Good morning!! Today I have Nubar's Jellybeans Collection to show you guys, I picked this up at ISSE and loved it...after swatching it I love it even more. When I got these I thought they were all creme finish, I was wrong! They are all on the verge of being jellies, they are like hybrids! They are more opaque than an average jelly and not as squishy looking once applied but they dry with a really high shine! Click the read more button under the collage for photos and reviews of each shade!

Blue Raspberry is a light blue. It leans a little green but it's hard to capture on camera. The formula on this was on the sheer side...one of the more sheer of the collection. I used 3 coats for the photos below and could still see a little bit of visible nail line (VNL).

Shade

Blueberry is a bright blue jelly. I loooooove this, it's like a brighter version of Revlon Royal! I used 3 coats for the photos below. In person it looked opaque but for some reason in the photos it looks like there is a bit of VNL! If you liked Revlon Royal you will love this, and the formula is a little nicer than Royal...not as tricky to apply!

Cherry is an orange leaning red. This feels a little too orangey for cherry to me, I think maybe blood orange might have been a more appropriate name lol. This was one of the more opaque polishes in the collection, I only needed 2 coats for full opacity!

Shade

Grape is a medium purple jelly. I love this one too, what can I say...I love purple especially one that looks a little dusty like this one does! Surprisingly this was one of the more sheer polishes in the collection, I used 3 coats for full opacity.

Sheer

Kiwi is a very light green. When I was first putting this on I was like wtf this polish sucks...then when I was done I was like woooooow haha! It was not pretty until the 3rd coat, before that it was a sheer mess. I used 3 coats for this, my last coat was on the thick side so it could be a 4 coater depending on how thick/thin your layers are.

Shade

Lemon is a bright sunny yellow. This was the most opaque polish in the bunch but not the easiest yellow to apply...it was on the streaky side and needed 3 coats to even out. The result is pretty gorgeous and worth the effort of applying it!

Shade

Strawberry is a light pink. This feels different than a lot of the light pinks I have...I can't put my finger on why though. Maybe its the finish that makes it feel different, it's like it's a little bit milky. Whatever the reason is, I really like it! It was also one of the more sheer shades, I used 3 coats for full opacity.

Shade

Toasted Marshmallow is a really interesting color. It reminds me of butterscotch or caramel, I don't think I own anything quite like this shade. I doesn't play too well with my skin tone but whatevs I love it anyway. The formula was really nice on this one, I used 2 coats for the photos below.

Shade

Overall this collection is a total win, if you like jelly-ish finishes you will also love this collection. My picks are all of them...sorry, I am a super enabler right now. I love every single polish in this collection, I hope Nubar makes more polishes like this.

I don't know the official release date for these, it just says "coming soon" on the Nubar website. Hopefully that means very very soon! Nubar can be purchased at bynubar.com, each bottle retails for $8!

OPI Spring 2012 Holland Collection Swatches!

2012-01-30T04:17:00.000-08:00

Good morning everyone! Hope you all had a fantastic weekend, mine was awesome! I ended up going back to ISSE yesterday...didn't really buy a ton though. I bought one of the Twiddle Stic's from Doll hair care that I mentioned in my big ISSE post and some Nubar polishes for my Mom, those were my big purchases. Other than that I only got 2 Jessica polishes and a couple colors of this awesome hair dye called Color Rub. It's a little tub of bright hair color that you literally rub on your hair and it washes right out. I like the idea of curling my hair and doing the tips teal or some other crazy color. Yesterday ended up being more fun than Saturday, I wandered around for awhile with Michelle from Beauty Besties and watched her get a gel mani at the Orly booth....it's kind of amazing what they can do with gel polish, I had no idea!

Anyway, today I have the Holland Collection from OPI to show you...woohooo!! I've been looking forward to this collection for what seems like forever, good news...it's just as good as I imagined! The shimmers in this collection are perfect and the cremes are gorgeous and apply amazingly...really it's perfect! I'll also have some comparisons up for these in the next couple of days...I know someone will ask so I wanted to mention it in the beginning of the post :)

Click the Read More button for reviews and photos of each shade!

A Roll In The Hauge is a bright orange creme. It's not quite as neon as it looks in my photos but it is BRIGHT, says summer more than spring to me but I love it! The formula was really nice, not a streaky nightmare like orange can be sometimes. I used 2 coats for the photos below.

Did You 'ear About Van Gogh? is a light beige creme. Nom nom I love this, I'm such a neutral polish hoarder..the funny thing is it's rare that I even wear a neutral polish but I feel the need to own them all haha. This one is absolutely lovely, the formula was also really nice. I used 2 coats for the photos below.

Dutch 'Ya Just Love OPI? is a dark red toned purple with a golden and red shimmer. I feel like we've already seen this for Spring but shoot, who cares...it's gorgeous! The formula was great, I used 2 coats for the photos below! The shimmer was more visible in the sun in real life than it is in my photos!

Gouda Gouda Two Shoes is a dark rosey pink with a golden shimmer. I ended up liking this more than I thought I would, in the bottle it looked a little grandma-ish but on the nail it is gorgeous and so flattering! It did dry a little bit darker than it looked in the bottle, I think that also helped. The shimmer in this one is so stunning outside, I wish I could have captured the shimmer better for you guys. If you like subtle shimmer you'll love this! The formula was really nice on this polish, I used 2 coats for the photos below.

I Don't Give a Rotterdam! is a light dusty blue with a gold and silver shimmer. The shimmer in this shade is very noticeable, both in the sun and inside and in low light. I really really love this polish, it's very subdued but with a nice twist. The formula was a bit thick but easy to work with, I used 2 coats for the photos below.

I Have a Herring Problem is a dusty medium blue with gold and silver shimmer. It's the darker version of I Don't Give a Rotterdamn. I prefer this shade out of the 2, I ended up wearing it both days to ISSE and got quite a few compliments on it! The formula on this one was also on the thick side, I used 2 coats for the photos below.

Kiss Me on My Tulips is a hot pink creme. This polish is simply gorgeous, I was never a pink polish girl until I started blogging...had I had shades like this I probably would have been! The formula was pretty great on this one, I used 2 coats for the photos below!

Pedal Faster Suzi! is a light pink with silver shimmer. This ended up being a surprise favorite for me, it's very office safe but the shimmer gives it something special. It was so flattering on, I will be grabbing for this one a lot! Formula wise it was a little thin, I used 2 coats for the photos below. In person there was a little bit of visible nail line, if you don't like the look of that 3 coats of this would be perfect for you!

Shade!

Red Lights Ahead...Where? is a coral red creme. This is the very very red side of coral, and it is gorgeous! I can't believe how many red polishes I am loving from all the spring collections...it's so unlike me. The formula on this one was outstanding, seriously. I think it might have even applied itself lol! I used 2 coats for the photos below!

Thanks a WindMillion is a light sea green creme. This doesn't feel super unique to me but it's very gorgeous anyway. The formula was really nice on this one, much like the rest of the collection! I used 2 coats for the photos below!

Vampsterdam is a deep plum with a silver frost running throughout it. I loved this in the bottle, on the nail its not my cup of tea...it leans a bit too much to the frosty side for my personal taste. It kind of feels like an old OPI, like something they did years ago. Formula wise it was nice, a bit more sheer than I expected it to be but it was opaque in 2 coats.

