Thursday, January 29, 2015

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Custom Giveaway

Today I have a super fun post for you that includes :::drum roll please:::: a GIVEAWAY! 

Since my little man is in preschool, I decided to take my obsession with polish one step forward by having the talents behind Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer and Monster Polish create some custom colors as gifts for his teachers. And they are so amazing and awesome that they provided a couple for you, my readers! 

First I'm giving a chance at my BEGL customs (so check back since you know I'll have some Monster Polish up for grabs at a later date!) I asked Julie to create something that was "Christmas-y" and also incorporate that my son is in the Rainbow Room at preschool. Man, did she come through! May I present "Merry Christmas Rainbow Room!" and "Rainbow Room Christmas Rumpus"!


Aren't they simply gorgeous? MCRR is an ultra sparkly red holo and RRHR is a light pink crelly with metallic and holo glitters. So much glitter and rainbow! Yes, I know these beauties have Christmas names (as they were made for my son's teachers for Christmas) but I thought they were the perfect colors for Valentines Day. And if you're not into V-Day, think of the awesome anti-V-Day mani's you could do with this red holo...

Alright, ready to enter to win? Please make sure you enter the best email to contact you at in case you win! I'd hate to pick you but not have a way to get in touch. I can only ship within the US right now, but if you have a US mule, you can enter.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

SinfulColors Love Sprinkles: Flirt With Hearts (Valentine's Day 2015 Collection)

  * Provided for review *

It is quickly approaching, and like it or not, you will be inundated with hearts, flowers, chocolates and a whole row of stuffed bears and frogs staring you down at the store.  This year I get to share the 2015 Valentine's Day standout polish with you.  Check out Love Sprinkles by SinfulColors, the star of their Flirt With Hearts collection!

sinful colors love sprinkles

The entire SinfulColors Flirt With Hearts collection is full of bright and cheerful shades. Their collection description says it all:
"Channel your inner Cupid this Valentine’s Day with eight sensuous hues that are guaranteed to make hearts flutter."  

There is nothing dull or dark about these polishes; they are all bright pinks, purples, reds, and teal that will melt any winter blahs away.  They stepped up their game with Love Sprinkles though, it's subtle and versatile because of the clear base.  The glitter mix is small, matte light pink and tiny white glitters with matte white hearts. Matte!

love sprinkles

Application of Love Sprinkles was good, it's not meant to be a dense glitter...just a sprinkle.  The key to ensuring some hearts make it onto the nails is shaking the bottle as the heart glitter tends to settle at the bottom.  I used one coat over 24/7 on most nails, two for a few nails that were sparse.

valentine glitter

heart glitter polish

Described as the "hottest pink", 24/7 is my first experience with a neon polish.  I would personally consider 24/7 for a summer neon color, while also appropriate for Valentine's day.  Three easy coats were needed but dry time was really good!  This collection was mostly re-promotes and core colors along with the limited edition Love Sprinkles.  This collection will be available at Walgreens, Rite Aid, and other mass retailers in February for $1.99 each.  You can keep up with SinfulColors on their website and other social media.

neon pink polish

Maybe Valentine's Day isn't your favorite day....BUT just remember the day after is a great day!  All the yummy chocolate is half off and always worth grabbing one of your favorites.  :)  Thanks for stopping by!

~ Hayley

flirt with hearts


*products featured in this post were sent for my honest review

Sunday, January 18, 2015

SpaRitual Arroyo

  *Purchased by me*

I'm excited to announce that I found another SpaRitual that I wanted from the Wander collection.  This one is called Arroyo, it is another "sandy matte shimmer" and this time I left it matte!  SpaRitual Arroyo is a pink that leans to the mauve spectrum, and has a golden shimmer to it. 

Arroyo
Sunlight - no topcoat

I had to look up the definition to Arroyo (which I'm a little ashamed to say, since I live in Arizona) but it means: A dry creek or stream bed—gulch that temporarily or seasonally fills and flows after sufficient rain.
Yep, we have those all over the place here....and now on my nails. 

Sparitual

This is two coats with no top coat.  Dry time is nice and quick because of the matte finish.  There are some great swatches of Arroyo with top coat, and like Nomad, the shimmer really pops with a shiny top coat.


sparitual

Again if you wander into an Ulta (see the first sentence for what I did there) and find these on clearance, I absolutely recommend getting them!  The sale price definitely makes these worth adding to your collection! 
Thanks for stopping by! 

