Zoya Seashells Collection

*Press Samples*

Hi everyone! I'm still catching up on Zoyas and today I have the Seashells Collection to share with you. Zoya has released some of my favorite texture polishes ever with their Pixie Dust line but the past few texture collections from them have not lived up to the sugary texture of the originals. The Seashells Collection totally took me back to the originals with a little extra interest of some added glitters/shimmers. If you loved the original Pixie Dusts and haven't nabbed these yet, do it now! I know this is a Summer Collection, but these sugary sparkle polishes are perfect for the upcoming winter too!

FingerPaints Once in a Wild Collection

*Press Samples*

Hi everyone! Today I have the limited edition FingerPaints Once in a Wild Collection to share with you. This collection is made up of 3 brand new limited edition shades as well as 3 core shades. This collection looks like a perfect transitional collection into the fall months. The displays should be out in stores now and this collection will be available until the end of August. This is a really fantastic collection to transition into fall!

CrowsToes Nitty Gritty Collection

*Press Samples*

Hi everyone! I have a brand new collection from CrowsToes called the Nitty Gritty Collection and they are TEXTURES! Like...real textures. I'm so excited that Lauri has figured out the secret to making amazing texture polishes using the real texture bits (a la the original Zoya Pixies) instead of just glitter. She released the amazing neon pink Hooker at Heart for Valentine's Day and there are now 3 more neon textures as well as 3 new black-based textures that all have color shifting glassflecks in them (or glitter bits...I'm not sure, but they shift colors!). There is also a gorgeous shimmery polish that is not textured, so it's definitely the oddball of the bunch, but totally gorgeous and you need it! Okay? Keep watch on Llarowe's Facebook page for exact launch dates and times for the Nitty Gritty Collection (it should be soon!)

CrowsToes Valentine's 2015 Collection

*Press Samples*

Hi everyone! Today I have CrowsToes Valentine's 2015 Collection (aka ValenCrows) to share with you. Per usual, Lauri has created a set of polishes that celebrate her TRUE feelings about Valentine's Day. While some of the polish colors may seem romantic, the names are definitely not all hearts and flowers. Another thing I would like to note is that this collection has a little bit of everything! She has jelly, and a texture (both firsts for CrowsToes), as well as a shimmer, a glitter, and a metallic all in one collection. There is something for everyone to love here! Release date is not set yet, but keep a watch on the CrowsToes and Llarowe Facebook pages for details to come.

Zoya Wishes Collection

*Press Samples*

Hi everyone! Today I have the Zoya Wishes Collection to share with you. This set contains 6 new additions to the Zoya line including 1 creme, 1 shimmer, 1 metallic, and 3 new additions to the Magical PixieDust line.

KBShimmer Winter 2014 Collection Swatch and Review (Partial)

*Press Samples*

Hi everyone! I'm super excited to show you the KBShimmer Winter 2014 Collection today! This collection consists of 11 new shades and 5 returning fan favorites for the holidays. There are also 4 new cuticle oil scents and new winter themed nail vinyls. Today I have 10 of the new polishes and 2 of the returning favorites to share with you. These polishes will be releasing on November 1 on KBShimmer's website.

Zoya Ultra PixieDust Collection

*Purchased by Me*

Hi everyone! Today I have a recent release from Zoya, the Ultra PixieDust Collection, which are some new additions to the PixieDust line and are textured polishes that have larger and smaller glitter pieces in them. After seeing blog posts from Zoya bloggers, it seemed that two polishes from this collection weren't drying down to a proper textured finish like they were supposed to. I read that the retail versions of the polishes were working properly, so I went and purchased the set from Ulta. I'm happy to report that the retail versions do, in fact, dry down to a proper textured finish! There must have been some sort of anomaly with the early press samples sent to bloggers, but it appears to be resolved now. So on to the swatches!

Zoya Arlo

*Purchased by Me*

Hi everyone! Well, my curiosity finally got the best of me and I purchased a Zoya Magical Pixie Dust. I have heard so many mixed reviews of these polishes (a lot of negatives) so I was hesitant to get any of them, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was in the "yay" camp!

Zoya Arlo is a purpley pink jelly base filled with chunky silver holo and textured bits. This dries down to a super textured finish. I thought the formula was easy to work with (much to my surprise) and the polish built up to opacity nicely in 3 thinnish coats. I really loved how, despite being textured, the holo bits still remained very sparkly and eyecatching. I was afraid this was going to be super thick and weird on the nail, but I personally didn't find it much different than standard texture finishes once it dried down (just slightly rougher to the touch).

