31 Days of Giveaways - Day 16: butter LONDON

I'm very excited for today's giveaway from butter LONDON! If you haven't read about the giveaway and the rules, click here.

Please note: Because I was extremely ill yesterday due to a reaction to a new medication, I was unable to post Day 15's Nails Inc. prize. As a result, Day 29's giveaway will now feature two Nails Inc. prizes with two winners. Sorry for the trouble!

Day 16's giveaway prize is butter LONDON The Black Knight, perfect for the holidays!

Fill out the Rafflecopter widget below to enter! And check back tomorrow for the reveal of the Big Sexy Hair brand prize!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ANNOUNCING: 31 Days of Giveaways!

Hello, everybody! I'm super excited to bring you this giveaway that I've been teasing on Facebook the past few weeks!

Starting on Monday, November 24th, I'll be kicking off 31 Days of Giveaway that will run through Christmas! Each day will feature a different prize and the giveaway for that prize will be open for exactly 24 hours.

Rather than reveal every specific prize ahead of time, I've created a handy calendar below that lists each day's giveaway by brand or by category. Tune in each day at midnight EST for the big reveal across the main blog and all social media pages (including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!)

Many of these products are limited edition or are discontinued items!

This giveaway is open to everyone 18 years and older AND is open internationally.

Are you as super excited for this giveaway as I am? What products are you hoping are included based on the listing above?

ANNOUNCING: Back in Action Giveaway

Hello again, everyone! Thank you for sticking around during this crazy month. Now that the publishing issue with Blogger is fixed, Princess Polish is officially back in action!

As a thank you for standing by me, I decided to create this giveaway featuring some awesome prizes:

The prizes include: Illamasqua Poke, Zoya Audrina (mini), butter LONDON Champers, Milani Carnival, Julep Zelda, and OPI Light My Sapphire!

Here are the rules:

1) Due to mail restrictions, the giveaway is open to US and Canada only. Sorry. :-/
2) All winners will be notified by email and have 48 hours to respond.
3) All participants must be over 18 years of age.
4) All rules, as well as entry requirements, must be followed. Failure to follow any of the aforementioned will result in a disqualification and a new winner will be selected.
5) The giveaway starts today (8/25) and will end at 12am EST on Sunday, September 1st.

Now that all of the technical stuff is out of the way, enter via the Rafflecopter widget below. And good luck!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Swatch and Review - butter LONDON Poole and Champers

Hello, everyone! Today, I have for you two shades from the butter LONDON Summer Holiday Collection: Champers and Poole!

Champers is a beautiful rose gold shimmer polish. Champers is British slang for Champagne... and this is certainly a bubbly color! It was opaque in two coats and applied like, well, butter!

Poole is a robin's egg blue creme that reminds me of my favorite cotton candy ices! The photo is with three coats, though unfortunately, it was a little on the streaky side. But it wasn't too hard to work with.

Overall, I liked the two shades from this collection. These didn't scream summer to me. But I'll definitely be rocking these in the fall!

What do you think of this duo?

Disclaimer: The product(s) in this post were provided to me by the manufacturer or their PR company for consideration. For more information please visit my Disclaimer page.  

2nd Annual Cosmetics for a Cure - Raffle to Benefit Autism New Jersey

After the immense success of last year's Cosmetics for a Cure, thanks to the support and the generous prize donations of fellow bloggers, nail polish companies, beauty e-tailers, and polishaholics alike, I decided to bring it back for a second year! I am a strong believer in paying it forward and since you have all given me so much love and support in the past year, I thought that it would be wonderful if I could pass that on to as many people as possible.

I chose to launch the raffle in April because it is Autism Awareness Month and this year's charity is Autism New Jersey, the beneficiary of the Ride 4 Autism.

Why the Ride 4 Autism?

I became a volunteer for this ride in its first year in 2001, having grown up with a cousin diagnosed with Autism. The diagnosis was made at 18 months, which was incredibly early back in 1993. While great strides have been made in early intervention, education, and awareness, Autism spectrum disorders still affect approximately 1 in 150 individuals and the financial burden on families of individuals with autism can create extreme hardship. The beneficiary of the Ride 4 Autism, Autism New Jersey, is a non-profit agency providing information and advocacy, services, family and professional education and consultation. They encourage responsible basic and applied research that may lessen the effects of, and potentially prevent, autism. They are also dedicated to ensuring that all people with autism receive appropriate, effective services to maximize their growth potential and to enhancing the general public’s overall awareness of autism.

How Does Cosmetics for a Cure Work?

Entries in this raffle correspond to donations made via my fundraising page. Please visit my DONATION PAGE to donate however much you'd like. $5 for 5 entries is the minimum, but certainly not a maximum. From $5 to $99, it is the same $1 an entry. (Ex: 15 entries are $15, 50 entries are $50, etc.) All donations of $100 or more will receive 2X entries. (Ex: $100 = 200 entries, $200 = 400 entries, etc.)

DO NOT check the box that will list your name as anonymous, as I will be unable to validate your entries!

