The Hungry Asian Holiday 2013 Collection Swatches & Review

Hi everyone! I have some awesome new polishes from my friend Kae, aka The Hungry Asian. She's been making polish for a few years and I've shown you some in the past. She's just put out seven new shades for the 2013 Holiday season and it is my great joy to show them off to you!

Press Sample

First is Snow Sprinkles, a white jelly creme with teal, blue, red & pink glitters and baby pink stars. I love the combo of the glitters in this, it is holiday but also Americana! I love the stars in this, but you can just barely see the one on my middle finger, it's a little hidden. This is three coats. You could layer one or two over a white creme for a more opaque look, but I think the appeal of these is to see the layers of glitter, the depth, haha.

Next is Frigid Digits, which you might've seen a peek of last week if you follow me on Instagram. This is an icy teal glitter in all sizes with some white glitters in bars, squares, hexes, and dots in a clear base. The white glitters really make the blue pop huh! I layered two heavy coats over Zoya Natty.

Here is Evergreen, a squishy creme that shines like crazy. It's a dark olive green with tons of green microglitter and some subtle blue and gold multicolored pigment bits. I absolutely LOVE this polish. It's deep and not in your face Christmasy but nicely fits with the season I think. This is two coats.

This one is called Sleigh Bells Bling (such a cute name). It's a green and red glitter mix of all shapes and sizes with a gorgeous gold shimmer in a clear base. Another hit for me! This reminds me of a bag of ribbons and bows all mixed up and glowing from holiday lights or something. I used two coats over Evergreen.

Happy Blue Year is so excellent, just so fun and pretty. It's a dark blue jelly with red, purple, and silver glitters and larger silver holo hexes. I found it really easy to apply and spread the glitter on this one, which I wasn't expecting. This is three coats.

Next is Secrets, a scattered holographic dusty purple with tiny red sparkles. My camera kept wanting to make this more blue toned, so I had to correct it. I think it's pretty close to the true color. This one is really pretty and glows just right in the sun. Two coats here.

And last is Who Needs Diamonds?, a seriously blingy gold hex glitter and shimmer polish. Kae said she meant this to be a one coat layering polish but I used two here for more impact over a black creme. I love how reflective the glitters are, you need to see this baby in action! Also, the glitters lay flat, no curling. I freaking live for gold so this is right up my alley.

You can get these from The Hungry Asian Etsy store for $9.25 for a full size bottle and $4.50 for a mini (heart shaped!) bottle. They are having a Black Friday sale on 11/29 starting at midnight for 20% with a minimum purchase of $25 or more, code is THA20. What do you think of these fabulous holiday polishes?

Product samples were provided for consideration.

Estee Lauder - Surreal Violet

Today's polish is from Estee Lauder's Blue Dahlia collection from Fall 2010, Surreal Violet. I fell hard for this polish when I saw swatches of it but didn't bite the bullet when it was still in stores. I was soon out of luck, darn those limited edition lacquers! I finally found it on a blog sale a while ago so I snatched it up right quick, *phew*!

Surreal Violet is a warm dusty mauvey lavender. It didn't really look all that purple on me, more rosy. There is a gorgeous copper bronze shimmer in it that makes it shift slightly in different lights. It appeared as almost a nude against my skin tone in most lights. The sun makes this glow so warm, like a cozy sweater. This is three coats and top coat. I could've gotten away with two though I think.

Sadly this color is long since discontinued, but you never know, you might find it on Ebay or a blog sale like I did! It was $18 when it was on sale from Estee Lauder...a tad expensivo for only 0.3 oz, but a gorgeous color nonetheless. Do you have any discontinued polishes that you're constantly on the look out for to purchase? I still have a long list of "lemmings" to get through, though it's so satisfying to finally capture one after a long search!

My Picks from the China Glaze Fall 2013 Autumn Nights Collection

I have been liking a lot of the fall shades this year, but don't necessarily seem to need all of them like I usually feel I do. China Glaze's Autumn Nights collection for fall is full of jewels tones and shimmers. Unfortunately, I feel like I have seen a lot of the colors before and I wasn't particularly interested in the some of them because I know others have had streaky issues with them, but there are some gorgeous foils in the collection that I had to have.

Purchased by Me

This is Goldie But Goodie, a coppery gold flecky foil. So beautiful! I am obsessed with golds and this one is right at home in my collection. The flecks meld together into a beautiful sheet of foil, one of my favorite types of polish. This was easy to apply, as are all three that I have to show you here. I used two coats.

Next is Gossip Over Gimlets, a gorgeous silver foil with coppery gold flecks. This is luxe and bling. I find it very comparable to, if not a dupe for, Wet n' Wild Fergie Going Wild and a England's Excalibur (new edition). But since I do not own either, I'm ok with that. The contrast of the silver and gold in this is really beautiful. I'm in love with this. Two coats.

And last of my picks from the collection is Strike Up a Cosmo. I expected this to be a rose gold sort of color, but it's really more of a mauvey pink foil with coppery gold flecks. I am disappointed in this because rose gold is probably my favorite color every and purple really isn't. However, to be fair it is a lovely polish, just not what I hoped it would be. Also two coats.

These all had a great formula, were easy to make opaque and are perfect for not only fall but also winter holidays. The glittery rather than straight foil blend of these lacquers makes it hard to get off your skin cleanly, so polish with care.

I might still get one or two more colors from the Autumn Nights collection, because I'm a polish junkie, but these are definitely the ones that stood out the most to me. You can get China Glaze lacquers at your local Sally Beauty Supply stores and online. What do you think about these wonderful foils?

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HARE polish - Dancing Bird of Paradise

Hi everyone! I am happy to show you a beautiful polish from one of my favorite indie brands, HARE polish. It's from their late summer 2013 collection The Tropics are Calling. It's called Dancing Bird of Paradise. I was bowled over by the swatches my friend Valesha from PeachyPolish.com did of this lacquer and I purchased it immediately after seeing them.

The polish has a bright juicy cherry pinky red jelly base with a blend of various shapes/sizes of neon pink, satin white, gold glitter, and flaky gold shimmer. Wooo it is so hot and fun! I am addicted to bright jellies and the glitter mix in this one just blows it out of the water for me. I used two coats and it turned out pretty opaque for a jelly. The glitter was easy to spread on the nail and it didn't clump up like heavy glitters often do.

Purchased by Me

I have three other polishes from the Tropics collection that I haven't tried yet but I am excited to try. I can't say there is one polish HARE has created that I haven't wanted! You can buy HARE polish for about $10 each from their Etsy store, or from their stockists Llarowe and Femme Fatale Cosmetics. Also, be sure to follow their blog for news about upcoming collections and restocks. What do you think of this beauty?

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