KellieGonzo.com

Sensationail Invincible Gel Polish Starter Kit

2013-05-23T13:30:00.000-07:00

I was recently given the opportunity to try out and review one of the latest trends in the nail and beauty world. Do it yourself gel nail kits are all the rage these days and I have been dying to try one. This kit is from Sensationail by Nailene. I've always had good luck with Nailene products so I was expecting to have a great experience with this. I was also intrigued by the LED lamp used with their polish, which cures in half the time with no heat, unlike UV lights.

Press Sample

The starter kit contains everything you need for a beautiful salon-worthy manicure you can do at home. First you prep your nails with the gel cleanser, then apply a quick coat of the gel primer. Next apply a coat of the gel base & top coat and cure in the LED lamp for 30 seconds. Then you apply a thin layer of gel polish and cure for 60 seconds, repeat for a second coat. Then you top it off with another coat of gel base & top coat and cure for 30 seconds. Then you clean up with some gel cleanser and enjoy your manicure!

I found the kit really easy to use. I actually did this manicure while propped up on pillows in bed! The color I got is Raspberry Wine, a beautiful magenta reddish shimmer. It's a luminescent color and the gel topcoat incredibly shiny. The shine is what made me fall in love with this manicure. The gel polish truly is different than regular polish, the feel of it on my nails was seriously awesome. I did leave a bit more of a gap around my cuticles than with normal polish because you have to be careful not to get the gel on your skin, which could cause your polish to lift. This photo is of my nails the day after I did the manicure.

It was hard for me to keep this polish on for a "long" time only because it's hard for me to keep any polish on for more than two days. But in the name of science I tried my darn best. The photo below is after six days of wear. I was amazed at how shiny it stayed and for real my nails felt indestructible. Like I had armor on. It was easy to soak off, I just used acetone, cotton and wrapped them in tinfoil for a few minutes like I do with regular glitter manicures. Sensationail sells the special foil wraps but I haven't tried those.

I loved this DIY kit and will definitely use it again, most likely for vacations and for my toes. I was really impressed with the quality of the kit and can highly suggest it if you're looking try out at home gel nails. The kit and other Sensationail products can be found at Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, and Target stores for around $60. The individual polishes are around $12. What do you think of the gel nails at home concept? Have you tried any kits like this? Would you? Have a great day dolls!

Product samples were provided for consideration.

Ozotic Sugar 904

2013-05-22T14:00:00.000-07:00

This polish from Ozotic is a part of their Sugar & Beam collection. This and the other Sugar shades are inspired by the idea of 'adding a tiny drop of food coloring to icing sugar' producing a sweet and scrumptious shimmery effect. These can be worn on their own for an angelic soft look or layered on other colors to change up the look of the base. This is one coat of Sugar 904 over Sheswai's Dig It that I reviewed yesterday.

Press Sample

I also layered two coats here over white and black cremes, Cult Nails Tempest and Nevermore. It's funny that I chose to layer it over a green above and when layered over a black, the crystals reflect to appear green :) The formula is on the thick side and I found it a little tricky to make my layers even when I tried to paint on the second layer too soon, so give yourself adequate drying time between coats for best results.

I like the idea of the Sugar collection from Ozotic. I love the celestial pale yellow almost gold of this shade. You can buy Ozotic Sugar 904 online at Picture Polish's Australian website for AUS $12, on Harlow & Co for $14.50, or on Llarowe for $14.50.

Product samples were provided for consideration.

Sheswai - Dig It

2013-05-21T14:00:00.000-07:00

Today I'd like to show you a new polish I have from Sheswai Lacquer called Dig It. It's a lovely mid-tone grassy green that totally coincides with the "modern glamour with a rootsy feel" mantra of Sheswai. This is wonderfully pigmented and super shiny. This is two coats.

Press Sample

I will always love Sheswai polishes first for their beautiful bottles, the wooden cap is just a showstopper. The quality of their polish is also always top shelf. You can purchase Sheswai Lacquers like this one on their website http://www.sheswaibeauty.com/ for $16 each. What do you think of this beautiful fresh creme?

Product samples were provided for consideration.

Picture Polish - Demeter

2013-05-20T13:00:00.000-07:00

Today I have a beautiful Picture Polish shade that they made in collaboration with Katie from Harlow & Co, an online store for nail polish based in Canada that ships internationally. Katie wanted to make a chocolate brown holographic shade and PP delivered with this luxe earthy scattered holo beauty that she named Demeter. This is two coats.

