Hi guys!
I'm really loving this whole textured polish trend, so I'm excited to show you the Zoya PixieDust Collection today. It took a while for these to arrive at my local beauty supply store, so I know you've already seen a million swatches of them. But let's be honest, you can never see too much pretty polish, right?
This PixieDust shades are meant to be worn without top coat, but I've shown them both with and without top coat below. You should know that these eat top coat like crazy. Even as I was taking photos after just adding top coat, the texture would start to poke through before I finished taking photos. I suggest that if you wish to wear any of these with top coat, add a coat of Gelous (available at Sally Beauty Supply) first and then a generous coat of top coat over that.
Chyna is a rich ruby red with fine red sparkly glitter. Oh this is such a gorgeous and sexy shade of red! I love it. In fact, I'm wearing it right now! The formula was excellent and this one needed just two coats.
Dahlia is black with fine black and silver glitter. I like this one a lot - the contrast between the black and silver makes for a really cool look. The formula was great and this was the only other one that required just two coats.
Godiva is a lovely shade of nude/beige with fine silver glitter. We all know I love nude polish, so nude textured polish is an automatic winner for me! The formula was really good, albeit a little sheer to start, so I needed three coats for full coverage. I have some really awesome (at least it's awesome in my mind) nail art planned for this shade, so keep an eye out for that!
London is a foggy grey with fine silver glitter. This one reminds me of a dreary foggy day, but in the best of ways. The formula was very easy to work with and I needed three coats for my swatch below.
NYX is a soft, dusty periwinkle with silver glitter. This one has a delicate touch to it that I really like. The formula was great, although a little sheer so I needed three coats to reach the opacity you see below.
Vespa is a soft, dusty green with silver glitter. I don't think I own another green polish that's quite this colour. I like it a lot! This one starts out on the sheer side as well, but the formula is really good and it builds up nicely. My swatch shows three coats.
Besides these, the only other textured polishes I've tried so far have been the OPI Liquid Sand polishes. In comparison, the Zoya PixieDust polishes consist of a much finer glitter than the OPI ones. I honestly don't like one better than the other, I just really like the trend as a whole. With that said, I also can't wait to try the non-glitter ones from brands such as China Glaze and Milani!
Overall, I think it goes without saying that I really love the Zoya PixieDust Collection. And I can't wait for the new summer PixieDust shades to get here! Those ones might be even more "me"! They're actually already available on the Zoya website, so hopefully I'll be able to get my hands on them soon. I honestly love them all so it's hard to pick favourites from this set, but if I were forced to choose I'd probably go with Chyna, Godiva and Vespa.
The Zoya PixieDust Collection is available from the Zoya website ($9 each) for US residents or from Nail Polish Canada ($9.75 each) for those of us in Canada.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Review - OPI Matte Top Coat
Hi everyone!
I think that with all the textured matte polishes being released this year, matte nail polish in general is also tagging along and making a real comeback. Matte-ifying your polish can really add some interest and edge to any mani! OPI is doing their part to contribute to the matte trend by releasing their first matte top coat next month, and today I'll be sharing my review of it with you.
I always love the look of matte-ified glitter manicures, so I decided to paint my nails using a base colour of OPI Suzi's Hungary Again! and then topped it with OPI Polka.com. Both of these shades are from the recent Euro Centrale Collection. Once my mani was dry, I added a coat of OPI Matte Top Coat to each nail and waited for the magic to happen. It took approximately one full minute for all of my nails to be completely matte.
The OPI Matte Top Coat features OPI's exclusive Pro-Wide brush, which is always a pleasure to work with. The formula was great and it flowed really nicely onto the nails.
I actually used to work at a beauty supply store and it was insane how many people would come in looking for a matte top coat! Our store never carried any, and although I knew that both China Glaze and Essie had released matte top coats, neither was available locally. So I'm really glad that OPI will be bridging that gap in the market, at least here in NL anyways.
Overall, I'm really happy with the OPI Matte Top Coat and it'll definitely be my new go-to matte topper!
The OPI Matte Top Coat will be available started April 2013 at Professional Salons and Spas across Canada for $10.95 CAN suggested retail.
I think that with all the textured matte polishes being released this year, matte nail polish in general is also tagging along and making a real comeback. Matte-ifying your polish can really add some interest and edge to any mani! OPI is doing their part to contribute to the matte trend by releasing their first matte top coat next month, and today I'll be sharing my review of it with you.
