Nude Hearts, Dots, and Stripes With The Zoya Naturel Collection

Hi everyone! If you haven't already done so, make sure to enter my Girly Bits giveaway. It ends in less than a week!

You may have noticed that things have been quiet here the past couple of days...well I've been working on a new Renaissance collection, in addition to having more work on my plate (day job work I mean). Lately I've been thinking of introducing bite-sized posts - good pictures, but minimal text - in addition to, or sometimes in lieu of, my regular posts. One of my goals was to post more nail art, and I think shorter posts would be good for very simple looks that need minimal explanation. And when work and life gets in the way, shorter posts - nail art or simple swatches from my collection - would keep me in the habit of posting on a regular basis. So what do you think of the idea? Yay, works for you, or nay, too much of a cop-out?

Nude Hearts, Dots, and Stripes

Okay, so back to the nail art...

Zoya Naturel Comparisons AKA The Great Nude (Polish) Comparison Post

Hi everyone! You may recall a few days ago I posted a review of the Zoya Naturel collection. I was curious if a few of my other polishes were similar, and what started as one or two comparisons turned into a full blown nude polish comparison post.

Some of these comparisons are about discovering whether two similar polishes are "dupes." But in other comparisons I've done simply that - put 2-4 polishes together that are in the same colour family, to see how they look side-by-side.

Zoya Naturel Collection: Swatches and Review

Hi everyone! I don't normally review Zoya products (I'm not part of their blogger network, instead I bought this for myself), but like many people I was really captivated by the new Naturel collection. I ended up buying it the day it became available from Nail Polish Canada.

It seems that nudes are going to be more and more popular this spring. For me, it's a nice change from all the bright glitters and colours that I normally wear. And for a spring collection, it's a refreshing alternative to the pastels that we tend to see emerging this time of year.

Zoya Naturel Collection

If you are on the fence about this collection, read on to hear my thoughts about the polishes and collection as a whole. I also have a bunch of comparisons that I'll be posting this weekend.

Girly Bits Fall Season Premiere Collection: Part Two, Family Guy

Hi everyone! I have the second out three parts of the Girly Bits Fall Season Premiere collection. This time it's inspired by one of my all-time favourite cartoons, Family Guy. Okay, well pretty much the only cartoon I watch, but that's just a technicality. ;)

Girly Bits Fall Season Premiere Collection - Inspired by the Family Guy

I may never understand why Lois ended up falling for Peter Griffin, why Brian's the only one who understands Stewie, or how the show's writers get away with saying all the stuff they do. However, I do know that this collection is pretty awesome, and that's all that counts. Lol! The polishes and colours are all very strong (although I don't really know how well they fit the show), and I love the references in the titles.

Bird is the Word is a warm-toned purple with a scattered holo shimmer. I love that the holo is scattered - it makes it unique amongst the other indie holos. Also, the colour and shimmer is so beautiful. In terms of formula, it went on very smooth and even, but it didn't have as much coverage as the others. This was 3 coats, and while I was very happy with how it turned out, those with longer nails might have some visible nail line.

Girly Bits Bird is the Word

Girly Bits Bird is the Word

Girly Bits Bird is the Word

Giggity Giggity Goo is a nude linear holo. I love the colour - the polish has almost a silver/gold foil effect, and I feel like it could pass in more conservative work settings. The holo effect is light to medium and difficult to capture, but still very stunning - trust me.  This was 3 coats and I couldn't have asked for a better formula - I had no issues at all to report with this one. Side note: does anyone know what "giggity giggity goo" is supposed to mean, besides being that weird thing that Quagmire does?

Girly Bits Giggity Giggity Goo

Girly Bits Giggity Giggity Goo

This is such a stunning polish, but also hard to capture - hence the extra photo. :)

Girly Bits Giggity Giggity Goo

Girly Bits Giggity Giggity Goo

What the Deuce? is a bright kelly green with a subtle holo shimmer. I found the holo effect was very faint but more visible than you see in my photos. However, the shimmer is still beautiful, and that combined with the bright colour, makes this a pretty fun polish in my books. This was 2 coats, and it has an incredibly good formula - it goes on very smooth and has excellent coverage.

