Barielle Summer Brights 2013 Collection

Today I'd like to share the Barielle *Summer Brights 2013 collection.  It features five fun shades, Cosmic Kiss, Lemondrops, Sweet Addiction, Blue Capri and Pink Flip-Flops.

The most startling thing (and happiest surprise) about this collection is that three of the five shades were one coat wonders!  Below is a shot of one coat of each color.

From thumb to pinky: Cosmic Kiss, Lemondrops, Sweet Addiction, Blue Capri and Pink Flip-Flops.

With the exception of the Lemondrops, a sunny yellow and Pink Flip-Flops, a light bubblegum pink, one coat was opaque and lovely.  Those two leveled out reasonably well after the addition of a second coat, as seen below.

Not much makes me happier than a one coat polish.  I am a girl who LOVES getting my manis completed asap (N-O-W) so discovering that Cosmic Kiss, a deep rosy pink, Sweet Addiction, a nice medium green and Blue Capri, a beautiful royal blue, only required one coat pleased me immensely.  Overall, I was a little bummed with Pink Flip-Flops, the most difficult to work with, but otherwise, I was pretty darn happy with this collection.  

Head on over to barielle.com to check out this collection and many more fun colors!

*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.

Zoya Stunning - Summer 2013

Today, I'd like to share the *Zoya Stunning collection for summer 2013.  I'll get right to the pics.

Here they are: Yana, Rocky, Josie, Darcy, Thandie and Micky

I started out my usual way, doing rainbow skittles, but, alas, as is almost always the case with Zoya collections, there were six colors to swatch on five nails.  What's a girl to do?  I decided to go with an accent nail of both Josie and Micky.  When I showed the completed mani to my husband, he immediately said, "Oh, watermelon."  Thus, an idea was born.  I decided to add dots of Zoya Raven as "seeds" and I think it came out pretty cute.  The result of this happy accident is below.

From thumb to pinky, two coats each: Yana, Thandie, Darcy, Josie and Micky, Rocky ("watermelon seeds" are Zoya Raven)

It should come as no surprise to readers that my favorite in the collection is Rocky.  I do so adore sky blue and this is like her deeper more vibrant cousin.  Each polish in the collection applied easily and was nicely opaque in two coats (with the exception of Darcy that was a tad patchy.  Oh, those tricky yellows).  These colors lend themselves PERFECTLY to "fruit-themed" manis and I know I'll be trying out more, soon.  Definitely a winning collection!

*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.

Zoya PixieDust - Summer 2013

I'm not going to lie, I was VERY excited to receive Zoya's *Summer PixieDust collection to review for you guys.  After trying the spring collection (some of which you can see HERE), I couldn't wait to try the newest additions to the PixieDust family.  As is my usual style, I skittled them, asap, so you could see them all, right away.  Without further ado, I present:

Thumb: Destiny (with Beatrix on the corner), Index: Solange, Middle: Liberty, Ring: Stevie and Pinky: Miranda (two coats of each, no top, no base, as directed)

Again, I am gobsmacked (love that expression) by how much I LOVE the texture of these polishes.  I am generally not a fan of chunky glitter or really any texture other than smooth as a baby's bottom on my nails.  However, in the case of Zoya's PixieDust polishes, the formula is amazing and I can't stop running my fingers over my nails.  Each polish has a unique sparkle (which I truly wish read better on film) and the colors are so pigmented.  Even without the cool textural aspect, these polishes would all be winners in my book.  If you are on the fence about wanting to try a textured polish, I couldn't recommend these more highly.  Just be sure not to use base or top coat as these are designed to be worn without them.  

*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.

China Glaze - Selections From Hologlam

Today, I'd like to share three shades from China Glaze's 2013 Hologlam Collection.  They are *OMG A UFO, *ASTRO-HOT and *DONT BE A LUNA-TIC (and yes, the lack of apostrophe in DONT drives me batty but I typed them as they appeared on the labels).  Here's a pic!

I used two coats of each polish in the pic above.  They are, from left to right, DONT BE A LUNA-TIC, ASTRO-HOT and OMG A UFO.

DONT BE A LUNA-TIC, which appears slightly more turquoise than sky blue in the bottle, actually appears pretty sky blue on the nail.  Let me make one thing clear, I ADORE sky blue.  It is my absolute favorite color in life.  However, I've got to say, this one disappointed me, just a little. I expected to be slammed in the face by the holo in direct sunlight.  As you can see in my pic, the holo was there, just not as *POW* as I had hoped it would be.  Actually, the same holds true for the other two polishes.  ASTRO-HOT, sort of a magenta blue, is gorgeous.  OMG A UFO, an almost army green, is beautiful, as well.  Heck, they are all lovely colors.  However, I had hoped for a lot more bang with regard to the holo.  It's there, just not as strongly as I was wishing for.  Now, keep in mind, this pic was taken in New York on a chilly spring day.  In the heat of summer, under some slamming sunlight, the holo might show up better (here's hoping).  Regardless, I am really pleased with these colors and definitely think they are worth a try.

For more information, check out www.chinaglaze.com or you can follow China Glaze on Facebook (@ChinaGlazeOfficial) or on Twitter (@ChinaGlaze).

*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.

Barielle - Blue Cotton Candy

Today's post features a gorgeous new color for spring, *Barielle's Blue Cotton Candy.  Feast your eyes!

This fabulous color applied like a dream and was completely opaque in two simple coats.  It has a beautiful shimmer that just says *pow* in the sunlight.  A definite winner in my book!

Head on over to http://barielle.com to check out this and many more fabulous shades.  You can also stop by their facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/barielle for more info and hot scoop about the great promos and contests they run regularly.  

*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.