Renaissance Cosmetics August 2014 Releases

Hi everyone! Last week I quietly released some new polishes in my shop. I can't tell you how much I enjoy making polish again - when I was working on my dissertation I didn't have time to make new stuff. Now that I'm making polish again, I love the creative aspect of it.

One of the things I wanted when I opened my shop was to have a range of polishes - colours, finishes, etc. So these new polishes fit in with that goal. All of them are currently available at Renaissance Cosmetics.

Renaissance Cosmetics August 2014 Releases

The Shimmers

Back in early December, my sister and I started this collection. This is an open-ended collection of shimmer polishes - the names come from cities, streets and places that have inspired me. The purpose of these polishes is to provide gorgeous and luminous shimmers with excellent formulas. All go on very smooth and evenly and require 1-2 coats. All the shimmers can be found here.

Kensington is a warm-toned purple with a copper shimmer. In some lights the colour looks bright, bold, in other lights, more dramatic and regal. It's definitely one of my favourites out of the bunch. This was named after Kensington Market here in Toronto. This was 2 coats.

Renaissance Cosmetics Kensington swatch

Renaissance Cosmetics Kensington swatch

Portland is a muted chartreuse green with a rose-gold and aqua shimmer. The colour of the shimmer shifts depending on the light. I think it's one of those colours that people will either like or dislike, but I really love how unique it is (for me at least) and the shimmer is so pretty. This was named after Portland, Oregon, which I visited in 2007. This was 2 coats.

Renaissance Cosmetics Portland swatch

Renaissance Cosmetics Portland swatch

Three Sisters is a hard colour to capture. I would describe it as a crimson or cherry red. It has some coral tones but it's definitely not a coral red - although it may look a bit coral in these photos. It has a gold shimmer, with tiny, tiny gold flake shimmer. This was named after the Three Sisters Falls in East County San Diego. I remember hiking there many, many years ago. This was 2 coats, but you may be able to get away with one coat.

Renaissance Cosmetics Three Sisters swatch

Renaissance Cosmetics Three Sisters swatch

The Micro-Glitter Stand Alones

In addition to the three shimmers, I also made three micro glitter polishes. They aren't really a collection, so I added them to the Stand Alone category.

I've been totally obsessed with micro glitters lately. I'm talking about uber tiny glitter (.008 and smaller if you're familiar with glitter sizes). I love combining different colours of micro glitters (and some shimmer) so they mix optically on the nail - like Pointillism! They are also super sparkly, which never hurts!

These can be worn on their own, they build up to full coverage in 3 coats. They can also be layered. My favourite is when they are layered over dark colours. And even though they are pretty glitter-dense, they go on smoothly.

Micro glitters, one coat over black (left - right): Hera, Wanderlust, and Phoebe.

Hera is a garnet red micro glitter polish. It's a mix of garnet, red, burgundy, and fuchsia micro glitters in metallic and holo finishes. This is 3 coats.

Renaissance Cosmetics Hera swatch

Renaissance Cosmetics Hera swatch

Left - right: Hera, one coat over (1) no base, (2) OPI My Vampire is Buff, (3) Girly Bits Elephant Shoe (light grey), and (4) China Glaze Conduct Yourself (dark, dark red)

Phoebe is a radiant orchid micro glitter polish. It's a mix of pink, purple, iridescent, gold and silver micro glitter (both holo and metallic), and lavender shimmer. This is 3 coats.

Renaissance Cosmetics Phoebe swatch

Renaissance Cosmetics Phoebe swatch

Left - right: Phoebe, one coat over (1) no base, (2) OPI My Vampire is Buff, (3) Girly Bits Elephant Shoe (light grey), and (4) OPI Vant to Bite My Neck? (dark purple)

Wanderlust is a bluish-teal micro glitter polish. It has blue, emerald green, turquoise, gold and silver micro glitter (some holo, some not). This was three coats.

Renaissance Cosmetics Wanderlust swatch

Renaissance Cosmetics Wanderlust swatch

Left - right: Hera, one coat over (1) no base, (2) OPI My Vampire is Buff, (3) Girly Bits Elephant Shoe (light grey), and (4) China Glaze Well Trained (dark teal)

New Labels!

In addition to the new polishes, I also got new labels! These are much, much better quality than the previous ones, also the white ones ensure you can actually read them on dark polishes. They feature the new brand logo. They will be on all polishes sold in the shop.

These are currently available at Renaissance Cosmetics. I've also sent them out to bloggers, so make sure you're following me on Facebook and Instagram for the latest swatches and reviews.

What do you think of these? Do any stand out for you?