Holiday Nail Art Series: Sparkly Holiday Trees!

Hi everyone!  Happy Friday!  Today I have my first real holiday nail art to share!  This is a super easy way to do Christmas trees!  I used China Glaze Holiday Joy shades and Born Pretty Store hex glitters for these pretties.  I put my Christmas tree up this past week, so I feel like these are finally appropriate to post =) 

I started off with two coats of China Glaze Winter Holly which flashes gorgeous holographic sparkle and green!  I then used the brush in the polish of China Glaze Cranberry Splash to go over Winter Holly, leaving a triangle of green exposed.  This formed my tree shape!  At this point, you get to decorate your trees!  You could use a dotting tool and polish, or glitters like I did.  I used my Born Pretty Store hex glitters in silver and gold to decorate!  I made the star at the top of the tree quite dramatic...I like it that way =)  Top coat sealed in all the glittery holiday goodness!

If you want to get your own glitters from Born Pretty Store, you can do so [HERE] and use my code RUL91 for 10% off your order!

So there you have it, friends: my first holiday nail art!  I decided that throughout the month of December, I will post a variety of holiday nail art and it will all be a part of my Holiday Nail Art Series!  Hopefully a few times a week I can add to the series, and then come Christmas, I'll do a big post with all of them together!

China Glaze and Born Pretty Store products in this post were provided by the company/PR for honest review.  For more information, please see my Disclosure page.

China Glaze Cirque du Soleil Worlds Away Swatches and Review: Part II

Hi everyone!  Today I have some more polishes from the China Glaze Cirque du Soleil Worlds Away Collection to share with you!  I have already reviewed It's A Trap-eze, Water You Waiting For, Def Defying and Whirled Away [HERE]!  I'm really excited to get to check out some more of the creme/crelly shades from the collection, as well as a few shimmers and glitters!

First we have China Glaze Hanging In The Balance, a vibrant bright blue crelly (creme-jelly hybrid) that leans more towards the creme side of things.  This is two coats with no top coat.  I like how bright this is!  It's BOLD! 

China Glaze Creative Fantasy is a deep, yet bright, purple crelly that dries to a satin matte finish.  This is two coats with no top coat, but I still had some visible nail line (VNL) issues.  A thin third coat would probably help.

Next is China Glaze Igniting Love, a bright orange-red crelly.  This one dries to a shiny finish, but again I had some VNL issues.  This is two coats, no top coat.  If you love red or even orange shades, you'd probably like this one.

Now we have China Glaze Bend Over Backwards, Igniting Love's shimmery cousin.  This could be a one coater, but here I did two for good measure (no top coat).  I'm sort of over all of the reds I've been swatching for holiday collections, but this one is a bit more orange and could be really funky.  I need to force myself to wear red on my nails more often!

China Glaze Running In Circles is GORGEOUS!  This a bright green glass fleck/glitter shade that sort of reminds me of Zoya Apple.  The formula on this was really nice and easy to work with.  This is two coats with NYC top coat.  So bright and pretty...love it for holidays and beyond!

Ending with my least favorite polish I have reviewed in a while.  This is China Glaze Get Carried Away.  It's a black jelly base with black bars and hexes, silver microglitter and hexes, and red hexes.  The formula was thick, lumpy and gross.  However, my bottle was really hard to open because there was polish gunked up around the lid.  Maybe my bottle leaked a bit in transport and evaporated a bit?  Some thinner may fix the issue, but on its own, it was pretty bad and extremely difficult to work with.  On top of that, I don't think it's that pretty, but some people may love it!  This is two terribly difficult lumpy coats with NYC top coat.

Overall, and aside from Get Carried Away, I like these polishes a lot!  I know this collection has been getting a lot of hype because of the "indie-like" glitters and bright colors...and I agree that it is an exciting offering!  =)  Again, you can see the first part of my China Glaze Cirque du Soleil review [HERE]!  China Glaze polishes are available at Sally Beauty and fine beauty supplies, as well as several online retailers such as TransDesign for $3.56 and Head2ToeBeauty for $3.25 each! 

