Rimmel Mania

This is Rimmel Mania, an oldie but a goodie. I la la love colors like this, oozing with yummy color and glazed with shimmer. I'd call this a deep marine teal with a deep blue base and interwoven subtle golden shimmer. It reminds me of a peacock *sigh* a symbol of beauty for the animal kingdom. We need more polishes like this!! I got this baby in a swap with a lovely gal on MakeUpAlley. The formula was perfect, two coats.

Icing Bedazzled

Bedazzled is a purple and pink and blue glitter concoction suspended in a clear polish. It's not something I would normally go for but I really like how these colors work together. This is three coats and no topcoat. Very nice shine and surprisingly non-gritty for a straight-glitter polish, très impressive! I like the Icing brush (very China Glaze-esque) and its big ol' bottle is nice and hefty. Plus Icing has the forever promo of "Buy 1 get 1 50% Off" for their beauty products, so I normally peruse their stuff whenever I go to the mall. What do you think of this guy?

FingerPaints Peace, Love, & Color Sneak Peek

What do you think about these colors from Sally Beauty's nail polish brand FingerPaints? I think they're bright and cheery and perfect for summer pedicures :) Can't wait to see them in person! Their last collection was lovely and this one looks just as fun if not better.

Information provided from the manufacturer.

China Glaze Island Escape Collection

Hi everyone! I hope your weekend was nice and that you got in some quality relaxing. I know I sure did! I love to sleep in on the weekend. It makes it harder to get up on Monday morning, but it sort of rejuvenates me for work week...or at least that's what I tell myself (; Today I have the China Glaze Island Escape lacquers, six tropical inspired vivid polishes perfect for the girl who loves bright colors.

First up is Blue Iguana, a bright ocean blue shimmer gloss polish with lots of micro-sparkles in blue and fuchsia. There is a slight purple duochrome at certain angles but it's hard to capture on camera. The formula on this guy reminds me of OPI's Austin-tatious Turquoise, watery and a bit sheer. This is four coats, which is a more than I expected to need.

Next is Cha Cha Cha, which is a chartreuse green with gold-ish green shimmer. This was very pretty, I like it much more than I first thought I would. This is three coats. It reminds me of Zoya's Midori, maybe a bit lighter.

108 Degrees is described as a berry pink, I find it leaning towards fuchsia a bit. Same texture/finish as Blue Iguana and this has lots of micro-glitter too. There is a bit of a purple flash which is cute. This one is still a little sheer but not as bad as Blue Iguana. Three coats on this one.

Electric Pineapple is a pear green (according to my Crayola box) that pulls very yellow. It reminded me right away of OPI's Fiercely Fiona, which I'll do a comparison post on soon. It is definitely a bright crème, but not neon at all. Just nicely day-glo. It was a little streaky, so I used four coats to get it nice and opaque with no streaks.

Senorita Bonita is a red toned purple with pink and purple micro-glitter. Very pretty, she has a more opaque base than Blue Iguana. This is probably my favorite color from the collection, as it is pretty unique in my opinion. This one gave me cuticle drag though, so definitely take your time when polishing. This is four coats.

And last is Papaya Punch, a bright day-glo tangerine orange crème. This was the best behaved color of the collection, nice and opaque and easy to paint on. Three coats.

In general, I like the idea of this collection, but some of the polishes were a bit temperamental. I would advise you to use an extra coat of your base coat of choice to prevent staining and to allow each layer of polish to dry somewhat before you polish on the next coats. I usually can polish right over after I finish with my last finger, but this one I needed to wait a few minutes between coats. Hope you enjoy these photos and the review, that it helps in making your decision on whether or not to pick these up. See ya later!

Products provided for review.

Illamasqua Scarab

I cannot express in words how much I love this nail polish. Illamasqua Scarab it literally the most perfect red polish that I own. It's a very atypical red, unlike any I own. It's from the Art of Darkness collection by Illamasqua from Fall 2010, but it looks like you can still get it at Sephora. A scarab is a beetle that was revered in ancient Egypt and, don't quote me on this, but I believe it means "transformation". Which is just cool.

Scarab is a rubyish-copper hued red that has intense shimmer that looks very lustrous even with its blackened base. It almost pulls towards a metallic finish but paints on easier. It's very velvety. *sigh* I am in serious amour with this baby. This is two coats.

I got this in a swap with the beautiful Suzanne from DeltaCephei, thanks again doll!

China Glaze Yell-O-Neil

This polish is near and dear to my heart. It was a gift from my gorgeous lady friend Landa aka L-Doodle. She is one of the amazing women I have met via the polish blog-o-sphere. I crack up at her everyday on twitter and I just adore her beautiful nails and gorgeous deep skin tone. She's truly an asset to the blogging world. Thanks again L!

