Virago Varnish Enology Collection Swatches & Review

Howdy folks :) Today I have the Virago Varnish Enology Collection to share with you! Enology is the study of wine so all the names of the polishes are tied to the wine-making process. I personally don't drink wine anymore because it sometimes triggers migraines for me, but I have had my fair share throughout the years, hehe.

Press Sample

There are five shades in this collection, all holographic microglitters in tinted bases. I added one in at the end that is not part of the set, but it has a similar finish and formula. These all apply the same, smooth and very easy. There has actually been a lot of polishes with this type of finish released from different brands this Spring and these have to be my favorite in terms of application. They do dry dull so you'll need a thick top coat to bring out the shine and cover the glitter, but they don't dry as gritty as I had expected. The glitter particle is more of a flat (?) shape. Hard to explain unless you see it in person.

Oxidation is a light blue holographic microglitter. This was opaque in two coats.

Rosé is a light pink holographic microglitter. This was the lightest shade and I needed three coats to cover my nail.

Vineyard is a light dusty green. This color was by far my favorite in the collection, it looks insane in real life! Two coats.

Fermentation is a light purple holographic microglitter. This probably had the strongest holo in the bunch. Two coats.

Chartreuse is a light greenish-yellow holographic microglitter. I was surprised but I got full coverage on this in just two coats.

Allure is the interloper, not part of the Enology collection, but a classic and essential Virago Varnish shade. This is a diamond-like silver holographic microglitter, same formula as the others but without a tinted base. Two coats!

You can purchase all of these shades on the Virago Varnish website for $11.25 each. So what do you think of these blingy glitters? Any favorites? Have you tried Virago Varnish yet? I hope to be able to show you many more shades from this brand in the future, I've really enjoyed everything I've tried from them!

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Virago Varnish Holiday 2015 Ugly Christmas Sweater Collection Swatches & Review

Hi everyone! I have a new holiday polish collection to show you today from indie brand Virago Varnish! They have put out seven glittery lacquers for the season called the Ugly Christmas Sweater collection!

Press Sample

Abstain From Champagne is a holographic champagne full coverage microglitter in a clear base. This wowed me right off the bat, super blingy and the glitters are a little bit flatter than I expected which made it very easy to apply. Great glitter payoff, making it almost a one coater for me! I did use two to totally cover my nail, but I was super surprised at the coverage on this.

Happy Holla Daze is a festive glitter topper with hex, circle, square, and shredded glitters in white, red, green and silver. I layered one coat over OPI Cinnamon Sweet. This is a "typical" holiday glitter mix, but it's a little more unique thanks to the shredded white pieces. I really like this look. It would also look great over black or a dark green!

Lit Ladies Dancing is a microglitter mix of holographic royal blue and white matte small roundish hexes with black shreds in a lightly tinted blue jelly base. This was on the thick side, but not too difficult to manage. I did a normal first coat and dabbed a little on the second coat to get the coverage you see here. This reminds me of baseball for some reason...not sure why haha!

That Sleigh-Doh has a black jelly base with a mix of black and white matte and holographic microglitter and larger grey hex and square glitters. There are also some twinkly bits of iridescence popping out, which makes it more dimensional. This one was also a little thick, a bit tricky to apply evenly. I really like the result though, this is one of my favorites in the collection.

Where the Elf Is Santa? is a holographic deep teal green and blue microglitter in a clear base. This was pretty easy to apply, but there wasn't a ton of glitter payoff on the first coat. I build it up with three coats. This is a nice variation on the traditional holiday green we always see!

Stay Jolly My Friends is a red and white version of Lit Ladies Dancing, except instead of black shreds there are white squares. The red glitter in this one is really reflective, super christmas-y! This was a little easier than the blue version to apply, not sure why. Two coats here.

Indies Do It Sweater is a multicolored holographic glitter topper with hex, square and triangle glitters in a clear base. I layered one coat over Sally Hansen Pacific Blue (original). This is a nice departure from the type of glitters we normally see in holiday collections, very party appropriate. Great glitter payoff!

These all dry to a more matte finish so a top coat is recommended for all shades. The heavier glitters may need two coats to be completely smooth. The normal cap for Virago Varnish polishes is black matte, but for this collection they all come with a white matte cap. If you prefer the original black, just leave them a note at checkout. My friend Phoebe has a live application video review on this collection on her YouTube channel if you want to see these in action!

These are on sale now on the Virago Varnish website. The two microglitters, Abstain From Champagne and Where the Elf Is Santa?, retail for $11 each while the rest go for $10. The full collection sells for a special price of $68.50. They always offer free shipping over $50 using the code 50FREESHIP. (They ship to the US & Canada, email them for international orders.) And luckily, they are holding a sale right now through tomorrow Friday, Dec. 11 at 11:59 pm PST giving you 20% off your entire purchase using the code 3DAYSALE - wow! So run over if you want to pick these up in time to use for the holidays!

See you again soon!

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Nail Polish I Wore In Real Life Vol. 2

Hi everyone! Today I have another volume in my series of nail polishes I wore in real life! The first post in this series is here, explaining in detail why I wanted to do it if you're confused. Let's see what I've worn lately!

Here we have Stellar by Virago Varnish. I've had this indie brand on my radar for a while because a few of my YouTube friends have been singing their praises and I finally got some! This is a full coverage microglitter with holographic blue, purple and teal hexes. Good formula, a little sparse in places so I used two coats but had to dab on some extra in some areas. Dries matte and a little textured so I used a thick top coat. I really like this, it's super blingy in person. Stellar is from their Hollywood Glamour collection and I purchased it from their website for $11.50.

This is Falling For Hue by KBShimmer, which I purchased from their website for $8.75. KBShimmer has come out with scented "mani shots" which I've been buying like crazy, so I threw this in my cart with an order the other day because I realized I didn't have it, and I am in love. It's a great formula, typical for KBS crelly glitter mixes, with a white base and metallic red, pink and purple hex glitters in varying sizes. I used two coat here for full opacity. May seem a little fall-esque to be wearing in June, but I do what I want and wear out of season polishes wheneva, whateva.

So tell me what you think about my two full mani polish picks and tell me what you've been sporting on your nails lately! Also, have you entered my giveaway yet??

❤ Kellie