Girly Bits What the Deuce?

Girly Bits What the Deuce?

Girly Bits What the Deuce?

So there you have it! I feel like these are all strong polishes, in what is overall an excellent collection. It's really hard to pick a favourite but I'd have to say I'm leaning towards Giggity Giggity Goo. I love the combination of a nude colour with holo shimmer.

What is your favourite out of these three? Are you a Family Guy fan?

Girly Bits polishes are available from their website, there you'll also find a list of distributors for other places to buy Girly Bits. Follow Girly Bits Cosmetics on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for updates and new releases.

*Products in this post provided for review, all opinions are my own. See my disclosure policy for more detail.*

Essence Nude Glam Swatches and Review

Hi everyone! I have swatches of four of the Nude Glam polishes from Essence - there's other Nude Glam polishes but these four are the only ones available in North America (at least according to the Essence website). They caught my eye over the weekend when I was out polish shopping, and I thought "well, why not?" I'm always on the lookout for a good nude polish that works with my skin tone. I was only able to find two over the weekend, then today I found the other two when I was at the drugstore. Score! Complete set!! :P

Essence Nude Glam polishes

Café Olé is a pale taupe creme with a very subtle shimmer. I really like this one and found it very flattering. The formula was perfect and I used three coats here, but really two would do - I have some staining on one of my nails from my peacock mani, so I wanted to cover that up. It's similar to Models Own Nude Beige (reviewed here) but is more neutral, while the Models Own has a slightly more reddish tone.

Essence Nude Glam Café Olé

Essence Nude Glam Café Olé

Cotton Candy is a very, very pale pink. It's more of a sheer than a creme and I used three coats here. There were no problems formula wise. This is probably my least favourite of the bunch, I just find that there's many polishes like this on the market. It looks very similar to Deborah Lippmann's Prelude to a Kiss, and I'm sure you can probably think of some other dupes.

Essence Nude Glam Cotton Candy

Essence Nude Glam Cotton Candy

Iced Strawberry Cream is a pale muted pink creme with a silver shimmer. It's a tad frosty but not too much for my taste. This was three coats but two would work - again, covering up the staining. The formula was good but I did have some issues with bubbling, although I'm not sure if that's my fault or the polish. I also found this one very flattering on me.

Essence Nude Glam Iced Strawberry Cream

Essence Nude Glam Iced Strawberry Cream

Peach & Cream is a pale peachy nude with a delicate shimmer. I used three coats and you can still see the nail line. It has a good formula, I just wish it was a bit more opaque.

Essence Nude Glam Peach & Cream

Essence Nude Glam Peach & Cream

My favourites out of the bunch are definitely Café Olé and Iced Strawberry Cream. The other two I think would look better on other skin tones. My only issue with this collection is the limited range of shades. "Nude" is defined as "flesh colour," so why are these all so pale? Just a thought.

What do you think of these? Did you pick up any of the Nude Glam polishes? Do you care for nude polishes, or would you prefer I banish them from the blog? ;)

Wing Dust Collections: Bonfire Under the Stars, Day Dreamer, and Prize-Winning Petunia

Hi everyone! Are you ready for some more gorgeous Wing Dust Collections polishes!? I hope so, because I sure am! With every new polish I try, I love this brand more and more. If you missed my previous swatches of Wing Dust Collections polishes, you can find that here.

Wing Dust Collections Bonfire Under the Stars, Prize-Winning Petunia,
and Day Dreamer

All swatches are shown with a coat of Seche Vite. And because the shimmer is so important to these, I've also included photos taken directly under my lamp in addition to light box photos.

