KBShimmer Men Are From Mars-ala Swatch & Review

What's going on friends? This will be my last post of the year, can you believe it?! It's been a good one, I've definitely gotten my steam back for blogging and won't be slowing down any time soon. Today I have another take on the Pantone 2015 Color of the Year, Marsala, from one of my favorite indie brands KBShimmer.

Press Sample

This polish is called Men Are From Mars-ala, an earthy red brown wine shade with a linear holographic finish. This applies like butter and is nice and opaque. I used two coats here. I think this is very flattering with my skin tone. I'm starting to come around to this shade, thanks to this awesome polish.

Men Are From Mars-ala will be available Jan 1, 2015 for $8.75 from KBShimmer.com. International shipping available from Harlow and Co. What do you think of this take on the Pantone 2015 Color of the Year? I have to say, I like this polish a lot better than the last Marsala color I showed you ;)

Cheers kids! See ya next year ;)

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Zoya Matte Velvet Collection 2014 Swatches & Review

Greetings guys & gals! Today I have the Zoya Matte Velvet collection to show you. These originally came out in two collections in 2009, but this fall Zoya re-released them all again in one set. Let's take a look shall we?

Press Sample

First is Posh, a gorgeous cool red with very fine shimmer, which is more apparent of course if you put top coat on it. I left it matte to show you it's original finish. These are all pretty easy to apply, they can dry a little fast so take care not to go over the same area too many times or you might pull up the color. This is two coats.

Next is Dovima, a charcoal almost-black with silver shimmer. This one dries a bit more satiny than the others. Two coats.

Here is Savita, a medium purple with copper shimmer bits. This is seriously stunning. Two coats.

And here we have Veruschka, a fabulous evergreen with subtle green and gold shimmer. This was one of my favorite Zoyas before they got re-released and it might even be better now! Two coats.

Here is Harlow, a purpley fuchsia with silver speckled shimmer. This is not my favorite color on me, but it is a gorgeous polish. Two coats.

And last is Loredana, a gunmetal grey with lots of silver shimmer. This is two coats.

I haven't worn my original versions of these colors in a while, but I didn't really notice much of a difference between them. They might be a little easier to apply actually, which is lovely! These are available for a limited time on Zoya's website for $9 each. What do you think of these matte shades? Would you wear them with their original matte finish or put a top coat on to make them shiny?

Talk to you again soon!

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

My Picks from the Dollish Polish Ultimate Fandom Collections Swatches & Review

Hello there! I have some awesome indie polishes to show you today from Dollish Polish. They put out two "fandom" collections earlier this year where each polish is inspired by a popular movie or TV show. Here are my picks from the collections, I bought four of the mini sized bottles.

First is I Am the One Who Knocks, inspired by Breaking Bad. I was obsessed with that show, but I only started watching it when they put all the episodes on Netflix. I must've watched all five seasons in like two weeks! This polish is a light blue crelly with tiny bright blue glitters and small medium blue hex glitters. I used three coats here. You could layer it over a blue for a more opaque look, but I love this squishy look on its own.

Next is Look At the Flowers Lizzie, inspired by The Walking Dead. I actually don't watch this show yet, but I am planning on it one of these days. I mostly needed to get this because of my friend MissHollyBerries, she has talked about this a million times on her YouTube channel. It has a zombified pale olive green crelly base with varying matte glitters in black, green, white, pink, coral and yellow. From photos I've seen of this I expected the base color to be a brighter green, but I still really like it. It's not going to be everyone's favorite, but as you know I love offbeat shades! Two coats here. It was easier to apply than I expected but you might have to place some of the glitters a little.

Here is So Long and Thanks for All the Fish, inspired by the book & movie The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I've never read the book but my siblings were obsessed with it when we were kids. I do like the movie, it's silly and odd and fun. This polish has a soft aqua base with a blue shimmer flash and gallons of matte and shiny glitters of varying sizes and shades of ocean blue and green. I used two coats here. The glitter in this one is very dense so you might have trouble with applying the second coat. Next time I wear it I will probably layer one coat over a base color.

