Sally Hansen Color Foil Selected Swatches and Review

*press sample*

 

It's Friday, which automatically makes it a good day. ;)

 

I have some of the Color Foil collection from Sally Hansen to show you guys today. I'm sure you've heard the buzz about these by now! They are reminisecent of their Chrome line in the early 2000s. I had a bottle from that line in high school that I was obsessed with so I was super excited to see this finish return!

 

I have 5 of the 9 polishes all cool colors because that's what I gravitate towards usually. I did 2 coats of each polish. One almost covers entirely, the second was mostly to perfect the finsh.

 

 



Cobalt Chrome is a blue with a slight hint of turquoise.

 

Leaden Lilac is a blue-violet color. Very unique!

Titanium Flush is a rosy pink shade. Pretty sure I had this exact color from the Chrome line back in the day!

Purple Alloy is a medium purple. Also part of my current mani!

And finally, Minted Metal is a lovely light green.

Chrome finish polishes do best without a base coat to get the smoothest application, however they do show imperfections on the nail, so buff beforehand to get the smoothest finish. These do have a very mirror like finish and dry almost instantly! Which is great for a quick mani when your short on time.

Who else is loving this new collection from Sally Hasnsen?

 

*Polish sent for review in exchange for my honest opinions.

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Liquid Mani-a Matte Collection 2014 Swatches and Review

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Hello and happy Monday!

I've got swatches of Sally Hansen's latest Insta-Dri collection and this time it's MATTE! This finish has been popping up more frequently (at least to me) and it's a welcome change for another option to mix up your typical manicure. I received half of this collection for review but because the Insta-Dri line is my fave from Sally Hansen, I had to get the rest when I came across them in Walgreens!

If you are familiar with matte polishes, you know they dry very quickly, take more effort to apply, and don't typically last as long as a glossy finish polish. But don't let this deter you! I'll give you some tips and tricks at the end of this post! Let's take a look at these beauties first. I did 2 coats of each.

White Pick It Fence. A white creme. White is notoriously a difficult shade to apply so this was the most finicky being a white and matte but it's nothing that can't be handled!

My personal fave is Coastin' By. Because who can say no to a perfect mint creme?!

Mauve Matter is a nude with pink undertones. This is great for a natural look with the matte finish giving it a little twist.

Mattitude in Motion. A bright pink. This one almost has a rubber finish to it...can you tell?

High 'n Dry is a true blue. It's very pigmented and I only needed a 2nd coat to help even out the coverage of the matte formula.

And finally, In a Haze. A gorgeous purple.

I honestly think the Insta-Dri signature flat and wide brush is a match made in heaven for applying a matte polish. Since mattes dry quickly, you have to work fast to get an even layer on the nail and this brush spreads to cover the majority of the nail in one swipe! Love it.

A few tips for applying matte polish:

* Skip base coat. Matte polishes will apply more smoothly instead of dragging and skipping over the smooth base.

* Buff your nails. Matte polishes tend to show ridges on the nail once dry and buffing will provide an even surface for a more flawless application.

* Hurry up and wait. Matte formulas dry much faster than a glossy finish, so to get a flawless application work quickly on each coat. But once you've completed a coat, wait for that to dry for a few seconds before doing a second coat, otherwise the polish will drag and create uneven patches.

*Make a sandwich. To help extend the wear of a matte polish, apply a coat or two of your matte polish and once that's dry, top it off with a glossy top coat making sure to wrap the tips (very important!). Once your top coat is dry, apply another coat of your matte shade. This really helps! I wore Coastin By as a full mani using this technique and after 48 hours there were only minor chips at the tips of my nails which is pretty good for a matte!

Are you loving these matte Insta Dri shades as much as I am?

*Product was sent for review in exchange for my honest opinions.

Zoya Magical Pixie Dust Summer 2014 Swatches and Review

*Press sample*

Happy Friday!

I've got swatches of Zoya's new Magical Pixie Dusts for Summer 2014 for you today! I seriously love the Magical Pixie Dust line. It's so freakin' blinged out thanks to the holo glitters and with no base or topcoat required....Yes, please!

As a note on the formula of these: Not sure if it's just me, but I felt that this summer collection applied a lot more evenly and easier than the original Magical Pixies. I think that this is because these newer ones have a more obvious tint to the base which helps even things out and cover better. All of my swatches are 2 coats.

Bar is a nude glitter. I love this. I feel like it matches my skin perfectly which makes my nails look like they are naturally blinged out. You get the best of both worlds: no in-your-face colors but a fabulous shine!

Ginni is an almost bubblegum pink shade. I love anything pink, so of course this is a fave for me as well.

And finally, Arlo. This magenta shade reminds me of grape popsicle juice. Hello, summer!

