Renaissance Cosmetics Spring 2015 Collection Swatches + Review

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Hi guys! Hope your week is going well so far. Today I'm sharing swatches from the new spring 2015 collection by Renaissance Cosmetics. They are temporarily closing up shop at the end of the month, so make sure you pick up your favorite shades before they sell out!

Anyway, the spring collection consists of eight unique shades:

Wedding Wednesday: Bold Black + White Skittle

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Hey guys! I've got another Wedding Wednesday manicure for you (yes, I'm actually on time this week!) and today's look is actually pretty bold. I do love black tie affairs, and I love people dressed all in black and white (and ironically, Keith and Ashley's wedding colors are black and white!) so I took inspiration from that color scheme for this manicure, using my brand new Lace Blossom stamping plate from PUEEN.

Wedding Wednesday: Bold Glitter Tips

Hey guys! I know I'm very behind on this week's Wedding Wednesday, but I still want to share with you this week's bridal inspired look! I have already shown you a classic silver glitter gradient in this series, but today's glittery look is a bit bolder:

HB Beauty Bar: Morgan Taylor Spring 2015 Cinderella Collection

- PROVIDED FOR REVIEW -

Hey everyone! Today I've got a new-to-me brand to show off from HB Beauty Bar - Morgan Taylor! This high-end salon brand has a ton of beautiful colors, but for totally affordable prices. Their latest collection is inspired by Cinderella, and features six gorgeous spring shades.

Wedding Wednesday: Silver Glitter Gradient

- SOME PRODUCTS PROVIDED FO REVIEW -

Hey guys! Wow, I can't believe I almost forgot to post today's Wedding Wednesday look (I spent the entire day thinking it was Tuesday! Haha.) Anyway, last Wednesday I told you guys about my brother and his fiancee and how they inspired my new series - you can refresh your memory by reading the blog post here. Today's look is another somewhat classic bridal manicure - a pinky nude base with glittery silver tips!

NCLA Spring 2015 Collection: An LA Fairytale Swatches + Review

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Hi guys! Well, spring has definitely sprung here in New Jersey, and I am loving the warm weather! Today I'm showing you the latest from NCLA, four spring inspired shades that make up the An L.A. Fairytale Collection. This collection features three delicate glitter top coats and one glitter packed crelly.

Glam Polish Limited Edition Masters of Illusion Collection Swatches

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Hey everyone! I hope you all had a great holiday weekend - I got to spend some time with my family, which was a lot of fun. Anyway, I've got more new polishes to show you today! This time it's the latest from Glam Polish, who just released a limited edition collection called Masters of Illusion, which consists of nine sparkly polishes with a multichrome effect. I've got four of them to show you:

Femme Fatale Cosmetics April 2015 Collection Swatches + Review

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Hey everyone! I'm very excited to share today's swatches with you all - it's the latest release from Femme Fatale Cosmetics, and it consists of seven gorgeous polishes inspired by the Brothers Grimm fairytale, Snow White.

Live Love Polish: Colores de Carol Exclusive Shades

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Hi guys! Hope you've all had a great weekend. Today I'm sharing with you four exclusive new shades from retailer Live Love Polish and Colores de Carol. These four limited edition polishes are holographic microglitters inspired by famous characters.

UNT Black Rockfest Collection Swatches + Review

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Hi all! Hope you are having a great week so far. Today I've got some swatches to share with you from UNT, that are available internationally from Live Love Polish. These shades are from the Black Rockfest Collection, which features five rebellious glitter top coats.

LAQA & Co. Gold Fleck + Green Manicure Duo Nail Art

- PROVIDED FOR REVIEW -

Hi guys! Today I'm sharing a quick and easy look using a new-to-me brand called LAQA & Co. They are known for their convenient on-the-go products and adorable packaging - each box of nail polish contains unique art from an emerging artist.

The product I'm reviewing today is their Gold Fleck Manicure Duo, which contains two polishes - a turquoise creme, and a glitter shard top coat. (Fun fact: I actually thought this product was called "gold fleek" - still not 100% sure what "fleek" means but I keep seeing it everywhere! Haha!)