And last is These are Not the Droids You are Looking For, inspired by Star Wars, more specifically C-3PO and R2D2. I wouldn't say I'm a huge Star Wars fan, but I liked the older movies. This polish has a clear base full of gold and silver glitters and flakes accented with blue hex glitters. This one is probably more suited for layering, but this is three coats by itself. In the sun it looks kinda sparse, but it appears to have more coverage in lower light. Next time I wear this I will be layering it though.

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You can purchase Dollish Polish products from their website. These mini size bottles were $5 each and the full sizes sell for $10. I have mixed feelings on mini bottles of polish, on one hand I love that I won't be "wasting" as much as a full bottle because let's face it, I'll never go through a bottle haha, but on the other hand, they can sometimes be challenging to paint with the short brushes and can be difficult to hold for photographs. These were easy to use, as they aren't too terribly small, and I had no trouble holding them for pictures. I would prefer if the square caps came off though, I can't seem to make it work if they are supposed to haha, but I guess you can't have everything!

What do you think of these polishes? There are a lot more polishes in the collections, and I probably will end up purchasing a few more, but I really like the ones I got so far! What fandoms do you go crazy for? Have you ever bought a nail polish just for the name?

Catch ya next time!

❤ Kellie

Girly Bits Giggity Giggity Goo! Swatch & Review

Hi there sunshine! Today I wanted to show you one of my new favorite holographic polishes that I received as a gift from one of my awesome polish blogger friends. It is from indie brand Girly Bits made in Canada.

Received as a Gift

This polish is called Giggity Giggity Goo!, named for a popular catchphrase from the animated tv show Family Guy. I used to watch that show but haven't in a long time. To be honest, the name kinda turned me off to this at first. However, once I put it on I fell in love! It's a gorgeous nude linear holographic polish with an incredibly smooth formula. This is two coats. A polish is more than the name of course, but I'll just call it "Triple G" if someone asks what I'm wearing haha ;)

You can purchase this polish on Girly Bits' website for $12 or from one of their various stockists. What do you think of this holo stunner? Have you ever tried Girly Bits? I have only one other polish from this brand but I'm definitely looking to get more!

See ya soon!

❤ Kellie

The product mentioned was received as a gift.

China Glaze Angel Wings and Glistening Snow Swatches & Review

Happy Sunday Funday everyone! Today I wanted to show off two of my favorite glitter polishes to use for accent nails. Both are from China Glaze's 2012 Holiday Joy collection. Whether you have seen them before or if this is the first you've heard of them, I just had to share! I bought both of these from an online retailer a while ago.

This is Angel Wings, a yellowy gold holographic microglitter. This is a very densely packed glitter polish, you could use it for layering with one thin coat but I prefer to wear it opaque. I used three thin coats for this swatch. This dries gritty so you will need top coat. It's a "thirsty" glitter and absorbs top coat like crazy, so I prefer to layer on a really thick top coat like Gelous or Glitter Food first, then I put on a regular top coat over that to get a very smooth surface. You could leave it gritty, it does look cool that way, but I've noticed that the glitter can kinda flake off leaving little glitter trails everywhere.

Next is perhaps the more popular of the two, Glistening Snow, a stunning silver holographic microglitter. It has the exact same formula as Angel Wings, dries gritty and everything. I think silver goes with a lot more colors than gold, so I tend to use this more often as an accent nail. If you don't know, an accent nail is just one or two nails painted a different color or design than the others. I usually do my thumb and ring fingernails. This is three thin coats.

What do you think of these awesome dense glitters? Did you pick them up when they first came out? They are still available on a lot of online retailers if you want to get them. Do you do accent nails? What are your favorite polishes to use for them?

Happy holidays!

❤ Kellie

Fingerpaints Holiday 2014 Winter Wishes Collection Swatches & Review

Hi there! I wanted to show you a five piece holiday glitter collection from FingerPaints today, called Winter Wishes. These are very similar in composition and vary mostly in color so that's why you see them on one finger instead of a full mani per color. Let's take a look!