I obviously love these and recommend them to anyone. I know not everyone is on the texture train though. I honestly wasn't sure about the Magical Pixie Dusts until I got some of the spring ones in the Earth Day promotion. I quickly changed my mind after trying this new finish out in person!

The Summer Magical Pixie Dusts are available for purchase now at zoya.com.

Are you guys loving these new Zoyas?

*Product sent for review in exchange for my honest opinions.

Candy Stripe Nail Art with Zoya's Bubbly Collection

I wanted to share with you some fun summery nail art I did with the shades from Zoya's new Bubbly collection! This was quite simple to achieve and I believe anyone can do it.

I started with a white base and placed striping tape diagonally across the nail. I used all 6 Bubbly shades and painted in 1 coat in each section rotating the colors.

This reminded me of one of those huge lollipops with the rainbow swirled in it!

Zoya Bubbly Collection Swatches and Review

*press sample*

I've got the 2nd half of Zoya's newest collection for Summer 2014 to show you today, called Bubbly. These all have jelly-ish finishes, a semi-sheer base, packed with golden shimmer and iridescent glitters. These can be a topper in one coat or full coverage in 3-4 coats. I quite liked all of these and love their versatility! 

I wanted to show you how these work both as a topper and full coverage, so the ring finger in my swatches is 3-4 coats of the polish alone and the others are 1-2 coats over the corresponding color from the Tickled collection. Let's take a look!

Jesy is a medium orange. 3 fingers layered over Rocha.

Muse is a pretty blue that sort of reminds me of Charla in the bottle. Still very different though! 3 fingers layered over Ling.

Stassi is an apple green. 3 fingers layered over Tilda.

Alma was the only outlier that didn't have an obvious corresponding color in the Tickled collection but it still works beautifully over Wendy (3 fingers layered). This goes to show that these can be used as toppers over other colors besides the obvious match and have a cool effect!

Binx is a magenta pink. 3 fingers layered over Rooney.

Harper is a true pink. 3 fingers layered over Kitridge.

I would definitely recommend this collection for it's versatility and because I don't think there are any polishes out there like this. Of course, in true Zoya fashion, the formula is great too. Although these take up to 4 coats for complete coverage with no base, each coat dries fast and the end result is not thick or gloopy.

These are available for purchase now at zoya.com for $9/bottle.

Any of these catching your eye?

Keep an eye out for some fun nail art I did with this collection on the blog soon!

*Products sent for review in exchange for my  honest opinions.

Zoya Tickled Collection Swatches and Review

*press sample*

Hey guys!

How about some swatches of one Zoya's newest collections for summer 2014? It's the Tickled collection, which are all cremes. I've never met a Zoya cream I didn't like formula-wise and these were right on point as well!

zoya.com

Rocha is a hot red/orange shade. I feel like my photo is leaning a bit more orange than this really is in person. 2 coats for perfection!

Ling is a medium blue with a slight dustiness to it. 2 coats for full coverage. This is very similar to some other Zoya blues I own -Robyn and Breezi- but neither are exact.

Tilda is a yellow based apple green. Not sure I've got anything like it in my stash! 2 coats for full coverage.

Rooney is a magenta pink shade. Very pretty and another I don't think I have a polish similar to. This is a few shades lighter and less purple than Zoya Areej. 2 coats for full coverage.

Kitridge is one of those awesome neon/pastel hybrids. This is a super bright bubblegum pink shade! I'm a pink lover and this is super pretty. Although this was the streakiest to apply, with some effort it can still look flawless. 3 thin coats makes it a bit easier.

And finally, Wendy. This watermelon coral/pink just makes me happy! So bright and playful. This is 2 coats.

I also wanted to note that none of my swatches include topcoat and all of these cremes have a pretty great shine on their own don't you think? I would definitely recommend top coat just to increase staying power of course.

Overall, another fanastic, quality collection from Zoya! Keep an eye out for swatches of the Bubbly collection here on the blog very soon!

These are currently shipping now for $9/bottle on zoya.com.

Which are your faves?

*Product sent for review in exchange for my honest opinions.

Mermaid Skittles

 Hi everyone!

I had so many teal polishes in my untrieds I decided to pair them all together to create a mermaid skittles manicure.

Thumb: Sephora by OPI Teal We Meet Again + Jordana Cosmic
Pointer: Sephora by OPI Mermaid to Order + SOPI Teal We Meet Again
Middle: Zoya Charla
Ring: Sally Girl Brainy
Pinky: SOPI Teal We Meet Again

I am so behind on blogging...makes me sad. I hope to post a little more regularly from here on out!

Hard Candy Pixie Pink

Hello!

Are you US ladies enjoying your Thanksgiving weekend? It's been a whirlwind week for me as my husband got a new job and has to leave for 3 months to another city to train tomorrow. I will see him at Christmas but to say I am overwhelmed at the thought of not having him around with 2 kids to help out is an understatement! We had to put You Mix on hiatus because of this and we have been working around the clock to get out all the orders we could before Thanksgiving. It's been exhausting!

