Lacquer or Leave Her: Swatches

Showing posts with label Swatches. Show all posts

A Week of Shimmer - Day Four

Was that few days of hiatus too much for you to handle? Were you missing the Week of Shimmer? Are you completely confused about what a "Week of Shimmer" is? If you answered "yes" to my last question, I highly recommend you check out days one, two and three before reading today's post. It'll fill you in on what this Week of Shimmer is, and why the swatches look the way they do.

First up tonight is Tammy, shown over My Boyfriend Scales Walls (OPI). This is a unique glitter compared to most, as it has some bar glitter. I love the amount too...it's Three Little Bears just right! Tammy is a gold and purple glitter with black and holographic gold accents.

Taylor is another odd ball. This uses a very dark magenta jelly base, and mixes in green, purple and red glitter. I've used it over Monica (Zoya), but you can hardly tell there's a difference!

Next is Tiffany, a baby pink and pale blue glitter mix in a clear base. I used it over Ripe Rashberry (Misa). (And yes...that's the name of it...don't ask me why.)

Vicki is another pink glitter mix, in a slightly pink base. It's speckled with shards of iridescent pieces, but it's almost entirely pink. I used it over Mod About You (OPI).

Finally tonight there's Wendy, a total party mix. With pieces of royal purple and lilac, and accents of gold and teal, it really looks great! I used it over Walking on Air (Precision Lacquer).

I know that tonight there's only 5 Shimmer Polishes, but that's because tomorrow, I'll be showcase my picks for Christmas colors! You don't want to miss that!

And as always, all the polishes are available in the Shimmer Store for $12, and custom mixes can be discussed with the store owner, Cindy, for $15.

Shimmer Store | Shimmer Blog | Facebook

These products were sent to me by Shimmer Polish. The reviews are based entirely on my experience with the products and were in no way influenced by anyone.

A Week of Shimmer - Day Three

Happy Friday the 13th everyone! If you've had any strokes of bad luck today, hopefully day three of A Week of Shimmer will help it be better.

For details on the review of the polishes and an explanation of why the ring finger looks different, please read day one's post here.

Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow? Mary soes the seeds of glitter in a magenta jelly base with pink glitter and larger black and rainbow accents. It's shown over a chrome Color Club, Hot Like Lava.

Natalie is a royal blue and copper gold glitter mix in a clear base. It's shown over Westside Warrior (China Glaze).

Nichole is a patriotic glitter! It's a lovely mix of red, silver and blue glitter in a variety of sizes, all in a clear base. I used it over Igniting Love (China Glaze).

The dainty Sonia loves lilac. With the lilac glitter as the main color, there are flecks of gold and some occasional iridescent pieces. Perfect over Planks a Lot (OPI).

Sophisticated Sophie. Mostly, this is a pink glitter in a clear base. There's an occasional gold, purple and red accent. It works well over Recessionista (Essie).

This is Stephanie. A dark blue glitter mix with light blue, red, and purple. I used another Essie for this swatch, Mezmerised.

Finally, there's Strength. You may notice that this all baby blue glitter is named differently than the rest. The rest work like Zoya polishes, named after women. This polish provides proceeds to PCOS, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.

Which is your favorite polish in this bunch? Any of your favorites can be purchased in the Shimmer Polish Store for $12. I'll be back with another Shimmer Week post on Monday!

Shimmer Store | Shimmer Blog | Facebook

These products were sent to me by Shimmer Polish. The reviews are based entirely on my experience with the products and were in no way influenced by anyone.

A Week of Shimmer - Day Two

Welcome to day two of Shimmer Polish! If you missed day one, go read about what this is all about, the reviews, and why the heck my ring finger looks different. Go do that now.

This is Gerry, a dark blue jelly with primarily royal blue and purple glitter, and a mix of red and black accents. This one's definitely one of my favorites, especially over OPI...Eurso Euro (OPI).

I noticed my previous batch of swatches was looking a little blown out on some screens, so I pumped down the exposure settings on these. Tell me which you prefer...day one look (plus Gerry) or day two look (all of those below).

This is Jennifer. Jennifer is a clear base with pale glitter in blue and purple. Larger black and gold accents are mixed in as well. I used it over Decoded (ORLY).

Jenny is another baby blue and purple mix, with teal, gold and some royal blue accents. It's all finished off with larger gold glitter. I used it over Fancy Pants (China Glaze).

Karen is another standout. (Maybe I've got a crush on purple glitter I didn't realize.) Another clear base with shades of purple and larger, silver glitter. It's used over Vant to Bite My Neck? (OPI).

I love Kim! This is a less crowded polish, and looks absolutely fantastic over a muted base (like I Vant to Be A-Lone Star from OPI). It's a steel glitter with big blue and purple pieces.