Wooden Shoe Like To Know? is a medium chocolate brown with a golden shimmer. This is my favorite of the entire collection, I LOVE brown polish....add in awesome shimmer and I am sold! I have a lot of brown polish in my stash but this is a unique polish for me! The formula was great, 2 coats for the photos below!

Overall this collection is gorgeous, I love most of it. The shades aren't all the most unique shades ever but they are beautiful either way. My favorites are Wooden Shoe Like To Know?, Pedal Faster Suzi, I Have a Herring Problem and Gouda Gouda Two Shoes.

The Holland Collection by OPI will be available February 8, 2012, at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, JCPenney, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, and ULTA, for $8.50 ($9.95 CAN) suggested retail for each Nail Lacquer.

ISSE Long Beach Photos & Haul!

2012-01-29T04:50:00.000-08:00

Good morning everyone! If you follow me on twitter you probably saw me tweeting pictures from the ISSE show in Long Beach, CA yesterday. ISSE stands for International Salon & Spa Expo. It was my first time going to this and it was awesome! There was a ton to do and see, a lot of great brands were there representing all kinds of beauty products...nails, hair, makeup etc. I ended up wandering around like a kid in a candy store then I bought a ton of polish. Since ISSE is open only to licensed folks the prices are the same as you would find somewhere like Cosmoprof, which helped me justify buying a ton of stuff. As soon as I walked in the first thing I saw was the Essie booth, I kid you not guys...it was ROWS of nail polish. I've never seen anything like it, I took pictures of most of the nail polish booths that were like this because it was just...wow! I think the only one I missed was Nubar, I was too busy shopping there lol! Hope you guys enjoy the pictures, look for swatches of most of the stuff I bought within the next week or so! I will be a swatching machine lol!

Also...this post is pretty picture heavy so I've put most of it under a cut, click the read more button after the first picture to see everything!

Below was the Orly booth...nail polish heaven

Another angle of the Orly booth! Their booth was a big square and they had all of their gel polish on display on the other sides!

This was hanging from the ceiling above the China Glaze booth, I wish you could tell how huge it was by the photo. It was like a China Glaze jumbo tron lol

Here was their set up, it was like this on all 4 sides of their booth!

Here is the Essie booth, can you see why I was all :O when I walked in?!?

Another angle of the Essie booth! They also had all their treatments and lotions on the end of their booth!

This wall 'o glitter & nail art polish was inside the Le Chat booth, they make Dare To Wear polish. I had no idea they also made all this glitter. I somehow had self control and didn't buy any...but I'm thinking about going back today and getting some lol. Self control be gone!!

Here is the OPI booth, they by far had the best and most drool worthy booth of any of the nail polish brands. It was HUGE, there was this long table then one next to it and the same set up on the other side. I just kept walking around it in awe

They also had this poster up, I believe the New York City Ballet Collection is their Soft Shades collection this year. They didn't have them there (that I saw) but they look pretty in the picture.

Next up was Minx, I've never really been interested in these since it's not something I would apply myself. I couldn't help but take a photo of these creepy designs....look at all those creeptastic eyes. I almost wanted to buy them just so I could stare at them whenever I wanted.

I also stopped by Nubar, they had an awesome display of all of their polishes. It was drool worthy, unfortunately I'm an idiot and didn't take any photos of it. I did however take a photo of the lovely Katie Cazorla from The Painted Nail, she was in Nubar's booth. Her little section was so cute! Katie is the best, I'm so glad she was there!

These next photos aren't all nail related but they were some of my favorite booths there. It's kind of amazing what some companies do.

This giant wall was at the Dashing Diva booth. I left that lady in there on the left so you can see the scale of it, it was HUGE!

This booth was the Doll hair care booth. I remember seeing them at Cosmoprof back in July and thinking that I wanted one of these cool curling wand thingys they make, it's called a Twiddle Stic. If you want to see what I'm talking about you can check it out on their website here I might go back and buy it now that I remembered. Anyway, their booth was beautiful...my favorite of the show! It looked 3-D but it wasn't!

This was the TIGI booth, it was awesome...and so tall! I wish I could see them putting something like this up lol

Alright....now that you made it through that this is (almost) everything I bought! Some of these photos aren't great....taking bottle shots is seriously hard...harder than taking swatch photos. I promise the swatch photos will look a bazillion times better! There are a few things not pictured because they are gifts and I know the person they are for will see this post!

This you guys is the Nubar Spring 2012 Jellybeans Collection!! I couldn't believe they actually had it out for sale since I'm pretty sure we have heard absolutely NOTHING about it! It's really pretty, 6 bright creme polishes! I can't wait to swatch them! The one on the top right almost matches my lamps haha!

These are nail appliqués from Dashing Diva, you don't need heat or anything fancy like you do for Minx so I couldn't resist them. They remind me of a set Sephora has. They are raised and gradient...I have no self control so I bought 3. I wish I could have gotten a better picture of these for you, they are incredibly beautiful in real life. I promise to post photos once I wear them!

Next up, you know I had to buy something from that nail polish heaven that was the Orly booth...I bought the whole Spring 2012 Cool Romance Collection. They are gorgeous, muted and perfect. I can't wait to swatch these also!

At the Nubar booth I also picked up the Fan Collection from The Painted Nail. You guys remember this right? Katie had the fans on Facebook name these. They are SO gorgeous in person...this photo does zero justice to them. Your head might explode when you see the swatches.

Last up, this isn't polish but I decided I'd post them too. Crown Brush had a booth and I picked up a couple brushes. I've been obsessed with flat top brushes lately, they make putting on foundation SO much easier. I've never used Crown Brushes before but I've heard good things, so I hope they are awesome!

And now that I just typed this all up I want to go back and buy more stuff...this ISSE show is dangerous for my wallet. Thank god I just got my tax return back....Uncle Sam is paying for all this stuff haha!

I leave you with a couple photos of the outside of the Long Beach Arena. ISSE is being held at the Long Beach Convention Center which is attached to the Arena. I've been here a ton of times for concerts, it's one of my favorite buildings in So Cal, it's so beautifully painted. Fun fact, nearly 10 years ago I sat outside here for about 7 hours to see No Doubt, yay awesome memories.

Speciallitá Hits No Olimpo Giveaway Winner!

2012-01-27T17:57:00.000-08:00

Hi guys, just a quick post to announce the winner of the Hits giveaway!! It was Kaitlin D. from Canada! Congrats!

Also, just for fun I decided to see what the overall favorite polishes were in the No Olimpo Collection based on your answers in the giveaway. Check out the little graph below if you are interested in knowing too!

Thank you everyone for entering!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Essie Spring 2012 Navigate Her Collection Swatches

2012-01-27T04:23:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday!! Anyone have fun plans this weekend? I DO!! I'm going the ISSE show in Long Beach this weekend, it's basically a big expo kind of thing with nail & hair and education and whatnot...a lot of the big brands like China Glaze, OPI, Essie, Orly, Nubar etc... will be there. I've never been before but it looks like fun. I'll take as many pictures as I can so I can share the whole thing with you guys! Maybe there will be some fun sneak peeks of collections or something...that would be great!

Today I have Essie's Spring collection, the Navigate Her Collection to show you guys! I found this a couple weeks ago mixed in with the core Essie display at CVS. Hopefully by now it's out on a regular display...good thing there is a fabulous green in here that caught my eye among all those other Essie polishes!

Click the Read More button below the collage for reviews and photos of each shade!

