KBShimmer Office Space Collection

*Press Samples*

Hi everyone! Today I have a brand new collection from KBShimmer called the Office Space Collection! After all of the rich colors and bling of the holidays, KBShimmer has toned it down a bit with some office appropriate shades that are most definitely still fun! The 8-piece Office Space Collection will be launching on January 4th in KBShimmer's shop.

Ever After Polish Golden Afternoon Collection

*Press Samples*

Hi everyone! Tonight I have Ever After Polish's Golden Afternoon Collection to share with you! This 4-piece collection is inspired, of course, by Alice in Wonderland's classic song sung by the flowers! I know most people love the Cheshire Cat, but as a child my absolute favorite part of the movie was all of the beautiful flowers singing Golden Afternoon. I also have a review of some Cuticle Crelly scents including some new ones for Spring! The Golden Afternoon Collection as well as the Cuticle Crelly are available now in the Ever After Polish shop!

Pahlish Black Friday Bespoke Event

*Press Samples*

Hi everyone! Today I have a very special Pahlish post to share with you...another Bespoke Batch Event! This time, Shannon has whipped up some very special Bespokes for Black Friday. Like the last event, these will be available for pre-order and they will not be made again, so be sure to grab them while you can. The Bespoke Batch pre-order starts at 12:01 AM CST on Black Friday and will end at midnight on Monday, November 30th. There will also be a selection of older discontinued Pahlishes as well as the December Duo (which I will show you soon!) available during that time. Finally, there will be a very special LE polish called Little Rebel Droid that will be exclusive to this event and will come free with all orders of $50 or more.

Hare Polish "We Have to Go Back Kate!" - The Lost Collection, Part 1

*Press Samples*

Hi everyone! Today I have a Hare Polish's recently relased "We Have to Go Back Kate!" - The Lost Collection, Part 1 to share with you. Nikole all but promised that there will be more Lost polishes in the future since she has a love affair with the show, but these are the very first additions. I have never watched Lost, put it has been on my "to do" list for years. I'm going to watch it one of these days, I'm determined! It looks like these polishes are out of stock currently in the Hare Polish shop, but hopefully they will be restocked soon!

Hare Polish Stir Crazy Spring Collection

*Press Samples*

Hi everyone! Today I have Hare Polish's gorgeous Stir Crazy Spring Collection to share with you. This is a collection of 5 polishes that are full of shimmery (and flakie) goodness. I love Nikole's glitters, but I'm totally over the moon for the flakie creations she has been making lately. Three of these are very springy colors but the other two are quite unexpected and appreciated in a spring collection. These are available now in Hare Polish's Etsy shop.

Smitten Polish Opalescent Elements Collection

*Press Samples*

Hi everyone! Today I have the brand new Smitten Polish Opalescent Elements Collection to share with you. This collection consists of 4 neon jellies filled with iridescent flakies. These are AMAZING and you need them in your life if you are a flakie lover...just sayin. These will be available for pre-order on April 25th at 2:00 PM central time. *EDITED....I originally had the date wrong!*

Smitten Polish Terra Opal with Stamping

*Press Sample*

Hi everyone! Just like the massive upcoming KBShimmer Collection I spoke about yesterday, I have another upcoming collection from Smitten Polish in my clutches that is a MUST HAVE and I'm giving you a bit of a teaser today. They are neon jellies with iridescent flakies y'all! SO PRETTY! I've worn two so far, and I didn't want to take either of them off. I will hopefully have swatches up early next week of this 4 piece collection (they will be available for pre-order on April 24th), but for now I wanted to share some stamping I did with one of them.

For this mani, I used Smitten Polish Terra Opal (neon green jelly with iridescent flakies) as the base and then stamped with an image from MoYou London's Kaleidoscope plate 6 and Mundo de Unas Black. I ordered a Creative Nail Stamper from Color 4 Nails and this was my very first time using it and I really think I'm going to enjoy it. It picked up my image well and stamped very crisply. I also had a pretty easy time getting my images centered and straight (which is crucial for symmetrical images like these), which was fantastic. It's probably the most difficult thing for me to do when I stamp, which is why you see a lot of questionably placed/lopsided images from me. These definitly weren't perfect, but a nice improvement over my usual mess. Overall, I'm very excited to play with it more!

