Spell Polish - Time Traveling Collection: Swatches & Nail Art

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Hello my friends! I have a new to me collection to share with you today - the Time Traveling Collection by Spell Polish! I have been so busy lately but I've been dying to share these. This fall collection is inspired by memories from the past and I love that, while the memories are personal to Heather, the lady behind Spell Polish, they are also universal in one way or another and things that each of us can relate to in our own way. 

I did not realize until working with Heather, that she writes poems to coincide with each shade. She then includes a cute little trading card with the polish name and poem with each polish purchased. How cool is that? So let's get started and take a look at the Time Traveling Collection! 

Wrenn Polish - Nail Polish by Wrenn Jewelry: Swatches & Review

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Hi all! I've got some swatches of some Wrenn polishes to share today! If you'll recall, I had the honor swatching a few of the polishes from Wrenn's initial launch and I absolutely loved them. They're 5-Free, Vegan friendly and cruelty free which is always great. So, today, I've got the rest of the polishes in the Wrenn line to share with you :)

LVX - Spring 2016 Collection: Swatches

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Hi, all! I've got the Spring 2016 collection by LVX to share today and as always, I'm in love with the beautiful creme polishes they've curated for us this season. I always consider LVX to be spot on with the current trends and color palettes and this collection is no different. It's the perfect combination of soft pastels and bold pops of color. Just...ugh, so pretty!

LVX is 7-Free, Vegan friendly, and animal cruelty free, and while they're pretty pricey at $18/bottle, you are getting a full 0.5oz of guilt-free polish at that rate. It seems more and more brands are selling at this steeper price, but using bottles that are half this size...so in my opinion, the full size bottles make the price easier to swallow. Let's take a look!

China Glaze Lite Brites - Summer 2016 Collection: Swatches & Review

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Hiya, everyone!

Hope your week is going well :) I can't believe it's already Wedneday and that it's already almost MAY!? Where is the time running away to!? I'm getting married in almost 6 months and that is just INSANE to me. Someone come help me plan the rest of it?? :D

Today I've got swatches of the super fun China Glaze Summer 2016 Collection, Lite Brites! I honestly love swatching China Glaze's collections because they're always so beautiful together and create a cohesive and inspiring set of shades. This one absolutely has me excited for summer!

As always, I try to keep my swatches as true to color as possible, but keep in mind that some of these are bright neons and don't always translate well to photos. For reference, I shoot all my swatch photos under two 5500 K ottlight blubs directly onto my nail so different lighting will also affect the look of the photos.

Let's take a look and you'll have to tell me your favorite! :D

Delush - Spring to Conclusions Collection: Swatches, Review, & Nail Art

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Hello, all! I have the brand new Delush Spring to Conclusions collection to share with you today and I'm really excited about them! I wanted to get these up earlier but I've been under the weather all week and so out of it that I didn't get a chance to finish editing my photos until now...but I hope the wait was worth it! 

As usual, these Delush shades are lovely, with easy to work with formulas. I like how bright and cheery this collection is while still being very wearable outside of the season. And, since I always love the names that Adrianna chooses for her polishes, I did a bunch of nail art for all these! Let's dig in :) 

Zoya Naturel Satins - Transitional Winter/Spring 2015: Swatches & Review

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Hello, hello! Today I have the Zoya Satins Transitional Winter/Spring collection to share with you all! I've been home sick the last two days and feeling awful, but I figured it was the perfect opportunity to actually edit and post the collections I've swatched lately. 

When I first saw these polishes I squealed in delight...I mean, look at these lovelies! Everything from the color palette to the frosted bottles feels sophisticated and elegant and the satin finish on these lives up to that standard. I did struggle slightly with application when I first started using these. The first 3 polishes I'm showing caused some heartache when it came to application, but the last 3 were a breeze. I'm not sure if it was the individual polishes causing problems, or if there was a learning curve which made application at the end easier...either way, some people may struggle with the formula, other may not! 

NUBAR - Spring 2015, Pop Collection: Swatches & Review

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Hello, hello! I've got swatches of the new Nubar Pop! Collection for Spring to share with you all today! Nubar has been around for ages, but this is my first time trying them out and on the whole, I'm very impressed by the formulas on these! While some of these were "misses" for me personally, I find this to be a fun and unique take on the classic springs shades we so often see! One cool thing about this collection, it's available in both a classic polish, as well as in Nubar's Gelicure soak off gel polish.