Press Sample

On my thumb is Glisten Here, a mix of greyed out pink, blue, green, gold and silver glitters. My pointer finger has Wrapped in Ribbon, a blingy gold. My middle finger is wearing Ho Ho Happy Holidays, a pale blue and silver mix. On my ring finger I have Sugar & Spice, a cheery red. And last, on my pinky is Silver Bells, an icy silver. They all have finely milled microglitter and all except the blue shade have tiny hex glitters.

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All of these swatches show two coats plus top coat. They are nicely dense and could be worn alone or layered. I quite like them, though they're not necessarily unique. These are available in Sally Beauty stores now for around $5-6 each. What do you think of these glitters? Any catch your eye?

Love ya!

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Pretty Serious Cosmetics Holiday 2014 Rooftop Soiree Collection Swatches & Review

Hi everyone! Today I have an awesome holiday polish collection from Pretty Serious Cosmetics to show you! The collection is called Rooftop Soiree and it has six awesome glittery shades that will light up your holiday season. This Australian brand has really impressed me in the past with their products and this is no exception, they are fabulous!

Press Sample

First is my favorite, Red Carpet Treatment. It's a red jelly base filled with multisized red hex glitters, silver and purple/blue iridescent mini hex glitter and bits of holographic glitter. It's freaking amazing. It's very deep and mesmerizing, I could look at this polish all day! It reminds me of Lynnderella Undead Red but without the chunky large glitters. I think I like this one more! Great formula, two coats.

Next is Glitz & Glamour, it has blingy silvery flake glitters and champagne gold flakes in a clear base. This one reminds me a bit of those super metallic glitters that you've seen from a few indie brands lately, but this is more delicate and layerable in my opinion. I used three coats here to show it on its own.

Cocktail Bar is a freaking beautiful teal green jelly with a mix of green and blue glitters. This one was a little chunkier than Red Carpet Treatment, but not difficult to apply. You need this, it's amazing. This is two coats.

Here is Daphne After Dark which has multicolored blingy glitters in an inky charcoal almost-black base. This one is super hot, it is a chic more sophisticated version of those "happy birthday" glitter polishes. This is a little thick, I had to take care on the second coat to layer it evenly; I would recommend waiting for the first layer to dry pretty well before the second coat. I used two coats here and two coats of top coat for a glassy finish.

This one is called Moments Til Midnight. It is a deep but bright blue jelly packed full of golden glitters in varying sizes. I really like the idea of this, but it was thick and a little difficult to apply. The large glitters sink in the bottle, but I didn't have trouble getting them out on my brush. I used two coats here with two layers of top coat.

Last is Invitation Only, an awesomely complex shade. It's a metallic grey with color shifting pink and green particles as well as micro holographic shimmer. I love this and it's SO beautiful! I could see myself wearing this all winter long. It's got a thick but not too thick formula, you could get it opaque in one coat but I used two here. It dries shiny, if you wanted to skip top coat on this one you could.

The collection comes in their decorative boxes of course, and they are all jazzed up for the holidays! I love their artwork, it's always so fun!

This collection is available now on the Pretty Serious Cosmetics website for $9.95 per bottle, or you can buy the whole collection for $53.75, for a 10% discount. They ship internationally from their website and they also have various stockists. What do you think of this collection? Does it tickle your holiday spirit?

See ya later!

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Sparitual Fall in Love Swatch & Review

So by now you must've heard that the Pantone color of the year for 2015 was just announced to be Marsala, an brownish earthy wine red. Salon brand polish Sparitual just came out with a marsala-esque shimmery shade so I wanted to show it off to you today.

Press Sample

Our Fall In Love lacquer was inspired by @PANTONE's gorgeous #ColorOfTheYear, Marsala!

