Takko Lacquer Fall 2016 Collection [Partial] Swatches & Review

Hello dear friend of mine! How was/has been your holiday season this year so far? I literally cannot fathom how this is the last week of the year, it's so nutty to me. But out with the old, in with new I guess! Today I have some shimmers and glitters from indie brand Takko Lacquer's Fall 2016 collection to show you. I got these a bit late so pardon my tardiness, however there are a few restocks coming up if you're itching to get some. Let's take a look!

Press Sample

Winter Succulents is a cool, dusty sage green crème filled with gold micro flecks and actual silver dust. This leaves me breathless, so gorgeous and dainty and perfect for any time of year. Great, easy to apply formula, very opaque. I used two coats here.

Boyfriend Jeans is just like a deep dark pair of denim blue jeans, complimented with coppery red iridescent shimmer. Stunning and striking! This is two coats. Dries dull so you'll want a shiny top coat.

Stoned was created to look like crushed marble quartz, it has a very light beige-grey base filled with black and gold micro flakies and a ton of golden shimmer flecks. This is another excellent polish, goes on like a dream and I got full coverage in two coats. The finish is dull and just the teensiest bit gritty upon dry down, but a top coat gives it a jolt of shine and smoothness.

Queen Of Hearts is a cherry red jelly filled with a generous helping of different sizes of translucent gold flakies. Surprisingly not difficult, sometimes jellies like this filled with chunky accents can be, well...chunky, but this was just fine. A touch thick maybe, but very easy to handle. I used two coats. This looks darker indoors, but the sun kinda shines through the jelly to give it an inner glow.

Starships is a greyed silver duochrome polish that flips to bright green and then to warm brownish copper, filled with holographic flakes to give a galaxy-esque look. Another great formula, went on effortlessly and opaque in two coats.

I had to give you a shade photo too, to show the duochrome better. I really love this!

Mariposa is a hearty pumpkin orange filled with golden shimmer and gold and pink glimmering flecks. This totally reminds me of Rescue Beauty Lounge NailsandNoms, only that one has blue shimmer and is a slightly more vibrant orange. Really nice formula, glides on the nail with ease. Very good coverage, you could almost get away with one coat, but I used two.

Narwhals is an icy periwinkle blue crème filled with tiny silver micro flakies. This was super buttery and crazy opaque! A one coater, but I did two like usual. The name of this makes me happy, so cute!

Merbunny is a sweet porcelain baby pink jelly filled with iridescent green and gold flakies. This can be built up on it's own or layered over darker colors for a different look. This one was on the thicker side but sheer. It was a touch streaky on two coats and my nail line was still visible, so I did three. I adore the look of the finished color, very princess-like.

You can purchase their products on the Takko Lacquer website; these are sold out now but will be restocked sometime in January. They range in price from $12-13 each. They will also be restocked at Color4Nails in January, no exact date yet. Let me know what you think of these shades! My favorite has to be Winter Succulents, but I really enjoyed them all! This may be my favorite group of Takkos I've tried from them yet!

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Nine Zero Lacquer Holiday 2016 Collection Swatches & Review

I'm back again today with another holiday collection for you, this time from indie brand Nine Zero Lacquer! In case you don't know, this brand was created a little over a year ago by Jessface90, a long time YouTuber. She makes videos about, you guessed it, nail polish! I love that her brand is so creative and has excellent formulas, because this gal really knows her stuff when it comes to the polish game. Let's take a look at what she has cooked up for the 2016 holiday season!

Press Sample

Sugar Cookie is a white crelly with red and green metallic shredded glitter and gold holographic glitter. This is super densely packed with those glitter pieces, but that doesn't make it difficult to apply which is nice. I got great coverage in just two coats. Some of the flakie bits can stick up a bit so you'll want a thick top coat.

Pink Christmas is a full coverage pink microflake polish with a gold flash and added holographic effect. I didn't realize this was made up of the microflakes at first, I thought it might just be a metallic shimmery holo, but they're there all right! Excellent formula, opaque in two coats. Super shiny!

Balsam is a light pine green holographic with tiny gold flakes. Gorgeous green polish, and I can always use more of those! Nice strong holo flame too. This is two effortless coats.

Golden Lights has a gold holographic base filled with semi-transparent rainbow glitter hexes. This is a gold version of Twinkle Lights from their 2015 holiday collection. (Which is also still available on their website, fyi!) I used three coats here. You could also layer it over an opaque base color for a different look.

