Review - Ellagee Trio

Today I have some amazing Ellagee polishes to share with you! Creator of Ellagee, Laura, asked me to review some of her polishes and I was giddy with excitement. (The puppy who pees on the floor when excited....that was me lol)

She sent one polish from three of her collections, White Lace and Promises, Dolphins! What? and Bejeweled. Dolphins! What? is one of her newest collections and made a huge splash in the indie world. (pun intended) If you missed out on seeing some of these great memes check them out here, here, here.

Life Is De Bubbles is from the Dolphins! What? Collection. Pink, blue, purple and iridescent "bubbles" float inside this baby blue jelly base. Silver holographic dolphins make this a super special polish! This polish is quite sheer so the following pictures have 3 coats with topcoat.

The following picture has one coat of Essie Matte About You along with a solid blue accent nail.

A Kiss for Luck is from the White Lace and Promises Collection. This is a clear base with white and iridescent glitters of different sizes. This glitter topper was jam packed with glitter without being overbearing. The base wasn't thick or gloopy and gave the perfect amount of coverage with one coat. This is one coat, plus Essie Matte About You, over a maroon and black base. The colors coming off these flakies is absolutely gorgeous!

Ocean Jewels is from the Bejeweled Collection. This textured glitter is technically in a clear base (but you don't see it at all). It's completely filled with blue, turquoise, aqua, purple, violet and golden glitter pieces. There are holographic glitters mixed in to provide the perfect amount of sparkle! With 2 coats you get almost full coverage. I've decided to use this glitter on my tips for a glitter gradient over an aqua base coat. My ring finger has two medium coats of Ocean Jewels. Dry time was a bit long on this considering the amount of glitter but that's to be expected. The polish was quite thick but not difficult to apply.

These polishes give you an idea of the range provided by indie brand Ellagee. From special glitter polishes to holographic shimmers there's definitely something for everyone. I was extremely impressed by the quality of the polishes, the sweet little packaging and the label. Little things like a professional bottles/labels, etc. make it seem that much more special to me.

You can pick up polishes from many different collections on the Ellagee website for roughly $9.50 USD. All polish is vegan friendly, cruelty free and free of toluene, formaldehyde, dibutyl phthalate and camphor.

Make sure to follow Ellagee on Facebook and Instagram to keep up with her most recent creations!

~Linda


*Products were provided for review. This review includes only my honest opinions.*

China Glace Ombre Chevron

Hello my dearest addicts...today I have a quickie post showing you a simple little ombe chevron I did the other night. I recently picked up China Glaze To Yacht to Handle and about died on the spot. It's the perfect bright blue turquoise polish. It's got a neon aspect to it that is simply fantastic. I decided to pull out CG Four Leaf Clover, Turned Up Turqouise, For Audrey and NOPI Teal Me Something New and play around. (To Yacht to Handle is on my index and pinky fingers at the tip of my nails)

This resulted in a semi ombre chevron mani where I tried to make the chevron sections bigger on each nail. It kinda seems like my ring finger and pinky are the same size, but you can definitely see the size difference from my index to middle to ring fingers.

Anywho...nothing special but it was nice and bright and did the trick.

Thanks for stopping by!

~Linda

Rainbow Honey Magic Cake

Hello lacquer lovers!

If March is your birthday month, then Happy Birthday! Let's have some Birthday Cake...or maybe some Magic Cake!

This is one of Rainbow Honey's glitter toppers that was part of The Summer of 199X Collection (Part 2). It's designed to make you a feel like a wild child. It's filled with pink, blue, yellow and lime green neon glitter pieces that could be considered matte since it's not super shiny or reflective at all. There are also some little iridescent flakes mixed into the clear base to compliment the square and hexagon glitter.

This polish was my gateway into Spring. I'm ready...bring it on!

This is two coats of RH Magic Cake over NOPI Teal Me Something New and Essie Matte About You.

I had no problem getting the glitter out of the bottle and didn't notice excess base causing a long dry time (which is sometimes one of the things I hate most about glitters). The glitter laid nice and flat and didn't seem to bunch up on the nail. Overall, my kind of glitter :)

You can still pick up Magic Cake here and the full sized bottle runs you $10 USD.