A photo posted by SpaRitual (@sparitualist) on Dec 12, 2014 at 4:11pm PST

Fall in Love is an almost metallic type of shimmer, it's very fall leaves-like. Makes me think of rich sun baked apple cider, red/brown with a sheath of gold. It's a tad thick and I was afraid it might end up brush-strokey but glad to see it smoothed down easily. This is two coats.

You can purchase Sparitual lacquers on their website and in stores like Ulta for $12 per bottle. What do you think of the Pantone color for the upcoming year? I'm not 100% sold on it, but I might warm up to it when fall rolls around.

See ya soon!

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Pure Ice Pure Icicles Swatch & Review + Girl On the Run Top Coat Review

Hey guys! Today I have a fun drugstore polish I bought recently to show you, it's by Pure Ice which is sold in Walmart. This is called Pure Icicles and it's part of their holiday glitter collection for this year. It's mostly silver microglitter with matte white hex and small round glitters in a clear base. This might be seen as primarily a layering polish but I wanted to see it on it's own. This is two coats.

It's really lovely and unique to my collection. I don't think that I would like this if the larger glitter was shiny, but the fact that the glitter is matte changes the whole look and turns into a fab winter scene on my nails! If you usually pass by the Pure Ice displays in your store, stop and take a second look! Plus they are only $1.97! What do you think of this silvery gem? Do you like drugstore polishes?

I also wanted to give a short review on the Pure Ice brand quick dry top coat called Girl On the Run. I had been having some issues with pretty much all of my regular go-to top coats a few months ago, it seemed like nothing was working for me anymore. I was getting shrinkage, bubbles and streaking; I still can't figure out why, maybe it was the weather at the time. I was trying every top coat I could get my hands on to find something that worked. So on a whim I tried Girl On the Run and it is awesome! It is thick but not too thick, dries really fast, doesn't ever cause shrinkage on me, and just works! Also it's so cheap and readily available that I never have to worry about being without it. Seriously...try it!

Thank you for coming by today!

❤ Kellie

Loaded Lacquer Zombie Hayride Swatch & Review

Hi everyone! I wanted to show you a polish that I got not too long ago that I've just gone gaga for, but sadly it's no longer available. Don't hate me for showing you a polish you can't buy anymore! I just had to post it, it's too great!

The polish is Zombie Hayride by indie brand Loaded Lacquer. I bought this during the last restock they did of the polish, I don't think they're going to bring it back again because it was a Halloween shade for this year. It has iridescent blue/green bar glitters, small metallic purple/pink hex glitters and holographic purple microglitter. I layered it over BB Couture Evil Queen, which I showed you here.

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It's AMAZING and I love it. I hope Loaded Lacquer decides to bring this back one day, because no one should be denied this beauty. *EDIT* I just heard from the maker that they are going to restock this a few more times! Keep your eyes peeled! *END EDIT* Even girls who don't like bar glitter have said that they are in love with it! You can purchase other Loaded Lacquers on their website, they are $10 per bottle.

See ya and thanks for reading!

❤ Kellie

SuperChic Lacquer Frozen & Flurrious Collection Swatches & Review

Hi friends! Today I want to show you a brand new collection from indie brand SuperChic Lacquer called Frozen & Flurrious. It has seven awesomely sparkly and fun colors for the holiday season. I am excited to show you these, I hope you like them! I still don't have my hand pose down perfectly for their uniquely shaped bottle, but I did my best :)

Press Sample

First is Royal Pain in the Ice. SuperChic Lacquer describes it as "a deep lush royal blue base with a vibrant contrasting green shimmer-chrome flash and strong multi-faceted holographic effects." It's a fabulous winter shade and I love the green shimmer. This, along with most of the shades in the collection, is a bit sheer on the first coat but builds up nicely in three.

Next is Chillin' With My Sister, "a stark lush neon pink base with contrasting blue shimmer-chrome flash, loaded with icy multi-faceted holographic effects". This is a total 80s bright pink, it kinda reminds me of Lisa Frank, which I love! The glitter in this is more apparent in real life, the picture kinda flattens it out. This one is more opaque than the others, I used two coats here.

