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I have been contemplating writing this post for a while now, and I can't put it off any longer. I have been blogging for a long time, si...

Showing posts with label collaboration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label collaboration. Show all posts

Saturday, October 15, 2016

The Holo Hookup November 2016 Swatches & Review

The Holo Hookup is flying into our hearts again for another collaboration box! The November quartet is inspired by beautiful, colorful birds, themed as "Birds Of A Feather". The box always features unique, exclusive polishes from indie brands Cupcake Polish, DIFFERENT dimension and Glisten & Glow, with a fourth shade from a special guest brand. This month they are joined by Nine Zero Lacquer.
color inspiration

Cupcake Polish Flamingo is a bright orangey pink linear holographic. The first adjective I could think of when I first saw this was juicy! Can lean more orange in different lighting. Excellent formula, two coats for full opacity.
Cupcake Polish Flamingo

Glisten & Glow Purple Grenadier is a medium purple linear holographic with added shimmers and cherry red galaxy glitters. I found this to have a creamier formula than the others, a little thin but not difficult to apply. This is two coats. The red glitters really shine in person, giving this a unique pop.
Glisten & Glow Purple Grenadier

DIFFERENT dimension Pygmy Kingfisher is a stunning gold linear holographic with a chrome red/orange/yellow multichrome effect. You have to see this to believe it, it's breathtaking! A touch thicker than the others, two coats here.
DIFFERENT dimension Pygmy Kingfisher

Nine Zero Lacquer Masked Flowerpiercer is a cerulean blue linear holographic. I've been fortunate to know the Nine Zero brand from their beginnings, they are a great brand. This applied effortlessly and covered in two coats, with slight brushstrokes.
Nine Zero Lacquer Masked Flowerpiercer

The November box pre-order is open from Friday, October 21 9PM EDT through Friday, October 28 9PM EDT on The Holo Hookup website. The cost for the box is $40 plus shipping, domestic and international. I hope you enjoyed seeing these swatches, I really loved the colors this round. What do you think?

❤ Kellie
The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

The Holo Hookup July 2016 Box Swatches & Review

Hi there! Today I have a new edition of The Holo Hookup to show you! July's box is themed for the Great Barrier Reef, so summery. :) In addition to permanent indie brand contributors Cupcake Polish, Different Dimension, and Glisten & Glow, we have Australian indie brand Emily de Molly joining in as the guest this month.
Inspiration images via The Holo Hookup

Cupcake Polish Queen Anthias is a grape bubblegum purple linear holographic with subtle pink shimmers and a slightly metallic finish. I realize that most holographics are "metallic-y" in nature, but this one seemed just a tad more so. This was a bit goopy at first for me, but upon a good shaking, it applied well. This is two coats.
 Cupcake Polish Queen Anthias

Different Dimension P Sherman 42 Wallaby Way Sydney is a cobalt blue linear holographic with gold galaxy glitters. This went on really great, and I got full coverage on one coat. Two coats deepens the color though, as seen here. The glitters are really plentiful, but sink in the bottle. I got a good amount out because I left my bottle upside down for about an hour before I put it on. I love this!
Different Dimension P Sherman 42 Wallaby Way Sydney

Glisten & Glow Great Barrier Reef Plate Corals is a burnt orange linear holographic jelly with added gold shimmers. This was on the thinner side due to the jelly formula, but applied nice and evenly. This is three coats but you may get away with two. I wasn't sure if I would like this on the nail, but I am in love with how the gold makes the base color so fiery!
Glisten & Glow Great Barrier Reef Plate Corals

Emily de Molly Warm Seas Rising is a light teal with bronze to gold multichrome flakies. This applied fabulously, very smooth and opaque in two coats. I love the flakies in this, reminds me of fish swimming in the ocean, which is probably the point haha. ;)
Emily de Molly Warm Seas Rising

This box goes up for pre-sale on June 21st at 9pm EST through June 28th at 9pm EST on The Holo Hookup website. It sells for $40 plus shipping, available domestically and internationally. The ship date would normally be July 12, but they are moving the ship date to July 15 to accommodate the addition of the international guest. What do you think of these gorgeous sea inspired shades?

❤ Kellie
The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Friday, April 15, 2016

The Holo Hookup May 2016 Indie Collaboration Box Swatches & Review

It's time again for The Holo Hookup! The theme for the indie collab box for May is "From The Holo Hookup, With Love"! Joining the permanent contributing brands Different Dimension, Glisten & Glow and Cupcake Polish is special guest brand Painted Polish! Onward to the swatches!

