Summer Ready Swatch Spam!

(**Press Sample**)

Hello my loves! 

  Today I have some swatch-y spam for you guys. I've had these pics sitting in my folders for some time now.... So I figured, why not do a spam post?

 These shades are all kinda screaming Summer to me. What are some of your favorite Summer shades? Or do you not really follow seasonal colors? Me, I kinda wear what I want, when I want. But I do tend to gravitate to Spring and Summer shades because they are always so bright and happy. 

 All of these swatches are shown with a top coat. 

LVX Nail Color in Mynt

 Mynt by LVX is a lovely, clean Mint creme. I found the formula on this shade to be AMAZING. Normally, these types of Pastel-ish, minty greens can be a pain in the butt to apply. That was not the case with this beauty. I did Three easy coats of Mynt for my swatch. 

LVX Nail Color in Deco

 Deco is an amazing shade of Melon-y Coral creme. I knew I would love this shade the second I unpacked it! I am a sucker for these types of colors. This shade is insanely flattering and easy to wear. I used Three thin and easy coats of Deco for my swatch. 

Zoya Gaia

 Gaia, Gaia, Gaia... This color.. Ok.. So this color is BEAUTIFUL, stunning really... A Pearly, shimmering White with the most perfect Golden shimmer running though it. Bridal perfection... That said, this color has a horrid formula! I found it to be patchy and uneven.. I needed Four thin coats to get it to look even and opaque. Maybe layering it could remedy that problem, but it could also ruin that squishy effect... I suppose the color payoff is definitely worth the work I put into the application though. 

Essie Tart Deco

 Tart Deco is a vivid, hot Melon-Coral shade. This shade is a more vibrant cousin to LVX Deco. The formula on this color is a little patchy, but not problematic. I used Three thin coats for my swatch. 

Zoya Sari

 Sari is a lovely, nude Pink jelly. Colors like these are great for French manis, or just to add a healthy glow to a nakey-look. I used Three thin coats for my swatch. 

LVX Nail Color in Indigo Bleu

 Indigo Bleu is a deep Violet-Blue creme. This shade is intenesely pigmented and very easy to apply. I could have almost done with one coat. I used Two thin coats for my swatch. 

Zoya Josie and Zoya Destiny

 Zoya Josie is a beautiful Grass Green creme that applies like a dream. I used Two easy coats of Josie. For this look I did an accent in Zoya PixieDust in Destiny. Destiny is a hot Coral texture laced with strong Golden shimmer. I used Three thin coats of Destiny. 

  Any faves in this bunch? I am really in love with Gaia. I hate the formula on that color, but my gosh it is just beautiful! I also really loved Mynt and Deco by LVX. Though I must admit, this Summer has turned into the "Summer of the Textures" for me. I've been wearing Textures non-stop since they all started coming out! 

 What have you been wearing lately?

More about → Summer Ready Swatch Spam!

O.P.I Oz the Great and Powerful Collection Swatches

(**Press Sample**)

Good morning loves!! 

  Today I will be sharing my swatches of O.P.I's newest Summer Soft Shades collection which was inspired by the new film, Oz the Great and Powerful. This lovely collection is made up Three nude jellies, Three layering glitters and One new Liquid Sand shade for a total of Seven new shades.

 I will be SO very brutally honest. I was fully prepared to loathe this collection. I was ready to be all like "OMG it's so boring, the glitters suck etc". I found myself nomming on my words. I always think I will hate the Soft Shades, and I always end up enamored with them. I think it is because, while these are not colors I would normally pic for myself, they always end up looking so lovely and feminine. I can't help but enjoy the softer, healthy look these shades give my hands.

O.P.I I Theodora You

  I Theodora You is a lovely shade of soft Ballerina slipper pink jelly-creme. This color has a perfect squishy formula and applies very easily. I used Three easy coats for my swatch above.

O.P.I Lights of Emerald City over I Theodora You

 Lights of Emerald City is a blend of larger White squares and small opalescent squares suspended in a clear base. This topper is fairly easy to work with and I didn't have many issues getting the larger pieces to come out. The best thing to do is to store your bottle upside down for a little bit before application so the larger bits settle to the top of the bottle. I really love this glitter a LOT.

O.P.I Glints of Galinda

 Glints of Galinda is a really neutral beige jelly-creme. I'd say it is a sandy beige and it seems to dry just a tad darker on the nail than the color in the bottle. This shade pulled Peachy on me, which I really liked. I used Three thin coats for my swatch.

