Summer Favorites Swatchfest!

*All Polishes Were Purchased*

A few of my favorite colors to wear this summer are notorious for formulas that are a struggle.  That being said, the colors are worth it. I'll give you my honest thoughts below:

First up is Urban Outfitters Honeydew.  This was 3 coats that dry slightly matte, and topcoat to even things out.  In the bottle it looks extremely close to Color Club Under the Blacklight.  Honeydew is in the pastel neon bunch and I cannot get enough of colors like this!  On the nail it's slightly brighter than Under the Balcklight, which you'll see below.  Decent formula (since I have come across a pastel neon that has yet to be easy, I was expecting it).  This one was slightly on the easier side to work with.  I  love the glow in late dusk and early morning you get with these colors.

Next is Color Club Under the Blacklight. I LOVE this color - I wore with matte topcoat it in the above picture because it was my first try with the polish, and figuring out the formula was a struggle.  This was 3-4 coats (some had 3 some had a thin 4th coat).  This was an indoor shot which leans more yellow than outdoors like you see with Honeydew (I promise these two colors really are similar!) but my camera was a little freaked out so it is very slightly greener.

Pure Ice Feisty is up next.  This one was from a few summers ago, but Pure Ice does bring back previous shades and I came across this in Walmart just the other week, so it's still around!  This was 2 very easy coats.  Pure Ice formulas are thin, so I was pleased with how opaque the coats were and that it didn't flood at all.  I recommend this polish if you see it.  It dries semi-matte like neons do - this was without topcoat.  I later tried to matte it - and it almost acted like a crackle polish - it was so odd!  I'll try it again with a different matte, but it is a beautiful purple leaning fuchsia!

This is Sweet Cheeks by Bonita Colors. This was the first polish from Bonita that I have tried.  I was a little thrown by this coral.  In the bottle it look more pink than in the picture, BUT this is definitely color accurate on me.  It dried on my nails more orange coral than the pink coral in the bottle.  Still very pretty for summer and stellar 2 coat formula.  It is not terribly unique - so if you don't have it there are a ton of similar options out there.  SinfulColors Island Coral comes to mind, because that is another one that leans pinker in the bottle, but more orange coral on the nail. 

Outside - sunlight

This last polish was one of my favorite colors, but I'm pretty sure I cried and almost threw the bottle out of the window when I applied it.  This is Spring In My Step from China Glaze.  I adore this color! It's a beautiful pinky-peach, and it's bright!  The formula was HORRIBLE though. It was streaky and patchy - this is 4 coats + topcoat and every single one was a struggle.  But I cannot express how I LOVE this color!  I give it a pass for that only, but I'm on the hunt for anything similar.  I might have found one, so I'll report back.

Thanks for stopping by!  Are there any other colors you recommend similar to these?  What are your favorite summer polishes?

~ Hayley ~

SinfulColors Star Blast Off

 *Provided for Review*

Hey lovelies!  SinfulColors has been introducing lots of bright and colorful shimmers and glitters for summer.  They have quite a few collections out right now, filled with bright creams from their core line and some new polishes too.  It's no secret they are one of my favorite drugstore brands, and this year they have added holiday themed, matte glitters. When you see them in the display you can't help but grab one!

Today I have one of those holiday glitters.  This is Star Blast Off, the 'star' of their Having A Blast collection.  I used it as a double accent over ORLY Frosting.  I did this intentionally because I wanted you to see that in my bottle the red glitter did bleed slightly and tinged the clear base.  Not every bottle is that way; I've seen many in Walgreens that were fine. I still liked the effect anyway and so easy! Two coats.

Star Blast Off - bottle is Out Of This World

The Having a Blast collection is fresh and festive for the 4th of July.  The collection contains the 6 polishes below including the beloved Green Ocean (reminds me of fireworks on the nails, so I get it)! 

Photo courtesy of SinfulColors

I tried a few other polishes from this collection, Snow Me White and Ruby Ruby.  Snow Me White is perfect for a white a base under neons and for any glitter.  It covers in 2 coats.  Ruby Ruby is a very pretty deep candy apple red (I suggest a base coat) - for the price point, I recommend them all!  I will have more swatches up from a few other polishes in this collection soon.

Star Blast Off and the Having a Blast collection is currently available at Walgreens, and other mass retailers for $1.99 each.  You can keep up with SinfulColors on their website, twitter, Facebook and other social media. 

I can't wait to hear what you will be wearing on your nails for the 4th of July, so let me know!

~ Hayley

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer - Once More With Feeling Collection Review

*Sent for Review

Today on the blog I have the newest collection from Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer! The Once More With Feeling Collection (OMWF) is actually a re-release from back in 2013. These gorgeous holos were so popular that Julie decided to be awesome and give those of us who missed out a chance to grab these beauties. She's pretty cool like that. For this restock/re-release, she has slightly reformulated six of the polishes, making them more opaque than their original counterparts. The other three are brand new to this collection and were created to "update the look and feel of this collection in a holo-cluttered market." This means they're extra sweet and spectacular. :) YASS!

The three new polishes are "The Last Time I Tortured Someone, They Didn't Even *Have* Chainsaws" (Angelus aka Angel without a soul), "I Fought for My Soul" (Spike with a soul), and "5x5" (Faith). As you can see, there are two new polishes for Angel and Spike which means the originals will NOT be restocked ("Don't Worry. I Don't Bite." and "Out. For. A. Walk...BITCH."). But don't fret - keep reading for all the details.

In case you didn't know, this collection is based off of the popular TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I watched it back in the day (when I was in High School, gasp!) and I just started watching it again on Netflix. Classic. I love how all the 90's stuff takes me back, but I digress.