Yell-O-Neil is from the Surf Summer collection that came out in 2007. I really really love this collection, it's got a fab theme and we all know that China Glaze does glass-flecked jellies like nobody's business! This one is a bright sunny yellow on-the-thicker-side jelly with sunbursts of glass flecked shimmah. I used three coats for this swatch. A little difficult to manipulate but with great payoff. This may be a little hard to track down, but a good sub would be Lighthouse from the Anchors Away collection that just came out :)

 It's Friday, Friday, yesterday was Thursday, Thursday (sorry couldn't resist!) haha! Have a great one luvas!

OPI Touring America collection Sneak Peek

Coast to Coast Classics

OPI Launches Touring America

Collection for Fall/Winter 2011

OPI hits the open road with a new take on classic style in the Touring America Collection for Fall/Winter 2011. Inspired by Americana and cities with rich cultural heritage, the collection’s twelve shades offer comfortable glamour and wearable elegance for nails and toes.

“My recent road trip across the country sparked the creation of the Touring America Collection,” says Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI Executive VP & Artistic Director. “Autumn is a time for reinvention, and these shades revive classic, iconic colors for fall, from cool heather, khaki and chocolate to warm rose, peach and red.”

The season’s go-to shades of taupe and pearl grey appear in variations from dark to light – A-taupe the Space Needle, Get in the Expresso Lane, French Quarter for Your Thoughts, and Suzi Takes the Wheel. Lush urban neutrals in deep sapphire (Road House Blues), rich raisin (Honk If You Love OPI), chic olive (Uh-oh Roll Down the Window), and coffee brown (I Brake for Manicures) merge with iconic red (Color to Diner For), vivid rose (My Address is “Hollywood”), and luminous coral and orange (I Eat Mainely Lobster, Are We There Yet?) for an expansive color landscape.

“This collection will take women around the world on the ultimate tour across the USA, with stops in Baltimore, Clarksdale, Hollywood, Jackson Hole, Memphis, Milwaukee, New Orleans, New York City, Philadelphia, Seattle, St. Louis, and Tucson,” explains Suzi. “Together, the locales that inspired Touring America make up a rich palette of color complementing trends from the runway, where we saw a mix of feminine details and dramatic menswear touches.”

Touring America includes the following shades:

Are We There Yet?

Don’t make me reach back there and take that perfect melon shade!

I Eat Mainely Lobster

We “clawed” through crowds to catch this coral for you.

My Address is "Hollywood"

We put this pretty rose-pink on the map.

Color to Diner For

I’ll take the rosy-red with a side of “awesome.”

Honk if You Love OPI

Don’t let this gorgeous dark grape pass you by.

Road House Blues

In this case…R&B stands for “Really Blue.”

Suzi Takes the Wheel

Buckle up—she’s not stopping until she gets to gray!

French Quarter for Your Thoughts

Want beads? Then show us your sexy gray nails!

Uh-oh Roll Down the Window

You’re gonna wanna pull over for this “unexpected” olive green.

A-taupe the Space Needle

You’ll climb to new heights with this creamy-rich taupe.

Get in the Expresso Lane

An amped-up dark brown that’ll never letcha down!

I Brake for Manicures

This gorgeous eggplant-plum has our full attention.

Touring America Nail Lacquer shades contain no DBP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde, and each includes OPI’s exclusive ProWide™ Brush for the ultimate in application.

Touring America by OPI will be available August 3, 2011, at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, JCPenney, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, and ULTA, for $8.50 ($10.95 CAN) suggested retail for each Nail Lacquer.

For more information, please call 800-341-9999 or visit www.opi.com. Follow OPI on Twitter @OPI_PRODUCTS and become a Facebook fan!

This information was provided by the manufacturer.

Sally Hansen Night Lights

Sally Hansen gift sets are notoriously disappointing. They rarely contain worthwhile nail polishes, especially if they do not have photos of the actual polishes contained within on the packaging. However, the past few months there has been a gift set circulating the drugstore scene that contained a helluva find--a holo jelly! Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear Night Lights is a really ga ga gorgeous charcoal grey jelly swimming with holographic glitter pieces. It's a real stunner!

You may recall I did a giveaway on my facebook page for this guy (including the gift pack which includes some SH lip inflation glosses) a while back. Well I spotted it and just couldn't let it go to waste so I had to snap it up to give a fellow polish lover a thrill, because I knew my amazing friend G was planning on sending me the exact same set as a lovely present soon. It arrived a few days ago so I immediately had to get it on mah tips! This is four coats, as it is a tad sheer. But look O_O it's sooo pretty! Thanks girl!