Products in this post were provided by the company/PR for honest review.  For more information, please see my Disclosure page!

BB Couture Holiday 2012: Swatches and Review!

Good afternoon everyone!  I couldn't wait any longer to share these with you so I'm posting for a second time today!  These scattered holographic beauties are from BB Couture for Holiday 2012!  In the bottle shots below, you can see how strong the holo is in these polishes, and the bottom image is blurred to show it off even more!

First up is BB Couture Frosted Gingerbread, a metallic bronze-brown base with scattered holographic particles throughout!  Very pretty!  The formula was a bit thin, so I had some flooding of the cuticles, but with careful application, this one is beautiful!  Two coats with NYC top coat.

BB Couture Gold Bells is simply outstanding!  This is a delicate soft gold scattered holographic polish.  The formula was great with really nice coverage.  This is two coats with NYC.  This is very delicate and mature...a very appropriate holographic shade.

My favorite shade out of the four, BB Couture Under the Misteltoe is a bright green scattered holographic polish!  Bold and fun, I'll be rocking this one all year long.  This is two coats...the formula was phenomenal...almost polished itself.  A+

Finally, we have BB Couture Silver Star, a silver scattered holographic shade.  This one is quite sheer; with three coats I still have dominant visible nail line.  I think this one could be used as a top coat over just about any shade to add a gorgeous holographic sparkle.  Super special and delicate.  Love it!

Overall, these holiday shades are wonderful!  Who doesn't love a bit of holographic sparkle on their nails?!  I already can envision many ways to wear these shades in fun holiday nail art manicures.  BB Couture polishes retail for $10.95 and are available on their website [HERE]!  You can also check them out on Facebook [HERE] for more information and updates!

Products in this post were provided by the company/PR for honest review.  For more information, please see my Disclosure page.

Mint Polish Pass The Scone and Bleeker St. Babe: Swatches and Review!

Hello folks!  Today I am really excited to show you this brand: Mint Nail Polish!  Mint is a relatively new company launched within the past year focusing on creating a safe and quality product.  These polishes are big-3 free and never tested on animals!  The bottles, branding and packaging are super cute as well...and we all know that never hurts!  The two shades that I have to review for you are amazing: Mint Bleeker St. Babe and Mint Pass The Scone.  =) 

Mint Bleeker St. Babe is a beautiful neutral khaki green-gray.  I love it.  These swatches are one super easy coat with NYC top coat.  Application was a breeze!  I just adore neutral shades like this that can be worn at any time and for any occasion, and they work as gorgeous nail art and glitter bases.  This is a win!

Next we have Mint Pass The Scone.  I just can't get enough pretty nudes like this!  Plus, the name is phenomenal! =)  I have zero complaints.  This is two coats plus top coat.  I wore this beauty on Thanksgiving...it works really well with my skin tone, so I really love it!

Overall, I am beyond impressed with Mint Nail Polish!  The polishes have fantastic formula and a great brush in the bottle!  You can never have enough classic creme shades in your polish collection, but Mint also has some vibrant shades you can check out!  Their polishes retail for $10 and are available for sale [here] on their website!  You can also check them out on Facebook [here]!  I can't wait to see what else Mint brings to us in the future, because they are definitely starting off strong!!

Products in this post were provided by the company/PR for honest review.  For more information, please see my Disclosure page.

Tough As Nails Lacquer: Swatches and Review!!

Hi everyone!  I am super excited to introduce to you a new-to-me indie brand today!  I have seven polishes from Tough As Nails Lacquer to share today!  Elizabeth, the owner and creator of this brand, is super sweet and has given her brand phenomenal personality.  I love the branding: the bottles, the labels, the names...it's all great and catchy!  And wait until you see the swatches!  There's something for everyone here, so let's get started!

All swatches were done with NYC top coat!  I have layered most of these to cover any visible nail line, but if you have short nails without much free-edge, you could probably use many of them on their own!

