LVX Summer 2012

I learned about new brand LVX (pronounced lūx) last year from founder and creative director Branka. She told me about the line and how her colors were inspired by the height of vogue in runway fashion. I was of course intrigued and just had to try them. This is their freshman collection released for Summer 2012.

Callais is an opaque pastel blue. Very mod yet maintains a softness. Two coats.

Ecru is a pale opaque pink peachy nude. A basic color but lovely! This is two coats.

Livid is a jet black cream. Uber shiny. Two coats here. This is round two, as I had some bubbling issues, but I blame that on the environment when I was swatching rather than the polish.

Primrose is a bright pastel yellow. Much more vivid than I expected and a lovely formula. Yellows are notoriously hard to apply but this one was a breeze. Two coats.

Vermillion is a tangerine red jelly cream. Wow. Love this. Just enough orange to make the red playful and juicy looking. Two coats.

LVX polish is available online for $16 for a 17 mL bottle, larger than the average polish at 15 mL. This brand is 5-Free and made right here in the USA. Have you tried LVX or is this the first you've heard of them? I have a feeling they might become a heavy hitter in the high end polish market. Quality is their goal and they surpassed my expectations with this collection.

Products provided for review.

Sheswai - f*ckyeah

Sheswai has come out with a brand new limited edition nail polish color for summer. This color is named something explicit so fair warning, if profanity offends you, please stop reading this post.

fuckyeah
It is with a smile and a wink-of-the-eye that we happily introduce the newest addition to our Sheswai collection of lacquers.
The tones in this color are hard to describe but rest assured once this sexy magenta-fuschia-violet surprise hits your tips you’ll be saying…fuckyeah.

This is a fabulous vividly bright purple polish that is perfect for summer. The name itself is really reason enough for me to own it. I have a bit of a sailor mouth so it cracks me up. I also just really like the polish, this brand has a great ideology and the bottle design is amazing. The color applies really nicely and it's opaque in one coat, though I used two here. I also applied a topcoat as it dries a bit matte.

This is available now at SheswaiBeauty.com (as long as supplies last) for $16. What do you think of this saucy lady? I know some of you gals will be getting it just for the name :D Oh yeah, hope you don't mind my ultra-nubbins. I had just shortened them and then proceeded to break a nail. I can't stand my nails being different lengths, so chop chop! Hope you have a great weekend all!

Products provided for review.

BB Couture Rhythm and Blues Collection Part 1

Hi everyone! Happy Fourth of July my American readers, Viva USA! I have a new collection from BB Couture, Rhythm and Blues. The Rhythm part is the the regular cylindrical bottles and the Blues are in the square bottles "for men". Today I'll show you the first part of the collection, a group of six colors inspired by music. And YAY their signature blue handles are back! Their last few collections have had white or black ones. The bright blue metallic tops make me smile :)

First up is Dance. This is a lovely sky blue with super subtle glass fleck shimmer. This one was a bit thick, but not unmanageable. I have a few polishes similar but not the same. I love the shimmer flecks! This is two coats.

Next is Frequency, a surprising combo of light mustardy yellow and hot pink shimmer. I love BB Couture because this is something so unexpected but totally expected for this subversive brand. They are not afraid of doing unique! This was a bit harder to work with than I would like, it was streaky so I recommend painting slowly and with care. This is three thicker coats.

Here is Pattern, a pastel peach with a mod feel. I have never been lucky enough to have this type of color look good on me but this one almost works with my skin tone! I think it's the whitewashed base. This one was also streaky and thick unfortunately. This is four coats.

This is Tempo, another bright white based color, this time in pastel spring green. It reminds me of a kitchen mixer from the 50's. This one also has a thicker formula, but it wasn't quite as difficult as Pattern to apply. I love how this color pops against my tan! Three coats.

Beat is really something. I absolutely ADORE this shimmery green. Now this is a true "mint" green in my opinion, reminds me of a delicious mint chocolate candy or something. I don't own anything close to this color and I love the gossamer silver shimmer running through it. By far the best formula in the collection. Two coats.

And last is BPM, a metallic mauve pink. I can't think of anything I have that is similar, but I love it! The finish is frosty but not ugly frost, very pretty metalllic. The formula on this was thicker too and I had to take care to minimize brush strokes on application, but when it dried they weren't an issue. This is two coats.

