KBShimmer Birthstone Collection - Ruby

Hey guys and gals! How is your Monday? Aside from waking up to the sad death of David Bowie, my days is starting out quite well. The cup of coffee I am drinking is helping out with that, lol!

Today I have something quite fun and definitely sparkly. Unless you have been avoiding the online nail world, you have probably seen the new Birthstone polishes from KBShimmer. They are all made out of highly reflective metallic flakies with a dusting of holographic sparkle and correspond to the particular gem or stone for each month. My birthday is in July, so my birthstone is a Ruby. And because I am a teenager trapped in a grown-up body, I must have ALL the birthstone polishes.

Please Note: Products shown were purchased by me for my personal use.

KBShimmer Ruby from the Birthstone Collection

Rhinestone Ruffian with Born Pretty Iridescent Rhinestones

Hey guys and gals! I am on a roll! I have posts lined up all week long. Even when I am in the groove and manage to blog on a regular basis, that never happens. So today I have some more goodies from the Born Pretty store that I got to play around with.

Please Note: Products shown were provided by the company/creator for review purposes.

Born Pretty Colorful Rhinestone Wheel

Picture Polish - Majesty (Created By Sahrish Adeel)

Hey lovelies! Happy weekend! Despite the heat, I'm glad it's summer. I love going to Lake Travis or Barton Springs, where we will be spending the day at tomorrow!

 

Today, I have a super special polish to share. Picture Polish Majesty is one my more recent lemmings and I am so glad I finally got a chance to get it. Acquiring lemmings is really fun! It is one of the collaboration polishes Picture Polish does with beauty bloggers from time to time. This one created by Sahrish Adeel as the perfect nail polish; suitable for any skin tone and any occasion.

 

Please Note: Products shown were purchased by me for my own personal use.

 

 

 

Picture Polish - Majesty

 

Majesty is a shell pink foil/glass fleck with pale golden undertones. But it is also so much more. It has a subtle scattered holographic sparkle, that  comes out to play in different lighting. It also has a subtle multi chromatic color shift ranging from gold to pink to purple, blue and teal. It is amazing. I never see the same thing twice. It is also incredible hard to capture the true beauty on camera! Formula was blissful. 2 coats, buttery smooth formula. Dry time was slightly longer than average, but nothing a nice quick dry top coat can't fix. I used butter London PD Quick for the swatches.

 

Macro

 

Look at all the shinny rainbows! Ugh, I DIE. This is truly a stunning polish and worthy of the name Majesty. It may not be every one's cup of tea, but the beauty and uniqueness are worthy of a place in your stash!

Please Note: Products shown were purchased by me for my own personal use. All opinions are my own. For more information, please see my disclosure.

Picture Polish is available on line for Australian customers, and Llarowe, Harlow & Co, and Ninja Polish for International customers. Polish ranges from $12 - $15 depending on retailer.

Zoya Summer Pixie Dust Collection (Pic Heavy)

Hello everyone! I am so flippin' excited about today's post. I have the entire summer Pixie Dust collection, from Zoya, swatched for you guys! To be honest, when this whole textured trend started, I was heavily against it. None of the promo pics from any brand looked good, in my opinion. Once I started seeing swatches of the original Pixie Dust line, I was mildly interested. Then Zoya announced the summer collection, full of bright, sparkly colors. I was done for. I have lusted after these beauties for almost two months before I was able to get the whole collection. I totally splurged and it was totally worth it. This collection is at the top of my list for all time favs. They are that gorgeous!!!
 

The formula and application is the same for each, so I'll go over all that here. For each color, I used 2 coats. Application was easy with no typical problems that you would normally see with glitter type polishes. Formula was a good consistency as well. I did let the first initial coat dry before I applied the second coat. Dry time was a little bit longer than a typical polish. Removal was easy as well. I didn't have to resort to foil, just a cotton ball soaked with acetone remover. There is a bit of glitter residue after removal, so it can be kinda messy!

Please Note: Products were purchased by me for my own personal use.

 

Zoya Pixie Dust - Solange

 

Solange in a bright lemon yellow textured polish with gold and orange glitter. This is the one I wasn't expecting to like. In every picture online (including mine) it looks very metallic, but in person it is bright and cheery and sooooo sparkly! I think it may be the sparkliest one of the bunch. Absolutely gorgeous.

