Barielle Satin Glow

Hi guys! Hope everyone had a lovely Saturday and Sunday, and those in the US are enjoying the long weekend! I'm currently on vacation, but I was able to write up this post beforehand, so that I would have something for you guys while I'm gone.

I have Barielle's Satin Glow to show you. It is a light, girly pink with a hint of peach and lots of pretty shimmers.

Satin Glow is exactly the shade of baby pink I have been looking for. It is light without being too sheer, saturated with enough pink to not be a neutral, and mellow so as not to be too bright. The sparkly shimmers in the polish are more sizable than typical shimmers, so they show up noticeably on the nail. They are predominantly silver, but depending on the angle, you can also see some green, blue and pink sparkles as well.

Satin Glow is a little more on the sheer side. What you see in the swatches is two coats, and there is just a hint of visible nail line still. I like the way it looks, with the sheerness adding to the soft, pink look. But if you prefer total opacity, an extra coat would achieve that with no problems.

You can find Satin Glow on Barielle.com for $8 for 0.45oz, but there is an ongoing sale for buy one get one 50% off.

** This post contains a product that was provided to me by the company for honest consideration. How I obtain the products does not influence my opinion. For more info, please view my Disclosure Policy.

Barielle Sky's The Limit

Hi, lovely readers! Today, I am very excited to share with you another polish from Barielle. Sky's The Limit is a medium to dark sapphire blue filled with lots of shimmer in a metallic finish.

This color is just the most gorgeous deep blue. Unlike a lot of dark colors, this one's shimmers do not get buried in the dark base. The blue shimmers in Sky's The Limit are bright and glowy, both in the bottle and on the nails. While the polish is mostly a sapphire blue, there are also small hints of green and purple, giving this color a lot of depth. This color is for sure going in my "favorite blues" pile! :-)

The formula for this is spot-on. It applies onto the nail easily, without any clumping, pooling, or dragging. You can probably get away with only one coat for opacity, although a second coat will help smooth everything over. Since this is a metallic, there are some brush strokes, but I found that they lessened to barely noticeable once the polish is fully dried.

You can find Sky's The Limit on Barielle.com for $8 for 0.45oz, but there is an ongoing sale for buy one get one 50% off.

** This post contains a product that was provided to me by the company for honest consideration. How I obtain the products does not influence my opinion. For more info, please view my Disclosure Policy.

Barielle's Facebook Sweepstakes

As you guys know, I am a big fan of Barielle. Their polishes have really great formulas and vibrant colors. They are currently running a Facebook giveaway, so I wanted to pass along the info:

Enter Barielle Cosmetic's BFF Sweepstakes!!! No purchase is necessary. All you have to do is LIKE US, and enter a little bit of information. It will not take long at all - promise! If you are one of the 20 lucky people randomly selected, you will win Barielle's Nail Strengthener Cream (Full Size) and a Barielle Base Coat, Top Coat and 3 Shades Colors of your choice - a retail value up to $74.50. The Contest runs today through June 30th. Please read the sweepstakes rules and lots of luck!

Go HERE to enter! Good luck, everybody! <3

Barielle Pin Up

Ah, the start of another week! I always feel sluggish on Mondays, so I wanted to share a color that is energizing and vibrant. I settled on Barielle's Pin Up, a vivid tomato red with a shimmery finish.

Pin Up draws its inspiration from old hollywood glamour and the red lipstick that all pin up models wear. It is a vintage red that leans slightly warm due its subtle orange undertones. It is full of gold shimmers in the bottle, but once on the nail, the gold shimmers blend into the red polish, turning into a mellow reddish shimmer and warming up the color.

This is a super saturated polish, and color payoff is amazing. I only needed one coat for full opacity, though at one coat, the color on the nail is slightly pinker than in the bottle. I did two coats for the nail swatches to match the color on my nails to that in the bottle and to even everything out. Even though color payoff is superb, the formula isn't thick or goopy at all. It is buttery and flows easily onto the nail, making application a breeze.

You can find Pin Up on Barielle.com for $8 for 0.45oz, but there is an ongoing sale for buy one get one 50% off.

** This post contains a product that was provided to me by the company for honest consideration. How I obtain the products does not influence my opinion. For more info, please view my Disclosure Policy.

OPI Just Spotted the Lizard

Woohoo, it's the weekend, lovely readers! And I have the most awesome polish to show you today. :-)

Just Spotted The Lizard is from OPI's recent The Amazing Spider-man Collection. It is a gold and green duochrome metallic.