Press Sample

I forget how much I adore brown polishes. I have a lot of them I just don't get around to wearing that often, but I need to make sure I do. This polish has an excellent formula, very buttery on application and nicely opaque. You can buy Demeter online at Picture Polish's Australian website for AUS $10 or on Harlow & Co for $14.50.

Product samples were provided for consideration.

Coral and Golden Sand

2013-05-19T14:00:00.000-07:00

This mani was inspired by a fellow blogger, HeartNat. It is Essie Come Here from their 2013 resort collection with an accent of OPI Honey Ryder from the new Bond Girl collection on my ring finger. The gorgeous bright coral of Come Here is incredibly hot and I think it's perfect for sunny weather. I used two coats of the gorgeous creme. Honey Ryder has a liquid sand finish and is a sparkling mid-tone gold that is blingy and gritty in an awesome kind of way. Two coats as well.

Press Sample

The combination of gold and coral and the juxtaposition of the smooth and gritty textures is exciting and quite pleasing to my eye. I picked up the Essie at my local CVS for about $8 and the OPI was provided for my consideration, but I believe you can pick it up at Ulta and other salon locations for around $9. How do you like this pairing?

Some of the products pictured are samples provided for consideration.

Cult Nails Dance All Night Collection Swatches and Review

2013-05-18T21:03:00.000-07:00

The folks over at Cult Nails have put out a new collection for early summer called Dance All Night. The collection features three sumptuous opaque cremes and three blingy chunky glitters.

Press Sample

First is Faded, a slightly blue toned grey creme. This color is really gorgeous and right up my alley. I found the formula to be a tad thick on application, but I've heard others had no such issue so it might've just been me. This is two coats.

Next is Dance All Night, the polish the collection is named after. This has a clear base with lots of blue and green blingy hex glitters, some iridescent hexes, and lots of micro iridescent glitters. This was on the chunky and thicker side, making it harder to apply evenly. I took my time and this is the result of two coats of placing the glitters with the brush. I want to like it but it's not my favorite.

Here is Nakizzle's Shizzle, a lovely bright robin's egg blue creme. It's the quintessential Cult Nails creme formula, great flow-ability and awesome coverage. Two coats.

Over the blue I layered Walk of Shame, a fabulously decadent gold glitter. The light gold pieces are multi-sized and shaped and there is a hefty dollop of holo bits in it as well for extra wow. This is such a ME polish it's not even funny! One coat.

The last creme is Love At First Sight, a pink toned pastel purple creme. I don't usually gravitate to colors in this family but I really liked this on me. Another perfect formula, two coats. Very shiny :)

And the last glitter is called Center of Attention. I. LOVE. THIS. It's a rosey pink glitter mix like in Walk of Shame but over the purple some of the glitter looks almost duochromey to a lavender! I la la love it so much!! Two coats.

You can purchase this collection right now during the pre-sale event Cult Nails has on their website. All polishes will be available for purchase individually, starting on Sunday, May 19th for $12 per bottle, including their new "wax" topcoat Wax That. What do you think of these beauties? Are you ready to Dance All Night with Cult Nails?

Product samples were provided for consideration.

Picture Polish - Dorothy

2013-05-14T08:07:00.001-07:00

Today I have a lovely new polish to show you, Dorothy by Picture Polish. This polish is a pinkish red jelly with truckloads of silver and red glitter swimming inside, reminiscent of course of the ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz. Not exactly a summer shade but I just love how it glimmers in the sun! Plus I just posted about some Oz shades, so I figured I'd continue the theme ;)

Press Sample

This is two coats. This was a fabulous to apply shade, flows great and easy to make opaque. I think I would prefer if this was slightly more pure red, but I still really like it. You can buy Dorothy online at Picture Polish's Australian website for AUS $10, on Harlow & Co for $13 or Llarowe for $12.50.

Product sample provided for consideration.

Link Love

2013-05-10T13:21:00.002-07:00

cinnamon sand / nails by kayla shevonne

studs and coral / heartNAT

macros for your mobile / chalkboard nails

dotting fiesta / nail polish wars

spring crows / the nail polish project

starlight / crissy ai

glittery butter / samarium's swatches

OPI Soft Shades: Oz The Great and Powerful Collection Swatches and Review

2013-05-07T19:20:00.000-07:00

OPI has coincided their release of the yearly Soft Shades collection with the new Disney movie, Oz the Great and Powerful, making it a whimsical fairy tale themed collection inspired by the movie. The collection includes three milky soft jelly cremes and three blingtastic glitter toppers.

