ILNP Empire

I have an ILNP Ulta Metallic polish to share with you today. I love ILNP's take on metallic colors and how many of them have a holo twist that is executed beautifully. This one I have today does just that!

Empire

Empire is a true gold with made up of thin metallic flakes and holo micro flakes.

Collection: ILNP Ultra Metallics

Color: Gold isn't always my best color, but I still love it. The blingier the better. This is a great blingy gold. I love the use of metallic flakes and that little added holo flare!

Formula: This applied smoothly and nicely. I used 3 coats here. This has a similar formula to Juliette which I wasn't entirely impressed with, but I prefer this one. The flakes in Juliette were chunkier where I felt like there needed to be some sort of tinted base in the background. Empire the flakes seem a teeny bit finer so it gives a more opaque look on the nail.

Price: This is $10 on the ILNP website.

Overall: This is a gorgeous and beautifully made blingy gold polish. I love the use of flakes and the opacity of the formula for a flakie polish. The holo sparkle is a nice and perfect touch. No complaints!

My Rating 5 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Happy Tuesday!

The Color Box: Blue + Giveaway

* I received the following in exchange for my honest review

As I announced a little while back I was one of the bloggers selected to participate in The Color Box this quarter. This box was founded by Manna from Manna's Manis, Jen from xoxo, Jen, Amanda from Amanda Loves Polish, and Julie from Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer. This box is a collaborative effort between 5 bloggers and 5 brands to create polishes based on a color theme. The theme for this round was blue! I was really excited to be asked to join in this collaboration because I love blue! I got to work with the talented and sweet Julie from Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer. This blue box excellent. There are a variety of shades of blue and different finishes.

This box is pre-order only between 3/10-3/17. There will be 20 boxes to purchase at the upcoming Indie Shop in Atlanta on 3/11. After the pre-order boxes have been shipped some makers will make these polishes available individually on their website.

Let's get started!  Stay tuned for a giveaway at the end!

Niagara Sunrise 
Imperfectly Painted + Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer

Niagara Sunrise is a faded denim with copper fine and medium shimmers and gold microflakies.

Color Inspiration: I really wanted to honor the spring season with a color from Pantone 2017's Color Report, so I chose the serene blue Niagara from the lineup.  I came up with the collage above for Julie. She did a spectacular job capturing the inspiration. You know I love copper and gold paired with blue. The shimmer contrasts beautifully while still maintaining the dusty softness of the blue base color.
Formula: This had a very nice and easy to use formula. The formula was a touch on the thicker side, but it applied easily and opaquely in 2 coats. This does dry to a satin finish, so I recommend adding top coat!

Manna's Mystical Masterpiece
Manna's Manis + Tonic Polish

Manna's Mystical Masterpiece a cobalt blue duochrome that shifts to purple with a fine linear holographic finish.

Formula: This had a easy to use formula. It was sheerer on the first coat, but built up to opacity in 3 coats for me.

Texas Treasures
Polish Galore + Supermoon Lacquer

Texas Treasures is a dark navy with holo copper microglitter, metallic copper microglitter, spectraflair and holo clear microglitter.

Formula: This had a very smooth and easy to use formula. It applied perfectly in 2 coats.

Sakura Skies
xoxo, Jen + Baroness X

Sakura Skies is a sky blue base with pink to peach to gold shifting glass fleck/shimmer with a dusting of holo pigment.

Formula: This also had a nice formula. It was a thicker formula but applied easily in 2 coats.

Blue A Fuse
Bruised Up Dollie + BLUSH Lacquers

Blue A Fuse is a deep blue base with blue micro flakies, holo flakies, holo and a hint of black shreds. Great formula and such a shimmery, sparkly shade! I wore two coats with topcoat.

Formula: This had a sheerer formula but built up nicely in 2 coats. The black shreds can move around a bit when painting your nail, but I didn't find this to be a major issue.

The Color Box will be released for preorder 3/10-3/17 on The Color Box site. The cost will be $45 + shipping and this can be shipped internationally. Don't forget 20 boxes will be sold at The Indie Shop Atlanta this Saturday, 3/11! For more information and updates be sure to join The Color Box group on Facebook and follow The Color Box on Instagram!

***GIVEAWAY***

One Color Box will be given away to one of you! This giveaway is sponsored by the brands involved in this Color Box.

Rules:
1. Open internationally.
2. NO giveaway accounts, spam, or empty accounts. Winning entries will be checked and those will be disqualified.
3. You must be 18 years or older.
4. You will have 48 hours to respond to email to claim your prize. After 48 hours another winner will be chosen.
5. The Color Box hold no responsibility once the package has been dropped off at the post office.
6. The only required entry is your email address, all others will then be unlocked and are optional.
7. If you are already following someone, be sure to still put your info. That's basically a free entry!
8. Giveaway runs from March 5th until 11:59 pm EDT March 10th.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Happy Monday!