Different Dimension From Cairo, With Love is a beige-nude linear holographic with added glitters and flakies. There is a strong pinky copper flash in there and I'm OBSESSED with it! This just may be my favorite Different Dimension polish! Application is a dream, opaque in two coats. Dries a bit dull so you'll want a top coat.
Different Dimension From Cairo, With Love

Cupcake Polish From Cancun, With Love is a sparkling aqua ultra linear holographic with subtle iridescent flakies. On the first coat this was more sheer than I expected, a little thinner formula than most Cupcake Polish shades I've tried. However, it was completely opaque on the second coat. And that color is seriously island fantasy eleganza! I found the flakies hard to capture but they are definitely in there :)
Cupcake Polish From Cancun, With Love

Glisten & Glow From Tokyo, With Love is a bright red-coral linear holographic with added pink shimmers and holographic microglitters. Perfect representation of the Japanese pagodas, so right on! On the thinner side, but has flawless application. Two coats on this.
 Glisten & Glow From Tokyo, With Love

Painted Polish From London, With Love is a slightly greyed blue linear holographic with added holographic silver galaxy glitter. The consistency of this is a little thicker than the others, but didn't affect application for me. This is two coats. As a side note, I love this brand's bottles! They're very solid and substantial feeling!
 Painted Polish From London, With Love

This edition of the box will be available on The Holo Hookup website on Thursday, April 21st at 9pm EST through Thursday, April 28th at 9pm EST. The cost is $40 plus shipping. Please let me know what you think about this quartet! Have you tried The Holo Hookup yet? Which of these is your favorite? And what destination would you pick to travel to? I'd honestly die to visit any of those destinations but I've been dreaming about going to London forever. Talk to you soon babes!

❤ Kellie
The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Saturday, April 2, 2016

Color4Nails Mother's Day Box 2016 Swatches & Review

Hey cookies! Today I have a new collab box put together from nail polish stockist Color4Nails for Mother's Day! The box contains five exclusive polishes from five different indie brands all inspired by the movie Mamma Mia!

Cupcake Polish Dancing Queen is a deep teal linear holographic with lots of iridescent green flakies. The polish is on the thicker side, but easy to apply. I used two coats for full opacity. It dries a tad dull so you'll want a top coat for shine.
Cupcake Polish Dancing Queen

Frenzy Polish Villa Donna is a sky blue crelly filled with multichrome metallic flakies and silver holo shards. The first coat seems sheer but it builds up nicely on the second coat. The new Frenzy logo is so cute!
Frenzy Polish Villa Donna

Illyrian Polish Feeling Like A Number One is a black jelly with scattered holographic and multicolored/iridescent flake shimmer. The appears that it may be very sheer upon the first coat, but it magically becomes fully opaque with just one more coat. I expected this to be chunky but it's pretty smooth!
Illyrian Polish Feeling Like A Number One

Bear Pawlish Who I Am is a watery aqua linear holographic with blue shimmer. This one also seemed a bit too sheer on the first coat but turned out totally opaque on the second. This is my first Bear Pawlish and I quite enjoyed it!
Bear Pawlish Who I Am

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer The Cake Is A Lye is a white jelly with icy fleck sparkles and subtle holo shimmer. This is my first polish from this brand. I found it went on pretty streaky and was really thick to the point of being almost gummy. I needed three coats to cover the streaks and get full coverage. Not my favorite formula, but it gives a beautiful finished look.
 Octopus Party Nail Lacquer The Cake Is A Lye


This box is available for pre-order now through April 3rd for $65 including shipping to any country Color4Nails ships to. There are a limited number of boxes to be sold so be sure to snatch it up if you want it! The boxes will begin shipping on April 18th. Let me know what you think about this box! Do you like the movie Mamma Mia? I think it's pretty cute, and of course I love the music!

❤ Kellie
The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Friday, March 18, 2016

The Holo Hookup April 2016 Indie Collaboration Box Swatches & Review

Happy freakin' Friday everyone! This week has felt simultaneously short and extremely long for me. It's very odd, but at least it's over! Today I've got the shades from the April box of The Holo Hookup to show you! The Holo Hookup is a monthly pre-order box of four holographic shades from a collaboration of indie brands. Different Dimension, Cupcake Polish and Glisten & Glow are the main indies who put together the box each month, and they always have a great theme and a guest brand join in. This month the theme is Autism Awareness and the guest brand is Bliss Polish. The Holo Hookup is donating $4 from every April box sold to the National Autism Association, making this month extra great!