Once on the nails, you will see mostly a coppery gold with some green around the edges when looking at the nails straight on. Shifting the hand and the angle of viewing will show more of the dark green and teal duochrome. How much duochrome you see on your nails will depend on the curvature of your nail bed; the more curvature to your nail bed, the stronger the duochrome. One thing to note is that the duochrome you see on your nails will not be nearly as strong as what you see in the OPI bottle. The OPI bottle is round, with a greater curvature than most people's nail beds, so the duochrome you see in the bottle is exaggerated.

This color has been widely anticipated as a dupe of Chanel's famous Peridot, and that is one of the reasons I was super excited for this. At $25, Chanel Peridot was just out of my reach, whereas OPI is much more reasonably priced at $8.50. I feel this color can be somewhat difficult to wear. The gold is a bit washed out, and the green duochrome adds an almost moldy green look to the gold at certain angles. Yet, this color is undeniably interesting and memorable. For that alone, I would recommend this polish, especially if you were lusting after Peridot, but could not afford its high price tag.

You can find Just Spotted The Lizard at a variety of nail salons, spas, and beauty stores for $8.50 for 0.5oz.

OPI Kiss Me On My Tulips

Today, I have for you OPI's Kiss Me On My Tulips, released as part of their Holland Collection. I have been really excited for this color, and I was super happy when it came in the inaugural US Glossybox I won earlier this month.

Kiss Me On My Tulips is a bright medium fuchsia pink that leans on the cool side due to its blue undertones. Though it has a creme finish, it dries a little matte instead of a high-gloss shine commonly associated with a creme finish, so I would recommend a top coat if you want the glossy look. It is a pretty—though not totally original—pink. For comparison, it is similar to Zoya Lara, with Lara being about two shades lighter than Kiss Me On My Tulips.

I adore OPI's signature wide flat brush, which make getting clean lines at the cuticles and applying thin coats a breeze. The trade off of a wide brush is that it takes away some application precision around the sides of the nail. The formula is good, and I only needed the standard two coats to achieve the opacity you see in the swatches.

You can find Kiss Me On My Tulips at a variety of nail salons, spas, and beauty stores for $8.50 for 0.5oz.

Winner Announced for My First Giveaway: Zoya's Surf Collection!

Congratulations to Brittany P. for winning the Zoya Surf Collection!! :-)

Thank you so much to everyone for participating! It means a lot to me for all of you to support me and my blog and to participate in the giveaway. Stay tuned; I hope to have another giveaway in the very near future! In the meantime, keep polishing! ♥

China Glaze Harvest Moon

Hi lovely readers! Hope everyone had a relaxing weekend! <3

Today I have Harvest Moon, the second of two polishes I recently got from China Glaze's Capitol Colours Collection (inspired by The Hunger Games). Harvest Moon is full of gorgeous copper shimmer embedded in a brown base, invoking feelings of autumn and a plentiful harvest.

While Harvest Moon's base is brown, it does not look very much so on the nail due to its abundant shimmer. The shimmers are predominately copper, but they also flash gold and red, depending on the angle. Just like with Riveting, Harvest Moon is another where the shimmer is so strong that the polish looks like it's glowing from within. This is the perfect color for autumn, when the leaves have changed colors and I'm snuggled up in a warm furry sweater.

The formula on this is lovely. It's smooth and buttery, and it goes on the nail without any dragging or pooling. It has great color payoff and is opaque in two coats. Wait time between coats is reasonably short due to its fast dry time.

It's hard not to love this color. It's unique and glowy, and it's got the most awesome name! Do any of you guys remember the Nintendo game series with the same name? You could raise farm animals like sheep and cows, and depending on how well you brushed them, they would give you various quality wool and milk, which you could then spin into yarn and make into cheese. Ah, such an adorable game! After reminiscing, I'll have to find it and play it again. :-)

You can find Harvest Moon (the polish) at your local nail salons, at beauty stores such as Ulta and Sally Beauty, and online at select beauty retailers.

Don't forget to enter my current giveaway for a chance to win the entire Zoya Surf Collection containing 6 brand new bottles of polish! Just two days left to enter! <3

China Glaze Riveting

Hi guys! <3 It's the weekend, and there is plenty of sunshine outside, so it's the perfect time to wear something bright and cheerful. :-)

Today, I have for you one of two polishes I got from China Glaze's Capitol Colours Collection (inspired by The Hunger Games). Riveting is a vibrant orange with a gold shimmer that looks to be lit from within.

I have been on a bit of an orange kick lately, and as soon as I saw the swatches for this polish, I knew I had to have it. This is the most intense orange. Its base is a darker orange with lots of coral and red tones, and combined with the hoard of gold shimmer in it, makes the color look like it's glowing. Depending on the angle, it shifts from a saturated coral-orange to a sparkling golden-orange. If you are an orange-lover, this color is not to be missed. :-)

This is my first China Glaze polish, and I'm really impressed with the application and formula. The consistency is not too thick, not too thin, which makes for easy application of thin coats. The brush is medium in length, with enough stiffness that it doesn't flop around, and enough softness that the brushes spread out easily. Dry time is conveniently fast, and you need just the standard two coats to achieve opacity.