HB Beauty Bar: Color Club Love Tahiry Collection Review

Hi guys! I know I've been absent on the blog for a few days, but life just got in the way and I had absolutely no time to sit at my computer and edit my photos, even though I do have a ton of swatches to share with you all! Anyway, today I have to show you the Love Tahiry Collection by Color Club, a set of seven Valentine's Day themed polishes designed by Tahiry Jose (I don't know who she is, but a quick Google search tells me she's an actress!) I know Valentine's Day has passed but, these polishes seem appropriate for any time of year to me.

Live Love Polish x Floss Gloss: Cool Toned Swatch Spam

Hey guys! I recently got the opportunity to swatch some gorgeous best-selling shades by Floss Gloss from international nail polish retailer Live Love Polish. I decided to split the review into two posts, one for the cool tones, and one for the warm - and today I've got five gorgeous cool toned polishes to share with you!

Femme Fatale Deluxe Edition Valentine Trio 2015 Swatches + Review

Hi guys! I hope you've all been well. We are dealing with a ton of snow here in New Jersey (it feels like it'll never end!) and I'm pretty much ready for spring to come. Anyway, I've got a deluxe edition Valentine's Day trio from Femme Fatale to share with you today - I know Valentine's Day is over, but these shades are definitely not just for the holiday! The trio is no longer available from Femme Fatale, but they are still available from a ton of other stockists, which I will list at the end of the post.

Renaissance Cosmetics: Sweet & Sassy Duo Swatches + Review

Hi guys! I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day. I have a lovely polish duo to share with you today from Renaissance Cosmetics; these polishes were released for Valentine's Day but I personally think they're beautiful to wear year round.

NCLA Valentine's Day Heart Glitters: Swatches + Review

Hope everyone is having a great lazy Sunday today! We're anticipating more snow here in New Jersey, but I have a feeling it won't be as bad as the forecasts say. Either way, I've got more fun Valentine's Day nail polishes from you, this time from NCLA! You all remember how much I loved their last glitter topper - well, today I'm showing you two out of five of their new heart shaped glitter toppers for Valentine's Day.

Glam Polish Knockout Collection Swatches + Review

Hey guys, today I'm sharing swatches of some polishes from the Glam Polish Knockout Collection! This collection consists of six bright and fun holo packed shades, some with additional holo glitter - and I have four gorgeous polishes to show you.

NCLA This Party Never Ends Swatch + Nail Art

Happy Monday! I had a lot of fun over the weekend trying out some serious glitter placement - part of me is screaming "never again!" - with NCLA This Party Never Ends.

This glitter has a seriously awesome color combination. Before I start showing you the fun stuff, I have a simple swatch for those of you who aren't interested in spending an hour placing glitter on one nail, haha!

Here's NCLA This Party Never Ends over China Glaze Lotus Begin, with one coat of top coat. I really had trouble deciding what color to layer this beauty over, and I landed on a lavender because I think the colors compliment each other nicely. The formula of this glitter is very thick, but it's easy to apply normally, like any other polish. You might want to dab it on in a few spots to keep parts of your nail from looking bare. Anyway, now for the nail art:

Whew, this was a time consuming look! I started off by painting each of my nails a different color. from right to left: Color Club Factory Girl, Cirque Carpe Diem, Cirque Memento Mori, and I Scream Nails Bubblegum Bang. Then, I taped off triangles on my outer two nails and painted on Memento Mori and Factory Girl. On my detail nail, I carefully placed each glitter with a toothpick. I did the same on my middle finger, then covered another section with Memento Mori. I topped everything off with matte top coat.

I am honestly stunned by how much time that one nail took. I couldn't even imagine doing it to all of my nails! And I didn't even place them to perfectly align - I think that part comes with more practice (which I never want to do! Haha.)

Despite the difficulty, I think that one nail came out looking absolutely awesome and it makes me curious about trying it with different glitters (perhaps bigger glitters next time, so there is less work!)