Cupcake Polish Light Of My Life is a dark pink linear holographic with blue shimmer. This was almost a one-coater because it's a little thick, but the application was a breeze. I used two coats here.
Cupcake Polish Light Of My Life

Different Dimension I ♡ Someone With Autism is a black linear holographic with added blue shimmer and flakies and navy blue holographic microglitters. This one is completely opaque in one coat! I did two here because I always do. Takes a bit longer to dry down, so it might get gummy if you apply a second coat over the first too fast though. But you really can get away with just one if you want!
Different Dimension I ♡ Someone With Autism

Glisten & Glow Accept, Understand, Love is a light springy grass green linear holographic with blue shimmer, and blue and silver galaxy holographic microglitters. Thinner consistency, but I noticed it was a little draggy upon application for me. Two coats for full opacity. I wasn't super in love with this at first glance, but when I saw it on my nails I really fell in love with it.
Glisten & Glow Accept, Understand, Love

Bliss Polish Different Not Less is a slightly dusty, but somehow vibrant, bold blue linear holographic with added blue micro flakes. This is my first ever Bliss Polish and I am pretty pleased with it. It was on the thinner side but easy to apply with no pooling. Opaque in two coats.
Bliss Polish Different Not Less

This box will be up for pre-sale on The Holo Hookup website starting on Monday, March 21st at 9pm EST through Monday, March 28th at 9pm EST. The box is $40 plus shipping, and is available worldwide. They usually ship by the 12th of the following month, so this box will start shipping on 4/12/16. Let me know what you think of the April box! I'm so on board with the theme and love that part of the proceeds will be going to a great cause. Are you thinking about getting this box?

❤ Kellie
The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Friday, January 22, 2016

The Trouble With Valentine's 2016 Collaboration Trio - Cirque Colors, Lacquer Lust and Serum No. 5

Awesome indie brands Serum No. 5, Cirque Colors and Lacquer Lust have gotten together again to collaborate for a trio of polishes in a box with an "anti-Valentine's Day" theme, called The Trouble With Valentine's! This box features three limited edition luxury shades "brimming with anti-Valentine's Day sentiments". I can't stand Valentine's Day so I was stoked to hear about this theme idea!

I wasn't able to get sun swatches on my nails for the post this time, but I did get a rare moment of sun (on a work day haha) to snap this photo of the shades on a nail wheel in the sun so you can see how they look in full light.

The swatches below are taken indoors with artificial light.

Serum No. 5 Single’s Awareness Day is a dusty plum purple with copper holographic sparks and subtle iridescent flake shimmer bits. And bonus, like a lot of Serum No. 5's polish, it glows in the dark (it glows a lovely blue shade, but sadly I couldn't capture it). Opaque in two coats, easy formula to apply. Dries on the matte side and slightly gritty, so a top coat is a must.
Serum No. 5 Single’s Awareness Day

Lacquer Lust Unloved Unicorn features their signature silver holographic microglitter with an added mix of larger red, purple and black glitter in hexes and squares. This is stunning and a polish I can see myself wearing a lot! Fabulous coverage in only two coats. Top coat really brings out the fire in the holo and smooths the glitter.
Lacquer Lust Unloved Unicorn

Cirque Colors Karma Sutra is a sparkling burgundy made with pure-silver coated micro flakes. I'm loving all the metal flakies we've had in the last year from indie brands, so this is already ahead of the pack for me, but that sexy deep color just sends it over the edge! A little thicker but not difficult to apply, basically opaque in one coat, but I did two. Dries slightly dull, so I recommend a top coat here too.
Cirque Colors Karma Sutra

This box will go on sale for $32 on Friday, January 22nd on all three brands' websites - 12 pm EST on www.cirquecolors.com, and 12 pm PST at www.lacquer-lust.com and www.serumno5.com. The box always includes lovely wrapping and an extra treat, this time it's heart shaped lollipops! Be sure to let me know if you're planning on picking this collaboration box up! It's a fun and cheeky theme and the polishes are all excellent. :)

❤ Kellie
The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Thursday, December 24, 2015