I always love the look of matte-ified glitter manicures, so I decided to paint my nails using a base colour of OPI Suzi's Hungary Again! and then topped it with OPI Polka.com. Both of these shades are from the recent Euro Centrale Collection. Once my mani was dry, I added a coat of OPI Matte Top Coat to each nail and waited for the magic to happen. It took approximately one full minute for all of my nails to be completely matte.
The OPI Matte Top Coat features OPI's exclusive Pro-Wide brush, which is always a pleasure to work with. The formula was great and it flowed really nicely onto the nails.
I actually used to work at a beauty supply store and it was insane how many people would come in looking for a matte top coat! Our store never carried any, and although I knew that both China Glaze and Essie had released matte top coats, neither was available locally. So I'm really glad that OPI will be bridging that gap in the market, at least here in NL anyways.
Overall, I'm really happy with the OPI Matte Top Coat and it'll definitely be my new go-to matte topper!
The OPI Matte Top Coat will be available started April 2013 at Professional Salons and Spas across Canada for $10.95 CAN suggested retail.
The product(s) in this post were provided by the manufacturer or their PR in exchange for an honest review.
Monday, March 25, 2013
Engagement Party Nails (+ Cake!)
Hey everyone!
I hope everyone's weekend was good! Our engagement party yesterday was absolutely amazing. We couldn't have asked for any better! It was just so nice to celebrate this with our close family and friends. :)
So of course, you know I had to have some fun engagement nail art to wear! The colour I used in all the decorations for the party were aqua and white (very Tiffany-esque), so I had to incorporate those colours into my mani. I ended up doing a gradient on most of my nails and then I did an accent nail on my ring finger (how apropos) of an engagement ring!
The aqua colour used in the gradient and as the base colour for the accent nail is OPI Can't Find My Czechbook from the recent Euro Centrale Collection. I was originally going to go with the quintessential Tiffany polish China Glaze For Audrey, but when I pulled it out of the drawer I realized that my bottle is nearing empty! So I'll have to pick up a new one very soon.
In lieu of that, I searched for other appropriate shades and came up with two: China Glaze Aquadelic and OPI Can't Find My Czechbook. I couldn't decide which one to go with because although Aquadelic was closer to my original choice of For Audrey, CFMC was actually a better match for my decorations. So I took to and asked you guys to decide for me! The vote was overwhelmingly in favour of the OPI shade, so that's obviously what I went with.
Luckily, there's no long story about the white polish; that's Sinful Colors Snow Me White. I also added a coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust to all of the nails to give them some sparkle. And as always, the gradient was done using the method I outlined in my gradient nails tutorial.
The accent nail features an engagement ring that I drew using a small nail art brush and China Glaze Cheers To You. The diamond is filled in using Sinful Colors Snow Me White and I also added a little bit of China Glaze Fairy Dust to the diamond to give it some sparkle and to tie it in with the rest of the nails.
Sadly, the ring is really shiny and reflective, so my camera couldn't capture it as well as I would have liked. For that reason, I also included a flash photo, which does show it off a little better.
I also have a picture of our cake! It was taken by our cake decorator, which is why it has her watermark on it, but it's a much better photo than any of the ones we got of it at the party.
Isn't it beautiful?! It was so difficult to cut into it because it was just too pretty, but we had to taste it! And it was just as delicious as it was beautiful!
Thanks for looking!
I hope everyone's weekend was good! Our engagement party yesterday was absolutely amazing. We couldn't have asked for any better! It was just so nice to celebrate this with our close family and friends. :)
So of course, you know I had to have some fun engagement nail art to wear! The colour I used in all the decorations for the party were aqua and white (very Tiffany-esque), so I had to incorporate those colours into my mani. I ended up doing a gradient on most of my nails and then I did an accent nail on my ring finger (how apropos) of an engagement ring!
The aqua colour used in the gradient and as the base colour for the accent nail is OPI Can't Find My Czechbook from the recent Euro Centrale Collection. I was originally going to go with the quintessential Tiffany polish China Glaze For Audrey, but when I pulled it out of the drawer I realized that my bottle is nearing empty! So I'll have to pick up a new one very soon.
