Indigo Bananas Summer Rains Collection

*Some items in this post were press samples, some were purchased by me*

Hi everyone! Today I have more swatches from Indigo Bananas' Summer Rains Collection. I've previously shared two awesome polishes from this collection, Molten Universe and Rainbow in the Dark. I am a flakie, holo, and color-shifting shimmer lover and this collection combines all of those things. I can honestly say this is one of my favorite indie collections from this year! I included pictures of all of them in the collage so that you could see all of the pretties together! The only one I'm missing from the collection is Storm Drops (and you can see a gorgeous swatch of it over on Ida Nails It!).

Countdown to Extinction has a green jelly base with green/gold and red/green flakies as well as holo. This one was the most holo of all of the polishes with holo finishes in the collection. Formula was nice and was good at 3 thin coats. I'm obsessed with green, so this was one of my favorites!

Reign is a garnet red jelly that leans slightly purple. It is filled with red/green color shifting flakes and shimmer. Formula was good and I used 3 thin coats for this mani. For some reason (I guess the jelly-ness) in pictures this one looked like it was thinner closer to my cuticles, but it didn't look like that at all in real life. Such a strange thing! This reminded me of an amped up version of Barielle Elle's Spell.

Acid Ocean is a deep inky blue jelly with aqua/green/blue color shifting flakes and bronze/green color shifting shimmer. This combination gives the polish an overall teal look instead of blue. Great jelly formula and perfect at 3 thin coats. Such a gorgeous, murky polish (and the name fits perfectly!).

Hole in the Sky is a blue-leaning violet jelly filled with red/green color shifting shimmer and flakes as well as holo.  If I had to pick a favorite, this would be it because it literally has everything I love all rolled up into one polish. I feel like some pictures make it look lighter than it is, so I tried to adjust them to compensate. Formula was great and I used 3 thin coats for this mani. This entire collection is seriously winning, but if you get only one...get this one!

Indigo Bananas polishes are available from their shop as well as from Edgy Polish (Sweden) and Mei Mei's Signatures (Singapore). Be sure to follow Indigo Bananas on their official website, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter to see many amazing swatches and keep up-to-date on new collections, restocks, etc. Thanks for looking everyone!

Zoya Kitridge

*Purchased by Me*

Hi everyone! Today I have a gorgeous creme to share with you from Zoya's Tickled Collection. As soon as I saw swatches of Zoya Kitridge, I thought it looked like Barbie's dream color! Kitridge is a cool toned bright pink creme (bubblegum pink guys!). I found that the formula for Kitridge was pretty good, but could have a bit of streaking if you didn't work carefully. I used 3 thin coats for this mani (could have been 2 if I was more careful). I don't wear cremes solo often, but I couldn't resist wearing this one by itself to brighten my weekend at work!

Zoya polishes are available at  Zoya.com and other retailers that carry Zoya polishes. The summer 2014 Tickled and Bubbly collections are now available in places where Zoya is sold. Thanks for looking everyone!

Girly Bits 80's Girl Bands Collection Swatches

*Press Samples*

Hi everyone! I have already shown you a few polishes from Girly Bits 80's Girl Bands Collection (Conga and Man Size Love), but today I have even more to share! I think Pam has hit it out of the park with this collection. There is such a variety of color and finish that there is surely something for everyone. Just keep scrolling to see all the pretties!

Darling Diva Polish Sassy Ass Mouth

*Purchased by me*

Hi everyone! Today I have a sexy Darling Diva Polish to share with you. Sassy Ass Mouth is a deep red linear holo with strong purple undertones. It ends up having an overall deep fuchsia tone. The purple is really brought out in the bend of the holo. Formula was good and perfectly opaque in 2 coats. This is certainly a stunner, and a must have in my opinion.

Darling Diva Polish is available from creator Carrie's Big Cartel Shop. Darling Diva Polish is also available from Llarowe (US), Mei Mei's Signatures (Singapore), and Edgy Polish (Sweden),  . Follow Darling Diva Polish on Facebook and Instagram for updates on new collections and restock news. 