China Glaze Shower Together

The Eco Collection by China Glaze came out in Spring 2008, about a year before I got into the polish scene. Unfortunate because I missed some good lacquer seasons before my habit kicked in. The Eco Collection was a small but great collection that centered on an earth conscious theme.

"To preserve the beauty of our world’s colors, tread lightly and leave only footprints. In Blahniks or Birkenstocks, going green is always fashionable."

Shower Together is a gorgeous water blue jelly crème that was opaque in two coats. This polish has the most excellent formula ever. Seriously one of the best polishes I've used in a LONG time. I borrowed this from a friend but will definitely need to scrounge up my own bottle soon.

Another pro to this baby is that it totally matches my pocketbook! My purse is a little more green (a JPK knock-off) but my faux-leather wallet (a Hobo knock-off...what can I say, I'm a bargain girl!) is a dead on match! Awesome :)

OPI Femme de Cirque SoftShades

I am super down for OPI SoftShades. I love light pinks and milky sweet colors that are just pure femininity. Sometimes I get overdosed on bright shimmers and vibrant foils or blingy glitters and I just need a good detox. SoftShades are the perfect thing for a "color cleanse". The new Femme de Cirque collection includes four colors that exude delicate tenderness.  I adore the OPI Pro-Wide brush too so this collection is a winner in my book.

In the Spot-light Pink is a sheer "pop" of pink jelly. It is a great color for making your nails look ladylike but still youthful and fresh. I always complain that my nail beds are too pink, but then I love wearing shades like this that make them a shade pinker haha, I'm weird. This is four coats because I like it to look squishy.

Step Right Up! is a pale creamy pink crème. I painted on three-ish coats and it was pretty fair, considering these colors usually streak pretty bad. This would be a great color for a wedding mani or pedi.

I Juggle...Men is an iridescent shimmer topcoat that glitters in colors of blue, purple, and pink. The micro glitter is subtle but smashing! Very pretty and my photo doesn't do it justice unfortunately. This is three coats.

So Many Clowns, So Little Time is a nude toned pink that is a little more on the squishy sheer side than the other pale crème in the collection. I tried this as a tip color for an American Manicure and it worked very well, but I messed it up before I could get a picture of it haha. This is four coats.

These were provided for review.

OPI Gives us the Blues!

Shatter Line Extended with Bold Blues!

 OPI Launches Bestselling Shatter Coat in

Three Blue-Hued Shades

            OPI expands its Shatter line with the addition of three new trendsetting shades: Blue, Navy and Turquoise. With nautical hues of cobalt, indigo and sapphire, these blues provide the perfect look for summer nails in one simple step.  Inspired by graffiti art, Shatter leaves behind a crackled, two-texture finish when painted over any dry OPI hue. Adding top coat takes Shatter from matte to glossy in seconds.

“Black Shatter was received with great fanfare, showing that women are looking for new ways to express themselves and are excited to try different textures on their nails,” says Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI Executive VP & Artistic Director. “By adding a variety of colors to the line, there are more options for every woman, whether she is looking for a funky aquamarine or elegant deep blue. Unlike traditional nail art which can be complicated and difficult to replicate, Shatter is easy to use and allows everyone to experiment with this new trend.”

In addition to the original Black Shatter, the line also features the Shatter coat in White, Red and Silver. All Shatter retail displays now feature Quick Response (QR) code, a two-dimensional barcode readable by smart phones and mobile phones with cameras and Internet capability. A quick scan of the display’s QR code will directly link to a demonstrational video – making application foolproof.

All Shatter products contain no DBP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde, and feature OPI’s exclusive ProWide^™ Brush for the ultimate in application. 

Blue Shatter, Navy Shatter, and Turquoise Shatter will be available beginning May 2011 at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, JCPenney, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, and ULTA, for  $8.50 ($10.95 CAN) suggested retail for each Shatter coat.

For more information, please call 800-341-9999 or visit www.opi.com. Follow OPI on Twitter @OPI_PRODUCTS and become a Facebook fan!

This information was provided by the manufacturer.

OPI Glam Slam! France Edition - Sneak Peek

White and Red Shatter Debut for French Open!

 

Serena Williams Serves Up Four New Shades for OPI Glam Slam! Collection

 OPI captures Serena Williams’ winning spirit with four additions to the Glam Slam! collection, including two new shades of the fashionable, must-have Shatter – Red and White.  Launching in conjunction with the French Open, Glam Slam! France celebrates with two duo-packs for four unbeatable looks.