In lieu of that, I searched for other appropriate shades and came up with two: China Glaze Aquadelic and OPI Can't Find My Czechbook. I couldn't decide which one to go with because although Aquadelic was closer to my original choice of For Audrey, CFMC was actually a better match for my decorations. So I took to and asked you guys to decide for me! The vote was overwhelmingly in favour of the OPI shade, so that's obviously what I went with.
Luckily, there's no long story about the white polish; that's Sinful Colors Snow Me White. I also added a coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust to all of the nails to give them some sparkle. And as always, the gradient was done using the method I outlined in my gradient nails tutorial.
The accent nail features an engagement ring that I drew using a small nail art brush and China Glaze Cheers To You. The diamond is filled in using Sinful Colors Snow Me White and I also added a little bit of China Glaze Fairy Dust to the diamond to give it some sparkle and to tie it in with the rest of the nails.
Sadly, the ring is really shiny and reflective, so my camera couldn't capture it as well as I would have liked. For that reason, I also included a flash photo, which does show it off a little better.
I also have a picture of our cake! It was taken by our cake decorator, which is why it has her watermark on it, but it's a much better photo than any of the ones we got of it at the party.
Isn't it beautiful?! It was so difficult to cut into it because it was just too pretty, but we had to taste it! And it was just as delicious as it was beautiful!
Thanks for looking!
Friday, March 22, 2013
Sweet Tips Nails - Assorted Swatches
Happy Friday!
What does everyone have planned for the weekend? I've obviously got a busy weekend ahead of me with the engagement party on Sunday! I'm spending tonight making/decorating cookies and tomorrow I'm setting up tables, chairs, decorations, etc and then doing my nails in the evening. You know I'm going to have some cute engagement nail art to show you!
Anyways, today I have a few polishes from the indie brand Sweet Tips Nails. I have the pleasure of knowing the gal behind the brand, Jen, and she's super sweet. I definitely think her brand deserves some more attention! Check out a few swatches below to see what you think!
Foil Wrapped Eggs is a clear base that consists of metallic blue, green, pink, purple and gold hex glitters as well as small silver slices and shards. The inspiration is clear from the name, and I think Jen nailed it. This reminds me so much of those little foil wrapped eggs that usually pop up in stores during the Easter season!
Because I wanted to keep with the sort of metallic look, I decided to layer Foil Wrapped Eggs over Hard Candy Bity Blue and I'm so in love with this combo! The formula was easy to work with, although I did have to push a few of the hexes around with my brush so that there would be an even distribution on the nails. I only needed one coat to get the glitter coverage you see below.
Macaron is a clear base that's packed with a beautiful mix of pink, gold, and pastel green glitters. The glitters are all different sizes and shapes - there's hexes, squares and my favourite, circles! It's such a fun polish, while still remaining pretty and delicate at the same time, much like the sweet French confection that inspired the polishes.
I've shown Macaron over Hard Candy Little Bo Pink and although I really like the combination, I know that Macaron will work over a variety of other shades as well. White, peach, a light teal green, etc. The formula was easy to work with and I only needed one coat to get the glitter coverage you see below.
Robin's Egg is a soft, light blue base with subtle gold and green shimmer and brown, gold, copper and blue glitters in different shapes and sizes. There's hexes of varying sizes as well as circles. Wow, I really love this! It looks so much like a Robin's egg! It's a full coverage polish, so there's no need for a base polish underneath. My swatch shows just two coats of Robin's Egg on its own, and the formula was really great.
Overall, I really like each of these polishes! It's obvious to me that a lot of thought goes into Jen's polishes because she's managed to absolutely nail the inspiration for each one. And how adorable are the labels? So cute!
Oh and I should mention that Jen also sent me a mini cuticle oil to try out (it's birthday cake scented!) and that worked really well. I'm usually more of a cuticle balm user than cuticle oil, but I'll definitely be using up this bottle of oil. She also offers lip balms and jewelry, as well!
Sweet Tips Nails polishes and other products can be purchased from the Sweet Tips Nails etsy store.
What does everyone have planned for the weekend? I've obviously got a busy weekend ahead of me with the engagement party on Sunday! I'm spending tonight making/decorating cookies and tomorrow I'm setting up tables, chairs, decorations, etc and then doing my nails in the evening. You know I'm going to have some cute engagement nail art to show you!