Pahlish Midsummer Skies and Ghost Lights

*Purchased by me*

Hi everyone! Today I have two more beauties for you from Pahlish's Midsummer Bonfires Collection (I previously showed you Will-o-the-Wisp here). I have always gushed about amazing Pahlish's flecked cremes are, and these are certainly no exception. They are certainly an obsession for me...I gotta catch 'em all!

Midsummer Skies is a light sky blue creme with copper and blue flakes. Formula was smooth and creamy and I used 3 thin coats for this mani (you could definitely get away with 2 if you use thicker coats though). I love the color combo here, so gorgeous!

Ghost Lights is a bright yet dusty turquoise creme with blue microflakes and shimmer. This is the PERFECT turquoise! Formula was fantastic and it was completely smooth and opaque in 2 coats.

Pahlish is available from Pahlish's Big Cartel Shop. Be sure to follow Pahlish on Facebook and on their blog for details about restocks (they are Fridays at 7 pm CST) and new polishes. Shannon has started adding one or two Bespoke Batches to each restock (she usually posts previews on Thursdays), so if you want to grab some of those, keep and eye on her Facebook and Instagram. Pahlish is also available from Llarowe, Rainbow Connection, and Edgy Polish. Thanks for looking everyone!

CrowsToes That Boy is a P-I-G Pig! for August's A Box, Indied

*Press Sample*

 Hi everyone! I've got another preview, this time of CrowsToes' contribution to August's A Box, Indied. All of the polishes/products in August's box are frat-tastically themed (Go Greek - Pi Beta Polish) and are inspired by the movie "National Lampoon's Animal House". August's box will go on sale at Llarowe on July 26 (tomorrow!).

CrowsToes That Boy is a P-I-G Pig! has a soft, shimmering pink base with loads of glassfleck shimmer that shifts from blue to pink and white flakes. For this mani I used 3 coats alone. Formula had a good consistency and spread well. It starts off sheer, but it builds up nicely. It's like CrowsToes does bridal chic, which is so different from most EVERYTHING that she usually does but it is so well done!

Why two macros? Why not?

You can also layer it over a light pink if you want, but I think I prefer it solo. I tried to layer it over a dark color, but I found that the base was too opaque for that and I didn't really like it. This is 1 coat over OPI Steady as She Rose. 

A Box, Indied is available from Llarowe for $50 each. Each box contains 5 polishes and/or products that are exclusive to that box and will not be available individually. You can sign up to receive a box each month or you can purchase the boxes individually when they are released. Follow Llarowe's Facebook page for announcements of exact dates and times of releases (the box for the next month is usually released around the end of the previous month.) She will also give previews of the products and makers that will be in the box (there is a rotation of makers that are included, it isn't always the same). Thanks for looking everyone!

Enchanted Polish May, June, and July 2014 Mystery Polishes

Hi everyone! I've got Enchanted Polish's latest offering of monthly mystery polishes for you today. Let's jump right in!

Enchanted Polish May 2014 is a reddish-orange linear holo with a strong pink microflake shimmer throughout. This makes the polish take on an overall corally tone. This is my favorite of the three for sure! I love orange and this orange is just gorgeous. The pink shimmer is very apparent in real life and adds more depth and interest to the polish. I used 2 coats for this mani. It has the most jelly-like formula of the 3 polishes and was the most holo.

Enchanted Polish June 2014 is a medium purple holo with a multichrome shift. The multichrome shifts from purple to red and maybe even a touch of orange. It is a more subtle shift than other Enchanted Polish multichromes, but it is definitely there. It has a thicker base, so I wiped a good bit off of my brush and did 2 thin coats.

I had a difficult time capturing the true color of this one. It wanted to pull a deeper purple in pictures (maybe because of the multichrome pigment?). This is the closest to how it looks in most lights (maybe a touch brighter purple than this). It has a metallic quality to it. Sorry it isn't perfect, I tried my hardest to get an accurate picture.

These pictures are more to show you the color shift. As I mentioned, its a bit lighter than this but my camera made the base color pull darker for some reason.

Enchanted Polish July 2014 is a shimmery cherry red linear holo with blue sparks. The blue sparks aren't really visible on the nail, but I can see them in the bottle. This polish, to me, reminds me of a classic shimmery red that has been holofied (think of OPI I'm Not Really a Waitress or OPI An Affair in Red Square). This one was also on the thicker side, so I wiped a good bit off of my brush each time and did 2 thin coats (it was pretty opaque at one coat though. The holo on this one was the most subtle of the bunch, but it still gave a nice glowy effect.

