Hare Atolla Swatch And Review

Yay for the weekend!  I hope everyone a nice week.  This weekend I'll be reorganizing my polishes into a new cabinet that I bought this week, so I'm stoked.  I ordered it online and it's solid wood and as ten drawers.  It's about the size of an Ikea Alex but without the larger drawers on the bottom.  How do you suggest I organize them?  I'm thinking of doing it by color instead of brand.  My only problem will be finding all my hidden stashes in the kitchen!

I've been trying to wear more red polishes, and tonight's polish is a fantastic red packed with iridescent hex glitters and flakes called Atolla by Hare Polish.  It's designed after the Atolla jellyfish which is red and glows in the dark.  I found application to be wonderfully easy, with no clumping, dragging, or pooling.  I used three coats in these pis but two would have been fine.  I finished with a layer of topcoat.

Hare Atolla

Hare Atolla

Hare Atolla

Hare Atolla

Hare Atolla

This polish is part of the Illuminated Life collection that was released last fall.  I've swatched Bury the Hatchetfish and Medusa Luminosa previously, check them out if you want to see some more amazing iridescent glitter.  Have you worn any reds lately?

China Glaze It's A Trapeze Swatch And Review

I'm in for a long haul tonight with the LO, she's up and not wanting to sleep, most likely because she's stuffed up.  I was hoping to organize my stash tonight, but that's never going to happen with the way my life has been lately.  I've been wanting to get an Alex but I can't make it to Ikea with LO in tow and still manage to load it into my car.  One can dream though!

I have tonight a commercial crelly glitter by China Glaze called It's A Trapeze, from the Cirque du Soleil Worlds Away collection.  This was released last winter and I kept forgetting that I had it my stash(aka kitchen).  Its got multi sized and mult color hex glitter in a white crelly base.  In comparison to similar indie glitters, I found the formula to be severely lacking.  The formula was very watery and sheer, and it kept wanting to pool along the sides of my nails and flooding my cuticles.  I had to dab some of the polish on to even out the pooling, so I ended up using about two and half coats for this mani.  It didn't dry gritty or matte, so all it needed was a layer of SH Insta Dri to hasten drying.

China Glaze It's A Trapeze

China Glaze It's A Trapeze

China Glaze It's A Trapeze

China Glaze It's A Trapeze

China Glaze It's A Trapeze

The end result might be worth the hassle of the formula though... I really love the pop of color against the white base.  I suppose if you have more patience than I do, you can get this applied more easily than I did.  Have you tried this one yet?

Smitten Polish Merry & Bright Swatch and Review

Happy Weekend everyone!  This is my final weekend before going back to work and I'm trying my best to enjoy it thoroughly.  So far it's been a really nice week.  On Thursday we finally settled on a crib and my MIL footed the bill as promised.  We ended up choosing the Munire Capri Curve Crib in white because it really looked like a crib for a princess, and will later convert into a bed for one too.  We got her a super luxe expensive mattress as well, thank you MIL for your CC!  Early Friday I got my Secret Santa gift package that consisted of some drugstore favorites, Ulta exclusive OPI minis, China Glaze holiday minis, and a bunch of pampering products.  What a wonderful Secret Santa I had!!  I love participating in these exchanges because it's so nice to spoil someone who has a similar love for polish.  I finished off the week with a wonderful Italian lunch with DH and LO.  I couldn't have asked for more.

To match my content and happy mood, today I have Smitten Polish Merry & Bright to show you.  This is my first time using this indie line and I was really drawn to the color combination of this holiday polish - it's a strawberry pink jelly base infused with gold microglitter and larger hex glitter.  I found the formula to be excellent and easy to apply despite having so much glitter in it.  The glitter spread out evenly on the nail and I didn't need to fish or dab it on at all.  I used two coats in these pictures but being a jelly, I probably should have used three to get more opacity.  I think I stopped at two because I was worried that there would be too much glitter.  I finished the mani with a layer of topcoat to smooth it down.  I could have used some Gelous to get an even smoother finish.

Smitten Polish Merry & Bright

Smitten Polish Merry & Bright

Smitten Polish Merry & Bright

Smitten Polish Merry & Bright

Smitten Polish Merry & Bright

I sort of wish that the new reformulated Hare A Positive and Smitten Merry & Bright had a baby, because I think that would be a HG polish for me.  Still, I really enjoyed wearing this polish and I'm excited about trying more polishes from this line.

