Butter London Lady Muck

Are you as big of a Butter London fan as I am? I doubt it! They are quickly making their way into my top 5 brands, which with the amount of lacquer this gal has on hand, means a LOT. I am a bit of an Anglophile (noun: a person who is friendly to or admires England or English customs, institutions, etc.) so anything remotely British is all right in my book...even though the company is based in Seattle :)

Lady Muck is a new 2011 color, which came out for the Spring/Summer season I believe. The BL site describes her as "Powdery periwinkle blue, slightly on the grey side and infused with pearl pigment for a soft, sexy sheen." This baby has definite micro-glitter going on too, giving it that subtle but very present sparkle. I think the pearl infuses with the base and instead of bringing a pearl finish it gives the blue more depth. There is a dusty hint but the pearl drags it up from being too somber. This is two coats with topcoat.

You can get Butter London polishes at www.butterlondon.com or at Ulta stores for $14.00 each. They have some amazing new shades coming up for Fall, I can't wait for them! Give them a look-see over on my friend Charlotte's blog Lipglossiping. Have a great rest of June ;)

BB Couture Saturday Night Fever

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y Night! I always get the song by The Bay City Rollers stuck in my head when I see this polish. Er, even though it's not named for that song, I'm pretty sure it's named after the John Travolta movie. I've never seen it, but I do enjoy a great disco hit now and again. The Bee Gees are some of my favorites :D I even got to see one in concert! (Just Robin, him and Barry were fighting or something so it was him and a band that sounded like the others haha.)

Anydork, this is Saturday Night Fever by BB Couture. It's a blackened green crème base with bright green glitter. Love! BBC does greens so well.

This is an older photo, my nails were a little more square than I'm doing them nowadays but you get the idea ;) I've been having a hard time swatching lately, it's just so darn hot outside! I have low tolerance to heat :( I swear I should live the Arctic.

Hot New Deborah Lippmann Shades: Sneak Peek!

Hey friends! I have the inside scoop for you for a bunch of new Deborah Lippmann shades, these look a-maaah-zing!

WARM UP WITH DEBORAH LIPPMANN’S FALL 2011 SHADES

I have worked directly with some of the world’s top fashion designers on everything from ad campaigns to fashion shows. When I set out to select nail looks for the fall 2011 collections, I noticed a common theme among all of my collaborators: warmth. The clothes featured vivid, lush earth tones—think lush greens, rich reds and intense golds.

I wanted to capture a similar heat and earthiness in the accompanying polishes, but with an added punch. BILLIONAIRE, a moody hunter green, BRICK HOUSE, a shimmering rust, and SINGLE LADIES, a flirtatious red, all have warm undertones, which give them a beautiful intensity, but also have a jewel-like quality so they really make nails pop. 

SHADE DESCRIPTIONS

Billionaire: moody hunter green (creme)

Brick House: shimmering rust (shimmer)

Single Ladies: flirtatious red (creme)

Deborah Lippmann’s new shade, STORMY WEATHER, is a collaboration with fashion designer Narciso Rodriguez.

Usually Narciso requests a nude nail to complement his minimalist designs, but for fall 2011 around he wanted something bolder—a color with strength and edge to offset both his collection and the softness of the hair and makeup. For the perfect custom finish, I mixed (and mixed) a new shade by hand in just 24 hours. The final product: an edgy granite that emanated power and intensity. The models who walked the show (and who rarely, if ever, comment on the nail color) gushed over the shade. And so STORMY WEATHER was born an edgy granite (crème) for a strong fall statement.

Just in time for the holiday season,

Deborah Lippmann Gets the Party started

Nothing says ‘Party’ like the magnetic sparkle of glitter. So for the biggest party season of the year, I’ve created shades that truly dazzle. Get This Party Started, a set of three glitters, was inspired by the overwhelming demand for my best selling Happy Birthday, a glittery party in a bottle. The set includes Happy Birthday, along with two new variations of the sparkling shade: Forget You and Candy Shop. They’re both packed with the same unique hexagon-shaped glitter that gives Happy Birthday its magnificent glint, only Forget You has a sheer black base and Candy Shop a bubblegum pink.

I love how festive all three look and feel, whether wrapped a round a champagne glass or peeping out of a glamorous pump. But what I truly love the most: how a few coats of any shade instantly transform you into the life of the party.

Happy Birthday: a party in a bottle (glitter)

Forget You: party all night (glitter)

Candy Shop: bubblegum pink (glitter)

For these next shades, I have no press information right now, but they look unbelievable! Can't wait to see them in person :)

Top: Do Ya Think I'm Sexy, Glamorous Life, I Love the Nightlife

Bottom: Shake Your Groove Thing, Good Girl Gone Bad, Stairway to Heaven

Images provided via manufacturer/PR.