First up, I have Tough As Nails Blue Tuesday.  This is a complex blue shimmery base (sort of duochromatic in certain lights) filled with iridescent blue glitters of various sizes and shapes and a purple microglitter.  Super unique and complex and reflective in real life.  This is two coats of Blue Tuesday layered over Cult Nails Time Traveler, a dark navy blue.  I wanted to layer it over something dark to bring out the gorgeous base, but I think it could definitely be worn alone as well.

Tough As Nails Blitzkrieg Blue is a bright blue base packed with silver and blue glitters.  I have layered one coat over Priti NYC Canterbury Bells for this manicure.  This is beautiful and reminds me of a snowy, yet sunny, day!  Perfectly holiday appropriate, even if it's not intended to be!

My favorite name in the bunch, this is Tough As Nails Obligatory XMas Polish.  This is two coats layered over Wet N Wild MegaLast Poison Ivy.  This is a clear base packed with green glitters and microglitters, as well as multicolored hexes!  With two coats, this got pretty opaque, but with one coat you could layer it over a variety of shades for an instant Christmas mani!  I love the description of this one on Tough As Nails etsy: "Obligatory Xmas Polish hates to be dragged to family holiday parties but somehow finds herself wear an ugly Christmas sweater, standing in the corner with a glass of eggnog in her hand, stuck in a conversation with creepy Uncle Fred. She can be found attempting to hide in the basement with her flask, spoiling gifts before they can be unwrapped by the kids, and drunk dialing her ex, who just so happened to break up with her two weeks before Christmas. Bastard." Hahaha...haven't we all had holidays like that?!

Tough As Nails It's All Over Now is milky gorgeous goodness.  This is a milky grayish-white base with purple, blue and white hexes, shards and small round iridescent glitters.  It's magical.  It's quite sheer, so here I have layered two coats over OPI French Quarter for your thoughts...no VNL and it is actually quite close to the bottle shade, so I'd suggest this as a great underwear for this polish!  I think as long as you use two coats of the milky polish, you still get the pay-off!  The base is sheer enough that you can see all the glitters swimming around in the first layer, and it is just great! A+!

This is two coats of Tough As Nails Moe Money on its own.  It is a bright green packed with gold glitter and I love it!  Picture a fiercer version of butter LONDON Dosh.  Perfection!

The last two polishes are glitter toppers.  This is Tough As Nails Flashbang, and it is so complex and gorgeous!  The hexes and shards aren't really silver...they're more of a see-through white; does that make sense?  The base is packed with a scattered holo shimmer.  AMAZING!  This is two coats over Milani Black Swift.  Really breathtaking =) 

Finally we have Tough As Nails Shock & Awe, a coarser glitter mix packed with all different sizes and shapes of golden iridescent/holo flashing glitter!!  There's hexes, stars, bars, squares, and small rounds in there!  This is two coats over OPI Casino Royale, but I think with only one coat you'd be able to see the individual shapes better.  Definitely a glitter BOMB!  The only fishing I had to do was for some stars!

Overall, I am really impressed with Tough As Nails!  The formulas were great on these...like I said, the only fishing around for glitters I did was the stars in Shock & Awe; everything else spread super nicely and smoothed out well.  The polishes I received were "shorty size", which came in 7mL square bottles which I loved.  Honestly, the perfect size of polish (who finishes 15 mL bottles anyway?).  Full size 15 mL bottles are $9.00 and shorties are $5.50 in Elizabeth's etsy shop [HERE].  She's out of Michigan too...I love supporting a good Midwestern small business!  You can also check out her Facebook [HERE] for updates and news!!

Tough As Nails Products in this post were provided by the company/PR for honest review.  For more information, please see my Disclosure page.

Aphrodite Lacquers BDay Collection: Swatches and Review!

