Swatch and Review: Zoya Naked Manicure System

Long time, no see, everyone! I'm ten days away from taking the NY and NJ Bar Exams (AHHHH!), so hopefully, I'll have more time to get back to swatching and my nail art once that stupid test is over!

In other news, as you may have seen on Facebook, I received the Zoya Naked Manicure System a little under a month ago. Since then, I have been testing the various shades of the collection, as well as the wear of both matte and glossy looks.

Here is what Zoya says about the Naked Manicure System: "The Naked Manicure System is a simple, highly effective system that gives clients instant, gorgeous natural looking nails. It also provides the intense therapeutic, long term benefits for stronger, healthier nails."

Because of what was posted on their website, I approached product testing with three goals in mind:

1) How natural does it look?
2) How long does it last?
3) Does it make my nails stronger or healthier?

Sometimes, from all the swatching, my nails can be a little yellow and I have issues with ridges. I'm also going to be starting a new job in the fall and I wanted a few more professional-looking options that I could wear every day and know they're appropriate for both day and night work events.

You can also layer different Perfector shades to get a more customized color based on your skin tone and condition of your nails, as demonstrated below:

I'm happy to report that I've now gotten the whole collection swatched and tested for wear!

How Natural Does it Look (The Perfector Shades):

Below, you'll find a comparison between my natural nail, the satin (matte) look, and the glossy look.

Nail Rehab: Get Your Nails in Shape for Spring!

With temperatures FINALLY starting to break the fifties in New York City and grass FINALLY visible again, it's official: spring is upon us!

So now that your fingers won't be tucked away in gloves, it's time to get them back into shape to be on display. (Plus, you'll be well ahead of the game by the time summer comes around!)

There are three major steps I recommend to fix up your nails:

Barielle Gentle Breeze Watercolor Water Marble

I haven't done a water marble in what seems like FOREVER, so I decided when I received the Barielle Gentle Breeze collection for spring 2015, I would have to give it a shot!

According to Barielle, the Spring collection "reflects the soft, gentle, eclectic hues of this most welcome and delightful season." It is definitely atypical of other brands' spring collections, but that's not really a bad thing.

Under the Sea - A rich, sea scuba blue shimmer

Champagne and Bubbles - A creamy tangerine

Pink Parasol - A creamy strawberry ice

Gray Sky - A rich, creamy glacier gray

Heaven Sent - A soft creamy aquamarine

Prior to starting the water marbling process, I painted on two coats of Under the Sea as the base.

I initially didn't intend for this to have a very soft, watercolor look, but a few of these shades (Champagne and Bubbles, Under the Sea, and Heaven Sent) are on the sheerer side.

I really loved how this came out, even though the colors bled together. It actually made a pretty watercolor effect!

I am TOTALLY in love with this water marble. I wore it for a full week before I managed to take it off!

The Gentle Breeze collection is available from Barielle as a set for $25 USD.

What do you think of this watercolor look?


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. 

Swatch and Review: Colors by Llarowe Beam Me Up Scotty

I hope that Monday is treating you all well!

I'm unfortunately STILL sick and can't take virtually any sort of medication post-surgery. *Sighs heavily* I hate this weather.

What I don't hate, however, are holo polishes and Star Trek. In fact, when I found out that Colors by Llarowe named a polish Beam Me Up Scotty, I knew I just had to have it!

(In case you've forgotten, I totally fangirled over Karl Urban, who plays Leonard "Bones" McCoy in the reboot movies, at NY Comic Con)

Beam Me Up Scotty is an icy blue linear holo polish, with tiny flecks of turquoise glitter sprinkled throughout. The glitter was a bit of a surprise, but I really like the extra pop it adds!

All Colors by Llarowe polishes are available at Llarowe.com for between $6 and $12 dollars. (The holos tend to run on the higher end of the price range).

Are you ready to be beamed aboard the Enterprise?

Swatch and Review: Colors by Llarowe Dirty Diana

Here's some swatches of a lemming I squashed last week when I picked it up in a swap. This shade comes from the Michael Jackson Collection from Colors by Llarowe and it's absolutely stunning!

Dirty Diana is a magenta linear holo that is honestly one of the most vivid holo polishes I have ever seen!

Dirty Diana is currently in stock over at Llarowe for $12! Scoop it up while you can!

Swatch and Review: Milani Spotlight White

Okay, I get it. You're probably wondering why the heck I'm dedicating an entire post to a plain white nail polish. I don't blame you. I'd have probably thought the same.

But you see, white nail polish isn't as simple as it should be. I'll admit to trying at least 20 different brands and shades. They're either too runny and streaky or so thick and gloopy that they never dry. So to find the perfect white polish is a pretty big accomplishment.