Lorene is a magenta jelly base with gold, pink and teal glitter. It darkens up its base nicely, as it's done here with Dutch Tulips (OPI).

The last Shimmer for tonight is Melissa. This is another clear base, with mostly purple glitter. It includes purple, red, and gold glitter throughout though. I used it over a no name hot pink from Color Club.

Which is your favorite in this bunch? How would you pair the glitter mixes, and what nail art would you like to see from them at the end of the week?

All the polishes are available in the Shimmer Store. The store's hardworking owner, Cindy, also takes custom orders for $15.

Shimmer Store | Shimmer Blog | Facebook

These products were sent to me by Shimmer Polish. The reviews are based entirely on my experience with the products and were in no way influenced by anyone.

A Week of Shimmer - Day One

If there's one thing I know, it's what makes a polish lover happy. For me, that means a lot of things, but it definitely includes a hefty amount of sparkle.

The sparkle polish god, Cindy of Shimmer Polish, creates the absolute best glitter mixes! To honor her kindness and dedication to the trade, I'm showcasing a week of Shimmer Polish!

Each of these polishes is available in the Shimmer Polish Etsy store. They're all $12, and will make the perfect gift for the polish lover on your list. My review of them is the same...amazing, and easily applied!

I'll also be linking all of these colors in the Shimmer Polish Catalog on my page.

In the swatches of this week of glitter, my ring finger will look different. This finger is polished only with the Shimmer Polish. The rest are polished with a complementary color beneath the Shimmer, and they're all topped with Seche Vite.

Let's get right to it!

This is Amy. She's a maroon jelly lady with shades of dark pink glitter and accents of blue. It's shown over You Drive Me Coconuts (China Glaze).

This is Brooklyn. In a light blue jelly base are teal and glue glitter with some purple and large gold accents. It's shown over Where's My Chauffeur? (essie).

This is Carol. In a primarily sheer base, tinted slightly grey, are pieces of gold and copper. There are accents of large blue glitter and smaller pieces of black throughout. I used Road House Blues (OPI) as the base.

Caroline is a great purple glitter mix in a sheer base, with a spattering of holographic gold pieces. How great does it look over That's Shore Bright (China Glaze)?!

This is Elsa, a patriotic glitter with blue, red, and gold glitter in a clear base. I put it over the sunny Solar Power (China Glaze).

This is Erica, a light green shimmer mix with tiny, dark green pieces throughout. Continuing with the China Glaze neon trend, I used Highlight of My Summer as the base.

Fanny is the last for day one of Shimmer Week. This Shimmer has a pink jelly base and various pink glitter pieces mixed with accents of purple and gold. It looks perfect over Portia (Zoya).

Tomorrow will be day 2 of Shimmer Week, so be sure not to miss it!

All the polishes are available in the Shimmer Store.

Shimmer Store | Shimmer Blog | Facebook

These products were sent to me by Shimmer Polish. The reviews are based entirely on my experience with the products and were in no way influenced by anyone.

Cacee Polish - Spring Collection Swatches & Review

First order of blog business tonight is to thank all of you for entering and spreading the word about my giveaway. It was a wonderful success and a winner has been selected. Congratulations to Christine of Michigan! I hope to offer more giveaways in the future for you all, especially if readership continues to grow!

Tonight I'm swatching another collection from Cacee Polish. I've swatched their BFE summer collection for you before here. This new post is for their spring collection, which I absolutely love! I think I like all of these colors more than the last one, which is difficult to say because there were so many brights in that one.

Here's the nail art I did for it, using Anita as the base.

Isn't that the most gorgeous teal? Click below to read more and see the reviews for all the other colors!

Shown above is Cora in three coats. This is the color of wet sand or sandy clay. Very Native American! It's not the most complementary color for my skin tone, which sucks because I love it. I'll definitely use it in nail art, but not as a base.

Jodi (shown in 3 coats) is a sandy mustard, great for fall. Not quite sure how it wound up in the summer collection, though I could see it working well with the right pink color.

Tess is a military, mossy green (shown in 2 coats). I love this creme to death!

Anita (2 coats) is the base I used in my nail art. It's an amazing creamy teal, definitely a new favorite.

Mae (2 coats) is a totally new color in my collection. It's a dark periwinkle, almost purple. It's not as blue as China Glaze Secret Peri-Winkle and not as pastel as most others. Just dusty and just right.

Finally, there is Mara (2 coats). This is the deepest of navy polishes, almost black. It rounds out the collection perfectly. It also seems to have summoned Slenderman into the reflection of my middle finger. Creepy!

Cacee is a great addition to your collection if you haven't tried it already. It's a totally affordable brand I've seen in my local beauty supply store. Unfortunately, I still haven't made my way out there to find the price.

These products were sent to me by Cacee. The reviews are based entirely on my experience with the products and were in no way influenced by anyone.