Press Sample

Don't Burst My Bubble, I Theodora You, Glints of Glinda

Lights of Emerald City, Which is Witch?, When Monkeys Fly!

First up is Don't Burst My Bubble. It's a classic OPI Soft Shade, demure and classic. The color is an almost white milky palest pale pink. Beautiful and a great "palate cleanser" if you're looking to take a break from loud bright shades like I do on occasion. Or it's a perfect work-appropriate shade for you folks who want/have to keep it conservative. This is two coats.

Over the base of Don't Burst My Bubble, I layered Lights of Emerald City. A unique and still delicate glitter topper, it is made up of white glitter squares and iridescent mylar squares in a clear base. It's quite dense, this is just one coat! I love the way the mylar hits the light and changes colors.

The next jelly creme is Glints of Glinda. I loved this in the bottle, a milky peach nude. On my nails it isn't my favorite, maybe because it's too close to my skin tone? I bet it would look amazing on someone with a dark complexion. This is two coats. It was less streaky and easier to make opaque than Don't Burst My Bubble but still very jelly-like.

I layered When Monkeys Fly! over Glints of Glinda. This is probably the most unique and fantastical glitter I've ever seen from OPI. It is made up of large mirror-like gold hex glitter and smaller holographic silver hexes. Unfortunately it came to light than many customers were experiencing warping and curling of the giant gold hexagons. They addressed this on their Facebook page, if you're interested. I didn't have a problem with my glitters in the least, and I really am in love with this mani. Two coats of glitter.

This is I Theodora You, a more opaque and less jelly but still squishy pale pink. I absolutely adore colors like this. I feel so feminine and classy when I wear such clean shades. This is two coats.

And last is glitter Which is Witch? A clear base filled with tons of micro holographic silver bits, bars, and hexes. Super dense, this is one layer over I Theodora You. Another hit in my opinion, yet this is probably my least favorite out of the three glitters I swatched. Maybe I need to try it over another color for it to really wow me.

This collection also included a Liquid Sand polish which I will show you in another post, as I didn't care for the way my swatches of it turned out at the time of this post. I loved this collection, and even though I haven't seen the movie it's based upon yet, I can imagine myself in Oz whenever I see these beautiful soft shades ;) My favorites would have to be When Monkeys Fly! and I Theodora You.

This limited edition promotion is available now at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, JCP Salons, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, and ULTA, for $9.00 ($10.95 CAN) suggested retail for each nail lacquer.

Product samples were provided for consideration.

Katie Cazorla Color Flash Instant Gel Nail Color

2013-04-29T20:40:00.001-07:00

Press Release

Katie Cazorla is owner of the Los Angeles-based nail boutique The Painted Nail and star of TV Guide’s Nail Files. She is known for her nail expertise and is trusted by some of Hollywood’s biggest stars seeking beautiful nails.

Katie will launch her newest product, Color Flash Instant Gel Nail Color, as a ShopNBC Today’s Top Value. It will premiere as part of her new ShopNBC show, Hollywood Trends™ with Katie Cazorla.

Why the Color Flash Instant Gel Nail Color is Different:
Unlike other at-home nail gel systems, the Color Flash Instant Gel Nail Color System works in one single step. Forget second coats, pre-polish nail cleansers and endless time under an LED lamp - with Katie’s specially formulated kit you simply apply the color and cure under the lamp for 60 seconds. Additionally, Katie’s system includes a special, fast-acting polish remover that’s unlike anything else on the market. Gentle on your nails yet tough on polish, the included remover is a welcome change from traditional acetone.

Why it works:
The secret behind flawless nails is in the Color Flash’s LED lamp and specially formulated gel nail polish. Quick and easy, the device uses LED lights to cure treated nails in seconds. By combining the LED technology with the special gel nail polish, you’re left with a long-lasting, high-gloss nail color that rivals the best professional treatments.

What’s included:
The Color Flash Instant Gel Nail Color by Katie Cazorla gives you everything you need to get bright, glossy nails at home – just in time for the warm summer months ahead. Included in the kit is the device, three gel colors, a buffer block, a nail file, gel remover, a metal cuticle pusher and 30 foil wraps.