Anyways, today I have a few polishes from the indie brand Sweet Tips Nails. I have the pleasure of knowing the gal behind the brand, Jen, and she's super sweet. I definitely think her brand deserves some more attention! Check out a few swatches below to see what you think!
Foil Wrapped Eggs is a clear base that consists of metallic blue, green, pink, purple and gold hex glitters as well as small silver slices and shards. The inspiration is clear from the name, and I think Jen nailed it. This reminds me so much of those little foil wrapped eggs that usually pop up in stores during the Easter season!
Because I wanted to keep with the sort of metallic look, I decided to layer Foil Wrapped Eggs over Hard Candy Bity Blue and I'm so in love with this combo! The formula was easy to work with, although I did have to push a few of the hexes around with my brush so that there would be an even distribution on the nails. I only needed one coat to get the glitter coverage you see below.
Macaron is a clear base that's packed with a beautiful mix of pink, gold, and pastel green glitters. The glitters are all different sizes and shapes - there's hexes, squares and my favourite, circles! It's such a fun polish, while still remaining pretty and delicate at the same time, much like the sweet French confection that inspired the polishes.
I've shown Macaron over Hard Candy Little Bo Pink and although I really like the combination, I know that Macaron will work over a variety of other shades as well. White, peach, a light teal green, etc. The formula was easy to work with and I only needed one coat to get the glitter coverage you see below.
Robin's Egg is a soft, light blue base with subtle gold and green shimmer and brown, gold, copper and blue glitters in different shapes and sizes. There's hexes of varying sizes as well as circles. Wow, I really love this! It looks so much like a Robin's egg! It's a full coverage polish, so there's no need for a base polish underneath. My swatch shows just two coats of Robin's Egg on its own, and the formula was really great.
Overall, I really like each of these polishes! It's obvious to me that a lot of thought goes into Jen's polishes because she's managed to absolutely nail the inspiration for each one. And how adorable are the labels? So cute!
Oh and I should mention that Jen also sent me a mini cuticle oil to try out (it's birthday cake scented!) and that worked really well. I'm usually more of a cuticle balm user than cuticle oil, but I'll definitely be using up this bottle of oil. She also offers lip balms and jewelry, as well!
Sweet Tips Nails polishes and other products can be purchased from the Sweet Tips Nails etsy store.
The product(s) in this post were provided by the manufacturer or their PR in exchange for an honest review.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Review & Swatches - China Glaze Hologlam Collection
Hello fellow polish lovers!
Today I have a very exciting and much anticipated collection to share with you. It's the China Glaze Hologlam Collection! Ever since the OMG Collection, we've been after China Glaze to create another holographic collection. Well, they finally gave in to our nagging and released the Hologlam Collection, which consists of twelve new holographic polishes.
Swatches and a review of all twelve shades after the jump!
Today I have a very exciting and much anticipated collection to share with you. It's the China Glaze Hologlam Collection! Ever since the OMG Collection, we've been after China Glaze to create another holographic collection. Well, they finally gave in to our nagging and released the Hologlam Collection, which consists of twelve new holographic polishes.
Swatches and a review of all twelve shades after the jump!
Read more »
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Framed Comic Nail Art - Featuring piCture pOlish O'Hara
Hi everyone!
It's that time of the week again! Time for a new piCture pOlish shade! This week I'll be showing you O'Hara, a blazing and fiery bright red with a scattered holographic finish. First let's take a look at it on its own and then I'll be showing you some super fun nail art that I added to it.
Isn't it gorgeous? I don't know how I've had it sitting in my to-swatch bin for so long without using it! The formula of O'Hara was superb. It flowed perfectly onto the nail and covered easily in two coats.
The nail art I added is a design that I've been seeing around a lot lately. I think it originates from the one and only , but I'm not certain.
It was pretty easy to create these framed comic accent nails. All I did was use a striper brush to outline O'Hara with some black nail polish (Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme). The key is to make the lines are clean as possible, but you can always go back with a little bit of O'Hara on your brush to fix any mistakes. Once I finished the frames, I went in with a white creme polish (Sinful Colors Snow Me White) and added the "reflection".
There is another method for creating the framed nail art look: start with the colour you want to use for your outline (for me it's the black), and then just paint over that colour with your second shade, leaving small gaps near the cuticle and on both sides of your nail. Once that's dry, go back and add black to just the tip to complete the frame.