I will record your name in an Excel sheet, with the number of entries equaling the number of times your name is listed. When the raffle ends, I will use my Excel sheet and Random.org to select the winners and announce them on this page. Winners will have 48 hours to respond via email.

The raffle starts today and ends on May 1st at 12:01 am. OPEN INTERNATIONALLY ! 

Please note: Princess Polish is NOT responsible for a third party's failure to deliver a donated prize or mishandling/loss of packages by any postal service. You must be 18 years or older to enter this raffle.

For every monetary milestone reached, a new prize will be added to the pot! And believe me, they're awesome. If you would like to donate a prize, please contact me via email at PrincessPolishBlog@gmail.com

Check out what's up for grabs (so far!) below! More prizes will be listed, so keep your eyes peeled here, on Facebook, and on Twitter!!!


Here's the list of the monetary milestones and the corresponding prizes:

Announcing: Valentine's Day Giveaway

Hello, everyone! I hope you all did well in your Superbowl pools last night! (Mine was completely messed up by the safety.)

I know we all despite Mondays, so I thought I'd help brighten your day with a giveaway! I've teamed up with the lovely ladies behind nine other blogs for a really fun giveaway filled with great prizes!

The Rafflecopter entry widget is at the end of the post!

Check out what's up for grabs:

Prize 1 - Princess Polish

Top of 2012: Silver

I only have one top silver shade for 2012. I'm not one for metallics or overly glitter silvers that aren't holos.

In the end, this shade shouldn't come as a surprise to you all.

What silver could be more suited to Princess Polish than one named after the Queen of England?

Lillibet's Jubilee from butter LONDON was released to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II's fifty years on the throne. And this silver metallic with lavender undertones was simply smashing.

Class, but unique... very fitting for Liz II indeed!

What's your shade of silver? Or your shade of gray? (And no, you may not pick fifty.)

Top of 2012: Green

Merry Christmas, everyone! I thought this installment of the Top of 2012, bringing you the top 3 greens of 2012, was a perfect way to celebrate!

Zoya claims a spot on the Top 3 with Zoya Ray, a deep pine green metallic!

R. Hobby Cosmetics takes the title for most unique green polish with Twiggy, a gold metallic polish with green hexagonal and microglitter, along with pine green and brown bar glitter. It looks like a forest on my nails!

And how could it be a top 3 without a holo? The limited edition shade from butter LONDON called Fishwife takes the last spot. A dusty blue-green linear holo polish, this was a stunner!

Press Release: butter LONDON Holiday Collection

I can't wait for the new butter LONDONs to hit the stores, but here is an updated preview!

 

butter LONDON Holiday 2012:   




Fiddlesticks - A full coverage, semi-matte, magenta glitter suspended in a raspberry base.

Scuppered - An opaque, copper shimmer infused with pink, gold and green glitter.

Jack the Lad - An opaque, moss green shimmer with gold, turquoise and green micro glitter.


Fairy Cake - A full coverage, silvery lacquer with multi-coloured iridescent glitter in a light grey base.


Scallywag - A full coverage, bright turquoise glitter with a clear base.
   
Trends for Holiday 2012:    

Sparkle, Sparkle! This holiday season, butter LONDON is all about making a glittering statement. We drew inspiration from the jeweled collars, sequins and metallic embellishments seen at Fashion Week. Our holiday colours are unique and edgy, while still completely wearable and elegant. This collection covers the glitter gamut with colours perfect for every holiday event, whether the party calls for a sophisticated glitter or one that sparkles like a disco ball!

The new butter LONDON shades are currently available on butterLONDON.com for $14 per bottle. They will also be available at retail stores, such as Nordstrom and Ulta.

Swatch and Review: butter LONDON Bluey

Happy weekend, folks!

Today, I'm rocking butter LONDON Bluey, which I received as part of a promo from Coterie.

Bluey is a dark teal shimmer polish that I was really excited for when the bottle arrived. But I was less than impressed by it on my nails. First off, the above was with three coats and you can see that there is still some visible nail line.

Secondly, while it's pretty, it's not all that unique. This might be something I swap in the future.

What do you think about Bluey? Own anything similar?

Princess Polish

And PS: Don't forget that I'm giving away a bottle of butter LONDON Disco Biscuit, a custom pink holo from my Princess Polish brand, and an Essence prize pack! Click here! It ends tonight!

Hump Day Holo Swatch and Review: butter LONDON Fishwife

Happy Hump Day!

Today's polish is a US web-exclusive from butter LONDON called Fishwife!

Fishwife is a dusty sage linear holographic polish with some major pop! It applied incredibly smooth and was opaque in just two coats, which surprised me immensely. It builds up really well.

Here is a sparkle shot so you can see how pronounced the linear holo is in actuality. If you follow my Facebook page, you know that this was stopping people in their tracks inside of a Starbucks. I repeat... INSIDE of a STARBUCKS. They're not exactly known for their bright interiors, now are they?

So what do you think of BL Fishwife? Is it your cup of tea?
Princess Polish

PS: On the subject of butter LONDON, check out my current Breast Cancer Awareness month giveaway, where you can win Disco Biscuit amongst other prizes!

