ILNP Charmingly Purple

I have another beautiful holo from the ILNP's spring collection today. I'm so impressed with these, as they are the first pastel holos I've ever owned. I was always wanting pastel holos, and ILNP nailed these (pun intended)! I have 5 from the collection already, but I'll definitely be picking up some others I missed later on. This next one is a gorgeous purple. 

Charmingly Purple

Charmingly Purple is a bright lavender holo.

Color: Beautiful shade of purple. I absolutely love lavender shades. This color is soft, but saturated. The holo pairs nicely with the base.

Formula: Excellent easy to apply formula. I used 3 coats.

Price: This is $10.00 on ILNP's website. 

Overall: This is one of those polishes I feel speaks for itself. I'm not sure I can add much to enhance how beautifully awesome it is. I think you will be impressed with Charmingly Purple if you purchase for yourself.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Happy Friday! 

Throwback Thursday: China Glaze Rose Among Thorns

You might need sunglasses to view this one!

Summer is all about neons, and I have a China Glaze one for you! This is actually one of the first polishes I ever purchased when I got into nail polish in 2008, well not this specific bottle. I foolishly swapped this one away awhile ago thinking I didn't need it, wrong. I went to Sally's recently, spotted this, and decided I need to reunite with my old eye blinding friend. 

Rose Among Thorns

Rose Among Thorns is a extremely neon bright in your face rose pink neon. 

Color: This is neon. There isn't any doubt about it. This is very saturated neon, this polish isn't fooling. I love this shade of pink.

Collection: INK Summer 2008

Formula: The formula on this isn't my favorite. I used 4 coats above. The formula is a bit streaky and patchy on the first 2 coats. I think you may struggle with this one if you have longer nails and issues with VNL. This isn't a creme formula, but it's not 100% jelly either, it's somewhere in between. 

Price: This is part of China Glaze's core line and can be found at Ulta or Sally's in the $6-$8 range. 

Overall: This is a great neon pink, it's not a shy color, and will satisfy your neon pink cravings. The formula is a little tricky, but I still like it. 

My Rating: 4 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Happy Thursday! 

Pahlish Black Lace Elderberry

I have a pretty indie polish by Pahlish to share with you today. This one had been on my wishlist for a long time, and was gifted to me by a friend a little while ago. I love polish presents! Who doesn't?

Black Lace Elderberry

Black Lace Elderberry is a rich grape purple jelly with tiny red metallic flakes and orange hex glitters.

Color: I really love the use of purple and orange together in this polish. The orange really pops nicely against the rich purple, and warms the whole polish up. The red flakes also add dimension and depth.

Formula: This is a sheerer jelly-like formula. I used 4 coats here, but you could get away with 3. I preferred a more opaque look with this polish. I did not have any issues with application.

Price: This is $9.00 on the Pahlish website.

Overall: Black Lace Elderberry is a rich and complex polish. The color combination is unexpected which makes it unique. This is a really nice polish. I don't own anything else like it.

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Happy Tuesday!

Revlon Lana'i Lagoon

I have another one of the Revlon Haute Rocks Pebbled Texture polishes to share with you today. I suggest if you missed last week's post on Moroccan Oasis you head on over there. I explain thoroughly my issue with this line, and why I'm choosing to share them differently. Bottom line, I personally find these perform better as glitter toppers, rather than textures.

Lana'i Lagoon over Revlon Coastal Surf

Lana'i Lagoon is a sheer milky base with light blue, dark, blue, and micro silver glitters.

Color: This is a beautiful mix of blue glitters. I love the color of this glitter. It's hard to go wrong with blue glitter with me.

Formula: Again, I had the same results with Moroccan Oasis. The glitter here is heavier than the base, so I was getting significantly more base on my nail than glitter. I used 2 coats over a base above. This also dries so lumpy, dull, and ugly looking I had to put top coat on it. It does not have a nice textured finish like other textured polishes.

Price: I paid around $5-$6 for this at CVS.

Overall: I love this as a glitter topper. This is beautiful that way. As a Pebbled Texture, I appreciate Revlon's effort in trying to dabble in texture polishes, but they really didn't create a user friendly texture polish. The base needs to be able to support the glitter, and it's just not doing that. This makes it a royal pain to achieve the look they've suggested.

My Rating:

As a Pebbled Texture 0.5 out of 5 

As a Glitter Topper 4.5 out of 5

Happy Monday!

Sally Hansen Twinkled Pink

Summer is when I like to break out the glitter top coats. Who am I kidding? I always like to break out glitter top coats! Seriously though, I find in spring I do more creme manis, and by time summer rolls around I'm all about glitter. I have pretty glitter part of the new Sally Hansen Triple Shine line to share with you today.

Twinkled Pink over China Glaze Escaping Reality

Twinkled Pink is a sheer pink base with gold iridescent glitters, silver glitters, and iridescent microglitters.

