Shleee Polish Swatches & Review

Happy Halloween! Did/are you doing anything festive for this eerie holiday? I didn't do much but I enjoy this time of year immensly. To get you in the spirit, I have three dark and vampy polishes to show you today from indie brand Shleee Polish. I've know the maker, Ashley, for a while now and I couldn't resist picking up a lacquer that she had teased on Facebook a while ago. She actually included two extra goodies for me in the package, incredibly sweet. Let's take a look!

Purchased by Me | Received as a Gift

My Roanoke Nightmare is the polish I had to purchase, it's named for this season of American Horror Story, a favorite of mine in general, but this season is epic-ly great! This has an opaque black jelly base filled with color shifting shimmer and red microglitter. This is two easy coats.

It looks different depending on the lighting, so I tried to show off the shift in indirect sunlight for you. I'm head over heels for this! This shade is not available in their store right now, but they do have a "2.0" version which is almost exactly the same though.

Black Moon is a black polish with color shifting shimmer, holographic shimmers, and iridescent glitter. It can shift more green or purple, I was only able to capture the purple though. This went on without any difficulty, creamy and with great coverage. This had a bit more of a scent to it than the other two, a little like old Kleancolor polishes, but it wasn't nearly that bad. I used two coats here. This polish is not available in their store right now, unfortunately.

Royal Witch 3.0 is a blackened violet with red/pink/copper shimmer, and red microglitter. This was a surprise favorite for me, totally makes me think "witch" and I love it. Effortless formula, opaque in two coats. This is the third version of Royal Witch, hence the "3.0" in the title, in case you were wondering. I think this is a great way of keeping her popular shades in stock while still using small batches!

Shleee Polish is 5-free and handmixed. Their products are available for sale on their Etsy store and range in price from $7 - $13 per bottle. I purchased My Roanoke Nightmare for $12. They put out new shades every Friday morning, so make sure to check out their Facebook page and Instagram to see swatches & previews of what's coming out each week! What do you think of these pretties? They certainly have put me in a proper Halloween mood! Hope your day is spooky spectacular!

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were either purchased by me or received as a gift.

Cirque Colors Facets Collection Swatches & Review

Hey there! Cirque Colors has a new six piece collection of some crystal and gemstone inspired polishes, the Facets! These are all gorgeous pigmented shades filled with blingy holographic flakes.

Press Sample

Dioptase is a darkened blue-teal jelly crème with holographic flakes. This base is creamy but still technically a jelly I think, which that lends to being more opaque than a straight jelly. Two coats here.

Garnet is an opulent burgundy jelly with holographic flakes. This one seemed a bit uneven in some spots on two coats, so you may opt to use one more. This is super luxe, great for the fall season or holiday!

Paraiba is a vivid cyan-green jelly with holographic flakes. This surprised me, it's so bright and intense! A great formula, I used two coats here.

Smoky Quartz is a deep brown-black jelly with holographic flakes. This one was a nice opaque jelly, two coats. I think we've seen shades like this before, but the touch of brown here makes it a little more unique.

Morganite is a peachy pink jelly with holographic flakes. This was mostly flakes on the first layer, but it builds up to show off that rose gold base in three coats. This was almost blinding it was so sparkly in the sun!

Tanzanite is a brilliant "blurple" jelly crème with holographic flakes. A difficult color to capture 100% accurately but I think I came pretty close. This is another very pigmented, vivid shade that I love.

These shades are all now available on the Cirque Colors website for $13.00 each. I'm head over heels for this finish and the holo flakes! What do you think of these jewel toned lacquers? They also have a new six piece crème collection available now if that finish is more your style!

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Powder Perfect Halloween Duo 2016 Swatches & Review

Inspired by the three witch’s poem from Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the Halloween duo from Australian indie brand Powder Perfect is ready for the season of the witch! These two new shades feature unusual color combinations that totally capture the Halloween spirit. Let's take a look!

Press Sample

Cauldron Bubble has a dark purpley almost-black base filled with multichromatic shimmer that shifts from purple to green and chameleon chrome flakies that flex in tones of copper/fuchsia/green. This was pretty sheer on the first coat, but it built up on itself really nicely. I did use three coats, but it was super close to being opaque in two. Dries a bit dull so you'll want a glossy top coat.

Toil & Trouble has a murky olive green crème base with added pink iridescent flakies and gold holographic microglitter. I found this to be a bit runny so be sure not to overload your brush. I used two coats here for full opacity. A glossy top coat really brought this to life, it is just the type of shade I will be sporting the entire fall season!