ANNOUNCING: Breast Cancer Awareness Month Giveaway

Hello, all! I've been teasing it for a little while now, but I just wanted to announce my newest giveaway!

As many of you know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. So I wanted to commemorate the cause with a pink-themed giveaway.

Up for grabs are three prizes:

 

butter London Disco Biscuit

Essence Color and Go in Sweet as Candy and Party Princess (with Berry Sorbet lip gloss)

A Custom Pink Holo Polish by Princess Polish

Three totally AWESOME prizes and many different ways to enter. Check out the Rafflecopter widget below to enter!

The giveaway ends on October 15th at 12:01am EST.

Best of luck!
Princess Polish

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Falling Forward Nail Art Challenge: Day 3 - Rainy Days

 

 Hi again, everyone! Sorry for the delay in posting. I was really NOT happy with the original mani I did for this, so I re-did it tonight after I finished up some case reading and am much happier with the end result. It reminds me of rain drops on leaves after a storm.

To achieve this look, I used butter LONDON in British Racing Green with a coat of butter LONDON Matte Finish that I recently received from my Coterie order. After two coats of BRG and one coat of Matte Finish, I took my dotting tool and dipped it into my Hardwear Top Coat and made dots like I would do for a normal design.

HOWEVER, I made sure there was enough top coat to create what looked like a bubble that would be raised significantly on my nail. The point was to make it thick, unlike in most nail art dotting.

I really LOVE the end result to a point that might be a tad unhealthy. I'm not normally a proponent of the matte trend because I think it's a little too muted for my liking. Yet, I think this is just the perfect amount of pop and subtlety mixed together. And it's really easy to recreate on your nails!

So would this be something you would try at home? Would you rock this mani?
Princess Polish

Swatch and Review: R. Hobby Cosmetics

Happy Tuesday!

I have another indie brand on tap for today, R. Hobby Cosmetics!

Please note that while the bottles below are labeled Black Cat Lacquers, Rachel changed the name of her company to prevent confusion. All you need to know is that she is now making polishes under the name R. Hobby Cosmetics! :-)

Today, I have three lovely shades from R. Hobby... and I'm really excited to bring them to you!

Swatch and Review: butter LONDON Lillibet's Jubilee

I know we all hate the Monday blues, so I figured we should jazz it up with something shiny and new!

During butter LONDON's 30% off sale, I went a little overboard and purchased a few too many polishes. But who am I kidding? You can never have too many BL polishes! My favorite out of the bunch, due to my immense love of the Royal Family, was Lillibet's Jubilee.

Created to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's 60th year on the throne, it's a stunning lavender foil nail polish with hints of silver and champagne, depending on the light.

See? No matter how you look at it, it's drop dead gorgeous!

With the London Olympics coming up, will you be rocking Lillibet's Jubilee to commemorate them? Or another butter London color? Let me know in the comments section!

Princess Polish

March Madness Top 32: West Division

Here is the West division! Get to voting and remember, you'll have a chance to win the top polish after March Madness is over. So be sure to campaign for your favorites!

Game 1:

Online Surveys & Market Research

Image Credit: Mylucidbubble.blogspot.com and VampyVarnish.com

Swatch and Review: Butter LONDON The Black Knight

Oh. Man. How excited have I been for this color? Well, I've only been talking about it for two months. And now it's not just in my stash, it's on my hands.

Seriously, I don't even care that it's the first day of spring. It has enough bright blue and pink glitter in it to be warm weather-appropriate for me.

There are a ton of reasons that I am head over heels for this color. I openly admit that I am a closeted superhero geek. I seriously came close to fainting when MAC released a Wonder Woman-themed collection because she's my favorite and can name every past, present, and, let's face it, future, member of the X-Men. I really do geek out over it.

So, for me, The Black Knight is a true point of intersection for everything I love in life: nail polish, glitter, and Batman.

And really, TBK does do its namesake justice. There is the very dark and dreary side of both Batman and Gotham, but equally glamorous side of upper-class Gotham and Bruce Wayne. Plus, the glitter in it reminds me of some of the Caped Crusader's more colorful foes like Joker, Harley Quinn, The Penguin, and Poison Ivy.

I swear. My inner geek is dying right now.

The application is very smooth and opaque in two coats, just be careful to let it dry enough so you don't drag any polish from the base of your nail. TBK is a top coat eater and I imagine two coats of Seche Vite will smooth it out very nicely. I say imagine because, as those of you following me on Facebook know, my mother broke my brand new bottle within hours of bringing it home. Instead, I used Out the Door as a backup, which can't even touch SV and doesn't quite do any gritty polish justice. In fact, on my way home from classes tonight, I plan on stopping at my local Harmons' to pick up a new bottle... and will only allow Mom to use it under my supervision. *wink*

Overall, I can't recommend this polish enough. The Black Knight is the first Butter LONDON I have ever owned and rest assured, it won't be my last. Though it is on the pricier side at $14, I have to say that it is of very high quality and DPB, Toulene and formaldehyde (3) free.

They are available at ButterLondon.com, Nordstroms, Ulta, and other local retailers. To find a local retailer near you, please visit ButterLondon.com