A Crewed Interest is a peachy creme. I love love love this shade so much, creamy peach shades like this are some of my favorites. Unfortunately, this beauty had some formula issues. It was streaky, patchy, hard to apply etc... I ended up using 3 very careful coats to get it to look good. Despite the less than amazing formula I guarantee I will wear this again, sometimes polishes are so pretty that I can deal with a yucky formula...this is one of those shades.

Navigate Her is a light green. I was going to try and be more descriptive about the green but it's unusual, like a dark pistachio maybe? Sometimes I suck at describing colors, this is one of those times. I will say that if you like green, you need this. It's gorgeous and I can see why it's the namesake of the collection. The formula was pretty good on this one, no issues! I used 2 coats for the photos below!

Olé Caliente is a bright coral red. This is the very very red side of coral but you can still tell it's coral, I was having some issues photographing it because of that haha! I'm not one to be all OMG over a red looking creme but this one is beautiful, one that deserves to be seen in person if you are on the fence about it. The formula was AWESOME, I was like whoa when I was applying it! I used 2 coats for the photos below.

Sorry about the shadow-y photos here guys, like I mentioned it was hard to get this to photograph color correct, these were the only 2 photos out of over 100 that were right.

Orange, It's Obvious is a dark orange creme. I love me some orange so I was excited about this when I saw it, unfortunately the formula was a bit of a nightmare. It was horribly streaky and I needed 4 coats to even it out. I do like this shade of orange though, it's dark but bright. I'm guessing by the way that my camera kept wanting to make this neon that there is some neon pigment hidden in there somewhere.

To Buy Or Not To Buy is a light lilac with the most hidden blue shimmer you will ever NOT be able to see in your entire life. I was all ohhh ahhh when I saw the shimmer in the bottle then I put it on the and I needed a microscope to actually see the shimmer. I am disappoint, son. Pretty lilac either way but meh...shimmer being invisible = me no longer being interested. Formula wise it was a bit streaky and patchy, I used 3 coats to even it all out.

Here is a horribly color inaccurate bottle picture to show you that awesome shimmer I told you about. I guess I'll just stare at the bottle since I can't see it on the nail

Tour De Finance is a bright blue toned hot pink with a purple flash of shimmer. I was not expecting to like this but man...it's my favorite of the collection! I wore this under Lynnderella Connect The Dots and it was mind blowing. I think I might even put that combo back on for the ISSE show! Maybe not the most original polish ever but since I don't own a ton of hot pinks it's pretty unique in my stash. The formula was nice and easy. I used 2 coats for the photos below.

fun fact...because I'm lazy I only used 1 coat of this on my right hand under Connect The Dots and it looked great that way too :)

Overall this collection is a win for me, it's hit or miss formula wise but there are some winners in here color wise. I really love Tour De Finance, Navigate Her and Olé Caliente. A Crewed Interest is nice too but if you don't want to fuss with the formula then it's probably not for you.

The Navigate Her collection is available now, I found it at CVS...it's also on some of the etailers already (Transdesign, Head2Toe). Essie retails for around $8, depending on where you buy it. I noticed that it's more expensive at CVS than it is at Ulta...what's up with that, CVS?!?

Harlow & Co Sirens Collection Swatches!

2012-01-26T04:27:00.000-08:00

Morning! Today I have a special post for you, Katie from Harlow & Co is putting out a special very limited edition trio of polishes very soon and I have some swatches of them today! If you have never heard of Harlow & Co, they are great...they are a Canadian supplier of a lot of awesome brands like Ozotic, Picture Polish, Nubar, Models Own, and Nerd Lacquer and more! Katie from Harlow & Co will be releasing her Sirens Collection which consists of 3 gorgeous polishes on February 1st and it's SUPER LE with only 10 sets! Crazy right...so if you like these you better snatch them up quick once they are on her site!

Click the read more button below for swatches of each shade!

Bad Atmosphere is a dark murky grey with a strong blue/green undertone. The formula on this was pretty great, nearly a 1 coater for me...I ended up using a second coat out of habit. It dries to a kind of rubbery finish, like the Orly Plastix Collection if you remember those. I did use a top coat for the photos below, while the finish it dried to was very cool I didn't love how it looked on me. This shade is great all shiny and beautiful!

Here is Bad Atmosphere in very overcast light, it looks so much different!

Precious Calm is a light greyed out blue green with a subtle silver shimmer. This is my person favorite of the 3, I don't think pictures do it justice at all. It's so soft and perfect, out in the sun when the shimmer comes out it's even better! The formula was nice on this one also, a bit sheer on the 1st coat but perfect after the 2nd!

Sparkling Waters is a mix of small blue, silver and holographic glitter with a bit of silver hex glitter sprinkled in all in a clear base. This polish is actually what I thought the OPI Muppets Collection glitters would be, it's nice an opaque! I used 2 coats for the photos below, you can also layer them over the other shades...they look great that way!

Shade

Harlow & Co's Sirens will be available on their website www.harlowandco.org on February 1st, 2012. The trio is $32 and the bottles are full sized at .5 oz. Like I mentioned at the beginning of the post there will only be 10 sets of these so seriously...if you like it stalk the Harlow & Co Facebook page so you know exactly when Katie puts them up for sale!

You can also check out some great photos of these on Pshiiit, her nails are so cute and she did a little bit of nail art with them also! Love them!

China Glaze Magnetix Collection Swatches

2012-01-25T04:25:00.000-08:00

Good morning! Today I have the China Glaze Magnetix Collection to show you guys, I was SO excited about these when I heard about them...I've pretty much been stalking my local beauty supply and they finally got them in so I went over and bought the whole collection along with the magnet! Unfortunately, I am a bit disappointed by these, I'll elaborate more in the review after the cut but basically the magnet was hard to use and didn't work very well. The photos make these look SO much better than they actually were in real life :(

For full reviews of each shade click the read more button below the collage.

Attraction is a grey/black with a subtle glitter. The formula was very thick on this one, it was good because you only needed one coat but it was not easy to apply. I used the star end of the magnet and while it came out okay on this shade it was hard to use. It's like the magnet wasn't strong so the design looked good for a second then got all blurry looking. Please see my pinky nail to see what I mean, that's what most of my nails looked like most of the time...I ended up redoing the other 3 nails in the photo 3 times to get the stars to look good.

Cling On is a dark and light green. I unfortunately don't love this like I thought I would but the name makes me laugh so it gets a pass haha! The formula on this one was very thin and a bit sheer, I used 2 coats for the photos below. The magnet used on this one is the diagonal stripes, it's no bueno. The design doesn't bend right around the nail like it does with the Icing magnet. I'm not sure if it's because the magnet isn't strong or what. I tried to make it work by rolling my finger to get the sides but it took about 15 seconds for the design to look good and by the time I got to the side of the nail it's like the polish was too dry and the design wouldn't pull. Hopefully that makes sense. I think this one would probably look a lot better with a different magnet.

Drawn To You is a light and dark purple with a very subtle glitter running throughout it. I really like this one even though I had the most magnet issues with it. The formula was a lot like Cling On...on the thin and sheer side but I only needed 2 coats. I used the chevron design on the China Glaze magnet for this one, it is by far the worst of the 3 magnets...I think the pictures do the talking here. I thought maybe it was the polish that was the problem so I grabbed my wavy magnet from my Icing magnetic polish and it worked a lot better as you can see on my ring finger.

Instant Chemistry is a dark vampy purple/magenta. The formula on this one was thick and only required 1 coat. I had issues with this, my brush was like crazy wonky...talk about frustrating, I hate when that happens. I used the diagonal stripes magnet on this one, same issues as I previously had but it does look better on the darker shade, perhaps because the sides where the design isn't showing up aren't as noticeable.