For those who don't know (like I didn't!), Nubar is an incredibly conscious polish. Not only are they Big-5 Free, they're also a certified Vegan product and have the backing of PETA, guaranteeing no animals were used to test products. Definitely a plus in my book. 

Bonita Colors - Colorful Palette, The Artist Collection: Swatches, Review & Nail Art

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Hello, all! I have a fun fall collection to share today. Bonita Colors has released their Colorful Palette, The Artists collection and I'm really impressed with the shades and overall look of this collection. The love the inspiration behind each polish and it makes the historian and art lover in me squeal in delight. This 8 polish collection is comprised of 4 polishes that dry to an almost creme finish, whereas the other half dries to a satin finish and shows much more shimmer.

Let's take a look at the swatches (and nail art!) and you can decide how you like them! 

Mi Amor Polish - Swatches & Review

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Happy Monday! Today I have some swatches to share with you from an indie polish maker, Mi Amor Polish. If the name doesn't explain it enough, Mi Amor Polish was started by Courtney out of her love of nail polish, glitter, and her simple love of creating something beautiful. I've got several of her glitter toppers to share, so lets dig in!

Landlia Polish - Swatches & Review

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Hello, all! I'm sorry I've been lacking in posting. I've been...I'm not even sure what. Trying to find my sanity, perhaps? ;) But! Tonight I've got a great little indie brand to share with you all! 

Landlia Polish was created by the husband/wife duo, Shannon and Dustin, in an effort to create colors and finishes that weren't being produced by the big name brands...and I'm so jealous of this! I think we all know this frustration of not being able to find that perfect color and wish we could just make it ourselves. Thank goodness for indie makers like Landlia who help lazy bums like me fill out my collection with beautiful polishes. Shannon has been swatching on her Instagram @shan3270 for over a year so she knows what does and doesn't work when it comes to polishes...and she has some awesome nail art to boot :)

Christmas Tree

This was one of my favorites of the polishes I was sent. Christmas Tree is a green jelly with green hex, square, bar and micro glitters and has some large multi-colored round glitters mixed in as "ornaments" I'm assuming. I think this is such a fun polish for this time of year. The application was a breeze and easy to apply. The green jelly base of this polish is very sheer so I would definitely recommend using this over another polish, though I'm sure with enough patience you can build up the opacity and wear it on its own.

I decided to have some fun with this one so I did a green gradient as my base and put a coat of Christmas Tree on top of it, and yes, instant Christmas tree! My only complaint with this one was that I had to really fish the colored round glitter out as they sunk to the bottom.

One coat of Christmas Tree over a green gradient

Polish Addict Nail Color - Swatches & Review

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I hope everyone has survived the Black Friday, Small Business Saturday sales and is getting some rest for Cyber Monday ;) I know I had to use tremendous restraint to not buy every single nail polish I saw. 

My final set of swatches for the weekend madness is from Polish Addict Nail Color! These 4 polishes are all from the latest Winter/Christmas themed collection and are available now for $9/bottle :)

Toyland:

Toyland is a white crelly with TONS of different glitters in all shapes, sizes and colors and at first glance in the bottle I almost didn't see "Christmas/Winter" in this polish. But, after putting it on and seeing the wide range of glitter, it really does seem like a toyland. I really like creme colored base crellys and this is definitely a fun take on a winter themed polish. I used 3 thin coats to avoid my tips showing through. 

Laquerlicious - Swatches & Review

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Next up in our Black Friday Swatch-a-thon is Laquerlicious! If you've never heard of Laqerlicious and you're a glitter bomb lover, you're missing out. What's more, Michelle of Laquerlicious donates part of her earning to her local Pit Bull rescue. It's really a win-win for us - we get beautiful polishes, and some doggies help find homes. 

I've got the Winter 2013 collection to share, as well as 2 polishes from the New Year's Eve collection. We'll start with the Winter collection.

Winter 2013

All Bundled Up:

This is a deep royal purple packed full of silver and purple micro glitter. There is also a silvery shimmer undertone to this one. I really loved this polish. The glitter was subtle but gorgeous and good for someone who loves dark polishes and is looking for a bit more pizzazz. Shown is 2 coats (though it could have probably been 1!). 

Polishaus - Swatches & Review

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Hello, all! I'm sorry I've been a bit MIA the past few days. I've been busy with family activities, driving, and eating too much. I'm going to have a few major swatch posts to share with you all today since all of these lovely indie makers are having black friday sales and I figure it'll be nice to see some of their product. 