No topcoat (this is how they were meant to be worn, and honestly I did not like it with topcoat)

Overall, I'm suprised to say that I really loved this polish! I've noticed that Zoya has only released the Magical Pixie Dusts in lighter colors, but I really wish that they would make some in deeper colors with the holo bits in them (like sparkling deep blue, purple, and green would be cool!). I know they do have some darker colors that were released (The Ultra Pixie Dusts), but they do not have the holo bits in them, just metallic glitter.

Zoya polishes are available at Zoya.com and other retailers that carry Zoya polishes. Be sure to follow Zoya on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for updates on new collections and deals. 

JulieG Bourbon Street

*Purchased By Me*

Hi everyone! Today I have a really awesome drugstore find from JulieG's Mardi Gras Collection, which I stumbled upon recently in my local Rite Aid. I found it to be sort of an odd time of the year for a Mardi Gras themed collection, but they are pretty, so who cares? The polishes in this collection are meant to be worn textured, but you can add topcoat and they have a whole new look! I only have one from the collection today, but BeautyJudy has the entire collection up on her blog, so you can check it out and you will see that this collection is pretty awesome! I can already see a few more that I want to pick up before they disappear.












 

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!

FingerPaints Enchanted Mermaid Collection

*Press Samples*


 Hi everyone! Today I have the new textured collection from FingerPaints to share with you called the Enchanted Mermaid Collection for July 2014. This collection has four sea-worthy shades that all have a scaly textured finish.

First I wanted to show you a close-up of the texture of these polishes because it is hard to capture in full swatch photos. They have shimmery duochrome bases that are filled with small, translucent hex glitters which give them that scaly finish. The base of Sea Temptress is the most sheer of all of the polishes, so you can see the glitters are defined a bit more when it dries down.

Sea Temptress (macro)

Sailor's Lure (macro)

Now onto some full swatches! I felt like the formula was pretty similar across the board and it wasn't too bad to work with, but did require a lot of care with getting thin coats because you didn't want to get too much glitter on the nail. I found it was best to wipe down one side of the brush on the side of the bottle well to avoid excess polish on the brush before applying. I used 2 thinner coats for each of these manis. I took pictures in higher and lower lighting so that you could really see how the texture looks once the polishes dry down well.

*EDITED TO ADD: I did not use topcoat on any of these! They are meant to be worn without topcoat so that you get the full textured effect. I do not feel like they would look right with topcoat at all (just my opinion, but feel free to try it out and report back to me!)*

Tails of Love has a bluish-teal shimmery base with a purple flash and chunky texture. This is probably my favorite of the collection.

Underwater Enchantress has a sage green shimmery base with a golden flash and chunky texture. The formula of this one probably gave me the most issue of the four polishes in terms of application.

Sailor's Lure has a medium blue shimmery base with a purpley pink duochrome flash and chunky texture. Once applied, the duochrome flash is the strongest with this polish (though very elusive in photos).

Sea Temptress has a white shimmery base with blue/green shimmer and chunky texture. This one was the sheerest of the four polishes and might require 3 coats for some people, but I thought it was fine at 2 coats.

My overall thoughts about the collection:

The idea of it reminds me a lot of China Glaze's Crinkled Chrome Collection, but the base of the polishes is a frosty shimmer instead of chrome. Now this finish is going to be a bit polarizing among polish lovers (you either love it or you hate it), and I can tell you it really isn't one that I'm attracted to at all. I do think that FingerPaints was really was on point with their Mermaid theme if they were aiming to make a "scaly texture" because that is definitely what it looks like...almost like a strange, shimmering reptile skin. And the colors are beautiful, so there's that. Overall, these textures are not something that I would wear, but I'm sure there are people out there that will think they are really cool.

FingerPaints Enchanted Mermaid Collection is exclusively available from Sally Beauty now and is limited edition, so grab them while you can if you are into funky textures! What are your thoughts on this textured look? Thanks for looking everyone!

KBShimmer Early Summer 2014 Selections Swatch and Review

*Press Sample*

Hi everyone! Today I'm so excited to share swatches of some of KBShimmer's Early Summer 2014 Collection. This collection expands KBShimmer's creme and holo lines to include 3 new cremes and 6 new holos. There is also the addition of 3 super fun textured polishes to the line as well. Today I have a selection of 6 polishes from the new collection to share with you.

Run! It's the Coppers! is a metallic copper linear holo. The holo in this one is really strong. Formula was fantastic and completely opaque in 2 coats. This was one of my favorites!

Goldie Rocks is a metallic yellow gold shimmering holo. The holo effect of this one isn't quite as strong as Run! It's the Coppers!, but it is still a beautiful effect. This polish also seems to have an extra metallic shimmering quality to it instead of being a straight holo. I was worried about how it would work with my skintone, but it was very flattering on me for a gold polish. Formula was great and perfect at 2 coats.