Cult Nails Behind Closed Doors Swatch and Review

I forgot to mention earlier this week that my best friend visited me this past weekend to meet my LO for the first time.  She lives in New York City and I hadn't seen her since she threw my baby shower in June, so I was really excited to have her visit.  She had a great time with the LO, she even rolled up her sleeves and changed a diaper or two.  We visited LACMA and I finally got to explore the third floor some more and we saw both the Stanley Kubrick and Caravaggio exhibit.  

My favorite piece at LACMA by Ken Price

Later that night we went to Baby's R Us to pick up a new bath tub for the baby, and of course she couldn't resist looking at the baby clothing.  Fortunately for her, she found quite a few outfits for my LO - notice I said fortunately for her and not me or the LO because this spurred a photo shoot the next day, all inspired by her birth state, New Jersey.  Yes, New Jersey.  My baby was Jerseyfied.  She was a Jersey Girl living in a Jersey World.  Gah! Bad Auntie!  There was gold, spandex, midriffs, cheetah print, tube tops, and jeggings involved.  Luckily there was no bronzer or hairspray, whew!

When I found out about the recent Cult Nails collection, I was beyond excited to see these colors in person.  I love that there is a great range of colors, and each color has a unique finish - flakie, glass fleck, and shimmer.  What more can any polish lover ask for?  I must have a polish angel looking over me as well, because I was contacted by a lovely member of a polish board that I post on frequently and she offered to send me some from the collection because she was accidentally sent a duplicate order!  How lucky am I?  So now I have some swatches from the collection to show you, and hopefully you can see how awesome they are.  So be prepared, this is a long post!

First is Flushed, a gorgeous deep purple with a pink shimmer that makes the polish appear to glow on your fingers.  I adore polishes like these!  Contrasting shimmers truly make the polish come alive on the nail.  I had no trouble with application, although I had a slightly wonky brush, and I used two coats in these pictures with no topcoat.

Cult Nails Flushed

Cult Nails Flushed

Cult Nails Flushed

Cult Nails Flushed

Cult Nails Flushed

Next is Disciplined, a lovely sheer light grey crelly with blue, pink, and purple shimmer, how awesome is that?  I thought that this would be my favorite of the collection, and it completely lives up to my expectations.  I did use four coats in these pictures to get the polish opaque enough so there wasn't any VNL in the pics, but next time I plan on using a colored undie, like Zoya Caitlin.  No trouble with the formula or application on this color either.

Cult Nails Disciplined

Cult Nails Disciplined

Cult Nails Disciplined

Cult Nails Disciplined

Cult Nails Disciplined

I was really looking forward to Coveted, a dark green jelly with flakie shreds.  I adore flakies, and Cult Nails has been putting out some really great ones lately.  Unfortunately I had a lot of trouble with the application of this color - aside from being a jelly, the flakies in the polish are too large and don't sit flat on the nail.  I had some big clumps of flakies and had to use the brush to push them off the nail to discard.  In these pictures I used three coats and you can see that the flakies are larger and not evenly dispersed on the nail.  No topcoat in these pictures.

Cult Nails Coveted

Cult Nails Coveted

Cult Nails Coveted

Cult Nails Coveted

Finally, I have Bitten, a raspberry glassflecked polish that completely took me by surprise at how lovely it looked on my nails.  A good glassfleck is hard to come by and this one is definitely one you don't want to miss.  I really like the shade of raspberry and the glassflecks add dimension to the polish.  I used three coats in these pictures but I could have probably gotten away with two.  No topcoat in these pictures.

Cult Nails Bitten

Cult Nails Bitten

Cult Nails Bitten

I unfortunately didn't get Afterglow to show you, as I'm not really a big fan of brown polishes, but after seeing how gorgeous the other colors were I might need to pick this one up as well.  My favorite of this collection is Bitten followed by a tie between Disciplined and Flushed.  I really wanted to like Coveted but because of the application issues, I will probably be passing this one along.  Are there any must haves from this collection that you need?

KBShimmer Don't Teal Anyone Swatch and Review

Happy Thursday everyone!  I hope your week is going smoothly, and if it isn't, at least it's almost over! I have to prepare for some guests that are arriving on Friday, so that means some cleaning for me is planned today, plus restocking our nearly bare fridge. It's amazing how much food a grown man can consume in a few days. 

I have another untried pulled from my collection, this is KBShimmer's Don't Teal Anyone, a gorgeous blue leaning teal jelly with multisized glitter in fuchsia, gold, and blue.  I used three coats in these pictures and there's still a little VNL, but the formula was excellent.  It went on smoothly and I got good glitter coverage without having to fish any out.  I used a layer of Poshe to add some shine because it did dry a little matte looking.