Pull Me Close is a blue/black, so pretty! By far my favorite shade of polish here, I love the contrast between the light blue and black. The formula was a bit thin and sheer but I only needed 2 coats. I used the awful chevron magnet again on this one...it sucks, no matter what I tried it looked like how it does below. I hope someone figures out how to make the chevron side work better so that I can actually use it in the future.

You Move Me is a light/dark brown. I was excited about this one, I thought maybe it would some how look like wood grain after you used the magnet...it kind of does in a weird abstract way haha! The formula was a bit thin and sheer, I used 2 coats. I used the star magnet on this one, it's okay but I did have issues with some nails and it completely like not getting any of the design on the side of the nail, you can see what I mean below.

Just for kicks I wanted to compare magnets with a couple I already had that were the same as the China Glaze design. Overall the China Glaze star magnet is a mile better than the LCN one, then the Icing diagonal stripe magnet was a lot stronger and pulled the design out a lot better the China Glaze one on the other 2 fingers.

On my index and middle finger I have the star magnet from LCN & China Glaze over Attraction. On the ring and pinky finger I have the diagonal stripe magnet from Icing and China Glaze over Cling On.

Alright now onto the magnet. I don't like it, sorry China Glaze. It's hard to use and the designs don't really come out that great. The magnet doesn't seem very strong and I was having to hold it over the nail for longer than magnets from the other brands I've tried. The chevron design was especially disappointing here, seriously if you get this and figure out some trick to make it work please let me know.

If you have Nails Inc or Icing magnets and don't want the star design on this one I'd probably pass on this. The other magnets work much better. Below are some photos of the magnet and whatnot, it does have the same little lip to rest on your cuticle like a few of the other magnets from other brands, I do like that. Unlike a lot of the other brands coming out with magnetic polish you have to purchase this one separately, I think it will be going for around $10. Also included in the box that I did not photograph are instructions...funny enough it says use only 1 coat of polish but 4 out of the 6 polishes are not opaque enough to only use 1 coat!

While I applaud China Glaze for doing this collection overall I don't love it like I thought I would...blame the crappy magnet for that. I was so frustrated that I almost said to hell with these swatches and quit about half way though...if you follow me on twitter you probably saw those ranty tweets haha! More than likely I will never use the magnet again, I'll be grabbing for the Icing magnets since they are my favorites of what I own. My favorites polish wise are Pull Me Close and Drawn To You!

The Magnetix Collection should be available everywhere Mid-February, the polishes will retail for $10 each, the magnet is separate and is also $10. I'm betting these will be up on most of the etailers like Transdesign, Head2Toe, VictoriasNailSupply etc... very soon so keep an eye out for them if you want them!

Lynnderella Connect The Dots

2012-01-24T04:31:00.000-08:00

Good morning! Today I have another awesome Lynnderella polish to show you guys. Before I understood the hype over these polishes this was the one polish I needed, black and white glitter...yes please! This polish was SO hard for me to get, I finally managed to snag it on my 3rd try from Llarowe...every other time before that it was sold out before I could get to it!

Connect The Dots is a mixture of black and white glitter of all sizes and shapes in a clear base with a very subtle shimmer...you can't see that shimmer in this combo but I promise, it's there! I've had Connect the Dots sitting on my desk staring at me for like a week and I couldn't decide what to layer it over. Then last night I put on Essie Tour De Finance (proper swatch of that coming up this week!). As soon as I put the Essie on it was like Connect the Dots screamed "layer me over it"....so I did. It's awesome! Pink, black and white is one of my favorite color combos! I actually like this combo so much that I'm wearing it on all 10 fingers LOL! It's a very very rare thing that I have the same polish on both hands...when it happens you know I love something haha!

I used 2 coats of Lynnderella Connect The Dots over Essie Tour De Finanace for the photos below!

Lynnderella polishes will be exclusively sold on shop.llarowe.com from now on, you need to sign up for her newsletter to be able to order and be notified of when the polishes will be for sale. Please check out Llarowe's shop for complete details on how the ordering will be taking place, there is a big paragraph about it right on the home page of her website!

Speciallitá Hits No Olimpo Collection Giveaway!

2012-01-23T16:29:00.000-08:00

Hi guys! I have an awesome giveaway for you! You all remember my Speciallitá Hits No Olimpo Collection Swatches! post right?!? It was pretty epic if you like holos! Well today I have a giveaway from the awesome people at Speciallitá for the ENTIRE No Olimpo collection!

In case you forgot how amazing these are, let me refresh your memory :)

Rules are simple:

* Please enter using the Rafflecopter Widget at the bottom of this post. Entries left in the comments will not be counted.

* This giveaway is open internationally (for most countries). Please note the prize is shipping directly from Brazil so it might take a little while to reach you. Unfotunrately some countries have restrictions on nail polish. I have included a list of those countries below. If you live in any these countries then the polishes won't be able to be mailed to you. I'm so sorry about that :(

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Anguilla, Antarctica, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Aruba, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burma, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Christmas Island, Cook Islands, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, French Guiana, French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Gabon, Gambia, Gaza Strip, Georgia, Ghana, Gibraltar, Glorioso Islands, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Guernsey, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenia, Kyrgyzstan, Kiribati, North Korea, South Korea, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montserrat, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Navassa Island, Nepal, Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, Niger, Nigeria, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn Islands, Poland, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Reunion, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Serbia and Montenegro, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Spratly Islands, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Svalbard, Swaziland, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tokelau, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tromelin Island, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Virgin Islands, Wake Island, Wallis and Futuna, West Bank, Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

* To enter it's simple...just tell me what your favorite polish in the No Olimpo Collection is....that's it!

* Giveaway ends at 12:01am Eastern Standard Time on January 27th 2012...yep guys, it's a short one!

* Winner has 24 hours to respond to my email that they have won the giveaway, if no response is received a new winner will be chosen.

Also, I just wanted to mention that you DO NOT need a Facebook account to use the Rafflecopter widget. There is a little link under where it says "Log in w/Facebook" that allows you to enter with just your email address. I had a few confused people last time and wanted to make sure to point that out :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Ludurana Trovao & Arco-Iris

2012-01-23T04:32:00.000-08:00

Good morning everyone! Happy Monday? ehh I haven't decided if I'm happy about it being Monday yet, I'd be completely content with it always being Saturday or Sunday lol! Today I have a couple Ludurana flakies to show you guys! They are both good alternatives to the Finger Paints flakies that are pretty much impossible for a lot of people to find!

First up is Arco-Iris, which is a multicolored flakie in a clear base. This flashes a ton of colors, blue, green, purple, yellow, orange and more! If you liked Finger Paints Twisted and couldn't get it this one is a great replacement for it! I used 1 coat of Arco-Iris over Sally Hansen Extreme Wear Black Out for the photos below.

Trovao is turquoise and green flakies in a clear base! It's kind of in the middle of what Finger Paints Motley & Flecked were, it's not as bright as Flecked and not a purple toned as Motley. The flakies were a little sparse in this one I ended up using 2 coats over Harlow & Co bad atmosphere (I'll have swatches of that on it's own soon!)

Ludurana flakies are available on shop.llarowe.com they are $7 each. The bottles aren't as big as something like Finger Paints but they are a whole heck of a lot easier to find and Llarowe ships internationally!