Frost has a vibrant teal jelly base filled with silver holographic microflakes. Lovely shade, and we all know I am head over heels with holo flakes these days! Great formula, a tad sheer but builds up in three coats. Dries a bit dull so I suggest a shiny top coat.

Midnight has a deep purple jelly base full to the brim with silver holographic microglitter. This one was just a tad runny, so make sure not to overload your brush. I used two thick coats but you could also do three thinner layers. Another one that has a glitter texture so you'll want a thick top coat for a smooth finish.

Stuffed (crelly) is a reboot of Stuffed from the 2015 Thanksgiving collection. Not part of the Holiday collection, but I had to show it off. It has an off white crelly base filled with gold holographic microglitter, and red, orange, garnet, copper, and brown glitters. Packed with glitter and a touch thick, but pretty easy to apply. Two coats here. I recommend a thick top coat for this one because it dries a little textured from the glitter.

This collection along with Stuffed is available now on the Nine Zero Lacquer website. They are $9-$11 each. All six shades from the Holiday collection can be purchased together for $58. There are also a few polishes available from last year's holiday collection up for sale too. I'm a huge Nine Zero fan and I can't say enough good things about them, but this collection kinda knocked my socks off! Let me know what you think about these!

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Illyrian Polish Fall 2016 Stranger Things Collection Swatches & Review

I'm back today with a great collection for Fall from indie brand Illyrian Polish inspired by Stranger Things. So...have you seen Stranger Things?? It's a Netflix produced show, a sleeper hit and I'm totally in love with it. It's a must see if you like creepy thriller dramas. It's set in the early 80's and has some excellent child actors, and it's easy to binge watch. I've already seen season 1 twice and am eagerly anticipating season 2. This collection has five polishes that totally embody the show's aesthetic. I purchased two of them, and then was asked to review the full collection which I am excited to be able to show you today.

Press Sample | Purchased by Me

Image by Illyrian Polish

Eleven is a purple-y berry jelly with red to green color-shifting iridescent glitter and a scattering of holographic pigment. This is a little thick but not difficult to apply. I used three coats here but you could get away with two for a more translucent look, or layer it over an opaque base color. This didn't dry as gritty as I was anticipating, I only needed one layer of a thick top coat for a smooth finish. See those shifty glitters on the side of the bottle?? Yeah, so dope.

Mouth Breather is a dark teal blue with violet shimmer. This seemed a bit thick to me at first too, but it applied fine, no problems. This dries down dull, so you'll want a glossy top coat for shine.

I'm The Monster has a murky green base with purple/pink micro shimmer flecks. Another formula I found to be a little thick and dries kinda flat, similar to Mouth Breather, but this was not as opaque, presumably to allow the shimmer to take center stage. I used three coats here. Swampy perfection!

The Upside Down is a glitter bomb with a greyed purple tinted sheer base with lavender & silver holographic glitter and copper-to-green shifting iridescent glitter. This is amazing, it applied almost like a regular polish and covered completely in two coats. Not what I was expecting by such a dazzling, dense glitter polish! And again, this doesn't dry super textured so I only needed one layer of a thick top coat. Impressive!

Demogorgon is a blackened indigo blue with orange/yellow shimmer and small iridescent purple flakes. This too was viscous, which I'm starting to think is the norm for this brand, but I'm not complaining because they applied really nicely for me. This is two coats.

This collection will be restocked on the Illyrian Polish website on Friday November 11th at 6pm CST (along with some other shades that I will be showing you soon). I purchased Eleven and Demogorgon for $10.75 each and the other shades were sent to me for review. You can see more photos on their Facebook page and Instagram. Let me know what you think of these shades! Are you a Stranger Things fan??

❤ Kellie

Some of the products mentioned were provided for an honest review, some were purchased by me.

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.

Pahlish Fall Picks Swatches & Review

Hi friends, today I have two polishes from the newish-to-me indie brand Pahlish to show you. This is only the second time I've reviewed this brand on my blog, but I have a few lacquers from them in my collection. I've come to admire a lot from them lately, their stuff has been really catching my eye. I had to purchase some from their fall collections!

Pumpkin Patch is from one of their most recent collections, Ode to Fall. It's a warm espresso brown jelly with a mix of orange iridescent glitters and a scattered holographic finish. This was a bit sheer because of the jelly finish so I built it up in three coats. I love the deep look of the glitter suspended in the base. The scattered holo seems a bit flat in the photo, but it really pops in person.