And guess what? I did. For only $3.99.

Milani Spotlight White is shown here with two coats and no top coat. It's entirely opaque and streak free, but didn't take hours to dry. It's the PERFECT base for neons or nail art. Really, I LOVE it.

And at $3.99 at your local CVS or other retailer, it's a steal.

Spotlight White is my go-to... what's yours?

Review: Beejuvenate Body Balm

I have a new body product in today's post called Beejuvenate! Beejuvenate is an all natural skin balm made from beeswax and a variety of other natural ingredients. There is no alcohol in these products, which makes them even more gentle on skin!

Beejuvenate was founded by a pair of beekeeping brothers in Utah who are doing their part to combat the decrease in the bee population, while also creating skin care products for people with a variety of skin issues, including eczema.

Milani Fierce Foil Nail Lacquer Snowflake Nail Art

While swatching the brand new Milani Fierce Foil collection, I found my snowflake nail vinyls and thought that the colors would lend themselves nicely to a little winter nail art.

For this look, I used Milani Venice and Rome:

Milani Venice is a cobalt blue metallic polish that I used for the snowflakes and Milani Rome is a metallic orchid that I used as the base.

I really liked how wintery these came out with the combination of colors, but also the metallic shimmer. It's still colorful, but icy in a way. I really loved it.

And even though these are metallic, I had no issues with staining or removal. These came off really easily.

Stay tuned for a full review of the entire Milani Fierce Foil Nail Lacquer collection later this week! In the meantime, you can find these two shades at your local CVS for $3.99. But act fast! These are limited edition!

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. 

Seahawks Blue and Green Nail Art

Last night on Facebook, I asked whether everyone was rooting for the Seahawks or the Patriots and the results were overwhelming. It seemed like most people were on the Russell Wilson train!

I, too, am rooting for the Seattle Seahawks, so I decided to do a little nail art with a few of the holo polishes I recently received in a swap.

I used Milani Spotlight White for the base with Colors by Llarowe Bronco Blue (ironic, I know) and Young Grasshoppa.

All of these were made using nail vinyls from Up Your Nail. The thumb and ring finger were with vinyls, the other three were made using their nail guides. The only one I struggled with a little was the teardrop guide, but I figured it out a little better after a redo.

Please let me know what you think of my Super Bowl nail art and feel free to post your nail art to my Facebook page. I'll be sharing some of my favorites throughout the game!

Swatch and Review: Jade Mystic Gold

TGIF! And to celebrate, I wanted a little sparkle on my nails. So what better choice than a little linear holo in what I affectionately call Command Gold (after Star Trek)!?!

Jade Mystic Gold is a gold linear holo polish. The above is with three coats, but you can still see some visible nail line. It's just as visible in person as in the photo. Here, it has a marigold sort of tint indoors, but you can see below that it has a much truer gold look in sunlight.

I actually wore Mystic Gold last weekend when, as many of you saw on Facebook, I underwent surgery. I was only allowed to wear nail polish if they could still see my nails underneath and I thought this was a good compromise. The doctors and nurses LOVED it, actually. It was kind of funny.

I have a bunch of different Jade polishes in my stash, though this is the first one I've swatched. Jade is a Brazilian company that makes a ton of different finishes, but my favorite are the holos in the Holografica collection. They're also reasonably priced at a price of $7-$8, which is right on par with a lot of salon brands. 

The only downside is that you can't purchase them in stores, but can purchase them from stockists such as Llarowe. (Link will take you to the Jade Holograficas collection). I know that Llarowe offers free shipping on orders over $50, so with six or seven polishes, you'll get them shipped for free.

What do you think of Mystic Gold? Would you like to see other Jade holos on the blog?

Swatch and Review: Emily de Molly Oceanic Forces

This was a polish that was a lemming of mine for an exceptionally long time. I don't own a lot of indie brands, but this was the first I ever saw use the big circle glitter and I fell in love.

Check out Emily de Molly Oceanic Forces!

Oceanic Forces is a dark teal jelly base with silver holo and hex glitter. The above is with three coats.

The goods: This color is stunning. The depth of the jelly is breathtaking and there are plenty of silver circles to go around.

The bads: The circular glitter took a long time to fish out, the polish took even longer to dry, and last, it turned my nails yellow. YELLOW. And I use basecoat!

Now, it could be that the polish reacted poorly to the basecoat, which was the OPI Glitter Base. I didn't care to try again with another, but would be interested to hear if you've had similar or different results with other basecoats!

Emily de Molly is available via the brand website for Australian residents or at seven different stockists, which cover the US, Canada, and Europe, and ship worldwide! Prices vary based on retailer.