This method is considered easier than the way I went about doing it, but I already had O'Hara on my nails and didn't want to remove it to start with the black. No matter how you go about creating it, I think the framed look is awesome.
With all of that said, O'Hara is easily going on my list of best red polishes of all-time. Seriously, this is a must-have for any polish lover.
piCture pOlish is available online at the piCture pOlish store. They do ship internationally, but there's also many network members all over the world whom you can purchase from. Refer to the Network Members List for a complete list of where you can find piCture pOlish. Also, be sure to check out all of piCture pOlish's social media links:
Thanks for looking! And check back next week for another great piCture pOlish shade!
It's that time of the week again! Time for a new piCture pOlish shade! This week I'll be showing you O'Hara, a blazing and fiery bright red with a scattered holographic finish. First let's take a look at it on its own and then I'll be showing you some super fun nail art that I added to it.
Isn't it gorgeous? I don't know how I've had it sitting in my to-swatch bin for so long without using it! The formula of O'Hara was superb. It flowed perfectly onto the nail and covered easily in two coats.
The nail art I added is a design that I've been seeing around a lot lately. I think it originates from the one and only , but I'm not certain.
It was pretty easy to create these framed comic accent nails. All I did was use a striper brush to outline O'Hara with some black nail polish (Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme). The key is to make the lines are clean as possible, but you can always go back with a little bit of O'Hara on your brush to fix any mistakes. Once I finished the frames, I went in with a white creme polish (Sinful Colors Snow Me White) and added the "reflection".
There is another method for creating the framed nail art look: start with the colour you want to use for your outline (for me it's the black), and then just paint over that colour with your second shade, leaving small gaps near the cuticle and on both sides of your nail. Once that's dry, go back and add black to just the tip to complete the frame.
This method is considered easier than the way I went about doing it, but I already had O'Hara on my nails and didn't want to remove it to start with the black. No matter how you go about creating it, I think the framed look is awesome.
With all of that said, O'Hara is easily going on my list of best red polishes of all-time. Seriously, this is a must-have for any polish lover.
piCture pOlish is available online at the piCture pOlish store. They do ship internationally, but there's also many network members all over the world whom you can purchase from. Refer to the Network Members List for a complete list of where you can find piCture pOlish. Also, be sure to check out all of piCture pOlish's social media links:
Thanks for looking! And check back next week for another great piCture pOlish shade!
The product(s) in this post were provided by the manufacturer or their PR in exchange for an honest review.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Review & Swatches - Hard Candy Itsy Glitzy Collection: Part I
Hi everyone!
So we're still continuing on with the Hard Candy swatches, and today I've got a few from the the Itsy Glitzy Collection to share with you. I've been checking my Wal-Marts pretty frequently and I still haven't found these here, but I did happen to find a great deal on Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream! I use the stuff religiously so that was an exciting find!
Anyways, let's check out swatches of the four Itsy Glitzy polishes that I do have.
Bity Blue is a bright blue with a glass fleck finish. My swatch is without top coat, so you can see just how shiny this is! The formula was great and my photo shows two coats.
Lil Lilac is a light mauve-purple with very heavy pale gold shimmer. I definitely wouldn't call this lilac as the name suggests. We've seen shades similar to this one before like OPI It's My Year (my engagement polish!), Zoya Faye, etc. But I found that both the base colour and the shimmer in this one to be paler than the others I've mentioned. The formula was very easy to work with and I've shown two coats below.
Little Bo Pink is a bright, blue-based pink with lots of golden shimmer. The shimmer isn't as densely packed in this one as the others I've shown, but there's still a lot of it and it shows through the pink base colour really nicely. The formula was great and I only needed two coats to reach the opacity you see below.
Pinch of Spice is a bright tangerine orange with lots of golden shimmer. This is such a beautiful shade for summer! Very similar to Color Club Sparkle and Soar from the Summer 2012 Take Wing Collection. The formula was once again great and my swatch shows two coats.
Overall, I'm a fan of these, especially considering the opacity. I find shades like this are usually on the sheer side and require a number of coats to reach opacity, but these guys each only needed two coats.
The Hard Candy Itsy Glitzy Collection is available at Wal-Mart stores and each shade retails for $3.97 each. I discussed the price vs. size in my review of the Candy Sprinkles Collection, so you can check that out if you're interested.
