China Glaze - Avant Garden - Press Release

China Glaze® Nail Lacquer Invites You to Visit the Avant Garden

Los Angeles (January 2012) – Spring is here and China Glaze® is blossoming with vibrant color with its new collection, Avant Garden. The delectable palette flows between soft hues and vibrant pops of color, offering an unconventional bouquet of cheerful and vivid shades. Take a stroll down the China Glaze® path, passing a bubbling brook of light and bright blues. Take in the view of the mossy green meadow and stop to enjoy the fragrant flowers of soft pink and white.  Let Avant Garden take you away to a playful, romantic field of color and innovation this Spring. 

The Avant Garden shades include:

• Budding Romance: moss green
• Sunday Funday: bright blue
• Fancy Pants: indigo with pink and purple shimmer
• Snap My Dragon: bright red with pink shimmer
• Passion for Petals: bright salmon-pink
• Mimosas Before Manis: coral with a light wash of shimmer

• Life is Rosy: blushed mauve
• Pink-ie Promise: iridescent baby pink
• Tart-y for the Party: light lavender creme
• Fade Into Hue: periwinkle creme
• Keep Calm, Paint On: sea foam green
• Dandy Lyin’ Around: shimmery vanilla icing

China Glaze® Avant Garden is also available in:

6 Piece Collection of “Blooming Brights”

6 Piece Collection of “Pastel Petals”

12 Piece 3D Counter Display

36 Piece Rack

China Glaze® Avant Garden will be available March 2013. Individual shades retail for $7; 6-piece collections retail for $42.

China Glaze® is free of DBP, toluene, and added formaldehyde.

China Glaze® nail lacquers are available through salons and professional beauty supply stores nationwide. For more information, please visit www.chinaglaze.com or follow China Glaze® on Facebook (@ChinaGlazeOfficlal), Twitter (@ChinaGlaze) and Pinterest (pinterest.com/chinaglaze).

China Glaze® is a division of American International Industries.

About American International Industries

For 42 years, AII has been the leading manufacturer and worldwide distributor of innovative, quality beauty and skin care products for men and women.  Our product lines include Andrea, Ardell, Body Drench, Bye Bye Blemish, Checi, China Glaze, Clean + Easy, Clubman/Pinaud, Duo, European Secrets, EzFlow, Fright Night, Gena, GiGi, Gypsy Lash, IBD, It’s So Easy, Jeris-Lustray, LASH BeLONG, Nail Tek, No Tweeze/Micro Tweeze, 'N Rage, Poshe, Prolinc, RAW, Seche, SuperNail, Surgi-Care, Waterworks, Winning Nails, Woltra, Woody’s, and Youthair. For more information, visit our website: www.aiibeauty.com. 

Brash - Electric Sky

Sadly, this gorgeous polish languished in my untrieds for a really long time. Happily, this is not longer true.  I finally dug in last night and applied Electric Sky by Brash.  I got this polish at, of all places, Payless Shoe Source.  Let me give you a peek.

I'm going to get right to the point, I..LOVE...THIS...COLOR!  This smoky blue has a bit of sky blue shimmer and it is absolutely amazing.  I got spectacular coverage and opacity in two coats and it applied easily with a great formula.  Ready for the best part?  This polish retails at only $2.99!  Can you believe it?  I have several other Brash polishes and when I bought them, Payless had a buy one get one 50% off sale making the second polish only $1.50 - so cool!  I will definitely be wearing the heck out of this one.  I'm just sorry I didn't try it sooner!

Zoya - Lovely Collection - Part Two

Sorry for my delay in getting these swatches posted.  It has been a very challenging couple of months (years).  Anywho, I'm happy to share the remaining five shades in Zoya's *Lovely Collection.  Let's start with the pics.

The "creams": Jacqueline (thumb and ring finger), Neely (index and pinky) and Blu (middle).  

The "shimmers": Gie Gie (thumb, middle, pinky) and Julie (index, ring).

As indicated above, to my eye, Jacqueline, Neely and Blu read as true cream polishes.  Gie Gie and Julie are shimmers, with a pearly almost sparkly effect.  

