[Review+Swatch] China Glaze Apocalypse of Colour Collection for Halloween 2014

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Hi! I have another Halloween collection for you today. This one's from China Glaze and is ominously named the Apocolypse of Colour - enjoy! :)

[Review+Swatch] Sally Hansen Halloween 2014 Big Glitter Top Coats

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Hi guys! Halloween is coming up in a few days! To be honest, I'm not a fan of Halloween and the whole blood/gore/horror genre. But I do love seeing everyone's Halloween manis. If you're looking for simple, quick fix for your Halloween mani, check out these two glitters from Sally Hansen. :]

Costume Glitters, 1 coat over OPI Cinnamon: silver and silver holographic glitter top coat. The formula was great - easy to apply with good glitter payoff. My light box always cancels out the holo effect, but you can see the holo squares and hexes in the bottle. :)

Dressed To Thrill, 1 coat over OPI Sleigh Parking Only: gold and holographic glitter top coat. I can't tell if the squares are gold too, but it looks silver in my pictures. This is like the gold version of Costume Glitters, and applies just as well. It's so sparkly in real life!

Verdict: They're simple and easy glitter mixes that work over any color. It's a great way to glam up your mani, and not just for Halloween!

Availability: Sally Hansen nail polishes are available at most mass retailers. Click here for a specific list of stores.

[Press] Enter The Zoya Color Laboratory!

HALLOWEEN FUN STARTS AT 10AM (EST) TODAY!

____Go Mad For Zoya & WIN*!

Are you "MAD" for Zoya?! Now's your chance to bring the color of your dreams to life! Step inside our virtual color labooooooratory (muahahaha) to experiment with color and finishes to "mix" your very own shade. The Zoya color animator offers various pieces and parts (finishes, opacity and hues) to play with - feel free to use the description section to elaborate on your masterpiece. Give your creation a name, submit it, and there's a chance we will bring it to life!

NOW - Thursday, October 31st (10:00am ET) Piece together your creation for a chance to have it custom created just for you! The highest voted shade will win, so don’t forget to share your creation with your friends and family after it's been submitted!

http://www.zoya.com/content/category/Halloween_Color_Lab_2014

How It Works:

1. Go CRAZY! (You know we are) Create a custom shade using the Zoya Polish Animator
2. Name your creation and describe any additional elements you would add to the polish.
3. Submit (and don't forget to share!) your custom shade for a chance to bring it to life! Have more than one color you’re mad about? Create as many as you'd like!
4. One winner will be selected on October 31, 2014 at 9am EST

*Terms and Conditions
Purchase not necessary to enter. Valid Art of Beauty account required in order to participate. Enter NOW through 10/31/14 (9:00am ET).One winner will be selected and contacted by 5pm ET 10/31/14. Please allow up to two weeks for production of custom shades. Winning shades will be created based on Zoya's Creative Director's interpretation of the description and cannot be returned, exchanged or duplicated at a later date.

[Nail Art] Chevron Floral

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Hi everyone! :) Today I have a short nail art post for you. I started this mani with something much simpler and sweeter in mind, but I went a little crazy with the water decals. Now it's a bit more flamboyant. LOL. Hope you still like it. :)

What I Used

China Glaze In A Lily Bit

Milani Black Swift

MoYou London Fashionista 05

Born Pretty Store Floral Water Decals*

[Review+Swatch] Zoya Matte Velvet Collection

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Hi everyone! I have a quick review of the Matte Velvet Collection from Zoya today. The only other matte I own from Zoya is Phoebe and compared to Phoebe, these were a breeze to apply. They don't try too quickly, so you can take your time applying them without worrying about bald spots. While they dry matte, they also contain shimmer, which gives them a velvet-like finish.

Posh, 2 coats: "medium cool-toned wine red with metallic red shimmer and a velvety matte finish." As mentioned above, the formula is easy to apply with a nice medium consistency.

Harlow, 3 coats: "rich, saturated rose plum packed with sparkling metallic shimmer in a velvety matte finish." The shimmer in this one is more fleck like, similar to a suede-matte finish. Harlow's sheerer than Posh, but can still reach opacity in two careful coats.

Savita, 3 coats: "bold, vibrant medium purple with strong red and gold shimmer with a velvet matte finish." There's even some blue in the shimmer. Once it dries down, the shimmer becomes a bit more muted, but will still remain visible. It goes without saying that this color looks amazing with top coat. The purple color is so vibrant - it's to die for!

Veruschka, 3 coats: "deep evergreen garnished with strong metallic shimmer in a velvety matte finish. Green lovers will like this! Probably my second favorite shade from the collection.

Loredana, 3 coats: "medium gunmetal grey, packed with silvery shimmer and a velvety matte finish." Sadly, my least favorite shade. It's sheer and doesn't build up as nicely as the others. As you can see, even after three coats, you can see my tips. The color feels a bit flat as well. Since there's a dark grey-black in the collection, I feel like Loredana doesn't really add anything. I wish Zoya did a deep sapphire or vibrant cobalt instead.