On to the swatches! All swatches in this post are over Nail Pattern Boldness Glitter-a-Peel and topped with Above the Curve Lacquer 5-Free Topcoat.

Love Makes You Do the Wacky This light purple linear holo with a strong fuchsia flash is based on Willow, who I remember being my personal favorite character. We'll see if it's the same this time around!

BEGL polishes are formulated to be opaque in 1-2 coats which means they are on the thicker side. I personally leave them as is because I personally find them easy to apply. However if you prefer a thinner polish you can easily add a few drops of thinner to you desired consistency.

Add caption

Outside, with flash to bring out the holo

I'm in love with this 

Dorkhead!? You Slash Me With Your Words Xander is the muse for this color - a light green linear holo with a strong mint flash.

Under a shady tree - Xander and me :)

Dorkhead turned out to be a very nice green on me. Sometimes I feel like pastel/mint on my skin tone looks strange and can make my skin look dead. I thought this shade worked really well. I also found this one to be a little of a chameleon, looking anywhere from green to even gold-ish at times. It might have just been that there was so much sun this week.

In sunlight.

As you cans see, it sparkles in the sun!

Tact is Just Saying Not True Stuff. I'll Pass. Oh Cordelia, how I used to loathe thee. This time around though, I find her very amusing. I guess that is because everyone has dealt with a Cordy at some point in their life. Her color is a light taupe linear holo with a strong green flash,

Direct Sunight - see that holo sparkle!

This polish was probably the thickest formula of the three, but I repeat again that I prefer polish that can easily be a one coater. This fits the bill for me. The only other thing I noticed with this one, due to its metallic properties, you can get brush strokes if you aren't careful. I believe use of a smoothing base coat would help this. Swatches show two coats.

Shade - here you can really see the metallic taupe

Direct Sunlight

Additional colors are listed below:

I'm Going Through Some Changes. Oz was the inspiration here and this color  and it is a lovely medium brown linear holo with copper glass flecks.

We Saved the World, I Say We Party! This light pink linear holo with strong pink flash was named for Buffy. 

And last but certainly not least Tea is Soothing. I Wish to be Tense. Funny story about the polish based on Giles. I went to Starbucks with a friend the other day and she swore she only allowed me to go there because I claimed to want some tea earlier. I used this quote. The barista thought I was funny. True story. Any who, Tea is a light blue linear holo with a strong icy blue flash.

The OMWF collection is on sale NOW at the BEGL shop. The full set (nine polishes) will cost $96 for the full sized bottles and $48 for the minis. BEGL ships to US and internationally. 

Some things to note: 

• The Scoobies and Floppy, Hoppy, Bunnies! have been discontinued and are NOT included in this restock. Sorry!
• 5x5 is only available if you purchase the collection in it's entirety. But before you go all slayer, read on! IF you already own the entire OMWF collection, you have the option to send proof of purchase to Julie and she will invoice you $12 + shipping to purchase 5x5. IF you are filling out your collection, you can also send proof to Julie and she will offer a free 5x5 with your current order.
• Proof of Purchase can consist of a photo of your OMWF collection, a copy of the receipt from your OMWF collection polishes, or a mixture of both. If you are filling out your collection, please leave a note to Julie in the "Notes" section upon checkout that you will be emailing her the proof of purchase. 
• Please use the email wishesofablueeyedgirl@gmail.com
• IF you would like to own the original Angel and Spike polishes I mentioned in the intro - you can! There will be a pre-order for those two from May 10th at 3:30 est to May 11th at 3:30pm est. So you have 24 hours to order these. They will be $12 each and only available in the full size bottles.

I think Julie has done a great job accommodating all of her fans with this one. We begged for the OMWF collection to make a comeback and she pulled through! I know it is a little more detailed than other releases, but BEGL takes care of her fans and that is one of the main reasons she is a favorite of mine. To connect with BEGL, you can follow her at the following places:

SHOP

BEGL on Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

Pinterest

Facebook Fan Group - BEGLove

So now the big question -  what will you be grabbing? Do you own any of the OMWF collection? I hope you let me know in the comments below!

Love, Angeline - Almond Darling

*All Polishes Were Purchased*

I have some pretty pastels from indie brand Love, Angeline to share today! Oh, and they're matte.  Oh, and they have some subtle shimmer.  Excited yet?  Maybe just take a peek below.

This is almost the complete Love, Angeline Chateau Macaron collection that released a few months ago for Spring 2015.  In retrospect, I should have just gotten the complete collection because the only one I'm missing is Confection-ary Yellow and I've seen a lot of really cute manis on Instagram using it.  *Sigh* but I digress...

The first color I tried from the collection is Almond Darling.  I used 3 coats and no topcoat in order to leave it matte.  Almond Darling is a very pink leaning lavender.  It's extremely close to the pink in the collection, Baiser de Mousse, but is just slightly more lavender.  The formula was thin, which I liked because it was easy to control and lets a peek of shimmer show through (though very subtle).  I left some dry time between coats so they didn't pull.  This polish self leveled very well and the wear was fantastic!  I had no chipping even after a few days.

Natosha, the creator behind Love, Angeline is very engaging with her polished fans, so I definitely recommend stopping by!  The story behind her brand name is so sweet too!  You can still purchase the Chateau Macaron collection from her shop here.  If you are drawn to brighter shades for the summer, not to worry, because she's releasing a sister collection of summer matte neons called Meet Me At The Tea Salon.

Check out her Facebook and Instagram and if you have any Love, Angeline polishes I'd love to hear which ones you have!  Thanks for stopping by! 

~ Hayley