a-England Ballerina Collection

Good evening!  As you guessed I am dropping this post real quick while I cook dinner, bathe my kids and get myself ready to go out to a beauty event with my bestie.  The life of a wife/mom/bff/polish fanatic is sure busy, but I have so much fun doing everything (except having to talk to teachers at school - that's hardly ever fun).  Well I had a 3 of these beautiful a-England Ballerina's but for some reason couldn't bring myself to wear them until I had the 4th.  Thankfully Michelle at Ehmkay Nails put me out of my misery and sent me the 4th one for my birthday!  She's just awesome like that.  So I have these amazing holos to show you today and even did a couple pics with 1 on each finger so you can see them together.  Let's jump on in and look!

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Up first is Fonteyn, "a soft silver holographic hue bearing a lavender tint."  Fonteyn is so lovely.  I love the almost matte-holo look that it has.  The formula was amazing and applied like butter.  I had complete coverage in 2 coats.  I think Fonteyn had the most holo flame of all the Ballerina's.  Fonteyn also dried quickly so this could be an option if you are running out the door and need some polish!  I did not use topcoat.  

This is Encore Margot.  Encore Margot is an "icy blue prismatic hue" that really shows off that tight scattered holo effect.  Again, that metallic-matte holo look is very strong here.  The formula and application were both the highest quality (as were all the other Ballerinas in this collection).  I used 2 coats for full coverage and no topcoat.

Her Rose Adagio is a created to look like "faded roses in a silver prismatic base."  As Adina says, Her Rose Adagio is truly a "romantic" shade.  We see the metallic, matte holo finish here again and it is so pretty with this color.  Formula and application were both amazing again.  I used 2 coats for full coverage and no topcoat

Dancing With Nureyev is my favorite of the Ballerina collection.  It is an amazing "violet-blue shade" that is just the perfect tone that isn't too light or dark and has a beautiful tight scattered holo effect.  The formula and application of Dancing With Nureyev were both fantabulous.  I had perfect coverage in 2 coats and no topcoat.

 Here I've got all 4 of the Ballerina polishes on my hand together.  I did this mostly because Fonteyn and Encore Margot are pretty close in their bottles.  But here you can see that Fonteyn clearly leans more purple while Encore Margot is more blue (almost a minty blue).  Index to pinky:  Encore Margot, Fonteyn, Her Rose Adagio, Dancing with Nureyev.  2 coat of each color and no topcoat.

Zoya Tickled Collection

Good afternoon dear readers!  I am taking a break from visiting my sons TK class, cleaning the house and feeding my daughter lunch to bring you the other part of the Zoya Summer collections...Tickled!  If you missed Bubbly yesterday you can see that post HERE!   Tickled turned out to be my surprise favorite of the 2 (surprise because I am so NOT a creme finish girl).  But the formula, application and colors of this collection are all amazing and perfection for the summer.  We see a lot of neons in the summer and it's a nice change to have these softer bright-leaning-neon colors to chose from.  The Zoya Tickled Collection is currently available to purchase.  Each full size bottle is $9.  Before we jump into the review I will go ahead and say that the formula on each of these was awesome - creamy and self leveling.  These can easily be 1 coaters (if you use thickets coats) but I am light handed so used 2 thin coats unless otherwise noted.  Application was smooth and perfect and so creamy, I did not use topcoat for any of my pictures.  Now let's look at polish!  

*PRESS SAMPLE*

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This gorgeous pink is Kitridge.  Kitridge is a "classic summer bubblegum pink cream."  This color is amazing.  I love the shade of pink and the pastel neon tone is a real winner.  This is going to look amazing on summer hands!  

Wendy is described as a "juicy summer melon."  It's definitely a more coral leaning pink but my pictures had a hard time capturing the true color of Wendy.  So I have indoor pictures to show you on Wendy since the sunshine was creating a more pink than melon effect, and trust me...you want Wendy for the melon awesomeness.  Wendy was actually on my favorites from the Tickled collection.  Such a pretty and unique color.

And the there was Rocha and my heart skipped a beat.  I am a serious sucker for this vibrant blood orange color.  What sets Rocha apart is the tiniest addition of a fine gold shimmer.  It is almost unnoticeable but you can see it there in the bottle and in my macro.  Rocha is a stunner and if you only picked one from the Tickled collection I would say this should be it.  Also, Rocha was thisclose to being a 1 coater for me.

Tilda is another fabulous color and I feel this "warm mantis green cream" will be a perfect color for the Summer as well as Spring and Fall.  Talk about a great transitional color for all your seasonal needs!  Tilda is fresh and clean and very nature-y.  About as nature-y as I like to get (ahem, does not like to camp, hike or do anything that involves bugs or dirt).  If you are a green fan then Tilda is definitely your gal!