Cirque Colors ICON Duos for Nordstrom x OC Pop-In Swatches & Review

Hi everyone! Today I wanted to share with you some new limited edition Cirque Colors lacquers that are available in special duo packs. They are part of the specially curated Pop-In Shop event at Nordstrom celebrating the NYC fashion brand Opening Ceremony. These six shades are inspired by the OC pre-spring color palette, available in gift sets each containing 1 crème and 1 holographic shade.
Image via Cirque Colors

Selvedge is a navy blue crème, deep not so dark that it looks black which I appreciate. The formula is really great, it's almost a one coater but I did use two here.
Cirque Colors Selvedge

Tangerine Dream is paired with Selvedge; it's a medium pumpkin orange, that leans a touch red, holographic. The holo bits in this really pop, it's very vibrant. This applied effortlessly and was also almost a one coater, but it deepened slightly on the second coat.
Cirque Colors Tangerine Dream

El Capitan is an olive green crème. Another amazing formula, really close to being a one coat wonder but again I did two here. A slightly brighter version than other olive shades that I have, so I'm happy to have this in my collection.
Cirque Colors El Capitan

Modern Muse is in the duo with El Capitan, a start contrast in a dusty princess pink-gold linear holographic. This one was kinda thin, but covered well in two coats. The holo is a bit stronger in person than it appears here.
Cirque Colors Modern Muse

Storm King has a crème formula in an icy light blue. This had a great formula for being such a pale color, no streaking and good coverage in two coats. This is a color you could wear all year long and you'd always be in season!
Cirque Colors Storm King

Oporto is Storm King's duo partner, a mahogany burgundy jelly with scattered holographic shimmer and red sparkle bits. This one was a little bit thin, but not difficult to apply at all. Two coats for full opacity.
Cirque Colors Oporto

These duos retail for $22 each, but I noticed on the website that they are on sale for $14.74 per duo, so hurry to grab them at a great price if you want them! They will be available until January 3, 2016 exclusively at Nordstrom.com and the following retail locations.

  • Downtown Seattle
    500 Pine Street 
    Seattle, WA 98101 
    206.628.2111
  • Bellevue Square
    100 Bellevue Square 
    Bellevue, WA 98004 
    425.455.5800
  • Michigan Avenue
    55 East Grand Avenue 
    Chicago, IL 60611 
    312.464.1515
  • San Francisco Centre
    865 Market Street 
    San Francisco, CA 94103 
    415.243.8500
  • Tyson's Corner Center
    8075 Tysons Corner Center 
    McLean, VA 22102 
    703.761.1121
  • NorthPark Center
    8687 North Central Expressway 
    Dallas, TX 75225 
    214.231.3900
About Pop-In@Nordstrom
Curated by Olivia Kim -- Nordstrom's wave-chasing, Prada-wearing, tattoo-collecting Director of Creative Projects -- Pop-In@Nordstrom is an ongoing series of themed pop-up shops showcasing independent designers online at Nordstrom.com and select retail locations.
Let me know what you think of these! Which duo is your favorite? Thanks for stopping by today, and Happy Christmas Eve to those who celebrate!

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Sunday, October 11, 2015

Rescue Beauty Lounge Fan Collection 3.0 Swatches & Review

Hi my darling friends! I'm so happy to share with you the newest Rescue Beauty Lounge collection today! This is the Fan 3.0 collection, the ideas for these seven shades were created by fans! True ReBeLs who won the chance to make their dream color with creator Ji Baek. This is the third collection of it's kind and I'm always so excited to see what the fans come up with!

GalaxSea was dreamed up to look like an amalgamation of the sea and outer space, longed for by fan Danielle. It's a darker lavender with blue glass flecks and crazy shimmer. This reminds me of the original Scrangie polish by RBL, but lighter and with shimmer "on steroids". It was on the thicker side, but went on without problems. I used two coats here.
Rescue Beauty Lounge GalaxSea

Electro Glacier is an icy pale blue with iridescent sparkles that was dreamed up by fan Ashley. It's quite a lovely color and makes me think of a unicorn! I found this to be a little thick and gritty, and I had trouble with it not really self-leveling. I used three coats here.
Rescue Beauty Lounge Electro Glacier