Swatch and Review: Layla Ocean Rush

Here's some holo for this hump day! I'm finally up to doing some swatching again, so while I build up some new posts, check out one of my favorite holos to date!

Check out Layla Ocean Rush!

The above is an indoor shot with three coats. I love how quickly this polish dries. It was ready to go at around 10 minutes, which was fantastic dry time for me!

And here is the same, but outdoor. Ocean Rush truly is a stunner!

I haven't seen Layla Holographic polishes in stores in a few years, but these are still floating around on Amazon.

Zoya Loredana with Studs

Hello, everyone! I just picked up some awesome clearance stuff while at Ulta, including backups of the Zoya MatteVelvet Collection and a nail wheel of studs. Both were on clearance for 50% off!

I thought it would be kind of cool to play with the matte silver metallic look of Zoya Loredana with the shiny gold metallic pop of the square studs.

The above is with three coats of Loredana. In order to make the studs stick (because they're concave), I had to apply top coat to my ring finger before applying the studs. After I felt the top coat was dry and the studs were secure, I went back over the polish with a matte top coat. I honestly wouldn't notice the difference.

Will you try the mixed metallic look anytime soon?

Swatch and Review: L'Oreal Masked Affair

TGIF! And in honor of the weekend, I have a VERY exciting swatch to share with you today. It appears that there is now officially a linear holographic polish that is available at drug stores and other national retailers!

And it comes from a very surprising source: L'Oreal!

Masked Affair was released as part of the Dark Sides of Grey Colour Riche collection, which I assume is in honor of the novel "50 Shades of Gray." But whatever the reason, I am incredibly excited that they did!

L'Oreal 701 Masked Affair is a silver linear holo with pinkish undertones.  I used three coats to achieve full opacity, but this dried INCREDIBLY quickly. I honestly could have gone about my day after fifteen minutes and not even remotely dinged it up.

The above photo was taken indoors without a top coat. Please continue to scroll for more indoor photos, a photo with top coat, and an outdoor shot.

Nail Rehab: Trind Perfect Cuticle and Nail Kit

Hi everyone! I've been wanting to do a review of the Trind Perfect Cuticle and Nail Kit for ages and after completely wrecking my nails a few weeks ago, I had a really good before picture. Or rather, a not-so-good before picture that would serve as a good before picture.

I first started using the Trind Perfect Cuticle and Nail Kit after having my gel nails removed back in January. They were thin, brittle, and just entirely gross after, but I really feel as though Trind helped them grow out faster (and thus, growing out that unsightly ridge from where they'd once ended) and make them stronger.

Here is what the Trind Perfect Cuticle and Nail Kit looks like:

I'd show you mine, but the bottles only have 1/3 left in them and the labels are pretty much worn off.

Instead, I will show you the before and after... under the cut!

HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE: Dura-Tags + A Giveaway!

Hello, everybody! Today I have a REALLY cool product to show you called Dura-Tags! I was given the opportunity to design three of my own custom photo tags, which was perfect because I have three Labrador Retrievers!


 But you don't have to own a dog for a Dura-Tag. Any pet will do... a cat, a horse, a bird, a fish... even a pig!

Keep reading to see this awesome product that's perfect for the holidays and a chance to win three free Dura-Tags!

Swatch and Review: Milani Color Statement Skittle Nails

Good evening to you all and a very happy weekend!

Over the course of the past few months, I've been doing a lot of nail art with my new Milani Color Statement polishes. I've used blues and reds and greens and sheers... but there are so many more shades in the collection. So to keep this post relatively short and sweet, while having all the colors in a single post, I decided to skittle swatch the polishes. However, I kept them in color groups for easy viewing.

All polish names are listed from index to pinky finger and have two coats applied.

Swatch and Review: Barielle AND a Promo Code

Recently, I had the opportunity to select three shades from Barielle to review for you all. It was an arduous process to narrow my choices down, but I finally landed on Blue Cotton Candy, Decadence, and Do Unto Others.

However, my all-time favorite Barielle is Elle's Spell, so I included that in here, too!

Swatch and Review: NYC New York Color Crystal Couture Collection

Hey, everyone! Up on the blog today is a new, limited edition collection from NYC New York Color called Crystal Couture. All Crystal Couture shades are jam-packed with glitter particles for some mega sparkle.

Swatch and Review: SinfulColors Tricked Out Top Coats (Halloween 2014)

Happy Hump Day and Hallo-week, everybody!

I have for you four of the glitter toppers from SinfulColors' fall collection, which are perfect for Halloween!

See what all these toppers truly look like in bold color after the jump!