The duo is available on the Powder Perfect website and their US site now for $13 AUD/USD each or $24 for the duo. Let me know what you think about these two polishes! Are you ready for October and Halloween? Because I sure am!

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

OPI Fall/Winter 2016 Washington D.C. Collection Swatches & Review

Happy Mani Monday everyone! I'm excited to bring to you the next great collection from OPI, the Washington D.C. collection for Fall/Winter 2016! Actress and fashion icon Kerry Washington has joined the OPI family as a Creative Ambassador recently and co-designed this collection with Cofounder and Creative Director Suzi Weiss-Fischmann. There are 12 regular shades and three limited edition colors, all crèmes save one that has a slight pearl shimmer, in dramatic and sophisticated tones. Let's jump in!

Press Sample

Image via OPI

CIA = Color Is Awesome is a dusky blue teal crème. This applied evenly and was really pigmented. This is two coats. I didn't have any staining with this shade when I wore it as well, which is great.

Freedom of Peach is a soft, warm peachy orange crème. The formula was great and I got full coverage in two coats.

Inside The ISABELLEtway is one of the limited edition "bonus" colors, a caramel malt brown crème. This formula is epicly good, basically a one coater! I used two as usual though.

Kerry Blossom is another limited edition shade, a dark plummy purple crème. Dries darker than it appears in the bottle, but not too dark. This is two coats, but you may need three if you're a stickler for very thin coats.

"Liv" in the Gray is the last limited edition polish, a dark grey crème with a tinge of green. This is an amazing one coat wonder! I used two coats like I always do though.

Madam President is a vivid magenta pinky red crème. Another fabulous formula, not too thick or thin. Almost a one coater, but two layers covered 100%.

Never A Dulles Moment is an interesting yellow crème, kind of sunshiney mustardy. OPI describes it as a "curry yellow". This was a tiny bit streaky on two coats, so I used three. It was better than I expected though for a yellow!

OPI By Popular Vote is a rich magenta berry-ish red crème. This one also had a great formula, opaque in two even coats.

Pale To The Chief is a "nearly nude" light beige with a very soft pearl finish. The first and second coats kinda pulled up the polish if I went over my strokes too much, so I recommend using a good amount of polish on your brush and doing the three stroke method. The third coat evened everything out for full coverage.

Shh...It's Top Secret! is a deep, dark espresso brown crème. This had an ok formula, I think you might need three coats if you do thinner layers than I do, but I used two.

Squeaker of The House is a cool, chocolate mousse brown crème. This almost has a slight purple tinge to it which is neat. This went on smooth and easy, almost a one coater but again I used two.

Stay Off The Lawn!! is a lush rainforest green crème. Excellent pigmentation and formula, a one coater! I used two here.

Suzi - The First Lady of Nails is a gorgeous olive green crème. Another awesome one, two coats. I love that there are two greens in this collection!

We The Female is a dark garnet red crème. I feel like a broken record, but this one is great too! Two easy, pigmented coats.

Yank My Doodle is a warm "tawny copper" crème. Another super great formula, only two coats. Dat name tho!

This collection will be available in August wherever OPI is sold, such as Ulta stores, Sally Beauty Supply, and professional salons. They retail for around $10 each. What do you think of this collection? If you're a crème fan, these are sure to be a dream come true for you! The formulas are seriously almost all amazing, the viscosity is excellent, neither thick or thin, and flowed on the nail like butter. I'm super impressed with this collection, even though the colors might not be groundbreaking in terms of uniqueness, they're all welcome to my stash! **EDIT: If you're looking for swatches of the two Ulta exclusives for this collection, see my review HERE!

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Cupcake Polish Coffin Break Swatch & Review

Hello everyone! I hope your weekend went well! Mine started good but ended a little sour. My poor kitty Asher is not feeling his best right now. We think he could have some chronic kidney problems. We're treating him for an infection right now but this is something he's had multiple times, so I'm hoping we can figure out the root of the problem and finally fix it. I hate when pets are sick, it's so heartbreaking.
**UPDATE: Asher is doing much better, thanks for your well wishes!

Anyways, now that I've bummed you out, I wanted to show you this Cupcake Polish that I bought awhile back. It's black like my soul. Well, actually it's a very dark brown, but in most lighting it sadly looks more black. Coffin Break is a linear holographic polish from their Fall 2015 collection, Modern Vampire. It's got a very pigmented formula, very opaque. This is two coats.