Sanguine started out in fan Lygie's mind as a jelly with suspended shimmer, but morphed into a smooth metallic in a robust cranberry. This had a fabulous formula, opaque in one coat but I did two to smooth it out a little more. This is a perfect shade for the coming winter!
Rescue Beauty Lounge Sanguine

Ethereal is a seashell-like shiny opalescent white with flashes of pink and gold imagined by fan Nancy. This is gorgeous and such a "me" shade, so great job Nancy haha! Pretty good formula for a metallic-y shade, but just a tad streaky although that's kind of a given with such a light shade. I used three coats for full opacity.
Rescue Beauty Lounge Ethereal

Vixen by Sassy Shelly is a shade fan Shelly felt had been missing from the RBL lineup, a rich and decadent magenta with insane shimmer and glass fleck. I am not going to say this color is necessarily unique, but this polish is really beautiful. Thin and very easy to control formula. I used two coats for her.
Rescue Beauty Lounge Vixen by Sassy Shelly

Golden Horn is fan Sara's brainchild, a similar type to RBL Naked Without Polish, but this one has an off-white base with soft shimmer and gold flakes. It was a little streaky at first, but evened itself out well on the second coat. I can't stop thinking about corn flakes in milk when I see this shade, but of course they are beautiful sparkly corn flakes! :)
Rescue Beauty Lounge Golden Horn

Many Splendors is a color envisioned by fan Angela, who wanted a volcanic lava-like shade. This is a black, gold and orange microglitter polish in a murky black/brown base with texture properties. I was thinking it was just regular microglitter until it dried, very quickly, and it turned into a craggy, sandy vision! I only needed two coats, though the second was a little more difficult to put on because it dried so quickly. This is really something.
Rescue Beauty Lounge Many Splendors

I applied top coat to see how it would look without it's natural finish. I needed two coats to cover the texture completely because it's very "thirsty". I really like it both ways!
Rescue Beauty Lounge Many Splendors

The polishes will retail for $20 each on the Rescue Beauty Lounge website; pre-order will start on October 13th and will last for 48 hours. If you haven't yet, sign up for email alerts on their website in order to get the link to the pre-order. The polishes will be available for regular purchase at a later date.

The creator Ji's blog post about the collection with all the inspiration photos is here: Rescue Beauty Blog. Be sure to check out all the RBL bloggers' swatches too:


Tell me what you think of these pretties! If I have to pick a favorite, it's definitely Ethereal :)

❤ Kellie
The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Saturday, June 20, 2015

Summer Fest 2015 Collaboration Trio - Cirque Colors, Serum No. 5 and Lacquer Lust

There is a really cool collaboration box being released today with polishes from Serum No. 5, Cirque Colors and Lacquer Lust for summer inspired by lights, dancing and rave culture. This is a limited edition gift box set and it's perfect for summer. My birthday is today and it feels like a sweet little present to share with you all!
First is Kandi Flip from Cirque Colors, a neon pink coral flamingo holographic. I love this brand as you know, and I am stoked to have this color. I am a pink coral kinda girl and this just rocks! It's so bright and warm and perfect for summer. This is two easy coats.
Cirque Colors Kandi Flip

Next is Untz Untz Untzing Unicorn from Lacquer Lust. This is my first Lacquer Lust polish so I was excited to try it. It's a sparkling silver holographic micro-glitter with neon matte hex glitters in pink, yellow, and orange. I used one coat over Kandi Flip. I love this combination, but I have seen a few other gals use by itself and it can be built up to be opaque in three coats.
Lacquer Lust Untz Untz Untzing Unicorn

The last polish in the trio is PLUR from Serum No. 5, another new brand to me! I have heard great things about them from my blogging friends so I knew this would be good. It's a glow in the dark base with a slight beige color with multicolored matte glitters and flecks. This is described as a topper, but I used it by itself because I guess I can't read, but it worked out ok. This is two coats. I would recommend wearing it over a white though.
Serum No. 5 PLUR

I haven't mastered glow in the dark photos yet, but here's the best I could do. I think it looks pretty dope!
Serum No. 5 PLUR

This set will be available on June 20, 2015 at SerumNo5.com, CirqueColors.com and Lacquer-Lust.com for $32. What do you think of this trio? I really enjoyed them, especially the fun holo! P.S. the box comes packaged with some yummy candy, I opened it before thinking to take a picture, but my friends Emily & Deborah have pics of it on their reviews :)

Cheers to my 29th year on Earth!

❤ Kellie
The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.
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