Here is Stoked & Cloaked for the Bifrost, "a lush vibrant raspberry-purple base with contrasting cool blue chrome, copper shimmer and packed with multi-faceted holographic effects". This makes me think of candy, it's so juicy looking. I tend to favor red toned purples so this is a win for me. Three thin coats.

My favorite of the collection is Cold Hands Warm Hugs, "a lush blue-turquoise base with strong fiery violet shimmer-chrome and icy multi-faceted holographic effects". This is a real surprise to me, I didn't expect to fall in love with it like I have. The addition of the pink shimmer along with the gold & turquoise just makes the shade pop! This one was a bit more on the opaque side, but I still used three coats here.

Mmm, Chocolate Snocaps is also definitely unique, it's "a semi sweet dark chocolate base with a flash of cool blue shimmer-chrome and chocked full of icy multi-faceted holographic effects". I've never seen anything quite like this and I really love it. Blue and brown compliment each other really well and the large glitter bits look like sugar! Three thin coats.

This one is called Liquid Nitro Queen and it's described as "a cool wintry lavender base with a strong contrasting flash of green shimmer-chrome, packed full of icy multi-faceted holographic effects". This went on a lot more pale than I expected looking at it in the bottle, but it's not really very sheer, just about the same as the rest of the colors. Very pretty and icy and makes me think of crisp winter air during a light snowfall. Three thin coats.

And last is Ice Rageous, a "vibrant retro 'Santa Red' base with subtle copper shimmer, and loaded with icy multi-faceted scattered holographic effects". This made me think of chili peppers when I was putting it on, it's got that fiery quality. This is so juicy and blingy, I love it! I used two coats on this one.

I wanted to mention that even with the large amount of glitter in these shades, they all are relatively smooth. Especially the red and pink. They also dried semi-satiny, so you'll want to use a top coat for maximum shine. I wouldn't say these particularly seemed like they'd suite me when I first saw them, but I really enjoyed all of them once they were on my nails.

This collection will be available starting today at 4:00 pm PST on SuperChic Lacquer's Etsy store for $10 each. What do you think of this bright and wintery collection? Are there any that you definitely need to get?

Thanks for coming by today!

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Picture Polish Pshiiit Swatch & Review

Happy Sunday! I recently got this polish from a friend's blog sale and I couldn't wait to wear it! Picture Polish Pshiiit made in collaboration with Pshiiit Boutique is stunning and I've wanted it since it came out a few years ago, but never bit the bullet to buy it until now.

It's a lush tealy blue green metallic that kinda color flips in different lights, with some gold shimmer and flakies! It's glimmery but soft and it's just amazing. The sunlight photo shows off its' metallic luster while the shade photo shows the color shift and the cutie flakes. It's kinda thin but very easy to use. I used three coats here.

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I felt like a sea goddess with this on my nails, I really love it! You can buy Picture Polish on their website or from their many stockists. What do you think of this shade? Would you rock mermaid tips?

Have a great week dolls!

❤ Kellie

Zoya Holiday 2014 Wishes Collection Swatches & Review

What's this? Another Zoya collection? Oh yes you heard right my friends! This is the Holiday 2014 collection from Zoya called Wishes. It includes three standard polish shades and three magical pixie dust polishes. Let's take a look shall we?

Press Sample

First is Haven, my favorite from the collection. It's an incredible red toned plummy purple shimmer bordering on metallic. Zoya calls this finish "liquid metal". That glowy brilliance in the full sunlight is almost fuchsia, and I love this. Two coats, a little thick but manageable.

Next is the first of the magical pixie dusts, called Thea. I have to say that I don't care for these three magical pixies. They all have a jelly base color and don't really dry down to that signature textured sugary pixie dust finish, like two of the ultra pixie dusts I reviewed recently. I know a lot of people probably don't mind, it's just not my cup of tea. Anyway, this is a medium to deepish purple amethyst with holographic glitters in varying sizes. Three thin coats, pretty decent formula for a chunky glitter jelly. This is how it looks when it dries without a top coat. Kinda gummy.

