L'oreal Duo

Today's mani features two shades of L'oreal; one from their Extraordinaire Gel-Lacque line and one from their textured Gold Dust line. I actually haven't jumped on the gel nail polish trend because I hate having to actually work at taking off my polish. I saw Meant To Be and loved it! It's nothing like the colors I normally wear, but I still had to have it. I didn't want to pay $15 for the special base and top coats that go with the Gel-Lacque line, so I decided to get it anyways and just try my hand at some base/top coats I already have. I didn't have to try hard, I used Sinfulcolors basecoat and Sally Hansen Big Shiny Top Coat and it looks perfect.

This is 2 coats of Meant To Be and accent nails using Sexy in Sequins, a textured polish. 

Sexy in Sequins is a dusty grape purple textured polish with gold shimmer that flashes pink. The larger light purple hexagonal glitter adds an extra layer of texture. It's similar to Zoya PixieDusts with maybe just a little extra grit. 

Meant To Be is close to a raspberry wine color that can almost look pinkish under certain light while a richer burgundy color under other light. It's a quite complex color that is simply amazing.  The following picture was taken in my kitchen under normal household lighting, while the above pictures were using OttLites and my lightbox. Meant To Be is much more pink or raspberry red in this picture. (Also - this picture was taken 2 mornings after doing my nails....you can see some light scuffs in the top coat on my middle finger, but otherwise, very minimal tip wear)

Meant To Be has one coat of Sally Hansen Big Shiny Top Coat over it and it really does give an amazing gel like shine. I haven't used this top coat with any other polish yet, so I'm not sure if it's simply how amazing this new top coat is or if it's reacting perfectly with the Gel-Lacque polish. Either way, after two 10 hour days typing on a computer among the other daily stuff, it still looks shiny and there practically no tip wear!  

I'm curious to know - have you used any of the L'oreal Gel-Lacque polishes? What about the other brands of gels, do you think it's worth the money to buy the lamp and special polishes and the time to cure it and remove it? 

~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 Sweet Talk Review

Rainbow Honey is re-releasing their Sweet Talk Collection this Friday, 1/31/14! If you missed out on the collection the first time around here's your chance to get in on the action. RH also has 2 new additions to the collection: Lovebug and My Girl.

I actually didn't order any of the Sweet Talk Collection and regretted it instantly...But...Rainbow Honey has sent me Sweet Talk and XOXO to review. *Jumps up and down*

Sweet Talk has a milky white base and is full of baby pink blossoms and purple glitter with iridescent and shimmery glitters. I found that the white base was actually slightly tinted pink which actually worked with the glitter pieces. This is 3 thin coats of Sweet Talk with topcoat.

XOXO has golden shimmer in a clear base along with gold, multi color pink and red glitter pieces. This is packed with perfect glitter pieces. There was no digging what-so-ever with this. I actually think this is the best glitter topper I've ever used. I'm not one for pink or gold really, but this is absolutely beautiful.

This is 2 thin coats of XOXO over various base colors: Gold, White, Coral and Raspberry Red. My ring finger has 2 coats of XOXO only.

You can pick up the Sweet Talk Collection this Friday 1/31 on their website and be sure to follow them on Facebook.

Thanks for stopping by!

~Linda

*Products were provided to me for my honest review. All opinions are my own*

Holo Hearts

Hello ladies! Life has been crazy to say the least but I'm getting back into a steady stream of free time to spend as I please.  That means more nail polish!

I've got a quick post today sharing some lovely holographic polish I bought for cheap off Amazon. Nabi Hologram is the brand but their names are not very original...at all. Teal is the name of the base color with lime green hearts in Green. The polish didn't drag and two coats of the teal provided full coverage. 

I'll have some new fun polish to show you soon. I'd really love it if you could leave some comments as to what you would like to see!

Thanks for stopping by

~Linda

Candy Corn and Pumpkins

Hi Ladies!

Today I'm popping in with a quick Fall/Halloween mani that I did for my mother-in-law. Halloween is next week....have you chosen your costume yet? How about your festive manicure?

