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| Shimmering sands beach nail art |
Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts
12 August 2014
The Digit-al Dozen Does Summer, Day One: Shimmering Sands
Hi everyone! I love Digit-al Dozen week on the blog - don't you!? I've been doing so much swatching that I miss nail art, so a whole week of it sounds perfect. This month's challenge is summer, so think vacations, beaches, mixed drinks (non-alcoholic if you prefer), bright colours... To be honest, I have no idea what I'm going to do for the rest of the week, but I'm loving this first design.
15 August 2013
Jindie Nails Summer Chic Collection, Swatches and Review
Hi everyone! I know that the fall collections are rolling in, but I hope you don't mind me showing you some more summer collections! In my defense I only got these very recently, and I was sent a lot of Jindie Nails polishes to review, so I'm trying to get these on the blog as soon as I can. I'm always excited when Jindie Nails comes out with new polishes and collections, and the summer collection is no exception.
I feel like this collection has something for everyone. Glitter topper? Check. Crellies? Check. Neon glitter? Check. Bright colours? Check. Tiny glitter? Check. Shimmer? Check. I could go on, but you get the point! :)
Betty's Fetti Milkshake is a pale pink crelly with tiny neon and multi-coloured matte glitter. As much as I like crellies with larger glitter and a variety of glitter, something like this is very refreshing for me. The formula was good - I used three coats and it went on very smooth, but I also used a coat of Gelous and top coat to smooth it out even more. Despite the pale base, it provides good coverage.
Hex On The Beach is a pale peach crelly with yellow, pink, red, bronze, and white glitter. In terms of the glitter there's a nice mix of shapes - hexes, circles and some diamonds - finishes - matte and metallic - and colours - bright neons, metallics and white. I used three coats and the application was great, it goes on very smooth despite the glitter and it provides good coverage with only a slightly visible nail line.
Quit Staring At My Melons! is the lone glitter topper of the collection. It has a clear base and mixture of pink, green, white and gold glitter. There's tiny hexes with small and medium circle glitter; also you'll find both matte and metallic glitter in this one. I find the colour scheme in this one to be very nice and unique. I used one coat over American Apparel L'esprit, and the application was great with good glitter payoff.
That Purple Ish is a lavender crelly with a mix of purple, pink, wine, black and white coloured glitter - mainly circles, hexes and diamonds. There's also a very gorgeous silver shimmer that does show up well on the nails. I used three coats here and the application was great - it goes on very smooth with only some slight fussing with the glitter.
So there you have it! What do you think of the Jindie Nails Summer Chic collection? Which one is your favourite? I would have to say that my picks are That Purple Ish and Hex on the Beach. I love Jen's crellies but tend to go for the more muted colours and/or cool-toned colours (esp. blues and purples). But that's just my personal taste.
These polishes are available on the Jindie Nails website (currently out of stock) and from Llarowe. Jindie Nails is also available from Harlow & Co., Ninja Polish, Femme Fatale Cosmetics, and Mei Mei's Signatures. Follow Jindie Nails on Facebook and Instagram (@jindienails) for updates and new releases.
*Products provided for review, all opinions are my own. See my disclosure policy for more details.*
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| Jindie Nails Summer Chic Collection |
I feel like this collection has something for everyone. Glitter topper? Check. Crellies? Check. Neon glitter? Check. Bright colours? Check. Tiny glitter? Check. Shimmer? Check. I could go on, but you get the point! :)
Betty's Fetti Milkshake is a pale pink crelly with tiny neon and multi-coloured matte glitter. As much as I like crellies with larger glitter and a variety of glitter, something like this is very refreshing for me. The formula was good - I used three coats and it went on very smooth, but I also used a coat of Gelous and top coat to smooth it out even more. Despite the pale base, it provides good coverage.
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| Jindie Nails Betty's Fetti Milkshake |
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| Jindie Nails Betty's Fetti Milkshake |
Don't Get It Citrus Twisted is a very bright neon green crelly with lime green, yellow, red, and orange hex glitter in different sizes. There's also a subtle gold shimmer but it's not really visible on the nails. I was a bit surprised because the polish is brighter on the nails than in the bottle, but if you like really bright colours you might be interested in this one. I used three coats for full coverage. The application was okay, but I find it a bit glitter dense so it ends up being too bumpy. My recommendation is to use one or two coats over a base colour, or make sure you don't pick up too much glitter on your brush.