So it's not exactly the deep velvety brown holo I was hoping for, more of an espresso, but it's a great polish even so. I purchased this from the Cupcake Polish website for $13, and it's still available in stock. Let me know what you think of this shade. And if you're so inclined, please send good vibes for Asher to get better soon!

❤ Kellie

GlitterDaze Winter 2015 Winter Night Trio Swatches & Review

Hey there and happy Monday! I have a trio for the Winter 2015 season to show you today from indie brand GlitterDaze. They have six shades to make up their seasonal release, but they can be purchased as gift sets in trios so I'm going to show them to you separately. This trio is called Winter Night.

Press Sample

Cold Nights is a cobalt blue jelly polish packed with holographic micro shimmer, holographic flakies, real silver flakes, iridescent flakies, and color shifting metallic flakes. This is a stunning shade of blue that makes the multicolored flakes pop out like northern lights! The jelly formula builds up nicely. This is two coats but you may need three depending on the opacity you want.

Fiery Embers has a deep, glowey maroon jelly base full of holographic micro shimmer, holographic and silver flakies, as well as iridescent and color shifting flakies. This shade kind of overtakes the colors of the metallic flakes, but in a good way, giving them all a berry wash making the shade look incredibly complex. More opaque than the blue, this is two coats.

Twinkling Lights is a dark charcoal grey jelly filled with multicolored shifting metallic flakes, silver and holographic flakies, and holographic micro shimmer. The flakes in this one seem the smallest and more varied, making it a confetti like mix of glitter in a galaxy night base. Great formula and opaque in two coats.

These are available for purchase now on the GlitterDaze website for $12 each or $32 for all three. I really adore all three, they might be my favorite GlitterDaze shades ever?? Fiery Embers has my heart though, I would definitely recommend that one to everyone! Which is your favorite? Stay tuned for the next trio from GlitterDaze, coming soon!

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Pretty Serious Tux Swatch & Review

Hey there! Today I wanted to show you a returning classic from Pretty Serious Cosmetics. They had a vote on their Facebook page a while ago to see which three retired classic shades should make a comeback and the three winning shades were Tux, Elliott, and Morning Java.

Press Sample

Tux is the shade I was sent for review from the three re-releases. It's a moody blackened teal with shimmer. Ooohhheeee this is a polish with attitude! The shimmer has a slight duochrome to violet at certain angles and it's really beautiful. This is two coats but it was opaque in just one.

Tux and the other returning shades are available now on www.pretty-serious.com for $9.95 AUD each. What do you think of this inky shade? I like throwing on a dark color in the summer to mix it up a bit sometimes :)

❤ 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.

China Glaze Crackle collection

China Glaze is the first US company to come out with different color crackle polish this year and everyone has been excited about their arrival in stores. I for one am not super crazy about this trend, but I have to admit the color combination possibilities are fun and exciting.

I used Black Mesh over Nicole Gold Bigger, because I really love black and gold together. Black Mesh crackles easily and fast, it probably cracks the most out of all the colors. I used different types of application to get different looks here.

Crushed Candy is one of my favorite colors, inspired Tiffany blue turquoise, and I am so glad China Glaze made it into a crackle. I imagine I will be playing with this baby a lot. I put this over Nicole I've Got Bieber Fever, a stunning plum. I went straight with a regular vertical application for this mani.

I thought Lightening Bolt would be my favorite crackle, but it seemed to crackle the least. I think I'll have to fiddle with it more. It is fun though. I'm wearing it here over Cult Nails Quench.

Broken Hearted is a super fun pink crackle. I am happy to own this and can't wait to use it over more great colors for some summery manicures this year. I'm wearing it here over Nicole My Lifesaver.

Cracked Concrete is a beautiful grey, very close to Recycle. I think this is a surprise color to turn into a crackle but I am glad they did. I think a brighter color would make a better combination with it though, haha. I used Nicole I'm a Belieber.

Fault Line is the most beautiful color in the crackle set, it reminds me of Coconut Kiss. It's the only crackle with shimmer. This is also my favorite mani so far that I've done with a crackle. I used a "braid" pattern of application and it makes super cool cracks, very random. I used it over Nicole's "Baby" Blue.

I think that the China Glaze's formula is superior to OPI's shatter polish, specifically Black Mesh. It is thinner and doesn't clump up as much as the shatter polish does, for me at least. However, the crackles seem to smell worse than the shatter. I am interested to see how the shatter polishes are in the new colors for OPI, coming soon.

xoxo,
kelliegonzo


These were provided for review.