Here are the polishes I used for this nail art look (yes, I mislabeled the first polish but I didn't save the file! Sorry!). This Party Never Ends is available from NCLA for $18 USD.

What do you think of glitter placement?

*Some products provided for my honest review.

PRODUCTS USED:
Base: Duri Rejuvacote
Polishes: China Glaze Lotus Begin, review here; NCLA This Party Never Ends, $18 USD; Color Club Factory Girl, review here; I Scream Nails Bubblegum Bang, $14.95 AUD; Cirque Memento Mori & Cirque Carpe Diem, review here
Top: Seche Vite; KBShimmer Clearly on Top; OPI Matte Top Coat

China Glaze Holiday 2014 Twinkled Collection Swatches

I know, I know - we are cutting it a bit close here, but I've got some amazing holiday swatches to share with you of the new China Glaze Twinkled Collection from HB Beauty Bar! Of course, these polishes all have cutesy names to go with the holiday theme, but a lot of them can be worn well beyond the season because they are just so gorgeous and wintery!

This collection consists of 12 polishes in a variety of finishes, including several glitter toppers. The formulas are typical of China Glaze - easy to work with and great with color payoff. There are a couple of polishes in this collection that aren't too unique, but a few keepers that I will definitely be wearing all winter. Let's get into it:

I'd Melt for You is a bright silver chrome finish polish. This is one of the standouts in the collection for me, although the color isn't too unique, because the formula was wonderfully easy to work with - which is rare for a chrome polish! I'm sure this color is great for stamping. Of course, since it does have the chrome finish, brushstrokes will be pretty visible and you'll want to buff out any imperfections on your nail before you apply. Shown above is two coats with top coat.

Tip Your Hat is a classic winter red creme. Formula was pretty much opaque in one coat, but I used two for the swatch above, along with top coat. Nothing too new or original here, but always a nice polish to have in the collection!

Define Good... is a gorgeous dark red shimmer. I am so attracted to colors like this during the colder months, because they have such incredible depth. This one was incredibly opaque as well - shown above is one thick coat with top coat.

Dancing and Prancing is a glitter topper with a rainbow of metallic hexes. The base of this one looked slightly pink, but it's not visible over polish. Definitely a great color for New Year's! Shown is one coat over Define Good... with top coat.

No Peeking! is another gorgeous shimmer, this time in a warm purple shade. This one was also opaque in one coat, but I added a second to even out the slight streakiness. Shown above is two coats with top coat.

Out Like A Light is a dark gray creme. Nothing too original here, but the formula was fabulous, and opaque in one coat. Shown above is one coat with top coat. (Excuse the bumpiness on my ring finger, my top coat was running out and getting a bit bubbly. No fault of this polish though!)

Meet Me Under the Stars is one of my favorites in the collection, a fully opaque black jelly packed with twinkling silver microglitters. This polish reminds me of a recent vacation I took with my boyfriend - we went to Delaware, and one night we just sat in the middle of acres of farmland and stared out into the starry night sky. I had never seen so many stars before - really as sparkly as this polish! It was stunning, and quite humbling. Looking at my nails with this polish made me think of that very special night, so it's a standout shade for me!  Shown above is two easy coats with top coat.

Feeling Twinkly is a bright blue metallic microglitter. This polish would look great layered over a colored base, but I decided to wear it on it's own, and I love the result. Another great winter shade! Shown above is three easy coats with top coat.

Pine-ing For Glitter is a gorgeous glitter topper featuring green metallic hexes in various sizes. I love the shade of green that these glitters are, and I think they look absolutely gorgeous paired with the dark gray. Shown above is one coat over Out Like a Light with top coat.

De-Light is a sparkly glitter topper packed with holographic gold hexes in various sizes, as well as mini holographic bar glitters. I didn't think I would like this shade too much, but I was pleasantly surprised! I could have packed on the glitter more densely, but I love this subtle glitter look. Shown above is one light coat over No Peeking! with top coat.

December to Remember is a gorgeous icy blue packed with pink and gold shimmer. This is definitely a unique color! I absolutely love all the different flashes of color in this shade, and I think it's perfect for winter. It was a tad streaky, though! Shown above is two coats with top coat.