I'm starting off with some FABULOUS polishes from PolisHaus Lacquer. I was so pleasantly surprised by these polishes. I had heard of PolisHaus and had been following her on Instagram for awhile but had yet to try these so I was so excited to get to review them. 3 of these are glow in the dark as well :)

Renaissance Custom Lacquer - Swatches & Review

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Happy Saturday! Today I'm very excited to share with you all the very first set of polishes to come out of the newly founded indie polish line, Renaissance Custom Lacquer. Meghan of Will Paint Nails for Food and her sister Laura are the brains behind this company and I think they have done a fabulous job with their first endeavor into this area of the polish world. They've drawn inspiration from art, design, fashion and nature to create these polishes and I think it truly shows. This is a picture heavy post but I think it's worth it! ;)

I have 6 polishes to share - 4 are part of the first full collection, The Seasons, and the last 2 are stand alone colors.

China Glaze Autumn Nights Fall 2013 Swatches - Part 2: Gossip Over Gimlets

As promised, here is the second half of the China Glaze Autumn Nights Collection! This is definitely my favorite of the two halves - it has the only 2 cremes of the entire collection so I really can't say no to those ;) Let's dig in!

Gossip Over Gimlets

The name sake for this side of the collection, Gossip Over Gimlets is a platinum foil with bits of tiny gold flecks. The gold is very subtle but once you notice it, you'll love this polish even more. The formula is a bit on the watery side, but it's still opaque in 2 coats. 

China Glaze Autumn Nights Fall 2013 Swatches - Part 1: Strike Up A Cosmo

Hello, All! Today I've got the first part of the China Glaze Fall Autumn Nights Collection to share with you all. I hadn't seen much on this collection prior to purchasing this, so I figured I'd splurge on it and share them all with you! Here is the first side of the collection - Strike Up A Cosmo

Strike Up A Cosmo

Strike Up A Cosmo is my definite favorite from this side. It is a pink foil loaded with gold flecks. It's really quite stunning. The formula is great and shown is 2 coats. 

Zoya Pixie Dust Fall 2013 Swatches

Happy Thursday, Everyone! I'm still feeling pretty lousy and hoping that I'll be on the up and up by tomorrow. For now, I've got some swatches to share with you all! I splurged and bought the entire fall Pixie Dust collection from Zoya a few weeks ago and thought I'd share my experience with them here with you all. It's a picture heavy post to hang in there!

Belle of the ball

So I'm actually in Yosemite right now, but I figure I should be a good blogger and schedule some posts for while I'm gone! Sometimes when I'm not feeling up to doing nail art, having a nice and well made indie polish with loads of lovely glitter in it is a great thing to fall back on. 

Belle made my The Hungry Asian is definitely one of those polishes that you can go to with ease. I really love how feminine and simple this polish is. 

 Belle has small pink hex glitter with some copper hex glitter mixed into a sheer milky base. This was about 3 coats to opacity and I'm sure if you layered this over a white first the coats would be reduced. Overall, this is yet another great polish from THA. Great application, little to no fishing for glitter, and an all around great polish. 

Coco Allure Snap Dragon Swatch and Review

Good evening everyone! In the world of nail polish, I think everyone would agree that aside from all of our polish drying up, breaking a nail is without a doubt our biggest fear. And that happened to me today :( quick, someone play me the world's smallest violin! 

Breaking my nail may have no real world implications, it is still pretty darn frustrating! I was cleaning my house (gasp!) and I look down to see a CHUNK of the nail on my index finger just missing. Yes, a chunk. WHAT? And, of course it's on my left hand so I can't just pretend it didn't happen. That will teach me to clean again! ;) Nail art sort of left the picture after I trimmed my nails down so I moved on to my second love - indie polish!

China Glaze Creative Fantasy Swatches

After I finished my smooch mani tonight, the boyfriend disappeared again into the depths of the garage, only to reappear holding what is apparently another part of my Valentine's gift. Can it be the 14th yet so I can see whatever else he has hiding back there!?! He was pretty excited to give me China Glaze's Creative Fantasy and I was even more excited to receive it! It is such an incredible royal purple that has a very unique formula. I was going to try and hold off on swatching this since I JUST did my previous mani, but I honestly couldn't wait to try this out. It took me 3-ish coats to get to this opacity, and though in the pictures it still looks a bit sheer, in person it's hard to tell. This is definitely more jelly than opaque. I added a top coat to this because I'm impatient, but it has a really neat rubbery finish that is very unique. I'm just incredibly excited about this purple!! :D