Color: This is a gorgeous color combination of glitters. This looks like a sunset in a bottle to me! I love the combination of the iridescent gold with the silver. I don't have glitter topper like this.

Formula: I used 2 coats over a base here. The formula was smooth and easy to apply, but I so wish this glitter packed more of a punch. This is very pretty, but a slightly more dense glitter would of been better.

Price: I paid around $4-$5 for this at Walgreens.

Overall: This is beautiful combination of glitters, that adds a really extra sparkly touch to your nails. The glitter could a little bit denser for me, but I still really like this one.

My Rating 4 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Happy Friday!

Throwback Thursday: KBShimmer Totally Tubular

How about a trip back into summer 2013? I know we've all become familiar with KBShimmer's early summer releases for this year, but last year KBShimmer was rocking it for summer too. This shade was part of the collection last year, and it's not one you want to forget about!

Totally Tubular

Totally Tubular is a bright turquoise blue-green crelly with blue, aqua, and fuchsia glitters.

Color: Gorgeous color! I love a great tropical ocean blue-green for summer. The glitter in this is compliments the base perfectly.

Collection: KBShimmer Summer 2013

Formula: The formula on this was good. I used 3 coats in this swatch. I will say I found it a little difficult to get the larger glitters on the nail.

Price: This is $8.75 on the KBShimmer website.

Overall: Awesome ocean-like fun blue for summer. The color is great and the glitter makes it pop. The formula is good, but I wish I could of got some more of the larger glitters on my nail. That was definitely not a deal-breaker though, and I think this would be an awesome addition to your summer polish stash.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Happy Thursday!

Way-Cool Mani Wednesday: Lake & Sun

Summer has arrived in Florida, weather wise at least. I know some would argue it is summer 365 days a year in Florida, but to Floridians, I think once temperatures start to surpass the 85 degree mark, it's summer. It's been hitting over 85 since April, not every single day, but most days. I love my air conditioning. I will be spending most of my summer indoors if possible! I have a cool blue mani to share with you today that I think fits the summery bill. 

Polishes Used: Sinful Colors Grecian Sun & Elevation Polish Lake Achit

This is simple layering mani today, but I love this fun glitter combo. Actually, I was planning on doing a review post of Elevation Lake Achit,  but I found out it was discontinued, so I decided to do it for a Way-Cool Mani post instead! 

Happy Wednesday! 

ILNP Princeton

I'm declaring mint and sea foam green my color for summer. I typically gravitate towards certain shades every season. I'm already eyeing lots of mint colors and pre-planning mint manis. One mint polish I've always wanted in my nail polish collection was a mint holo. Thanks to ILNP, I have a mint holo this year!

Princeton

Princeton is a pastel mint green holo.

Color: This is mint perfection. I love the shade of mint this is, and the biggest bonus is how balanced it is with the holographic effect. I've seen some color holos where the silvery holo effect really grays out and dulls the base color. This does not happen with Princeton at all, the base and holo live in perfect harmony!

Formula: Excellent easy to apply and use formula. I used 3 coats above.

Price: This is $10 on the ILNP website.

Overall: Princeton is an excellent polish! I love the color and the formula. I'm very impressed! This certainly will be in my minty summer rotation! In fact, I think this one may earn a spot in my Top 25 of 2014. I've put it on my list of contenders, which to me makes it a must have.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Do you have color you think you'll be gravitating towards this summer?

Happy Monday!

Revlon Moroccan Oasis

I first heard about the Revlon Haute Rocks collection on Nouveau Cheap. I instantly was drawn to the concept and colors. These were labeled as Pebbeled Textures. I thought these were a cool idea, and a little different from the other textures we see. I felt this way until I saw swatches. These are in my opinion lumpy dumpy messes the way they were intended, however, I still wanted to try them myself and make them work.

I think these fail at being "Pebbled Textures", because the base formula is sheer and doesn't support the base whatsoever. On that account, Revlon fails, but I made these work as glitter toppers, and I think they look great that way. Some people could get these to work in a few coats on their own, but I did not have any luck at all that way. 

Moroccan Oasis over Revlon Modern Grace

Moroccan Oasis is a sheer milky base with periwinkle, greenish-gold, blue, and holographic white glitters.

Color: The color of this glitter is great. This is why I was attracted to this and others in this collection. The color combination in this glitter is soft and pretty.

Formula: As you can see in the bottle, the glitters in this are heavier than the base. This base is very watery, and I found I always got significantly more base on my brush/nails than glitter. The application wasn't disastrous, but I could not get this to build on my nail smoothly or nicely without looking messy. I used 2 thin coats over the base above, and honestly I think this result is nice. I also top coated this as well, these dry really waxy, and I find it looks really unappealing. Also, these are not "textured" as other textured polishes. The glitter gives it dimension, but doesn't really have that textured feel. 