Yellow Brick Road is from their early fall collection Out of Oz. It is a vibrant, sunshine yellow filled with metallic silver flakes with a strong scattered holographic finish. This applied easily, the blingy flakes lay nice and smooth. I used three coats but you might be able to get away with two.

You can find their products on the Pahlish website. Pumpkin Patch is available for $10, but unfortunately Yellow Brick Road is not in stock right now. I purchased it a while ago on clearance for $5. Have you tried this brand yet? I'm definitely going to be paying more attention to them now, I have fallen hard!

❤ Kellie

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.

ALIQUID Lacquer Adopt a Shelter Dog Charity Polish 2016 Swatch & Review

It's October again! Indie brand ALIQUID Lacquer is celebrating Adopt a Shelter Dog Month with creating another limited edition polish to support the ASPCA. Their previous efforts have raised almost $700 over the past two years! This year they are teaming up with TwinkledT to also release some cute vinyls for doggie themed nail art.

Press Sample

Dog Ate My Homework is a berry-tinted jelly with holographic and iridescent microglitter, gold flakies and blue glass flecks. Since it is a jelly it is pretty sheer, but that allows the gorgeous glitz inside to pop and layer to give a complex look. You could build this up on it's own or layer it on top of an opaque base color for a different look. I used three coats here.

The included TwinkledT vinyl sheet comes with 24 decals and 24 stencils in lots of cute designs. These worked really nicely for me, and being a beginner, I think I did pretty well with them! I used my go-to opaque white crème to fill in the heart-paw and dog stencils. I also put on a coat of matte transforming top coat to give the polish another look.

About the cause: About 3.9 million dogs enter U.S. shelters every year, and 1.2 million dogs are euthanized (800,000 of them pit bulls and pit bull mixes like our dog Trudy). Adopt a Shelter Dog Month seeks to call attention to the plight of these animals and to encourage people to adopt dogs rather than going to a breeder. No matter your preferences, you're bound to find a rescue dog that fits perfectly into your home! Click here to read all about pet adoption!

The vision of the ASPCA is "a humane community in which all animals are treated with respect and kindness." Donations to the ASPCA support a variety of causes, including:
•Grants to shelters nationwide
•Spay/neuter and microchipping programs
•Adoption, fostering and relocation programs
•Investigation and seizure of abused animals
•Lobbying for anti-cruelty legislation

This polish will only be available in the month of October from ALIQUID Lacquer's website. You can purchase it for $13 and $6 of that will go to the ASPCA! Since I received this polish for review, I have donated the $6 that would've been given to the ASPCA had I purchased this.

If you are a dog lover, cat enthusiast, or just want to support a great charity for animals, please consider donating or purchasing this awesome polish!

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Glam Polish Halloween 2016 Trio Swatches & Review

I am back with my second same-brand-two-days-in-a-row post this month, haha. More Glam Polish! I have their stunning Halloween trio for this year to show you today. Do you remember last year's trio? Needless to say, I was super excited to see what they would come out with this year. Let's take a peek shall we?

Press Sample

Frankenslime 2016 is a neon green jelly filled with ultra holo glitter, multiple sizes of neon green, metallic purple glitter and a hint of holo. This is ultra neon, super eye searing! This is a little chunky due to how much glitter is in it, but with a great Glam Polish formula! Great coverage at two coats.

Be Careful What You Witch For… has a purple tinted holographic base packed with multiple sizes of silver holo, blue, sapphire, purple, lavender, magenta and pink glitter. Fabulous glitter payoff and lovely to apply. Two coats!

Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun is a light chartreuse holographic jelly with ultra holo glitter, multiple sizes of silver and blue holo glitter and plenty of glass flecks. A tiny bit thicker but not difficult to handle. This is also two coats.

This trio is releasing the same time as the Horror Shop shades I showed you yesterday, this Friday, September 30 at 1pm EST (USA) on the Glam Polish website. Individually they are $11.50 each and as a set they are $32. What do you think of these glittery lacquers?

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Different Dimension Halloween 2016 Poe. Collection Swatch & Review

Hey there folks! I have an awesome quartet of polishes from indie brand Different Dimension to show you today. It's the Poe. collection, inspired by the gothic literary stylings of Edgar Allan Poe, someone who I've been a fan of since I was a wee lass.

Press Sample

Once Upon a Midnight Dreary is a black jelly polish with hex glitters in orange, blue, purple, and green. I love the formula of these type of polishes from Different Dimension, they all apply easily, not too thin or thick. This is three coats. Perfect shade for the Halloween season!

