Love Thy Polish Royalty + Sephora by OPI It's Real Gold Topcoat

Hi everyone! Today I have a beauty from Love Thy Polish to share with you called Royalty. The name is so perfect for this polish because it is a gorgeous Royal Purple jelly with small purple glitter in the base. So simple and yet so perfect! I used 3 thin coats for this mani. To add to the royal factor...I added 1 coat of Sephora by OPI It's Real Gold topcoat. There is a reason purple and gold is one of my favorite combos...it just works.

Here is Royalty on its lonesome. So pretty and sophisticated with an awesome formula. If you are a purple lover, you need this one. 

Love Thy Polish is an Australian indie brand and creator Emma's shop can be found here. She just released a new collection called the Dreams Collection last week so be sure to check out her polishes. My pal Kristy has some fabulous swatches of that collection here. Thanks for looking everyone!

CrowsToes Toxic Buttercup

I have another polish from the CrowsToes springTHIS Collection today called Toxic Buttercup. This is a yellow shimmer polish with a strong pink flash. The pink flash is absolutely stunning, but is a little camera shy. The base of this polish is buttery yellow, but for my mani I chose to layer if over a yellow that is a little brighter, Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow. Toxic Buttercup is a sheer polish, but it can be built up on its own if you want, but I love the look of layering it over another polish. I used 2 coats of Toxic Buttercup over Mellow Yellow. The formula was excellent and spread easily. Then, because I was thinking of buttercups, I decided to stamp some flowers over the mani with Konad White polish and Bundle Monster plate BM224. 

Here it is without the stamping. You can see pink shift somewhat, but it is much more apparent in real life. 

If you are a yellow lover, you definitely should get this polish!! CrowsToes polishes, including the springTHIS Collection, are available from Llarowe and Overall Beauty. Thanks for looking everyone!!

*product provided for my honest review

Belated Earth Day Nails

Here were my Earth Day nails...just a few days late. I just went with a green and blue motif. It actually looks sort of like circus stripes. I used China Glaze Frostbite as the base and then put down striping tape and painted on China Glaze Running in Circles for the stripes. Also...China Glaze bottles are so awkward to hold! If only I had long, dainty fingers. LOL! Also...the sparklies from Running in Circles stick to your skin like nothing else when you are trying to do clean-up...so be careful with it. They did come off in the shower, at least.

Here is Frostbite by itself. Such a pretty polish in its own right. A must have from China Glaze in my opinion.

Thanks for looking everyone!

Girly Bits Spring It On Me! Collection Swatches and Review

Hi everyone! Today I have a selection from Girly Bits Cosmetics' Spring It On Me! collection that were sent to me for review. Creator Pam has offered something for everyone in this collection which has two glitters, a holo, a shimmer topcoat, and a cream/jelly. Today for you I have the two glitters and the shimmer topcoat to share.

Emerald City Lights. This polish is part of a coordinating emerald duo to celebrate the Pantone color of the year. It is a sheer green jelly with gorgeous green shimmer and a subtle blue glow. This polish is meant to be worn layered over another polish, so I chose to layer 2 coats over Orly Lucky Duck. Formula was excellent on this. 

Spring It On Me! This polish has a sheer, milky lavender base with a mixture of white, pink, pink holo, silver, and purple glitters as well as small green glitters. It is very sheer and meant to be layered over a coordinating base color. I chose to layer 2 coats over Essie St Lucia Lilac, which I thought matched the base color perfectly. This polish spread very smoothly and evenly with excellent glitter payoff. It was a surprise favorite for me. 

Going Bananas. This polish has a bright yellow crelly base with green, pink, chartreuse, lavender, purple, and fuchsia glitters. There are a few holo glitters sprinkled around as well and a faint shimmer. This polish is super fun and absolutely packed with glitter. The glitter spreads easily and I found the base to be pretty opaque with complete coverage in two coats (maybe with thinner coats it would have taken 3). I was very impressed with the opacity, especially considering that yellows are notorious for being streaky. So this is 2 coats, no undies. 

Girly Bits Cosmetics' polishes are available from creator Pam's online shop as well as from e-tailers around the world including: Llarowe (US), Overall Beauty (US), Mei Mei's Signatures (Singapore), Harlow and Co. (Canada), Femme Fatale Cosmetics (Australia), Foxy Fingertips (Denmark), and Maria Gastadeira (Brazil). The Spring It On Me! collection will be launched today (April 23) at 1:00  PM MST and 7:00 PM MST on Llarowe's website. Thanks for looking everyone!!

Smitten Polish The One on the Right

Here is another older untried for you today: Smitten Polish The One on the Right. This wasn't one of the original Smitten Polishes, but creator Noelie released it not too terribly long after she opened up shop. From what I can tell, it had a limited run and was then discontinued. It is has the composition of a classic Smitten Polish along the lines of Blueberry Crumble and Hydrangea. The base is a gorgeous vibrant blue crelly with blue and purple glitter throughout. This color combo is fantastic! I used 3 coats for this mani. The purple glitters popped more in real life against the base (my pics seem to wash them out a bit).

As I said, this particular polish is discontinued, but you can check out the currently available Smitten Polishes at Noelie's Etsy Shop as well as at Llarowe. Thanks for looking everyone!!

