KBShimmer Summer 2015 Part 3: The Flakes

*Press Samples*

Hi everyone! I have the final installment of KBShimmer's Summer 2015 Collection and part 3 is the flakes! KBShimmer has added 6 full-coverage mega chrome flakie polishes and 4 silver flake polishes of various sizes to their line-up this summer, so you can be rocking some super blingy tips. These launched today along with parts 1 (bleached neons) and 2 (glitters) of the summer collection that I've shared with you previously. There are a total of 28 brand new polishes that launched today, so be sure to check them out!

First I'm going to show you the 6 full-coverage multichrome flake polishes. I have only tried a few plain multichrome flakies like these from other brands, but the ones I have tried worked better as a topper over a base color. The thing that really impressed me with these flakies is that most of them build up to opacity easily in just 2 coats (or 3 thin coats). If you would like to layer them over a base you can certainly do that, but I thought that they looked awesome on their own. The formula on these was really smooth and easy to work with. The formula had a nice thickness so it didn't run everywhere (which is important with these, you don't want them running in your cuticles) and the flakies lay very flat on the nail so just one coat of topcoat is needed for a smooth finish (I used KBShimmer Clearly On Top).

Take the Punny and Run is a multichrome flakie that shifts from fuchsia to lime green with flashes of gold and copper. This was one of the most shifty ones of the bunch and it is a stunner! I used 2 coats here.

Pros and Bronze is a brassy gold multichrome flake polish with shifts to bronze and orange and even hints of green at extreme angles. I felt like the flakes in this one were a little smaller than in the other polishes, but that made its opacity even better. I didn't expect to like this on me, but I ended up really loving it. This was 2 coats.

Green Weaver is a multichrome flake polish that shifts from a rosy pink to an apple green with some hints of purple at extreme angles. I so adore this particular shifting flake because the colors make me think of a floral watercolor painting. This is 2 coats.

She's Beyond Kelp is a multichrome flakie polish that shifts from lime green to blue with hints of aqua and grass green. This was one of my surprise favorites because I absolutely love the shift in it and I guess I hadn't realized that there was a flakie quite like this out there. It definitely has an oceanic feel to it, so the name is perfect. I used 2 coats here.

Look on the Nightside is a multichrome flakie that shifts from green to purple with hints of blue and even orange at extreme angles. This flakie has ALL THE COLORS. It is just brilliant and gorgeous. I think that this is a must-have for sure. I used 2 coats here.

Moody Hues is a multichrome flakie that shifts from navy blue to reddish purple with a copper shift at extreme angles. I had the most difficult time capturing the shift of this one on the nail, but you can see it here in the bottle much better. It's definitely not as dramatic of a shift as some of the others, but it's much shiftier than my nails are showing. I used 2 coats here, but probably should have gone for 3.

Next we have the silver flakes. There are 4 of these highly reflective silver flake polishes and they can either be layered over a base color or built up to opacity on their own. I swatched them all on their own, but I wanted to do a comparison shot for you so you can see their differences in the flake sizes. For the comparison below, I layered 1 coat over each over KBShimmer Eclipse.

These are very mirror-like flakes. Anywhere that you see a bit of blue in my photos, it's actually the reflection of my blue camera in the flakes. Especially with the larger flakes, you can see bits of nail peeking through in the close-up shots, but in real life it's really not noticeable because the shine is so bright. If this bothers you though, you can always use Foiled (or another silver polish) as the base and then layer the larger flakies on top for a blinged out silver mani or layer over a colored base for a gorgeous layered effect. These are also lay really smooth and flat, so one coat of topcoat is all that is needed to finish them off.

Foiled is the smallest of the 4 silver flakies, so you get a really smooth reflective finish with this one. It builds up to opacity really easily and I think it looks the best on its own at 2 coats vs layering it.

R-E-F-L-E-C-T is a medium silver flakie polish. For this swatch, I only used 2 coats, but I really think it would have looked a bit better at 3 coats (especially with the close-up shots). As you can see, the flakes are larger so you get a slightly more textured look than with foiled, but it is still completely smooth on the nail. Also...the name of this polish...LOL! I love KBShimmer's punny names so much, and this one is a whole new level of awesome.

That's Ore Like It is a medium/large silver flakie polish. This one really looks good layered over a base color or at 3 coats on its own. It's very easy to work with, but take care not to overload the brush with flakies (thin coats work better). I think this one would make a killer accent paired with a simple creme mani.

Sterling Example is the largest of the silver flakie polishes. This one will definitely build up to opacity, but I think I personally prefer it layered over a base color. I can't wait to layer this over a Tiffany blue creme (I love Tiffany blue and silver SO much). I did show it to you on its own at 3 coats here. Though I do love it for layering, it definitely is a show stopping mani on it's own...like having shattered mirror shards on your nails.

KBShimmer products are available from their website as well as from Harlow & Co. (Canada) for international customers. Be sure to follow them on Facebook and Instagram for updates on new collections and to see swatches of all of their polishes. Again, their entire Summer 2015 Collection is live now, so go check them out! Thanks for looking everyone!