...Dream Within a Dream is a full coverage Halloween glitterbomb! Holographic silver microglitter with added tones of orange and black glitter in various shades and sizes. This is loaded UP with glitter, a little chunky but surprisingly easy to handle. I used three coats here to make it opaque, but you could also layer this one over a silver, orange, or black for an equally cool look. May require extra layer of top coat for a smooth finish.

Nevermore is a charcoal black linear holographic with added orange shimmers and orange microglitter bits. This was incredible, easy to apply and super opaque. The microglitter pieces can poke through a bit so I used two layers of top coat on this one. I've worn this twice since I got it!

And All I Loved, I Loved Alone is an orange jelly with holographic flakes. Love this type of formula, even, opaque and sparkly finish in a jelly! Such a great pumpkin-y shade for the season!

New cuticle oil scents coming soon too! They will come in both pen (2.7 mL) and dropper (15mL) sizes, as well as new sample sizes, which are great for testing scent/fragrance sensitivities. This is the first time I've tried Different Dimension's cuticle oil and I am really pleased with them! I'm totally diggin the long lasting moisturizing qualities and scents.

Image via Different Dimension website

New cuticle oil scents are: Explore - Fresh pumpkin blended with orange peel, sweet carrot, ground cinnamon, clove bud, nutmeg and vanilla cream; Discover - A fresh and feminine fruity blend of mango and strawberries with grapefruit, freesia and amber and tonka bean; Journey - Notes of pink amber and vanilla wrap around blushed orchid and jasmine petals; and Drift - Ripe black raspberries are mixed with dark plum and warm vanilla.

The polishes and oils will be available on Friday 9/23 at 9pm EST on the Different Dimension website. Polishes will be priced at $12 each, except for Once Upon a Midnight Dreary which is specially priced at $5. There will be special discount pricing on the full collection for the first 24 hours of release, so mark your calendar! Let me know what you think of these new shades! I've got more Different Dimension for you very soon so keep your eyes peeled for them!

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Pretty Serious Cosmetics Serious Business Collection + Pantone Duo Swatches & Review

In case you didn't know, Pretty Serious Cosmetics, an indie nail polish brand based in Australia, was created by a nail polish blogger! Kaz has been on the scene since I can remember, she's an OG! Her latest collection is about nail polish blogging, using the name Serious Business because as we all know, we take this gig seriously! ;) The shade names are all terms from the life of nail blogger/polish enthusiast, so clever!

Press Sample

Free Sample is a baby pink crelly filled with glass fleck shimmer that reflects pink, green and blue. Nice formula, easy to polish with. Still slightly streaky on two coats, so I used three. Dries a bit dull so use a top coat for shine.

HTF is a brown/black jelly filled with gold microshimmer and opalescent flakies that flash orange/yellow/green/blue. Sheer-ish but that's to be expected with a jelly formula, good formula. This is three coats. Dries surprisingly shiny.

Destash is a hot fuchsia pink crelly filled with glowy blue shimmer. The formula is a little thin but it was incredibly opaque, a one coater! I used two here.

Epic Haul is a muted deep kelly green jelly filled with glass fleck shimmer that reflects pink, green and blue. Really great formula, glides on easily and full coverage in two coats.

Dupe is a glitter bomb, opaque dark teal blue base with hex glitters in purple, blue, and gold. This was pretty thick unfortunately and due to the extreme amount of glitter, I wrote in my notes that it was "chunkarific". I used a dabbing motion on my second coat to even out the glitter and kind of smooth it out. You'll probably want two coats of thick top coat as it does dry a little textured with all the glitter.

No-Buy is a warm holly berry red filled with gold shimmer micro flakes. Another fab formula, buttery smooth. Two coats!

These next two shades are not part of the Serious Business collection, but are new colors based on the Pantone colors of the year, Rose Quartz and Serenity.

Use The Quartz, Lone Starr! is a very pale pink crème, it's so pale it's almost white. A little thin but surprisingly easy to polish with, considering it's such a light color. This was super close to being opaque in two coats but I used three to get 100% coverage.

Can't Take The Sky is a beautiful, sweet baby blue crème. Amazing formula, buttery and very opaque. This is two coats. My favorite of the "Serenity" blues I've tried from any brand!

These are all available now on the Pretty Serious Cosmetics website for $9.95 AUD. What do you think of these new shades? I'm pretty impressed with all of them, even though the glitter didn't work as well as I'd hope. Must haves for me are Can't Take the Sky, Epic Haul and Destash. Have a great week everyone!

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.