My New Obsession: Topcoating ALL of the Textured Polishes

I know the textured trend is in full force and I'm not a huge fan. Some I have liked ok, but for the most part I prefer my manis glossy and smooth. BUT (huuuuuge but) some of them are absolutely magical with topcoat added. Now the ones that pretty much just have colored or silver glitter in them are sort of meh with topcoat, like the Zoya Pixies, for example. I do like those in their gritty form for the most part. But the ones that have some super special magic hiding under the surface, topcoat just lets all of the magic come out to play.

My original love of topcoating these started with OPI Get Your Number which I posted back in January here. I have also found that some of them aren't very opaque once topcoated, so layering them over a coordinating color as I did in the case of Get Your Number is helpful. I used this same philosophy when wearing another polish from the Mariah Carey Liquid Sands, The Impossible. I used a base of OPI Too Hot Pink to Hold Em and then 2 coats of The Impossible and added topcoat. I have a mini bottle of this, so there are no stars in mine. This was magical in person. It has tiny holographic glitters in the base that I did not capture well in my photos, but they really bring this polish to life.

And yes 3 of my nails decided to break last week, so back to nubby nubs :/ Be sure to click on my pictures so you can see the detail of the shimmery base better. It is to die for!!

Next, after seeing Scrangie's swatches of OPI Jinx from the Bond Girl's Liquid Sand collection topcoated, I became obsessed with acquiring it. Then, I happened to stop in at Rite Aid and saw a display of the Julie G Sugared Gumdrops collection and grabbed Sugar Rush immediately. It looks quite similar to Jinx I think (perhaps more orange leaning) but it has the amazing golden sparkle in the base like Jinx. HOLY CRAP!! I can't stop staring at my nails with this on. There were some more in that collection with shimmer in the base and I will be going back to get them ASAP. This is 2 coats of Julie G Sugar Rush with topcoat. 

(Here are waaaaaay too many pictures) ---> click the pictures for more detail!

And I will have to admit...I actually love the way this looks without topcoat too. Of the textured polishes I have tried so far, it is by far my favorite look without topcoat. 

So what are your thoughts on the textured polish trend? I've found that most people either love 'em or hate 'em. For me, it really has depended on the individual polish whether I have cared for it or not. And the ones I have liked I usually like with topcoat...and then they've been elevated to some of my favorite polishes EVER! Thanks for looking everyone!

Candeo Mallard

In continuing with my older untrieds challenge, I have Candeo Mallard. I remember exactly why I HAD to have Mallard...it was this swatch by Steffels (I miss her so much!). I pretty much ordered it immediately and it has sat in my untrieds ever since. This is from Candeo's original line so it has been around for a long time. For my mani I layered 1 coat over OPI Planks a Lot. This is one of those polishes that looks a bit unimpressive in the bottle but has some magic once it is layered over a base color. The shimmering holographic glitter base is really gorgeous and the bits of green and purple glitter throughout are perfect. It is definitely one of the more subtle indie glitters, but it really is a nice change of pace from the chunkier glitters.

Candeo Colors are available from their website as well as from Llarowe. I don't see Mallard stocked in either shop so it may be discontinued now, but I'm not sure. Thanks for looking everyone!

Smitten Polish Hocus Pocus

So I have made a little challenge for myself to pull out some of my older untrieds to wear. I have NO idea why this one was among the untrieds because it is just gorgeous and right up my alley. Smitten Polish Hocus Pocus was released with their 2012 Halloween collection and it really is a gem. It is perfect in its simplicity. It has a purple jelly base with fine holographic fuchsia glitter. It can be built up on its own for sure, but I decided to layer 2 coats of it over another purple jelly, China Glaze Creative Fantasy. I really think glitters in jelly bases make some of the most striking manicures (although they can be a bear to photograph).

Smitten Polish is available from creator Noelie's Etsy Shop as well as from Llarowe. Hocus Pocus is in stock at Llarowe right now if you are looking for it. Thanks for looking everyone!

CrowsToes Shoot the Butterfly

Here is another lovely from the CrowsToes springTHIS collection called Shoot the Butterfly. When I saw this collection posted, this one was the first to jump out at me as a must have. The concept for it is brilliantly executed because it literally looks like (in a non-gross way) a blended up Monarch Butterfly in a bottle. It has a black jelly base with orange holographic glitters and tiny white and silver holographic glitters throughout. I chose to wear 2 coats over black for this mani. Unfortunately...my topcoat decided to bubble but it wasn't too bad in real life.

CrowsToes polishes are available from Llarowe and Overall Beauty. Thanks for looking everyone!

Girly Bits Shift Happens over China Glaze Fancy Pants

Is there anything that color shifting topcoats don't make better? I think the answer to that is NO. They are one of my favorite things to play with and today I have one of my favorite ones to play with: Girly Bits Shift Happens. I love that the base of this polish is clear so you can layer it over pretty much anything. This is one coat of Shift Happens over China Glaze Fancy Pants.

And here is Fancy Pants one its own. It is really a stunner. The shimmer is gorgeous and I adore the base color. It is hard to photograph, but trust me when I say that you need this one! This is 2 coats. 

If you haven't got a red/green color shifting topcoat yet...get Shift Happens. Girly Bits polishes are available from creator Pam's big cartel store, Llarowe, Overall Beauty, Harlow & Co, and Mei Mei's Signatures. Thanks for looking everyone!