OPI All Sparkly and Gold

Hi, you guys! Happy Halloween! Do you celebrate or plan to do anything fun? Lots of folks at my work bring their kids in for trick-or-treating in the afternoon, so I'm definitely looking forward to that. :D

Today, I've got another sparkly number from the OPI Mariah Carey Holiday Collection to share with you. All Sparkly and Gold is a medium slightly antique gold-colored glitter.

This is a really interesting shade of gold, and it's super sparkly and festive. Just like My Favorite Ornament, some of the glitter pieces in here are a little bigger than average, so they do a great job of catching the light as you move your hands, and there's a nice overall chunky look to it. I had no problems with application. Each coat went on evenly, with the glitters distributing well across the nail, and two coats is all you need for opaque coverage. It does dry a little gritty, on par with glitters like this, so you'll need top coat if you like a smooth finish.

You can find All Sparkly and Gold at your local nail salons and beauty stores such as Ulta and Dillard's for a retail price of $9 for 0.5 fl oz.

** This post contains product(s) provided for honest consideration.

OPI My Favorite Ornament

All right, Wednesday! That means half the week is over! :D

Today, I've got another of my picks from the OPI Mariah Carey Holiday Collection to share with you. My Favorite Ornament is a light, sparkly, champagne-colored glitter.

This twinkles like crazy, especially under direct lighting! :-) There are glitter pieces in here that are a little bigger than average, so it gives a slightly chunky effect to the polish. It has an easy application, with each coat coming out smoothly and with good coverage. And two quick coats is all you need for opacity. It does dry gritty, so you will need to add top coat if you want that glossy shine and smooth surface.

You can find My Favorite Ornament at your local nail salons and beauty stores such as Ulta and Dillard's for a retail price of $9 for 0.5 fl oz.

** This post contains product(s) provided for honest consideration.

OPI Ski Slope Sweetie

Hi, you guys! Hope your week is going well. :-)

Today, I'm kicking off a selection of colors from the OPI Mariah Carey Holiday 2013 Collection. It's a large collection (18 polishes!) and I have quite a number of gorgeous shades to share with you, so please bear with me as I go through this set. :D First up is Ski Slope Sweetie, a sheer white with tons of golden iridescent shimmers.

This is such a sparkly and interesting polish. The shimmers in here are strong, flashing predominantly gold, but you'll also see bits of green and pink. In fact, the shimmers are so striking that they dominate what you see on the nails, making the polish appear more gold on the nails than what you'd think from the bottle. True to its name, it makes me think of sunshine bouncing off the sparkling spray you kick up as you come to a hard stop on your skis. :-)

The formula is smooth and easy to apply, though a bit on the sheer side in terms of coverage. I did three coats for the swatches, and you can still see a little of the nail line at that. It's a very pretty and unique polish, so to me, it's worth the extra coat. If I were wearing it, I would stick to three coats for a more ethereal look, or wear it over a white base for a more opaque look.

You can find Ski Slope Sweetie at your local nail salons and beauty stores such as Ulta and Dillard's for a retail price of $9 for 0.5 fl oz.

** This post contains product(s) provided for honest consideration.

China Glaze Happy HoliGlaze Giveaway!

Hi there, gentle readers! :-)

I'm extremely thrilled to be bringing you this next giveaway. I have the new 12-polish China Glaze Happy HoliGlaze Collection up for grabs. This prize is brought to you by China Glaze, and they are offering not one, not two, but five (!) full sets. That means there will be five winners who will each receive the brand new collection! :D Because China Glaze is supplying the prizes and will be shipping them out directly to the winners, this is open to US residents only (apologies to my international readers!).

a Rafflecopter giveaway
China Glaze has generously provided the prizes, so be sure to like their facebook page for all the latest news on China Glaze. I am super-duper excited to be able to bring you this giveaway, and I hope you enjoy it! <3

Please allow the widget to load in full; it may take a moment. You can view the Official Rules of this giveaway HERE. Feel free to email me if you have any questions: thepolishhideout@gmail.com.

China Glaze Happy HoliGlaze Preview

Hi, you guys! Hope you're having a wonderful weekend! :-) Sorry I've been lacking with posts this week. Work ended up being a little crazy. I think it's because I took Monday off, but the amount of things I had to do remained the same, so I ended up with 4 days to do 5 days worth of work lol.

I hope to get back to a regular posting schedule in the next day or two, but in the meantime, let me pass along the official info for China Glaze's holiday collection. It's sparkly, festive, and colorful, all the things I look forward to in a holiday collection. Please enjoy the info below and let me know what you think. :-)

I'll link to my swatches and reviews once those are up. (All info and images are courtesy of China Glaze.)