Ever After Stuffed

When I went to Ever After Polish's website to buy Burning Twilight, I knew I didn't want just one polish. I'm not usually someone who buys full collections or multiple polishes at once because I'm on a budget, but I hate just buying one. I feel like I'm missing out. I saw Stuffed on the website too then and it intrigued me, so I picked that one up as well.

Stuffed

Stuffed is a sheer pale aqua crelly base with blue and green multichrome flakes, bronze glitter, aqua shimmer, and some holo dust.

Collection: Ever After Polish Thanksgiving Mystery Polish 2015

Color: If you know me well enough you know why I love this polish. Do I even need to tell you? It's because of that cool-warm metal color combination. I love blues, greens, or purples paired with gold, bronze, or copper. I also love all these little magical bits in this polish. The flakie, the bright aqua shimmer, and the bronze glitter really come together to make this special. Sometimes less is more, but done correctly more is more!

Formula: I was a bit surprised that the formula on this was sheer. That being said, I think it's meant to be sheer and I still really like it. I do wish it had a bit more opacity. The formula was very smooth and easy to use. I did not have any application issues. To achieve this look I used 4 coats.

Price: N/A. This was available on the website a few months ago, but it's gone now. I'm not sure what the future of this polish will be?

Overall: This is a gorgeous polish with a great color combination and lot of great glitter/shimmer effects that give it dimension and depth. I still really like it despite being surprised it was sheer.

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Happy Friday!

LevelUp Lacquer Nekrit Expanse

I have another polish from LevelUp Lacquer's Intergalactic Flakie Collection. I love a good theme, and this theme I was totally on board. It was the Nekrit Expanse polish that definitely got me on board because it was a Star Trek Voyager reference. I loved Star Trek Voyager with Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew, you may know her as Red on Orange is the New Black). I loved seeing a female captain in Star Trek and I admired her strong yet sensitive character. Any other Voyager fans out there?

Nekrit Expanse

Nekrit Expanse is a dusty lilac with golden shimmer and chameleon flakies.

Collection: LevelUp Lacquer Intergalactic Flakie Collelction 2016

Color: This color has a lot of neat things going on. I really like the softness of this purple shade with that golden shimmer. It gives off a softer look while still having that pop of color. What makes this polish super special is definitely those chameleon flakies. I'm all about those these days and this definitely makes this polish space-worthy.

Formula: Like the other polishes in this collection the formula on this is initially sheer, but buildable. I used 3 coats above. The formula is very easy to work with apply. It is on the thinner side, but I prefer that in polish like this because you get more even coverage.

Price: This polish comes in 3 sizes 5ml-$4.50, 11ml-$8.50, and 16.5ml for $10.00. I purchased this polish with the rest of the collection for $35. The bottle I have is 11ml.

Overall: This is a great polish. I love the theme of course, but it's definitely a great color outside of that. I love this dusty purple shade, the bright golden shimmer, and those chameleon flakies are my favorite part!

My Rating: 5 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Happy Friday!

Indigo Bananas Earth, Wind, and Fire

Every so often you come across a polish that is a rare gem. It's something you never seen before and never knew you wanted until you set eyes on it. That's how I feel about this Indigo Bananas polish. I never knew a polish like this could exist and it has one of the most stunning finishes I've ever seen. Yep. Mine. I need that!

Earth, Wind, and Fire (over a mint creme)

Earth, Wind, and Fire is a crystal flakie mix of gold-copper-green-purple plus linear holographic.

Collection: Indigo Bananas Neon, The 10th Element Summer 2015

Color: What? What? I did not know they made opalescent flakies! These are gorgeous. I love they are golden and that they are color shifting. I don't think I've ever seen a flakie polish like this one ever? If I did I would of swooped it up. These golden opalescent flakies along with the holo glitter give such an amazing effect to nail polish. My nails look like jewelry or something.

Formula: Excellent and easy to use formula. I used 2 coats over a base here.

Price: You can purchase this in a 15ml bottle for $12 or a 8ml bottle for $7.25.

Overall: I wish I had tried this last year. It would have been a shoe in for Top 25 of 2015. This is definitely one of the coolest and prettiest polishes I now own in 8 years of collection polish. Wowee! This is amazing!

My Rating: 5 out of 5 *Golden* Paint Splatters

Happy Monday!

LevelUp Lacquer Temporal Flux

It's rare I buy a full nail polish collection these days. When I saw LevelUp Lacquer's Intergalactic Flakie collection pop up on her Instagram I knew I was in trouble. I've come to realize I'm really into these crelly-flakie-holo combinations. I think they're definitely my favorite finish of the moment. I snatched up this collection on its release date and I have one of them to share with you today.

Temporal Flux

Temporal Flux is an fff white almost grey crelly polish with holo micro glitter and chameleon flakies!