O.P.I When Monkeys Fly over O.P.I Glints of Galinda

 When Monkeys Fly is a mix of large Golden hexes and smaller Silver prismatic hexes in a clear base. This was the "problem child" of the collection for many gals. O.P.I decided to go with intentional curling (Taco Glitter) on the larger pieces, which bothered a lot of gals. Personally, I did not find the curling to be as drastic as some people made them out to be. Yes, they were slightly curved, but I did not find it to be an issue. The trickier part was getting the pieces to stay on my nail as I was applying the polish. I used more of a dabbing method to get the pieces on my nails. In the end, I really liked this glitter and I don't mind the slightly curved pieces.

O.P.I Don't Burst my Bubble 

 Don't Burst my Bubble  is a very, very light shade of Pink creme- jelly. It is practically a White jelly, with the slightest hint of Pink undertones. This was the sheerest of all, I had to do Four thin coats on this shade. That said, the formula was easy to work with and very even.

O.P.I Which is Witch? over O.P.I Don't Burst my Bubble 

 Which is Witch?  is a really lovely and twinkly blend of micro sparkles. Micro bars and slightly larger glitter Hexes in a Silver prismatic finish all suspended in a clear base. This polish is PACKED with sparkle and has a great spread of the glitter. I just love this look. It is dreamy and fantastical.

O.P.I What Wizardry is This? 

 This is the liquid sand shade that was released with this collection. What Wizardry is This? is a great shade of sparkling Bronze texture. I did not think I would enjoy this, but I do love it quite a lot. It is such a rich shade. It reminds me of coffee for some reason... Random I know haha. I used Two coats for my swatch, but I should have used a Third thin one.

  And there you have O.P.I's Oz Collection. What are your thoughts on this collection? I find these to be adorable, clean and feminine. I really ended up liking the glitters as well. I suppose it is a good thing I do not naturally gravitate to shades like these. They usually end up being unique in my stash, and that is always a good thing. If I were to only get ONE shade from this collection, it would definitely be I Theodora You.

 Which are your picks?

(**Press Sample**)

More about → O.P.I Oz the Great and Powerful Collection Swatches

Zoya PixieDust Nyx and Vespa and a PixieDust Recap

(**Press Sample**)

Hi loves and happy Friday!! 

  Today I am showing you my last PixieDust combo as well as recapping the other combinations I wore with these pretties. My final combination was a simple alternating color mani with Nyx and Vespa. Once again I was completely blown away by the wear on these polishes and how beautiful and sparkly they are.

 Zoya Nyx is a lovely Cornflower Blue texture packed with lovely Silver shimmer and glitter. This shade does best in Three easy coats. I also advice waiting a bit between coats to make sure the textured bits do not clump together. Vespa is a really delicate Sage green with that same beautiful Silver Sparkle. Both of these colors are really flattering and easy on the eyes. I wore these babies for about Five days and had very minimal chips.

 Now, Zoya has been, in a way, called out by their fans for going a little photoshop- happy with the Summer PixieDust promo pics. And I kinda get it lolol. I mean they were obviously re-touched with the cute added starry sparkles and whatnot... We know they are sparkly, faeries, there is no need to resort to over photoshopping. That would be like taking a picture of an already beautiful model and trying to shop her to make her "even prettier"... Generally it ends up taking away. So, I took a blurry pic to show just how sparkly these are. And the answer is: INTENSELY sparkly. The best part is that the sparkle seems to float over the textured surface and the "encrusted" sparkles give it this cool precious stone look. But no pic will ever do these true justice.. Just try one out. I promise, it will be LOVE at first try.

I won't go into detail about these combos since they have been previously shown. But I will go ahead and link the original post in case you have any questions. Below are London and Chyna. 

 And here are Dahlia and Godiva. 

 After trying all these, I am very giddy to try the new Summer PixieDusts. Zoya did an amazing job on these colors and the sparkly finish that they chose. I will be honest, I wanted to hate this textured trend... but I don't. I really am loving it a lot and I really like all the different takes from all the different companies. I have to say though, Zoya's are, by far, my favorite! From this group in particular I really adore Chyna, Godiva and  Vespa.
 I know I've said it a lot but the wear on these is AMAZING!!! These are also sheer enough that they can be layered over other colors, or eachother, to create really cool effects. I am really excited to see the vivid Summer shades. These are just AMAZING. They apply like a dream, they dry fast enough and are just beautiful. Textured nails have become my new weekend thing because I know they will always wear like iron and start lots of conversations :D.