Anyway! I totally dropped the ball on any Thanksgiving nail art this year. I did do some fall indie glitter manis but I haven't had a chance to edit those pics, so you will be seeing those later. ;)

I wanted to show you a swatch from a mani I wore recently. It's Pixie Pink from Hard Candy. Obviously, heavily indie inspired. I still love a good milky glitter polish! The formula was great considering most milky glitters have a difficult formula. I love the color combo that Pixie Pink has, too.

I know these Hard Candies are old news but I only recently got my hands on this one.

Do you have any favorites from this line?

Pop Culture Cosmetics Wish Upon a Star

Hey everyone!

Just a quick mani to show you today. This is 2 coats of Wish Upon a Star from Pop Culture Cosmetics over Zoya Mira. I loved wearing this polish! Even though there is only one color involved, it's so not boring!

If you haven't checked out Pop Culture Cosmetics before you really should...LOTS of eye candy in that shop!

Water Marble Water Decals

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Hi guys!

If you want to get the look of a water marble but don't like the mess and skill involved, these water decals are for you!

 I have only used water decals once before but quickly fell in love with how easy they were to use to get intricate nail art. This was my first time using full nail water decals though and  these have a much better end result than any other nail strip I've tried. 

This design is a chocolate brown, teal and mint water marble. I did a base of a coordinating polish to help mask any imperfections in my application but it turns out that wasn't necessary because these fit my super curved nails perfectly. I usually have gaps on the side of some nails when using other nail strips because they don't fit me well enough. 

When wearing nail strips I usually have serious tip wear really fast, but these wore like iron and stayed put. Removal was a cinch too!

I would highly recommend these if you have lost all hope in using nail strips. I referenced this tutorial to get some application tips and was glad I did because I learned to apply my top coat before filing the excess strip off and that made a huge difference in getting a clean edge at the tips. Maybe this could work with other nail strips. Anyone tried it before?

These water decals are from Born Pretty and can be found *here* for less than $5, plus get 10% off with my code, AMG10.

What are your thoughts on water decals?

*Product sent for review in exchange for my honest opinions.

November Ipsy GlamBag Reveal!

Hi everyone!

It's that time of the month when I show you the contents of my Ipsy bag! This month's theme was Glam It Up in preparation for the glitz of the holiday season. Accordingly, the bag my products came in is a metallic gold with a reptile texture and a contrasting bright pink zipper. I haven't been a fan of the bags I have gotten in the past so much, but this one is so me! Very cute.

I have gotten a polish from Nailtini in a past Ipsy bag and wasn't too impressed with the formula, so I'm hoping this one is better. I am also interested to see how this metallic copper compares to others I already own.

Next, the Pillow Plush Cushiony Lip Balm in Strawberry from em by Michelle Phan. I was excited to try this but it's a bit meh for me. The packaging and the name is super cute but I was left wanting more from this. It doesn't moisturize very well and the sheer red shade doesn't compliment my darker pigmented lips.

I was excited for this next product from Starlooks, the Gem Eye pencil in Amythest. I am loving the metallic finish and the purple shade is a perfect compliment to my green eyes. Can't wait to experiment with this some more!

I love me a chubby lip pencil. This one is from Be a Bombshell, a brand that's new to me. This is a super bright, matte red. I'm pretty happy with the quality.

This is my 3rd Cailyn product since joining Ipsy. I have come to the conclusion they like bulky packaging because every product takes up way more space than necessary. But this is the first product from Cailyn that hasn't been my fave in terms of quality and performance.

Finally, I got a bronzer from Pixi that I really like. The shade is flattering and there isn't a ton of shimmer or glitter. Just a fine sheen to it. I will definitely be putting this to use!

Here is everything together. There were 6 items this month! Last month has probably been my favorite bag so far. This month was mostly just ok for me. I think Ipsy needs to work with other brands to create a larger range of variety from month to month. I really love Ipsy though and don't see myself unsubscribing anytime soon. 

If you want to subscribe to an Ipsy Glam bag you can use my link to get you started *here*. Ipsy also started a new points program where you can earn points toward a free full size product by reviewing your bag's items, among other things!

You can view my past Glam Bag posts *here*.

Tell me what you think of this month's Glam Bag!

KBShimmer Blue Horizon

Hello!

I have one of the "misfit" polishes KBShimmer put up for sale a few months ago to show you. It's called Blue Horizon. It's got blue and purple flecks and micro glitters as well as a purple shimmer to it. Super pretty!

My macro is not so color accurate but you get the idea. :)

I attempted some abstract stamping but I'm not sure how I feel about it.

Did you pick up any of KBShimmer's misfits?