BB Couture Finishers Collection Swatches & Review

BB Couture has a new collection out called the Finishers. They are top coat type polishes designed to give a little bit of color/shimmer to bare nails or change the look of a polish if layered over the top of them. They are in BB's square bottles, their For Men polish line, but of course can be used and enjoyed by all.

Press Sample

First is Antique Grey Finish, a taupey brown grey jelly with some gold shimmer. This is three coats. I love this even on it's own. It's beautiful and the name totally fits it. It really glows!

This is Beige Glaze, a super whisper fine light shimmer with a slight hint of beige color. This one is definitely more of a layering polish but if you wanted a super simple look it would fit the bill. I love how this polish transforms other colors when layered, it's really a fun one to play with. Two coats here.

Green Gloss Coating is a yummy greyed avocado green translucent shade with threads of beautiful gold shimmer. This is another one that looks right at home on my nails by itself, but also works fabulously as a top coat "finisher" to add a hint of green to any polish. Three coats.

Metalized Sealant is a sensational silvery angel dust shimmery top coat. You can use one coat to give a hint of heavenly glimmer or build up the coats for a beautiful blingy look. This is three coats.

Perhaps my favorite of the bunch is Radiation Blue Glare, a sky blue pale jelly with bits of flake-type silvery white glitter. I love the blue wash this gives my nails on its own, and over other colors it ads that extra dimension that can totally metamorphose a color. Three coats.

And last of the collection is Suntan Shimmer. This color is a pale sandy coral bronzey frosty shade that is totally a stand-alone color in addition to being a fun "finisher". It's a color I wouldn't have picked off a shelf in a store, but I really like how it looks on me. Three coats.

Here are the colors over a black creme base color, two coats each, from left to right: Radiation Blue Glare, Antique Grey Finish, Metalized Sealant, and Beige Glaze.

And again, in the opposite order, of course.

And here is the other two polishes over the same black creme, three coats each, left to right: Suntan Shimmer, Green Gloss Coating.

And again, Green Gloss Coating and Suntan Shimmer.

What do you think of these subtle colors? I love them over black and can't wait to try them more shades to see what fun and exciting combinations I can come up with. You can get these all from BB Couture's website for $10.95 each.

Product samples were provided for consideration.

Glitter Gal Australia New Polish Lines

Hi friends :) Today I have some polishes from Glitter Gal Australia's new lines, Transitions, Shade Shifters, and Opal Effects. Very exciting, seeing new stuff from GG, home of the world's best holographic polishes. Here we go!

"Shade Shifters are metallic shades shifting / changing finish with intense primary color effect which reflects a different color spectrum when viewed at a different angle. G Gal’s "Shade Shifters" are similar to those you see on wings of exotic beetles - they shift from one shade to another when viewed from different angles."

First is a Shade Shifter, called Hidden Violet. It's a “Soft” finish - more smooth polished look with finer particles. This has a soft purple base with a reflective purple and blue metallic tones. This is two coats over a black cream.

Next is a Shade Shifter with “Brilliant” finish - very bright glitter effect showing slightly larger particles, called Last Light. This sparkler has a deep copper tone with a beetle wing green shimmer from different angles. This is two coats over black.

"For a Soft Look simply apply over clean dry nails to reveal an elegant colored pearl effect. If applied directly onto unpainted nails the Transition Effect Nail Polish gives you a very soft color tint over your nails that just dances with a hint of colour when seen from different angles. You can't take your eyes off it!"

Here is one of the new Transitions, meant to be applied either alone on the nail for a soft pearl look or over a vivid dark base color. This is Transitions Soft Blue, two coats again layered over black. The milky base applies as a shimmer sapphire pearlescent coating.

"Glitter Gal’s Opal Collection was inspired and named after Australian outback mining towns, as the Opal polish captures the look of Australia’s beautiful opals - your nails will be transformed."