This video shows Katie showing us how to use her new product.

The show launches on ShopNBC on Tuesday, April 30 at midnight ET with additional show times at 5:00am, 10:00am and 2:00pm ET. For more information, visit ShopNBC.com.

I love Katie, you remember when I got to meet her at CosmoProf a few years ago? This product looks awesome and I can't wait to get my hands on it! I especially want to try that gel nail polish remover :)

Ozotic - #609

2013-04-27T14:20:00.001-07:00

Ozotic number 609 is a beautiful scattered holographic silver polish. It is thin enough that you can layer it over different polishes to produce a holo topcoat look or you can build up the coats to make it opaque as I have done here. This is three coats.

Press Sample

Ozotic polishes are made in Australia by the brand Picture Polish. They come in beautiful square bottles with a slightly rubberized handle that carries a nice long brush. The brush head is longer than most, which can be harder to paint with on shorter nails, but I find with a lighter touch they work well for me.

You can buy this online at Picture Polish's Australian website for AUS $12, on Llarowe or Harlow & Co for $14.50. What do you think? I love this look on my short little nubby nails :)

Product samples were provided for consideration. Disclosure Policy

Color Club - Beyond

2013-04-23T21:03:00.000-07:00

This is Color Club Beyond. Stunning. Sickening. Sexy. I am loving Color Club's Halo Hues collection and this one comes from the newest group released earlier this year. I reviewed another polish from this collection a while ago, Over the Moon. This one might top my excitement over that one though. This black explodes in a rainbow of holo! I might prefer if it was a tad darker overall, but the effect in real life is just beautiful. This is two coats.

Press Sample

You can get this polish and other Color Club polishes from their website for $8-10 each. What do you think of this holo black beauty? I'm loving it!

Color Club Website | Facebook | Twitter | Blogger Network

Product samples were provided for consideration. Disclosure Policy

BB Couture - Blind Love

2013-04-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

Today I have a fabulous BB Couture nail polish to show you called Blind Love. It's a very cool gold silver hybrid foil. Gorgeous and I've heard it mentioned as a possible Chanel Kaleidoscope dupe. I've never seen it in person so I can't attest to that, but it is gorgeous in it's own right.

Nothing to Disclose

I love how this polish looks either almost platinum or gold in different lights, with just a hint of green tint. The texture is buttery and easy to apply without very obvious brushstrokes, as some metallics are prone to. This is two coats.

You can buy BB Couture nail lacquers from their website and from Overall Beauty. Be sure to follow their Facebook and Twitter to keep up with their latest releases and news!

Lynnderella - Pink and Red Went to Bed

2013-04-17T20:42:00.001-07:00

Nothing to Disclose

Hi everyone! Today I have a special polish to show you. It's one of my most beloved lacquers of all time. Probably mostly because I paid way too much for it. But hey, you only live once right ;) This is a limited edition polish from Lynnderella that I got on ebay called Pink and Red Went to Bed. It's is made up of large and medium matte red hex glitters with a slightly shimmery almost clear pink tinted base and blue iridescent shards. It's pretty magnificent. I layered two coats over Essie Cute as a Button for this mani.

It's made up of mostly glitter so it is incredibly dense. Quite hard to paint with, and it takes a hefty dose of topcoat to smooth. But look how pretty!! I'm irrationally in love with this. What do you think? Am I totally crazy? It's ok if you say yes, I know I am :) Have a great day!

My Cuticle Story

2013-04-13T22:41:00.000-07:00

I have gorilla cuticles. At least, that's what a sassy manicurist told me one day as she cut them, a few years ago when I was getting a mani, before I had gotten into doing my nails myself. The rest of the manicure was less than relaxing. Needless to say, I have a bit of a complex about my cuticles as a result, even now. I have always had dryish skin around my nails and my cuticles grow like weeds. Apparently, more so than anyone that manicurist had ever seen.

When I really got into photographing and blogging about my nails, I was always searching and experimenting with new products to try and combat this problem. Ragged and cracked cuticles in up close and personal photos = no fun for anyone. It got to the point where I would cut my cuticles almost daily to keep them tamed. If you didn't know, cutting your cuticles is pretty much the worst thing I could do for my problem. It was a viscous cycle, I cut them so they would look better, they would grow back harder, uglier and more ragged, so I had to keep cutting them just to have them appear presentable. More than once I've sliced too deep and created a wound, ouch.

