Colores de Carol Happy Hour Collection

Hello? Is anyone out there? It's been... WHAT?? FOUR MONTHS since my last post?!! Aaa, you guys, this was not how my blogging year was supposed to go. My last post way back in June explains what I had been up to, and I'll give you a little more update:

I moved twice, and in between moves I didn't have a computer set up. I'm finally settling in to my house, which I love by the way. Now I have the internet and my computer with all my photos that I've had saved from months ago. The other thing is that I'm still pregnant, but not for much longer. I have no idea what it's going to be like trying to do my nails with a new baby, so I guess we'll just wait and see.

Now that we're all caught up, I am so glad I can finally show you this collection that I think is fantastic. I swatched it right before I moved and it's been patiently waiting to be shown. 

Orly Mirrorball Springtime Skittle

Happy Spring everyone! I hope the weather is as beautiful in your part of the world as it is in mine today. I know it's officially been Spring for awhile but this is the first nail art I've done this year that is perfect for the season. (Fortunately I had the foresight to do this mani before my smashed hand incident) This was my first time using Orly Mirrorball and I thought it went perfectly with the pastel shades. Those featured pastels are the three Maybelline Color Show polishes that I won from Imperfectly Painted's giveaway. Thanks again Stephanie!

Colores de Carol 50K Swatches and Review

Hey ladies! I have been patiently waiting all week to swatch this gorgeous polish. I've been willing my nails to grow faster after last week's nail break. This bottle has been sitting in front of my computer since I got it, staring me down. Finally I couldn't wait anymore and I'm so excited to share it with you!

Colores de Carol January Releases Swatches and Review

Hello lovelies! Today I have the Colores de Carol swatches I promised you the other day. Let me tell you, when I opened up this package and unwrapped each polish, there was much oohing and ahhing going on. Let's take a closer look and I think you'll see why.

ALIQUID Lacquer Gloss48 Exclusive Collection Swatches and Review

Hello lovelies! I have some newly acquired ALIQUID Lacquers that I'm so excited to show you. These polishes were recently launched as an exclusive collection for Gloss48, an indie cosmetics site. The collection consists of six shades, four of which I have to for you today. 

Colores de Carol Valentine's Day Trio Swatches, Review and Nail Art

I am taking a break from nail art today, but not from Valentine themed nails! I have some lovely swatches of the Colores de Carol Valentine's Day trio to show you. Let's start with some details before we get to the photos.

L'Oréal Masked Affair Swatches and Review

I finally caved. After weeks of seeing mad hysteria (slight exaggeration) over L'Oréal Masked Affair I broke down and decided I needed to try it out for myself. This polish has been much sought after for its vibrant holographic formula, which is rare in drugstore polishes. This is actually my first ever L'Oréal polish. I've never tried it before so I wasn't sure what to expect. With all the hype built up around this shade I had some high expectations. I must admit.. I wasn't disappointed.

butter LONDON All Hail the Queen

Hey everyone! I have a quick swatch today while I'm still working on my fun post for tomorrow. Today I have for you butter LONDON All Hail the Queen. It's a soft sandy beige with visible but delicate holographic particles. For my light skin tone it's a perfect goes-with-anything neutral and the formula is nice and smooth. This is two coats with topcoat. I had had my eye on this shade for some time (it's been around for a while). I am so glad I finally got my hands on one because I know I'm going to get some mileage out of it.

My True Love Creations Fall 2014 Collection

Hey All! Today I have a some polishes from a new-to-me indie brand, My True Love Creations. MTL Creations hails from Canada and offers a range of products in addition to nail polish, including bath products and crocheted hats.

Formula: MTL polishes are all 5-free (meaning no Formaldehyde, Toluene, DBP, Formaldehyde Resin, Camphor). All three of the holo shades are jelly formulas. Each one applied evenly and smoothly with no issues. I personally don't like having visible nail line showing through the polish, so I used three thin coats for all three. Even with three coats there is some VNL. All are shown without topcoat.

Brush and Bottle: The bottles I received were minis so I can't speak to the full size ones. Being minis the handles of course were short, but the brushes were a good medium size. 

I Love Nail Polish Fall 2014 Swatches and Review

Hello ladies! Today I have some truly gorgeous polishes to show you. When the I Love Nail Polish Fall 2014 collection was released I was delighted and depressed at the same time. Too many pretties and not enough money! While I couldn't manage the entire collection, I couldn't resist snatching up at least some of them. So I ended up purchasing what I believe are the best of the collection. I'd love to know if you agree.

I Love Nail Polish Wavy Dimensions Nail Art

Last month I found out that I Love Nail Polish is retiring some really fabulous shades that I've had on my wishlist. Since they were having a sale I had the perfect excuse to finally snatch them up. These are my first ILNP polishes and I am soo in love! I couldn't decide which one to try out first so I did some random nail art with all four shades.

OMD2 Challenge Day 7- Holographic

I don't have a huge stash of holographic polishes (I will someday..), but what I have I love. China Glaze I'm Not Lion had been on my wishlist for quite some time. I was so stoked when I finally got it! Today's Holographic prompt was a perfect opportunity to show it off again.

Renaissance Custom Lacquer Emerald Envy Swatches and Review

As soon as I saw swatches of Emerald Envy, I needed it. Most of the time when I see a polish that I just have to have, it goes on my wishlist. Then it usually stays there for way too long. This time I didn't hesitate. I went straight to the Renaissance Cosmetics website and bought that sucker!

Poshinality Mysterious and Tomboy Swatches and Review

Poshinality is a new brand in the indie scene, based in Los Angeles. They had a big launch last month with a lot of bloggers participating. It was hard not to notice the swatches of Mystery on Nailz Craze (beware, Natalie's amazing photos will make you want to buy anything and everything she photographs) and I had to have it! So I checked out their site to see what else they have to offer. They have mostly traditional shades in a good mix of cremes, shimmers, glitters, and nail treatments. 

I was also attracted to the ideas of what their brand is built on. Specifically, their "Philosophy", which is really inline with that of this blog, as stated in the Nail Polish Society Declaration. Their Philosophy is:

• Polish Is All About Personality.
• You have a right to feel comfortable in your own skin, personality and style of fashion. No matter how glamorous. No matter how simple.
• True beauty, confidence and self-worth come from within you.
• No one can be you but you so be you, do you, and love you unconditionally.

What more can I say? How about nothing, so we can get on to the photos!

Cosmic Fishnet and Roses

I recently acquired some new stamping plates and have had so much fun trying out all the designs. The plates are Cici & Sisi, Jumbo Series #1. I purchased them through Amazon for $29.99. There are a total of 216 designs on 6 plates! It's going to take me awhile to try them all out, but I'm working on it. I have more details on the plates to tell you about, that I am saving for another post. 

My base color is China Glaze Cosmic Dust. I think it's the first linear holo I've bought that's this dramatic. I wish I knew how to photograph it in artificial lighting. Indoors the polish looks very silver. Good thing I had a sunny day!

What I used:

China Glaze Cosmic Dust

OPI  OPI...Eurso Euro

Seche Vite top coat

Cici & Sisi Jumbo Series #1 Plate 03

Thanks for reading!