So we're still continuing on with the Hard Candy swatches, and today I've got a few from the the Itsy Glitzy Collection to share with you. I've been checking my Wal-Marts pretty frequently and I still haven't found these here, but I did happen to find a great deal on Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream! I use the stuff religiously so that was an exciting find!
Anyways, let's check out swatches of the four Itsy Glitzy polishes that I do have.
Bity Blue is a bright blue with a glass fleck finish. My swatch is without top coat, so you can see just how shiny this is! The formula was great and my photo shows two coats.
Lil Lilac is a light mauve-purple with very heavy pale gold shimmer. I definitely wouldn't call this lilac as the name suggests. We've seen shades similar to this one before like OPI It's My Year (my engagement polish!), Zoya Faye, etc. But I found that both the base colour and the shimmer in this one to be paler than the others I've mentioned. The formula was very easy to work with and I've shown two coats below.
Little Bo Pink is a bright, blue-based pink with lots of golden shimmer. The shimmer isn't as densely packed in this one as the others I've shown, but there's still a lot of it and it shows through the pink base colour really nicely. The formula was great and I only needed two coats to reach the opacity you see below.
Pinch of Spice is a bright tangerine orange with lots of golden shimmer. This is such a beautiful shade for summer! Very similar to Color Club Sparkle and Soar from the Summer 2012 Take Wing Collection. The formula was once again great and my swatch shows two coats.
Overall, I'm a fan of these, especially considering the opacity. I find shades like this are usually on the sheer side and require a number of coats to reach opacity, but these guys each only needed two coats.
The Hard Candy Itsy Glitzy Collection is available at Wal-Mart stores and each shade retails for $3.97 each. I discussed the price vs. size in my review of the Candy Sprinkles Collection, so you can check that out if you're interested.
The product(s) in this post were provided by the manufacturer or their PR in exchange for an honest review.
Hey guys!
As most of you have already heard, Google is saying goodbye to it's Google Reader RSS service. What does this mean for you? Well if you currently use Google Reader to stay connected with your favourite blogs, you'll need to take a few moments to find an alternative.
Personally, I had been hearing good things about both Feedly and bloglovin', so I transferred over to both of those (the process was extraordinarily easy in both cases). I've found myself using bloglovin' more, but that's just personal preference. Here's the link to the NbKS page on bloglovin' in case you go with that one.
However, if you're looking for a different alternative, just do a quick search of Google Reader alternatives you'll get plenty of options. Just be sure to add Nails by Kayla Shevonne to whichever feed subscription you choose. :)
And as always, you can still keep up with NbKS via , , , , , and . FYI: I stay most connected on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
Good luck finding your new subscription service!
As most of you have already heard, Google is saying goodbye to it's Google Reader RSS service. What does this mean for you? Well if you currently use Google Reader to stay connected with your favourite blogs, you'll need to take a few moments to find an alternative.
Personally, I had been hearing good things about both Feedly and bloglovin', so I transferred over to both of those (the process was extraordinarily easy in both cases). I've found myself using bloglovin' more, but that's just personal preference. Here's the link to the NbKS page on bloglovin' in case you go with that one.
However, if you're looking for a different alternative, just do a quick search of Google Reader alternatives you'll get plenty of options. Just be sure to add Nails by Kayla Shevonne to whichever feed subscription you choose. :)
And as always, you can still keep up with NbKS via , , , , , and . FYI: I stay most connected on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
Good luck finding your new subscription service!
Monday, March 18, 2013
Colores de Carol - Assorted Swatches
Hi everyone!
Sorry that posting has been a bit sporadic lately. As I said last week, mine and David's engagement party is this weekend and I've been spending a lot of my spare time devoted to planning, crafting decorations, etc. I spent many hours swatching yesterday though, so I should have enough content to return to regular posting this week. :)
Anyways, we all know Carolina from her blog Colores de Carol. She has beautiful nails, beautiful swatches, and does amazing nail art. Well now she's also making her own polishes! She was kind enough to send me some of them to review and I have the first batch to share with you today!
Best Polish Friend Forever (BPFF) is a light blue jelly base with small white hex glitter, large purple squares, small blue squares, teal and dark blue hex glitter and magenta circle glitter. I think this is super pretty - delicate but still really fun. The formula was good and I've shown three coats below. A word of advice: when working with jelly-based glitter polishes like this, I find that it's best to start with a really thin first coat. It makes application easier with the subsequent coats.