Right As Reign is a vivid indigo purple creme. The color of this one was very hard to capture accurately, as it wanted to lean blue in pictures. The formula was impeccable and it is very opaque and shiny. This was 2 easy coats. Also it did not stain my cuticles, which is a quality I always value in dark colored cremes. Everyone needs a polish like this as a staple in their collection because in addition to using it alone, it is perfect for layering and nail art. I see myself reaching for this often.

Low and Be Bold is a cobalt blue creme/crelly (I would lean towards crelly because it has a wonderful squishy quality). The color of this polish is vivid, but deep. It wanted to photograph brighter than it actually is, so I did a little adjusting to tone down the brightness in my pictures. The formula is perfection, and opaque in 2 coats. Like Right As Reign, this polish would be a wonderful staple creme to add to your collection.

She Twerks Out is a turquoise textured polish with aqua, lime green, purple, and teal holographic glitters. This polish photographed so much lighter than it is in real life and took a good deal of adjusting to get it color accurate (yes, even to the point of making my skin look a bit crazy). This polish is amazing! It is meant to be worn without topcoat, but it is equally awesome with topcoat added because it brings the holographic glitters to life.This is 2 coats without topcoat. It applied wonderfully with great glitter distribution. I am loving KBShimmer's take on textured polishes! 

With topcoat (1 coat of Essence Gel-Look Topcoat, 1 coat of NYC Grand Central Station)

Partners in Lime is a lime green textured polish with holographic gold, lime green, and aqua glitters. The formula of this polish is identical to She Twerks Out and it also looks great with or without topcoat added. This is two coats without topcoat. Such a fun bright green for summer!

With topcoat (1 coat of Essence Gel-Look Topcoat, 1 coat of NYC Grand Central Station)

So what do you think? I think that KBShimmer hit it out of the park with this collection. It is has something for everyone whether you are looking for fun summer polishes or for fantastically formulated staples to add to your collection. Like I said, this is only a sampling of the collection (check out Cosmetic Sanctuary's post on the full collection to see swatches of all 12 of them.) The official launch date of of KBShimmer's Early Summer 2014 Collection is May 23, so be sure to be on the watch for official release information from KBShimmer soon.

KBShimmer polishes are available from their website as well as from Harlow & Co. (Canada). Be sure to follow them on Facebook and Instagram for updates on new collections and to see swatches of all of their polishes.

30 Day Challenge, Day 3: Texture Polish

Hi everyone! Today's theme for the 30 Day Challenge is textures. China Glaze's Sea Goddess Collection came out earlier this year and I only really fell in love with one of them enough to purchase it. China Glaze Seahorsin' Around is a teal texture polish that is packed with golden and multicolored shimmer. The formula was good on this one, with full opacity in two coats. I felt like the multicolored shimmer disappeared into the base a bit as the polish dried down so it wasn't as apparent on the nail when the polish was dry, but it still had wonderful sparkly depth. I had read rumors of staining with this polish, but I had none whatsoever. Dry time was pretty average for textured polish, though I did manage to smudge my thumb at some point after I thought it was fully dry (it was easily fixed with another dab of polish though, an aspect of textured polishes that I love). Overall, I really like Seahorsin' Around and I'm glad I picked it up.

I am still seeing Sea Goddess Collection out at Sally Beauty and Ulta still, so be sure to grab this one before the displays disappear.

*All products in this post were purchased by me*

Be sure to check out what everyone else in the challenge has in store for today! Thanks for looking!

An InLinkz Link-up

a-England Princess Tears Nail Art

Hi everyone! Today I have a nail art post for you featuring a-England Princess Tears. I've actually had this polish since it came out and have never worn it, but now I've used it in two nail art manis in the past few weeks. 

The first mani I've used Princess Tears only as an accent in a mixed texture mani. First, I used OPI Baby Please Come Home from the Holiday Mariah Carey Liquid Sands for the textured nails. Then I used Essie St. Lucia Lilac as a base for my pointed and pinky nails and came back and did dots with a-England Princess Tears. I really enjoyed the monochromatic look of this mani. 

Next I have a tape mani that I did a few weeks ago with Princess Tears as the base and another a-England on the tips, Lady of the Lake. First I taped off the corners with painter's tape and then I placed a single strip of striping tape parallel to the painter's tape for this lined effect. This mani was inspired by @faustgil on Instagram. 

I do have some pictures of Princess Tears by itself as well. It's a very greyed out lavender scattered holo with a pink flash. The pink flash is very apparent in real life, but got a little washed out in my pics. The formula is perfect like all of my other a-Englands. This is two easy coats. 

a-England polishes can be purchased from a-England's official website if you live in the UK as well as from several international e-tailers (see full list here). Thanks for looking everyone!