Hello everyone!  Hope everyone is recovering from a fun Thanksgiving weekend.  My weekend was nice!  I was in a wedding on Saturday and it was beautiful...congratulations to Noelle and Greg!  <3  On to the polish!  Today I have the BDay Collection from Aphrodite Lacquers to share!  This is a super fun, non-holiday collection that was just released to celebrate Rebecca's birthday...she the creator of Aphrodite Lacquers and she has been super sweet to work with!  This collection is very diverse and has something for everyone!  Let's take a look =) 

In some of the following swatches, I have shown Aphrodite Lacquers The Icing On The Cake on the ring finger.  This is a glitter topper, which will be discussed at the end of the post!

First up we have Aphrodite Lacquers It's My Party, a bright neon pink polish packed with shimmer. The formula was a bit sheer, so I've used three coats (with NYC top coat) for the images below, but I still have a bit of visible nail line.  However, if your nails aren't as long as mine, you probably wouldn't have much of an issue.  If you do have longer nails with lots of free-edge like me, then perhaps layering this one over a white or light pink polish would help!  Overall, I love the shade!  It felt so great to have a bright pink on my nails!  The Icing On The Cake looks phenomenal on my ring finger!!

Next we have Aphrodite Lacquers Wrapping. Ribbons. Bows. which is a purple polish packed with purple shimmer and microglitter.  It has a sheer jelly formula but built up to opacity quite nicely in three thin coats.  I'd suggest wrapping your tips, as you can see I did have a bit of pulling away from the free edge (though maybe that was my NYC top coat causing it?).  This polish was glowy and bright, and I really enjoyed it.  Again, The Icing On The Cake looks great as an accent...it really pops over the darker color!

Aphrodite Lacquers Never Too Old is a matte satin black with silver and purple shimmer throughout.  It had quite a sheer formula, so I layered it over a black creme.  This is one coat of Milani High Speed Fast Dry Black Swift followed by two coats of Never Too Old with no top coat.  Allow it to dry fully, and the satin matte finish develops!  I really like this!!  Not a chalky matte...definitely more of a rubbery satin, and the shimmer in it makes it special and unique!

Next I added NYC top coat to Aphrodite Lacquers Never Too Old and The Icing On The Cake on the ring finger.  The shimmer in the polish really comes out and it is really pretty!  It's hard to decide if I like this one better with or without top coat!!

Aphrodite Lacquers Make A Wish is really a magical shade.  This is a milky white base with small silver hex glitters and a beautiful shimmer.  Milky white glitters are all the rage right now, and I feel like we've seen just about every glitter combination possible with a milky white base, but this is unique to me!  So simple, yet so perfect!  Due to my visible nail line issues, I layered two coats of Make A Wish over Milani High Speed Fast Dry White On The Spot.  You can see the silver glitters in my first coat floating in the milky goodness....love it!  I'd like to try this one over Essie Marshmallow and see how jelly and milky I can get it without terrible VNL!  Honestly, I loved this one way more than I thought I would =)

Finally we have the super fun Aphrodite Lacquers The Icing On The Cake, a glitter top coat full of soft see-through white glitters and a subtle shimmer in a clear base.  I want to layer this over everything!!  Really, the possibilities are endless...I actually think this polish could be very holiday appropriate if you wanted it to be.  Here I have layered one coat of The Icing On The Cake over the following polishes and finished with NYC (from pointer to pinky): Milani High Speed Fast Dry Black Swift, Zoya Kristen, OPI Casino Royale, and Milani High Speed Fast Dry White On The Spot!  The effect is different over dark vs light colors, but it is special over either =) 

So there you have it: the birthday colors from Aphrodite Lacquers!  I think my favorites are Wrappings. Ribbons. Bows. and The Icing On The Cake, with Make A Wish close behind...honestly difficult to chose because they are all so unique and interesting, yet classics that would be nice in any collection.  Nothing crazy here, but good quality polishes with nice formulas =)  Aphrodite Lacquers are available in Rebecca's etsy shop [HERE] for $8 each!  You can also check out the Aphrodite Lacquers Facebook page [here] for more info and updates!

Products in this post were provided by the company/PR for honest review.  For more information, please see my Disclosure page.