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.

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?

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.

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.

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!

Milani Red Chevron Gradient

Happy Hump Day, everybody!

While I'm in prepping mode for NYC Comic Con, I thought I'd post some nail art using three of the new red shades from the Milani Color Statement Collection.

I've actually never worn chevrons (I KNOW, RIGHT?!?), so I thought I'd do a bit of a chevron gradient because there were a ton of beautiful reds in this collection. I have four more to show you still!

From cuticle to tip, I used Enchanting, Modern Rouge, and Red Label.

Enchanting is a gorgeous blackened-red, bordeaux cream, Modern Rouge is a rich cherry red cream, and Red Label is a bright tomato red cream.

I only needed one coat of Enchanting to achieve opacity, while I needed two coats each of Modern Rouge and Red Label.

These are PERFECT colors for the fall!

The new Milani Color Statement line is now available at CVS stores for just $3.99 or from Milani’s website HERE at just $3.99 each.

Keep an eye out for a future review of the remaining reds in the Color Statement polish collection!

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.

Milani Color Statement Nail Art: The Blues Part 1

Happy Monday, everyone! (Yeah, I know... I can hear you grumbling from over there.)

Today, I'm bringing you some nail art featuring three of the brand new blue shades from the Milani Color Statement Collection.

To achieve this look, I used a base of Ink Spot, which is an almost-black shade of navy. Then I used Blue Print, a cornflower blue, to make a half-heart like shape. The last shade on the very tip of the nail is Water Front, a bright sky blue.

This is a very different look from anything I've ever tried. It reminds me a little of hearts, a little of clouds, a little bit of waves. But I love how these colors contrasted against each other!

Ink Spot was opaque with one coat, while Blue Print and Water Front each needed two. The formulas on these were really easy to work with and quite lovely!

The new Milani Color Statement line is now available at CVS stores for just $3.99 or from Milani’s website HERE. I honestly think these are a great value at just $3.99.

Stay tuned... more Color Statement polish reviews are on their way!

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: Alessandro International

 Happy Monday, everybody!

I am fortunate enough to be an Alessandro Ambassador and today, I have for you five new shades from their fall collection!

Swatch and Review: Zoya Tickled Polka Dots

After featuring nail art for the Zoya Bubbly collection, I felt it was only appropriate to feature nail art using the Zoya Tickled collection today!

Again, I wanted to go for a fun and funky feel and with these shades from the collection, it was not a problem!

All polka dots were made using Zoya Kitridge. From thumb to pinky finger, the shades in order are Wendy, Ling, Tilda, Rooney, and Rocha.

Zoya Kitridge is a summer bubblegum cream.

Zoya Ling is a vibrant royal blue cream polish.

Zoya Tilda is a warm mantis green cream.

Zoya Wendy is a juicy summer melon polish.

Zoya Rooney is a mid-range magenta pink cream.

Zoya Rocha is a folly red cream polish.

All of these polishes were opaque with two coats, while Kitridge was fairly opaque with one coat for the dots, so I imagine it would be opaque for full coverage in two, as well.

The entire Tickled collection is available at Zoya.com for $9 per bottle. You can also find Zoya at your local Ulta store.

Are you going to be picking up any of the Bubbly shades? And do you love these as much as I do?

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: Zoya Magical Pixie Dust for Summer 2014

Happy Friday! Yay, it's the weekend! To celebrate, I'm reviewing the three new Zoya Magical Pixies for Summer 2014!

Swatch and Review: Pacifica Pale Blue Eyes

Hello, everyone! Today I'm featuring a a shade from Pacifca's 7 Free Nail Polish, a new category for the brand via their color collection, which launched last year.  According to Pacifica, they are one of the only brands in the world doing 7 Free, meaning this  polish is free of parabens, phthalates, toluene, xylene, camphor, formaldehyde and resin and full of color! Additionally, their polishes are 100% vegan and cruelty-free!

Today, I'm featuring a shade called Pale Blue Eyes.

Swatch & Review: Zoya Magical Pixie Dust Collection for Spring 2014

Hello, everyone! Today, as part of my catching up on swatches, I have the trio of Zoya Spring Pixie Dusts for you to see!

Normally, I'm not a fan of these, but I really think they've won me over!

Zoya Cosmo is a silver crystal texture polish with fine and hex holographic glitter particles. The above is with two coats. I have to sy that I definitely have the non-textured version of this polish as sold by a ton of different other brands, but the textured Pixie Dust version just has so much more pop!

Zoya Lux is a rose quartz texture polish with with fine and hex holographic glitter particles. The above is with two coats. I'm not usually a fan of pink glitters because they just scream super duper girly girl. But this was delicate and eye-catching at the same time.

Zoya Vega is an opal blue texture polish with fine and hex holographic glitter particles. The above is with two coats. And I think she's a beauty that reminds me of the ocean in the tropics!

Overall, I was bowled over by this collection. The shades had such depth and sparkle to them and I loved them so much more than the original line of pixies!

All Magical Pixie Dust shades are available at Zoya.com for $10, as well as local beauty suppliers such as Ulta.

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.