You can find Riveting at your local nail salons, at beauty stores such as Ulta and Sally Beauty, and online at select beauty retailers.

Don't forget to enter my current giveaway for a chance to win the entire Zoya Surf Collection containing 6 brand new bottles of polish! <3

Julep Kylie

I tried my hands at a magnetic polish over the weekend, and I'll show you guys how I fared. Keep in mind that this is my first time using a magnetic polish, so please no laughing at my failure. :-D

I used Julep's Kylie from my May It Girl Maven Box. Kylie is a purple magnetic polish with silver shimmer. The polish came with a magnet that I used to make the wavy design pattern.

As you can see, my first attempt at magnetic polishes did not turn out so well. I followed instructions by applying one thin coat and allowing it to dry. Then, doing one nail at a time, I applied a second thicker coat of polish, and immediately held the magnet over the nail for about 30 seconds. The magnetic wave image did not clearly materialize for me. I tried vertical wavy lines over my index and ring fingers, and then rotating the magnet, I tried horizontal wavy lines over my middle and pinky fingers.

I am not sure where I went wrong. Maybe Julep's magnet is weaker, so it's harder to get clear lines. Maybe I wasn't fast enough in getting the magnet to the nail after that second coat, though I would need super-human speed to be much faster. I was also sick on that day, so it's possible my hands were unsteady as I was holding the magnet and the magnetic particles got all jumbled. Or it could have been the wonky brush that has plagued me with all my Julep polishes this month. On that note, I did contact Julep and they let me know that they are aware of all the brush problems and will be sending me replacement brushes shortly.

On the plus side, Kylie is a really pretty shade. Without using the magnet, it's a pinkish purple with a lot of silver shimmer. Using the magnet concentrates all that silver shimmer into the magnetic lines, so that you are left with just the lovely purple base for the predominate color. The formula is a nice and even consistency, and it applies without any clumping or running.

What do you guys think? Yay or nay for magnetic polishes? Do you have any tips on how to get nice clear lines for magnetic polishes?

Don't forget to enter my current giveaway for a chance to win the entire Zoya Surf Collection containing 6 brand new bottles of polish! <3

Glossybox US Inaugural Box

Beauty subscriptions have become quite popular in the last few years, and the latest to join the ranks in the US is Glossybox. Glossybox has already been available at a number of other countries, and anticipation has been high for their arrival in the US.

As far as I know, the inaugural Glossybox is not for sale, but given only to select press and beauty bloggers. Glossybox was also having giveaways where you could win a box, and that is how I got mine. I'm super happy I won and now I'll show you guys what I got. :-)

Everything came nicely packaged in a pink box with the glossybox logo. I really love this pink box. It's sturdy and well-made, and would make a perfect little memory box to hold pictures, cards, and little trinkets. Here's what came in the box:

• C.O. Bigelow Lavendar & Peppermint Shampoo - 5.2oz, retail for $12
• BASQ Cucumber Tea Eye Gel - 0.5oz, retail for $24
• OPI Kiss Me on My Tulips - 0.5oz, retail for $8.50
• Cargo EyeBronzer - 0.035oz, retail for $22
• Kryolan High Gloss Brilliant Lip Shine in Toffee - 0.135oz, retail for $18.10
• Erno Laszlo Hollywood Collection - sample pack of 5 various creams (no size listed on samples)

This is an absolutely amazing box. It contains five full-size items (!) and a sample item. I love everything in the box, although I am most partial to the OPI polish (no surprise there :P).

Even though this inaugural box contains five full-sized items, it looks like the regular subscription will not. Glossybox US's website states that every month, you will get five "travel-sized" beauty products. The other unfortunate thing is that subscriptions will be a somewhat costly $21 a month. That is more than twice the cost of some other existing beauty subscriptions (such as Birchbox and MyGlam).

If you are interested in Glossybox, regular subscriptions will start sometime this month and you can sign up at Glossybox.com to inform you of exactly when. Due to the higher subscription cost and the unknown amount of products you will receive, I recommend waiting a month or two to see how things shape up.

What do you guys think? Will you be signing up for Glossybox? If you do, will it replace or augment your current beauty subscriptions? Or is the cost just too high to take a gamble on a mystery selection every month?

Don't forget to enter my current giveaway for a chance to win the entire Zoya Surf Collection containing 6 brand new bottles of polish! <3