NYC Summer 2014 Limited Edition City Samba Collection Swatch and Review: Palm on the Beach

NYC Palm on the Beach (2 coats)

*press sample* 

This past summer, NYC released 7 new polishes in their Limited Edition City Samba collection which contain all In a New York Color Mini Quick Dry polishes (I love the topcoat of this) which retail for $1.99. Just a few weeks ago I found an untouched display for these at my local Rite Aid, so you can still find these around. Up first is Palm on the Beach which is a kelly green that dries darker on the nail than the bottle. The application was fine in 2 coats, but boy did it stain my nails and cuticles! You need to make sure to be heavy with the basecoats with this one. You can find NYC polishes and makeup at your local drugstores, Target or Walmart (but these last ones may not have the limited edition polishes...or they may be stuck in with the regular lineup).

*This polish was provided by the company or PR representative. All reviews are based solely on my opinion. For more information, please see my full disclosure at the bottom of the site*

Zoya Fall 2014 Ultra PixieDust Swatch and Review: Owsin

Zoya Oswin (2 coats)

*press sample*

Ah, finally, a true matte polish. The others still had a slight sheen despite applying it as the Zoya reps suggested. Oswin (weird for a girl's name) is a true red with large and small hexagonal glitter. It sort of reminds me of the ruby red slippers in matte form. This is definitely my second favorite of the collection and only needed 2 coats for full coverage. Overall, I wish there were a vastly different color in this collection (perhaps a green or a grey) because the colors are a bit too similar. Do you agree?

You can purchase these polishes right now on the Zoya website for $10 each or at select salons or Ulta stores. Stay up-to-date with all things Zoya (often including giveaways and sales!) on Twitter or Facebook.

*These polishes were provided by the company or PR representative. All reviews are based solely on my opinion. For more information, please see my full disclosure at the bottom of the site*

Zoya Fall 2014 Ultra PixieDust Collection Swatch and Review: Noir

Zoya Noir (2 coats)

*press samples*

The second of the Ultra PixieDusts is Noir which is by far my favorite of the trio. It has the same small and larger hexagonal glitter, but it dries with more of a matte finish and has a beautiful deep plum base. I like how the base looks darker which makes the glitter stand out even more. This was also more opaque and only needed 2 coats. Don't forget to not wear a basecoat and let the polish dry between posts. Happy Saturday!

You can purchase these polishes right now on the Zoya website for $10 each or at select salons or Ulta stores. Stay up-to-date with all things Zoya (often including giveaways and sales!) on Twitter or Facebook.

*These polishes were provided by the company or PR representative. All reviews are based solely on my opinion. For more information, please see my full disclosure at the bottom of the site*

Zoya Fall 2014 Ultra PixieDust Collection Swatch and Review: Arianna

Zoya Arianna (2 coats)

*press sample*

Zoya has just released 3 new polishes called Ultra PixieDusts which is between the Magical and regular PixieDusts. The Magical PixieDusts have the holographic hexagonal glitter while the regular ones don't. The Ultra PixiDusts have hexagonal glitter, but it's not holographic. Hopefully that helps explain these a little bit better. Unfortunately, I think all of the colors released are a little bit too close together. Up first I have Arianna which is a matte texture with hexagonal and small glitter in a deep red wine base. Zoya warned me that these must be applied without a basecoat and to make sure you take a few minutes between each layer to let it dry, otherwise you will not get a completely matte finish. Fun, or are you done with textures?

You can purchase these polishes right now on the Zoya website for $10 each or at select salons or Ulta stores. Stay up-to-date with all things Zoya (often including giveaways and sales!) on Twitter or Facebook.

*These polishes were provided by the company or PR representative. All reviews are based solely on my opinion. For more information, please see my full disclosure at the bottom of the site*

Butter London Glam Rock Nail Lacquer Set Swatch and Review: Buckie

Butter London Buckie (3 coats)

Remember when I posted about this Butter London Holiday set forever ago? Well, I forgot to post one, and it's been sitting in my picture folder for too long. Buckie is the only new shade that came with the set and is a medium purple with some blue shimmer. You can still find this in stores or on their website, so if you are interested in it (for $15), pick it on up. The formula was just ok with this one; it was a bit sheer, but not unruly. 

Pacifica 7-Free Nail Polish in Red Red Wine

Pacifica Red Red Wine (2 coats)

*press sample*

Technically this can be a press sample or not. My very first Ipsy bag came this past month, and I just so happened to get this same exact polish. My luck, right? Perhaps if I reach my 500 Instagram follower and 900 Twitter follower goal, I will have another fairly large giveaway *wink wink, nudge nudge).