 

 

 

Zoya Pixie Dust - Beatrix

 

Beatrix is a juicy tangerine orange textured polish with gold glitter. Excuse me while I pass out from the awesomeness of this polish! Perfect for summer and just plain beautiful.

 

 

 

 

Zoya Pixie Dust - Destiny

 

Destiny is a red toned coral textured polish with gold glitter. If I had to pick a favorite (and that would be almost impossible) Destiny would be it. Mainly because I am obsessed with coral. Have I mentioned that already? Pretty sure I have...

 

Anyway. As soon as I got my package, I swatched this one first. The gold glitter plays so well with the warm coral and the crystalline effect of the Pixie Dust. Swoon.

 

 

 

 

Zoya Pixie Dust - Miranda

 

Miranda is a berry colored textured polish with silver glitter. Okay, so I'm not really a pink nail polish fan, but this is so pretty! The color base is almost jelly-like and tints the silver glitter a bit. Out of all the summer colors, this is the most work-appropriate color. It's not terrible bright, compared to the others, and looks like a more traditional polish, just with a bit more sparkle.

 

 

 

Zoya Pixie Dust - Stevie

 

Stevie is a lavender textured polish with silver glitter. It is a tiny bit darker and slightly more red than my pictures. My camera hates purple and wants to turn them all blue. Lame, I know. The silver glitter really stands out in this polish and is so much better looking in person.

 

 

 

 

Zoya Pixie Dust - Liberty

 

Liberty is a cobalt blue textured polish with silver glitter. The polish base is similar to Miranda with a jelly type consistency, giving the silver glitter a blue tint. Love me some blue polish, and this one is so pretty!

What can I say, other than I love them all. The matte sparkle is absolutely stunning in person and pictures just can't do it justice. My personal faves are Destiny, Beatrix and Liberty, but they are all gorgeous and if you are a magpie (like me), you need some Pixie Dust in your life!

Zoya Pixie Dust is available on line at  Zoya.com. Polishes retail for $9 a piece.

Please Note: Products were purchased by me for my own personal use. All opinions are my own. For more information, please see my disclosure policy, here

New 2013 Hard Candy Polish (Pic Heavey)

Hello everyone, happy Wednesday! Today's post is full of sparkly, shiny goodness! Hard Candy has recently reinvented themselves and released a whole slew of new products, including 45 new nail polish colors. While the old vintage Hard Candy bottles with the cool little heart shaped ring are gone, the essence of the bright and fun polish is still there. I stumbled across a display at my local Wal-Mart and promptly snagged a few bottles!

Please Note: All products in this post were purchased by me for my own personal use.

 

Hard Candy - Piece of Papaya (Itzy Glitzy)

 

Piece of Papaya, from the Itzy Glitzy finish, is a bright fuchsia pink and golden glass fleck polish. It is almost a foil, but the particles are smaller than a traditional foil. It is SO shiny and I love it. I am not a pink person, but throw in a golden shimmer, and I am done. Perfect for summer, or any time you want something shiny and sparkly! Formula was spot on. Smooth and flowy, perfect consistency. 2 coats, great dry time. Seriously great.

 

 

 

Hard Candy - Bitty Blue (Itzy Gltizy)

 

Bitty Blue, another one from the Itzy Glitzy finish, is more of what a glass fleck typically looks like. Bright, shiny blue. OMG, hello gorgeous! Same formula as before, and I was just as amazed!

 

 

Hard Candy - Peach Pop (Candy Sprinkles)

 

Peach Pop, from the Candy Sprinkles finish, is a milky peach base with tiny red, pink and silver glitter pieces. The look is identical to the Nails Inc Sprinkles collection from last year, but with quite a few more color options (as well as some dupes). Perfect color, and I do like it a lot more than the Nails Inc ones. Formula was, again, great. Smooth, 2 coats, dried quickly. No issues with all that glitter either.

 

 

Hard Candy - Crush On Lava (Crushed Chrome)

 

Crush on Lava, from the Crushed Chrome finish, is a violet and copper foil. This has the bigger foil pieces, as opposed to the Itzy Glitzy polishes, and is simply brilliant. Once again, great formula. Just as good as the previous ones.