China Glaze Style Wars

Today I thought I would show you a vibrant orange jelly to go along with our bright sunshiney weather as of late. It's freaking hot out here! Style Wars is from China Glaze's Kicks Collection of Summer 2009, full of bright shades that really pop. I almost have the full set, I just ordered a few more from Victoria's Nail Supply.

This is three coats of pure jelly goodness. A rather opaque jelly but I wouldn't call it a crème, maybe a jelly crème. The perfect mix of the two finishes. This is a reddish orange but not too red, very flattering on my olive complexion I think. I also have a coat of China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat on to make it super shiny.

Have a great weekend sugar pies!

Silver & Turquoise Shatter Mani

Happy Friday kids! This is one of my favorite shatter manicures that I have done so far. The China Glaze creamy turquoise shatter Crushed Candy reminded me of a familiar classic shade of theirs, For Audrey, so I put them together and they are basically dupes! How smart of ChG to do such a popular color in a shatter huh? So I knew that I had a similar base color as the OPI Silver Shatter too, in China Glaze Cheers to You so I threw them all together and did every other finger in a switched color combo. Observe...

What do you think? In these photos I prefer the base of For Audrey with the Silver Shatter on top (index and ring fingers), but in real life the prettier combo in my opinion is the base of Cheers to You and the crackle of Crushed Candy (middle and pinky fingers). It pops more or something. Maybe because the metallic shatter shines so much you can't see the base turquoise as well? Either way it was a fun mani and I'm glad I tried it out! Have you tried any especially cute shatter combos that I should try?

Some of the products shown were provided for review.

Color Club Fractured Collection: Swatches & Review Part 1

Hola my beauties :) Today I bring you the first half of Color Club's new special effect topcoat collection, Fractured. The polish creates the effect of random jagged lines by applying to a dry base color.

I wore the white, called Clean Break, over my current mani the day I swatched these, Sephora by OPI's Hell to the No, which I reviewed earlier this week. This is definitely the best cracking white polish I've used, look at all that! It does get thick and chunky around the mouth of the bottle though so be careful.

This is the black fracture polish, Smash Hit over Color Club's own Pure Energy from their Electro Candy collection. It fractured very well, but again got a little thick on the brush and on the polish lip. I like this combination. I shall have to do a skittles mani of the entire Electro Candy collection and shatters one day :)

I should've done another neon because I'm guessing that would be epic, but I was dying to see what a holo would look like under the silver fractured polish, Broken Tokens. I chose OPI DS Extravagance. It turned out alright, not really as fab as I expected. This one "fractured" the least for me and it seemed more sheer than the other colors. To compare it to the other silver crackle polish I've tried, OPI's Silver Shatter, it is definitely lighter and less crack-y.

What is really nice about this collection is that it is super affordable. Also, this is just the first half. Three more fractures are on the way, a gold, blue and purple. Hope you liked seeing these new polishes and have a great day!

Products provided for review.

Hits Mundo de Danças Collection: Salsa

Hi there folks :) I am here today with a PINK, because On Wednesdays, We Wear Pink! This is a Brazilian polish from my beautiful and loving friend Sarah from Them Pretty Colors blog. She sent me a few of the flakie polishes from the Hits brand collection Mundo de Danças (World of Dances) collection. They are all flakies and all named after dance styles. This is so me right now because I am currently obsessed with So You Think You Can Dance! I am so hoping Miss Melanie Moore will win, because not only is she a phenomenal dancer, but she is also a fellow nail polish addict! ZOMG :D

Anydance, back to the polish. The first polish I have to show you from this collection is the sexy Salsa! She is a ga ga gorgeous hot pink jelly with oodles of gold flakes. The brush had a few wonky bits (boo!) but otherwise it applied fine. Covered fab in two coats. It looks quite magenta in the bottle but leans a more strawberry pink on the nail.

A weird thing though, I would see a black speck in the polish as I applied sometimes, like every other nail, and when I would try to brush them off they would smear, like pigment. WTF?! I don't know what's up with that but it made me go "GRRR!" fo'sho. It wasn't a tragedy, and as you can see it wasn't anything I couldn't fix, but it was annoying and weird. Oh well, this is a nice fancy pink and I really like it.

Color Club Back to Boho Collection: Sneak Peek!