Now this is Prim, a polish I was prepared to dislike but I ended up loving. It's really the sleeper hit of the collection. This is a cornflowery powder blue metallic that is bordering on being a frost. The brushstrokes don't really show as much as I thought they would and I just love how it looks. Gorgeous color and it's opaque in one coat! I used two here because I wanted to smooth my application.

Nori is next, another one of the magical pixie dusts. I was hoping to love this but sadly I think it's all wrong for me. Forget about me not liking the finish for a minute, but this tone of blue doesn't look good with my skin tone at all. An upside though, the formula was quite easy to work with! I used two coats here.

Here is Willa, a black jelly crème hybrid. Too glossy and juicy to be a straight crème, too opaque to be a jelly. This is very shiny, kinda thin, but opaque in two coats. Am I the only one who didn't realize Zoya didn't have a straight black in their massive arsenal yet?

And last is Imogen, which is one of my favorite names ever. Again it doesn't dry matte and sugary, but it does end up with a little more texture than the other two pixies in this collection. Unfortunately it is another "no" in my opinion though. I think there might actually be too much glitter in here for me! This was more difficult to apply than the other glitters in the collection but not impossible by any means. Two coats.

So there you have it, the Wishes collection was basically a 50/50 win/lose situation for me, but hey no one loves everything! These can be purchased on the Zoya website, the regular polishes are $9 each and the magical pixies are $10 each. What do you think of this collection? Do these colors say "holiday" to you? How do you feel about the texture (or lack thereof) of the glitters?

That's all for me for today! See ya :)

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

BB Couture Winter 2014 Once Upon A Time Collection Swatches & Review

Good day to you my friend! I am happy to be showing you a new collection from BB Couture today! They have been one of my favorite brands of polish since I started blogging and I always get super excited to see what they come out with. This collection is called Once Upon A Time, it's a follow up to their Fairy Tale collection that came out in Fall 2007. These are great colors for winter, so enjoy!

Press Sample

First is Evil Queen, a deep but glowy aubergine purple shimmer. The little shimmer looks mostly silver and purple, but you can also see some red and blue. This is a great staple color and a must for purple lovers. A little thick but not hard to paint with. This is two coats.

Next is Happy Endings, a pinky red jelly with an absolute truckload of red and holographic glitter. This is a shade I wouldn't have picked off the shelf but I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. The glitter is pretty fine so you get a smooth finish, which is nice. Two coats here.

Next is a shade I would definitely know is a BB Couture even if was in a plain bottle because it's totally their style. Enchanted Forest is a smoky blue shimmer with slight green leanings with lots of green glitter bits. There are also purple microshimmers, giving the polish a deep complex effect. This glitter is a little chunkier and it's exaggerated by the shimmer base, but I like this a lot. A little sheer so I used three coats.

Fairy Godmother is a perfect name for this next polish. It's a greyed out slightly smoky lavender metallic/frost with a trillion or more holographic glitter bits in it, making it super extra blingtastic. It's not really my type of shade, but I know that a lot of polish lovers out there will adore it. Easy to work with formula, two coats.

Next is Dark Curse, a deep indigo shimmer with purple microshimmer bits. This color really brings "fairy tale" to my mind, not sure why haha. This actually looks more purple in the bottle but on your nails it looks more blue, another type of blurple I guess! Amazing formula, this is a one coater!

And last is Glass Slipper, a pale icy blue metallic/frost with holographic glitter. This isn't as glitter heavy as Fairy Godmother, but they have similar formulas. Again, not necessarily my type of polish but it's fun. It makes me think of the movie Frozen :) I used two coats for this.

You can purchase BB Couture nail polishes on their website www.bbnailpolish.com for $10.95 each. And for a special treat, this collection will be released in the larger 18 mL/0.6 oz bottles! What do you think of this winter collection? Do any of the shades make you think of fairy tales?

Thanks very much for coming by today!

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.