No amount of cuticle remover would work to totally eradicate them like cutting did. Oils, creams, and balms didn't help me. I have some OCD tendencies, and whenever I saw the slightest bit of extra cuticle or skin, I'd cut. I thought I would be doomed to be a slave to my nippers forever. Then about a month ago, I decided I was strong enough to quit my habit. Having normal, healthy cuticles was my right and I was going to have them dammit!

On the advice of some of my fellow bloggers and nailphiles, I quit cold turkey and started using a gentle cuticle remover about every other day, pushed them back often, and became a slave to cuticle balm. I had just gotten a sample of Famous Names new Dadi'Oil, a cuticle oil with avocado, jojoba, vitamin E, and olive oil that is non-greasy and absorbs quickly. All the oils I'd tried in the past kept my hands yucky and greasy for hours and never came close to softening my skin. Dadi'Oil is truly a miracle worker for me and I believe is a big part of my success of not cutting for the past month. Unfortunately, it is a pro-only product, so you need a license to be able to buy it. I used Blue Cross Cuticle Remover from Sally's, orangewood sticks from Walmart, Qtica cuticle balm from Qtica, and Dadi'Oil from Famous Names.

Press Sample

It has taken this long, about a month, for them to finally be in fighting shape. The first week was brutal, but it got easier. Not that they are technically perfect or even close to, but they do look more natural and normal. And I no longer have such an intense urge to cut them, though I don't know if that will ever go away completely. I don't know if it's terribly apparent in my photos to you as a reader, but it was a huge sense of anxiety for me and now I am happier with them than I thought I could be. And it's only going to get better :D

Some of the products mentioned were provided for consideration.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Emoting Me Collection

2013-04-11T09:00:00.000-07:00

Press Sample

Today is the big day! The revealing of Rescue Beauty Lounge's new collection, Emoting Me. Below is the trailer creator Ji Baek made for the collection, and her blog post explaining the collection is here if you haven't already seen it.

First in the collection is Thank You. It's one of my favorite RBL polishes of all time, for real. What a great start to the collection, my heavens. I always try to show my gratitude and make others feel appreciated. Sometimes it really is enough to say thanks, it might make all the difference in the world to that someone. This polish is a classic naked shade of nude with an angelic pink shimmer haze. This is three coats.

Next is Be Humble, another amazing soft shade which I am head over heels with. I have a lot of experience learning to be humble and it's gradually gotten easier to remember I am just a small bit of spirit in this great big existence. This color is a soft greyed taupe with a shimmer glaze in blue, pink, and lavender. Three coats.

We all need a little Forgiveness now and again. I find myself needing to ask for it more than I would like to admit sometimes. It's a brave heart that can admit when they have done wrong and it's most definitely a lesson we all have to keep learning throughout life. This is a dove lavender opaque creme that leaves me feeling as if my nails are wrapped in soft cashmere sweater. Two coats.

And now for a Smile! I've been told more than once that my smile is infectious so I try to use it often. Even if I'm not 100%, I try to tell myself to wear a grin to show others the strength of my spirit. This color is a bright and happy pinky red with sunny shimmer bits of gold. This is two coats.

Now let's all Pause for effect... :) Remembering to take a second and take a deep breath and just be for a moment can be hard, but is oh so necessary. Those moments give us a chance to catch up, regroup, and appreciate. This vibrant violet shimmer is complex and full and quite striking. Staring into it's deepness gives me time for that necessary pause indeed. Two coats.

Our next emotive color is called Become One. I have always been an appreciative resident of the earth we live on. Us, our planet and everything together on it are all one living, breathing karmic organism out here in our spot in the universe. This bright lush green creme is a great representation of nature. This is two coats.

And last in the collection is called Turn It Around. We cannot hide away from the negatives in life if we desire to experience positives. I take comfort in the knowledge that if things go down, they must come up. This polish has a mossy green base and is exploding with copper and pinky metallic shimmer. Two coats here.

So what do you think ReBeLs? I'm incredibly impressed with Ji's vision for these lacquers and there isn't a color in the bunch I don't love. All of the formulas were spot on and flowed wonderfully onto the nail. I did notice that if i tried to use top coat right away some smeared a bit, so I would suggest to allow them dry a tad longer than normal and then to put on your top coat.