*COLOR CLUB BACK TO BOHO Collection*

New Bohemian 70’s Inspired Collection Coming This Fall
 

New York, NY – June 2011 Color Club, a New York based cosmetic brand specializing in nail and lip products announced today its new “Back to Boho” Fall 2011 Collection. The new collection features twelve 70’s inspired longwearing nail polish shades perfect for creating an effortless “Boho Glam” look. The collection will be available in September of 2011. With fun bohemian vintage inspired names, the Color Club “Back to Boho” Collection shades include:

Nomadic in Nude – a must have neutral for the season; off white and creamy

Earthy Angel – Gorgeous creamy camel

New Bohemian – a new 70’s take on Tiffany Blue

Shabby Drab – Purple Greige The ultimate boho color

Rad Nomad – Purple brown crème

Red-ical Gypsy – Boho chic red, a new take on a vintage classic red

Boho Mojo – Silvery, beige pearl            

Nouveau Vintage – The perfect understated vintage frosty gold

Voodoo You Do – The perfect charcoal grey for the season with blue undertones

Artsy Crafty – The ultimate muted military green

Blue-topia – Just as it sounds, the perfect shade of deep blue

Rebel Spirit – Deep chocolate brown creme

Color Club is all about color and renowned for its fun, high performance rich shades and exceptionally safe products. All nail colors are vegan, Formaldehyde, Toluene, DBP and paraben-free - and made in New York, NY with the best raw materials. Color Club products are made in the USA and are not tested on animals. 

ABOUT COLOR CLUB

Color Club is a nail polish brand developed by Forsythe Cosmetic Group.  Founded in 1979, the Forsythe Cosmetic Group is a New York-based cosmetic company widely regarded worldwide as a pioneer within the professional beauty industry. A global brand with products represented in more than 95 countries, Forsythe was one of the first companies to recognize and address the needs of the professional nail salon, a new phenomenon at the time. Rather quickly, the Forsythe name became synonymous with excellent, performance-proven products available in a diverse range of eye-catching shades. Today, more than three decades later, the Forsythe Cosmetic Group remains a vanguard in the beauty business by constantly introducing new concepts and elevating industry standards. Forsythe manufactures every product it offers, a practice that ensures superior color-matching quality control and the ability to respond quickly to consumer demands for the latest and most exciting trends in nail color, nail treatments and lip color.

For additional information on Color Club please call 1-800-221-8080 or visit www.cosmeticgroup.com.

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Images via Color Club.

Sephora by OPI Hell to the No

This is Sephora by OPI's Hell to the No, from their Glee collection. It is named for the character Mercedes' catch phrase, it just cracks me up! I wasn't particularly in love with the entire collection so I just got this one. It is a red toned purple creme with lots of fine gold shimmer. This is my favorite tone of purple and it really looks fab against my skin, eh?

The formula was perfect, opaque and creamy. I had perfect coverage in two coats. Did you get any of the Sephora by OPI Glee colors? Do you watch Glee? I'm currently watching The Glee Project on Oxygen during the off season, I'm rooting for Cameron and Samuel :)

Birthday Girl

Salutations luvers! I just wanted to pop in and say hello before my day is over. I turned 25 years old today and was absolutely pummeled with love from every direction via people I know in real life and folks that I have met from blogging. Thank you so much to everyone who tweeted me, wrote on my Facebook, or commented on my blog today wishing me a happy birthday!! Even if you didn't, thanks for reading this right now and coming back to see my swatches and read my drivel once in a while. It means so much to me. I'll be back with more nail polish soon. *squishes you all in a big mushy hug*

Keep smiling and I will too ☺

Sancion Angel Broadway Collection: Part 1

Hello friends :) Happy Father's Day to you and yours! Today I'd like to show you two polishes from the Brazilian brand Sancion Angel. This is their Broadway collection, all flakies too hurrah! The polishes are teeny, 8 ml and named after Broadway characters.

Sandy, I imagine is named for the blonde goody-two shoes from "Grease". This polish has a clear base with green tinted flakes, that can appear blue from different angles. This is obviously meant to be a layering polish, but I wanted to show it on it's own to show the flakes better. This is two coats.

Christine is named for the singer in "Phantom of the Opera" (I'm guessing), one of my very favorite plays. This is a super gorgeous polish, gold flakes in a violet purple base. Two coats here.

I was dismayed to see that the brushes in both these polishes were splayed and wirey, almost impossible to work with. For layering polishes, I would prefer to have bigger bottles of them as well. I will have a few more of these to show you soon. Have a great one :)

Products provided for review.

Sancion Angel Holográficos Part 2

Hiiii lovies! I have some more Brazilian holographic polishes to share :) Remember when I showed you my first two Sancion Angel polishes back in the day? Well here are two more! Yay, I was excited when these babies came in the mail!