Rococo Sheer Gloss Collection Swatches, Review & Nail Art

Whew! Today has been a whirlwind of trying to keep everything straightened out from the giveaway announcement yesterday! The feedback so far has been incredible, and I'm so happy you're all enjoying the opportunity. I'm thankful for you, and that's just a small way for me to show it. If you haven't entered already, be sure to check out the giveaway, worth over $200 here.

Tonight I'm getting festive with nail art! I've reviewed and thoroughly enjoyed Rococo polishes before here, and tonight, I'm showing you two sheer gloss colors. I liked the sheer look of them, and it inspired me to try out another plaid look. If you're looking for a tutorial for plaid, I have one here.

I was also inspried by a Japanese nail art book I picked up from Born Pretty Store.

In addition to Once Bitten (reviewed below after the jump), I used Goldie (Zoya) and OPI Jade is the New Black. The base is Marshmallow (essie), which is included in the giveaway I'm holding!

Now let's review these two gorgeous sheer polishes!

The first color is a red jelly, that's intentionally sheer, called Once Bitten. Even though this formula is sheer, it builds absolutely perfectly. Shown here is just two coats!

You can see that it's super shiny, which is a result of its sheer properties. I'm mad about this one, and it's the perfect squishy jelly for Christmas!

The other sheer is Poison, which is a little bit more patchy, but still pretty perfect. It reminds me of grape jelly.

These Rococo sheers are available for purchase from Space.NK here for $16.50, and if you can afford that price tag, you won't regret it. You get what you pay for, and here, you're paying for an incredible formula, which is unbeatable in the world of nail polish.

These products were sent to me by Rococo. The reviews are based entirely on my experience with the products and were in no way influenced by anyone.

Avon Cosmic Collection Swatches & Review

One brand of polish I always forget about because it's not on stores' shelves is Avon. They have some fantastic nail enamels though, and tonight I'm showing you most of their Cosmic line, which features fantastic holographic polishes!

Holographic polishes, for those of you who may not know, are peppered with a fine holographic dust, which causes them to reflect tiny rainbows in light, and especially sunlight.

For that reason, I've taken all of these swatches in the sunlight, so you'll see that discrepancy from my normal photos.

The colors Avon gave me for review came in a gorgeous rainbow, and I thought they'd be perfect as a rainbow gradient across all five nails on one hand. The result is breathtaking!

The transition is subtle on the nails, but I love how perfectly they blended together! I can't decide if my index or middle finger is best. Which is your favorite?

These polishes were all fantastic! Almost all of them only required two coats for perfect opacity! The only one that didn't was Celestial.

Read on for all the swatches and reviews.

The first polish is called, appropriately, Eclipse. This dark navy, almost black holographic color is totally unique! In the bottle it's nothing fancy, but it really comes to life on your nails.

Next is Aurora, a purple-magenta polish. It's not quite a lilac, but also not a jewel color. Somewhere in the middle of those. I used this one, along with Eclipse for my thumb in the gradient.

Starburst is one of my favorites because it's such a rich and vibrant pink. Add the holographic dust glitter to it and it really does burst! It's blended with Aurora on my index finger in the gradient.

My other favorite is Super Nova. In addition to it being flawless, it makes me want to yell "zetus lapetus" and go crazy over Proto Zoa. Zenon's my jam.

The warm colors of the Cosmic collection continue to be perfect with Saturn, this awesome orange! Why didn't I pull this out for a Halloween look?!

Starlight looks almost gold here, but it's actually almost a green! When I was putting together the colors for the gradient, I couldn't decide where to put this initially, because I kept trying to make it a green, when it's really a sort of green-gold-yellow. I feel like some people will hate this, but I'm a huge fan!

Radiant is another confusing color, but wow it's pretty! It's more of a muted gold, with definite hints of green. And when I say muted, I don't mean that it's any less holographic!

This is Celestial, the one color that I needed to use 3 coats on. It's thinner, but it still applies really well. It's almost like a misty color to me.

Finally, there's Galaxy, which is a rich turquoise blue.

There's one additional color in the collection, called Moonbeam, but I didn't get that for review. You can see Jen the PolishAholic's image of it though from her review post.

I loved these holographic polishes and I love the price they're available at even more! Right now, they're on sale through the Avon website for $3.95 each!

Have you tried holographic polishes before or is this the first you've heard of them?

These products were sent to me by Avon. The reviews are based entirely on my experience with the products and were in no way influenced by anyone.

LVX Summer 2013 Collection Swatches & Review

TGIF!

Last night's nail networking event was a wonderful opportunity to meet women in the business and meet new faces. I had a great time, and even won a raffle for a new smock! If you live in Colorado, I would definitely recommend attending Nail Talk Denver's next event.