~ Hayley

Friday, January 9, 2015

SpaRitual Nomad

Happy Friday!! This brand is completely new to me.  I walked into Ulta's clearance sale on New Years Eve with the intent of getting some Zoyas, and walked out with this one also. I am sure you can relate. :)
I remembered admiring some of SpaRitual's Wander Fall 2014 collection, particularly Nomad, Arroyo and Starry Night.  I didn't see the other two, but grabbed the last Nomad because I have nothing like this in my collection.  I'm pretty infatuated...

Macro! (with topcoat)
The bottom of the bottle says sandy matte shimmer.  I read that and I acknowledged it but it didn't register.  Then when I tried it and saw it drying matte, tears of happiness welled up and I immediately messaged Jackie.  All the swatches of Nomad were mostly shown with topcoat (it is awesome this way).  I planned to leave it matte, but top coated it to make sure I could get pictures the next morning.

These swatches are 2 coats of Nomad and 1 coat of Out The Door.  It has a great formula and no clean up was necessary with this polish.  Nomad looks olive green with rose shimmer outdoor light and warmer greenish gold with rose shimmer indoors. Leaving it matte makes the polish softer looking and a unique, but very wearable olive.


Inside: polish accurate, not skin accurate!


 
If I had bought this before New Years Eve it would have definitely been on the Favorites post!  I would consider this beauty if you see it, or send me over a back up bottle! :)  My SpaRitual obsession starts now.

~ Hayley

Monday, January 5, 2015

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer - A Spark in the Dark Collection Swatches and Review


 *Press Samples*

It's no secret that Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer is one of my favorite indie polish brands. January 12th brings us a new collection release called A Spark in the Dark and I am lucky enough to share three of these polishes with you!

Spark in the Dark, BEGL
Caught a bit of sunshine - see these beauties sparkle?
From L to R are Hypothermia, It's Almost After Midnight, and Bound to the City Life

First up is Bound to the City Life which is described as a dark teal jelly with teal, turquoise, purple, and blue holo microglitters. In the bottle the polish looks almost black, but on the nail you can see the teal come out. This teal leans more blue than green and is stunning on the nail. Shown are three thin coats over a base coast plus a top coat.


Bound to the City Life
Look deep into the squishy-ness!
I normally shy away from jellies as I like my polish to be opaque in as few coats as possible. I also felt like jellies were hard to work with. I'm happy to say that I had no issues applying Bound to the City Life. The formula of this color is on the thicker side which means that it only really took two coats for me to be happy with opacity, but I used three for the sake of pictures (the camera always finds a bald spot!).


Bound to the City Life
Florescent lighting


Bound to the City Life
Macro Shot!

Next up is It's Almost After Midnight described as a medium grey creme with blue shimmer and blue flash. This one is gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous! Did I mention its gorgeousness? This beauty was opaque in 2 coats but I'm wearing three here for photo reasons.

Direct sunlight
IAAM has that dusty quality that I often look for in polishes but with the added flash it really gives it something special!

Direct sunlight
It's Almost After Midnight, gray, blue, shimmer, flash, macro
Macro Shot

And last but not least is the collection limited edition Hypothermia! Hypothermia is a gorgeous purple holo with purple shimmers. This is a re-release from last winter. It was so popular that Julie was awesome enough to give those of us who missed out (ahem, yes, sadly I was one of those people) a shot at getting this beauty. Remember, it will ONLY be available if you purchase the full collection!

Hypothermia, holographic purple
Direct sunlight
Like all of the BEGL holos, this baby sparkles like nobody's business! I love this shade of puple, which is slightly darker and much dustier than my other favorite BEGL Fare the Wind, the perfect purple for winter.
BEGL, purple, holographic, holo
Indirect (indoor) lighting - see that "dusty" quality?
Purple, BEGL, holo, hypothermia
Macro in direct sunlight
The A Spark in the Dark collection will be released on Monday, January 12, 2015 at 3:30 pm EST. The full collection of 8 polishes will be $67 for full sized bottles and $37 for minis. Remember you can only get the elusive Hypothermia with the purchase of the full collection! There will also be a new limited edition Siren released that day!

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer's shop can be found here. Be sure to follow Julie on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to keep up with the latest news and release information. She can also be found blogging at Wishes of a Blue-Eyed Girl.


Disclosure: These polishes were provided for review. All opinions are my own.