First up is Ariel, the beautiful ginger haired princess of the sea! All of these holos are named after fictional heroines, how fun is that?! This is a green tinted turquoise scattered holographic polish that is super opaque, this is one coat.

Next is Arwen, named for the half-elf in Lord of the Rings, the Lady of Rivendell and Queen of the Reunited Kingdom. Yeah, I had to look that up, I really just know that Liv Tyler played her in a movie haha! This is a light lilac scattered holographic polish. I've done two coats here.

These are both a little more rainbow-y than the China Glaze Tronica collection but not as much as something like Gosh Holographic, to give you an idea of where they stand on the spectrum. The brushes on these were both a little wonky and splayed, no bueno! I first thought the little bottles were kind of a jip, but now I wish more companies would put out mini bottles! It would save on cost and space haha :D

Have a good weekend my luvs!

Products provided for review.

OPI Miss Universe Collection: Sneak Peek!

Unleash Your Inner Beauty Queen!

OPI Launches Limited Edition

Miss Universe Lacquers

Pageant-pretty nail lacquers in the new Miss Universe by OPI promotion give fingers and toes added glitz and glamour. Featuring four shades packed with shimmer and sparkle, these limited edition colors capture the energy of the 2011 MISS UNIVERSE® competition, to be held September 12, 2011, in São Paulo, Brazil.

“Miss Universe is the most popular and publicized beauty pageant in the world,” said Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI Executive VP & Artistic Director. “We are excited to partner with the Miss Universe Organization, whose contestants provided so much inspiration for rich, high-fashion color.”

With shades ranging from berry and golden pink to electric blue and glittery silver, Miss Universe by OPI provides high-shine lacquers, including:

Congeniality is My Middle Name
And berry-wine shimmer is what I do best!

Crown Me Already!
A sassy silver sparkle that knows what it’s worth.

It’s MY Year
It’s about time for this champagne-rose to shine!

Swimsuit…Nailed It!
An itsy bitsy teenie weenie vibrant shiny-blue bikini.

The Miss Universe Organization named OPI its official nail care sponsor this June. Additionally, Weiss-Fischmann will be a judge for the 2011 Miss USA® pageant, a precursor to the Miss Universe competition.

Miss Universe by OPI Nail Lacquers contain no DBP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde, and feature OPI’s exclusive ProWide™ Brush for the ultimate in application. This limited-edition promotion will be available beginning August 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!

ABOUT MISS UNIVERSE:
The Miss Universe Organization, a Donald J. Trump and NBC Universal joint venture, is a global community empowering role models of beauty, health and leadership for young women of today. The organization is dedicated to partnering with charities around the world, and to increasing HIV/AIDS awareness by focusing on women's health and reproductive issues. For more information, visit: www.missuniverse.com or follow Miss Universe on Facebook or Twitter @TheRealMissU.

Nicole by OPI Texture Coat Collection: Giveaway! - CLOSED

Yay! Giveaway time! In celebration of the summer and my 25th birthday (on the 20th of June) and the new Nicole by OPI Texture Coat collection coming out, Also Known As... and of course the awesome people behind the brand Nicole by OPI is giving away the entire set to one lucky reader!

Who: Any subscribed reader of this blog, in the United States, through Google Friend Connect, email subscription, BlogLovin', etc. - I have to be able to verify this.
What: A brand new set of the Nicole by OPI Texture Coat (shatter) collection.
When: Open from NOW until June 30th.
How: Please fill out the form below :)

P.S. I hate to do this, but this will be my first contest that has to be limited to people in the United States only. I have recently become aware that the United States Postal Service has changed their policy regarding shipping standards and a lot of nail polish has been either returned to senders trying to ship internationally or they have been fined for it. I am sorry, I love my international followers SOOOO much but I can't risk the $$$ :( I hope you forgive me. I'll have to come up with a way in the next giveaway that you can join in on the fun.

Nicole by OPI Nail Lacquers and Nail Treatments contain no DBP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde. Nicole by OPI formulas are long-lasting, fast-drying, and salon-quality, with products featuring the Perfect Stroke brush for streak-free, even coverage. Texture Coat will be available July 2011 for $7.99 each at ULTA, Target, Meijer, Harmon, Wegmans, Sears, and H-E-B. Texture Coat will be available in Canada at Shoppers Drug Mart, Walmart and Loblaw. For more information, visit nicolebyopi.com. Follow Nicole by OPI on Twitter @NicoleByOPI and become a Facebook fan!

Good luck and please email me if you have any problems :)

Prizes provided by manufacturer.