KBShimmer: I'm So Sweet Pea Spring 2015 Collection

 *Press Sample*

Happy Friday!  I hate to admit that I am in the one place where the weather is pretty stellar right now, and no snow.  I am ready for Spring and it's no secret that Spring pastels are my favorite for everything!  Today I have a KBShimmer polish from the Spring 2015 collection to show you!  This delicate beauty is I'm So Sweet Pea:

KBShimmer's I'm So Sweet Pea has teal, purple, pale mint and light pink matte glitters in the palest lavender-almost-white crelly base. I used 3 coats on my middle and ring finger and just 1 coat over Essie Lilacism on my thumb.  Three coats of Essie Lilacism are also on my index and pinky fingers. The formula on I'm So Sweet Pea was great, the base was not thick at all and no fishing for any glitter. 

The entire KBShimmer Spring 2015 collection is available right now.  This collection has 7 (seven!!) amazing looking crellies all with very unique pastel color combinations, like I'm So Sweet Pea.  There are also 4 pastel holo polishes, for all you holo addicts out there (aka most of the nail community).  If that's not enough, there's also a white cream polish that I hear is great, and Spring nail vinyls too!  The description of this collection is beyond perfect: "Say goodbye to winter's dark hues, embrace sunny skies and open toe shoes."  Um, yes please!  Have you grabbed any KBShimmers yet?  I'd love to know which is your favorite!

KBShimmer products can be found on their website or on Amazon.
Connect with KBShimmer on their Facebook and Instagram to see all the gorgeous creations.

 

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!

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.

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!).

Florescent lighting

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

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!

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.

Indirect (indoor) lighting - see that "dusty" quality?

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.

2014 Favorites

We hope you all had a great holiday and here's to the New Year!  Without further adieu, these were our favorite polishes from 2014.  Did any of these make your list this year?  Are you making any polish/ blog resolutions in the new year?

Hayley's Favorites:

My resolution this year is to explore (and post) more Indie polishes.  Almost everything I posted this year was from mainstream brands, but there are too many fabulous indie makers out there to pass up!

Sinful Shine Prosecco

A polish so nice, Sinful released it twice! (and right in a row).  I'm sure I don't need to say much more about the stir Prosecco caused, but you can view my full post here.

China Glaze - Choo-Choo Choose You

I imagine China Glaze Choo-Choo Choose You will show up on a few 2014 lists. I love how multi-faceted this polish is, so it deserved a spot!  Post is linked to check out more pictures.

Sinful Shine Go Glossy

I just could not get enough of this color on my nails this fall and winter.  There were many that I liked, but this one actually came out in 2014...way to Go Glossy! ;)

Jackie's favorites:

My resolution is to try more polishes from my stash. Anyone up for "Untried Tuesday" posts? I did get a few new polishes for Christmas so you'll be seeing those soon!

My first pick should come as no surprise and it isn't one specific brand, but a color - PURPLE! I've been so into purple in 2014 and I don't forsee that changing much next year. Here are a few of my favorites I've shared:
BEGL Fare the Wind
Different Dimension Dueling Unicorns
China Glaze Choo-choo-choose You
Above the Curve UH Purple

My next 2014 favorite was a surprise to me. I never would have guessed an orange polish would steal my heart as much as LynBDesigns Am I Ginger? has! This color just worked for me. I admit I bought it simply for the name, but I am so glad I put it on. This is proof that sometimes when step out of your comfort zone you find something new to love.

My final 2014 favorite isn't a polish, but rather my new found love for cuticle care products. Be they oils or balms, I've been much more diligent about using these daily and I try to use something after I wash my hands, even if its just a standard lotion. I've found that moisturizing helps my nails grow faster and I can say that I have seen some improvement in my peeling. Not as much as I'd like, but it all takes time. So if you don't already use some sort of cuticle oil or balm or lotion or something, try it out in 2015 and let us know how it works for you!

Here's to a new year filled with fun new favorites! Cheers to 2015!

~ Hayley and Jackie

Sinful Shine: Go Glossy

I cannot get enough of this deep cranberry color for winter!  I have been wearing mostly black, cream, and grey but adding pops of color in my scarves, nails and statement necklaces. This color goes so well with all of it!
In the bottle Sinful Shine Go Glossy is a red-toned purple, but because of being a jelly-ish formula, it translates to this awesome color most of the time.  Pictures are 3 coats, and there is no visible nail line.  I bet 2 careful coats would be fine too.  I was considering a jelly sandwich with OPI Pirouette My Whistle after the second coat...I'll be trying that next time!  In case you didn't know, Sinful Shine is Sinful Colors (shiny) gel-ish sister.  The two shades I have (this and Prosecco) I love, but they could easily just be in a Sinful Colors bottle.