And finally, we have Chillin' With My Snow-mies, a glitter topper packed with white satin hexes in various larger sizes. I love the end result of this glitter, but application was kind of a pain! I placed some glitters, and then applied a regular coat over them, and it ended up being pretty thick because of the thick glitter base. Either way, it's a pretty funky glitter and it could make for some exciting winter nail art. Shown above over Tip Your Hat, with top coat to smooth everything out.

Overall, there are some serious winners in this collection! I actually ended up really liking most, if not all of these shades, and I definitely want to wear them even after the holidays are over. My top picks are I'd Melt For You, Define Good... , Meet Me Under the Stars, and Pine-ing for Glitter.

These polishes are available from HB Beauty Bar for $5.50 USD each, and you can use the discount code POLISHCHALLENGE at checkout for 15% off your entire order!

Did you purchase any of these shades? Which one do you like best?

These polishes were provided for my honest review.

Holiday Nail Art Looks with Pretty Woman NYC Sequin Kit

Hi guys, hope you are all enjoying your Monday ;) Today I co-hosted a party on Twitter with polish brand Pretty Woman, and I got to create some fun holiday looks with their sequin nail art kit that I wanted to share with you!

This is the sequin container that comes in the kit, along with a brush for wiping off excess and a top coat to adhere the glitters. As you can see, this container is big enough to last me for a lifetime, but there isn't a huge variation in glitter colors (because the colors are all supposed to match each other nicely!) The instructions read to paint your nails with the top coat, then dip your nails into the glitter and brush off the excess, but I decided to have a bit of fun and do some simple glitter placement nail art to celebrate all the major holidays this season.

I know, I know - this isn't exactly a "holiday" manicure! But I wanted to try some plain old glitter placement first, and the colors just looked so pretty next to this pink creme, so I had to put them together! The base color here is LVX Peony (which I reviewed here), and then I placed the glitters with a toothpick in random spots. I ended up using my trusty Essie top coat to place the glitters onto my nails, since the Pretty Woman top coat that came with the kit dried a bit too quickly. Isn't this so cute?!

Here's my Christmas manicure, of course inspired by the beautiful Christmas trees that adorn people's houses during the holiday season. I just love the festive lights and colors - I especially love when people keep a color theme to their Christmas tree! I used Zoya Veruschka (reviewed here) on all my nails except for my detail nail, which has a base of KBShimmer Honeydew List. I painted the abstract tree using a small nail art brush and Zoya Veruschka - I did a similar nail art design last year, originally inspired by Mary Monkett, and I still love this design! Again, I used a toothpick and Essie top coat to place the random glitters as ornaments, and I topped it off with matte top coat.

Here is my Chanukah manicure, featuring the Star of David. I absolutely love the colors of Chanukah, so I picked my sparkliest blue polish, Zoya Nori (reviewed here) as a base for all of my nails except for my accent nail, which has a base of Essie Find Me An Oasis, a super light blue creme. I originally tried placing the glitters for the star without any guideline, and it ended up looking like a circle, haha! So for this attempt, I drew a guideline for myself using black acrylic paint, and then filled it with blue hex glitters from the sequin nail art kit. I did end up top coating Nori, even though it is a textured polish, because I thought the shiny finish would add to the look. I absolutely love the end result - I think I will end up wearing this same manicure for Chanukah!

And here is my Kwanzaa inspired manicure, using the colors of the famous kinara candles. I think this one turned out to be so chic! I used a base of Cirque Memento Mori on all of my nails except for my accent nail, which I painted half with Barielle Irish Eyes and half with NCLA Call My Agent. Once those were dry, I used striping tape to create a thin line of black in the middle of my nail. I picked out gold hex glitters and placed them on my other nails in the same method as the other manicures.

This glitter kit is available from Pretty Woman for $7.99 USD.

What do you think of my simple holiday nail art looks? Which holidays will you be celebrating this year? :)

Some products were provided by their manufacturer.