MAKE THE SEASON MAGICAL WITH CHINA GLAZE®

CHINA GLAZE® CELEBRATES WITH NEW HOLIDAY COLLECTION

Reindeers won’t be the only ones lighting up the night sky this holiday season. China Glaze® launches Happy HoliGlaze, a party-perfect collection sure to get the celebrations started off right. These twist-on-traditional shades and gift sets make perfect party favors, stocking stuffers and gifts (shhh, we won’t tell if the gift is for yourself!).

The China Glaze® Happy HoliGlaze collection features 12 new polishes and one color traveling top coat.  

There’s Snow One Like You: Limited edition white Texture with matte glitter

Elfin’ Around: Red rust with an aluminum-like mirror finish

Just Be-Claws: Red with an aluminum-like mirror finish

Santa Red My List: Pink/red with an aluminum-like mirror finish

Put A Bow On It: Magenta glitter

Be Merry, Be Bright: Multi-magenta purple glitter

All Wrapped Up: Midnight purple and blue glitter

Your Present Required: Multi-sized and multi-colored glitter

So Blue Without You: Blue with an aluminum-like mirror finish

Bells Will Be Blinging: Blue and gold multi-colored glitter

Mingle With Kringle: Fierce gold with aluminum-like mirror finish

This is Tree-mendous: Green with fine gold glitter

Travel In Colour: Iridescent travel effect top coat (not pictured)

The China Glaze® Happy HoliGlaze collection also features 10 seasonally-inspired gifts.  Gift sets include:

• Be Merry: Mini bottles of Just Be-Claws, Santa Red My List, Put A Bow On It and Be Merry, Be Bright (MSRP: $20.00)
• Be Bright: Mini bottles of Your Present Required, Bells Will Be Blinging, Mingle with Kringle and Be Merry, Be Bright, (MSRP: $20.00)
• Touch of Twinkle: Just Be-Claws, Santa Red My List and Be Merry, Be Bright (MSRP: $15.00)
• Dash of Dazzle: Mingle With Kringle, Bells Will Be Blinging and So Blue Without You (MSRP: $15.00)
• Oh, Joy!: Just Be-Claws, Santa Red My List, Your Present Required, and So Blue Without You with a “Joy” necklace (MSRP: $30.00)
• Good Spirits: Bells Will Be Blinging, Mingle With Kringle and a blue frosted shot glass (MSRP: $15.00)
• Sparkle All the Way: Your Present Required, Be Merry, Be Bright, Just Be-Claws, and a purple compact mirror (MSRP: $22.50)
• Get Carried Away: Santa Red My List, Your Present Required, So Blue Without You and a silver change purse (MSRP: $22.50)
• Snow Buddy: There’s Snow One Like You, Be Merry, Be Bright, Elfin’ Around and a plush polar bear (MSRP: $22.50)
• Holiday Travels: 18 mini bottles of Travel In Colour in a 12 pc. bucket (MSRP: $117.00)

The China Glaze® Happy HoliGlaze collection will be available in November 2013 at fine salons and beauty supply stores nationwide. Individual shades have an SRP of $7.50. The collection will be available in 24- and 36-piece counter displays, a 36-piece rack and 36-piece prepack in addition to the gift sets. 

Winner Announced for China Glaze Monsters Ball Giveaway!

Congratulations to Cheryl for being the winner of the China Glaze Monsters Ball Collection! I've already emailed Cheryl and will send off the prizes soon. :-)

Thank you so much to everyone for taking the time to participate and for your continued support of me and this blog. If you didn't win, don't be too sad. I should have a new giveaway up later today, and it promises to be super awesome! :D Make sure to keep your eyes out for that. In the meantime, keep doing what you love and keep polishing! ♥

China Glaze Monsters Ball Giveaway - One Day Left!

Just a reminder that my China Glaze Monsters Ball Giveaway is drawing to a close soon. You can still enter for a chance to win the entire brand new six-polish China Glaze Monsters Ball Collection, in the colors Howl You Doin’, Bat My Eyes, Boo-Gie Down, Fang-Tastic, Bump In The Night, and Ghoulish Glow (glow-in-the-dark top coat). The giveaway is open until tomorrow night, so if you haven't entered yet, you have one more day to do so! :-)

To enter, just click HERE. Good luck, everyone! :D

KBShimmer Where My Peeps At

Hi, you guys! Hope your week is treating you well! :-)

Today I've got another of the polishes I picked up from KBShimmer's anniversary sale to share with you. Where My Peeps At is a creamy pastel yellow filled with magenta, blue, green, light pink, and yellow medium and micro round glitters.