Anyway, Red Red Wine is indeed a deep merlot wine red color that is sort of between a creme and a jelly. There was definitely some squishiness to it. I had the hardest time applying this color for some reason; it didn't want to flow right around my cuticles. Perhaps I didn't have a steady hand that day, so who knows. It was still extremely opaque in just 2 coats. So this is it for my Pacifica swatches. What do you think? Will you be purchasing any colors? I really like what the brand stands for, so there's definitely a chance I'll get a few more. Hopefully they will be coming out with more colors as time goes on. Right now, if you purchase any nail color, you get half off their topcoat so check that out.

*This polish was provided by the company or PR representative. All reviews are based solely on my opinion. For more information, please see my full disclosure at the bottom of the site*

Pacifica 7-Free Nail Polish in Drift

Pacifica Drift (2 coats)

*press sample*

So we just bought a new tv and we're putting it together right now. Quick post!! In the second of the 3-post series we have Drift from Pacifica, which is a taupe/greige creme. This isn't the most unique color, but I think every brand should have a nice neutral color for every day wear. Despite it being a common color, it still had a flawless application and formula, but I'm sure you can find a cheaper alternative. 

*This polish was provided by the company or PR representative. All reviews are based solely on my opinion. For more information, please see my full disclosure at the bottom of the site*

Pacifica 7-Free Nail Polish in Pool Party

Pacific Pool Party (2 coats)

*press sample*

Did you know that the brand Pacifica, best known for their scents and lotions, now has makeup and polish? I didn't know until another blog posted a few polishes a few weeks ago. Many brands are talking about being 5-free, but Pacifica has to one-up them with a 7-FREE formula without parabens, phthalates, toluene, xylene, camphor, formaldehyde, resin, and animals. Whew, that's a lot of items! I was sent 3 polishes to test with the first being Pool Party which is a dusty medium blue creme. Yup, I love it. And my favorite part of trying a brand new brand? The application and formula, of course. I'm extremely happy to report that all 3 polishes I tried were absolutely perfect. It was just the right thinness, as well as having full opacity in 2 coats. The bottles will run you $9 for a 0.45 fl. oz. bottle which is the usual price point for a brand like this. I'm so mad at myself for not showing the bottle top because it has a nautilus design all over it. I love nautili!

*This polish was provided by the company or PR representative. All reviews are based solely on my opinion. For more information, please see my full disclosure at the bottom of the site*

Chloe & Bella Autumn 2014 Collection Swatches and Reviews Part II

*press samples*

Chloe & Bella African Daisy (2 coats) over 2 coats SinfulColors Spitfire

I'm so happy that I put this combination of colors together because I usually mess it up. African Daisy is a mostly magenta and purple glitters of various sorts. There are also hints of yellow, black and orange, but those are not very prevalent. I LOVE this combination of colors! I also think it looks great over SinfulColors Spitfire. 

Chloe & Bella Brown Pansy (2 coats) over 2 coats Chloe & Bella White Out 

I think I did wrong when using Brown Pansy. I thought it was going to be my favorite of the collection, but I think I should have used a dark base color instead of a light. Blame it on me! Brown Pansy contains all smallish matte glitters (except for the yellow) and contain burgundy, purple and brown hexagonal glitter and the yellow and red square glitter. I think the colors would have popped more with something else beneath it. Any suggestions? Chloe & Bella has also released a black and a white polish to use as a base. The white shown a above is called White Out and is a bright white with good application for a white. You could probably get away with 1 coat, but I used 2. 

Chloe & Bella Ranunculus (2 coats) over 1 coat Chloe & Bella Black Out

It's like a Halloween in a bottle! Ranunculus (what a fun name) contains mostly different sizes of orange glitter with some black and holographic glitter as well. At first I thought it had green glitter, but I was wrong. This had a perfect formula and application like the rest of them, with basically no dabbing required due to the high density of glitter. You can see the new black base color from Chloe & Bella called Black Out which is one of the most opaque black polishes I have ever used. It was also the perfect formula as well. 