The dry time felt long to me, maybe because it's a jelly?  I really didn't want to top coat it, because it looked so pretty and squishy on its own.  But after a good 40 minutes, I was afraid of getting it all marked up so I did, since it still felt vulnerable. As you can see top coat messed up my pinky, but I think only because I went back a second time on that one.  I mean that's real life nail probs though, right? :)

You may still see a bottle lingering around your favorite Walgreens or Rite Aid. I almost passed on trying this, but I'm glad I did.  Thanks for stopping by and let me know in the comments what your favorite winter polish purchase or gift has been!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, etc!

~Hayley

*all polished mentioned were purchased with dollars and love :)

Movember Mustache Mani

I'm sure you have seen the hype about Movember and what it stands for, but just in case you can check out the Movemeber Campaign here. The short version is that men grow mustaches to raise money for mens health. And the fun for me is that I've got a little obsession with mustaches (I think they are hilarious) so much that I chose a 'stache centered theme for my little man last year. We had a blast. Anyway, on to the mani!

I started with Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer's Two! (ring finger and thumb) and Above the Curve's Lemming Have It. I topped them with Monster Polish Wyatt's Whiskers, a custom that Diana made me for above mentioned party. She also sent me a little bag of mustache glitter to place as I wished. Those are on my ring finger and thumb.

Outside in shade

Outside with direct sun

Direct sun

Direct sun

I love the way this turned out! The only thing I'd do a little differently ifs the pre-bend the mustache glitters on my thumb so that they would lay on the nail a little better. This was a really fun mani to create and to wear. As you may have noticed I love purple! And blue isn't far behind on my list, so this combo made me very happy. 

Thanks for checking out my 'stache! Are you participating in Movemeber?

Throwback Thursday: Sally Hansen Greige Gardens and Pure Ice Busted

This will be short and sweet because I hesitated to post this, but decided to share with you.  I was looking through pictures on my old computer trying to get organized (Ha!).  I never posted this pairing because I was really new to learning lighting and poses...but there is no denying that this is a great combination and I will be pairing these two again very soon! 
I wish I could tell you these two were still available, but sadly they are discontinued...hence my throwback!  You may very well have these in your collection already.  Otherwise, I don't think these polishes are terribly unique so you could come up with a similar perfect pair!  This is Sally Hansen Greige Gardens and Pure Ice Busted.

Sally Hansen CSM Greige Gardens leans dusty purple most of the time, but otherwise looks grey on the nail.  Pure Ice Busted is pretty much exactly what you see here, a very fine, very shiny, pinky purple shimmer in a sheer murky purple tinted base. This was 2 coats of Greige Gardens and 1 coat of Busted.

I really like Busted because it just glows on the nail...at least against Greige Gardens.  My only issue with these polishes is the dry time is so slow...as in sheet marks the next morning slow.  I have other Complete Salon Manicure polishes that don't have such a dry time issue, but a quick dry topcoat is recommended for this one.

Thanks for stopping by and your support on our Facebook and Twitter too.  Don't forget to enter our very first giveaway so you can win Prosecco and other goodies!

~ Hayley ~

Oh Shift!! China Glaze Choo Choo Choose You

This is one I am sure you've seen on every blog, (including this one!)  Of course, this is Choo-Choo Choose You by China Glaze.  I saw this while I was out looking for The Giver polishes and my Sally's had the All Aboard collection out early. I saw this in all it's deep purple and shimmery glory and that was it. You can see the strongest purple in the bottle, but it gets even better from there...

Bottle shot, mostly :)

Like this rose, bronze and greenish gold shimmer

Indoors

Or this shift from purple to amber to green. Hello.

Outside

This is two coats and no topcoat.  I noticed in some photos a sheer patch on my ring finger, it doesn't show up in all of them and it's not visible in person.  So, maybe I'll try 3 coats next time. Also, this whole week has been completely overcast, rainy and not sunny!  It's been so wonderful, but I had a tough time capturing good sunlight pics.

Choo-Choo Choose You is absolutely the stand out color in all the fall collections, in my opinion!  If you have not picked it up, you need to try and track it down.  If you have it and haven't worn it yet, then go try it! :)

~ Hayley ~

 *This pretty polish was purchased by me

Indie Spotlight: Cirque Vaudeville

Hello again!  I really meant to post this before Labor Day...so consider this my last gasp of summer before I jump completely into fall!  It's still hot and sunny on my side of the country anyway! Today I have Vaudeville by Cirque to show you.  While it's not a typical fall color, it is really pretty...

Sunlight

Shade - to show the iridescence

Shade

Sunlight

I would best describe Vaudeville as a muted lavender with gold and iridescent shimmer.  The formula was great, just a little thin, so this is 3 thin coats with no topcoat.  Removal was pretty easy since the shimmer is more micro-flakies rather than micro-glitter.  I don't have too many indies (yet!!) but this has been one of my favorite indies that I own.  My bottle of Vaudeville is about 2 years old and is still really consistent!  I was pleased that the color and formula stayed as it was supposed to this entire time.