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| Jindie Nails Don't Get It Citrus Twisted |
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| Jindie Nails Don't Get It Citrus Twisted |
Hex On The Beach is a pale peach crelly with yellow, pink, red, bronze, and white glitter. In terms of the glitter there's a nice mix of shapes - hexes, circles and some diamonds - finishes - matte and metallic - and colours - bright neons, metallics and white. I used three coats and the application was great, it goes on very smooth despite the glitter and it provides good coverage with only a slightly visible nail line.
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| Jindie Nails Hex On the Beach |
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| Jindie Nails Hex On the Beach |
Quit Staring At My Melons! is the lone glitter topper of the collection. It has a clear base and mixture of pink, green, white and gold glitter. There's tiny hexes with small and medium circle glitter; also you'll find both matte and metallic glitter in this one. I find the colour scheme in this one to be very nice and unique. I used one coat over American Apparel L'esprit, and the application was great with good glitter payoff.
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| Jindie Nails Quit Staring At My Melons! |
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| Jindie Nails Quit Staring At My Melons! |
That Purple Ish is a lavender crelly with a mix of purple, pink, wine, black and white coloured glitter - mainly circles, hexes and diamonds. There's also a very gorgeous silver shimmer that does show up well on the nails. I used three coats here and the application was great - it goes on very smooth with only some slight fussing with the glitter.
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| Jindie Nails That Purple Ish |
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| Jindie Nails That Purple Ish |
So there you have it! What do you think of the Jindie Nails Summer Chic collection? Which one is your favourite? I would have to say that my picks are That Purple Ish and Hex on the Beach. I love Jen's crellies but tend to go for the more muted colours and/or cool-toned colours (esp. blues and purples). But that's just my personal taste.
These polishes are available on the Jindie Nails website (currently out of stock) and from Llarowe. Jindie Nails is also available from Harlow & Co., Ninja Polish, Femme Fatale Cosmetics, and Mei Mei's Signatures. Follow Jindie Nails on Facebook and Instagram (@jindienails) for updates and new releases.
*Products provided for review, all opinions are my own. See my disclosure policy for more details.*
24 May 2013
Misa Fresh & Fruity Collection, Swatches and Review
Hi everyone! This may not come as much of a surprise, but I've really been enjoying all the pastel and bright colours that have been coming out lately. I don't care how many I've added to my collection, there's always room for a few more! ;) If you're feeling the same way, you will want to check out this collection.
I first saw the Misa Fresh & Fruity collection posted on Work/Play/Polish, and I was really attracted to the fun colours. Work/Play/Polish always has the most flawless swatches, so I was also curious to see if they were as good as they looked. I've never tried Misa polishes, but I had a good feeling about these when I bought them from my local Trade Secrets store. The manager confirmed my suspicions when she told me that she believed the formula of the Misa polishes was superior to OPI and Essie (the store carries all three brands). Another interesting fact is that these polishes are vegan and cruelty free.
Since the application on all of them was similar, I will show you swatches first, then sum up my experiences at the end of this post.
Blueberry Blast is a pastel baby blue creme that is absolutely perfect on its own or underneath glitter polishes. I love blue, so this was one of my favourites. 2 coats.
Great Grape is a nice periwinkle creme. It was very flattering on my skin tone, and another great colour. 2 coats.
Lime Love is bright lime green with a gorgeous yellow shimmer. I don't normally go for lime greens, but this is amazing! Also 2 coats.
Lovely Lychee is a vivid fuchsia creme. It's not quite neon, but still very bright. Another great colour for summer. Again, 2 coats here.
Peach Passion is a pastel peach creme. When it goes on the nail, it's a bit brighter than in the bottle. This one was a bit more sheer than the others, but I still only needed two coats. My second coat was a bit thicker though.
Ripe Rashberry is a pastel pink with slightly cool tones. Another perfect summer colour and great on its own or under a glitter polish. Also 2 coats.
I'm so in love with these colours, and I can see myself wearing them a lot this summer. I'm also happy to say that the formula on all of these was flawless, these are seriously some of the best mainstream polishes I've tried in awhile. For all polishes, I needed two coats for full coverage, no exceptions. The polish went on absolutely smooth and even - and all of them were perfectly self-leveling. The formula on these was perfect consistency, not too thin, not too thick; they were a dream to apply. I really have no issues to report with any of them. All of them dried to a very high shine, with the exception of Lovely Lychee, which has a semi-matte finish.