Price: I paid around $5-$6 for this at CVS.

Overall: This is a tough. The way I chose to use these, I think they're great. I actually love this polish that way. If these were labeled glitter toppers, I'd give this a 5 star glowing review. These are meant to be textures and used on their own though. The way they were intended I could not even get to work for me, nor did they look nice that way at all. You may have better results than me, but I'm going to pretend these are glitter toppers and move on from "Pebbled Texture" aspect! 

My Rating:

As Pebbled Textures 0.5 out of 5 Paint Splatters

As Glitter Toppers 5 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Happy Monday! 

KBShimmer Early Summer 2014 (6 of 12)

*I received the following products from KBShimmer in exchange for my honest review.

I have for you today some of the nail polishes from KBShimmer's Early Summer release. Yes, Early Summer release, which means there will be another collection coming out later this summer! You can never have enough of KBShimmer! This collection is a mix of a holos, cremes, and textured glitters. This collection will be available for purchase May 23rd.

PT Young Thing

PT Young Thing is a platinum linear silver holo. (2 coats)

In Bare Form

In Bare Form is a near nude holo. (3 coats)

She Twerks Out

She Twerks Out w/ top coat

She Twerks Out is a textured bold aqua polish, featuring teal, lime, and violet holographic glitters. (2 coats)

Too Pop To Handle

Too Pop To Handle w/ top coat

Too Pop To Handle is a purple-toned fuchsia color, with violet, magenta and aqua holographic glitters. (2 coats)

Low and Be Bold

Low and Be Bold is a bright near ultramarine blue polish. (3 coats)

Right as Reign

Right as Reign is a deep indigo purple polish. (3 coats)

Colors: Excellent color selection here. I love the neutral holos. The textured glitters are great bright summery shades. The cremes are both bold, vibrant, and saturated.

Formula: The formula on all of these was great all around. I did not have any applications issues with any of these. KBShimmer really knows how to make top notch formulas, and these will impress you.

Price: The holos and textured glitters will be $8.75 per bottle. The cremes will be $7.50 per bottle. These will avaliable to purchase on the KBShimmer website on May 23rd.

Overall: I'm impressed as always with these new KBShimmer releases. The color selection is great and the formula is on point. I always have high expectations for KBShimmer, and I have not been disappointed yet. My favorites from this group are Right as Reign, PT Young Thing, and She Twerks Out. If you'd like to see all of the Early Summer 2014 releases head over to Peachy Polish!

My Rating: 5 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Be sure to follow KBShimmer on Facebook and Instagram!

Happy Friday!

Throwback Thursday: Wet n' Wild Disturbia

Wet n' Wild Disturbia was one of those polishes I discovered was amazing in blogs, but kept passing it by in the drugstore. It was one of those I'll get it next time polishes. This can easily happen when a nail polish is part of the core line. It's not really going anywhere, so you don't feel like you need to get it. I think Disturbia has been around at least since 2010, so it's been around the block. The problem is Disturbia is actually a pretty awesome polish, that despite it's core status, deserves a spot in your cart this time, not next!

Disturbia

Disturbia is a deep purple with a subtle glowing shimmer.

Color: Glowy purples are my thing. This is a gorgeous rich shade. The shimmer in here really makes this polish extra special. 

Collection: Wet n' Wild  Megalast Core

Formula: The formula in this is nice. I used 2 coats above. My only problem is this brush is a little wide and flat for my nails, so it makes a it a bit harder to apply.l

Price: This is $1.99 and can be found in most drugstores.

Overall: Great little gem for a nail polish collection. I love the color, the price, and how easy it is to find! 

My Rating: 5 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Happy Thursday! 

Cult Nails Falling Hard

*I received the following product by Cult Nails in exchange for my honest review. 

I love a great pink polish, but sometimes I find pinks are hard for me to pull off. I think it's because I have a lot of pinky-red in my skin, when I wear pinks it can make my skin look ruddy. I say this especially with lighter pinks. I'm always on the hunt for a nice lighter pink, that doesn't clash with my skin tone. Cult Nails most recent addition seems to be a nice fit!

Falling Hard

Falling Hard is a soft bubblegum pink creme.

Color: I like pinks like this because they cover a neglected area of the pink spectrum in nail polish. I see lots of hot pinks, bright pinks, pale pinks, and sheer pinks, but in-between pinks seem to get left out. I love the saturation of this color, and based on photos I've seen from other bloggers it seems to play nicely with a variety of skin tones.

Formula: Excellent easy to apply formula. I used 2 coats above.

Price: This is $12.00 on the Cult Nails website.

Overall: All around great pink. The color is nice and saturated. The formula is excellent. No complaints.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 Paint Splatters

*Note-Starting today I'll be adding to my labels my rating, this way you'll be able to search all of my swatches by the rating is received. 

Happy Monday!