The creams had similar formulas, reasonably opaque in two coats.  For me, it was just a matter of color preference.  I am NOT a fan of neutrals, to be honest, so Jacqueline was, for me, no biggie.  I am, however, a HUGE fan of blues and greens so I was much happier with Neely and Blu.  Neither was particularly unique but they were both lovely and will be great for spring.

I thought that the "shimmers" were a bit more unique.  Sadly, even after two coats, there was still some vnl.  However, they weren't so sheer that I won't wear them.  I'm entirely too lazy to apply three coats of color in almost all circumstances but one can get away with two coats of these, though they won't be fully opaque.  Julie, in particular, was quite different from any other polish I own which pleased me greatly.

Overall, I wasn't overjoyed with this collection but I didn't dislike it, either.  My favorites were definitely the cool shimmers, Gie Gie and Julie.  

Really looking forward to seeing what's next on the Zoya horizon!

*Disclosure: Where indicated by an asterisk, the product(s) in this post were provided to me by the company for review. Please click my disclosure tab for further information.

Sally Hansen Golden Globes Looks!

At the 70th annual Golden Globes, glamorous nails were the ultimate accessory. Three of the night's biggest stars --Naomi Watts, Jennifer Lawrence and singer Adele -- manicurists turned to Sally Hansen to create their signature nail looks for the red carpet.

Naomi Watts

Celebrity nail expert Tracey Sutter created the look for Watts, nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture--Drama. Tracey used Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Arm Candy to create a natural effect.

To get the look, Sutter filed down Naomi's nails very short before applying Sally Hansen's Cuticle Instant Remover. Next, Sutter applied 2 coats of Sally Hansen's new Complete Salon Manicure Nail Color in Arm Candy - giving Watts just the right amount of color she wanted.

Jennifer Lawrence

April Foreman was the expert behind Lawrence's nail look, using Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Sheer Ecstasy for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture--Comedy or Musical nominee.

To get the look, Foreman shaped Lawrence’s nails “sqound” giving both a square and round look. Keeping her hands hydrated, Foreman applied Sally Hansen Smooth and Perfect Hand Crème before applying 2 coats of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Sheer Ecstasy.

Adele

Celebrity Manicurist, Kimmie Kyees used on Adele a sheer coat of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in So Much Fawn with two coats of Complete Salon Manicure in Copper Penny layered on top. Kyees finished off the look with an exclusive topcoat created for tonight that had gold in it to help enhance the color in Copper Penny for the best Original Song, Film nominee.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure is an all-in-one formula that combines all the 7 benefits of a professional salon manicure—a base coat, a strengthener, a growth treatment, rich color, top coat, gel-like shine and chip resistance —in a single multi-tasking polish ($7.99). 

As you may know, Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure features my ALL-TIME favorite brushes to work with. I'm tickled to learn that these awesome polishes were used by three amazing celebs for the Globes this year. I would love to try out these neat looks for myself. If you give it a try, please let me know how it works out for you!
xo, K

Barielle Promo

Just wanted to share the news that Barielle is having a special promotion from January 7 through January 14.  Buy one polish, get the second half off AND get a 0.5 oz Nail Strengthening Cream FREE!  Sounds like a great deal to me.  Head on over to the Barielle Facebook page by clicking HERE for more details.  

If you take part in this promo, I'd love to hear what colors you choose.

xoxo,

K

Zoya - Lovely Collection - Part One

Happy New Year, dear readers!

The first color I'd like to share with you for 2013 is *Piaf, a light mustard-yellow shimmer from Zoya's Lovely Collection.  I applied two coats for the picture below.  It was shot outdoors, in shade, and I think it gives a pretty accurate representation of the color.

I have to be honest.  I am NOT a yellow polish kinda girl.  While this applied well, with Zoya's usual thin easy-to-work-with formula, the color really didn't impress me much.  The subtle shimmer is really pretty but I just find yellow polish to be really "blah" on me and this one was no exception.

Other shades from this collection will be coming soon.  Please stay tuned!

Here's hoping that the new year brings us all good health, prosperity and great joy!
xoxo
K

*Disclosure: Where indicated by an asterisk, the product(s) in this post were provided to me by the company for review. Please click my disclosure tab for further information.