Link Love

So a new thing I am going to do is put a list together of stuff that I like every so often. They might be new blogs I've found, particularly cool nail art, or just something I found to be neat-o. I tend to find new things via others' link lists so thought I might do a few of my own and pay it forward. Enjoy!

• glitter nail polish removal with no fuss? / nails by kayla shevonne


• color shifting nail polish oh yeah / chrissyai


• winter tights inspired nail art / coewless polish


• purp ombre like whoa / the nailasaurus


• cartoon inspired polish collection / chalkboard nails


• my favorite kind of salute / a polish addict


• the boy wizard lives / glitta gloves

BB Couture Ladies Formal Collection

BB Couture has a new ladies collection out! Hooray! I know I am on the edge of my seat all the time wondering when their next bunch of lacquers will come out and of course it's my joy to be able to share them with you! This collection is called the Ladies Formal collection. These are all matte/satin finish polishes.

First up is Black Velvet, ooh luxe! This is more of a deep charcoal rather than a straight black. It's much softer and wearable than a true matte. It also goes on easily and levels well. I wore this under an Elixir glitter in my previous post. Three coats.

This guy is called Chocolate Souffle which sounds just heavenly right? A color I don't know I would've chosen on my own but I ended up really fancy it. It's a rich reddish brown that looks nice and vampy on the nail. This one is more on the matte side, but it's still softer than the chalky mattes of yesteryear. Three coats here.

This one might be my absolute favorite matte polish ever. It's called Daring Debutant and it's a shade of purple that is reddish but also has a flash of blue in there which I can't figure out how they did, but it's awesome. It has a bit of a shimmer speckle in there that reminds me of stone. It's probably the smoothest satin matte I've ever used too. Ga-ga-gorgeous! Three coats.

This is called Ruby Red High Heels. It's a pinky kind of ruby red, with a soft sort of speckle that's just barely noticeable. I am just really impressed with all these, they're so nice to paint with! Three coats.

Here is Tiny Cocktail Dress, a lovely chic dark brown. I actually own way more brown polishes than I thought I did, so I must like them haha. I really like this one, it's amazing how sophisticated the espresso color looks huh! Three coats.

And rounding out the collection is the fierce Uninvited. I totally love this, it's a fabulous matte red and really flatters on the nail. It dries a tad darker than the color in the bottle, like most of these. I used this one under a new glitter polish I just bout and it really enhanced it (post on that one to come soon). Three coats on this gal too.

These are all real standouts in my collection, as mattes go they are incredibly easy application-wise, which is a HUGE accomplishment in my book. Bravo BB Couture! You can get these on their website www.bbnailpolish.com for $10.95 each. What are your thoughts on these?

Products provided for review.

Elixir Lacquers

I have a few polishes to show you today from Elixir Lacquers. They are an indie brand run by the same gal who has the blog Nail Polish Wars. She has awesome nails btw. This is a new-to-me brand and these are the first shades I've tried.

The first guy is from their holiday selection, called Snowman Suite. This guy has a clear base with smallish satin orange hexes, medium matte white hexes, large matte black circles, and tiny iridescent micro hexes. I wasn't super excited about this in the bottle but I like how it looks on the nail. I'm never going to be a fan of large circle glitters though, haha. This is two coats with topcoat over BB Couture Black Velvet.

Next is Red Nose, which has a clear base loaded with fiery copper orange holographic micro glitter. I was expecting this to be red but it is definitely orange. I had to work to get the glitter to be opaque, but it wasn't as hard as I had anticipated. My swatch shows three coats with topcoat. This is part of Elixir Lacquer's Lov-a-Bully charity bottles, where 10% of each sold will be donated to the Atlanta Bully Rescue, an organization that works to reduce the number of unwanted bully breeds (including pit bulls) in Atlanta and surrounding areas.

Another polish that helps with the above mentioned charity is Happy Tears. This polish has a slightly shimmery royal blue sheer base packed with mini blue squares and medium matte white hexes. I think this would work best for layering but I tried it on its own and I liked it. This is three coats.

Smokey Coat is another Lov-a-Bully polish. A fun part of these is they are all named after and inspired by a sweet pit bull doggy that was rescued by the foundation being supported! This polish is a deep charcoal grey with a dash of silver holographic bits. This one went on like butter, very nice. Two coats here.

Here is Forever Home over Smokey Coat. This polish, also one who benefits the Atlanta Bully Rescue, is named so in accordance with a rescued pets' home that will be theirs forever! It has a clear base with large red hearts, mini blue squares, and medium black & white hexes. I really love this one and it might be my favorite of Elixir's so far. I wish the hearts were a little easier to grab in the bottle but larger glitter is always a challenge. This is two coats.

You can get these and other polishes at their website http://www.elixirlacquers.com/. The full size bottles are $10. It doesn't appear as if they are selling minis right now. What do you think of these? I think it's such a great thing that here Lov-a-Bully polishes benefit such a worthwhile cause, I am such a dog lover! Have you tried Elixir yet?

Products provided for review.

Pretty & Polished Holiday Picks

Hi friends :) My girl Chels who makes Pretty & Polished lacquers and accessories has some new polishes out for the holiday season, here are two of them.

Love Always, Candy Cain is a glitter topper in red and white, 'natch considering the name. Anyone who knows me knows I'm obsessed with peppermint and this time of year it's friggen everywhere and I love it. This polish has small round white and red matte glitter, large red and white heart glitter, medium & large red hexes and large white hexes in a clear base. I used three coats over Cult Nails Nevermore.