My mother-in-law wanted some pumpkins and I added some candy corn accents to make them more festive. Seems to have done the trick.

I started with two coats of Julep Parker on all nails except for the ring finger. This bright orange creme is the base color for her nails. For the pumpkins, I used some Migi fine tip Nail Art Pens to draw the outline of the pumpkin and the green vines. I used Sinful Colors Courtney Orange to fill in the pumpkin, and Zoya Cheryl for the brown stem.

For the candy corns accents I started with two coats of Milani White On The Spot (WOTS), then used WOTS along with an Orange and Yellow polish in the Nail Art Pens for the gradient. I used a simple make-up sponge and painted directly on it. Use the sponge to dab the colors on the nail until you've gotten the desired look.

So what do you think about this mani? Something you would wear for a holiday type look prior to Halloween?

Thanks for stopping by!

~Linda

Rainbow Honey The Final Battle

Rainbow Honey has shared a few polishes from their most recent Collection, The Final Battle. The Final Battle consists of 15 new shades inspired by Square Enix's Final Fantasy VII.

Available in 3 Parts, there is a wide variety of shades that are sure to please! Glitter toppers, shimmers, sparkles and holographics are all over the place.

Rainbow Honey sent me Sapphire Weapon, Lifestream and Hellfire. Each comes from one of the 3 Parts.

Lifestream comes from Part I - The Battle. It's a pale green and white glitter topper with lots of shimmer and bar glitter in a clear base. There are hints of blue and purple in the shimmer that really pops when layered over black. This is 2 coats of OPI Black Onyx with one coat of Lifestream. The glitter laid flat and the even coverage was quite impressive. I think this may have been my favorite. :)

From Part II - The Summons, I received Hellfire which has a holographic flash full of red and gold squares, bars and golden stars in a clear base. This is one coat of Hellfire over OPI Black Onyx. Hellfire has a lot going on! This glitter was on the thick side and didn't provide even coverage. There was also a lot of bar glitter that did pile up a bit when I wasn't very careful with application. However, I did find the color combination to be very nice.

From Part III - The Weapons, I have Sapphire Weapon, a deep navy blue with green and gold shimmer that was quite present when in the sun! Sapphire Weapon deepened in color when indoors, but almost had a brightness outside in the sun. The shimmer was gorgeous and made this quite a unique polish.

The entire Final Battle Collection is available at rainbowhoney.com along with their retail partners across the globe. The entire collection will set you back $120 or you can get each part which consists of 5 different colors for $45. Individual full size bottles are $10 USD.

Stop by and pick up your favorites. Also - Don't forget to stop by and 'Like' Rainbow Honey on Facebook.

Thanks for stopping by!

~Linda

*Products were provided for review. All opinions are my own.*

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

Hits Phenomena

I love color shifting polish as long as it's well made, and today I have another HITS polish to share with you. HITS Phenomena is a multi color glitter in a clear base which shifts from purple to blue to green with various shades of each color. I've layered Phenomena over two coats of Essence Black is Back.

Phenomena easily changed between different shades of purple but was a bit camera shy when turning green. My overall thoughts?...HITS worked it out again.

What do you think of color shifting polishes?  If you're a fan you'll want to make sure you come back in the week to come because I have some beautiful I Love Nail Polish Ultra Chrome polishes that have some amazing color shifting qualities!

~Linda

Hare Polish Hooky At The Hamlet

I'm digging deep into my untrieds box for this baby. I saw Hare Polish Hooky At The Hamlet randomly one day while doing some online browsing and had to have it. After receiving it, it wasn't quite as vibrant as expected but still a good lookin polish.

This is actually 2 coats of Funky Fingers Wild Child and two coats of Hare Polish Hooky At The Hamlet.

Artificial Light

Sunlight

I decided to add Essie Matte About You and I loved the look!

Application was good although a bit sheer so using some undies really helped develop color without a ton of coats. The dry time was relatively normal, nothing too quick and the consistency was nice.

You can get Hare Polish at her Etsy shop or there are a few online retailers that carry it.

Thanks for stopping by!

~Linda