Rescue Beauty Lounge nail polishes are exclusively available at www.rescuebeauty.com for $20 per bottle. The 48 hour Pre-Order event starts on 4/12/13, then the collection will be available to the public for regular purchase at the end of April.

Rescue Beauty Lounge nail polishes are created with resin and high molecular polymers to improve flexibility, durability, and high shine. They contain no harmful Toluene, Formaldehyde, DBP, and Formaldehyde Resin. They do not test on animals.

Product samples were provided for consideration. For more info view my Disclosure Policy.

Color Club - Over the Moon

2013-04-10T20:07:00.001-07:00

Press Sample

Color Club has released two holographic collections, called Halo Hues, in the last few months. Six at the end of last year and six around the beginning of this year. You know I'm obsessed with holo so I naturally HAD to have at least some of them. They have an amazing holo effect and glow in beautiful colors. Here is one of the colors from the 2013 set, called Over the Moon. It's a beautiful vibrant yet soft sky blue with a strong holo finish. This is two coats.

You can get this polish and other Color Club polishes from their website for $8-10 each. What do you think of this stunning blue? Are you into holo as much as I am or is it too flashy for you?

Color Club Website | Facebook | Twitter | Blogger Network

Product samples were provided for consideration. For more info view my Disclosure Policy.

Ozotic - #910

2013-04-08T22:02:00.001-07:00

Press Sample

This is a Picture Polish lacquer under their label Ozotic, number 910. It's a gold duochrome that glints green at certain angles, with large holographic scattered shimmer bits. I LOVE this polish. It's one of my few coveted Ozotic polishes and it combines three of my most loved characteristics in a polish. I love holo of any kind, I love gold, and I love duochromes! This reminds me a bit of Chanel Peridot but I had an easier time with this formula and this one is overall more gold. This is two coats with topcoat (after two days wear!)

You can buy this online at Picture Polish's Australian website for AUS $12 or on Llarowe for $14.50. What do you think? Are you digging 910 as much as I am?

Disclosure: Product samples were provided for consideration. For more info view my Disclosure Policy.

Wing Dust Collections - Silent Reverie

2013-03-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

Hi folks! I have a polish I've been waiting to wear for a while now. I was trying to let my nails grow a little so I could emulate Alexis Leigh's mani shown here. This polish is by Wind Dust Collections, an indie polish maker based in Canada. I fell in love with Alexis's swatches and knew I needed this immediately.

Silent Reverie is named after the Sarah Mclachlan song Angel, and I end up singing it in my head whenever I think of the name haha. The base of this is a beautiful ethereal white with gold shimmer. The glitters are in gold, satin white, iridescent and two shades of blue in varying sizes. Beautiful color combo that gives a the polish heavenly look. There is a lot of glitter sunk around the bottom of the bottle so I might try to add some Nail Pattern Boldness Glitter Food to make them swim better for next time. It was a tad on the sheer side, more so than I expected. This is three coats.

I bought this from Wing Dust Collections' Etsy store. They sell for between $8.50 and $10. Shipping is from Canada so takes a little longer than it would if it were from the states, but not too long. You can also purchase WDC polishes from Llarowe for $10.50, although Silent Reverie is not currently available on either site. You can keep up with their news and stock info on their Facebook page. What do you think of this demure polish? I'm in love!

Pretty & Polished Color Change Nail Lacquers

2013-03-26T08:47:00.001-07:00

Today I have some polishes to show you that were sent to me for review from indie polish maker Pretty & Polished. They are unique in that they are color changing lacquers, meaning they change colors according to temperature. A mani using these ends up producing a french tip gradient-like effect because the bed of your nail is warm and the free edge is cooler, depending of course on how long your nails are. Water temperature affects them too, you can actually see the color change when your hands are in water of varying temps which is pretty cool.

Sometimes these types of polishes are marketed as "mood changing" or "thermal" but as far as I know they all use the same type of method to get the color change. There are also color changing polishes that change when exposed to UV light like the sun, but those are different. These are my favorite type of color changing polishes because my nails usually have a pretty nice free edge, meaning the two-tone effect is usually always evident. If your nails are too short they can just stay the "warm" color, which I think kind of negates the purpose.