The first Lacquer set includes Spark de Triomphe (a monumentally marvelous silver glitter), paired with White Shatter. Once applied over completely dried Nail Lacquer, Shatter begins to crackle, leaving behind a two-texture pattern on each nail. The second Lacquer set features Rally Pretty Pink (rise to the occasion with this shimmering sunset-pink), paired with Red Shatter.

“We are very excited to continue working with tennis superstar Serena Williams to launch the next Glam Slam! shades,” said Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI Executive VP & Artistic Director. “France is a country with a rich history in fashion and setting trends. These four new color options are ideal for showcasing your own personal style, à la Serena, whether worn alone or overlaid with Shatter for instant nail art.”

“Whether I’m on or off the court, style is important,” explains Serena Williams. “In addition to watching the runways for the latest trends, I think it’s important to add my own unique elements. With the new White and Red Shatter, I can customize my nails for a high-fashion take on the classically elegant silver and sunset shades in the Glam Slam! France collection.”

Serena Williams has received the World Number One in singles ranking by the Women’s Tennis Association on five separate occasions, along with being listed as sixth on the all-time greatest champions list.  Additionally, she has won two Olympic gold medals in women’s doubles and has earned 27 Grand Slam titles to date. Serena is the most recent player to have held all four Grand Slam singles titles simultaneously and only the fifth woman in history to do so.

New shades in the Glam Slam! collection will be introduced to coincide with each of the four major tournaments, beginning with the Australian Open in January 2011, followed by launches in May 2011 for the French Open, June 2011 for Wimbledon and August 2011 for the US Open. As with all OPI Nail Lacquers, the Glam Slam! collection contains no DBP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde, and each includes OPI’s exclusive ProWide^™ Brush for the ultimate in application.

Glam Slam! France will be available beginning May 2011 at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, JCPenney, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, and ULTA, for $14.95 ($20.95 CAN) suggested retail for each duo-pack. 

For more information, please call 800-341-9999 or visit www.opi.com. Follow OPI on Twitter @OPI_PRODUCTS and become a Facebook fan!

This information was provided by the manufacturer.

Models Own Peach Sherbet

Models Own is a cosmetics brand based in the United Kingdom. I got a few of their polishes when they had a big 50% off sale last year, fingers crossed hoping they do another one this year. This is Peach Sherbet, a pastel peach crème. I was hoping this would be light and fluffy looking, what I wanted China Glaze's Peachy Keen to be on me (it was too stark for my taste) but unfortunately the formula on this guy isn't my favorite. It's still streaky after three coats. Boo. Oh well, I'm hoping Illamasqua Purity will fill my pale peach craving.

China Glaze Island Escape Sneak Peek

ESCAPE THIS SUMMER WITH HIGH SHINE AND BRIGHT SHIMMER

China Glaze Introduces Six Sizzling Shimmers and Cremes

Los Angeles, CA – (October 2010): Take an exotic island escape with China Glaze this summer with a tropical, shimmering rainbow of brilliant bright colors! Mix and match these hot hues to add a candy-like pop to that summer manicure and pedicure. Colors in the collection include:

· Papaya Punch: Crème based vivid orange.

· 108 Degrees: Flirtatious berry pink with specks of micro glitter.

· Senorita Bonita: Passionate purple shimmer with pink micro glitter.

· Blue Iguana: Bold and daring sparkly blue.

· Cha Cha Cha: Vivacious shimmer green.

· Electric Pineapple: High intensity crème based lime green.

Escape this summer to a far away place with China Glaze. Vacation in color!

The China Glaze Island Escape collection will be available as open stock colors, 6 piece box collection, 6 piece counter display, 12 piece counter display and 36 piece rack.

China Glaze is free of DBP, toluene, and added formaldehyde.

China Glaze nail lacquers are available through salons and professional beauty supply stores nationwide. For more information, visit: www.chinaglaze.com or follow China Glaze on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ChinaGlaze

China Glaze is a division of American International Industries.

About American International Industries: For nearly 40 years, AII has been the leading manufacturer and worldwide distributor of innovative, quality beauty and skin care products for men and women. Our product lines include Ardell, Andrea, Body Drench, Bye Bye Blemish, Checi, China Glaze, Clean + Easy, Clubman/Pinaud, Duo, European Secrets, EzFlow, Fright Night, Gena, GiGi, Gypsy Lash, IBD, Jeris-Lustray, No Tweeze/Micro Tweeze, 'N Rage, Prolinc, RAW, Seche, SuperNail, Surgi-Care, Waterworks, Winning Nails, Woltra, Woody’s, and Youthair. For more information, visit our website: www.aiibeauty.com.

This information was provided by the manufacturer.