As I said, I got these at Trade Secrets, but if you are in Canada or the US, Misa is also available through Nail Polish Canada. Misa can also be bought directly from their website. It seems they ship internationally, but shipping is a bit expensive if you are outside the US.
What do you think of this collection? Do any stand out for you?
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| Misa Fresh & Fruity collection |
I first saw the Misa Fresh & Fruity collection posted on Work/Play/Polish, and I was really attracted to the fun colours. Work/Play/Polish always has the most flawless swatches, so I was also curious to see if they were as good as they looked. I've never tried Misa polishes, but I had a good feeling about these when I bought them from my local Trade Secrets store. The manager confirmed my suspicions when she told me that she believed the formula of the Misa polishes was superior to OPI and Essie (the store carries all three brands). Another interesting fact is that these polishes are vegan and cruelty free.
Since the application on all of them was similar, I will show you swatches first, then sum up my experiences at the end of this post.
Blueberry Blast is a pastel baby blue creme that is absolutely perfect on its own or underneath glitter polishes. I love blue, so this was one of my favourites. 2 coats.
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| Misa Blueberry Blast |
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| Misa Blueberry Blast |
Great Grape is a nice periwinkle creme. It was very flattering on my skin tone, and another great colour. 2 coats.
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| Misa Great Grape |
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| Misa Great Grape |
Lime Love is bright lime green with a gorgeous yellow shimmer. I don't normally go for lime greens, but this is amazing! Also 2 coats.
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| Misa Lime Love |
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| Misa Lime Love |
Lovely Lychee is a vivid fuchsia creme. It's not quite neon, but still very bright. Another great colour for summer. Again, 2 coats here.
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| Misa Lovely Lychee |
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| Misa Lovely Lychee |
Peach Passion is a pastel peach creme. When it goes on the nail, it's a bit brighter than in the bottle. This one was a bit more sheer than the others, but I still only needed two coats. My second coat was a bit thicker though.
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| Misa Peach Passion |
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| Misa Peach Passion |
Ripe Rashberry is a pastel pink with slightly cool tones. Another perfect summer colour and great on its own or under a glitter polish. Also 2 coats.
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| Misa Ripe Rashberry |
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| Misa Ripe Rashberry |
I'm so in love with these colours, and I can see myself wearing them a lot this summer. I'm also happy to say that the formula on all of these was flawless, these are seriously some of the best mainstream polishes I've tried in awhile. For all polishes, I needed two coats for full coverage, no exceptions. The polish went on absolutely smooth and even - and all of them were perfectly self-leveling. The formula on these was perfect consistency, not too thin, not too thick; they were a dream to apply. I really have no issues to report with any of them. All of them dried to a very high shine, with the exception of Lovely Lychee, which has a semi-matte finish.
As I said, I got these at Trade Secrets, but if you are in Canada or the US, Misa is also available through Nail Polish Canada. Misa can also be bought directly from their website. It seems they ship internationally, but shipping is a bit expensive if you are outside the US.
What do you think of this collection? Do any stand out for you?
07 May 2013
Essie Neon Collection 2013 - DJ Play That Song: Swatches and Review
Hi everyone! As promised in my last post I have a new collection for you. While I have some good things to say about the new Essie neons, I also have some not so good things to say. So if you're thinking about getting any of these, don't just look at the pretty pictures but also read/skim what I have to say about them. Yes, I know we're all overloaded with information, I'm guilty of just looking at the pretty pictures as well. But sometimes I think that people just see my photos and think that because a polish looks good, that there wasn't any problems with it. Blogger problems, right!?
Keep in mind that for all swatches I applied the colours over one coat of Sally Hansen White On, a pure white that is almost/but not quite a one-coater. You can wear these on their own, but the colours really pop when worn over white.
I'll go through each polish, and offer some of my thoughts at the end.
Boom Boom Room is a bright baby doll pink. This was the only one out of the six that was not thin and watery. I used two generous coats for these swatches and I found that formula-wise it levelled nice and even.
Bottle Service is a bright hot fuchsia. The formula was thin and dried matte, however, it was one of the better formulas and went on very smooth and streak-free. I used two coats over white. Note: this one is impossible to capture accurately, it's slightly darker and more of a cool-toned magenta in real life.
Bouncer It's Me is a vivid *rich* cobalt blue. Absolutely gorgeous. Like the others, the consistency was thin and watery, and it dried matte. I used two coats, thin on the first one and thicker on the second. There was slight streaking on this one though. :(
DJ Play That Song is a gorgeous warm-leaning purple. I used three coats over white, which was pretty frustrating. This one is also a bit watery and dries matte.