This has got to be one of the cutest polish I've ever seen. I love the bright, colorful combination of glitters, and the name is just awesome. As usual with KBShimmer glitters, this has a great formula. I did three coats to achieve total coverage, and the glitters spread out easily with each coat. I find with glitters like this, the cleanest way to apply is to do a thin first layer to mark the edges of the paint job without worrying about getting any glitters down, then use coats two and three to build up coverage and glitter density.

You can find Where My Peeps At at KBShimmer.com for $8.75 and HarlowandCo.org for $9 for 0.5 fl oz.

KBShimmer Lottie Dottie

Hi, you guys! Happy Monday! :-) I'm still off from work today and feeling incredibly lazy, so I'm happy to have finally finished this post lol.

KBShimmer had their anniversary sale over the summer, which provided the perfect opportunity for me to pick up some polishes I've been eyeing, and I've got one of those to share with you today. Lottie Dottie has a white jelly creme base filled with blue and pink round reflective glitters, micro dots, and mini slices of bar glitters.

I really like Lottie Dottie. The blue and pink is such a fun mix of colors and they really pop against the white base. :-) This has a great formula. The base spreads out easily. Each coat has excellent glitter payoff with the glitters distributing evenly, so there is no need for fishing or finagling. I used three coats for the swatches for total coverage.

You can find Lottie Dottie at KBShimmer.com for $8.75 and HarlowandCo.org for $9 for 0.5 fl oz.

OPI This Gown Needs a Crown

Happy weekend, friends! Hope you're all having a wonderful one! I'm enjoying my long weekend. One of my plans is to catch up on sleep, but I'm so excited to have time off from work that I've been waking up hours earlier than I wanted to each day haha.

Today, I've got the last of the OPI Miss Universe 2013 trio to share with you. This Gown Needs a Crown is a light shimmery silver that dries to a satiny matte foil finish.

The bottles come with a little crown trinket wrapped around the neck, which is quite cute. :-) This is a very pretty and festive silver, not too soft or too harsh, just a very flattering shade. The application is smooth and easy. The first coat is a little sparse with the shimmers, but it builds up nicely with subsequent coats. I ended up doing three coats for the swatches, but if I were wearing this instead of taking close macro shots, I'd probably stop at two.

You can find This Gown Needs a Crown at your local nail salons and beauty stores such as Ulta and Dillard's for a retail price of $9 for 0.5 fl oz.

** This post contains product(s) provided for honest consideration.

OPI Miss You-niverse

Hi, you guys! I love Thursdays because it means the week is starting to wind down. Today is extra awesome because it's the last day of the work week for me. The hubby and I are taking Friday and Monday off to make it a long weekend, and I just cannot wait. I'm always ready for some days off from work hehe. :-)

Today, I've got another color from the OPI Miss Universe 2013 trio to share with you. Miss You-niverse is a dark, almost black, eggplant purple with a creme finish.

The darkness of this polish surprised me. I thought more of the purple would come through, but it really is mostly black on the nails. The camera even had a little bit of trouble picking up the purple color in there. The formula is smooth and easy to apply. It's also really pigmented, so I did just one coat for the swatches and it's pretty much totally opaque at that.

You can find Miss You-niverse at your local nail salons and beauty stores such as Ulta and Dillard's for a retail price of $9 for 0.5 fl oz.

** This post contains product(s) provided for honest consideration.

OPI I'm Feeling Sashy

Hi, you guys! Hope it's a good week for you so far! :-)

OPI has released their Miss Universe 2013 Collection, a trio of polishes inspired by the women in this year's Miss Universe competition, and I've got the set to show you. Starting off today is I'm Feeling Sashy, a medium muted mauve purple with a creme finish.

It's an interesting purple and unique to my collection. :-) I had no trouble at all with application. The formula is typical OPI creme, smooth and even. Each coat flows onto the nails like butter, with enough control for good precision. It has good color payoff, so I needed just the two standard coats for total coverage. And it dries to a nice glossy shine.

You can find I'm Feeling Sashy at your local nail salons and beauty stores such as Ulta and Dillard's for a retail price of $9 for 0.5 fl oz.

** This post contains product(s) provided for honest consideration.

Zoya Dream

Hi there! :-)

Today, let's wrap up the Zoya Zenith Collection with the last—but certainly not least—of the set. Dream is a dark cool-toned midnight blue filled to the brim with sparkly scattered holographic shimmers.

Just like Payton, Dream has a squishy jelly-like finish that allows all the shimmers to shine through to their full potential. It has a good formula and an easy application, with each coat spreading out smoothly. I layered it on a little thicker than I should have, so I needed only two coats. But if you do thin and patient coats like you're suppose to, this is probably a three-coater. :-)

You can find Dream on Zoya.com for $8 for 0.5 fl oz. If you are new to Zoya, you can get your first two bottles of Zoya for $8 - $9 total and free shipping! More info HERE.

** This post contains product(s) provided for honest consideration.