Be sure to follow Rainbow Honey's social media sites to keep up with some of their new releases. Or even some old ones you might not have known about.

Twitter: @Rainbow_Honey
Facebook: Rainbow Honey
Instagram: Rainbowhoney

Thanks for stopping by!

~Linda

(Product was provided for review but all opinions are my own)

Kelvin Bleu Upgrade

Hello fellow junkies!! I recently showed you Polished by KPT Kelvin Bleu, a scattered holographic thermal that knocked my socks off and kept me entertained for hours. Well, as promised, I revamped my mani after a couple of days because I really didn't want to take it off but wanted to do my nails. lol

It's pretty basic but it did the trick. Also, there was a small amount of sunlight peaking through that day, so I got the holographic sparkle to appear for a brief debut. While it's not a super intense holo it's definitely evident and these pictures do not do it justice.

Gosh I cannot wait for Spring to show you how beautiful some of these recent holos actually are! Let's hope it comes sooner than later since I can't deal with negative degrees any longer.

Thanks for stopping by

~Linda

Polished by KPT Holographic Thermal - Kelvin Bleu

Today I have my very first thermal polish to share with you. I've been seeing some amazing holographic thermals out there lately which all led back to a new-to-me indie brand; Polished by KPT. Soo many choices! Well, I fell in love with this gorgeous blurple shade named Kelvin Bleu that shifts from a light pale blue when warm to rich blue with gorgeous purple undertones when cold. This color is AmaZing!

The rich blue on the left is Kelvin Bleu in it's cold state and the pale blue on the right is in it's warm state. When running your hands under hot water the tips almost go white, but I couldn't seem to get that photographed since once you pull your hands out it changes back to the pale blue very quickly.

There are multiple shades of blue between the warm and cold states and it's very cool to see your hands at various stages of warm to cold throughout the day. I've tried to take as many pictures as possible to show you the variety. Either way.....all shades are gorgeous. Lots of pictures below...enjoy!

This animated picture show the color change after dipping my cold hands into some warm water (for my thumb, index and middle finger). The shots show the natural color change of the warm water wearing off and my hands returning to their natural cold state.

For these pictures, I was using water to change the temperature of the tips of my nails from cold to warm or vice versa. (I actually started to get prune hands at one point..lol)

So my very first holographic thermal did not disappoint and neither did the quality of Polished by KPT nail lacquer. The consistency was nice and thick, but no where near gloopy, so it was pretty much opaque in 2 normal coats. There was no obnoxious scent and surprisingly I noticed that the holographic prisms were more visible with top coat. As you can notice my pictures do not show the holo very much but in the sun they are much much more prevalent! A medium grade holographic effect in my opinion. I will have some nail art coming up very soon with this polish and in those pictures you will see the holo much better!

I picked up Kelvin Bleu on Polished by KPTs BigCartel site here. It was $12 plus very reasonable shipping. Make sure to stop by and see some of her other gorgeous creations.

Thanks for stopping by!

~Linda

ILNP Ultra Chrome Gradient

Hello my dears, today I have one of my absolute favorite manicures to show you.

I found ILNP a while back and have been growing my collection quickly! And by quickly I mean 3 or 4 polishes from each of her collections. Barbara makes some of the most amazing polishes I've ever seen! Today I will be showing you three of her Ultra Chromes that were released in 2013: Mutagen, Cygnus Loop and Birefringence.

Mutagen is a chrome polish that shifts from vibrant green, blue, red, orange and slightly greenish gold depending on the angle of your fingertips.

Birefringence shifts through various shades of blue and purple, to red, orange and sometimes even yellow.

Cygnus Loop shifts from bright purple to orange, yellow and green.

All are formulated without the need for a base color with full coverage in 2 coats, however I always find that black undies work best and prefer to use that in order to use less of my precious polish.

All photos are taken indoors under artificial light and have one coat of black undies and top coat. The gradient starts with Mutagen at the cuticle and then Birefringence and Cygnus Loop closest to the tip.

When moving your hands at different angles under the light, the color shifts are quite prevalent. All three shifting at the same time is quite amazing!

I love this picture because you can actually see bright green, blue and purple on my thumb then half green half teal, pinkish purple and royal purple on my other fingers. Possibly even a little orange on the left side of my pinky. The photo is a little washed out, but the color shifts are stunning in real life!