Dovima, 3 coats: "smoky charcoal-black with strong silver shimmer and a velvety matte." It's a gray-black that isn't too dark. The silver with the matte finish lightens the color and gives it more dimension. Between the two grays, I prefer Dovima.

Verdict: Overall, a nice collection of velvet mattes. I love velvet/suede finish polishes when they're done right, and this collection has some really nice ones. The only color I didn't like was Loredana, but the others were all great in color, application, and pigmentation. My favorite is Savita, but Veruschka and Posh are close seconds.

Availability: Zoya MATTEVELVET colors are available exclusively on Zoya.com and in ULTA beauty stores (ask for them).

[Nail Art] MoYou London Tropical 05

I Bought This

Hi everyone! Today I have some bright and colorful nail art to share with you. I'm clearly not ready to let summer go - I want it to be warm again!

Polishes I Used

OPI My Dogsled Is A Hybrid (green)

OPI Suzi Has A Swede Tooth (pink)

OPI Can't Afjord Not To (orange)

OPI OPI With A Nice Finnish (gold)

Urban Outfitters UV (yellow)

Milani Digital (pink holo)

Milani 3D (gold holo)

Milani White On The Spot 

Milani Black Swift

I'll admit it's not my best stamping/coloring job, but the bright colors make me happy. I'll do a better job next time! :)

If you like this mani, you can recreate it using the MoYou London Tropical 05 plate. It's available on moyou.co.uk for £4.99 (~8.50 USD).

Liz

[Review+Swatch] CND Vinylux Daring Escape & Purple Purple

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Hi everyone! Hope you're all enjoying your Sunday. Today I have two CND Vinylux shades to share with you. Enails.eu recently reached out to me and asked if I'd like to review this line. I've never tried CND polishes before, so I was excited to finally give them a whirl. :)

The Vinylux line is labeled as a weekly polish and is meant to last a week without the use of a base coat. The line also offers a top coat that activates in natural light. I think it's similar to Sally Hansen Miracle Gel, but I can't give you a direct comparison since I don't own the Vinylux top coat.

All swatches are shown with Seche Vite top coat and no base coat.

Daring Escape, 2 coats: dusty blue-teal with strong silver shimmer. This one had an interesting formula. It's thick in the way it clings to the brush; however, it applies like a medium-thin polish. So you need to brush off all the excess clinging to the brush, but on the nail it feels smooth and applies easily. I had no problems with application itself - just wanted to note the unique formula. I think the silver shimmer makes this color interesting and adds a bit more depth.

Purple Purple, 3 coats: purple base with strong, fine blue shimmer. This combination makes the polish look blurple in most lightings. The formula was excellent - medium consistency that glides on easily. The pigmentation is pretty good as well. You can get away with two coats, but I found that a third coat will eliminate brushstrokes and deepen the color. The shimmer becomes more rich and intense as well. Absolutely gorgeous!

I loved this one so much, that I wore it as a mani! I dressed it up with some simple stamping and a bow charm. I used MoYou London Kaleidoscope 09 in case you're wondering. ^^ I didn't do a wear test since I don't own the Vinylux top coat, but this mani was chip-free 3 days later with Seche Vite. I'm not particularly rough on my nails, but nail polish doesn't last very long on me without base coat.

Verdict: Both polishes applied flawlessly and had excellent pigmentation/coverage. The colors I tested were also unique and beautiful. Purple Purple in particular has stolen my heart.

Availability: You can purchase Daring Escape (here) and Purple Purple (here) at enails.eu for 12.99€ each. Enails.eu is one of the few online stores that offer CND Vinylux worldwide, so be sure to take a look. They offer a wide selection of colors including the latest collections.

Have you tried any of the Vinylux colors? Let me know your thoughts below! ^^

Liz

[Nail Art] MoYou London Kaleidoscope 09

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Hi everyone - happy friday! Today's mani features images from MoYou London's Kaleidoscope 09 plate. I wanted to do something simpler this time with pink as the accent color, so this is what I came up with. I added a few rhinestones to give it some flair as well.

Look at how detailed the images are! I love the floral aspect of this plate. Like Kaleidoscope 08, there's a lot of negative space in the designs that you can color. Depending on your choice of colors, your mani can look elegant or colorful and playful. All of the images picked up very cleanly without giving me any trouble.

For my ring finger, I should note that that's not the exact design on the stamping plate. I had an incomplete transfer (my fault), so I ended up free-handing the black outline around the "petals". I added gold glitter over the outline to tie it in with the other nails.

Polishes Used

Sally Hansen Greyfitti

Milani Hot Pink Rage

Milani Bombshell (light pink)

Milani Black Swift 

China Glaze GR8

Nicole by OPI Lips Are Dripping Honey (glitter)

What do you think? I feel a little unsure of the color combination in this one. The gold and grey together kind of bugs me, but I can't hate it because the designs are so pretty. ^__^ Now I want the rest of the Kaleidoscope collection! MoYou London's new Kitty plates (12-14) looks pretty fabulous as well.