Hero in Disguise is a grey jelly base with subtle blue shimmer, yellow and red hex glitter and black star glitter. This is super interesting and unique. And surprisingly, I didn't have to fish for the black stars at all. I did have to place them a little to make sure they were where I wanted them to be, though. The formula was easy to work with and I've shown two coats below.
Inner Princess is a pale milky jelly base with lots of small, multicoloured glitters and aqua star glitter. The multicoloured pieces consist of purple, pink, blue and red. This is one of, if not my absolute favourite of the five I've shown here. It's so soft and pretty and I love the pop of red glitter. Again, I didn't have to fish for the star glitter at all. The formula was great and my swatch shows three coats.
I Smell Spring is an off-white yellowish nude jelly base with multicoloured hex glitter. This is another of my favourites here. We've seen plenty of multicoloured glitter polishes inside a white base, but this is the first time I've seen one in a base like this, and I'm totally diggin' it. It's one of those glitter-sandwich-in-and-of-itself polishes as well because some of the glitters sink deeper into the base while other sit atop the base. The formula was thick, but not difficult. My photo shows three coats.
It's Raining Hearts! consists of a clear base packed with small pink hex glitter, larger red hexes, red circles and of course, lots of pink, red and white heart glitter. I find that with most polishes that contain heart glitter, the heart pieces are scattered and definitely require fishing with the brush. Well, that's definitely not the case with this one! The base is super packed with heart glitter that you're guaranteed to always get at least a piece or two on the brush.
I've shown one coat of It's Raining Hearts! over China Glaze Pink-ie Promise below. The formula was good, but I did have to do some placing of the hearts to ensure good dispersal of the hearts.
Overall, I'm really happy with this selection of Colores de Carol polishes. It seems that she has a clear style when i comes to her polishes - soft and delicate while still being fun and pretty. Needless to say, I'm a fan of that style, especially with the upcoming spring season!
Colores de Carol polishes are available from the Colores de Carol web store. The full size polishes cost $9 each.
Sorry that posting has been a bit sporadic lately. As I said last week, mine and David's engagement party is this weekend and I've been spending a lot of my spare time devoted to planning, crafting decorations, etc. I spent many hours swatching yesterday though, so I should have enough content to return to regular posting this week. :)
Anyways, we all know Carolina from her blog Colores de Carol. She has beautiful nails, beautiful swatches, and does amazing nail art. Well now she's also making her own polishes! She was kind enough to send me some of them to review and I have the first batch to share with you today!
Best Polish Friend Forever (BPFF) is a light blue jelly base with small white hex glitter, large purple squares, small blue squares, teal and dark blue hex glitter and magenta circle glitter. I think this is super pretty - delicate but still really fun. The formula was good and I've shown three coats below. A word of advice: when working with jelly-based glitter polishes like this, I find that it's best to start with a really thin first coat. It makes application easier with the subsequent coats.
Hero in Disguise is a grey jelly base with subtle blue shimmer, yellow and red hex glitter and black star glitter. This is super interesting and unique. And surprisingly, I didn't have to fish for the black stars at all. I did have to place them a little to make sure they were where I wanted them to be, though. The formula was easy to work with and I've shown two coats below.
Inner Princess is a pale milky jelly base with lots of small, multicoloured glitters and aqua star glitter. The multicoloured pieces consist of purple, pink, blue and red. This is one of, if not my absolute favourite of the five I've shown here. It's so soft and pretty and I love the pop of red glitter. Again, I didn't have to fish for the star glitter at all. The formula was great and my swatch shows three coats.
I Smell Spring is an off-white yellowish nude jelly base with multicoloured hex glitter. This is another of my favourites here. We've seen plenty of multicoloured glitter polishes inside a white base, but this is the first time I've seen one in a base like this, and I'm totally diggin' it. It's one of those glitter-sandwich-in-and-of-itself polishes as well because some of the glitters sink deeper into the base while other sit atop the base. The formula was thick, but not difficult. My photo shows three coats.
It's Raining Hearts! consists of a clear base packed with small pink hex glitter, larger red hexes, red circles and of course, lots of pink, red and white heart glitter. I find that with most polishes that contain heart glitter, the heart pieces are scattered and definitely require fishing with the brush. Well, that's definitely not the case with this one! The base is super packed with heart glitter that you're guaranteed to always get at least a piece or two on the brush.