Bonfire Under the Stars is quite the chameleon and a difficult polish to describe, but I will try. It's a taupe/nude jelly with a faint purple/green duochrome shimmer. It has small holo and aqua hex glitter in addition to what appears to be a scattered holo shimmer. It's rather sheer, so you may want to layer it, but I used four coats for these swatches. For most people, three will work. This is such a unique polish, and the name, along with the flickers of shimmer, remind me of summers around the bonfire. My aunt and uncle were especially known for their end of summer/Labour Day party with the huge bonfire. :)

Wing Dust Collections Bonfire Under the Stars

Wing Dust Collections Bonfire Under the Stars

Wing Dust Collections Bonfire Under the Stars

Day Dreamer is white to grey in colour depending on the lighting. It has a subtle linear holo along with small silver, white, pastel and iridescent glitter. I absolutely love this one, it is so delicate and ethereal! <3 This one is also very sheer so I used four coats here. I had no issues with the formula.

Wing Dust Collections Day Dreamer

Wing Dust Collections Day Dreamer

Wing Dust Collections Day Dreamer

Prize-Winning Petunia is another stunner, and immediately caught my eye when I saw it swatched by Crystal over at Crystal's Crazy Combos. It's a warm-toned purple jelly and the colour leans towards a magenta. It has a scattered holo shimmer along with pink, lavender, periwinkle, and iridescent hex glitter, and aqua square glitter. I used three coats for this one, and I found it to be a tad thick so I added some thinner. Otherwise I had no issues with the formula. I really love the colour and the shimmer of this polish, like the others, it is quite striking!

Wing Dust Collections Prize-Winning Petunia

Wing Dust Collections Prize-Winning Petunia

Wing Dust Collections Prize-Winning Petunia

Wing Dust Collections is available on Etsy, and through Llarowe. You can follow Wing Dust Collections on Facebook and Instagram (@wingdust) for updates and restock announcements.

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

*Day Dreamer and Prize-Winning Petunia were provided to me at a discount for reviewing purposes, Bonfire Under the Stars was provided to me for reviewing purposes, all opinions are my own. See my disclosure policy for more details.*

Pahlish Coney Island Queen Collection Swatches and Review

Hi everyone! I don't think I've made it a secret how much I love the indie brand Pahlish. Out of all the indies I own (heck, out of all the polishes in general), my Pahlish collection reigns supreme. I was just updating my spreadsheet today (which I know I need to post!), and I own more Pahlish than any other brand in my collection, including OPI, China Glaze, and even Julep with their cheap add ons! Every collection that Shannon comes out with just gets better and better.

The latest collection, the Coney Island Queen collection, is no exception. It reminds me of the pastel speckled polishes that a number of the bigger brands have come out with recently, only this collection is by far more interesting and intriguing in my books. It also has more variation and I think there's something here that almost everyone can appreciate.

Pahlish Coney Island Queen collection

I should also mention that the collection is inspired by the lyrics and style of the singer Lana Del Rey. So if you like her music you might appreciate the polishes for that reason. Me, I've tried to get into her music, but so far I just can't, I don't know what it is. Maybe I'm getting old! ;) But nonetheless, I still appreciate the collection.

The formula on all of these were consistent, so I'll discuss that first before getting into each one. All six polishes are cremes with shimmers, and the majority also have small sized glitter. For each swatch I used three coats plus a top coat. I found that almost all needed the three coats, but there were a few where you could get away with two. Every single polish in this collection applied flawlessly, they were very creamy and smooth, also perfectly self-leveling. I did find that when these polishes settle, they tend to get thicker, which is common for indies, so make sure you give it a good shake before applying and in between coats.

Anticipating and Pacing seems to be the one that stands out in this collection since it's darker and more vibrant, and yet it also works perfectly. The base colour is a berry red, kinda muted, but reminds me of the colour of strawberries. It has a red shimmer in the form of micro-flakes and royal blue tiny and small hex glitter. I know it wasn't intended but this makes me think of berries. :)

Pahlish Anticipating and Pacing

Pahlish Anticipating and Pacing

Coney Island Queen is a nude creme with a gold shimmer. The shimmer is very prominent and made up of gold micro-flakes - it's absolutely gorgeous! I really love nude indies and this is one of my favourites! It's a great colour, and unlike many nudes it's not boring at all.