Smitten Polish is available from their Big Cartel Shop as well as from these international stockists. Be sure to follow Smitten Polish on Facebook and Instagram for updates on restocks and new collections. Thanks for looking everyone!

Pahlish Buccaneers and Buried Gold Collection

*Press Samples*

Hi everyone! Today I'm very excited to show you Pahlish's new collection called Buccaneers and Buried Gold. Not only are the names pirate themed, but the limited edition labels are skull and crossbones! They are the CUTEST! This collection is launching this Sunday, April 5th at 7 PM CDT.

ILNP Ultra Chrome Flakies

*Purchased by Me*

Hi everyone! I purchased 4 of the ILNP Ultra Chrome Flakies when they were first released, and I've used them for several different looks since then. I decided to collect my looks and combine them into one post for you guys. I think I've decided I mostly like them layered over lighter colors, but they look pretty over dark colors too (they just don't pop as much). Formula is consistent with these across the board. They spread easily with good coverage in 1 coat and they don't require a lot of topcoat to smooth out because they lay perfectly flat. I've seen people wear them on their own in several coats or by sponging them on, but I really don't care for the way they look when applied like that...I like them layered over a base. Now I really want to pick up some more of the ultra chrome flake toppers! Which are your favorites?

Flakies + Stamping with Essie Shine of the Times and Born Pretty Store Stamping Plates

*Some items in this post were sent for review*

Hi everyone! With the recent flakie madness, I decided to pull out one of my all-time favorite flakies, Essie Shine of the Times. What I love about this one is that it is SO DENSE and gives such amazing coverage with one coat. For this mani, I started out with a base of OPI Every Month is Oktoberfest and then I painted on 1 coat of Essie Shine of the Times. I decided I wanted to see what it would look like with black stamping so I stamped over the mani with a leafy image from Born Pretty Store plate 05 (Egypt Style) Stamping Plate and Mundo de Unas Black. The image stamped really nice and crisply, but my base sort of swallowed it up because it is so busy. I feel like it gave the overall look a nice "weathered" sort of feel, but I don't feel like it showcases the stamp as nicely as I wanted it to so I will use it again and do a full review of the plate. All in all, I really loved this mani and the flash of the flakes is so nice over a dark base.

Be sure to check out Born Pretty Store for all of your nail art supply needs (you can use my coupon code JCX31 for 10% off your order).  I've always had great experiences with ordering from them at very reasonable prices. Also, you can't beat free worldwide shipping! You can also follow Born Pretty Store on Facebook and Instagram. 

What do you think about the resurgence of flakie madness? I personally love flakies, so I can never get enough! I feel like I have most of my bases covered in my collection as far as these type of flakie are concerned so I haven't picked any of the new ones up yet, but I am still tempted... Thanks for looking everyone!

Pretty & Polished Opal Collection

*Press Samples*

Hi everyone! Today I have the gorgeous Opal Collection from Pretty & Polished to share with you! This collection consists of four jellies with multicolored flakies that are all inspired by gorgeous opals! This collection is launching on Pretty & Polished's website on November 14th.

Pahlish "With Arms Outstretched" September Duo

*Purchased by Me*

Hi everyone! Today I have the Pahlish September Duo to share with you. This duo is called "With Arms Outstretched" and it is a lovely coordinating fall glitter topper/flecked creme base. The duo will only be available through the end of September, so be sure to snag it while you can on Pahlish's website!

Falling Into Fall: Vamp + Matte Featuring Pahlish An Caisteal Ruadh and Born Pretty Store French Tip Guides

*French tip guides sent for review, polishes purchased by me*

Hi everyone! It's officially fall now and it's finally starting to cool off just a teensy bit here in the deep South. Well...at night at least. Vampy colors are classic for fall and I really look forward to this time of year when I can dust off all of my vampy polishes (although I have been known to wear them pretty much whenever). Another thing I LOVE to do with a vampy polish is matte it...especially if it has some sort of amazing shimmer or flakies in it. This mani pretty much encompasses all of these things.

Indigo Bananas Swatch Spam

*Some items in the review were press samples, some were purchased by me*

Hi everyone! Today I have 3 beautiful polishes to share with you from Indigo Bananas! I have fallen in love creator Andrea's beautiful creations, and I hope that you like the ones I have to show you today!

