Happy 4th of July!

Good evening!  Happy 4th of July!  Some of you are probably getting ready for fireworks, how exciting!  It's only 6pm here but we are probably just going to stay home and avoid all the madness and crowds.  Besides, we've enjoyed a nice relaxing day at home, watching movies (Independence Day of course) and playing on the slip n slide.  I threw together a quick mani and am pretty pleased with how it turned out.  So feel free to head over to my Facebook page and share your 4th of July manis there, I'd love to see them.  Now let's check out what I've got on.

*polishes in this post were press samples*

Different Dimension:  Shop, Facebook, Instagram

Painted Polish: Shop, Facebook, Instagram

Barielle:  Website/Shop, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter 

Salon Perfect: Shop, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter

Sinful Colors: Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter

Barielle Protect Plus Color with Prosina; Silk Stockings & Lily of the Valley

Good morning dolls!  I've got something new and exciting from Barielle to share with you today.  Barielle recently launched their new signature line of Prosina nail care and colors.  Prosina is a patented and highly specialized type of hydrolyzed keratin that has the ability to strengthen, condition and protect your nails.  Prosina is a polypeptide formula that works with keratin to repairs and fortify nails and cuticles.  The Prosina formula is pregnancy safe and 5-free.  Barielle selected popular shades from the original collection and infused them with Prosina so you still get your favorite colors but with this awesome new nail treatment.  The Prosina nail colors are available now for $9.  Let's take a look at the shades I was sent to review.

*press sample*

Barielle: Website/Shop, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter   

Barielle Mirror, Mirror for Fall/Winter 2015

Good morning!  It's a great day, even though its Monday.  And today I have another fabulous Fall collection to share with you.  Actually this is a Fall/Winter collection.  Mirror, Mirror from Barielle and it's chock-full of gorgeous cremes (and a crelly).  I have been consistently impressed with Barielle's formula and colors.  If you haven't tired their polish yet you should really put it on your to-do list.  And if you keep a watch on their Facebook page you will likely catch a fantastic deal (they have them all the time).  The Mirror, Mirror collection is available on the Barielle website now for $25.  Let's take a look at polish, shall we?

*press sample*

Barielle: Website/Shop, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter   

Blushing Beauty is a lovely bright red crelly.  The website classifies it as a creme but I found the formula sheer and buildable, much like a crelly.  I liked the formula and the application was great.  I used 2 coats of Blushing Beauty and 1 layer of topcoat.  

Feathered Slippers is a perfect medium tone grey.  The formula was nice and creamy and fully opaque in 2 coats.  Feathered Slippers applied easily, no issues to mention.  I finished with 1 layer of topcoat.  

Ribbon & Lace is a pretty, dusty teal creme.  I love this color for Fall!  It's fresh and a nice 

change from the typical oranges, reds and browns.  The formula was great and it Ribbon & Lace applied perfectly.  I used 2 coats of Ribbon & Lace and 1 layer of topcoat.  *please note that my pictures are showing the polish slightly more blue than it is.

Silk Stockings is a beautiful sandy tan creme.  I love this.  L<3VE this color is what I actually wrote in my notes.  The color is so perfectly neutral and wearable, yet not mannequin hands at all.  I see a great base for nail art here too!  The formula and application were both wonderful. I used 2 coats of Silk Stockings and 1 layer of topcoat.  

And last in the collection is Pretty Woman, a dusty blue creme.  This is a gorgeous blue that's super creamy and opaque.  The formula and application were both fantastic.  I only needed 1 coat of Pretty Woman for full coverage.  I finished with a layer of topcoat.  

Barielle Bling It On, Spring 2015

Good afternoon!   Hope your weekend has been nice and relaxing.  I am definitely enjoying the weather.  So sunny and warm here in NorCal.  It's also so much nicer to do swatching in the Spring and Summer months - I can depend on direct sunlight to really show off all types of polish in natural lighting settings and with pretty green and flowery backgrounds!  Today's post features a new glitter topper collection from Barielle called Bling It On.  The Bling it On collection is currently available and each glitter topper will be $8.  So let's jump in and see what all this glitter is about!

*press sample*

Barielle: Website/Shop, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter   

All pictures in this post are direct sunlight unless otherwise noted.  

Angel Dust is a "sheer iridescent glitter" that gives a whimsical effect to any base color.  This is definitely a topper though, it would be very sheer alone.  While I don't think it's particularly unique it is very pretty.  I went with a soft pastel pink base and 1 coat of Angel Dust was plenty to achieve the desired look.  The glitter came out easily and spread well on each nail.  I used 1 layer of topcoat.  

Worn over Jessica Soho in Love

*shade*

Sea Urchin was the one I was most interested in trying on.  This "sea foam green glitter" is full of shimmer.  The shimmer and glitter actually cause a strange wrinkled/textured effect that I wasn't fond of.  I used a similar base color to start with, but I think with 4 coats you could build Sea Urchin up to almost full coverage.  The formula was a little streaky, probably because of the shimmer, but it applied easily enough.  I did like how mermaidy my nails felt with this glitter!  I used 1-2 coats of Sea Urchin and 1 layer of topcoat.  

Worn over KBShimmer Shore Thing

*shade*

Shooting Star turned out to be my favorite in the collection.  I don't have nor have I seen a similar glitter topper.  It's full of "metallic blue/purple glitter" and a pretty shift blue/purple shimmer.  The formula was really lovely and it applied perfectly.  I have on 1 layer of Shooting Star and 1 layer of topcoat.  

Worn over KBShimmer Beach Please

*shade*

Golden Halo is a beautiful "gold with pink glitter".  I see it as a heavy gold shimmer with metallic pink glitters.  This is a really pretty color but I feel we have seen something similar from a few other mainstream and boutique brands.  I think Golden Halo would have a good chance of building up well on it's own but I chose to layer it over a soft shimmery pink.  Golden Halo had a nice formula that applied easily.  I used 1 coat and 1 layer of topcoat.  

Worn over Zoya Gie Gie

Amethyst is a metallic "purple glitter".  This was my least favorite of the group.  I do not care for these large glitters because bore me and they aren't easy to work with.  They tend to have that taco'd look even if they aren't curling.  I used 1-2 coats of Amethyst and found the coverage sparse and inconsistent.  The glitter clumps together and the base to glitter ratio caused streaks and heavy piling of base in some spots - you can see this in my macro.  I finished with 1 layer of topcoat. 

Worn over China Glaze Wanderlust

*shade*