Icing Magnetix Swatches!

2012-01-21T04:28:00.000-08:00

Good Morning!! Happy weekend, anyone have fun plans? It's supposed to rain here so that means getting cozy and watching movies! Today I have 4 magnetic polishes to show you guys!! I LOVE magnetic polish and they are quickly becoming easier to find and more affordable! I picked up the 4 I'm showing you today at Icing, for those that have never heard of Icing they sell cheap accessories along with some make up and great polishes! These are brand spanking new and I pretty much stalked the store closest to me waiting for them to get their shipment in lol!

These are pretty much full of win and easily my favorite magnetic polishes that have come out so far!

Click the Read More button for a photos and reviews of each shade!

Before I start I should mention that none of these have official names...wth Icing. I hate that! I used 2 coats for each polish and held the magnet over the nail for 10-15 seconds while the second coat of polish was wet to create the design for each!

First up is the blue/purple magnetic. THIS IS SO AWESOME!!! yes people I felt like I needed to yell that, if I wasn't scared about my neighbors calling the cops I'd probably stand on my roof and yell about how awesome this one is. If you like magnetic polish you need this, heck even if you don't like it...you still need this. Also, how awesome is the wavy magnet?!?

The next one is is a green/gold magnetic with glitter! This one is pretty amazing also, if not for that fab blue one it would be my favorite! I've seen magnetic polish with glitter but nothing near as awesome as this. The golden glitter comes out after you put the magnet over the nail and is SO gorgeous. Prior to using the magnet you can't really see that glitter, I was all :O after I was done with the first nail!

Next up is a grey/black with glitter. I do feel like I have seen this one before, it looks like Layla Silver Galaxy...except it's better in my opinion. It's also a lot cheaper and the magnet is a billion times easier to use! Since I already have one like this overall it's not my favorite but it's still great!

Last up is the pink/dark pinkish red with glitter. In the bottle this one was my favorite, on the nail I don't love it quite as much but it's still a winner! The glitter in this one was also hiding it's awesomness until you held the magnet over your nail! This one is unlike any of the other magnetic polishes I have!

Alright, now lets talk about the magnets and why I think they rule.

1. They have that awesome lip like the Nails Inc. magnetic polishes have. It makes it easy to hold the magnet the correct distance from the nail without hitting it on the wet polish.

2. The magnet is nice and strong and the designs come out awesome!

3. The magnet is more versatile than the others I have. It has 2 of those little lips, so you can easily switch the design the other direction.

4. There are 2 patterns to choose from, the straight lines and the awesome wavy pattern. If you buy these make sure you check the caps of your bottles to make sure you get one of each (or whichever you like the best) I put a picture of what each of the caps looks like below (I added the word that says Wavy/Straight!)

Now here is my one complaint, these brushes are seriously wonky. 2 of mine were okay but the other 2 were like the photo below. It was like trying to polish my nails with a mop. Make sure you check your brushes before you buy!

The Icing Magnetix polishes are available only at Icing stores. They do not sell online unless you happen to find them somewhere like eBay. They were $9 each for a .33oz bottle, however Icing polishes are as far as I know always buy 1 get 1 half off which makes it a pretty great deal!

Lynnderella Snow Angel

2012-01-20T07:13:00.000-08:00

Good morning! Sorry for the later than usual post today. This week has been super stressful at work and I literally came home and passed the heck out yesterday so I didn't have a chance to write this post ahead of time! Anyway...today I have another Lynnderella polish to show you guys! Snow Angel was the 1 Lynnderella that was on my list since the very first time I saw it. It's a mix of white square, hex and small glitter in a frosty white base. It's SO pretty, I wish I would have had this for Christmas time! I'm not sure that you could get this opaque on it's own..I'm not about to try lol! I used 1 coat of Snow Angel over Essie Marshmallow for the photos below.

This combo is a bit tricky to photograph since the glitter is so subtle, it's seriously amazing in person!

As far as availability goes, these are a bit hard to come by. Lynnderella has a blog here that she sells her polishes on every once in a while. It's only open for a very short amount of time and those times are few and far between. I know she is supposed have her polishes up for sale again soon but I'm not sure exactly when that will be. You can also buy Lynnderella polishes on Llarowe but they are all sold out right now, I believe she is due to get more sometime in early February!

SpaRitual Spring 2012 Water Collection Swatches!

2012-01-19T04:24:00.000-08:00

Good morning everyone! Today I have the SpaRitual's gorgeous Water Collection for Spring 2012 to show you guys! Not only are the polishes in this collection gorgeous but 20% of the proceeds from the collection are going to a great charity called Surge. Surge is a non-profit organization that improves access to clean, safe water for communities across the world. I think what they do is pretty amazing, a lot of us (myself included) take things like easy access to something as simple as water for granted. It was eye opening to read through the Surge website about the struggles that people go through. If you'd like to find out more about Surge you can check out their website here! Not gonna lie, I was tearing up a little reading some of the stories they are talking about and the facts they are telling us on the Our Work page.

Click the read more button under the collage for photos and reviews of each shade!

Deep is a medium/dark grey with a subtle purple shimmer. When I got these in the mail I kid you not, I sat in front of the window in my room just staring at this bottle of polish for a couple minutes. It is gorgeous! On the nail you lose a lot of the shimmer, that was a little disappointing. Out in the sun when the light hits it right Deep is a stunner! The formula was good a little bit thick but easy application! I used 2 coats for the photos below!

Ebb & Flow is a light aqua blue. This is a little bit more green toned IRL (in real life), it was SO hard to capture on camera for some reason. This kind of shade screams spring to me, I really love it! The formula was a bit on the thick side with this one also. It was nice and opaque and leveled itself really easily. I used 2 coats for full opacity!

Hidden Reef is a rosy pink with a subtle golden shimmer. This is another favorite from this collection for me, it's gorgeous in the bottle but even prettier on! It does remind me a lot of Essie Your Hut or Mine, it's not a perfect dupe but it's pretty darn close. Formula wise it was on the sheer side on the first coat but I only ended up needing 2 coats to get it opaque! The first picture is more true to the base color of the polish, the second is a tiny bit off but it shows the shimmer more accurately :)

Lucid is a pale lilac creme. I really like how blue toned this is, I have a few different lilac shades but nothing quite like this one. The formula was really nice, I was expecting it to be a 3 coater because of how light it was but I only ended up needing 2 coats!

Ripple Effect is a light dusty purple creme. This one actually ended up being my favorite of the collection. It's such an interesting color, I really don't think I own anything like this. It's light, but bold...bright but dusty. It's interesting to look at, that is unusual with a creme polish! The formula was a little bit thick but again, easy to work with! I used 2 coats for the photos below.

Undercurrent is a dark cobalt blue creme. yum yum, I love this so much....it's like an opaque creamy version of Revlon Royal! This one is gorgeous on it's own and perfect for layering over! I've worn it a couple times under other polishes and it was wow! The formula was pretty great on this one, so perfect and easy to apply! I used 2 coats for the photo below!

Overall I LOVE this collection, it's simple and beautiful. I also love that SpaRitual is donating part of the proceeds to such a great organization, I wish more companies would step up and do that! My picks from the collection are Deep and Ripple Effect, I also really love Undercurrent and Hidden Reef despite having polishes that are pretty similar to them!

The SpaRitual Water Collection will be available beginning February 1st, 2012. Each polish retails for $10, they will be available on skinstore.com, beauty.com and apothica.com. You can also go to SpaRitual.com and search for local retailers!