Collection: LevelUp Lacquer Intergalactic Flakie Collection 2016

Color: I really am not a fan of white crellies. I find they look way too harsh against my skin tone. I love that this crellie is grey. It is so much more friendly against my skin. What I really love about this color are those chameleon flakies and that holo sparkle. This is like a space version of Funfetti cake!

Formula: I really enjoyed this formula, but I was worried at first. I used 3 coats above. This formula is sheer and thin on first application, but I really prefer that with crellies. I find I have more control over the formula when it is thinner with crellies. Formulas like these spread out more evenly on the nail and don't bulk up or get goopy like thicker formulas. This was fully opaque in 3 coats.

Price: You can purchase Temporal Flux at a 16.5ml size for $10.00, 11ml size for $8.50, or 5ml size for $4.50 on their website. I have the 11ml size and I think that is perfect.

Overall: I love this polish! I love the color and all of those added magical flakie and holo bits that make this polish so special. The formula is excellent and the price is a steal too. This is one is definitely up there as a favorite polish for this year.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 *Golden* Paint Splatters

Happy Friday!

KBShimmer Summer 2015 (9 of 28)

*The following products were provided to me in exchange for my honest review. 

It's KBShimmer Summer 2015 collection release day! This is a massive collection for summer. The entire collection includes 28 nail polishes. I have a handful of them to show you today! I will be breaking this post in 3 sections cremes, glitters/shimmers, and flakies so it's a little more organized review wise!

Cremes

Bahama Drama

Bahama Drama is a near neon deep peach cream..

Rum Me The Right Way

Rum Me The Right Way is a shocking yellow cream and the perfect swap for nude.

Sarong Place, Sarong Time

Sarong Place, Sarong Time is a vibrant purple cream.

Colors: These are vibrant and pastel like neons. The colors clearly pop and make a statement. These are colors that vary from the traditional neon and stand out in their own right.

Formula: The formulas on these were really nice. I used 2 coats on Bahama Drama and Sarong Place, Sarong Time. These were both easy to apply and I didn't have any trouble. Rum Me The Right Way being a yellow did have some typical yellow nail polish qualities. I did need 3 coats on this and it did have some evening out issues, but it an overall good formula in comparison to other yellows.

Price: These 3 are $7.50 each.

Glitters/Shimmers

Pink-a Colada 

Pink-a Colada is a cool-toned pink crelly polish with holographic glitters in lime green, light blue & pink.

Alloy Matey!

Alloy Matey! is a blingy silver packed with micro and fine silver holographic glitters.

We Be Jammin'

We Be Jammin' is a bright magenta with blue shimmer and micro holographic sparkle.

Colors: KBShimmer really nails it when it comes to glitters and shimmers. These are perfect for summer and offer something to fit all tastes. I say that every time with KBShimmer because that's the truth! The colors are spot on for summer.

Formula: Excellent formula on all of these. I used 3 coats on each and they all applied easily without any trouble.

Price: These are $8.75 each.

Flakies

*I really do not have the camera or lighting to photograph flakies how'd I like, so these photos are done underneath a daylight lamp without flash. I wanted to be able to capture the color shift as best as possible!

Take The Punny And Run

Take The Punny And Run is a color shifting metallic flakie shade that travels from fuchsia to lime green with shades of gold and copper between, the most vibrant shifting of the flake polishes.

Green Weaver

Green Weaver is a metallic flakie that shifts from a rosy pink, to an apple green, this shifting shade also shows hints of purple at extreme angles.

Look On The Nightside

Look On The Nightside is a metallic flakie shifting shade goes from a rich green, to a violet purple, offers hints of royal blue.

Colors: Is there really much to say here? Really? Fan-freaking-tastic. These are are stunners. The color shifts in these are prominent. The colors are saturated and vibrant. I love wearing these because no matter the angle or the light you'll get something different. Incredible.

Formula: These are all 3 coat opaque formulas. Applying flakies does take a little bit more patience than regular polish. Since they are irregularly shaped and tend to like to stick together it is a bit more tedious. That being said, I did not find it troublesome to apply these overall.. I did find applying these over a base made this process a bit smoother, but it is not necessary. I did not use a base in these swatches. These do layer nicely as well.

Price: These are $10.75 each.

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Overall: I'm blown away with this collection, I love the variety, quality, and fun this collection has. The stand outs here are the flakies for sure. These are absolutely beautiful and to be able to reach opacity in 3 coats is awesome! My favorites from the ones I have tried are Sarong Place, Sarong Time, We Be Jammin', and Green Weaver. I have a bit of an obsession with Green Weaver as it's the second week in a row I've worn it. The flakies I can say wear incredibly well. I've worn Green Weaver 6 days straight without a chip!

My Rating: 5 out of 5 *Golden* Paint Splatters

These were all released today! Check out the KBShimmer site to purchase!

Happy Friday!