Overall, this is a fun, colorful collection. I'm always interested in the mixture of glitters Barbara comes up with. The only slight disappointment was Brown Pansy, but that's partially been my fault. There is one last product that is newly released and that is Crystal Clear Topcoat. This isn't a quick dry formula, but since it is pretty thin in consistency, it still dries pretty fast. This would likely be best for creme colors since glitters love to eat up topcoats. The White and Black Out with the topcoat run only $5.95 each, or all 3 for $14.88 which is a steal. The glitter polishes are also a great value at $6.95 each in very professional looking bottles. You can find them on their website, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook pages, respectively.

*These polishes were provided by the company or PR representative. All reviews are based solely on my opinion. For more information, please see my full disclosure at the bottom of the site*

Chloe & Bella Autumn 2014 Collection Swatches and Reviews Part I

*press samples*

Chloe & Bella Fall Dahlia (2 coats) over 3 coats Morgan Taylor Simply Spellbound

Wow, we're starting off with a glitter bomb! Fall Dahlia is a fuchsia and yellow based glitter polish in a clear base with tons of circle, hexagonal, square, and holo glitters. This is really dense, but you can still pretty much apply it like regular polish without too much dabbing. We're off to a great start!

Chloe & Bella Strawflower (3 coats)

Strawflower is an orange jelly with tons of gold holographic glitter (of different kinds) as well as gold stars. You can layer this over another orange, but I have 3 coats on here and it fully covered. There's so much depth to this one, and it may be one of my favorites of the collection. This is another polish that you can apply regularly without any dabbing. 

Chloe & Bella Sunflower (2 coats)

Oh yes, I used this combination for Batman. You know this! Sunflower is a bright yellow glitter topper in a clear base with hints of light brown glitter accents. It even has some of my favorite tiny bar glitter! Like the rest of the polishes, this is a mix of different sizes and shapes of (mostly) yellow matte glitter. This was perfect application with 2 coats. 

So far, the first half of the autumn collection is bright and fun! I love that Barbara uses flowers for her inspiration for collections. The polishes are a great value at $6.95 each in very professional looking bottles. You can find them on their website, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook pages, respectively. Check back tomorrow for the final 3 colors!

*These polishes were provided by the company or PR representative. All reviews are based solely on my opinion. For more information, please see my full disclosure at the bottom of the site*

Pretty Woman USA Nail Polish Review and Swatch: Gold Splatter

Pretty Woman Gold Splatter (2 coats) over 2 coats Sally Hansen Style Maker

*press samples*

Have you heard of Pretty Woman USA nail polish? No? I hadn't until recently, but I've been really impressed so far. They have a wide variety of polishes, gel polishes, kits, and appliques to choose from. I have several of their glitter polishes as well as some different interesting kits to show in the future, but tonight I have one of their "Splatters" which are their glitter topcoats. Gold Splatter is a mix different sizes of gold hexagonal glitters. It was pretty densely packed with glitter, but I often overdo it so you can really get a look at the glitter, Some of the hexes look curved, but I had no issues with this and is likely just the pictures. They retail for $7.99 on their website where you can purchase all of their products. Make sure to also check them out on Facebook or Twitter.

*These polishes were provided by the company or PR representative. All reviews are based solely on my opinion. For more information, please see my full disclosure at the bottom of the site*

Morgan Taylor Fall 2014 Enchantment Collection Review and Swatches Part II

*press samples*

Morgan Taylor Now You See Me (2 coats)

Ah, Now You See Me is fall in a bottle. You know my love of shimmers, and this combines a deep chocolate brown with some copper shimmer thrown in. This is definitely on the must-buy list. The formula and application was also perfect-it was almost a 1 coater, and went on like a charm. 

  

Morgan Taylor Simply Spellbound (3 coats)

Simply Spellbound is the other slightly disappointing polish of the collection. It's a nude creme, but the formula was a bit watery and sheer. I think this is one of the few Morgan Taylor polishes that has needed 3 coats. 

Morgan Taylor Who-Dini? (2 coats)

The final polish of the collection is Who-Dini? which is one of those colors that looks different depending on the light. Sometimes this creme looks more blue and sometimes it's a bit more grey. It has quite a dustiness to it, so you know it's another favorite of mine. Again, no issues with applying this one. 

Overall, I love most of the polishes of the collection. The only slight disappointments were Simply Spellbound and and Magician's Assistant. You can now buy Morgan Taylor polishes online without a license from Loxa Beauty for $8.50 each so definitely check that out. You can also keep up with Morgan Taylor on their Facebook and Twitter pages as well.

*These polishes were provided by the company or PR representative. All reviews are based solely on my opinion. For more information, please see my full disclosure at the bottom of the site*