This first one is called Pretty Chameleon, named for the color changing lizard of course. The cool color is a medium bright magenta pink with bits of sandy type glitter and the cool color is a light strawberry milk with the glitter being more apparent as purple bits. I was thinking that a top coat might mess up the effect (which it does not) so these photos are taken without it, which is why they look bumpy. This is two thick coats with my hand at normal temperature. This is how the polish would look most of the time.

This is the same polish with the picture taken right after I dipped my hand in hot water. It was a cold day so it wanted to change back very fast which is why it's a bit blurry.

And here is the polish after dipping my fingers in cold water. See the water droplet on my pinky?

This next polish is called Cuttlefish, which is a color changing marine fish. This how it looks with my hand at regular body temperature. The warm color is a pale blue almost white cream with blue and green glitters and the cool color is a bright teal aqua with the same glitters. This is three coats. The glitters were a bit tough to place but not terrible.

This is the warm color, the photo is taken after I dipped my nails in hot water. Again it wanted to change color really fast so this is a bit blurred. Who knew it wasn't easy to take photos of waterlogged nails?

And this is the cool color shown after I dunked my nails in cold water, a pretty bright teal ocean blue with peeks of the glitter. I love how this looks!

After I took the photos above, I decided to experiment with a top coat and it really improves the overall look of these, evidenced below. I think the polishes tend to run a bit thick and the glitters were bumpy in them both, so of course top coat would help the look, but I was worried it would affect the color change. It did not. And creator Chels even says so on her website, but of course I didn't do my research before I swatched them haha.

You can buy these and P&P's other color changing polishes on their website for $9.50 for a full size bottle. They also sell them on their Etsy store. What do you think of these two? Have you tried any color change type nail polishes before?

Products provided for review.

Nfu Oh - #63

2013-03-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

Everyone I know that loves polish loves holographic polish. And I am no exception. I ADORE holo lacquers! They were super en vogue a while ago and had a big resurgence with the indie community making their own versions to sell online, even though they've been around for a long time. Remember Sally Hansen's Magical Nail Makeup line? Nfu Oh is one of those brands that has been doing holo polish right forever. They are made out of France and their bottles are so gorgeous, just to die for. They are shaped like a dress, with a corset handle and a skirt glass bottom.

The Nfu Oh polish I have to show you today is #63, a fabulous pale pink with a crazy linear holo. These give off an impressive rainbow flash and apply easily. Some holos have trouble going on the nail unless you use a special base coat, but I didn't have any trouble using this with my regular one. This is two coats in full sunlight, no top coat.

Do you own any Nfu Oh polishes? I need to get more haha, I only have two and they were both presents! (Thanks girl :-*) I believe you can find them on Ebay from time to time, and you can order from FabulouStreet for $12.50. I heard a long time ago they were having credit card issues, but I haven't heard anything negative about the site since then. Anyone order from them recently? Have a great week kittens!

Lynnderella - Gotta Love Brains

2013-03-19T20:02:00.000-07:00

I have a Lynnderella nail polish to show you all today, called Gotta Love Brains. It's from her early Halloween collection from 2011. I've been wanting to get my hands on this for a long time, since it came out, and I finally bit the bullet and purchased it.

The base of this is a sheer grey jelly with pink microshimmer and a bit of a white fleck thing. The glitter is in multi-sized squares, hexes, strings, in purple, silver, pink and blue. I don't love the very large silver hexes, and some of the pink bars have curled but overall I really like the assortment of glitters. This is three coats.

You can purchase Lynnderella polishes from her Ebay store, www.lynnderella.com. This one sells for $23 and is worth every penny if you ask me. I know people are wary of the price of Lynn's, but they're just as nice as department store luxury brand polishes and more unique in my opinion. It's obviously up to every individual as to what they want to spend their money on haha, I don't see much point in worrying about it. What do you think of Gotta Love Brains?

How To Keep up with Kellie Gonzo

2013-03-18T16:51:00.001-07:00

So I'm sure you have all heard about the latest Google product getting the axe, Google Reader. If you know and love this RSS reader like I do, you are most likely devastated and distraught at the thought of it's impending death. But there is no need to fret, there are many ways to follow KellieGonzo.com and stay abreast of all my newest blog posts!

Facebook - I don't use facebook really for my personal life, just for my blog stuff. I have an automatic post to my fan page every time my blog has a new entry, so if you use it a lot you should become a fan of my page so you can see my updates.