KBShimmer Don't Teal Anyone

KBShimmer Don't Teal Anyone

KBShimmer Don't Teal Anyone

KBShimmer Don't Teal Anyone

KBShimmer Don't Teal Anyone

 

 

KBshimmer is one of my favorite indies because of her excellent eye with matching colors and her great formula, and Don't Teal Anyone is a wonderful example.  I've already got her winter collection on my wishlist and I'm looking forward to seeing what she's got planned for us next year too.

China Glaze Exotic Encouters and Jessica Platinum Wishes

Did you have fun shopping on Cyber Monday?  Surprisingly I didn't spend very much time online so I missed a lot of the sales, like the Saks and Nordstrom's first designer cuts online.  Luckily I pre-saled what I wanted already so I should be getting those in the mail any day soon.  My day was spent going to the movies with LO to see Life of Pi(sort of a letdown after reading the book several years ago) and then walking around the LA County Museum of Art.  I discovered a new floor at LACMA at the end of the day and now I want to go back and explore some more.

I'm on a teal kick and today I have China Glaze's Exotic Encounters from the On Safari collection to show you.  This is really a gorgeous cream shade and the formula was flawless.  Only two coats and it went on easily and smoothly.

China Glaze Exotic Encounters

China Glaze Exotic Encounters

China Glaze Exotic Encounters

China Glaze Exotic Encounters

I wanted to layer something over it so I tried Jessica's Platinum Wishes, a sparkly blue holographic glitter.  It appears chunky in the bottle but surprisingly it's actually a really fine glitter topcoat. It's not dense at all either, and shown below is one coat over Exotic Encounters.  

Jessica Platinum Wishes

Jessica Platinum Wishes

Jessica Platinum Wishes

Jessica Platinum Wishes blurred to see sparkle effect

I love the color of ChG Exotic Encounters and I'm planning on adding that to my collection, whereas I was a little disappointed in the Jessica - I was expecting a denser more chunky glitter by appearance of the bottle but it was completely the opposite.  Very deceiving, Jessica!  I do like the sparkliness of it but at the same time I feel like I already have a similar polish in my collection. 

Zoya Ornate Collection Aurora and Logan

I got my hair did today!  My hair was getting out of control and I was in dire need of a new haircut.  Did you know that when you're pregnant, towards the last 3 months and 3 months following birth you don't lose a single strand of hair?  It has something to do with the hormones during pregnancy.  My hair is already thick to begin with, and not losing any hair for half a year made me feel like cousin It, especially since my normal cut is long layers.  It was just too heavy!  I needed more body!  So I went onto yelp and found a new hair salon which was able to schedule me in within a couple days.  Now I've got shorter, texturized layers that make my head feel so much lighter. Another plus is that my daughter, who is learning how to grab with her hands, can't take fistful of my hair any longer.  I love it when I haircut makes you feel like a million bucks.

I'm sure you're tired of seeing swatches of the new Zoya Ornate collection, but I couldn't resist two of their colors and had to pick them up.  One of course one was green, Logan, and the other is Aurora, a color that looks positively stunning in every picture I've seen so far.  I would have picked up Storm as well if it was in stock but unfortunately my nail supply was out(oh, did you know I found a nail supply that carries Zoya now?  Winning!).  I always forget how lovely Zoyas apply and these were no different.  I only needed two layers for both and the formula was stellar as always.  An added bonus is that Zoyas are 5 free, which recently became more important to me while I was pregnant.  Gotta love Zoya!

My first swatch for you is Logan, a shimmery pine green foil interspersed with gold.  To the naked eye, I needed two layers for opacity but in some of the pics you can see balding here and there so for camera pictures, three coats works best.   In the bottle it looks fabulous but once on the nail it loses its initial appeal. 

Zoya Logan

Zoya Logan

Zoya Logan

Zoya Logan

Next is Aurora, which is more stunning in real life than in the pictures I've seen online so far.  It's a deep raspberry polish with holographic microglitter, and bright light really picks up the holographic rainbow easily.  I don't have a single polish like it and I'm totally in love!  Again, only two coats in these pictures with a coat of Poshe for added shine.

Zoya Aurora

Zoya Aurora

Zoya Aurora

Zoya Aurora

Zoya Aurora blurred for holographic sparkle effect

I don't want to take off Aurora, ever!  It's so holographically delicious and sparkly.  I can only imagine with Storm looks like in real life and it's definitely going onto my wishlist.  Zoya really made some great polishes in this collection and I'm so glad they ventured into holograph polish arena.  It's a great start!