Kat Von D High Voltage Lacquer: Mad Max

2012-01-17T04:25:00.000-08:00

Good morning! Today I have a Kat Von D nail polish to show you guys, these are brand new to Sephora! I saw them on their website a week or so ago and immediately bought a bottle of Mad Max! Those little color blobs on Sephora's website draw me in every time, even though most of the time they are horribly color inaccurate (the blob for this one is kinda okay actually, go figure!)

Mad Max is a blue to purple duochrome shimmer. It looked like it would be a 3 or 4 coater on it's own so I ended up using 1 coat over SpaRitual Undercurrent when I wore this mani. Undercurrent is a really gorgeous cobalt blue...I'll have swatches of it up later this week! I think putting it over a darker shade really ended up being the best decision, the duochrome on it's own was a bit hidden but over the darker base it really came out to play! It was SO obvious in person but so hard to capture on camera for some reason :( Sorry about the minor tip wear in these photos, I took the photos after almost 2 days of wear!

Just because I know someone will ask...the bottle I'm holding in the last 2 pictures is a Color Club base coat. The Kat Von D bottle is super cute...but kind of a pain in the butt to hold and get good pictures of my nails with :)

this photo was in the shadiest spot I could find, apparently my camera could only capture the purple in that awful light...wtf camera!

this photo is in "normal" shade

this photo is in indirect sunlight! so pretty!

I really do love this polish but it's very small, .25 oz...aka half the size of a full sized OPI or China Glaze. For the amount of polish you get I think the $12 price tag is a bit ridiculous. While this is very pretty I really doubt I'll be buying another Kat Von D polish unless the price goes down or the bottle size goes up.

The Kat Von D High Voltage Lacquers are available exclusively from Sephora. I bought mine online at Sephora.com, it was $12...I'm not sure if these are in actual Sephora stores yet!

Essie Armed and Ready

2012-01-16T04:27:00.000-08:00

Good morning! Hope you all had a good weekend! Mine was pretty lazy, crappy weather Saturday then it rained most of Sunday so I did a little shopping and not much else haha! I finally managed to find the Essie Go Overboard Collection for Spring. I hear that people have been finding it for a while at Target but none of the ones by me have it out yet...I finally came across it at Walgreens and then only ended up buying the polish I'm showing you today. The Go Overboard Collection is 3 new polishes and 3 repromotes, the other 2 new polishes looked a little boring in person...I might go back for them eventually though.

Armed and Ready is a dark brown toned grey with a coppery shimmer. The shimmer in this is pretty hidden but out in the sun it's super gorgeous! The shimmer has a little bit of copper, red and gold! Inside and in low light the shimmer is pretty much non-existent...I could barely even seen it in the bottle in the store! I definitely don't have anything like this polish and I'm such a lover of hidden shimmer that even if I did have a dupe I don't think I'd mind haha! The formula was really nice, I used 2 coats for the photos below.

The Go Overboard Collection from Essie should be in stores now or very soon, I know people have found it at Target, Walmart and Walgreens, it retails for around $8 depending on where you buy it. I also came across a bottle of Armed and Ready (but not the other 2 new shades) at CVS mixed in with the core display of polishes...not sure why it was like that, maybe they aren't supposed to be out there yet or something. Anyway, I hope you can find this if you like it!

BB Couture Junk In The Trunk & Feathered Vixen

2012-01-13T04:22:00.000-08:00

TGIF! Happy Friday The 13th! Today I have a couple swatches that I've been meaning to post and just haven't gotten around to! BB Couture is a brand I really love but don't actually have a lot of...they make some of the most gorgeous glitters and shimmers that I own!

Junk In The Trunk is a bright cornflower blue with a strong silvery blue shimmer. Let's face it, I mostly got this one for the name but it's actually one of the most gorgeous blues I have in my stash! The formula was great, 2 coats for full opacity!

Feathered Vixen is a very dusty purple with a subtle shimmer. It reminds me a bit of Zoya Lotus that I posted earlier this week..just with different shimmer. Formula wise it was also great, 2 coats for full opacity!

BB Couture is available on their website bbnailpolish.com and overallbeauty.com. I don't see these on Overall Beauty anymore but when I looked at the BB Couture website last night they were still for sale there, for $8.95 a piece!

Lynnderella Bibbitty Bobbitty Boo Blue

2012-01-12T04:28:00.000-08:00

Good morning!! Today I have my very first Lynnderella polish EVER to show you guys, if you read nail blogs I know you've heard of these beauties before. Until I bought this polish and put it on I really did not get the hype over Lynnderella polishes....happy to say I get it now (my wallet is not happy about this though). For my first ever Lynnderella's I got the one I'm showing you today, Bibbitty Bobbitty Boo Blue, and Snow Angel which I haven't worn yet. Since then I've bought 4 more that I'm waiting for...they are like crack...I need more.

Bibbitty Bobbitty Boo Blue is described by Lynnderella as "glitter in all shades of blue: turquoise, navy, royal, periwinkle along with blue-violet and violet. Squares, hexagons and micro-glitter in a luscious cornflower blue base". I'm sure you could get this opaque on it's own if you wanted to, but removing that frightened me so I layered it. I used 1 coat of Bibbitty Bobbitty Boo Blue over Revlon Royal for the photos below.

Shade

I'm not huge fan of how this looked in the sun but I figure some of you would like to see how it looks anyway :)

Sun

As far as availability goes, these are a bit hard to come by. Lynnderella has a blog here that she sells her polishes on every once in a while. It's only open for a very short amount of time and those times are few and far between. I know she is supposed have her polishes up for sale again soon but I'm not sure exactly when that will be. You can also buy Lynnderella polishes on Llarowe but they are all sold out right now and apparently it's going to be a while before she re-stocks also :(

Nerd Lacquer Swatches!

2012-01-11T04:28:00.000-08:00

Good morning everyone, happy Wednesday! Today I have an awesome glitter-tastic post for you guys! I know some of you have been looking forward to it since I was teasing you with photos of these on twitter over the weekend! Nerd Lacquer is a a brand that has been available on etsy for a little while, I've been over on their shop drooling over the awesome glitters for a while. Now they are also being stocked at one my favorite new etailers, Harlow & Co! I am so excited to finally have some of these and be able to share them with you guys, I hope you like them as much as I do! I have swatches of 7 of them for you and the awesome Kirsten from Glitta Gloves has another 6 on her blog today...you can check those out there at GlittaGloves.com! Also...Harlow & Co have teamed up with Nerd Lacquer for a giveaway for a mini-quad of Nerd Lacquer polishes, I have the link to that at the very bottom of the post! Whew, that was a lot of intro haha, this post is very photo heavy...I couldn't help it, they deserve a million pictures! Photos and reviews of each shade are under the cut!

Yay for an awkward collage lol!

I'm going to use the descriptions Nerd Lacquer uses for these...they are fantastic! They describe the glitter and base color much better than I can and they are funny! All photos were taken in the shade and bright sunlight, I've labeled each photo with which lighting it is in :)

Crunchy Frog is a revoltingly gorgeous milk chocolate shimmer base with emerald glitter, small and medium grass green hexagonal glitter, olive microglitter, and you might also notice some large chunks of silvery white. The bones, obviously. If we took the bones out it wouldn’t be crunchy, would it? The easily-nauseated should feel free to think of this color as “chocolate mint.”