 Do you have a favorite shade from this collection? And if so how did you rock your PixieDusts?

(**Press Sample**)

More about → Zoya PixieDust Nyx and Vespa and a PixieDust Recap

Zoya PixieDust Godiva and Dahlia

Good morning lovelies!! 

  I'm sorry about the gaps between postings. I seem to be on a upswing and I've been really taking advantage of this surge of "good-feeling". I actually went out this weekend and had a good time with the husband. Yesterday I was catching up on a ton of emails, doing some swatches, working on a little project I'm pretty excited about and did not get a chance to work on a Muffin Monday. 

  But anywho... last Friday I finally got a chance to wear some of my Zoya PixieDust polishes. These are Zoya's take on the textured polish trend. I've decided to wear them in pairs since they compliment each other so well. For my first go I went with Godiva(nude) and Dahlia. 

 These both have amazing formulas and they apply easily and evenly. They are both somewhat sheer, but they build up very easily. For both of these shades I used Three average coats. With these polishes it is best to wait a few minutes between coats to avoid "the lumps". Both Godiva and Dahlia have a beautiful Silver sparkle that seems to float on the surface of the texture. These are beautifully executed by Zoya and the sparkle makes them so chic. These were fully dry (on me) within 45 minutes of application.

 The texture on these is not distracting to me, and I am a picker. More good news, there was absolutely zero snagging of clothing. The wear on these was amazing, I polished my nails with them on Friday and just took them off yesterday! I had minimal chips on the corners of my nails. To remove I placed small bits of cotton soaked in acetone on each fingernail for a few minutes, then slid them off while applying some pressure. This got about 90% of the polish off and the rest came off very easily.

  I really, REALLY like these and I am so excited for the Summer Pixies!! I can't wait to try the rest of the shades in this collection. I kinda wanna try some nail art with them. Not sure how, or what yet but I'm sure they will look awesome in some nail art. There is something delicate, yet edgy about these and that makes me love them even more! 

 Have you tried the PixieDust polishes yet? What are your thoughts?

**Zoya products provided for my honest review. For more information please see my disclosure policy**

More about → Zoya PixieDust Godiva and Dahlia

Some Butter London Swatches

Friday, fryday... 

  Today I have Three Butter London picks to show you guys. I've seriously become a huge fan of this brand very quickly. ANNNNND I finally got to kill a leming of mine. That doesn't happen very often. Mainly because I don't often catch "the lemmings", but for All Hail the Queen I made an exception.

To see these swatches continue reading.

butter LONDON All Hail the Queen

 This is a very well known and popular color. All Hail the Queen is a nude with an edge. This sandy tone is packed full of sublte scattered holographic sparkle and indoors it flashes with hints of Pink shimmer. This color has a stunning formula and it does best at Two coats. I can't wait to wear this again!

Isn't that shimmer stunning?!

butter LONDON Knees Up

  Ok... So I kinda picked this shade because sometimes I'm 13 and I giggle at silly things... Like the name of this polish. Knees Up is a super rich jewel toned Red shimmer. This is one of those "glowy" colors. The formula on this color is perfect and does great in Two coats.

butter LONDON The Black Knight

  The Black Knight is a Black jelly base packed, very densely, with Blue, Purple and Silver micro glitter. This polish has a bit of a tricky formula because it is slightly thick and so very packed with glitter. It is best to keep a light hand and wait between layers with this polish. The effect it creates is beautiful, like cosmic nails. I did Two and a half coats.

 Butter LONDON has really grown on me over the past few months. I love their edgy colors and their naming skills. I'm a sucker for a polish with a good name and BL absolutely delivers in that area. I've also become quite enamored with the formula on these polishes since they are always so consistently great! I can say I am a fan...

Thoughts?

(**Products provided for review**)

More about → Some Butter London Swatches

Sation Little Horse on the Prairie Collection Swatches

Good morning!

  Today I have the First Fall collection to make its way to me this year. This is Little Horse on the Prairie by Sation. This collection is made up of six classically beautiful cremes. I must say that in the midst of all the Spring shimmer and the neon Summer madness, the indie glitter craze.... I was actually craving a nice creme collection. Little Horse on the Prairie could not have come at a better time! I know Summer is just gettin here and I shall be rocking the crap out of my neons but I'm looking forward to a nice, creamy Fall!