Ling, "a vibrant royal cream" is this perfect balance between a plain creme and a neon blue.  I felt like I was looking into clean, still pool lined with amazingly intricate blue tiles.  Ling was super creamy and opaque.  And the kicker...I only needed 1 coat of Ling!  1 coater alert!  This was pretty high up on my favorites list as well.  

Finally we have Rooney.  Rooney is a "mid-range magenta pink cream."  Rooney looks more purple in the bottle and more pink on the nails so I wasn't sure where to place this on in my rainbow review. So here it sits in the "purple" spot.  If you really wanted neons Rooney should satisfy that craving.  Rooney is pretty dern bright and amazing.  

Zoya Bubbly Collection

Happy Monday lovely readers!  Hope the day treated you well.  I am feeling a bit sore from soccer  yesterday and running today, but it's all in the name of getting in shape, right?  Well that'll all go grown the drain since it's Cinco De Mayo and I'm making enchiladas, beans rice and bought the supermercado out of every single type of pan they had.  I'm about to carb overload tonight!  Well this post isn't about carbs...it's about polish.  Squishy jelly polish packed full of iridescent glitter and heavy gold shimmer.  Yup - I'm talking about the new Zoya Bubbly collection.  The 6 polishes that made up the Bubbly collection were all great formula wise (speaking for a jelly) and applied with ease.  The formula on each was sheer yet buildable.  If you want for a deeper color I'd suggest layering over a similar base.  For each set of pictures I used 3 coats and 1 layer of topcoat.  The Bubbly collection is available now and each full sized bottle is $9.  So let's jump in and see the polish!  

*PRESS SAMPLE*

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Up first is Alma, "a warm golden peach metallic featuring the exclusive liquid metal...jelly formula."  I love the light, but bright color of Alma, it's cheerful and happy.  I'd have pegged it more as a tangerine shade though.  In the sunlight Alma really sparkles and glistens.  In shaded lighting you can easily see the iridescent glitters at play!

*shade*

Jesy is a "fiery coral orange metallic."  Now Jesy would have been the color I categorized as peach, but you say tomato I say tomatoe.  Jesy has a soft and subtle color payoff that will be a really pretty color to wear throughout the summer.  I love how the purple and green color pop out in the shade picture of Jesy.

*shade*

Harper turned out to be my favorite of the collection, probably because it was the most opaque and color rich.  Harper is a "cot to candy pink with a spun gold shimmer."  You can get away with 2 thicker coats of Harper instead of 3 like all the rest.  When I look at this pink I think Barbie.  How awesome will Harper look on tan toes?  Pretty epic in my opinion!

*shade*

Binx, "a spicy orchic purple dappled with gold metallic and...sparkles."  Ok, I have no idea what orchic means so I looked it up, and guess what...it doesn't exist in Wikipedia.  Maybe it's supposed to be orchid?  Anyways, Binx looks like berry hue to me.  The iridescent glitter play really well with this color and you can really see the blues in the shaded picture.

*shade*

Muse is a lovely "blue raspberry...fizz with a subtle vein of gold."  Muse was my second favorite in the Bubbly collection.  Probably because it was another deeper shade that was fairly opaque after the 3 coats.  The gold shimmer comes across more green in Muse for a more unique look amongst the collection.  Muse reminds me of a sparkly ocean, somewhere where the water is deep and clear, preferably warm.  Muse will be a perfect pool-side (or ocean-side) shade!

*shade*

Stassi is a "brilliant citron green with a gold metallic glaze."  Stassi was probably the sheerest of the collection - surprising since I immediately thought Alma or Jesy would take that title.  But Stassi is still a fun color that it really shimmery and sparkly.   

*shade*

Red Dog Designs Butterfly Garden Collection

Happy Friday!  I hope it's a beautiful day for you all out there!  The weather has been amazing here, more Summer than Spring though.  It's been hot enough to pull out the slip n slide for the kids.  And to turn on the air conditioner!  Well I don't mind the heat because I love having an excuse to eat ice cream, swim and wear gorgeous glowy, shimmery and bright (happy) colors on my nails.  Which is perfect because today I have the brand new Red Dog Designs Butterfly Garden Collection to share with you!  The Butterfly Garden is a collection "inspired by flowers that attract butterflies and fun, spring flowers and gardens!"  This collection will be available tomorrow evening (5/2) at 5:00 pm EST!  And pssst, there are still a couple bottles of my 2-year custom La Vie en rose available.  You can see my pictures of that beauty HERE!

*PRESS SAMPLE*

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Up first we have Aster, a "pale blue creme with blue/green iridescent glitters, holo micro glitter and a turquoise shimmer."  The bright blue iridescent glitters in Aster are stunning!  The first coat was sheer, but it built up nicely in 3 coats.  Application and formula were both lovely.  I used 1 layer of topcoat.