 

 

If you are wondering whether or not Crushed On Lava is a re-promote of the beloved Beetle, it almost is. The overall look is nearly identical, but the base color of the polish is just slightly different.

 

Beetle has a bit of green in the base that gives a duo chrome look, unfortunately Crush On Lava is missing it. The formula is way better in the new version. Beetle is a bit thin, and requires more coats and takes longer to dry. So, that makes up for the color change, at least for me. I do think it is pretty great of Hard Candy to give us one of the best colors they have ever made, in the new line, even if it slightly off.

 

 

I am completely blown away with the polishes I picked up. Great formula, great colors, great price. $4 a bottle, is pretty dang awesome. A lot of the colors are very similar to what other brands have been putting out lately, so nothing is terribly unique, but it is a good thing to have options. Dupes happen, and I'm not complaining!

 

Hard Candy nail polish is sold exclusively at Wal-Mart and Wal-Mart.com. Bottles are $4 a piece. Products shown were purchased by me for my personal use. All opinions are my own.

Takko Lacquer Spring 2013 - Pucker Up & Maneki Neko

Hellooooo all! I am so excited for today's post, because I have new Takko Lacquer polishes! As you may know, I am a rabid fangirl of Takko Lacquer and the creator, Sheryl. With each collection, I am completely astounded at the interesting and creative looks she comes up with. There is no other brand, Indie or mainstream, with this level of creativity. Thankfully, this time I didn't miss out on the takkitos I wanted, but man, they all sold so fast!

 

Takko Lacquer - Pucker Up

Pucker Up is a bright orange/pink coral jelly with a chunky gold a fuchsia shimmer. Hello new favorite Takko! I am so in love with this polish, I may need a back up. It's the perfect color for spring  and summer. Formula is a bit sheer, and I needed 3 coats for full coverage, but the polish dries rather quickly, and wasn't problematic at all.

 

 

 

 

Takko Lacquer - Maneki Neko

Maneki Neko is a full coverage green glitter with gold, silver and holo glitters scattered throughout creating an incredible sparkly polish. Glitter is new territory for Takko, but Sheryl mixed one hell of a glitter bomb! It applies wonderfully, absolutely no dragging or clumping at all. Dries quickly, doesn't eat top coat and removes just as easily as the application. No foil or glue coat needed for this baby! 2 easy coats, followed by 1 coat of your favorite topper. (I used Cult Nails Wicked Fast, fyi.)

 

 

Old Vs. New Takko brush

On a side note, the brushes on the bottles are a tiny bit wider than the older polishes. I am usually not a fan of wider brushes, but the new one is just wide enough with out causing application issues. Nice quality too, stiff and smooth.

 

If you haven't snagged a Takko  yet, you really need to! They blow every other Indie out of the water (that I have tried, at least) and even some main stream brands. I promise, you won't be sorry!

 

Takko Lacquer is available on line vie Etsy. They retail between $9 - $15. Restock is every Friday, 1pm EST.

Color Club Winter Affair Collection Swatches

Hey all! I have a few polishes from the Color Club Winter Affair holiday collection. Apparently, there are two versions of this collection out, one exclusive at Sally's Beauty Supply that is scented, and another unscented available everywhere else that Color Club is sold. I actually ordered these three polishes from Haute Look, so I got one scented and two unscented. Weird, huh.

 

Color CLub - Ho Ho Holly

 

Ho Ho Holly is a warm green and gold foil similar to Zoya's Logan. I haven't done a swatch comparison yet, but bottle comparisons, Ho Ho Holly is a warmer green with a bit more gold. Formula was excellent. 2 coats for coverage. No dragging or clumping either. I love foils & I love green polish, so this one was instant like, for me.

 

I got the scented version of Ho Ho Holly, and it smells a bit like pine scented Men's aftershave. I felt the smell was a bit strong, especially at first. I am rather sensitive to powerful scents, so I would have preferred an unscented color.

 

 

 

Color Club - Winter Affair

 

Winter Affair is a gorgeous shimmery red wine polish, perfect for the holidays. Same great formula as before, though I did need a top coat for this one as it dried a bit dull.

 

This polish is the unscented version, also, the Sally's version is a different color - a gold foil with a vanilla scent. Not sure why there are different colors, but I'm glad I have this one.