Indoors - low light

Indoors - normal light

I just love gold shimmer!!!!

If you're interested in seeing what other beautiful polishes Annie has created, I have linked the Cirque website above. (They're 3-free and contain essential oils!)  As always, please let me know if you have any comments or questions!  I hope you have a great week!  See you soon :)
~ Hayley

*All polishes in this post were purchased by me. Links are provided for your convenience.

BEGL - One Gray-t Year and Fare the Wind Matted

Hello again my polished readers! Today I have a fun mani for you featuring more of one of my favorite indie brands: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers. This is the beautiful One Gray-t Year, an LE polish created to celebrate the 1st anniversary of Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers, with an accent of Fare the Wind.

One Gray-t Year is a gray matte polish with rainbow micro-flakies. I love the matte look on this one! I wish I could have captured the flakies better though! I also topped Fare the Wind with NYC Matte topcoat and I really loved the look this gave me. I have never mattified a holo before, but I think this will be something I continue to experiment with. I also like the way they feel, if that makes sense?

My hydrangeas are just starting to bloom again so I needed a flower pic with it too!

A bit closer, you can sort-of see a few flakes on my pointer from the sun reflection.

The poor cleanup around my pinky is kind of a funny story. As some of you might guess, I try and polish my nails when my little one is napping and usually I'm also doing something else since I love to multitask my "free time". So I was chatting on Facebook, looking at Instagram and also trying to create this manicure at the same time. FAIL. I was balancing my polish on my phone, it vibrated, scared me and I grabbed the cap of One Gray-t Year and it was loose! I flung polish all over my phone and the arm of my couch. After that I was a bit shaky, so when I went to polish my pinky's second coat, I squished polish into my cuticles. This is the best I could do. I hope it doesn't scare any of you away knowing I am human and I make mistakes. If nothing else, I hope you got a little laugh from that story!

What do you think of the matte look? Love it or leave it?

The Purple Summer

I have decided that this summer my very favorite shade has been purple. I find myself going back to the various shades I own over and over again. This polish is no exception. Shown in these photos is Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers "Fare the Wind" - a gorgeous linear holographic purple with a blue shift. I decided to be a little different and use my middle finger as the accent on this mani. For the accent I used Lynnderella's Blue Rouge - it matched so perfectly! This mani reminds me a bit of the book "The Rainbow Fish" maybe because I've been reading it to my son at bedtime this past week. Or maybe becasue those glitters from Blue Rouge remind me of Rainbow Fish's glittering scales that he gives to each of the other fish in the sea. Time to let the pictures do the talking.

 Used here is 2 coats of FTW, accent of Blue Rouge on middle, and topped with ATC topcoat.

Obligatory Flower Shot

Let's get a little closer, shall we?

I think the draw to holos for me is that sparkle I catch in the sun - the purple is lovely on its own but then POW! the sun shines and rainbows appear. If you don't own any holos, I highly recommend adding at least one to your collection. Unless you hate rainbows, then never mind. Fare the Wind is currently sold out, but if you stalk follow BEGL on facebook, you just never know what she might decide to bring back. As for Blue Rouge, it has been discontinued (so sorry!).

And as always here are a few places where you can find these lovelies:

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer on Facebook

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer's Store

Lynnderella on Facebook

Lynnderella's store on ebay

Taupe Skittle: China Glaze Release and Essie Chinchilly

I was looking through my collection to come up with some inspiration.  I lined up my taupe polishes and couldn't decide on one to use, so why not try them all?!  This was the result:

This skittle was such a chameleon (and that's putting it lightly!) These pictures are the most color accurate of the individual shades but in most lighting situations they were very close...only a shade or two off and fluctuated between looking grey or purplish.  I'm sure I don't have to explain the personality of taupe polishes for that to make sense!  But I will tell you the polishes I used (from thumb to pinky):  L'Oreal Liya's Nude, Essie Chinchilly, China Glaze Release, L'Oreal Sparklicious, and L'Oreal Eiffel For You. 

These polishes are all available currently, with the exception of Sparklicious (which is amazing...think Beyond Cozy but with different size glitters).
- All polishes were 2 coats and a topcoat and the formula was fantastic on every one! These are pretty much the only Loreals I own and the first time I used any of their creams. I was totally impressed!  Release (the most purple of the bunch) is from the new China Glaze limited edition collection, The Giver. After I purchased Release, I suspected it would be a dupe for something in my collection but I haven't found that to be the case by bottle comparison.

Outdoors - shade

Indoors

Natural light - shade

I'm going to have a really tough time picking just one of these to wear...but Eiffel For You (on my pinky) is one of my favorites.  I am in love with these neutrals and the promise that fall might show up in Arizona!  If you have a taupe or fall color that you can't live without...please let me know in the comments!:)

~ Hayley

*These pretty polishes were purchased by me