The formula was fantastic, full opacity in 2 coats. The glitter is abundant and easy to work with it also didn't dry with too much texture...that was a happy surprise! I am in love with this mix of glitter, I've never seen anything like it! I used 2 coats for the photos below!

Shade

Sun

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Entirely Unlike Tea is what the Polishomatic came up with when asked for a flashy-yet-wearable neutral. With an opalescent warm pinky-tan base packed with iridescent glitter plus small and medium silver hexagonal glitter (and boasting a violet-pink opaline sheen), it’s almost, but not quite, precisely like tea from outer space.

The formula on this one was also good, a bit on the sheer side but it builds up beautifully. If there was ever a work safe chunky glitter this would be it! I used 3 coats for the photos below...this one also dried surprisingly smooth! This polish reminds of the sand at the beach!

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Sun

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Event Horizon is a blackened teal with small and medium blue and turquoise hexagonal glitter, silver and iridescent glitter, plus bright blue microglitter, and generously spiked with fine and ultrafine holographic sparkles.

The formula was nice on this one, a bit thick but it's so glitter packed that I expected it. It did dry a little bit matte and was hungry for top coat. I used 2 coats for the photos below.

Shade

Sun

Hyperspace Bypass is a massively glittering big yellow something that hovers on your fingertips in exactly the way that bricks don’t. Packed with pale gold glitter, medium and large golden hex glitter, and small and medium black glitter, plus a sprinkling of holographic hex sparkles, it’ll disintegrate every other polish in your collection.

The formula on this one was a bit thick, but easy to apply. It was also more opaque than I was expecting! I only needed 2 coats, I thought I'd need 3! This is one of the polishes I had been drooling over on Nerd Lacquer's etsy, it was just as good as I could have imagined!

Sun

Shade

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Purely Logical is a brilliant shimmering acid green packed with silver, copper, iridescent, and turquoise glitter, plus copper and turquoise medium hexagonal glitter.

The formula on this one was great, a bit on the sheer side so you could layer it if you wanted to. It also dried pretty smooth, I only needed 1 coat of top coat to make it smooth. I used 3 coats for full opacity. Check out the pretty gold shimmer in the sun...yum!

Shade

Sun

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Quasar s a blackened pine green with holly green and silver glitter, olive and chartreuse microglitter, small and medium emerald hexagonal glitter, and generously spiked with fine and ultrafine holographic sparkles

The formula on this one was thick but it's so packed with glitter that it's to be expected. This is my absolute favorite of the Nerd Lacquer polishes I've tried, as good as it looks in photos it was a billion times better in person! I used 2 coats for full opacity.

Shade

Sun

Warrior Ethos is a bright blood red with black, iridescent, copper, and red glitter, plus medium black hexagonal glitter and large copper hexagonal glitter.

The formula was good on this one, the base is the most jelly-ish out of all 7 in this post. It's a bit sheer but perfect at 3 coats, this would also be awesome for layering. This one is also one of my favorites, the combo of red and black is super gorgeous!

Shade

Sun

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Overall these are awesome, I'm not even going to try and list my picks for favorites...they are all my picks lol! Here is the link for the giveaway Harlow & Co is having! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Harlow-Co/173021022773095?sk=app_204684816209053

Nerd Lacquer is available on Harlow & Co., they are out of stock at the moment but should be back in the next week or so! They are also available directly from Nerd Lacquer's etsy shop here!

Zoya Spring 2012 Fleck Effect Collection Swatches

2012-01-10T04:13:00.000-08:00

Morning! Today I have the second Zoya Spring Collection to show you, The Fleck Effect Collection! More flakies!! It's so funny that a couple months ago flakies were a bit hard to come by...there weren't too many available options. Now they are all over the place, I love it! Zoya has brought us 3 more that are in tinted bases and perfect for layering over everything! I have these over a ton of colors after the jump!

Click the read more button for layering options and reviews of each shade!

Chloe is a red/orange/yellow/green/blue flakie in a sheer pink base. This one has a whole rainbow going on but not in the same way as some of the others like it we've seen lately...like Finger Paints Twisted or Cult Nails Clairvoyant. The blue and green flakies are very sparse but I kind of love how they are sprinkled throughout, it's a nice pop of color in the middle of the red/orange/yellow flakies. I used 1 coat of Chloe over each of the base polishes below!

Chloe over Zoya Farah

Chloe over Zoya Lotus

Chloe over Zoya Roxy. I don't think I've EVER put flakies over glitter, I need to do it more often. This looks in-freakin-credible in real life...which is why there are 3 pictures of it!

Maisie is blue/green flakies in a sheer turquoise base. It's very similar to Finger Paints Flecked with the exception of the tinted base. The base color is sheer enough that it doesn't really affect what you are putting it over. I used 1 coat of Maisie over each of the base polishes for the photos below.

Maisie over Zoya Bevin

Maisie over Zoya Skylar. I am loving this combo and the way the shimmer in Skylar peeks through!

Maisie over Zoya Charla. In my head this combo was going to be epic, once I did it I don't really love it like I thought I would. The flakies and the base polish are pretty much the same color so you can't really see the flakies. They do give it some extra dimension and I like that, this was very mermaid-ish looking!

Maisie over Zoya Indigo, I really loved how the dark inky blue set off the flakies! It's a great alternative to layering it over black...it's not as harsh looking.

Opal is blue/green flakies in a sheer yellow toned green base. This one is also very similar to Finger Paints Flecked. I feel like Opal and Maisie are essentially the same flakies just in a different base. They flash the same colors, especially noticeable over black which is at the end of the post. I used 1 coat of Opal over each of the base polishes below.

Opal over Zoya Cho

Opal over Zoya Tru. Sorry about the weird photo, as I was walking outside to take this photo Degen decided it would be a grand time to chase Oreo (our cat) around the back yard...then Oreo decided to turn around and retaliate for the chasing. I ended up smudging my index finger while trying to break that up haha!

Opal over Zoya Ivanka...same issue here as Maisie had over Charla. It's so similar to the base polish that the flakies don't pop. I do kind of love this though!

Opal over Zoya Veruschka....the shimmer in Veruschka didn't translate into photos but in person it looked so gorgeous under the flakies! I forgot how much I loved Veruschka!

Here are all 3 of the Fleck Effect polishes over black, see what I mean about Maisie and Opal being pretty much the same? I used 1 coat of each flakie over black for the photo.

Here are all 3 also over white, you can't see the flakies too well but it shows how light the tinted bases are. Crazy how yellow Opal looks over white!

Overall I love all three, Chloe is my favorite. I feel like you can probably pass on either Opal or Maisie, you don't need both. Unless of course you ~~hoard~~ collect flakies like I do!

The Fleck Effect Collection is available now on Zoya.com, each polish is $8!

Zoya Spring 2012 True Collection Swatches

2012-01-09T04:26:00.000-08:00

Good Morning!! Today I have an awesome new collection to show you guys from Zoya! Zoya is giving us 2 collections for Spring and they are both pretty awesome! They go on sale tomorrow (January 10th) so I thought this would be the perfect time to post them! I'll have the second collection (The Fleck Effect Collection) for you guys tomorrow morning! When I got this collection in the mail I swooned, you guys know that I am a big huge fan of polishes with a gorgeous subtle shimmer and there are a few like this in this collection! This year I've decided to keep a running list of favorites as I swatch and wear stuff so that I'm not scrambling at the end of the year to remember what I've loved....half of this collection is already on that list lol! I really can't wait to see what Zoya has in store for us for the rest of the year if this is how they are starting off!