Twitter - I tweet when I feel like it, sometimes a lot and sometimes not so much. But I also have an auto post set up whenever I blog so my Twitter gets a link. I tend to live tweet dumb tv shows that I'm watching if you're into that.

Instagram - I didn't hop on the IG bandwagon when it first came out, but I'm really into it now. I post my "nail of the day"s and also links to my new blog posts. I keep pretty up to date on my feed a lot and if you follow me I'm very likely to follow you. And like all your photos. Because I really like you.

Tumblr - I used to be huge into Tumblr and it was my number one "time wasting" website. I put that in quotation marks because time is never wasted when you're getting wasted, right? Anyhoo, I do auto post my blog links to Tumblr and also my Instagram feed goes there most of the time too. Tumblr is for cool kids.

Hello Cotton - This is a site I'm not too familiar with but you can follow my blog there if you use it.

BlogLovin' - This site is getting a lot of love, haha, since the announcement of Google Reader's demise. It's pretty user friendly and you can import all of your GR subscriptions with relative ease, so you don't have to re-follow everything manually.

Some other RSS Reader - If you use another reader like Feedly or something cool I don't know about, here is a link to my plain RSS feed.

Subscribe Via Email - This one is something I tend to favor for a lot of blogs that I really want to keep up to date on. Even when I don't go to my Reader every day, I always check my email. Like a billion times a day. If you're like me and you like something reminding you to read something, rather than relying on your own forgetful brain, this is a good option.

As always, please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or concerns you might have. I'll do my best to lend a helping, freshly manicured, hand. Thanks for reading and giving my craziness an audience.

BB Couture Pastel Bunnies Collection

2013-03-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

The newest collection from BB Couture for Spring is called Pastel Bunnies, a selection of six pastel shades. They're all have cutie names and great formulas. Reminds me that the Easter season is right on the horizon and yummy candy starts showing up in stores! I'm a Peeps marshmallow-aholic y'all.

First up is Bunny Bum, which might be the most adorable polish name I've ever heard. It's a soft peachy pinky pale orange creme with super subtle shimmer. This has a pretty good formula, a tad patchy. This is two coats.

Bunny Love is a beautiful cool lavender creme. The formula is pretty perfect and went on like a dream. I adore this one, beautiful color. This is two coats.

This one is called Cotton Tail and it's a fabulous shade of bright pastel green. Another great formula, two coats. I might end up wearing this as my green on St. Patrick's Day!

Snow Bunny is a sticky sweet slightly dusty pale pink. This one was a little patchy but not terrible. I think the name is perfect. I could see a bunny wearing a snowsuit this color and going for a ski run haha. Two coats.

I fell in love with this color as soon as I saw it. Honey Bunny is a milky pale yellow with hidden shimmer. Almost a lemon chiffon type of yellow. This reminds me of one of BB's glitters, Pina Colada, but without the glitter. It's quite thin and a bit patchy but I didn't even care. This is four coats.

And last is Bunny Boo Boo, another darling name haha. It's a pale yet deep pastel violet with shimmer that is a little more perceptible than the rest of the shades have. This formula is top shelf, really buttery. This is two coats.

I know doing pastels for Spring sounds a little predictable, and that may be true, but I have never been a slave to trends or seasonal colors. I just wear what I like! I enjoy all these shades, my favorites would be Honey Bunny and Bunny Love. You can buy BB Couture nail polish at their website or from Overall Beauty for $10.95 each. What do you think of these bunny babies?

Products provided for review.

Lynnderella - Magic Fairy Stars

2013-03-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Sorry it's been more than a couple days since I last updated. I was a little under the weather and the weather has sucked big time so I haven't been able to do any decent swatching! Today I am showing you a special polish that I just added to my collection. It's called Magic Fairy Stars by Lynnderella. This polish was made last year for a Hurricane Relief charity fund and I am so excited to have it! It's so beautiful.

It's quite complex, like most Lynn's, made up primarily of lavender and light aqua metallic glitters, some holo, some iridescent, some large moon shapes and some silver stars. I love the moons and stars the most, so cute! This might be my favorite Lynn yet! These swatches show two coats over white creme Cult Nails Tempest.

sunlight

shade

You can purchase Lynnderella polishes from her Ebay store, www.lynnderella.com. She just released a new collection for Easter, Everything Coming Up Neon, which you can see on her blog http://lynnderella-lynnderella.blogspot.com/. Some fun shades in there :) Have a great Sunday!