At times, it appeared as though there were 6 different colors on my nails at once. I'm wearing this mani as I type up this post and I honestly can not stop looking at my hands.

ILNP has a wide variety of polishes from cremes and glitters to amazing holographics (and Ultra Holos!!!) to Ultra Chromes. You can shop Barbara's store at www.ILNP.com but be warned....do not visit when you are on a no-buy! You will break it, and be ashamed of yourself at how weak you are.

There are 4 new Ultra Chromes with her new Spring 2014 Collection along with some sweet pastel holos and ultra holos. I picked up a few and cannot wait to show you what I'm sure will be more amazing color shifting beauties and holo magic.

Thanks for stopping by!

~Linda

Pretty Jelly Diamond S-teal-er

Today I have a polish from the indie polish maker Pretty Jelly. I found them on Etsy while browsing for some new homemade polish and instantly knew I had to buy some of their vivid holographics. I picked up Diamond S-teal-er for it's beautiful blue/teal color and linear holographic.

They promote that their polishes are opaque in 2-3 coats and they don't lie. I had full coverage with 2 thin coats.

Sunlight (through window)

The consistency was thin but easy to work with since it doesn't drag the way Layla sometimes does. Some of the thinner holographics dry too fast and then it drags, or too slow and it's in line with normal polish. I absolutely love that the dry time for holos is much much shorter, so Diamond S-teal-er was perfect in my opinion!

My sunlight is scarce since it's been snowing since I can remember but I tried to get a photo through the window to show a better idea of the holo. My pictures don't do it justice. While it's not the most intense holo (like Lyla) it's definitely a stronger holo than a-england. I'd call it a medium holo, but again, the color pay-off is great!

These holographic polishes are 5 Free and cruelty free. I had to limit myself but there are there 2 other beauties I will hopefully get my hands on soon. Stop by and see what you're missing!  Diamond S-teal-er is a 15ml bottle for $10 and can be picked up here at their Etsy Shop.

Thanks for stopping by!

~Linda

Rainbow Honey Bubble Beam

Rainbow Honey can make some gorgeous toppers!! My all time favorite RH is The Worst Possible Thing and Bubble Beam is right behind it!

Bubble Beam has a bright blue jelly base with iridescent flakes, multichromatic flakies, glitter and shimmer shining brightly from within.

I added a layer of Essie Matte About You to allow those individual flakes to get some special attention.

This is two thin coats of Bubble Beam over Sinful Colors Endless Blue plus one coat of Matte About You.

Did you get your hands on this Limited Edition polish? How does it rank in your collection of Rainbow Honey polishes?

~Linda

Julep Sea Salt Finish - Tracy

Julep jumped on board with the textured polishes and has pumped out a few polishes with what they call a sea salt finish. I recently snatched up one that was a bit different from the others, which has a grainy texture with bits of sparkle that seemed reminiscent of the Zoya Pixie Dusts. Their others seemed more comparable with the Milani texture line.

This is Tracey, a sparkly ocean blue polish with their 'sea salt finish'. I loved that this color seemed to have a bit of different blue colors within it. It looked quite different in the sunlight than in the shade but I was loving both.

Outdoors - Shade

Outdoors - Sunlight

Outdoors - Shade

Tracy has a deep rich color and the sparkle was pretty prevalent as well. This was the only textured polish I've purchased from Julep but I would be happy to purchase more if they have this same texture versus their others.

Thanks for stopping by!

~Linda

Cirque Epoch

Hello my lovelies!

During my last trip to NYC for work, I made a point to head over the a boutique (International Playground) to get some Cirque polishes. I ended up getting three while there and all of them are fantastic.

This is Epoch, whose main color is teal but she changes to blue and purple at different angles. Epoch in the bottle is fantastic, there's this purple ring around the outside of the bottle that let's you know she's going to be gorgeous.

This is two coats of Epoch over 1 coat of OPI Black Onyx.

Oddly enough the purple didn't show all that much for me on the nail. There were gorgeous shade shifts between dark teal and blue but the purple was a dark vampy purple versus a bright grape purple. It's also beautiful how the color seems to have a dark ring around the edges of the nail. This is such a fascinating effect that I rarely see in a polish color that I love.

