Zoya Wishes Collection, Winter 2014

Morning ya'll!  Today I am officially moving into Winter collections!  While you know I do love my Fall colors (and will likely continue to were them until the Spring) I enjoy the luxurious, rich and elegant shades that Winter brings too.  I also love the playful nods to Mr & Mrs Claus, snowmen, snowflakes, candy canes, reindeer, gingerbread and the plethora of entertaining holiday movies from both indie and mainstream brands.  The Zoya Wishes Collection falls into the more elegant category and there are some really lovely opaque colors here.  There are also some new PixieDust polishes, but I think Zoya changed their formula a bit on these ones...I'll get into that later. The Wishes Collection is currently available for $9 USD.  Now let's delve into the post!

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Zoya: Shop, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter

I wanted to start with the opaque colors and the first one I picked up was Willa, "a full-coverage, densely pigmented onyx black cream."  It's a pretty standard color and finish but it does have the Zoya formula that is so amazing.  I will admit that I wish Willa was a 1-coater, that would have made it a real stand out for me.  I used 2 coats of Willa and no topcoat.  

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Prim is a "velvet blue metallic" shade.  I typically don't read other reviews of a product before I post my own so my opinion isn't biased but there was a lot of chatter in the blogger forums about the streaky formula of Prim.  After the first coat I did notice the streaks to be very apparent so I used a lightly dampened makeup sponge and applied the second coat by lightly sponging on the second layer.  Guess what - brush strokes be gone (or at least highly minimized)!  Prim had a super opaque and creamy formula, it would have been a perfect 1-coater were it not for the brush strokes.  I finished with 1 layer of topcoat  

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Haven was easily my favorite of the collection.  Haven is described as a "true holiday plum liquid metal with a thin vein of orchid."  Gorgeous.  The formula was rich, creamy and opaque.  The application was a breeze.  I used 2 easy coats of Haven for full coverage and finished with 1 layer of topcoat.  

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Moving along to the new PixieDust polishes.  Now I mentioned earlier that the formula was changed,  Not only are these 3 not have the PixieDust formula we have come to love and desire, but they also don't even have the same formula as the chunkier Ultra PixieDusts.  The texture formula on these was quite disappointing, it's merely glitter grit and not the sandy feel.  The jelly formula took a very long time to dry on top of that.  This was my finding for all 3 of these polishes.

Imogen is a "black crystal Magical PixieDust with holographic hex glitter."  I liked the silver holo glitters in Imogen, but I would have liked the polish more overall if the formula were matte finish instead of jelly.  I used 2 coats of Imogen and no topcoat.  

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Nori is a "sapphire blue Magical PixieDust with holographic hex glitter."  Nori is actually a stunning color and the silver glitter is complimentary to the base color.  I guarantee that I will wear this again but with topcoat since I am not a fan of the glitter grit feel.  I used 2 coats of Nori for full coverage and no topcoat.  

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Finally we have Thea, a "deep amethyst Magical PixieDustwith an orchid flash."  I really like the color of this one too - but as mentioned before, the finish and dry time is disappointing.  I used 2 coats of Thea and no topcoat.  

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The Girl Who Has Everything Duo from Sweet Heart Polish & Sea Lore

Good morning lovelies!  I have a gorgeous duo to share with you today.  I know that I've shared several duo's from Sweet Heart Polish and another select indie brand lately and I have loved each more than the last.  Well The Girl Who Has Everything from Sweet Heart Polish and Sea Lore might have sealed the deal as my absolute favorite ever!  This duo is blue, glittery, shimmery, holoy.  AND it's inspired by Ariel's Undersea Adventure at Disney's California Adventure!  Cassandra and Jamie both did amazing jobs here, I completely feel like I've been transported to the ride and am reminiscing about the movie as I type.  The Girl Who Has Everything Duo will be available in both shops tomorrow, Saturday November 8th at 12pm PST.  The duo will be $20+shipping.  And now you know what time it is...time to look at polish!  