This is called Island of Misfit Toys, which I get is a cartoon reference but I just watched Perks of Being a Wallflower (unbelievable film, btw) and they mentioned it in there so it was fresh in my mind when I picked these out. This glitter is a mega hodgepodge of colors shapes and sizes, but it really works. I was surprised at how much I like this. Three coats over Wet n' Wild white.

You can buy Pretty & Polished nail lacquer at their Etsy store www.etsy.com/shop/prettyandpolished. Minis are $4.75 and full size bottles go for $7. I haven't been disappointed by any P&P polishes, and these are no exception. Go check out the rest of her holiday selection on her blog www.prettynpolish.com.

P.S. I know my nails are SUUUUPER long in these picks, cray cray right?! I just cut them but you might see another few posts with them this long. I credit Duri's Rejuvacote.

Illamasqua Generation Q Nail Lacquers

I have had these Illamasqua Generation Q collection nail lacquers for a while now and it's high time I post my swatches. I flippen LOVE these two polishes, like really love them. The Generation Q collection is "a clear message to everybody, everywhere that beauty is not young, old, black, white, male or female, but anything, everything and everyone" which honestly is super awesome.

Charisma is described as a raspberry and I concur, though they say it's a pink and I would say it's more on the red side. A berry red shimmer. Really beautiful, amazing formula. Two coats.

Creator is a-MAH-zing. Illamasqua calls it a "magical black", and it really is. It's a dense small but substantial silver glitter in a black base. This has got to be hands down my favorite black/silver polish. Really great formula, easy to apply and not a glitter you have to "place" on the nail. I love how the glitter is standout, because in some similar shades I have the glitter tends to get lost. I commented on their facebook page suggesting they create this in a navy blue, which would make the perfect starry night polish! Lets hope they will :D Two coats.

You can get Illamasqua nail polish on their website www.illamasqua.com for £13.50 or at www.sephora.com for $14. I can't say enough about these! How do you like them?

Products provided for review.

Cult Nails - The Deceptive Collection

Cult Nails, run by my beautiful and extremely talented blogger buddy Maria, has put out my absolutely favorite top coat ever (Wicked Fast 4 LYFE!), and now has put out my absolute favorite black polish ever. Nevermore is a rich luxe pitch black crème that is opaque in one buttery coat. Amazing.

I used Nevermore as the base for the Deceptive Collection, Cult Nails' limited edition collection of color shifting top coats. The collection is made up of five shimmery sheers that enhance the base color they're layered over.

Image via http://www.cultnailsblog.com/

Thumb - Two Timer, Index - Alter Ego, Middle - Charlatan , Ring - Doppelganger, Pinky - Deception

Two Timer appears to be liquid gossamer gold in the bottle but over black we see a beautiful iridescent emerald green. Alter Ego looks like an angel pink opal-like lacquer in the bottle but on the nail it turns to antique gold! Olive gold shimmer comes out over the black. Charlatan is a cheeky show off, it has large shimmer particles that look hot pink in the bottle but show up as a blue/pink/purple multichrome on the nail. Doppelganger is an interesting shade, it's got a creamy white base with multicolored microshimmer bits. I am not 100% sold on this as a layering shade, at least not over dark colors, the base is sheer but not enough. However, I have made two kickass frankens with it! And last is Deception, which appears soft pinky orange in the bottle but shows up as a purple and magenta shimmer on the nail. Each of the nails shows one coat of Nevermore and two of the layering shade.

What do you think of these guys? I am super into the hotness of these, and I can see myself using them over lots of colors even though I'm not usually a layering type of girl. You can get these while they last on http://www.cultnails.com/ for $10 each. Nevermore is a core color so you can grab that whenever you need it, which is nice. Did I mention it's my go-to black? Did I?! Well it is :)

Products provided for review.

BB Couture Ladies in Polish Collection

Hi friends! This is the women's collection pair to BB Couture's Men In Polish collection that I showed you a while ago, called Ladies in Polish. Both have an outer space theme, referencing the movie Men In Black. These polishes all have holographic glitter, which is of course never very easy to capture in a photo. They are always way more awesome looking in real life. I tried my best but believe me, these pictures are nothing compared to their epicness in person.

First is Galactic Stranger. This is a metallic icy grape purple with a truckload of holographic glitter. Really amazing and deep. This is two coats.

This is Manipulative Martian. Another purple but on the girly almost periwinkle side of the spectrum. The glitter is just as plentiful here but blends in the base a bit more. I don't love this shade on me but I can see it being a popular color for others. Two coats.

Here is Naughty Navigator. A dark cement grey with salty looking holo glitter pieces. I love this color and I think it's unexpected to do it in a glitter. Two coats here too.

Next is Physical Evidence, a rusty brick red shimmer with holo glitter. I used two coats on this but I think it would've benefited from a third. My mother absolutely ripped this out of my hands when I showed her the polishes, she is head over heels with it.

This is called Sexual Space, a youthful fuchsia pink with holo glitter. I didn't like this in the bottle but I ended up really enjoying it on the nail. It's very bubblegummy and reminds me of the 90's and Lisa Frank products. Two coats.

Stargazed Stripper is the last in this collection. This is a super metallic silver with holographic glitter. I wasn't sure if the uber metallic would work well with the glitter but it really did. I ended up loving this polish the best out of the bunch. You can't appreciate the insanity of the holo effect on this one, just, wow. Two coats.

I adore how these polishes tie in perfectly with the abstract aesthetic of outer space. Great formulas on all of them. You can get these for $10.95 each on www.bbnailpolish.com.

Products provided for review.