Storm Drops is a pale blue crelly with grey and white flakies and fine green shimmer. Formula was great with this polish and it builds up nicely at 3 thin coats. The shimmer is more apparent in certain lights (you can see it better in the macro shot). This is definitely the soft and delicate beauty in the Summer Rains Collection.

Pahlish Le Bijou du Roi with Stamping

*Purchased by Me*

Hi everyone! Today I have a gorgeous Pahlish to share with you from the fall Royal Reverie Collection. Le Bijou du Roi is a deep royal blue jelly filled with copper flakes. The jelly formula was nice, but dried pretty quickly as blue jellies like this tend to do (think Revlon Royal), so it's best to work quickly when you are applying the polish to avoid any stringiness. I think it is something with the ultramarine pigment used to get this brilliant blue that cause blues like this to dry quickly and also have a semi-matte finish. Application was good and I used 3 coats for this mani plus topcoat. I adore the combo of copper and blue, and the flakies floating in the blue jelly add all sorts of wonderful depth to this polish.

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!

Musings about Nfu-Oh 51

Hi everyone! I've heard a lot of talk recently about Nfu-Oh 51 in reference to it being a dupe for Color Club The Uptown. I've been thinking about it a lot so that gave me an overwhelming desire to wear it. I think that the major thing that people forget about Nfu-Oh 51 is that there are not only flakies present in the purple jelly base but also a LOT of red/green color shifting shimmer a la Clarins 230. Now I don't have The Uptown, but I do have Layla Ceramic Effect 52 (aka The Butterfly Effect) and these look super close to me based on swatches I have seen. The big thing to note: NEITHER of these have the shimmer that Nfu-Oh 51 has. It almost takes over the polish and obscures the flakies somewhat because it is so dense (especially in pictures). I have always thought of Nfu-Oh 51 as more of a layering polish, and the shimmer really pops when you layer it over dark colors. I went with a navy blue for this mani, Barry M Blackberry. This is 2 coats of Nfu-Oh 51 over Barry M Blackberry.

Gah! So pretty! I was reminded again why this is one of my favorite polishes! It never disappoints! I do think that Nfu-Oh 51 and Color Club The Uptown/Layla CE 52 are kissing cousins, but based on what I've seen I definitely do not think they are dupes. Thanks for looking everyone!

Pretty Serious Naughty Night Shift Nurse

Hi everyone! Today I'm sharing Pretty Serious Naughty Night Shift Nurse with you. As I'm sure most of you know, this polish was created as custom for Kristy from The Polish Haven as a birthday gift last year and everyone went absolutely bananas over it when she posted pictures. Kaz of Pretty Serious was super awesome and made an extremely limited run of the polish (as ingredients were scarce/discontinued) and it sold out in minutes both times she restocked it (and drama ensued, etc.). I was so lucky to get my hands on it. And it is truly stunning! It has a multichrome shift from blue/purple/red with color shifting flakies. For this mani I used 2 coats over black. It is a super hard one to capture on camera properly. 

So thank you again to Kristy and Kaz for giving everyone a shot at grabbing this beauty! It rocks! Thanks for looking! 

Deborah Lippmann Sweet Dreams over Illamasqua Collide

Hi everyone! I guess it is the weather finally turning warm here (since it has actually been a pleasant spring here in Alabama without the usual hot as hades temps), but I'm craving bright colors. And one of my favorite brights to wear would have to be hot pink. I decided to dust off my favorite Deborah Lippmann polish, Sweet Dreams, and layer if over the neon pink Illamasqua Collide for extra brightness. Now Sweet Dreams can definitely be worn on its own and built up to opacity (I've done it in the past) but the flakie formula is not the best I've ever encountered so layering it over Collide made it much easier to handle. And boy is it pretty.

This Deborah Lippman polish is still available at HSN.com, which is where I purchased it from. Thanks for looking everyone!

Layered NOTD: Flakies + Glitter

Today I have an evolving mani for you that just got better with each layer! I started off with a base of Barry M Indigo and added Nfu-Oh 52, which has green shimmer as well as blue/green flakies.

Next I added a coat of Enchanted Polish Ciao Milano for even more shifting awesomeness!

Thanks for looking everyone!