Availability: MoYou London plates are available on moyou.co.uk for £4.99 each. About $8.50 each as of 8/22/14 (my last purchase). The exchange rate then was 1 U.S. Dollar = 0.587361 British Pounds. Shipping is free to the UK. Shipping to everywhere else is free with £15+ orders. If you make an account with them, you can also receive a 15% off discount code.

[Nail Art] MoYou London Kaleidoscope 08

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Hi everyone! I'm so excited to share with you two plates from MoYou London's new Kaleidoscope collection. MoYou London graciously allowed me to pick two plates for review, and I immediately picked out Kaleidoscope 08 and 09. Several more plates were released in the collection since then. If you're curious, you can view the whole collection here. They all look amazing.♥

I'll be showing you the 08 plate first in today's post. All the plates come covered in blue film, which you remove before stamping. I'm in love with the sleeve art for this collection. My sister told me the packaging reminds her of chocolate bars. So now I always think of MoYou plates as beautifully decorated chocolates. :)

Ta-da! Can I pat myself on the back? Okay, I'll be more humble since the plate did all the work. ^^ This looks like I spent about 10 times more time on it then I actually did. I'm still an amateur at stamping, so if you're advanced, I'm sure you could create some really astounding nail art.

I found this plate easy to use, and the designs were all etched deeply. All the images picked up easily with my large marshmallow stamper. I own a knock-off, but MoYou sells a double-end marshmallow stamper here. The red stamper shown above is also very squishy and slightly sticky. It picks up images cleanly and can fit an XL design on it (although I recommend using it with smaller images). I usually associate red stampers with rubber, so I was pleasantly surprised by it being silicone.

One thing to note with this plate is the broader etchings. A lot of the designs have large spaces, so it's recommended that you use thicker polishes for stamping. Thin polishes will scrape right out of the design. Medium polishes will work, but may not pick up as cleanly. So it's best to stick with your tried and true polishes for stamping. You can use your other colors for filling in the design. :)

Polishes I Used

OPI Going My Way or Norway? (tan base)

OPI My Dogsled Is A Hybrid (green)

OPI Suzi Has A Swede Tooth (pink)

OPI Can't Afjörd Not To (orange)

OPI Do You Have This Color in Stock-holm? (purple)

Milani Black Swift

Milani Blue Zoom

Color Club Harp On It (silver)

Doesn't this design feel kind of bohemian? I think the great thing about this plate is that you can make it whatever theme you want. The possibilities are truly endless - just like a real kaleidoscope.

Overall, I really enjoyed using this plate! It's definitely one of my most favorite plates now. I think there are 11 plates total in the Kaleidoscope collection, and I pretty much want every single one. x) Tomorrow, I'll show you the 09 plate so you can look forward to that! :)

Availability: MoYou London plates are available on moyou.co.uk for £4.99 each. About $8.50 each as of 8/22/14 (my last purchase). The exchange rate then was 1 U.S. Dollar = 0.587361 British Pounds. Shipping is free to the UK. Shipping to everywhere else is free with £15+ orders. If you make an account with them, you can also receive a 15% off discount code.

Have you tried any of the plates from MoYou London's Kaleidoscope collection? Feel free to link blog posts to your art in the comments below. I'd love to see them!

Liz

[Review+Swatch] OPI Peanuts Collection for Halloween 2014

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Hi! I have a quick review of OPI's Halloween collection for you today. This year's collection is inspired by the Peanuts! Who doesn't love Peanuts? Plus, I couldn't wait to try the glitters. :)

Good Grief, 3 coats: medium yellow creme. I found the formula very watery and thin. It's still controllable, but you have to be more careful. Application was a little streaky, but not too bad for a yellow.

To Be or Not To Beagle, 1 coat over Good Grief (left): black hex and bar glitters with matte multicolored hexes. The multicolored glitters are: pale pink, light green, light blue, medium blue, light yellow, light orange, and red. It's very dense so glitter payoff is great. It applies evenly without any problems. Love!

Where's My Blanket, 1 coat over Good Grief (right): black glitter with colored hexes in light orange and pale yellow. It's less dense than To Be or Not To Beagle, but still has good glitter payoff. The consistency is great and it applies evenly.

Who Are You Calling Bossy?!?, 2 coats: black creme. The formula is great - great consistency and good pigmentation. It's not a one-coater, but I can see it becoming one with use after it thickens up a little bit. I'm just guessing though, so don't hold me to it. ^^

Verdict: The cremes for the most part, applied easily without too much trouble. They're not crazy unique, but if you need a nice black or yellow, they're good options. The highlight of this collection are the glitters. Those are definitely unique and perfect for a fun, colorful mani. :)

Availability: Peanuts by OPI and Little Peanuts mini pack can be found at Professional Salons, including Chatters, Planet Beauty and ULTA. Peanuts nail lacquers will retail for $9.50 ($11.50 CAN) each; Little Peanuts mini pack will retail for $13.95 ($17.50 CAN).