This one taken in the light box really shows the shimmer well so you can see what I mean about it looking like a holo version of a classic red shimmer.

Enchanted Polish is available from their Big Cartel shop as well as from Nail Polish Canada (Canada), Mei Mei's Signatures (Singapore), and Femme Fatale Cosmetics (Australia). These polishes sell out really quickly (which is why I love the pre-order idea), so be sure to check out restock times so you can snatch them up when you can! 

Who all took a chance on the mystery polishes this time? What did you think? Thanks for looking!

Leadlighting with Polish Addict Nail Color Neon Collection

Hi everyone! Today I have a recent mani where I finally tried out the leadlighting technique that has become quite popular lately with nail stamp fanatics. For this technique, you paint on a white base and then stamp on a black or dark stamp that has a lot of free space that you can fill in with color. Then you use sheer jelly polishes to fill in the design to give a stained glass/leadlight effect. Since the jellies are sheer, you can paint over the black lines without covering them.

For this mani, I started with my white base, OPI Angel With a Lead Foot from the recent Mustang Collection. I found this white to have an excellent, non-streaky formula so you should try it out if you are looking for a good white! Next I used a floral design from Winstonia plate W-04 and stamped it on using Mundo de Unas Black. To avoid smearing the design, I applied topcoat and let it dry completely before proceeding to the leadlighting. For the leadlighting, I used 3 jelly polishes with scattered holo from Polish Addict Nail Color's Summer Neon Collection: Barbie Code, Kiss a Mermaid, and Caution. I painted them on with a nail art brush and blended them for a gradient effect on the petals. This was a very simple technique to do with quite a dramatic effect on the nail.

Polish Addict Nail Color is available from their Big Cartel Shop as well as from these international stockists.  Follow them on Facebook and Instagram for product updates and to see swatch photos.

Thanks for looking everyone!

FingerPaints Film Noir Collection

*Press Samples*

Hi everyone! Today I have FingerPaints limited edition Film Noir Collection for August 2014 to share with you. This collection consists of 4 new shades with a porcelain/matte finish. There are 3 matte creme shades and 1 matte glitter shade. Aside from the glitter, these are very classic shades and the porcelain finish is a modern twist on these classics.

Hollywood Decadence consists of  pink, blue, gold, silver, and green glitter in a matte base. I really love this combination of glitters and the matte base softens them and makes for a very elegant finished look. Because it is in a matte base, this glitter polish dries a little faster than most and you have to work quickly with it and perhaps dab a little with the second coat for even distribution. This does dry with a textured finish, but you can add matte topcoat if you want to smooth it out and retain its matte look. This is two coats of Hollywood Decadence alone. I think this is a pretty cool concept! I don't think I've ever seen a glitter with the matte element built into the polish, so kudos to FingerPaints for forward thinking since so many people love to matte their glitter manis.

Beautiful Mystery is a pale blue matte creme polish. Formula on this was thick and quick drying, so it was prone to balding it was not applied quickly. I used 3 coats to get it smoothed out. It is really pretty when dry and reminded me of an eggshell.

Film Noir is a vampy plum matte creme. This polish is so sexy! I can see myself wearing it a lot in the fall. It has a similar formula to the other matte cremes in the collection, but I found it was the easiest of the 3 to work with. I used 3 coats for this mani.

Petal Obsession is a soft pink matte creme. Again, formula was similar to the other matte cremes in the collection but I found that it caused me the most issue with application. Working quickly and applying thickish coats aided a lot in smoothing it out and preventing streaking. I used 3 coats for this mani.

Overall, I really like this collection. The colors all compliment each other so well and look nice with the porcelain finish. As with most matte polishes I have encountered, the formulas are not going to be as easy to work with as your average polish since they dry so quickly, but working fast really helped with application. I haven't seen a lot of matte polishes released lately, so this is a nice collection to get your hands on if you are looking to add some matte shades to your own collection.

FingerPaints Film Noir Collection is exclusively available from Sally Beauty and will be released in August. It is a limited edition collection, so be sure to get them while they last! Thanks for looking everyone!