Nails Inc. The Mindful Manicure Collection

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

Nails Inc. contacted me recently and asked if I would be interested in reviewing their new The Mindful Manicure collection. I was intrigued by this collection so I took them up on their offer. This Mindful Manicure collection is a set of 5 nail polishes that are infused with real gemstones. According to Nails Inc....

"This polish is inspired by gemstones, which are said to intensify a person’s aura, helping to clarify thoughts, channel energy, and heal. It’s a beautiful, on-trend nail polish with a feel good message. This polish is inspired by gemstones, which are said to intensify a person’s aura, helping to clarify thoughts, channel energy, and heal. It’s a beautiful, on-trend nail polish with a feel good message."

Now, I think these polish enhancing your aura and improving your mood is a bit of a stretch here. I'm not buying into that. I'm not a big believer in things like especially when you put it into nail polish form. I am really intrigued that these are infused with real gemstones and I love the soft and airy feel of these colors so I see where they go the idea for this theme.

Good Vibes (infused with clear quartz)
Wear for aura enhancing
*worn over a nude creme

Good Vibes is a clear top coat filled with rainbow iridescent flakes and glitters.

Better Together (infused with rose quartz)
Wear for friendship and love

Better Together is a pale pink with a silvery shimmer with a blue flash.

Future's Bright (infused with citrine)
Wear for happiness and heart shielding

Future's Bright is a pale peach with a glowing gold/pink shimmer.


And Breathe (infused with tourmaline)
Wear for stress relief and positive energy

And Breathe is a coppery pink frost with sparse iridescent glitter.

Balancing Act (infused with moonstone)
Wear for balance and wisdom
*worn over nude creme

Balancing Act is a pearlescent top coat filled with glowing pink/purple shifting shimmer.

Collection: Nails Inc. The Mindful Manicure 2017

Colors: These colors are soft and airy. I think these colors work for the collection theme. My favorite colors here are Future's Bright and both of the top coats. I think the top coats in this collection are real winners here. They're so versatile and high quality. The only color I'm not really enthused about is And Breathe it's really too frosty and the added glitter doesn't help it much.

Formula: These all had excellent and smooth formulas. I was afraid that Better Together, Future's Bright, and And Breathe would be sheer but they were not. They only needed two coats and the top coats I only needed one coat over a base.

Price: Each of these colors is $15.00 each. You can purchase them either from the Nails Inc. website or Sephora.

Overall: I think this is a nice collection. I love the softness of the shades and the infused gemstones. I don't think this is a collection that will appeal to some nail addicts because they're not as exciting as some indie colors. I would really recommend the top coats. I really think they're beautiful and the highlight of this collection. The price is a bit steep for my tastes on these, but this is a higher end brand of polish.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Happy Tuesday!

Third Week Throwbacks: Zoya Meadow

Welcome to my first week of Third Week Throwbacks! I mentioned a bit ago I was going to start this new feature on my blog. The third week of every month I'll be doing a week (3 posts) of throwback nail polishes! These polishes will be 2 or more years old. Hopefully these posts will get you to shop your stazh more and reignite some love for older polishes. 

The Zoya polish I have to share with you today I'm really not sure about. I had this polish a few years ago, and I swapped it away. I don't remember why I swapped it, but I ended up missing it. During a  recent  Zoya sale, I repurchased it, but it's not how I remembered it at all. I honestly think they changed this polish!

Meadow

Meadow is a frosty, golden peach with a copper flash.

This is my swatch of my older bottle from 2010. Please excuse the horrible swatch, this was when I just started blogging.

Collection: Unknown Pre-2008

Color: This is not the same Meadow from a few years ago. Zoya must of altered the color. What I liked and missed about the old meadow was that is was definitely a neutral toned medium pink with a soft golden-peach shimmer. The new Meadow is straight up peach with an intense frosty peach/gold shimmer. This went from being a very wearable neutral color to straight up grandma color.

Formula: The formula application wise was fine, but the shimmer in it now is very frosty, so it's brushstrokes galore.

Price: This is $9 on the Zoya website.

Overall: This is a massive WTF? polish moment for me. I don't have confirmation from Zoya this was reformulated or changed, but it must have been. If you Google this color and look at images pre-2012 you'll see I'm right. The swatches look like my older swatch color. If you have the old Meadow keep it and cherish it. Don't bother with this new fugly Meadow.

My Rating: 1 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Happy Monday!

China Glaze Pack Lightly

Once Christmas and New Years have come and gone, winter doesn't even exist for me nail polish wise. I'm done with winter polish, and I crave spring colors badly. I was excited after New Years when I went to Ulta they had the spring China Glaze collection already out. I have one of those polishes to share with you today.

Pack Lightly

Pack Lightly is a pastel peachy-pink with a subtle golden-pink shimmer.

Collection: China Glaze Road Trip Spring 2015

Color: I really like this peachy pink color. I think the appearance of pink polish especially interesting and unique pink polish has diminished in nail polish collections lately. I miss them, This is a really beautiful shade, and I love the shimmer. My issue is I wish the shimmer showed up more on the nail. That would make it amazing!

Formula: Meh. This formula was tricky. It was patchy and did not smooth or level evenly, as I'm sure you can tell. I used 3 coats. Not my favorite. Not the worst, but problematic, and disappointing considering I know how nice pastel formulas can be these days.

Price: I purchased this in the $7-$8 range at Ulta.

Overall: I do really like the color of Pack Lightly, but it's issues really take it down a notch. The shimmer is barely visible and the formula is not up to par. I really love this on appearance alone, but everything else just doesn't cut it.

My Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Happy Monday!