You can get these from BB Couture and Overall Beauty for $10.95 each. They are all lovely colors, most of them quite unique. I do wish the formulas on a few were better. The stand outs for me are really Frequency, BPM, and Beat. What do you think of these?

P.S. how do you like my new watermark?

Products provided for review.

FingerPaints Summer In the City Collection

Yay! New FingerPaints :) This is the new Summer in the City collection from Sally Beauty brand polish, FingerPaints. 4 creams, a shimmery foil and a glitter! Perfect brights for summer.

First is Flip Flop Fuchsia, a bright pink fuchsia cream. Thicker but still pretty easily applied. Two coats.

Here is Sexy Sundress, a yellow toned green. Similar to a few we've seen lately, like OPI Did It On 'Em. On the thick side, two coats.

Here is Movie in the Park, a lightly tinted purple base with purple, pink and blue microglitter. Nice coverage for a straight glitter! This is three coats.

Toe-teally Hot is another color we've seen a lot of this year, it's a bright, but not too bright, teal cream. Two coats.

This is Beach Bound, a grape purple cream. Nice addition to this collection, very wearable. Two coats.

And last is Late Night Rendez-vous, a metallic foily ocean blue. This is close to Orly Halley's Comet/OPI Catch Me In Your Net, but without the green leanings. Three coats here.

When I got these, they weren't packed very well so half of them had leaked out all over the others :( Oh well, I was able to salvage them with minimal damage! FingerPaints are sold separately for $4.99 and are available exclusively at Sally Beauty stores and on www.SallyBeauty.com.

Products provided for review.

My Picks from Essie's Bikini So Teeny Collection

I wanted to show you some new Essie polishes, from the Bikini So Teeny collection for summer 2012. I wasn't initially impressed by the press release photos I saw and they didn't exactly overwhelm me when I saw the colors in person at my local Walmart. These are the two polishes from the six in the collection that I decided I needed to try out.

First is the darker pink out of the two in the collection, Off the Shoulder. It's sort of a darker pepto pink color, but I'm not seeing anything special. It's not particularly flattering or bright. Just kind of there. The formula was thick. This is two coats.

Here is All Tied Up, described as a bronze, I'd call it more of a pinky brown muddy shade with subtle gold fleck shimmer. I think I would like this more if the shimmer was more pronounced. It only shows up in full sunlight. This formula was also thick but not as much as the first one. This is two coats.

To be honest, I am unimpressed by these colors. *yawn* Sorry, you know I love my Essies but these are just ho hum. You can find these in local drugstores usually for around $6-8 or from select e-tailers like Transdesign where they are $4.49 each. Have you picked up any polishes from this collection? How do you feel about them?

China Glaze Summer Neons Collection 2012

YAY! Neons!! I've been waiting for neon season FOREVER this year haha :) Honestly, 2012 has flown by and I am so glad to see summer and the electric glow of lots and lots of neon nail polish! China Glaze has a big collection of neons this summer, aptly called Summer Neons. The collection has "12 new sizzling shades perfect for surf, sand and nightlife."

First up and my absolute favorite of the bunch, Pink Plumeria. It's a warm slightly-coral pink neon with gold shimmer. Ugh, I DIE. This is freaking fabulous. Ultra smooth formula, wonderful shimmer and just a gorgeous color. Two coats, also these all are swatched with topcoat because neons dry matte/satin.

Sun-Kissed is a baller yellow, neon freaking highlighter pen yellow with shimmer. By far the best looking and easiest formula of any neon yellow I've ever used. Two coats.

This is a really fantastic polish, Surfin' for Boys. The color is magnificent and hard to describe, I'd say it's a red coral with pink shimmer. This is so glowy and rich! This is two coats.

I'm with the Lifeguard is a lime-o-licious green shimmer neon. Uh, this is awesome. I showed you another lime green not too long ago that I'm totally enamored with, Limonyte, and this one almost gives it a run for the money. Really bright and beautiful and perfect for summer. Two coats.

Oh wow. I'm just so in love with these neons! Another kinda coral, this one is more orange tinted. Flirty Tankini is very saturated and really pretty. The shimmer is really hot, there is pink, orange and coral glimmer.

This is a non-shimmer, one of two in the collection. Ride the Waves is a bright, but not really neon, ocean blue jelly. I do like it, but it took a few more coats than I wanted to do and it looked sheerer on the tips than I liked. That could be fixed by wrapping the tips, but I can't do that without making a damn mess and for some reason I always get more chips when I do. *whew* Anyway, this is four coats.