Pahlish Coney Island Queen

Pahlish Coney Island Queen

His Favorite Sundress is a pale pastel coral with gold shimmer and gold micro-flakes. The shimmer is not as prominent as you see in Coney Island Queen. There are also small orange square and hex glitter. This isn't a colour I normally gravitate towards because I feel it's not as flattering as cooler toned colours, but I really enjoyed this! It's a very nice spring colour.

Pahlish His Favorite Sundress

Pahlish His Favorite Sundress

Mind Like a Diamond is a mid-toned grey with darker grey flakes and a purple-rose-gold shimmer. At first it looks like just a plain grey, but the shimmer really makes this a stand-out for me. The shimmer (especially the purple) is very prominent as you can see from my pictures and it's a beautiful complement to the grey.

Pahlish Mind Like a Diamond

Pahlish Mind Like a Diamond

Singing in the Garden is a pale green with green shimmer and small green hex and square glitter. The polish is not so much of a mint green, but more like a pale grassy green if that makes sense. If I hold it up to a colour like Sally Hansen Mint Sorbet, the Pahlish is a tad more muted in tone. The shimmer is also in the form of tiny micro-flakes and there is the very oh-so-subtle hints of purple in it.

Pahlish Singing in the Garden

Pahlish Singing in the Garden

Sugar Venom is a muted bubblegum pink with tiny and small magenta square glitter. It also has pink micro-flakes that have a purple shimmer to them when they hit the light. I love how this is very girly, but not Barbie convertible type of girly! 

Pahlish Sugar Venom

Pahlish Sugar Venom

This collection is available from the Pahlish Etsy store and Llarowe, however, you can only buy the full collection at a discount on Etsy. In terms of the Etsy store, if anything is out of stock, you can message Shannon and she'll get back right away. And despite the fact that this is a fairly new collection, there's going to be a bunch of new polishes released on Etsy this Friday April 12th, including a new April Showers duo. If you're interested check out the Pahlish Facebook page for more details and pictures.

What do you think of this collection? Any stand out to you?

Happy Hands Feliz Navidad and Silent Night

Hi everyone! I have two gorgeous polishes for you tonight, unfortunately I believe both have been discontinued. But if you really like these, there's always the chance of getting them through a blog sale or swap. They are just too pretty not to share! ;)

Both Feliz Navidad and Silent Night were part of the small holiday collection Happy Hands put out. There were two other polishes, both glitter toppers I believe. I managed to get these on sale after the holidays, but I think they would be nice any time of year.

Feliz Navidad is a pale pink/cream coloured polish with a gold shimmer, pink glitter, tiny gold hex glitter, and small pink hex glitter. I'm starting to really love neutrals and nudes, and this one in particular is quite beautiful. It's very feminine and delicate. The formula was great, it went on smooth and I only needed two coats for full coverage.

Happy Hands Feliz Navidad

Happy Hands Feliz Navidad

Silent Night is a blue jelly that leans towards teal. It's packed with different sizes and shapes of sky blue glitter. It's super sparkly and shimmery, also it's very vibrant in colour. The formula was perfect and I used three coats here, although you may be able to get away with two. A bonus about this polish - the glitter seems to have a duochrome effect where it looks green in some lights. It's absolutely stunning!

Happy Hands Silent Night

Happy Hands Silent Night

I really loved both of these polishes, and plan to add more Happy Hands polish to my collection. One thing to note about both of these is that they have a strong smell. I believe it is caused by the pigments used to make the polish. It goes away after your nails dry, but I feel it should be noted.

What do you think of these? Do you own, or want to own any Happy Hands polishes?