Click the read more button for photos and reviews of each shade!

Bevin is a dusty light green with blue undertones. I love this one so so much, I have a thing for blue/greens like this...they remind me of the ocean! Well, not the ocean in So Cal...but the ocean in the Caribbean...the ocean in So Cal is disgusting looking. Bevin reminded me a lot of one of my all time favorite polishes...Misa Dirty Sexy Money. I pulled it out to compare but Bevin is much lighter, if you loved that Misa you will absolutely love this also. The formula was good not too thick or thin. You are going to want to use thin coats with this, the first time I put it on I used too thick of a coat and it didn't level out very well. I used 2 thin coats for the photos below.

P.S. I know I can't be the only one who feels the urge to watch One Tree Hill now right? It's the only place I've ever heard the name Bevin haha!

Cho is a yellow toned beige with a very subtle silver shimmer. This one is what I wanted The Touch Collection to be, while I loved that collection the shimmer had a tendency to look a little frosty. With Cho the shimmer is so subtle that it just gives a little touch of sparkle in the right light and it doesn't overpower the polish. The formula was a bit thin but it ended up being nice and opaque in 2 coats.

Farah is an opaque light khaki-beige with subtle sandy, greenish undertones. That's the Zoya description and it sounds much better than I could have described it haha! I really really love this one, it's nice on my skin tone...it may even by my new mannequin hands polish! Formula wise it was on the thick side but I didn't have any issues with application and it leveled nicely. I used 2 coats for full opacity!

Lotus is a dusty purple with reddish pink shimmer! Ahhh love love love love, a subtle shimmer lovers dream! It's like Neeka but with shimmer that is somehow even more awesome! The shimmer wasn't super in your face even out in the sun but it gives the polish some dimension and is stunning when the light hits it! Indoors the shimmer was not noticeable but you could tell that it wasn't just a flat creme polish! The formula was good, it started out a little thin but was a bit more on the thick side by the time I got to the second coat...weird how that happens. I used 2 coats for the photos below.

Skylar is a dusty medium blue with silver and gold shimmer. The shimmer in Skylar is super super noticeable, in the sun in sparkles and indoors and in low light it is gorgeous too! The formula was a bit thick but very easy to work with. It went on sheer at first but I only needed 2 coats for full opacity!

Tru is a red toned purple with a subtle red shimmer. The shimmer flashes a bit of an orangey gold also! Now I loved Lotus but I love True even more! Red toned purples are my favorite then you throw in awesome shimmer and I just can't even contain my excitement! Tru is my absolute favorite of the collection! I wore this on Friday and got so many compliments on it! The formula was a bit thick but again easy to work with. The shimmer is more noticeable than it was in Lotus but still not super visible in low light...its there just enough to make the polish not look flat! I used 2 coats for the photos below.

Overall I LOVE this collection, Zoya has not been disappointing lately! I know a lot of people are probably like ugh...more neutrals but I'm a fan! The shimmers in this collection are stunning and the cremes are great! My favorites, and the ones already on my 2012 favorites list are Tru, Bevin and Skylar...Lotus is on there also but not as much as Tru!

The True Collection will be available on Zoya.com on January 10th, each bottle retails for $8!

Ludurana Aurora Boreal Esplendido

2012-01-07T10:21:00.000-08:00

Happy weekend everyone! Short post today since I'm literally running out the door in like 5 minutes for the day! Today I have another Ludurana polish to show you, it's one of their pretty holographic ones! Esplendido is a silver holo, the holo isn't super linear...it's more scattered. It reminds me a bit of of Kaleidoscope Collection from China Glaze. The formula was good, a little thick but easy to work with! I used 3 coats of Esplendido for the photos below!

Ludrana is available on shop.llarowe.com they are $14 each!

Ludurana Aurora Boreal Fascinante

2012-01-06T05:41:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday! Anyone have fun plans this weekend? I have a whole bunch of awesome polishes to swatch that you guys will see next week. I'm also planning on going outlet shopping, I was going to last weekend but since I pretty much slept through Saturday it didn't happen lol!

Today I have my first Ludurana polish to show you, Ludurana is another great Brazilian brand that is more accessible to us thanks to Leah Ann from Llarowe! Facinante is an awesome multichrome that flashes dark red, orange, gold, and green. I am such a multichrome lover, this one is fantastic! It's opaque enough to wear on it's own but it also looks awesome over black! The formula was good, a little thick but easy to work with. I used 3 coats of Fascinante on it's own for the first 3 photos and 1 coat over black for the last photo.

Sun

Ludurana is available on shop.llarowe.com, the multichromes are $14 each. They also make great flakies and holos! I love Brazilian polish!

Hits Salsa & Fox Trot

2012-01-05T04:23:00.000-08:00

Morning! Today I have some more awesome flakies from Hits to show you! I really love pretty much everything I've tried from Hits, I'm so happy that the brand is more accessible to everyone now!

Fox Trot is orange/gold/green flakies in a purple jelly base. The flakies in this one remind me of the flakies in Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure (the good version), Essie Shine of The Times, Nubar 2010 etc... I think the purple base is what really makes this special! It's gorgeous! This is opaque on it's own, you could layer it if you wanted too but the base is a bit opaque so it might not be best for that. I used 3 coats of Fox Trot for the photos below.

p.s. the whole time I've been writing this post I've been singing the chorus of Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo by the Bloodhound Gang haha! That song is so awful but it always makes me laugh.

Can you imagine if our nails were this big...that would be crazy! I bet our nail polish bottles would be HUGE

Salsa is orangey gold flakies in a rosy pink jelly base. The flakies in this one weren't as exciting as the others I've tried from Hits but the way this looked was so soft and gorgeous. I feel like I could probably wear this one if I for some reason needed a work safe color and it wouldn't be too over the top. The pink in this had a tendency to look very different depending on the shadiness of the area I was in so I put in a couple pictures so you can see the difference! Most of the time it looked like the first picture but every now and then it got a bit more vibrant like how the second picture looks! I used 3 coats of Salsa for the photos below!

Hits Flakies are available at shop.llarowe.com they are $8 each, she ships everywhere except for Italy so they are accessible for pretty much everyone!! yay!

Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure...the new version.

2012-01-04T04:32:00.000-08:00

Good morning! Today I have a reincarnated Sally Hansen polish to show you, Hidden Treasure. I spotted this new version of Hidden Treasure at Walgreens and only bought it so I could show you pictures and rant a little about reusing names lol! The original Hidden Treasure holds a special place in my heart, it was my first flakie and the first drugstore polish I ever drove all over town looking for. I can't even tell you how many Rite Aid's, CVS's and Walgreens I went to searching for it.

Hidden Treasure part deux is a very sheer purple toned pink with a silvery green shimmer. meh. I thought I actually might like it but it falls flat on the nail. I put it over black and hated it so much that I didn't even bother taking pictures of it. I have 1 coat over white for the photos below, you can see the greenish shimmer a tiny bit in the second photo....that's about the only special thing going on here.

It bugs me when companies reuse names, especially when they re-use a name of a HTF and well known polish. Even if the original Hidden Treasure wasn't awesome it's confusing when companies start using the same names over and over...I really don't get why they do that. They couldn't think of another name for this? Anyway, looks like this version of Hidden Treasure might be sticking around for a while, it has a number on the top of the bottle. I don't recall LE polishes in the past having numbers like this one does but I could be wrong about that!