To see swatches of these beauties just keep on reading :D!

  I don't want to sound like a broken record so... The formula on all six of these colors is absolutely FLAWLESS. They all go on like butter and all are opaque at Two coats. They all have a good dry time and they are all very glossy. All of these colors have the perfect amount of pigmentation and they are all very flattering.

Sation Weed out the Wimps

In the words of one of my Faceboo fans..."Dat Green!" Mmm mmmm mmm! Weed out the Wimps is the most beautiful shade of hazy Sage Green creme. This color was pretty much an instant favorite for me. This is one of those Greens that would look good on anyone! As much as I liked the murky Green trend from last Fall, this "clean smoked" Green is so much more appealing to my eyes. Great Fall shade.

Sation Sun Worship-her

 Sorry this photo looks a little weird. I had to take it with flash to try to get some color accuracy. Sun Worship-her is a bright Orange-Red creme-jelly, and my camera does not do well with tones like these. This color is bright but sophisticated. Sun Worship-her is a nice twist on Fall reds. I like how clean and vibrant this is, but because of all that Red it does not feel Summer.

Sation Blue Sky's the Limit

Blue Sky's the Limit has that same "clean smoke" quality that Weed out the Wimps has. This is an amazing shade of light Blue. It's not super "in-your-face" but still quite eye-catching.

Sation Ring Around the Horsie

 Ring Around the Horsey is a nice Raisin toned creme. Normally I'm not really a fan of shades like this because Brown based colors are just not my thing. That being said, this is a SUPER flattering color and a classic for Fall.

Sation Rock-a-Guy Blue

 And we come to my undisputed favorite from this collection. Rock-a-guy Blue is a deep Denim Blue, heavily saturated creme. This color feels very rugged. This is absolute Navy Blue perfection and I look forward to wearing again very soon.

Sation Prairie Fairy

 Prairie Fairy is a nice Fleshy- Peach tone. This is a nice simple color for those lazy days. I like that it has enough Pink in it to make it a wearable "band-aid" shade. I really like tones like this one!

 Like I said above, I love this collection. I love the simplicity of the colors and I love the names. The colors that they chose represent the theme of the collection really well. I know BB Couture releases nail polish collections for men. Doesn't this collection look like it should be "unisex" too? These colors have a very "tough" feel to them. So thinking back to the "Little Horse on the Prairie" theme, these colors could not be more fitting! I really do love these for Fall! These will be available this coming Fall.

Thoughts?

(**Product provided for review**)

More about → Sation Little Horse on the Prairie Collection Swatches

Essie Brooch the Subject and Madmoiselle- Lazy Chic

Hey it's Saturday!!!

  Today I have Two pretty polishes by Essie. I've decided that I need some more Essie in my life. Whenever I try their polishes I'm always really pleased with everything about them and yet my Essie collection is very small. I like their range of classically pretty colors. I used to find them very boring but my tastes have really shifted and now I'm really attracted to Essie's soft, clean palette of feminine colors.

Essie Mademoiselle over Essie Brooch the Subject

 Mmmmmm! This is kind of a "bonus deal". The way I came to own these is that I received a PR email from Essie about a nail look that Amy Adams rocked on the red carpet and I HAD to re-create it. On her nails Amy wore Essie's Brooch the Subject as a base with Mademoiselle layered over it. I'm not gonna lie... I kinda really love this look! I love the squishiness and shine that Mademoiselle adds to Brooch the Subject. I know, I know.. How boring am I? But I mean just look at how clean and fresh my hands look!

Essie Brooch the Subject

 Brooch the Subject is one of those- ever popular- Band Aid shades. This one seems to lean more towards the Tan side rather than Peach so it is extremely wearable without looking too matchy matchy. Nice shade for the lazy days. The formula on this color is extremely easy to wok with and it does great in Two coats.

Essie Mademoiselle

 Mademoiselle is a very soft and sheer Milky Pink. I guess this is a nude jelly? If you were a fan of O.P.I's NYC Ballet Collection then you'll love Mademoiselle. This color has a really nice formula as it does not streak or drag.

And there you have Two Essies for those lazy days when you still want to feel a little chic :D!

(**Essie products provided for review**)

More about → Essie Brooch the Subject and Madmoiselle- Lazy Chic