[Review+Swatch] OPI Muppets Most Wanted Collection

Press Sample

Hi everyone! Today I have swatches of OPI's Muppets Most Wanted collection! Sorry about the limited layering swatches, but I hope you still find them helpful.

[Review+Swatch] Barielle Velvets for Spring 2014

Press Sample

Hi guys! Today I'm reviewing one of Barielle's new spring 2014 collections! The Velvets is comprised mostly of soft colors that would look perfect for spring. Even the brighter colors have a dusty feel to them.

The other Barielle collection is Spring Vibrants, which I'll be posting soon. I'm actually wearing a few of the colors now, so if you're curious you can check out my Instagram here. :)

Barielle Buddha-ful

 Press Sample

Buddha-ful, 2 coats over OPI I Theodora You: sheer pink base with green to blue flakies.  I love how soft and pretty this looks!  The base is pretty sheer, so it doesn't seem to reach opacity on its own.  However, it should look great over any sheer pinks or nudes.  The flakies in this are generally green, but at extreme angles you can see the shift to blue.  Formula-wise, it was thin and very easy to apply.

Availability
Barielle Buddha-ful is available for purchase at The Beauty Clutch for $6.50.  However, they're currently holding a sale, so all of their Barielle polishes are now $5!  I haven't looked through the entire site, but their OPIs and Essies are also on sale.  Definitely give them a visit to see what else they offer. :)


Liz

OPI Oz The Great And Powerful Collection Review

Happy Friday everyone!  Today I have OPI's newest Oz collection for you.  I actually swatched these over a week ago, but couldn't post it because my bottle of Which Is Witch? was missing a brush!  So I had to wait for a replacement bottle so that I can swatch it. x)

Zoya Gloss Collection Swatches

Katherine, 4 coats: a vampy eggplant jelly gloss.  This isn't one of those red-brown vampy shades.  It definitely stays true to its purple base.  While I like the color, unfortunately the formula is just as problematic as any other vampy polish.  The color applies very unevenly.  Even at four coats, you might notice uneven application.
 

***

Frida, 5 coats: a teal blue jelly gloss.  4 coats would have been fine for this shade, but I wanted it to be darker for pictures.  However, even at 5 coats you can see that it is still quite sheer.  (Yes, I have those white bruise marks on my ring finger.)  With that said, I love this color.  It's so gorgeous and shiny!  This is a color I wouldn't mind doing a few extra coats for.

***

Paloma, 3 coats: a berry pink jelly gloss.  OMG!  Haha, I don't use that word often, but this color is so pretty!  It's my favorite of the bunch, and the most opaque.  It's a lot lighter and brighter on the nail than in the bottle (as are all of these).  In the bottle, it just looked like another berry shade, but on the nail it's more of a berry-magenta mix!  It's also so shiny and so squishy and gahhh...  It makes me want to eat my nails.  Haha.

You can also layer glitter under these for a jelly sandwich look.  Here I layered two coats of OPI Pirouette My Whistle under one more coat of Paloma (making it 4 coats).  At four coats, Paloma become slightly darker and almost fully opaque (as far as jellies go).  The purple in it is also more emphasized.

Verdict:  Out of the three shades, I was definitely impressed by two of them: Frida and Paloma.  If you love jellies and sheers, these might just be for you.  They are definitely sheer though, and that's how Zoya is marketing them.  If you follow Zoya on Facebook, you might have seen their numerous pictures of ways to layer the glosses with glitters to make glitter sandwiches and ombres.

Availability:   This collection is currently available on Zoya.com for $8 each.  You might also find these at Ulta as well.


What do you think of these sheer glosses?  Is this something you would wear?  Let me know in the comments! :)


Liz

*The polishes reviewed in this post were sent to me for my honest review.
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American Apparel Sheer Nail Polish Swatches

When American Apparel first sent me the press release for these new Sheer Nail Lacquers, I was both excited and skeptical.  I loved the gradients they did in the images, but would an average person be able to recreate the gradients as well?  Let's see!

Zuma Beach (1 to 4 coats successively from left to right): a build-able sheer lime green jelly.  As you can see, 1 coat is very sheer; however, you can build up the color to full creme-like opacity in 4 coats.  3 coats will give you good coverage as well, while maintaining the jelly finish.

The fact that these polishes can become as sheer and opaque as you would like means you can easily layer them over polishes to create a gradient.  If you have time, you can actually get a very nice gradual gradient.  You can also use more than two colors for a tie-dye effect.  Please note that since these are macro shots, the gradients may not seem as smooth.  Of course, it won't be like those sponge gradients, but since your eyes meld the colors together (while a camera picks them apart) it won't look as choppy in real life.

Manhattan Beach (1 to 4 coats successively from left to right): a bright coral jelly.  Very similar to Julep Sasha, but Sasha is a creme and therefore looks less translucent and more muted.  Between the two, I like Manhattan Beach by far because of its lower price and better formula.  I found this color to be the most opaque of the three I've tried.  It was jelly opaque in 2 and creme opaque at 3.

Zuma Beach (green) blends almost seamlessly into Manhattan Beach.  Don't you think so?  For the best gradients, try layering both colors over each other where the two colors meet.

Redondo Beach (1 to 4 coats successively from left to right): a dark sky blue jelly.  I found this to be a bit streaky?  Not sure if that's the word, but you can see that the color is uneven at 3 coats.  I found it fully opaque at 4.

As you can see, colors that sit closer to each on the color wheel will obviously blend better (like the green and blue).  More different colors like the red and blue are a bit harder to blend seemlessly; however, a more tie-dye like gradient is possible between all colors.  I really liked using all 3 colors together.  For some reason these colors remind me of sour gummies.  Yum!


Verdict:  Love!  The polishes I tried delivered on their sheer and opaque claim.  I found all three can be both sheer and opaque, which means you can layer any color over another without overpowering it.  I also found these fun to use!  If you're like me and like the process of painting your nails, you'll enjoy these.  Take your time layering different colors to make new colors and pretty gradients.

There are 3 other colors in this line: Summerland Beach (light pink), Moonlight Beach (dark blue), Pacific Beach (bright green-teal).  I know for sure that Pacific Beach will be mine.  I might pick up the other two as well, since I imagine the light pink would go well with the coral, while the dark blue would go well with the sky blue.

P.S. I love these frosted square bottles!  So pretty! ♥
 

You can purchase Sheer Nail Polishes from American Apparel's nail store* online for $6.00 each (15ml).  They also carry other types of nail polish, such as cremes, metallics, glitters, and neons.  Some of these can also be purchased in either a 3-pack or 7-pack set for 15-20% off respectively. :)


Liz

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*The polishes reviewed in this post were sent to me for my honest review.

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OPI NYC Ballet Soft Shades 2012 Collection Swatches

Hello ladies!  Hope your weeks are turning out fine. :)  Today I have for you the entire OPI NYC Ballet collection for you.  The collection as a whole features sheer creme-jellies that offer squishy, milky finishes and a soft glitter top coat to pair.

I had so many pretty pictures of these shades, that I actually found it a bit overwhelming to edit all the pictures.  I even considered dedicating a post to each shade, but in the end I want to review it as a collection.  I think the general consensus was that most of the shades look pretty similar to each other, so I wanted them all in one place for you to compare.  Below, you can see my swatches of each shade in direct sunlight, shade, and with Pirouette My Whistle.