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. 

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. 

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.

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

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

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