Saturday Disco Fever is a bright, eye-searing orange. In the bottle it has a slight coral tint, but that disappeared on the nail and it was just orange - like traffic cone orange - not the coral that was described in the press release. Another one with a thin watery formula that dries matte, and I used two coats here.
Shake Your $$ Maker is a very vibrant kelly/Irish green. This was another three-coater and even then there was streaking and shrinkage at the tips of the nails. Super bummer.
So now that you've seen the individual polishes, let's talk about the good and the bad, okay?! First, the good: the colours, oh man the colours!! I find the colours in this collection absolutely gorgeous. In the bottles they look fairly bright, but not really neon. However, when layered over white, they are so vivid and vibrant. I really mean it when I say they "pop" when layered over an opaque white base. I can also see these being fun for nail art, for example a white-based neon tribal design (*note to self - update nail art to-do list*).
But here's the bad: the formula on these. The formula on these was not horrible, but I wouldn't say it was the greatest. Had I known, I might not have bought them. Here are my concerns:
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| Essie Neon Collection 2013 - DJ Play That Song |
Keep in mind that for all swatches I applied the colours over one coat of Sally Hansen White On, a pure white that is almost/but not quite a one-coater. You can wear these on their own, but the colours really pop when worn over white.
I'll go through each polish, and offer some of my thoughts at the end.
Boom Boom Room is a bright baby doll pink. This was the only one out of the six that was not thin and watery. I used two generous coats for these swatches and I found that formula-wise it levelled nice and even.
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| Essie Boom Boom Room |
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| Essie Boom Boom Room |
Bottle Service is a bright hot fuchsia. The formula was thin and dried matte, however, it was one of the better formulas and went on very smooth and streak-free. I used two coats over white. Note: this one is impossible to capture accurately, it's slightly darker and more of a cool-toned magenta in real life.
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| Essie Bottle Service |
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| Essie Bottle Service |
Bouncer It's Me is a vivid *rich* cobalt blue. Absolutely gorgeous. Like the others, the consistency was thin and watery, and it dried matte. I used two coats, thin on the first one and thicker on the second. There was slight streaking on this one though. :(
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| Essie Bouncer It's Me |
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| Essie Bouncer It's Me |
DJ Play That Song is a gorgeous warm-leaning purple. I used three coats over white, which was pretty frustrating. This one is also a bit watery and dries matte.
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| Essie DJ Play That Song |
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| Essie DJ Play That Song |
Saturday Disco Fever is a bright, eye-searing orange. In the bottle it has a slight coral tint, but that disappeared on the nail and it was just orange - like traffic cone orange - not the coral that was described in the press release. Another one with a thin watery formula that dries matte, and I used two coats here.
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| Essie Saturday Disco Fever |
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| Essie Saturday Disco Fever |
Shake Your $$ Maker is a very vibrant kelly/Irish green. This was another three-coater and even then there was streaking and shrinkage at the tips of the nails. Super bummer.
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| Essie Shake Your $$ Maker |
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| Essie Shake Your $$ Maker |
So now that you've seen the individual polishes, let's talk about the good and the bad, okay?! First, the good: the colours, oh man the colours!! I find the colours in this collection absolutely gorgeous. In the bottles they look fairly bright, but not really neon. However, when layered over white, they are so vivid and vibrant. I really mean it when I say they "pop" when layered over an opaque white base. I can also see these being fun for nail art, for example a white-based neon tribal design (*note to self - update nail art to-do list*).
But here's the bad: the formula on these. The formula on these was not horrible, but I wouldn't say it was the greatest. Had I known, I might not have bought them. Here are my concerns:
- My first concern - the number of coats. All of these polishes took 2-3 coats, but that was over the white base. So if a polish was three coats, in reality that's four, way too much in my book. For swatching four coats might not be too much, but when we're talking about a full mani.... "Ain't nobody got time for that!"
- Second concern - the streaking. Even with two to three coats I found they did not go on evenly. Some were better than others, but in the photos you may be able to see the unevenness in some of them.
- Third concern - thin watery formula that wants to pool in your cuticles. It seemed to pool more than usual because I was also trying to cover up the white base (unsuccessfully at times).
These are my concerns, so you may not experience them or really care. Read other reviews before deciding on whether to buy them. I don't dislike them, but I wish that they were better.
What do you think of these? Was this review helpful/not helpful?