The Opal shade I have is called Lightning Ridge, a clear jelly base with green and coppery flakes. I personally found this to be a delight, different from a lot of the other flakies I have. The flake shards are nice and flat, but are separate like glitter pieces, unlike something like Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure. Very nice if not a bit more sparse than I expected. This is three coats over black.

Glitter Gal polishes can be purchased from Glitter Gal directly, or from Llarowe and NinjaPolish, the US stockists for Glitter Gal, or from Harlow & Co, the Canadian stockist for Glitter Gal. On the Glitter Gal website, the 9mL bottles are AUD $11.95 and the 15mL bottles are AUD $17.95.

Products provided for review.

Nicole by OPI New Texture Coat Polishes

Heyyy folks :) I have four new Nicole by OPI texture coat (crackle/shatter) polishes to show you. They are Quartz, Aquamarine, Amethyst, and Opal Texture.

Here they are, in order as stated above, over a white cream polish. Quartz is a metallic silvery lilac.  Aquamarine is a medium blue glitter. Amethyst is a medium purple glitter. Opal is a opalescent glitter, shining pinky purple.

Below is the polishes over a black cream, same order.

The coolest way I've seen glitter crackles used is in a glitter/jelly sandwich. The Swatchaholic did a version the other day that is way fun and unexpected. You can get these wherever Nicole by OPI polishes are sold for $7.99.

Products provided for review.

OPI The Amazing Spider-man Collection

Yay! New OPI collection, woot woot! This one is inspired by the new movie The Amazing Spider-man, which comes out this summer. The collection has six shades and a new color of "shatter" special effect topcoat.

 First up is My Boyfriend Scales Walls, a color OPI describes as "cityscape white". I guess that means dingy and slightly grey? Wa, wa, wa ;) I actually like this color, it's not a stark white and it's got a pretty decent formula for such a light cream. This is three coats.

 

The shatter topcoat is called Shatter the Scales, it's a dark slightly blueish forest green with silver shimmer. It dries matte but I put a shiny topcoat on to beef up the hawtness.

This is Just Spotted the Lizard is described as a "reptilian yellow-green". I see it as a Chanel Peridot dupe haha. It's metallic gold with green duochrome and a blue tinge on the edges. This is two coats.

This hot and spicy orange is Call Me Gwen-Ever. It's a muted less bright orange than we've been seeing trending lately. It has coral undertones, which is delightfully different. This is two coats.

Into the Night is a shimmery metallic midnight blue. It's not really a cobalt and not really a navy, it's like a combination of those two. I didn't love this one, it's pretty but nothing too exciting. The brushstrokes were present, but not really a problem. Two coats.

This is Number One Nemesis, another Chanel dupe (Graphite this time). Foily with glitter, green tinged nickel pewter. I like it as much as I do the other dupe I showed you the other day, Smoky Feather. This is two coats.

And the token pink, Your Web or Mine. This one I didn't expect to like, but I ended up enjoying a lot. It's a frosty rose pink. Brush strokes are gonna happen when you have a frost, it's just their nature. However, these are manageable. I feel a little "grandma" wearing this but like I said, I do like it. This is two coats.

I think this collection is a win, save the blue that just doesn't work for me. I am not really into comic books, or Spider-man in particular, (am I the only one who didn't know the name was hyphenated?) but that never stopped me from partaking in some awesome colors. You should be able to pick these up in stores around May for $8.50 each. What do you think of these pretties? Are you planning on seeing The Amazing Spider-man?

Products provided for review.

Zoya Fleck Effect Collection

Hey folks! I'm going to stop apologizing for not writing often enough, I'm sure you're sick of hearing excuses. Honestly, I love blogging and I have a crazy life right now so I'm gonna do what I can do.

Zoya put out a mini collection along with their Spring True collection, a trio of flakie top coats! Exciting that so many brands are hopping on the flake trend eh?

Zoya.com

First up is Maisie, a sheer base with a candy blue tint and iridescent mylar flakes that shift from green to blue. I layered two coats over Zoya Skylar from the True collection.