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Sweet Heart Polish:  Shop, Facebook, Instagram

Sea Lore: Shop, Facebook, Instagram

Source Flickr

Up first I have Sea Lore's contribution to the duo, Under The Sea.  Under The Sea is described as a "cobalt blue jelly with green shimmer, holographic sparkle and various sizes of rainbow glitters throughout."  It's definitely a colorful trip into the ocean and I think Jamie succeeded at capturing all of the colors we see in that specific part of the ride (and movie).  Under The Sea had a fabulous formula, it applied easily and had pretty opaque coverage for a jelly finish.  I used 3 coats of Under The Sea and finished with 1 layer of topcoat.   Here's a link to the song Under The Sea if you want to hear it!  

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source Theme Park Investigator

Flipping Your Fins is the other half of the duo, from Sweet Heart Polish.  Flipping Your Fins is a "gorgeous cerulean blue holographic jelly with a blue to green shift. You can see this shade is quite the chameleon, in some lights it's full of holographic sparkle, and in other lights you can see her gorgeous green/blue color shift!"  I included that extra sentence because it's absolutely true and I tried my hardest to show you all of those qualities!  I do think the polish is a bit more teal than my pictures picked up, but in some lighting the polish really is more blue and in others more teal.  I LOVE the micro flakies that shift green to blue - they capture that mermaid essence perfectly.  Formula and application were both stellar.  I used 3 coats of Under The Sea and no topcoat.  And here's the link to Part Of Your World so you can listen to it too!  

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Here's a picture of Under The Sea over Flipping Your Fins.  Such a perfect pair!

Barielle Jetsetter Collection, Fall 2014

Good day to you readers!  Actually it's probably evening for some of you now, but it's still daylight here so I'll stick with "good day."  I think I've made it to the very last collection in my pile of Fall shades.  This is Jetsetter from Barielle.  What I like most about this collection is that it's not the standard set of colors you'd see in a Fall set.  There are pastels in non-traditional Autumn colors.  Guess what, they are gorgeous and the fact that they are non-traditional only makes them perfect to wear during other seasons too!  The Jetsetter collection is currently available, each polish is $8 USD. Now let's take a look at this unique grouping Barielle put on the table this season.

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Barielle: Website/Shop, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter

Up first I've got Rain In Spain.  This is a "creamy, light periwinkle" creme.  It is a beautiful color that I can picture wearing during the Spring and Summer as well.  Formula and application were both perfect.  I reached full coverage with 2 coats of Rain In Spain.  No topcoat.  

Midnight In Paris, 1 of the 2 shimmers in the Jetsetter Collection, is a "creamy, midnight blue/purple" shimmer.  This is a gorgeous color - rich and saturated.  This shade will be a great one to transition into the Winter.  Formula and application were both superb.  I used 2 coats of Midnight In Paris and 1 layer of topcoat.  

Kiss Me Kate is a "creamy beige/pink" and it's probably the most spot on mannequin hands shade (for my skin tone) that I've tried.  Everyone needs a nude creme and this one is fabulous.  Kiss Me Kate will be perfect for any time of the year!  I used 2 coats of Kiss Me Kate and 1 layer of topcoat.  

Autumn In Seoul is the other shimmer in the collection.  It's a "deep copper shimmer" and it's stunning!  Now this is what most people imagine to be a classic Fall color!  Formula and application were both stellar.  I used 3 coats of Autumn In Seoul and 1 layer of topcoat.  

Moving right along into Italy, this is Gondola Ride.  It's a "creamy sage green" and it's another one of those lovely pastel shades that will be great for many seasons.  I'm thinking Easter mani's here people.  The formula and application of Gondola Ride were both great.  I reached full coverage with 2 coats of Gondola Ride.  I finished with 1 layer of topcoat.  

Another green in the collection, Irish Eyes is a "creamy moss green."  I really like this shade, it's a bit murky but still somehow bright.  Irish Eyes was the creamiest and most opaque of the collection.  I only needed 1 coat to reach full coverage.  YAY for a 1-coater!  Formula and application were fabulous of course!  I finished with 1 layer of topcoat.