 

 

 

Color Club - Snow Flakes over Winter Affair

 

Snow Flakes is a red/green flakie polish, a la Essie Shine of the Times and such. Not too original, but it's nice to have a back up, love me some flakies!

 

This one seems to be unscented, but I can't tell & I haven't found any other info saying otherwise.

 

 

If you're a fan of scented polish, check out the collection exclusive to Sally's, if not Color Club is available at a variety of places on line!

Pomegranate Lacquer Fall Collection - Midnight Satelite & Autumnesque

Hey all! I have a couple of polishes from a newer brand called Pomegranate Lacquer. Their newest collection is a gorgeous line of fall trend colors.

 

Pomegranate Lacquer - Autumnesque

 

Autumnesque is warm pink/orange/brown with golden shimmer. It is a very hard color to describe, definitely a chameleon & so pretty! Formula was great, thin but not a pain to work with. 2 easy coats for perfect shimmery coverage.

 

Pomegranate Lacquer - Midnight Satellite

 

Midnight Satellite is a gorgeous green leaning teal (more green in person than my swatch pics) with blue shimmer and tiny little silver flecks. I love this polish! I have also worn it twice since swatching it, because it is so pretty. Again, wonderful formula, a bit thicker than Autumnesque, but no dragging or any application issues. 2 coats, perfect. Sigh...

I am thoroughly impressed with Pomegranate Lacquer, not only because of their fresh trendy colors (have you seen blue screen of death?!? Lemming that one hard!), but because they have a quality product as well. They are also 4-free, as well as cruelty free and made in the USA. Polishes run $9 each.

Pomegranate Lacquer is available on line

Takko Lacquer Fall Collection

Hey all! Today I have swatches from my absolute favorite indie brand - Takko Lacquer! Not only are the polishes gorgeous, but the designer, Sheryl, is a wonderfully sweet lady. I just adore her! The new collection is four completely different polishes, unlike anything else I have ever seen. My jaw literally dropped when I first saw the bottle shots.

Enough ramblings. On to the swatches!

 

Takko Lacquer - Jimi's Jacket

 

Jimi's Jacket is a royal blue cream/jelly hybrid (crelly) loaded with shiny 14k gold flakies. In some lighting, I have seen green flashes as well. I L.O.V.E. this polish. Seriously, it is incredible. Application was perfect, two coats for full coverage. If you tend to apply thinner coats, you may need a third. The VNL in the swatch photos wasn't apparent in person.

 

 

Takko Lacquer - Strangely Delicious

 

Strangely Delicious is a luscious bright orange jelly with intense lime green shimmer. As hard as I tried, I could not get the true colors to show. Even with color correction (hence the green fingers in the first pic! >_<). It is much more yellow in person and the green is much more visible as well. Formula was a bit different than other Takkos I have. It was thinner and a bit on the sheer side. I did 3 thicker coats on my first try & ended up with a tiny bit of bubbling. Second time, I used 4 very thin coats, waiting a bit in between & ended up with a great mani. It may be tricky, but this color is amazing!

 

 

Takko Lacquer - Ooh La La

 

Ooh Lal La is literally a dream come true for me. I have a fantasy polish collection inspired by a certain movie (lets just say that it involves a reluctant princess and a poor farm boy turned marauding masked pirate) & this was a color than I had envisioned! It is a dusty lavender purple crelly with crazy blue shimmer & pink/orange flakies. The shimmer is the most prominent aspect of this polish, while the flakies come out in low lighting. Formula was a bit thinner than expected, but not as much as Strangely Delicious. 3 thin coats for full coverage. allowing for dry time between each coat.

 

 

Takko Lacquer - To Infinity and Beyond

 

Last, but definitely not least, is To Infinity and Beyond. This one is a smokey dark grey/green/purple duo chrome with a gorgeous scattered holo effect. I have mentioned in the past that Sheryl is the only person that does scattered holo the way I like it, butter smooth & no trace of grit, not to mention the incredible color shift! Formula was spot on with the previously released Kaleidoscope Eyes.

 

 

Once again, Sheryl has completely blown me away with her amazing line. I was hooked with the first ones I tried and am now a full blown addict. I know I will be going back for more!

 

Takko Lacquer is available on line through Etsy.