This was the first Cirque polish I've tried and the quality is definitely fantastic. Great brush and the consistency was perfect. Dry time was actually pretty quick as well.

Cirque polishes can be bought at a handful of boutiques around NYC or you can purchase them online here. This polish was $13 USD while some of her holographic and other specialty polishes can run a little higher at $15 USD.

I have 2 holographic polishes to share with you as well, so don't go far!

Thanks for stopping by!

~Linda

KKCenterHK - N.NAIL Square Studs Review

Hi guys!

I've been contacted by KKCenterHK, a cosmetic supply company located in Hong Kong, to do a review of a few of their products. I chose today's item from their huge selection of nail studs that can be found here. These 3mm laser purple studs are from the N.Nail manufacturer and are quite beautiful. They have little holographic circles within the stud that shine from different angles and can really catch the light. If you've got your own link to this site you can search for product # NNAIL-DRN656.

The package came with about 50 little pieces in a zipper bag which I thought was nice since you won't have to find a new home for these guys after you open it once. They cost about $4.73 USD and their shipping is pretty reasonable. (It would be $0.84 USD for this item.)  Keep in mind it's coming from Hong Kong so it will take a while to arrive.

These babies have to be made of some sort of thin metal since I was easily able to bend in the edges a bit to keep them from looking raised off the nail. Okay Okay onto how I transformed these light seeking missiles.

 

This was two coats of Julep Dianna with a taped off diamond of Zoya Robyn. While the nail polish was still tacky, I used tweezers to get the N.Nail studs lined up and dropped them on. They were repositionable to an extent without ruining my paint job. The whole look was covered with a thick coat of Seche Vite.

Overall I loved these studs! I didn't have any issues getting them to stay on my nail even just adding them on top of tacky nail polish although I know for extra stability you can apply with a little bit of top coat. I also loved that you could bend them a bit if you have a high arch to your nail, and the purple color is great.

These pics were taken indoors so I noticed that the color reflections of the studs was nicer outside however we haven't had any sun in a while *sigh*

This was the first product I've tried from KKCenterHK and was very impressed. Their selection is great and pricing is comparable across the internet. Definitely check out their site and take the plunge to expand you nail art selections or even other beauty items.

They've been kind enough to provide a 10% discount code for my readers! Just enter the code ' NYMN ' at checkout to get the discount!

Have a great week lovelies!

~Linda


*This product has been provided for my honest review. Links are to a 3rd party website*

Aly's Dream Polish

Hi ladies, Today I've finally got a chance to swatch some of Aly's Dream Polish because the sun decided to make an appearance...yay!!! It was an absolutely gorgeous day here so after spending most of the morning outside cleaning the yard, the garage, our patio, setting up the badminton set and lawn chairs...phew...I got some polish time!

I have two holographic polishes from Aly's Dream Polish Euphoria Collection in Intense Blurple #58 and Blue Lapis #59.

Intense Blurple #58 is a gorgeous shade of...you guessed it...bluish purple. It mostly looks purple with that blue base color that hints through. I honestly don't have any other polish that I can compare this to. It's a very pretty color. This is two coats with topcoat taken in sunlight.

The holographic effect on both of these polishes are pretty darn good. It's not comparable to the quality of Layla or Color Club Halo Hues but it's definitely strong enough to never have to say..."Well if I turn my hand this way you can see it". (I cannot be the only one who has said this) I had no problem seeing the holo inside or outside, but oddly enough I noticed that the holo effect was stronger when I had a topcoat on.

Indoor - Daylight Bulb

Indoor - Daylight Bulb

Blue Lapis #59 is nice dark, rich shade of cobalt blue. On her Storenvy shop the picture seemed a bit lighter and more purple based but I do actually like this color. This is two coats without any topcoat taken in sunlight.

Indoors - Daylight Bulb

Aly's Dream Polish Euphoria Collection can be purchased on her Storenvy shop and costs $12 for the full sized 15 ml bottles. All their lacquers are made with cosmetic grade materials, polish friendly ball bearings and are free of dibutyl phthalate (DBP), camphor, toluene and formaldehyde (A.K.A 4 Free). All materials sourced are Cruelty Free.

Have you purchased any Aly's Dream Polish yet?  What's your favorite color that you've gotten?

~Linda