Below is a photo taken indoors under lamp light for another perspective of the effect.

Next is Chloe who's base is a blush pink and is packed with duochrome flakes that pop in orange, blue, and green. This gal is my fave of the three. I painted two coats over Zoya Tru.

And last is Opal, a green tinted sheer with blue and green shiny flakes. This swatch is two coats over Zoya Bevin P.S. The name Opal reminds me of a 90's move with a young Gaby Hoffmann called This Is My Life. I don't care for it.

Hope you enjoyed these swatches, catch ya later sweeties!

Products provided for review.

Lacquistry - Shredded

I've found some cool things on Etsy, but by far the coolest item I've scored so far is this special effects top coat from Lacquistry called Shredded. Many of you might've seen me tweet a picture of this earlier this month and the response was hugely positive.

Shredded is a clear polish with black "shards". It looks kinda like black flakies! Very cool and a simple idea honestly,  I can't believe I've never seen anything like it! She does other colors too, including a breath-taking holographic shredded silver, a marine blue, and a shiny gold! I of course need them all :)

This is two "coats" of Shredded over Zoya Lotus. I put quotes around 'coats' because with chunky polishes like this I usually dab rather than coat if that makes any sense.

You can get this polish and many more cool creations on Jenna's Etsy store Lacquistry for $7.50 each. 

Sneak Peek! FingerPaints Special Effects Collection

Availability: January, in stores only

Shade names:

· Flashy

· Twisted

· Asylum

· Flecked

· Motley

Price: $5.49

  
I love that other brands are hopping on the "flakie" bandwagon, it lets people who haven't seen it yet in on the fun! I personally love all flakies and even though I have quite a few, I suppose you can never have too many ;) Look for these in January in Sally Beauty Supply stores.

Products provided for review.

Color Club 'Fractured' Collection Part 2: Swatches & Review

Hi everyone, today I have the remaining three polishes in the Color Club Fractured Collection. You can see my review on the first three here.

First up is Kiss and Break Up, the fuschia purple fractured topcoat. I am not terribly impressed with this one. It's an okay color, on the hot pink side of purple. I hear it is an dupe for the color of China Glaze's Purple Panic. This one didn't crack very much on my first few tries, this is my third attempt at a swatch for it. I put it over Sinful Colors Adventure Island, a yellow tinged green crème. It is actually more dusty and pale than my picture makes it out to be. I got a new camera for flash photography so I'm learning how to use it correctly, bear with me. I really like the color combo of these two together.

Next is Tattered in Gold, the light gold fractured topcoat. If I was not impressed with Kiss and Break Up, than I might as well toss this one right now. It would simply refuse to crack no matter how much I varied application, thick, thin, etc. I eventually thinned it a little with polish thinner, and that helped maybe a tiny smidge, but not much. I don't like how the gold is so light too, it's almost silver :P I put it over my first Pixel Polish Oh Pardon Me. You can get these at Ulta for $1.99. They are tiny but have a really fabulous brush. Oh Pardon Me is a shimmery tri-tone blue shimmer/glitter.

And last, and my favorite from the three, is Splitting Image, a bright blue fractured topcoat. This one cracked the best out of the second half of this collection, and was nicely pigmented. I used it over Sinful Colors Seaweed, a dusty pale green dupe for OPI's Stranger Tides. My bottle of this broke so I had to decant it into an empty franken bottle. I liked this polish too, it was creamy and applied easily.

These were all were a bit more temperamental than some other crack polishes I've tried. And they got really chunky around the neck of the bottles, as they dry I guess. I have to say I'm not a fan of this half of the collection all that much. You can purchase Color Club polishes from TransDesign.com, Head2ToeBeauty.com, and from VictoriasNailSupply.com (although they are on vacation until July 28th). Take care dolls, I am having kind of a hard time right now but I'm trying to get through it with my head held high. Kisses!

Products provided for review.