Love's a Beach is a hot pink neon with glowy pink almost purple shimmer. I like how dark this is, makes it a little different than the neon pinks I already have. And if you didn't know, I have more "pinks" than any other color in my collection! This is two coats.

Ooh, I wasn't sure I was going to like this but I really ended up loving it. Beach Cruise-r is a fuchsia purple with soft shimmer. It reminds me a little of China Glaze Fly but it's pinker toned. I like this better too, it's more flattering on my skin tone. This is two coats.

Whoa I really love this one, Splish Splash is so cute and probably the best nail polish name I've heard from a major company in a while haha. This is a bright candy blue with loads of aqua blue shimmer. It's not really a neon, but close to it. Two coats.

Hang-Ten Toes is a great polish but will be forever a blemish in my mind because I dropped my bottle on my carpet and polish went everywhere! It was honestly my first polish spill *knock on wood* and it was brutal to clean. Lots and lots of acetone was wasted :( Back to the polish, this is a lighter and more blue toned pink than the others in the bunch. It's got blueish shimmer in it too so you get a flash of it. Two coats.

Orange You Hot? shouldn't have a question mark behind it because there is NO question that this is one scorching neon! This is almost a papaya mango type of orange, more yellow toned than I normally see. The gold shimmer in it makes it even more fab. Two coats.

And last is Under the Boardwalk, a bright magenta purple jelly. This also has no shimmer and isn't really a neon, but it's lovely. It's described as "fluorescent raspberry" and I think that's fitting if you're thinking about radioactive fruit candy haha. This is three coats.

I have so much love for this collection. I'm almost blown away by every shade, except for maybe two. Summerlicious! You should be able to find these at Sally Beauty and online retailers. Any favorites?

Products provided for review.

Random Essie Polishes

Today I have a few random Essie polishes that I haven't shown you yet so here they are!

This is Essie Smokin' Hot, released in the Winter collection of 2010, A Winter's Tale. It's a smoky dark purpley gray. I was on the fence about this when it came out and then it took off as the new It color for a while there so I reconsidered. I'm still not 100% in love with it but it is pretty and I'm glad I have it. Three coats.

Armed & Ready is from the Go Overboard collection that came out in early Spring of this year. It's a very unique color, dark brown tinged green grey, with a metallic gold shimmer. Awesome formula and I can't think of any color like it. This is two coats.

This is a surprising love of mine, from the Wedding collection that just came out from Essie. I actually adore all of the colors in this collection! This one is called Who Is The Boss, haha. It's a pale white washed green with a hint of blue. I had trouble with application on this, as it was a bit thick. This is three coats.

And last for today is Like to Be Bad, which is a dumb name, especially for a bridal collection. The color is gorgeous though, a pale peachy pink with the slightest hint of pinky orange shimmer. I wish it was a tad more pronounced, it's basically imperceptible. This one was thick also unfortunately, three coats.

I got all of these from Transdesign for $4.35 each. Any of these calling to you? Armed & Ready is a must have for sure.

Essie Poppy-Razzi Collection

I freaking love neon polish. It's just not the easiest to work with, usually. Essie put out a neon collection a few years back that had fun colors but were problem children in terms of application. These neons are a different story, amazing formula and fabulous shades. Poppy-Razzi has four uber bright neon shades with names that give a nod to summer blockbusters.

Lights is a really awesome neon blue tinged pink neon jelly. I've never seen it's equal honestly. The formula really reminds me of the OPI sorbets from the Texas collection in 2011, only more pigmented. These are all three coats with a shiny topcoat, as these dry satiny matte.

Camera is lovely, really beautiful. This is a reddish coral neon jelly. I love how bright it is, but rather than screaming neon, it really just emphatically cheers. These are all really intense shades, but they exercise some caution almost and don't knock you over the head with their neon-ness. I imagine that's why they are so much easier to work with than traditional neons.

Action is a power color, fo sho. It's an apricot neon orange on the verge of tangerine. A very tricky color to explain without seeing it in person. This one I felt was a little more streaky on application, but it ended up looking just as perfect in three coats as the other two.

The fourth lacquer is called Bazooka, which I passed on because it seemed a little to close in color to Action for me, it's an orange shade in case you're wondering. These polishes can also be used over a white shade to produce a brighter, less transparent color; you'll see Essie's Blanc in the display in stores with these neons. You can get these online at etailers like Transdesign and in stores like CVS and Rite Aid.