I've shown one coat of It's Raining Hearts! over China Glaze Pink-ie Promise below. The formula was good, but I did have to do some placing of the hearts to ensure good dispersal of the hearts.
Overall, I'm really happy with this selection of Colores de Carol polishes. It seems that she has a clear style when i comes to her polishes - soft and delicate while still being fun and pretty. Needless to say, I'm a fan of that style, especially with the upcoming spring season!
Colores de Carol polishes are available from the Colores de Carol web store. The full size polishes cost $9 each.
The product(s) in this post were provided by the manufacturer or their PR in exchange for an honest review.
Friday, March 15, 2013
Review & Swatches - Hard Candy Crushed Chrome Collection: Part I
Happy Friday!
Today I have some more swatches of the new Hard Candy polishes to share with you! This time it's the Crushed Chrome Collection, which consists of nine metallic shades. As with the Candy Sprinkles Collection, I have four of the nine shades to show you today. I know I'll be grabbing the other five shades from each collection so I've been checking a couple of the Wal-Mart stores in my area to make sure I don't miss them, but they haven't arrived yet.
Crush on Copper is a pink-tinged metallic copper with gold micro-flakes. I'm calling them micro-flakes because they're definitely different than regular glitter, but not quite as large as regular flakes either. The formula was excellent and my swatch shows two coats.
Crush on Gold is a pale silver-gold with yellow-gold micro-flakes. This is similar to Zoya Ziv from the Ornate Collection, but the contrast between the base colour and the flakes is much more pronounced in Crush on Gold. The formula was very easy to work with and I needed two coats to reach full opacity.
Crush on Ivy is a light metallic green with gold micro-flakes. This shade reminds me of money! Dolla, dolla bills, y'all! Oh dear, did I really just say that? Anyways, this one is my favourite of these four. And once again, the formula was excellent and my photo shows two coats of Crush on Ivy.
Crush on Pink is a metallic mauve-pink with gold micro-flakes. As with the others, the formula was great and I've shown two coats below.
Overall, I like the Crushed Chromes a lot more than I thought I would! The formula is great with all of them and those gorgeous gold flecks in each shade make them unique. I definitely need to get the other shades, especially the beautiful blue one!
The Hard Candy Crushed Chrome Collection is available at Wal-Mart stores and each shade retails for $3.97 each. I discussed the price vs. size in my review of the Candy Sprinkles Collection, so you can check that out if you're interested.
Today I have some more swatches of the new Hard Candy polishes to share with you! This time it's the Crushed Chrome Collection, which consists of nine metallic shades. As with the Candy Sprinkles Collection, I have four of the nine shades to show you today. I know I'll be grabbing the other five shades from each collection so I've been checking a couple of the Wal-Mart stores in my area to make sure I don't miss them, but they haven't arrived yet.
Crush on Copper is a pink-tinged metallic copper with gold micro-flakes. I'm calling them micro-flakes because they're definitely different than regular glitter, but not quite as large as regular flakes either. The formula was excellent and my swatch shows two coats.
Crush on Gold is a pale silver-gold with yellow-gold micro-flakes. This is similar to Zoya Ziv from the Ornate Collection, but the contrast between the base colour and the flakes is much more pronounced in Crush on Gold. The formula was very easy to work with and I needed two coats to reach full opacity.
Crush on Ivy is a light metallic green with gold micro-flakes. This shade reminds me of money! Dolla, dolla bills, y'all! Oh dear, did I really just say that? Anyways, this one is my favourite of these four. And once again, the formula was excellent and my photo shows two coats of Crush on Ivy.
Crush on Pink is a metallic mauve-pink with gold micro-flakes. As with the others, the formula was great and I've shown two coats below.
Overall, I like the Crushed Chromes a lot more than I thought I would! The formula is great with all of them and those gorgeous gold flecks in each shade make them unique. I definitely need to get the other shades, especially the beautiful blue one!
The Hard Candy Crushed Chrome Collection is available at Wal-Mart stores and each shade retails for $3.97 each. I discussed the price vs. size in my review of the Candy Sprinkles Collection, so you can check that out if you're interested.
The product(s) in this post were provided by the manufacturer or their PR in exchange for an honest review.
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)